When darkness fell, Jiang Man swept the stable and prepared to begin cultivating.
Now at the Qi-Linking fourth layer, what he needed to do was raise his cultivation.
Later, when he had time, he would also need to practice spells.
After all, the final assessment required more than just high marks; one also had to be able to fight.
Jiang Man pondered for a moment.
If the assessment took place in mid-December,
then he should be at the Qi-Linking sixth layer, the ninth layer of the Qi-Linking Method, the ninth layer of the Qi-Blood Method, and the thirteenth layer of the Visualization Method.
That would give him a total score of seventy-nine.
When the time came, how would those people view him?
Even if he suppressed his Visualization Method to the ninth or sixth layer, he would still have over seventy points.
That was roughly ten points higher than Fang Yong and the others.
Still, he had to remain on guard.
In case they suddenly advanced or had concealed their strength, taking first place would not be easy.
"Where did you get so many pills?" the old yellow ox came over and asked.
"Borrowed them," Jiang Man replied offhandedly.
"Why would anyone lend them to you?"
"Talent."
For a moment, the old yellow ox did not know what to say.
Reaching the Qi-Linking fourth layer in two months was indeed somewhat extraordinary.
It could be called a genius.
If he revealed his levels in the Qi-Linking Method and Qi-Blood Method, he would be a one-in-ten-thousand prodigy.
He truly was worthy of others lending him pills.
"Any news on your mortal-rank superior grade Visualization Method?" the old yellow ox asked.
Jiang Man shook his head. "None at all. It's October now, and the trial is next month, yet I haven't heard a word."
"You couldn't have been swindled, could you?" the old yellow ox asked.
Jiang Man glanced at it and shook his head. "I can't say."
It was not that he was careless; he simply had no other choice.
Here, Zhao Leming was the only one he had ever made a deal with.
He was arguably the most reliable person Jiang Man had come into contact with.
Although there was an element of gambling involved, there was truly no one else to turn to.
October passed quickly.
Jiang Man had expected Luo Xuan or Fang Yong to make a move,
yet nothing unexpected occurred.
In late October, his cultivation successfully advanced to the Qi-Linking fifth layer.
With the help of the pills, opening the fifth gourd went smoothly.
Now, all that remained was to keep cultivating, use the spirit source he earned to buy pills,
continue cultivating, and open the sixth gourd as soon as possible.
That way, he could smoothly enter the Qi-Linking sixth layer.
After that, advancing to the Qi-Linking seventh layer would require the fourth layer of qi and blood and the first layer of the Visualization Method.
The difficulty would be anything but small.
However, that was still a long way off.
Early November.
Jiang Man spent all one thousand one hundred spirit source he had earned on food and pills,
squandering every bit of it.
Looking at his remaining twenty spirit source, Jiang Man could not help but sigh at how cultivating consumed far too many resources.
If his advancing cultivation had not raised his score, he wouldn't even have earned this much spirit source.
On this day, after Jiang Man finished cultivating, Zhao Leming sought him out.
Jiang Man felt a surge of joy—it seemed there had been progress.
However, Zhao Leming's expression looked somewhat off.
Soon, Zhao Leming's voice reached his ears: "This matter proved even more difficult than I anticipated. The hidden competition was far too fierce. Still, since I gave you my word, I naturally did everything I could to fulfill it."
At first, Jiang Man thought it was bad news—until Zhao Leming produced a token.
"This is the token." Zhao Leming handed it to Jiang Man. "On the seventeenth of this month, you must head to the Technique Transmission Office. Show the token, and someone will take you where you need to go.
"After that, you will undergo an assessment. If you fail the assessment, there will be nothing more that can be done.
"Before the assessment, they will clearly inform you of the requirements. If you think you can do it, so be it.
"Likewise, they will check your strength ahead of time based on your standing on the fifteenth. It cannot be too low, or complications may easily arise.
"The people from the sect are impossible to fathom. If one of them deems you unqualified and directly revokes your eligibility,
"it is not out of the question."
Receiving the token, Jiang Man breathed an inward sigh of relief.
With the token in hand, Zhao Leming's part in the matter was essentially finished.
If he failed, it would simply be because he lacked the ability.
The trial on the seventeenth would also take into account the score from the fifteenth.
To be safe, he still needed to advance to the Qi-Linking sixth layer by the fifteenth.
Even with the ninth layer of the Qi-Linking Method, the pressure was considerable.
After a moment's thought, Jiang Man asked curiously, "How many spots are there in total?"
"Six," Zhao Leming explained. "Six for each technique. Moreover, you are only given a single day of cultivation time. If you master it, then you've mastered it; if not, you haven't."
A single day?
That might not even be enough time just to comprehend it.
Fortunately, Zhao Leming informed him that someone would teach it, though only for a single morning. The rest was entirely up to each person.
Jiang Man was puzzled. Was this truly testing the techniques?
It seemed more like testing the difficulty of cultivation.
Still, he could not voice his doubts.
If he truly could not learn it, only one path would remain.
Jiang Man did not dwell on it.
He would take this path one step at a time first.
"Right. Once the spots are set, they won't be changed. If you run into any trouble during this time, you can also use this token. It carries a certain authority to resolve problems for you." Zhao Leming weighed his words, then cautioned, "However, avoid using it if you can. If you use it and your results on the fifteenth turn out to be ordinary, your spot will likely be revoked."
Jiang Man nodded, somewhat surprised that the token could even resolve trouble.
Still, the scope of what counted as trouble remained unclear.
After asking a few more routine questions, Jiang Man turned and took his leave.
Zhao Leming watched Jiang Man's receding figure and shook his head with a sigh. "He's still a bit too impatient. With someone backing him, his steps ought to be more solid.
"Right now, his strides are far too large."
He did not doubt whether Jiang Man could obtain eligibility for the December assessment.
Rather, he felt that even if Jiang Man obtained eligibility, it would only be the result of forced advancement.
That would inflict no small amount of damage on the body.
Even if he secured a spot, he would basically have no hope in the sect's subsequent assessments.
"His horizons are still a bit too narrow."
Afterward, Zhao Leming thought no more of it.
The transaction was finished.
Whether Jiang Man could obtain the technique had nothing to do with him.
Even so, he would still keep an eye on his situation,
if only to see what fate such impatience would ultimately lead to.
—
Along a path in the Yunqian Division.
Young Master Yang approached Cheng Moyang and said, "Fang Yong truly is worthless. He didn't even end up tearing into that poor kid from his courtyard like a dog fight."
Hearing this, Cheng Moyang asked with some curiosity, "Which one?"
"The one who couldn't pay his cultivation fee—Jiang Man, I think his name was," Young Master Yang said with a chuckle. "Back then, he couldn't afford the fee, but now his cultivation seems to have improved. He's no longer at the end of his rope."
"Jiang Man?" Cheng Moyang said, somewhat surprised. "The one Luo Xuan wanted to recruit as a guard?"
"There are indeed rumors like that, though who knows whether they're true or false," Young Master Yang said.
"False," Cheng Moyang said, shaking his head with a laugh before summarizing the general situation.
"He refused? Then where did he get the spirit source to cultivate?" Young Master Yang asked, curious.
"Won't we know once we look into it?" Cheng Moyang said.
The next day.
In the very same spot, Young Master Yang obtained the answer. "The Spirit Gathering Hall. It seems no one took him under their wing in secret after all."
If someone were nurturing him, he would never go to such a place.
"What an ambitious poor kid," Cheng Moyang said with a sigh. "I wonder what he'll do if he runs into another situation like last time where compensation is demanded?"
Chapter 27