Find You Another Wife

In response to Cheng Moyang's words, the short Young Master Yang curled the corner of his lips into a slight smirk. "That should be quite entertaining—especially if we bring Fang Yong into it, just like last time. "Wouldn't that be even better? "It keeps our hands clean too." He paused, then added with a touch of regret, "I've been keeping Fang Yong at arm's length on purpose lately, so I don't know when he'll come looking for us." Cheng Moyang smiled. "Head over to the courtyard. He passes by there often enough." Sure enough, not long after they started cultivating in the courtyard, they spotted Fang Yong walking past. Seeing them, Fang Yong immediately approached with an air of familiar warmth. "Young Master Cheng, what have you been using to cultivate lately?" Hearing that, Cheng Moyang smiled and replied, "I've been cultivating at the Spirit Gathering Hall." After a brief pause, he asked, "What about you, Young Master Fang?" A flicker of hesitation crossed Fang Yong's eyes before he spoke up: "I've also been cultivating at the Spirit Gathering Hall." "Is that so?" Young Master Yang chimed in with a grin. "You're truly something, Young Master Fang. Since we're all cultivating at the Spirit Gathering Hall, why don't we go together sometime?" Fang Yong beamed and nodded. "Sounds good." Only then did Fang Yong take his leave. Watching him walk away, Young Master Yang chuckled. "I doubt he's even set foot past the front doors of the Spirit Gathering Hall." Cheng Moyang shook his head. "Just walking with us and going to the same places doesn't make him one of us." The two departed with quiet chuckles. This was only the beginning; things would get far more interesting down the road. *** Having obtained the token, Jiang Man kept the matter strictly to himself. Something like this naturally had to be kept hidden. After all, no one in the entire Qingyun Pavilion knew about the trial. That meant the higher-ups had no intention of letting those below find out. There were some things people simply refused to share with everyone. The clearer Jiang Man understood this, the more he felt he had made the right gamble. Though Teacher Zhao charged a steep price, he actually delivered results. Unlike some people, who took benefits only to brush others off with empty gestures. "Normally, he wouldn't necessarily qualify to compete for a spot like this," the old yellow ox remarked. "But with the feeding method you gave him, his standing rose by quite a bit, which gave him the qualification." Jiang Man swallowed a Spirit Gathering Pill and resumed cultivating. Right now, his fifth gourd wasn't even half full. To ensure he could seize this opportunity without a hitch, he wanted to reach the Qi-Linking sixth layer as soon as possible. "So in a way, I earned this opportunity myself?" Jiang Man mused as he guided the spiritual qi through his body. "You can comfort yourself with that thought," the old yellow ox said. Suddenly, it froze. "Here it comes." "What's coming?" Jiang Man asked in surprise, just as he was about to focus on cultivating. "Your wife's tricks are at it again." As the ox spoke, a faint glow began to emanate from its body. "Once I stabilize it, channel the light out." Having gone through this before, Jiang Man was already familiar with the process. Soon enough, he drew the light out. It coalesced into a glowing orb in his hands before shining onto his body. That woman's voice echoed once more: "Husband, you are still alive? Has that evil god you feed told you that the Magpie Bridge only opens once a year? It lied to you." With those words spoken, the light vanished. Jiang Man was speechless. "What did she say?" the old yellow ox asked. "She said you lied to me, Brother Ox—that the Magpie Bridge doesn't open only once a year," Jiang Man answered honestly. There was no need to hide something like this. Compared to that immortal maiden, he still leaned toward trusting the old yellow ox. After all, he relied heavily on it right now. "She's lying to you to drive a wedge between us," the old yellow ox explained. Jiang Man did not dwell on it much either. "Do you think she's the one telling the truth?" the old yellow ox pressed. Jiang Man shook his head. "I don't know, but the Magpie Bridge certainly isn't open right now." If it were open, she would have arrived long ago. Why bother sending messages through these methods? "The more guarded you are against me, the easier it is for her to use her methods to pinpoint our location," the old yellow ox explained. "When the Magpie Bridge is closed, her methods aren't very noticeable. But once it opens, she can use that wariness to locate us in an instant." After a slight pause, it added, "As long as we evade her completely, once I recover, I can find you another wife." Jiang Man was rendered speechless. He felt the ox was just dangling empty promises in front of him. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Brother Ox, how do you recover? Do you need my help?" "Of course I need your help," the old yellow ox replied. "What do you need me to do?" Jiang Man asked, curious. The old yellow ox cast him a glance and said nonchalantly, "Talk to me about that after you survive this hundred-day calamity." Jiang Man shrugged. What trapped him wasn't his peerless prodigy fate, but... poverty. He didn't even have a proper cultivation technique. If he had awakened in that village and gone through with the wedding ceremony, even ten lives wouldn't have been enough to keep him alive. There, he wouldn't have had access to any resources at all. Even working hard for an entire month, outside of food and drink, he might not have been able to afford a single Spirit Gathering Pill. Within the Yunqian Division, not only was earning spirit sources easier than outside, but Spirit Gathering Pills were also relatively cheap. That was something he had realized after buying them consistently over time. The Yunqian Division enjoyed preferential treatment at every turn. Step outside, and it truly was a cutthroat world. No wonder Song Qing wanted to serve as Luo Xuan's guard. Once outside, such an opportunity might never come again in a lifetime. "Brother Ox, what do you think the requirements for the next stage of my fate will be?" Jiang Man asked curiously. The old yellow ox gave no answer. Jiang Man didn't press the matter, knowing there would be no reply anyway. After that came cultivation. In the two-odd months since he had awakened, he had spent nearly all his time cultivating and earning spirit sources. Either that, or offending people. Fortunately, everyone was striving for the upcoming spots, which gave him enough breathing room. Over the days that followed, Jiang Man devoted himself entirely to cultivation. During the day, he studied and cultivated; in the evening, he went to the Spirit Gathering Hall. He used the spirit sources he earned to buy medicinal pills and continued cultivating. Day by day slipped past. With every passing day, Jiang Man could see the water level in the gourd steadily rising. Forty percent, half, sixty percent... All the way until November 13. When Jiang Man finished his cultivation session, the water in the gourd had reached ninety percent. Tomorrow, on the fourteenth, once he bought another Spirit Gathering Pill, he would be ready to step into the Qi-Linking sixth layer. Because his appetite had grown larger and larger, his spirit sources had to cover not only Spirit Gathering Pills, but also food. At the moment, he had 350 spirit sources. Mainly because the Spirit Gathering Hall had given him an extra hundred tonight. One of the guards had urgent business, so Manager Miao needed someone to fill in for a day or two. Fortunately, it was near the end of the month, so Jiang Man naturally agreed. Otherwise, he would have had to wait until he went to the Spirit Gathering Hall tomorrow to reach three hundred. Earning a hundred spirit sources just to watch the door wasn't bad at all. Of course, he had made sure to hesitate for a moment first, lest the manager feel shortchanged. The next day. November 14. Jiang Man woke up early. He planned to take care of the chores at the stable first. Yet the moment he arrived, Jiang Man froze. Today, there was an extra person and an extra horse in the stable. The person was, of course, Fang Yong. And the horse wasn't the one from last time; this one was silvery white. A Phantom Moon Silver Mane. A wild steed that had refined itself by absorbing moonlight. Its silver coat became translucent under the moon's radiance, leaving behind afterimages as it galloped. It possessed incredible speed and formidable endurance. A dream mount for countless people. How did Fang Yong get his hands on one? "I'll pay spirit sources for whatever feed it eats from you," Fang Yong said flatly. Jiang Man frowned, surprised. "Young Master Fang, why are you here at my place?" Fang Yong looked disdainful. He hadn't wanted to come here in the slightest; it was just that the horse was exhausted, insisted on heading this way, and demanded to eat the feed here. Otherwise, why would he ever come to this place? Last time, an incident had occurred right here. Just as he was about to speak, dark spots suddenly appeared on the coat of the Phantom Moon Silver Mane. Then, a mournful whinny broke from its mouth. In an instant, Fang Yong whipped his head around to glare at Jiang Man. Jiang Man: "..." So it was aimed at me all along.