The Magpie Bridge Opens Once a Year

The Magpie Bridge Opens Once a Year Before the old yellow ox had recovered from its shock, it heard Jiang Man's off-the-wall remark. It left the ox greatly puzzled. But it wasn't a difficult thing, so the ox instinctively agreed. The other party had indeed only given it a touch and done nothing more. Meanwhile, Jiang Man was sighing to himself. Because just now, when he touched the old yellow ox, he had taken the chance to trigger the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books. The book still rested on its last page. The only text left was a single line. [Beasts aren't worthy.] So even an evil god wasn't worthy? For a moment, Jiang Man felt a little awkward. Fortunately, the old yellow ox couldn't see it. Otherwise he'd be the one at a loss. But the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books seemed not to record humans or beasts. Or rather, they were all rather ordinary. As he was pondering, a burst of footsteps came from outside the thatched hut, and then he heard someone shout: "Jiang Man, remember to pay the cultivation fee before the ninth month. Your village didn't pay it for you this year. If you don't pay within the half month that's left, you'll be driven out." Having said that, the man hurried off, leaving only: "I've done my part and notified you. Whether you understand is your own business." Jiang Man was stunned. For those who came to the Yunqian Division to cultivate, the cultivation fee was usually covered by the village. Now that the village had cut off his cultivation fee, there was surely a new age-eligible candidate who had entered the Yunqian Division. The cultivation grounds in the city were collectively called the Yunqian Division, which was divided into the Three Halls and Six Pavilions. Jiang Man's place was the Qingyun Pavilion, one of the Six Pavilions. Ordinary villages were all poor and couldn't afford to support many people. Back then they'd supported him because he was the only one of suitable age. You had to take your chances. Sometimes being a little simple didn't mean one's cultivation talent was poor. Two years had passed now, so being given up on was understandable. Bei Village couldn't afford to support two people. It was just unknown where the village's new recruit would go. But these weren't things he needed to dwell on; right now he had to find a way to earn the cultivation fee. Otherwise he really would be thrown out of the Qingyun Pavilion. "How did you do that?" Only then did the old yellow ox come back to its senses. Jiang Man glanced at it and said with a straight face, "Natural talent." Old Yellow Ox: "…" As if it would believe that. Even a good-luck marriage couldn't work this well. "You didn't have this talent before," the old yellow ox said with certainty. Jiang Man shrugged, thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe it's from marrying a wife? Why don't you go marry one and try, Senior? You might just awaken the same talent as me." Old Yellow Ox: "…" On that note, Jiang Man asked curiously, "You still haven't said what the background of that immortal maiden is, or whether she might find us at any moment, Senior." Jiang Man had a feeling the other party wasn't someone to be trifled with, and on top of that he felt rather guilty. After all, he was the one who'd brought her back. If she sent people to come after him, then he'd truly have something to look forward to for the rest of his life. Hearing this, the old yellow ox fell silent for a moment before saying, "Her origins are hard to say, but there's a strong chance she's from the Immortal Gate. If you get the chance to join the Immortal Gate, you can try using your peerless prodigy fate to ask around and confirm who she is. After all, getting entangled with a fate through marriage is no ordinary matter—it should be easy enough to find out about. As for whether she might appear at any time, that's unlikely." Jiang Man was puzzled. "Why?" The old yellow ox explained, "Because when the Magpie Bridge isn't open, the river can't flow out. They came drifting down along the river, so their previous location can't be pinned down." "The Magpie Bridge? How long until the Magpie Bridge opens?" Jiang Man asked. Hearing this, the old yellow ox fell silent for a moment before saying, "About once a year. But even so, it isn't easy to pinpoint our location, and even with some clues, she can't descend in her true body. You don't need to worry too much. The one who should be worried is me—she really might strike back at me from afar." Jiang Man was silent for a moment. Though the other party wouldn't come for now, she was someone from the Immortal Gate. The Immortal Gate held a lofty position; at present, everything the masses relied on to survive came from the Four Great Immortal Gates. He hadn't expected that someone the old yellow ox had casually picked would come from a place like that. Having provoked such a person, his future was likely to be hard. Suddenly he felt the peerless prodigy fate tremble. Only then did he realize. Not just his future. His present was already hard enough. Just then, he found that a flawless pill had appeared within his peerless prodigy fate. The pill drifted down and settled into his dantian. It lay there quietly, waiting to be absorbed. Though he didn't know what pill it was, Jiang Man could sense that it held a great deal of spiritual qi—enough to let a cultivator get twice the results for half the effort. Seeing this, Jiang Man recalled the record in the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books: "Can be unsealed layer by layer to obtain the inheritance." So as long as he completed what was written, he'd gain the inheritance? Jiang Man was overjoyed. A fine thing. After the pill settled into his dantian, the peerless prodigy fate changed once more. As Jiang Man tried to make sense of it, the mysterious change was once again parsed and read out. [Peerless Prodigy Fate] [As a peerless prodigy, cultivation is as easy as drinking water. So long as your body allows, you can surely cultivate one hundred times a day, and raise the Visualization Method to the thirteenth layer within a hundred days.] [Should you fail, you will suffer a fate backlash.] [All cultivation lost.] He'd rejoiced too soon. This requirement felt a little unreasonable. The only good news was that the fate backlash wouldn't kill him. After learning all this, Jiang Man didn't conceal it and told the old yellow ox. Hearing there was a pill, the ox asked for the details, then was stunned. "A Flawless Spirit Gathering Pill. This fate really is a good thing." The Flawless Spirit Gathering Pill held powerful spiritual qi and could linger in the body for a long time, waiting to be absorbed, without dissipating on its own the way an ordinary Spirit Gathering Pill would. Then Jiang Man told of the new requirement. Hearing this, the shock froze on the old yellow ox's face. Looking at Jiang Man, it sighed. "Same as I said before: eat whatever you want to eat, do whatever you want to do, and leave no regrets. It's a bit harder, but at least you can live for a hundred days. That's far better than the three days before." Jiang Man: "…" Wasn't that a little pessimistic? It wasn't until the old yellow ox told him that the Visualization Method required the sixth layer of Qi-Linking to cultivate that he was stunned. At the very beginning, one cultivated the Qi-Linking Method to draw in spiritual qi. At the third layer of Qi-Linking, one had to refine the qi and blood to strengthen the body's capacity to bear spiritual qi. At the sixth layer of Qi-Linking, one had to cultivate the Visualization Method to raise spiritual power and steadily control spiritual qi. Otherwise, one could easily fail to withstand the spiritual qi or lose control of it, and fall into qi deviation. Learning all this, Jiang Man felt that the peerless prodigy fate truly didn't treat him as a human being. Jiang Man asked the old yellow ox whether reaching the sixth layer of Qi-Linking within a hundred days was possible. The ox said it was, but it would take peerless talent and a great deal of resources. And some of those resources simply weren't available in Luoyun City. If he got through this time, the later requirements would surely be even greater. Luoyun City's foundation was probably not enough. He had to find a way to join a sect. Jiang Man fell silent. One moment he was about to be thrown out of the Qingyun Pavilion, and the next he was expected to pass an assessment and join a sect. The ups and downs of this single day were a little too frequent. Watching him, even the old yellow ox felt that this one day of his had been more eventful than the past ten-odd years. Telling him to look out for himself, the old yellow ox went out to graze. By now, night had fallen. Jiang Man had no heart for rest. First, he'd see what had been stashed in this room over the years. After a moment. Jiang Man looked at the three books on the table, a wooden sword, and three jin of coarse rice, and let out a long sigh. This was everything he owned. The room was frighteningly clean; for the sake of the wedding, it had been tidied up quite nicely. The three books were the Simple Qi-Refining Method, the Divine Travel Step, and the Beginner's Guide. Not a single coin. And what use was the wooden sword? Jiang Man examined it closely; the workmanship was crude—just a toy he'd brought from the village. Afterward, Jiang Man found a river, washed himself, and cleaned his clothes too. By the time he'd finished and dressed, it was already the next day. Starting today, he had to cultivate a hundred times. But first he had to get up early to feed the horses. His cultivation fee was paid by the village, but his living expenses he had to earn himself. So he'd settled by the Qingyun Pavilion's stable, tending horses every day. Over the course of a month, he could at least get a meal out of it. "Is anyone there? Come help!" He had just stepped out when Jiang Man heard an anxious voice from over by the stable.