As they waited, the middle-aged man grew somewhat anxious.
Standing by the doorway, he craned his neck to peer inside, then glanced back toward Jiang Man.
Seeing this, Jiang Man naturally backed away and entered the pavilion, slipping half his body into the shadows.
He would not be easily noticed there, yet the gate remained clearly in view.
As a guard, it was his duty to watch whether anyone entered.
Leaving was of little concern, but entry had to be strictly regulated.
From the shadows, Jiang Man saw Fang Yong come out.
Looking back at the middle-aged man now, he noticed that the man stood ramrod straight, with not the slightest hint that his foot was injured.
When Fang Yong stepped up to him, his expression was sour.
His mouth moved a few times, his face tinged with reproach as he appeared to curse at the man.
Jiang Man did not bother to channel spiritual qi to listen in on the exact words.
The middle-aged man had just wanted him out of the way, so it was only natural to respect the pride of those involved.
As for whose pride it was, that remained to be seen.
The middle-aged man merely lowered his head and offered an apologetic smile. Only after Fang Yong finished speaking did he produce a pouch.
With a smile, he handed it over.
It was presumably the spirit source.
Taking the spirit source, Fang Yong said something more, adding another sentence this time.
Jiang Man simply watched.
Then Fang Yong turned and went back inside, seemingly tossing out another warning as he left.
The middle-aged man merely nodded and smiled obsequiously.
He stood on tiptoe, watching Fang Yong disappear before finally taking the weight off his injured foot.
A look of agony crossed his face.
Jiang Man stepped out of the shadows, sat down in the pavilion, and beckoned to the middle-aged man.
The man came over and sat down, asking curiously, "Did something happen in the Qingyun Pavilion?"
Jiang Man was puzzled. "Why do you ask that?"
"I feel... our young master doesn't seem to be getting enough rest. He speaks less, and he's in such a rush." The middle-aged man paused, then looked at Jiang Man respectfully. "I took the master's family name, so I'm also surnamed Fang. They all call me Butler Fang. May I ask the guard lord's name...?"
"My surname is Jiang," Jiang Man said.
As for what the man had noticed, that was naturally because Fang Yong had run out of time as well.
When he himself did not rest, and Luo Xuan did not rest, on what grounds could Fang Yong afford to rest?
Did he dare to?
Jiang Man simply shook his head, choosing not to tell the man the truth.
"Do you plan to head back?" Jiang Man asked, glancing at the sky.
"I plan to rest nearby for a bit and set off at daybreak." As he spoke, Butler Fang pulled out the finest-looking steamed bun from his sack and offered it to Jiang Man, trying to curry favor. "Would Guard Jiang care for a bite?"
Looking at the bun made of coarse grains, Jiang Man reached out and took it. "You're leaving at dawn?"
"Leaving at dawn," Butler Fang replied with a smile and a nod.
This area belonged to the guards; not just anyone was permitted to rest here.
"Then take a seat in the pavilion. You can leave once dawn breaks." With that, Jiang Man began eating the bun as he walked out of the pavilion.
He prepared to cultivate.
From behind came the man's effusive words of gratitude.
Before long, when Jiang Man looked back toward the pavilion, he saw that the man had curled up on the ground against the edge and fallen asleep.
His hand clutched the grain sack tightly, terrified that the provisions might drop.
Yet the spot Jiang Man had vacated actually had a soft cushion.
The man had not dared to sit on it.
Jiang Man moved a bit farther away and began cultivating.
This time, he circulated the Qi-Linking Method to enhance his cultivation.
He deliberately swallowed a Spirit Gathering Pill so he could advance faster.
Otherwise, he would just be wasting time.
He continued until the horizon showed the pale white of dawn.
Butler Fang woke up immediately, using his sleeve to wipe down the spot where he had sat.
Then he prepared to leave.
Jiang Man had long since finished meditating. Chewing on the remaining half of the bun, he asked, "Leaving already?"
"Guard Jiang." Butler Fang bowed respectfully. "Forgive me for troubling you, Guard Lord. It is dawn now, and I am pressed for time."
Jiang Man waved the bun in his hand. "The bun was quite good."
Saying so, he fumbled about his person and tossed over a medicinal plaster. "A token of thanks for you."
It was a plaster meant for treating external injuries.
Catching the plaster, Butler Fang hastily moved to refuse.
But Jiang Man simply waved him farewell.
The man did not dare defy him.
In the end, he expressed his deep gratitude before circulating the Divine Travel Step and departing.
With that, Jiang Man ate his bun and headed for the Qingyun Pavilion's Sixth Courtyard.
As the top ranker, he had to continue leading the courtyard in cultivation.
Along the way, he would borrow some Spirit Gathering Pills from little fatty.
This time, little fatty lent him five.
For the final ten days, Jiang Man intended to take Spirit Gathering Pills continuously to raise his cultivation.
He also converted all his spirit source into Spirit Gathering Pills.
Ten pills in total.
That brought his supply to fifteen.
Coupled with the ninth layer of the Qi-Linking Method, a breakthrough was well within reach.
Days slipped by, one after another.
Jiang Man's cultivation rose steadily.
With so many Spirit Gathering Pills, the water within the sixth gourd rose at a pace visible to the naked eye.
After one day:
Twenty percent.
After two days:
Thirty percent.
After four days:
Fifty percent.
After seven days:
Seventy percent.
September 14:
Ninety-nine percent.
The Spirit Gathering Pills were exhausted.
At the same time, his physical body smoothly attained the Physical Body Fourth Layer.
As long as the gourd was filled to the brim, he would meet every condition to advance to the Qi-Linking seventh layer:
Qi-Linking sixth layer, Physical Body Fourth Layer, Spirit First Layer.
During this time, Jiang Man had not dared neglect his spells either.
Teacher Fu taught continuously, placing heavy emphasis on spells.
Teacher Zhao held fewer lectures.
By now, Jiang Man had brought every spell he had acquired to the ninth layer.
Yet his practical application still lacked refinement.
He lacked real combat training.
He approached Manager Miao several times.
However, finding a sparring partner required someone with rich combat experience.
Consequently, Jiang Man could only use Luo Xuan and the others to practice.
Unfortunately, those people merely fed him moves.
They had no intention of exposing their true strength.
Even so, Jiang Man felt a measure of confidence if it came down to a fight.
After all, he absorbed spiritual qi through the ninth layer of the Qi-Linking Method.
The sheer weight of his spiritual qi was entirely on a different level from theirs.
Yet sometimes, raw power alone was not enough—unless that power vastly surpassed the enemy's.
"Brother Jiang, are you nervous?" In the courtyard, little fatty came up beside Jiang Man and asked.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to calm his inner turmoil.
Jiang Man looked at him in surprise. "You're nervous?"
"How could I not be? Tomorrow is a brand-new assessment: the qualification contention tournament," little fatty said.
"Did you make it into the top five?" Jiang Man asked, sounding somewhat uncertain.
He had been focusing so intensely on his cultivation lately that he had not paid much attention to little fatty.
"No, but tomorrow is the assessment where I get eliminated from contention," little fatty sighed. "From then on, I'll have nothing more to do with the Wuyun Sect.
"I won't ever have another opportunity like this in my life.
"It basically means that starting tomorrow, my life heads down a new path.
"Though we can continue studying at the Qingyun Pavilion for another half-year, the path to the sect will have nothing to do with people like us anymore."
Jiang Man nodded. That was true enough.
Starting tomorrow, they would face the turning point of their destinies.
It was only natural to feel nervous.
The same held true for him. Although he had taken first place before, no one would be standing still this month.
Perhaps someone had already taken another step forward.
Before the dust settled, one could never afford to let their guard down.
"Brother Jiang, aside from you, who do you think will be the second person to secure a spot?" little fatty suddenly asked.
Jiang Man pondered for a moment before saying, "Chang Qiwen is the least likely."
Jiang Man had fought him before; although his spell mastery was decent, it was merely decent.
It lagged far behind Luo Xuan's.
Nor was it enough to hold up before Fang Yong.
Luo Xuan had been ranked first previously, so by logic, she had the highest probability.
Yet...
Someone backed Chang Qiwen, and that person was very likely Cheng Yu.
Under deliberate targeting from outside the ring, the outcome inside would inevitably be affected.
Thus, Cheng Yu's chances of winning were also quite high.
By comparison, Fang Yong seemed somewhat ordinary, with the lowest odds of winning.
Beyond that, Jiang Man also worried about himself—wondering if he, too, had fallen into someone's schemes.
Chapter 43