Still, Jiang Man accepted the spirit sources. What he lacked most right now were spirit sources.
Then he said earnestly, "It's fine. Friends are made after a fight. Usually, I don't hold grudges."
*Usually* wouldn't. Li Yuan wondered: if he hadn't come today, would he have fallen outside those "usual" circumstances?
Most likely.
Still, the other party truly did seem short on spirit sources.
He actually lived in a place like this.
A poor man...
As expected, gifting spirit sources directly had been the right move.
But before he could say anything more, he suddenly spotted someone else approaching.
The newcomer was actually the second rank of Qingyun Pavilion.
Fang Tianyi.
Jiang Man felt that today was a good day.
Another distinguished guest had arrived.
Surely he wasn't here to make things difficult for him?
"Young Master Jiang, let's keep it brief. Take a look at this." Without wasting words, Fang Tianyi handed over a pouch directly.
Jiang Man took it.
Right in front of Li Yuan, he counted through it.
Six thousand spirit sources?
Jiang Man froze. Now this really was making things difficult for him.
With this much, he felt too embarrassed to even offer polite pleasantries.
"Young Master Fang and I also became friends after a fight. I forgot all the other matters long ago," Jiang Man said solemnly.
Li Yuan: "..."
*That wasn't what you said to me just now.*
Before leaving, Fang Tianyi asked curiously if Jiang Man really didn't sleep at night.
Jiang Man said the old yellow ox could vouch for him.
The two of them: "..."
Once the two departed, Jiang Man shrugged. "Why is it that every time I tell the truth, nobody believes me?"
The old yellow ox kept its head down grazing, showing not the slightest reaction throughout.
Meanwhile, Li Yuan and Fang Tianyi walked together as they left.
"What did you mean back there?" Li Yuan asked.
"What do you mean, what did I mean?" Fang Tianyi countered.
"I only gave two thousand, and you gave six thousand? Doesn't that make me look stingy?" Li Yuan asked.
Hearing this, Fang Tianyi paused and looked at him in bewilderment. "Did you only just realize that?"
With that, Fang Tianyi quickened his pace and walked off. "Instead of staring at me, you'd better look after yourself. Your trouble might be arriving soon."
Li Yuan was taken aback. After a moment of silence, he headed toward his own courtyard.
——
Having acquired eight thousand spirit sources, Jiang Man felt quite delighted.
Eight thousand, plus the sixteen hundred he had left from the past few days...
That was ninety-six hundred.
If not for having spent a fair amount on cultivation over the last few days, he would have easily had ten thousand spirit sources.
So much.
His future cultivation would be far more comfortable.
However, judging by his current progress, it was still far from enough to advance to the Qi-Linking ninth layer.
The eighth "gourd" was like a bottomless pit.
He had only accumulated about five percent so far.
It would only get harder from here.
And others were definitely making steady progress as well.
Slowing down meant falling behind.
Over the next two or three days, he studied and cultivated as usual.
Returning from practice that day, Jiang Man prepared something to eat for himself.
He intended to keep taking Spirit Gathering Pills to raise his cultivation.
Yet before he could begin, Chang Qiwen arrived.
"I'm here to deliver a letter," he said.
Hearing that, Jiang Man was quite surprised. Remembering how Cheng Yu had delivered a letter before, he asked instinctively, "An admiration letter?"
Chang Qiwen looked utterly bewildered.
In the end, he pulled out a letter from the Technique Transmission Office and said, "This is an additional envelope temporarily issued by the Technique Transmission Office. Only three people in Qingyun Pavilion received one.
"The top three of Qingyun Pavilion."
Jiang Man, initially a bit embarrassed, looked at the envelope in puzzlement.
It was only the second week of April. Why would there be such a letter?
The Technique Transmission Office usually sent letters only when competing for techniques.
With a curious mind, Jiang Man opened the envelope.
To his surprise, it was an offer of technique transmission.
And it was someone visiting from the sect to transmit techniques.
It stated that they would stay here for one day and could teach middle-grade cultivation techniques to the top three of each pavilion:
A middle-grade Qi-Linking Method, a middle-grade Qi-Blood Method, and a middle-grade Visualization Method.
In the Yunqian Division, such an opportunity was virtually impossible to come by.
Jiang Man naturally wanted it.
Especially since he currently lacked only a middle-grade Qi-Blood Method.
Obtaining it would allow him to advance even faster.
However...
When he read to the very end, he froze entirely.
It required ten thousand spirit sources as a cultivation fee for learning and training.
Moreover, it had to be paid in full within two days.
Unlike the earlier experimental transmission, this transmission might be slightly inferior, but one was guaranteed to learn it. The catch, however, was that it cost money.
Yet not just anyone could pay the cultivation fee to study.
One had to be in the top three of their respective pavilion.
Chang Qiwen asked curiously, "Can I see?"
Jiang Man handed it directly to him.
Afterward, Chang Qiwen showed a look of astonishment. But after a moment's thought, he ventured, "You don't have enough spirit sources?"
Jiang Man looked at him. "Are you going to lend me some?"
Chang Qiwen indeed wanted to lend.
He felt Jiang Man's talent truly was extraordinary, and lending to him to earn some interest was entirely viable.
Still, he had been mulling it over these past few days.
After all, spirit sources were vital to him as well.
"How much do you want to borrow?" Chang Qiwen asked cautiously.
Jiang Man was surprised; Chang Qiwen actually still had spirit sources.
He was truly a wealthy poor man.
Completely different from a genuinely impoverished poor man like himself.
"Ten thousand," Jiang Man said without hesitation.
"Don't have that." Chang Qiwen shook his head.
"Eight thousand?"
Still shook his head.
"Then you tell me how much."
"Three thousand. Just like before, you repay me thirty-five hundred in September. Together with the rest, that makes seven thousand."
"Deal."
When Jiang Man received the spirit sources, he said earnestly, "You will be glad for the choice you made today."
Chang Qiwen asked curiously, "So you have enough spirit sources to go to the Technique Transmission Office?"
Jiang Man offered a mysterious smile and didn't answer.
Seeing this, Chang Qiwen asked no further. After reminding him to remember to pay back the spirit sources, he left.
He still had to keep doing work to earn spirit sources.
"Are you going to learn the middle-grade Qi-Blood Method?" the old yellow ox asked casually.
Jiang Man lowered his gaze, put away the envelope, and murmured, "Old Yellow, what do you think of my talent?"
"Very high," the old yellow ox replied truthfully.
Although it sometimes felt the youth was too full of himself, his talent was undeniable.
So strong that it even made the ox wonder if taking a wife really worked.
"Right. Then do you think the gap between layer nine of a Qi-Blood Method and layer eleven of a Qi-Blood Method is large?" Jiang Man looked at the old yellow ox.
"Large," the old yellow ox answered calmly. In the Qi Refining realm, the difference between the ninth and eleventh layers was night and day.
Jiang Man smiled and shook his head, saying with mock disdain, "Old Yellow, you're not as clever as me. You don't know how to do math."
Without waiting for the ox to ask, Jiang Man went on, "A middle-grade Qi-Blood Method is certainly good, and as it happens, I can indeed scrape together enough spirit sources to afford it. But it took me seven days to master the middle-grade Qi-Linking Method. By the same token, a middle-grade Qi-Blood Method would also take me about seven days."
"Is seven days that long?" The old yellow ox hardly felt like entertaining such a question.
"Seven days is far too long," Jiang Man said, serious and resolute. "The third competition could begin at any moment in mid-June, leaving only sixty-odd days.
"Seven days takes up a significant portion of that.
"Furthermore, ten thousand spirit sources are not easy to earn.
"Having the chance to obtain this much now was a stroke of luck; I won't have such an opportunity next time."
Jiang Man looked at the expressionless old yellow ox and said, "As a peerless prodigy, what I want has never been a middle-grade cultivation technique.
"What I have always wanted is very simple.
"And that is...
"Number one in the Yunqian Division!"
The final wide-scale announcement of the rankings would come right after the June competition.
The old yellow ox looked at Jiang Man, fell silent for a moment, and then resumed grazing.
After a brief pause, it suddenly spoke: "Ambitious enough, but saying it yourself takes away some of the impact."
——
At noon the next day.
Old Jin of the Li family made inquiries with the relevant people and confirmed one thing:
Jiang Man had not submitted the cultivation fee to learn any middle-grade cultivation technique.
"It is time to go and speak with him."
Chapter 76