Upon inquiring, Jiang Man discovered that Fang Yong had not engaged in reselling or scalping at all.
Why was that?
Did he not believe it?
Fang Yong then said calmly, "I'm poor."
Jiang Man fell silent for a moment.
It made perfect sense.
Young Master Fang was poor, too.
Afterward, Jiang Man brought up that person.
"All I know is that she's a student cultivator from the Three Towers, and that her family is quite wealthy. But oddly enough, she's been reaching out to poor people lately, especially poor people who haven't bound themselves to contracts," Fang Yong said after a moment of thought. "Aside from you and me, she's probably summoned others as well. She likely has some specific motive.
"As for whether it's good or bad for us, we can only wait and see when we get there."
With that, Fang Yong looked at Jiang Man. "With talent as high as yours, you ought to be careful. It might end up like the Luo family."
The Luo family had constantly been looking to recruit a son-in-law.
"A woman?" Jiang Man asked.
"Yes." Fang Yong nodded.
Jiang Man wasn't surprised, though it likely wasn't that.
Not everyone suffered from a generational gap like the Luo family.
Her true motive would indeed only become clear once they arrived.
As for how she could provide pills at the original price, the reason was obvious enough.
She had warned Fang Yong earlier, so she had likely stockpiled a substantial amount in advance.
Originally, she would have had to offer a considerable price to get them to come knocking on her door voluntarily.
Now, the mere offer of pills at their original price was enough.
Poor student cultivators truly had it harder than anyone else.
Furthermore, the major families' move was truly pulling the rug out from under everyone.
A surge in prices could legitimately crush student cultivators right at the sect's doorstep.
If they didn't sign, they couldn't enter the sect; if they did sign, entering the sect meant having to work for the major families.
So, to sign or not to sign?
More often than not, those lacking spirit sources had no choice at all.
While Jiang Man seemed to have a choice, under soaring prices, he effectively had none either.
What he pursued was first place.
Yet at current prices, his spirit sources were nowhere near enough.
To take first place, he had to reach the Qi-Linking ninth layer.
Thus, he too had been backed into a corner by the major families over whether to sign or not.
He could only hope Fang Yong's connection would yield some results.
A short while later.
The two arrived before the courtyard of a residence.
Fang Yong knocked gently on the gate in a distinct rhythm.
Moments later, the gate was opened by a young woman.
She looked no older than eighteen or nineteen, with delicate features and a smile on her face.
"Young Master Fang has arrived?" She glanced at Jiang Man and said softly, "Brought a friend? That makes everyone. Please, come inside."
With that, she gestured for them to enter.
Jiang Man followed Fang Yong inside.
In the courtyard, there were three others.
Two men and one woman.
Judging by their clothes, they were clearly poor.
Only marginally better off than Jiang Man.
Fang Yong, on the other hand, looked somewhat out of place.
The clothes he wore unmistakably belonged to the style of a wealthy scion.
Otherwise, how could the Sixth Courtyard ever have called him Young Master Fang?
Their gazes were all fixed on Fang Yong.
They were unsure whether he was actually a poor person.
Yet seeing Jiang Man, they had no need to guess.
Some even wore expressions of superiority.
None of them spoke, however.
Once Jiang Man and Fang Yong took their seats, the woman who had opened the gate sat down as well and said with a smile, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wang Yan, and I'm the one who can sell you pills at their original price.
"Naturally, I have my own motives, so I'd like to know your names and your best rankings."
Hearing this, Jiang Man blinked. That was his strong suit.
The only woman among the other three spoke first. Her skin was dark, looking as though it had been weathered by years of sun exposure. "Lin Minmin, ranked sixteenth in Moonviewing Tower."
The mature-looking man to her left spoke next. "Gao Feng, ranked fourteenth in Moonviewing Tower."
The tall, thin man on the other side spoke at an unhurried pace. "Yu Cheng, ranked sixteenth in Baili Tower."
Jiang Man was somewhat surprised to hear this. They were all from the Three Towers.
Moreover, ranking around fifteenth meant they were stronger than Fang Yong.
Judging from subtle signs, these people might all be at the Qi-Linking seventh layer.
Was the gap between the Towers and the Pavilions really this large?
At that moment, everyone looked toward Fang Yong.
"Fang Yong, ninth in Qingyun Pavilion," he said slowly.
Fang Yong's ranking climbed that fast? Jiang Man thought to himself.
Back when he had been fourteenth, Fang Yong had been sixteenth or seventeenth.
Now he was already ninth.
Very fast.
Next was Jiang Man.
"Jiang Man, second in the Six Pavilions." Jiang Man looked at them after speaking.
Sure enough, all of them showed looks of astonishment.
This was the expression of witnessing a prodigy.
Yet this was only the beginning.
They would be even more astonished in the future.
Wang Yan also gave Jiang Man a deep, meaningful look. She hadn't expected the second-ranked cultivator of the Six Pavilions to come.
He had never mingled with wealthy young masters, so she hadn't been able to approach him directly.
It would have been too abrupt.
Fang Yong, however, had delivered her a pleasant surprise.
Though she had yet to see what this second-ranked cultivator of the Six Pavilions was made of.
Wang Yan soon turned to the group and said, "Then allow me to first explain what I can offer you. Right now, the outside price of pills has already reached five hundred, faster than anticipated.
"In past years, it would peak at six hundred at most, but this time there is a chance it might hit six hundred and fifty.
"Therefore, buying pills from me now saves you two hundred spirit sources per pill.
"The maximum number I can purchase for each of you is thirty.
"At most, this can save you six thousand spirit sources.
"However, this opportunity is only valid for this month. I'll be leaving at the end of the month."
With that, she produced five books and handed them out one by one. "What I want in return is very simple. Here is an excerpt from a cultivation technique. I'd like you to help draw the circulation diagram for the technique within.
"Just do your best.
"Consider it broadening your knowledge as well.
"You have about three shichen."
Jiang Man was puzzled. Doing something like this?
Why look for poor people for a task like this?
Her actions were rather baffling, but Jiang Man didn't ask further.
He had come here to buy pills.
As long as he succeeded, that was all that mattered.
Then he opened the book.
He saw a line of writing reminiscent of the superior-grade Visualization Method, but with different terminology; the cryptic, obscure feeling, however, was identical.
Superior-grade?
Jiang Man was stunned. Through Zhao Leming, he had learned one thing:
Superior-grade cultivation techniques were extraordinarily rare.
Was this person before him among the top three of the Yunqian Division?
To be capable of obtaining a superior-grade cultivation technique?
Jiang Man then read through it and found it was completely different from a Visualization Method. What was more, it was also different from a Qi-Linking Method.
After all, he had learned a middle-grade Qi-Linking Method; if it were similar, he would have been able to make out something.
So...
A superior-grade Qi and Blood Method.
It was over. That was his weakest area of knowledge.
This was practically bullying.
Jiang Man strove to finish reading it.
He discovered that many of the terms were unfamiliar, leaving him no choice but to extrapolate using what he had learned before.
Unfortunately, this wasn't about cultivating it directly. His talent lay in actual cultivation, not academic theory.
After all, when it came to theory, he had the old yellow ox.
He never spent time dwelling on it.
Jiang Man cast a subtle glance at Fang Yong and the others.
Every one of them was engrossed in concentration.
Whether they knew how to do it or not, it gave him the bizarre feeling that he was the failing student of the group.
Jiang Man then began deducing and drafting the diagram.
He could only give it a try. If it didn't work, so be it.
It wasn't as though the pill quota was determined by score, was it?
"By the way, whoever draws the worst diagram will have their pill quota reduced by ten, which will be given to the best performer," Wang Yan suddenly spoke up.
Jiang Man: "..."
Only twenty left?
Was his hoard of thirteen thousand spirit sources going to be completely useless?
To protect his thirty pills, Jiang Man had no choice but to rack his brains and start deducing.
Chapter 80