A new record in the heavenly book

Jiang Man paid these people no heed.

He left the Sixth Courtyard straight away.

He had seen the look on Little Fatty's face and felt that next time, he should not tell him about cultivating in secret.

Then he would go back and cultivate in secret.

That way, the other fellow would let his guard down.

Overtaking him would be quite convenient, too.

By repeating the process afterward, he could soon overtake the top three and become one of them.

After that, he would overtake first and second place.

He first went to the management office to collect the rest of this month's payment for his work at the stables: ten pounds of coarse rice. Originally, he received five pounds a month; with twice that amount added, it came to fifteen pounds a month.

At least he could more or less scrape by without going hungry.

Cultivation consumed physical strength, so it was actually still not enough, but it was far better than before.

Only after taking everything back did he head to the Guard Office.

The Guard Office was subordinate to the Cloudfront Office.

It was also located within the Cloudfront Office.

It was not considered dangerous.

Outside the Guard Office's main entrance, Jiang Man took a careful look around.

The blue-gray walls gleamed coldly in the twilight. Bronze wind chimes hung from the eaves of an arrow tower thirty feet high, swinging in the evening breeze with dull clangs.

Two worn stone suanni stood on either side of the Guard Department's main entrance.

Through the entrance, he could see two guards sitting at a table off to one side.

They were looking at him.

"Where do you study cultivation?" the middle-aged guard asked.

Jiang Man walked over and replied politely, "Azure Cloud Pavilion."

"What are you here for?" the man asked again.

"To find work. Here's my letter of recommendation." As he spoke, Jiang Man handed over the envelope in his hand.

The middle-aged man glanced at it. "Do you know who to ask for?"

Jiang Man shook his head.

The man then looked at Jiang Man without saying a word.

Jiang Man immediately said, "My family has suffered some upheaval, and I'm a little short on funds. But my score ranks first in my courtyard, so it's not as though I have no chance of further opportunities. If you two seniors give me some guidance today, I'll certainly repay you generously in the future."

First from the bottom was still first.

The two guards exchanged a look, then pointed inside and told him exactly where to go, along with a few simple precautions.

Jiang Man thanked them and immediately headed inside.

Watching him leave, the younger guard said, "First place. Do you believe him?"

"I don't. Do you?" the middle-aged man asked in return.

"Neither do I. Then why did you help him?"

"He's thick-skinned. People like that can easily succeed by taking an unorthodox path, and they're petty, too. I'm afraid he'll succeed and hold a grudge against me."

"..."

Soon, Jiang Man found the place, explained why he had come, and took the opportunity to produce his letter of recommendation.

The steward in charge was a middle-aged woman.

Looking at the letter, she said, "You're Jiang Man? Mr. Zhao mentioned you to me. You can do anything?"

Jiang Man nodded. "May I ask what you need me to do?"

"Do you have any requirements?" the steward asked, looking at Jiang Man.

After a little thought, Jiang Man said, "Ideally, I'd be able to cultivate."

"Here, our only worry is that you won't cultivate." The steward smiled. "What was your score?"

Jiang Man fell silent for a moment. "Zero."

The steward, who had been taking notes, froze and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

She seemed unable to quite believe it.

No wonder Zhao Leming had not explained clearly.

So this was what he had waiting for her.

"Do you know the Qi Refining Method?" Steward Miao asked.

Jiang Man nodded. "Yes."

Hearing that, Steward Miao nodded, then said, "You'll just about do."

Then she looked at Jiang Man. "In that case, thirty Spirit Sources a day. As for the hours, you'll start in the evening. Two hours will be enough."

Spirit Sources were a simple currency used in cultivation.

Spirit Stones varied in size and had been unsuitable as currency for many years.

After the Immortal Gate established widespread order, they had changed it accordingly.

Using a special method, they refined Spirit Stones into sturdier Spirit Sources that were difficult to absorb. For ordinary people, they could only serve as currency.

Jiang Man had no idea whether thirty Spirit Sources a day was a lot or a little.

But when he thought of his score, he understood: it was definitely very little.

"What will I be doing, then?" Jiang Man asked.

Only two hours-that really suited him.

It would leave him plenty of time to cultivate.

"Take this token around back." Steward Miao instructed someone to take Jiang Man there.

Afterward, a maid led Jiang Man to a room with "Spirit-Gathering Hall" written above it.

Then Jiang Man was led into the main hall, where there were eighty-one statues.

Half of the statues were glowing.

The maid then took Jiang Man behind a statue near the edge and opened a door in it.

Inside was a small room.

"What is this?" Jiang Man asked in confusion.

"Go inside. All you need to do is keep circulating the Qi Refining Method in there. The formation has to light up to show you're working. If the light goes out for too long, you won't get today's Spirit Sources," the maid explained.

"You have to light up at least three beads inside within two hours. For every extra bead, you get five more Spirit Sources.

"Any other questions?"

"All I have to do is sit inside and cultivate? I don't need to do anything else?" Jiang Man asked the maid beside him, who was twenty-five or twenty-six.

She nodded. "If you don't finish, you most likely won't get those thirty Spirit Sources. Also, once you begin, you must not make a sound.

"We'll keep an eye on your safety."

Jiang Man kept nodding, though inwardly he thought that if there was danger, he would be unable to circulate the Qi Refining Method. How could they not come to check immediately?

Once the maid left, the door was shut as well, with the promise that it would be opened in two hours.

After entering, Jiang Man discovered that the space inside was quite roomy, with a large number of white beads embedded all around.

At present, only one bead was lit. All he needed to do was circulate the Qi Refining Method.

Before doing so, he first touched it and connected with the Heavenly Mirror of a Hundred Books.

The book's pages immediately began turning without pause. Jiang Man had thought it would stop on the final page.

And give him a line saying, "Not worth mentioning."

But something unexpected happened: the book stopped on page thirty-six.

This left Jiang Man rather taken aback.

Such a high page number?

Immediately afterward, text appeared.

[Ninefold Origin Spirit Formation (incomplete): The Ninefold Origin Spirit Formation reverses the greater tide through a formation, gathers the fortune of the Great Dao, converts spiritual essence, and showers down spiritual qi, nourishing barren lands and parched mountains and rivers. This is a simplified, incomplete version that can absorb spiritual qi from the human body and convert it into pure spiritual qi for cultivation.]

[Record the Ninefold Origin Spirit Formation (1/4) to obtain one wisp of spell-art innate qi (available to claim).]

An unexpected delight. Jiang Man had never imagined this formation had such an impressive origin.

This spell-art innate qi was presumably similar to cultivation method purple qi.

Except that this was used to cultivate spell arts.

It seemed his progress in spell arts should not be too slow, either.

Without further hesitation, Jiang Man began circulating the Qi Refining Method. For his first attempt, he did not dare use his full strength.

He circulated it slowly. After one full cycle, the spiritual qi that should have settled in his Dantian was absorbed by the formation.

It felt as though it was being forcibly pulled out of his body.

It was slightly painful. The formation was probably too crude; over time, this would cause some damage to the body.

"No wonder it's only two hours. The body might not hold up."

"I wonder if the complete version has side effects like this."

Afterward, Jiang Man began circulating the Qi Refining Method at full strength. At the final moment, he diverted a portion of the spiritual qi toward the formation, while the rest settled in his Dantian.

"This works."

Because his score was low, the formation absorbed little from him as well.

Roughly the amount of the Qi Refining Method's third level.

The rest was his.

And because the quantity was large, the damage to his body was negligible.

Still, he did not know whether trading slower cultivation progress for Spirit Sources was a loss or a gain.

But obtaining spell-art innate qi made it a gain.

Two hours later.

Jiang Man had circulated the Qi Refining Method dozens of times, and now the first gourd was completely full.

Click!

The door slowly opened.

It was the maid from earlier.

She checked the white beads. Three were indeed lit.

"You stopped six times along the way. Be more careful next time," the maid said.

Jiang Man was a little surprised. They can be that precise?

"Come over. The steward has a few words to say before the Spirit Sources are handed out," the maid said.

Jiang Man had only just stepped outside when he heard Steward Miao's voice. "Today, let me introduce a newcomer. His score in the rear courtyard was zero. Even someone like him has come here to work. This fully demonstrates his refusal to accept his prospects.

"If even he can do this, are you going to keep slacking off?

"I dare say that if any of you here succeeds in the future,

"it will definitely be this newcomer.

"Zero points. Have you ever seen that?

"Someone like him is as good as disabled, yet though his body is impaired, his resolve stands firm.

"Why can't he be among those who succeed?"

Jiang Man: "..."

May your name appear on the golden honor roll!