For ten days, Jiang Man had been cultivating nonstop.
He had left the Sixth Courtyard awash in complaints.
He had forced them to follow suit.
The second from last feared the last would overtake him, while the third from last feared both of them would overtake him.
Just like that, quite a few people had been forced to cultivate alongside him.
They were all waiting for the midmonth rankings to be updated.
Only once they confirmed that the last was still last, or established how much he had improved, could everyone rest easy.
"Brother Jiang, are you confident with half a month left?" the chubby Gao Yao asked Jiang Man cautiously that evening.
Jiang Man smiled. "Aren't you very confident in yourself?"
The chubby boy feigned nonchalance. "Know yourself and your enemy, and you'll never lose a hundred battles. My score is still beyond your reach. Besides, I've improved far more over this past half month than you think."
"Looks like I'll have to go back and work even harder," Jiang Man said with a smile.
The chubby boy: "..."
Why take it so seriously?
It wasn't as if he could actually secure a place.
Wouldn't they all ultimately return home with decent cultivation and spend their lives toiling away?
Was accepting one's own mediocrity really that hard?
Now he had to go back and keep working hard too. His parents had been overjoyed to see him like this lately.
If he ended up last despite all that, then...
He might as well stop living.
"Oh, right, it's September now. Brother Jiang, have you paid your Cultivation Gold?" The chubby boy sounded a little surprised.
Jiang Man nodded. "I have."
"I remember you're from Bei Village, right, Brother Jiang?" the chubby boy asked.
"Yes." Jiang Man nodded. "Why?"
Jiang Man gathered his things, preparing to leave.
He needed to earn spirit sources.
He now had three hundred and sixty spirit sources.
He could buy plenty of things.
As his cultivation rose, he felt that the food at home was becoming insufficient.
His appetite had grown considerably.
This month's coarse grain definitely wouldn't be enough.
Fortunately, he had spirit sources.
Having spirit sources meant having something to rely on.
"I heard some news. Apparently, a genius emerged from Bei Village and skipped the Six Pavilions to enter the first of the Three Towers directly," the chubby boy said.
Jiang Man was rather surprised.
So a genius had emerged.
But even if it hadn't been a genius, just some random suitable person, his Cultivation Gold still wouldn't have been renewed.
Bei Village wasn't wealthy.
Paying Cultivation Gold for so long for a fool like him, who had achieved nothing in two years, had already been the utmost in kindness and duty.
Jiang Man's thoughts on this had never changed. He still bore no resentment whatsoever.
Afterward, Jiang Man arrived at the Spirit-Gathering Hall.
He was now about to break through to qi refining third layer and wanted to try negotiating the price.
However, Steward Miao merely explained earnestly, "We set our rates by scores here. Though you've improved, who working here hasn't?
"If you want to improve more, you should naturally light up more beads.
"You'll put in hard work and earn spirit sources too.
"Two birds with one stone."
Jiang Man wanted to say that he could light up more, but could they raise the base rate?
The other man merely smiled and spoke about the rules.
At that, Jiang Man said no more. He simply felt that this score-based rule was truly unreasonable, holding back a Peerless Heavenly Prodigy like him.
Steward Miao, meanwhile, thought nothing of it.
Wasn't improvement from zero points perfectly normal?
No matter how much he improved, he was merely drawing closer to ordinary workers.
It wasn't worth mentioning.
After finishing his task, Jiang Man returned to the thatched hut by the stable.
He greeted Old Yellow Ox.
Once he confirmed that he was still alive, he continued cultivating.
He was actually curious whether that fairy's retaliation would ever come.
If it didn't, perhaps she wasn't that powerful.
If it did, he would be in danger too.
If someone like that came charging over to kill him, how many lives would he need to die through?
That night.
Jiang Man kept circulating his external cultivation method.
The accumulated spiritual qi spilled out of the second "gourd" little by little.
Until the "gourd" trembled once more, and a third gourd appeared in response.
Some spiritual qi fell into the third gourd.
In an instant, Jiang Man felt the weight in his dantian increase again.
At that moment, Jiang Man felt that this advancement was somewhat different from the previous one.
Before, his essence, qi, and spirit had brimmed over, leaving him in excellent condition.
Now, however, he actually felt somewhat unwell, as though continuing to cultivate would raise his cultivation, but his body would be unable to bear the weight of the third "gourd."
Or rather, his body's limit was the weight of three "gourds."
This discovery left Jiang Man baffled no matter how he pondered it.
He could only ask Old Yellow Ox.
"You're already at qi refining third layer?" Old Yellow Ox looked at Jiang Man with a jumble of emotions.
Could this fellow have been possessed?
He didn't look like it.
Then it had to be because of the marriage.
He had only gotten married, and hadn't even consummated it yet.
Could its lingering effects be this strong?
"It was a little slow. I should have advanced three days ago," Jiang Man said, rather ruefully himself.
If he hadn't gone to earn some spirit sources, he would have reached his current progress three days earlier.
He had traded three days of progress for three hundred and ninety spirit sources.
He didn't know whether that was a loss or a gain.
Old Yellow Ox gazed at Jiang Man, ignored that remark, and continued on his own. "Since you've reached qi refining third layer, you should have felt the weight of spiritual qi.
"Suppose qi refining first layer is a basin of water..."
"A gourd of water," Jiang Man corrected.
Old Yellow Ox glanced at Jiang Man and continued, "Suppose qi refining first layer is a gourd of water. Then, at first, it weighs one gourd of water, and your body barely feels that gourd of water.
"Qi refining second layer adds another gourd of water on top of qi refining first layer.
"It seems like two gourds of water, but in reality, the second gourd weighs more than the first.
"The same goes for the third gourd.
"Although raising your cultivation nourishes your body with spiritual qi, the overall nourishment isn't very great.
"Under those circumstances, bearing three gourds of water...
"Becomes a little too much.
"Especially for someone like you, who advances so quickly. The feeling is even more pronounced.
"There's been too little time for nourishment.
"So, to improve further after qi refining third layer, you need to practice the Qi and Blood Method as well.
"Qi and blood can strengthen your physical body, letting you bear more spiritual qi.
"Otherwise, the spiritual qi of qi refining fourth layer alone will crush your body.
"Once you reach qi refining sixth layer, the weight of your spiritual qi will have reached another degree entirely.
"Moving your spiritual qi will consume more mental energy, and you may even be unable to control that heavy spiritual qi because you lack sufficient mental energy.
"Thus suffering cultivation deviation.
"So after qi refining sixth layer, you need to practice the Visualization Method to strengthen your mind."
Old Yellow Ox had mentioned related matters before. Back then, Jiang Man had felt they were distant and hadn't paid them much attention.
Of course, he had understood the general idea.
Now, as his own cultivation rose.
Only then did he gain a concrete understanding.
In other words, he now needed to practice the Qi and Blood Method.
At the Azure Cloud Pavilion, the Qi and Blood Method could be obtained for free.
But those in the rear courtyard needed a score above twenty-four.
Without enough points, there was nothing he could do.
Once again, Jiang Man felt the drawbacks of the scoring system.
"The Azure Cloud Pavilion never considered cultivators with talent like mine at all."
"The whole Cloudfront Office is like this."
Old Yellow Ox said casually, "Rather than the Qi and Blood Method, you should think about the Visualization Method."
Jiang Man was puzzled. Once his score reached fifty-six, he could likewise obtain the Visualization Method for free.
He had already asked about all this.
Old Yellow Ox smiled without a word.
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