Brother Jiang, you need to aim for the top ten

Jiang Man looked at Little Fatty, puzzled.

The other boy immediately explained:

"Because I always ranked above you before, Brother Jiang, but now you've overtaken me.

"My father said that even you, who used to rank dead last, could keep improving your score.

"So why couldn't I, who ranked second from last?

"By rights, since I was second from last, I should be improving faster than you.

"I know my father can't see reality clearly. Your ranking still isn't that high, Brother Jiang.

"So he thinks he could do it too.

"So you have to work hard, Brother Jiang. Aim for the top ten or top five, and he'll come to his senses."

Jiang Man had no answer to that.

Heavenly Pride always bore inexplicable responsibilities.

But Little Fatty's resources had indeed helped him a great deal.

He had already saved up enough spiritual qi for three Gourds.

Now, all he had to do was go back and take a Spirit-Gathering Pill. Once he absorbed and refined it, he would be able to open the fourth Gourd without a hitch.

That night.

After cultivating for a long time, Jiang Man finally stopped circulating his cultivation method.

Vast spiritual qi now surged through his body.

After he reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, his existing spiritual qi had become much denser.

No wonder he hadn't been able to break through before.

If he had forced a breakthrough, his body would never have been able to withstand it.

"Two months have passed. You only have one month left," Old Yellow Ox came over and reminded him.

"Brother Ox, you should worry about your own problems instead. Has that fairy not attacked you lately?" Jiang Man asked.

"I won't die, but you really might." Old Yellow Ox picked up his tether in his mouth and went elsewhere to graze.

Jiang Man watched him leave and thought for a moment.

As he remembered it, when the fairy struck, Old Yellow Ox was the one who died.

Neither of them was any better off than the other.

October 15.

Another round of assessments.

In the courtyard, Song Qing came over to Jiang Man and whispered, "Try to perform better lately. I heard the people from the sect have already started their inspections."

Jiang Man didn't understand why he was being so kind.

Still, he thanked him.

Today was assessment day, so none of them would talk too much.

They didn't want to get distracted.

The two days of assessments.

Passed smoothly.

There were no problems, nor did they see anyone from the sect inspecting the place.

They often heard about people from the sect conducting inspections, but had never seen them.

Only after asking around did he discover that people from the sect seemed to appear frequently around the first three buildings.

Perhaps the talk of inspecting the entire Cloudfront Office had been a rumor from the start.

After all, most of those with ability had entered the first three buildings.

That was also why the courtyards in those three buildings had more assessment slots.

The morning of the seventeenth.

Everyone arrived early to wait.

The rankings would be updated today.

Zhao Leming arrived early too.

"The overall rankings haven't changed much." As he spoke, he handed out the sheets of paper he held.

Jiang Man soon received his sheet.

October 17.

Cloudfront Office, Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Rear courtyard, Sixth Courtyard.

Name: Jiang Man.

Ranking: 14 (out of 26).

Cultivation: fourth layer of Qi Refining.

Cultivation method levels: Simple Qi Refining Method, fifth layer; Simple Qi and Blood Method, third layer.

Resources obtained: "Simple Qi Refining Method," "Spirit Travel Step," "Six Harmonies Chapter," "Three Talents Force."

Plan: cultivate sixty times daily.

Score: 40.

Comment: two months have surpassed nearly half the others' two years.

Putting away the sheet, Jiang Man looked at Little Fatty.

He noticed that Little Fatty's expression didn't look too good.

"What rank?" Jiang Man asked.

Little Fatty simply showed him.

Little Fatty's cultivation hadn't changed, but his Qi Refining Method had advanced one layer.

His ranking had risen one place.

Third from last.

Only the comment was rather harsh. It read: Wasting resources. Better to give them to someone whose two months match your two years.

Jiang Man fell silent.

Could an exam even reveal that someone wasn't making good use of their resources?

It was possible.

Little Fatty was somewhat indignant. "Why are my comments never good? Even the comments you got when you ranked last were better than mine."

I told you, it's because I slipped him treasures. You used all yours on yourself, Jiang Man replied inwardly.

At noon.

The rankings were posted.

Jiang Man's rise from eighteenth to fourteenth was noticed immediately.

They sighed with feeling. Having boarded Miss Luo's ship, he really was sailing from triumph to triumph, advancing at astonishing speed.

Looking at Jiang Man's ranking, Song Qing was also filled with emotion.

There was no doubt that Jiang Man had become Luo Xuan's guard.

That was why she was putting everything into nurturing him. Otherwise, how could he advance so quickly?

Although Jiang Man kept denying it, he wouldn't believe him.

If it were him, he would keep denying it too.

After all, ultimate success or failure was at stake. How could he let other people's jealousy ruin things?

The others had also believed for a time that this was because he had become a personal guard. As they discussed it, many spoke with disdain.

But inwardly, most wished they could take his place.

On the way back that day.

Cheng Yu said indignantly, "This Jiang Man really doesn't know what's good for him. But why is his ranking rising so quickly?"

After a pause, realization dawned on her. "Has he become someone else's personal guard? Whose? There hasn't been the slightest sign."

"Everyone thinks he's working as my guard and that I'm nurturing him," Luo Xuan said with a smile.

"What do we do now?" Cheng Yu asked angrily.

Luo Xuan considered it before saying, "Originally, we wanted to use him to influence Fang Yong. Then, seeing that he had some ability, we wanted to bring him under our wing.

"But things didn't go as we wished.

"And now it seems we've been affected too."

As she spoke, Luo Xuan looked at Cheng Yu. "Let's leave this matter here for now. There'll be other opportunities.

"For now, we should focus on competing for a spot.

"Your score isn't low either. You might well be able to secure this spot."

She didn't want to keep devoting her attention to this. She needed to keep improving herself.

Fang Yong hadn't done anything at all.

Yet she had become entangled in it instead.

This was by no means a good thing.

Being overtaken would be the real danger.

Setting these things aside and putting everything into competing for a spot.

That was the right path.

There were still two months left. If she could break through within those two months, then...

That would be the safest course.

Cheng Yu considered it, then nodded in agreement.

Afterward, they parted ways and each went back to cultivate.

Cheng Yu waved goodbye to Luo Xuan.

Only after watching Luo Xuan's figure disappear did Cheng Yu put away her smile. Then she shook her head. "Luo Xuan is good in every way, except that her vision is mediocre.

"For a village boy like Jiang Man to advance so quickly, he's no ordinary seedling.

"As long as I bring him under my wing, he'll definitely be a tremendous help in the future.

"Since Luo Xuan won't take him, I will."

Cheng Yu walked toward her lodgings, pondering how to bring this guard under her wing.

"He wouldn't take the step down Luo Xuan offered him. Presumably, he still has pride and hope in his heart. Then all I need to do is crush his hope."

"Then he should start guessing who did it. Right now, the people who have grudges with him are Luo Xuan and Fang Yong."

"The former could have destroyed him out of humiliation turned to rage, while the latter could have been stopping him from reaching something better."

"At that point, it would make perfect sense for me to step in and recruit him."

"With some luck, I might really secure a spot."

Cheng Yu had an idea, but putting it into practice would be somewhat difficult.

As she neared her lodgings, Cheng Yu saw someone approaching up ahead.

It was Cheng Moyang.

Seeing him, Cheng Yu smiled, went over to greet him, then casually brought up how Luo Xuan had suffered a setback.

She brought this up not because Cheng Moyang had taken a fancy to Luo Xuan, but because what they enjoyed most was toying with poor people.

Especially interesting poor people.

Afterward, Cheng Yu left with a smile, heading back to cultivate.

The seed had been planted, and there was a grudge too.

Now, all she had to do was wait for the harvest.

She didn't need to do anything.