The Magpie Bridge Opens Once a Year

Before the old yellow ox had recovered from its shock, it heard Jiang Man's utterly unrelated remark.

It found this very strange.

But it was no difficult task, so it agreed without thinking.

And Jiang Man really did only touch it, doing nothing else.

At that moment, Jiang Man sighed inwardly.

Just now, when he touched the old yellow ox, he had taken the opportunity to activate the Heavenly Mirror of a Hundred Books.

The book still rested on its final page.

Only a single line of text remained.

[Beasts are unworthy.]

Were evil gods unworthy too?

For a moment, Jiang Man felt rather awkward.

Fortunately, the old yellow ox could not see it.

Otherwise, he would be the one to suffer.

Still, the Heavenly Mirror of a Hundred Books did not seem to record people or beasts.

Or perhaps they were simply too ordinary.

As he pondered this, footsteps sounded outside the thatched hut, followed by someone calling, "Jiang Man, remember to pay your Cultivation Gold before September. Your village hasn't paid it for you this year. If you don't pay the Cultivation Gold within the remaining half month, you'll be kicked out."

The person hurried off after speaking, leaving only one final remark. "I've notified you. Whether you understand is your own business."

Jiang Man froze.

Normally, when someone came to cultivate at the Cloudfront Office, their village covered the Cultivation Gold.

Now that his village had cut off his Cultivation Gold, presumably a new candidate of the right age had entered the Cloudfront Office.

The cultivation establishments in the city were collectively called the Cloudfront Office, which was divided into three towers and six pavilions.

Jiang Man belonged to the Azure Cloud Pavilion, one of those six pavilions.

Ordinary villages were all poor and could not afford to support multiple people.

They had funded him back then because he was the only person of the right age.

They had to try their luck.

Being a fool did not always mean having poor talent for cultivation.

Now that two years had passed, it was understandable that they had given up on him.

Bei Village could not afford to support two people.

He just did not know where the village's newcomer would go.

But that was not what he needed to think about. Right now, he had to find a way to earn Cultivation Gold.

Otherwise, he really would be expelled from the Azure Cloud Pavilion.

"How did you do that?" Only then did the old yellow ox recover its senses.

Jiang Man glanced at it and said with a perfectly straight face, "Natural talent."

The old yellow ox: "..."

Do you think I believe that?

Even a wedding to bring good fortune could not produce results like this.

"You didn't have this talent before," the old yellow ox said with certainty.

Jiang Man shrugged, thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe it's because I got a wife? Senior, why don't you try marrying someone? You might awaken the same talent as me."

The old yellow ox: "..."

On that subject, Jiang Man asked curiously, "Senior, you still haven't told me where that fairy came from, or whether she might find us at any moment."

Jiang Man kept feeling that she was not someone to trifle with. He also felt rather guilty.

After all, he was the one who had brought her back.

If she sent people after him, he would have something to look forward to for the rest of his life.

Hearing this, the old yellow ox fell silent for a moment before saying, "It's hard to say where she came from. There's a very strong chance she's from the Immortal Gate. If you get the chance to join the Immortal Gate, you can try asking around using your Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny."

"Then you'll be able to determine who she is.

"After all, being entangled by a Fate Pattern upon marriage is far from ordinary. It should be easy enough to find out."

"As for whether she might appear at any moment, that's unlikely."

Jiang Man was puzzled. "Why?"

The old yellow ox explained, "Because unless the Magpie Bridge opens, the river cannot flow out.

"They came down along the river, so they can't pinpoint their previous location."

"The Magpie Bridge? How often does it open?" Jiang Man asked.

The old yellow ox fell silent for a moment before replying, "Roughly once a year. But pinpointing our location won't be that easy, either. Even if she finds some clues, she won't be able to descend in person without difficulty.

"There's no need to worry too much.

"I'm the one who should be worried. She really might take revenge on me from afar."

Jiang Man was silent for a moment.

Although she would not come over for the time being, she was from the Immortal Gate.

The Immortal Gate held lofty status. Everything that sustained people's lives at present originated from the Four Great Immortal Gate.

He had never expected someone the old yellow ox casually found to come from such a place.

Having provoked someone like that, his future would probably be difficult.

Suddenly, he felt the Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny tremble.

Only then did he come to his senses.

Forget the future.

Even the present was difficult.

At that moment, he discovered that a flawless pill had appeared within the Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny.

The pill descended, landing in his Dantian.

It lay there quietly, waiting to be absorbed.

Although Jiang Man did not know what kind of pill it was, he could sense that it contained considerable spiritual qi, enough to let a cultivator achieve twice the results with half the effort.

Seeing this, Jiang Man finally remembered what the Heavenly Mirror of a Hundred Books had recorded: "Can be unlocked layer by layer to obtain the inheritance." Did that mean he could obtain the inheritance simply by fulfilling its requirements?

Joy rose in Jiang Man's heart. This was good stuff.

After the pill landed in his Dantian, the Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny changed again.

As Jiang Man sought to understand it, the profound changes were once again analyzed and read.

[Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny]

[As a Peerless Heavenly Prodigy, cultivating comes as easily to you as drinking water. Provided your body permits it, you can certainly cultivate one hundred times each day and raise your Visualization Method to the thirteenth level within one hundred days.]

[Failure will result in a backlash from the Fate Pattern.]

[All cultivation will be lost.]

He had celebrated too soon.

These demands felt rather unreasonable.

The only good news was that the Fate Pattern's backlash would not kill him.

After learning this, Jiang Man hid nothing and told the old yellow ox.

When it heard about the pill, it asked for more details, then exclaimed in shock, "A Flawless Spirit-Gathering Pill! This Fate Pattern really is something good."

The Flawless Spirit-Gathering Pill contained powerful spiritual qi and could remain inside the body for a long time, waiting to be absorbed. It would not dissipate on its own like an ordinary Spirit-Gathering Pill.

Then Jiang Man explained the new requirements.

After hearing them, the shock froze on the old yellow ox's face.

Looking at Jiang Man, it sighed. "My advice remains the same. Eat whatever you want to eat, and do whatever you want to do. Leave no regrets.

"It may be a little hard, but at least you'll live for a hundred days.

"Who knows how much better that is than the three days you had before?"

Jiang Man: "..."

Isn't that a little pessimistic?

Then the old yellow ox told him that he had to reach the Qi Refining Sixth Layer before he could practice the Visualization Method.

That left him stunned.

At the very beginning, one practiced the Qi Refining Method to absorb spiritual qi.

At the Qi Refining Third Layer, one had to cultivate qi and blood, strengthening the body so it could bear spiritual qi.

At the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, one had to practice the Visualization Method, strengthening mental power to control spiritual qi steadily.

Otherwise, one could easily suffer qi deviation from being unable to withstand or control spiritual qi.

After learning all this, Jiang Man felt that the Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny really did not treat him as human.

Jiang Man asked the old yellow ox whether reaching the Qi Refining Sixth Layer within a hundred days was possible.

It said yes, but that required peerless talent and vast resources.

And some of those resources could not be found in Falling Cloud City.

If he made it through this time, the demands that followed would surely be even greater.

Falling Cloud City's reserves probably would not be enough.

He had to find a way to join a sect.

Jiang Man fell silent.

One moment, he was about to be expelled from the Azure Cloud Pavilion; the next, he had to pass an assessment and join a sect.

His life had risen and plunged rather frequently over the course of this day.

Looking at him, even the old yellow ox felt that this one day of his had been more eventful than the previous dozen-odd years.

Leaving him with the words "Pray for your own good fortune," the old yellow ox went out to graze.

By then, night had fallen.

Jiang Man was in no mood to rest.

He would first see what he had stashed away in his room over the years.

A short while later.

Jiang Man looked at the three books, a wooden sword, and three jin of coarse rice on the table, then let out a long sigh.

These were all his possessions.

The room was frighteningly clean. It had been tidied up quite thoroughly for the wedding ceremony.

The three books were the Simple Qi Refining Method, Spirit Travel Step, and Beginner's Guide.

He did not have a single coin.

Besides, what use was the wooden sword?

Jiang Man examined it carefully. Crudely made, it was a toy he had brought from the village.

Afterward, Jiang Man found a river and washed himself, cleaning his clothes as well.

By the time he finished and put his clothes back on, it was already the next day.

Starting today, he had to cultivate a hundred times.

But he had to get up early to feed the horses.

His Cultivation Gold was paid by the village, but he had to earn his own living expenses.

That was how he had come to live beside the Azure Cloud Pavilion's stables, tending horses every day.

Over the course of a month, it at least kept him fed.

"Is anyone there? Come help!"

Just as he stepped outside, Jiang Man heard an anxious voice from beside the stables.