My ability is finding you a wife

Six Palms United, augmented with Three Talents Force, was already a considerable drain for someone at Qi Refining.

Especially when used nonstop in sweeping, forceful attacks.

It forced Chang Qiwen onto the defensive.

But he did not meet force with force.

Instead, he blocked with Spell Arts.

He was in a sorry state, certainly, but he was convinced his opponent could not keep this up for long.

After that, he would have the home advantage.

And yet...

Bang!

By the time a palm strike sent Chang Qiwen flying and knocked him down, Jiang Man still had not run out of spiritual qi.

"Why is this happening?" he asked in disbelief, down on one knee.

"What are you referring to?" Jiang Man asked softly.

"Why can you keep using Six Palms United? And keep adding Three Talents Force?" Chang Qiwen asked.

This was Three Talents Full Force.

Not a single strand of an jin.

Using the two together was no small drain.

Yet his opponent had delivered dozens of palm strikes without showing the slightest sign of weakness.

Jiang Man looked at him and said as though it were only natural, "Against an enemy, I only use my strongest moves."

Chang Qiwen: "..."

For some reason, he found that rather difficult to refute.

"You lost," Jiang Man said.

"I lost," Chang Qiwen said bitterly.

He had thought that this time, even if he could not beat his opponent, they would at least be evenly matched.

His score might have been a little lower, but his actual combat skills were certainly no worse.

The truth was, his actual combat skills were indeed better.

But...

No one had told him that, out of all his moves, Jiang Man would use only the strongest, without changing it even once.

It left him struggling to fend him off.

Jiang Man had already formed a guess about this.

The spiritual qi he absorbed came from the Qi Refining Method Ninth Layer. It was bound to be far more substantial than that absorbed by people at the first or second layer of the Qi Refining Method.

The weight of their spiritual qi was on entirely different levels.

"Can you tell me whose man you are now?" Jiang Man asked.

Since the man had come, he naturally had to ask a few questions.

"Who do you think?" Chang Qiwen asked.

Jiang Man looked at him, thought for a moment, and said, "It wouldn't violate the rules if I seriously injured you, would it?"

Chang Qiwen fell silent for a moment. "I can't say."

Jiang Man did not keep pressing him. He merely asked curiously, "You're ranked third in the courtyard. Why did you attack me?"

Jiang Man meant what had happened before the assessment.

That incident alone could essentially have stripped Chang Qiwen of his eligibility to compete.

Why would an ordinary person act so rashly?

Had he believed Young Master Yang when he said he would take responsibility?

That was surely impossible.

Even Fang Yong had not believed him.

"Because I'm poor." Chang Qiwen sighed. "How many people in the Sixth Courtyard aren't from poor families? Didn't we come here to cultivate so we could earn Spirit Source in the future?

"Was it really for everlasting life?

"Since it's for Spirit Source, if someone offers me Spirit Source now, I'll do the job."

Chang Qiwen raised his eyes to Jiang Man. "It is rather shameful for the third-ranked person to do something like this, but I can't turn down Spirit Source just for the sake of dignity, can I?"

Jiang Man: "..."

He had a point.

Spirit Source was indeed important.

It was not just for cultivation, but for living as well.

Without Spirit Source, you could not even afford to get injured.

If you did, you had to grit your teeth and endure it.

Every day, you had to check how much food remained.

You had to consider what to do once it was gone.

Falling Cloud City might be a little better. This was a city, after all.

Things were miserable in the villages.

The Simple Qi Refining Method was free, and although anyone could cultivate it...

There were fields to till.

Raising one's cultivation was difficult. Most people could only remain at the Qi Refining third layer their entire lives.

The Simple Qi and Blood Method could even be obtained for free once you reached the required realm.

But who dared practice it?

Practicing the Qi and Blood Method meant eating more and consuming more Spirit Source.

Especially without a skilled teacher's guidance, feeling one's own way meant taking many wrong turns, and the wasted resources drove up the cost.

Gathering his thoughts, Jiang Man looked at Chang Qiwen and asked curiously, "How much Spirit Source did they give you?"

"Ten thousand," Chang Qiwen said.

Jiang Man sucked in a breath of cold air.

Ten thousand?

He would have to sell spiritual qi for over half a year.

But Chang Qiwen quickly added, "But when they got me out, they took back five thousand Spirit Source and gave you one thousand. I also sent three thousand home.

"Now I only have one thousand Spirit Source left."

Before Jiang Man could even finish considering whether to demand some compensation, his opponent had already accounted for all the Spirit Source.

With a sigh, Jiang Man said, "You came tonight specifically to test my strength for that person, didn't you?"

Hearing this, Chang Qiwen immediately said, "I can give you another five hundred Spirit Source."

Jiang Man looked at him without saying a word.

"Six hundred. I need the rest to pay the actual combat registration fee," Chang Qiwen said.

Jiang Man was puzzled. There was an actual combat registration fee?

He had not heard about that.

In the end, Jiang Man let Chang Qiwen leave.

He quietly accepted the six hundred Spirit Source.

Although he had not obtained any useful information, he had at least gained sixteen hundred Spirit Source.

His life, which had hardly been affluent, suddenly became much more comfortable.

"You're just letting him go like that?" Old Yellow Ox came up beside Jiang Man and asked.

"What else?" Jiang Man put away the Spirit Source and spoke softly.

"Aren't you afraid the person behind him will use other methods against you? You were lucky this time. If what happened before happens again, will you still be able to resolve it so easily?" Old Yellow Ox asked.

Previously, Jiang Man had had the Token. Now, the Token was gone.

So if it happened again, he could easily end up locked inside.

He would have to wait months to get out.

By then, everything would be too late.

But going after Chang Qiwen would serve no purpose.

If the person behind him wanted to resort to tricks, they could simply use someone else.

The Azure Cloud Pavilion had seven courtyards, with no shortage of people.

It was better to leave Chang Qiwen in place. At least Jiang Man knew this pawn and understood that he posed little threat.

If they replaced him, who could know what sort of temperament and abilities the next person would have?

So there was nothing wrong with the way things were now.

Old Yellow Ox did not dwell on it either, merely reminding him, "Your actual combat skills aren't good enough."

"Do you have any solutions, Senior?" Jiang Man asked.

"No. Actual combat requires fighting other people." Old Yellow Ox shook his head.

"True." Jiang Man nodded and headed back. Along the way, something occurred to him. "Old Huang, as an Evil God, do you have any special abilities?"

"Yes, but they haven't recovered yet," Old Yellow Ox said.

"Such as?"

"Such as finding you a wife."

"..."

And getting me killed.

Jiang Man returned to the courtyard and began cultivating.

First, he would fill the sixth gourd.

Then he would raise his qi and blood, bringing his physical body to the fourth stage.

With his spirit at the first stage and his physical body at the fourth, he could begin breaking through to the seventh layer of cultivation.

He did not know whether the remaining time would be enough.

If he could accomplish it, first place would be secure.

His actual combat skills might fall short of theirs, but he would overwhelm them with an absolute advantage in realm.

There would be no dispute over first place.

But while Jiang Man was still cultivating, Old Yellow Ox suddenly said, "Someone's coming."

Jiang Man stopped cultivating and looked outside.

In the moonlight, Jiang Man saw a woman approaching with curiosity written all over her face.

Cheng Yu, ranked fourth in the Sixth Courtyard.

"Why is she here?" Jiang Man grew somewhat wary.

Thank you to reader [Center for Upholding the Right to Absolutely No Extra Chapters] for becoming an Alliance Leader.

The Alliance Leader came a little too quickly. For a moment, I couldn't think of what excuse to use.

That name...

Probably has nothing to do with me.

Boss, you've made a foolish purchase.

My deepest thanks!!!