Actually, I'm Married

On the evening of September 14.

Jiang Man returned to the Stable courtyard and immediately set about cleaning the stables.

He scrubbed and brushed the horses' coats.

Some of the horses had been borrowed recently, leaving him with considerably more free time.

Only after finishing all this did he approach Old Yellow Ox and ask, "Old Huang, how have you been feeling lately?"

Old Yellow Ox raised his brows slightly. "I can live a long time yet. You might not. Fail tomorrow's assessment, and you won't have much of a way to stay alive."

Jiang Man: "..."

That was true enough.

His cultivation was still a little lacking. He needed to grow stronger as soon as possible.

The practical combat assessment was on the seventeenth.

Anyone who scored at least sixty points would have a chance to take part.

Or anyone ranked in the top five.

Meeting either condition would suffice.

Since the standard in his courtyard was average, the Sixth Courtyard basically went by the top five.

The other courtyards were harder to say.

Jiang Man asked for some advice on practical combat.

"The way you only know how to unleash your strongest moves already puts you ahead of plenty of experienced people," Old Yellow Ox said as he chewed grass. "Besides their techniques, what makes other people strong is the Spell Arts you know nothing about.

"So for you, the shorter a fight lasts, the better."

Jiang Man understood. He just had to keep disrupting his opponent's rhythm with his strongest power.

He would open with Nine Dragons Emerge Together, then follow with Three Talents Force combined with Six Harmonies Palm.

He would use them at full strength, over and over.

Thanks to his Spell-Art Innate Qi, his familiarity with Spell Arts and their circulation ran extremely deep, and the intervals between casts shortened as he grew more familiar with them.

He could also adjust his physical strength extremely quickly, which had something to do with the Visualization Method.

He had many advantages.

But his disadvantages were equally obvious: his understanding of Spell Arts was not deep enough, and besides lacking practical combat experience, he knew nothing about other Spell Arts.

Jiang Man heaved a deep sigh.

"Feeling how hard it is to qualify?" Old Yellow Ox asked.

Jiang Man shook his head. "It's just that I feel like I'm cultivating too fast. I've traveled a road in three months that takes others years, and now even my basic knowledge of Spell Arts can't quite keep up."

Old Yellow Ox fell silent for a moment. "Do you still want a wife?"

Jiang Man looked at him in confusion.

"Once I've recovered some strength, I'll find you another wife," Old Yellow Ox said sincerely.

Jiang Man looked at him and shook his head. "No, keep her for yourself, Old Huang."

He had foolishly nodded before and ended up encountering the Peerless Heaven's Chosen Destiny.

By then, it was too late for regrets.

Old Yellow Ox silently lowered his head and went back to eating grass.

Jiang Man also prepared to focus on cultivating.

He could not reach Qi Refining, Seventh Layer today, but he still had two days left. It was not impossible.

Yet he had only been cultivating a short while when he saw a graceful figure approaching through the moonlight.

It was Cheng Yu, who had visited before.

Jiang Man looked at her, somewhat puzzled.

Here to deliver another letter?

And on the day before the assessment, too. Was she trying to unsettle him?

Perhaps he should give the unopened envelope to Little Fatty tomorrow morning and let him experience the cruelty of someone from his own courtyard.

It would surely shake him to his core and leave him dead last in the assessment.

Even so, if he could win the favor of the runner-up, he could still look back on this moment of glory in his old age.

"I'm here again," Cheng Yu said with a smile. "Am I disturbing your cultivation?"

"If you leave quickly, then not really," Jiang Man answered truthfully.

Stopping for a moment was no big deal.

Cheng Yu did not mind. Instead, she said, "I'm here to ask for your reply. You've read the last letter, and the assessment is almost here. Is there anything you want to say to Luo Xuan?

"I'll take it to her now."

Jiang Man shook his head. "No."

"How about just a couple of lines?" Cheng Yu asked rather helplessly. "Someone is waiting anxiously for your reply, after all."

Jiang Man found this whole business extremely troublesome.

After a pause, he said, "I'm married."

Jiang Man felt nothing he could say would carry more force than those words. This way, he would not have to worry about replying.

Cheng Yu froze, genuinely shocked.

She had not anticipated that answer at all.

After hesitating, she finally asked, "Married? What do you mean?"

"I mean someone already admires me, and I've already bowed to Heaven and Earth with her," Jiang Man said.

The bowing to Heaven and Earth was true. As for admiring him...

She had never said she did not.

Cheng Yu found it rather hard to believe. "Who would marry the way you used to be?"

Jiang Man: "..."

He then told her it was a girl from his hometown.

Cheng Yu stood rooted to the spot. First she sighed, then immediately said, "Actually, it's no big deal. It's not as though you have no chance.

"As long as you and Luo Xuan can both qualify, the past will be nothing but passing clouds and smoke.

"On the path to immortality, your lifespans will be long, completely different from those of ordinary cultivators.

"It won't be too late even a hundred years from now."

Cheng Yu took a moment to compose herself, then continued, "Enough about that. I won't tell Luo Xuan about this for now. Both of you should focus on cultivating.

"Take this. It's the information I gathered on Fang Yong's Spell Arts.

"It might help you."

Afterward, Cheng Yu left quickly, as though she had suffered some great grievance.

Jiang Man frowned. There was definitely something wrong with Cheng Yu.

But he had no time to dwell on it.

He needed to put everything into the upcoming assessment.

Regardless of whether anyone else could secure a spot, he had to take first place.

Only then could he qualify securely.

After that, he cultivated.

Only when dawn came did Jiang Man rest for a while.

He also took a look at the information on Fang Yong's Spell Arts.

Spirit Travel Step, sixth layer.

Six Harmonies Palm, ninth layer.

Three Talents Force, ninth layer.

Dragon-Suppressing Method, ninth layer.

Collapsing Flow Technique, ninth layer.

Azure Smoke Prelude, ninth layer.

Basic Swordsmanship, ninth layer.

Fang Yong had reached the ninth layer in every Spell Art provided by the Azure Cloud Pavilion, without exception.

It seemed he was exceptionally talented.

Besides these, the booklet also recorded other Spell Arts Fang Yong possessed.

The Yang family's Thousand Waters Technique, sixth layer.

The Cheng family's Hundred Battles Method, sixth layer.

The Luo Lineage's Void Force Palm, sixth layer.

Some brief descriptions followed.

Still, Jiang Man was extremely surprised. Why could Fang Yong learn so many other families' Spell Arts?

Though they were only at the sixth layer, used well, they could add considerably to his strength.

He really would be difficult to fight.

And beyond these, Fang Yong had Spell Arts he had never revealed.

Learning many Spell Arts did not necessarily make someone strong, but anyone who could learn this many and reach the highest level was certainly no ordinary person.

The various families' Spell Arts stopped at the sixth layer not because Fang Yong could not advance further, but because of restrictions on the cultivation methods.

Each family only permitted him to learn up to the sixth layer.

Even if he secretly learned more, he could not show it. Being discovered would mean trouble.

The booklet also included some of Fang Yong's habits.

Even his daily habits were listed.

Some gaps in his daily routine and his habits were detailed so thoroughly that it all but told Jiang Man he could drug him.

There really were ill intentions behind it. If he were caught, qualification would pass to the next person in line.

Soon.

Jiang Man arrived at the courtyard, where everyone wore a solemn expression.

Especially those whose scores hovered near sixty; they all wanted to fight for their future.

There was nothing new about the two days of assessments.

Everything proceeded as steadily as ever.

The same was true throughout the Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Two days later.

December 17.

Jiang Man arrived at the Sixth Courtyard early in the morning.

He was not the only one. The others had arrived early too.

Little Fatty looked nervous. "I wonder where I'll rank."

Then he turned to Jiang Man. "Brother Jiang, what about you? How many points can you get?"

Jiang Man did not answer, instead looking toward Mr. Zhao as he entered up ahead.

Holding a sheet of paper, he walked straight to the wall and posted it. "We'll announce the overall rankings directly, then begin the practical combat assessment."