His Progress Was a Little Too Fast

Zhao Leming looked at the person beside him with mild surprise.

The other man's village was no longer paying his Cultivation Gold, so he no longer had any value to Zhao Leming.

Especially since he had made no progress at all in two years.

Dull, slow-witted, lacking sense, and showing no talent.

Even if he could help tend the stables almost for free, there was no need to keep him.

So Zhao Leming had told Jiang Man to pack his things early. He had not been singling him out; those were simply the facts.

As for doing someone a favor, that depended on who it was.

Someone like this only needed to be told the facts.

What surprised him, however, was that this normally dull, taciturn person had suddenly said something rather confident to him.

Had he finally wised up?

His clothes no longer stank, either.

"A Flame-Treading Spirit Steed?" Zhao Leming looked at Jiang Man and asked,

"Does that have something to do with your Cultivation Gold?"

"It does." Jiang Man nodded seriously and said sincerely, "With my abilities, I certainly can't make up the Cultivation Gold in just half a month.

"But I still want to keep studying and try for a chance to join the sect.

"So I've decided to offer a method in exchange."

Zhao Leming was somewhat surprised to hear this.

His reasoning was clear. It seemed he really had wised up.

Presumably, he would have more ideas of his own now.

He would probably be asking for higher pay for his work at the stables.

But Zhao Leming said nothing. He simply looked at the person before him, letting him continue.

Jiang Man considered briefly, then said, "Sir, do you know that Flame-Treading Spirit Steeds have a period of weakness?"

"I do." Zhao Leming nodded.

Jiang Man continued, "Then do you also know that a special feeding method can compensate for that period of weakness and eliminate it?"

Zhao Leming's eyes narrowed slightly. "I have heard of that. What, you know how?"

"I'm not sure." Jiang Man shook his head. "I only saw it mentioned in a book, but it was too profound for me to understand completely. Would you like to try it, sir?"

Jiang Man's uncertainty actually made Zhao Leming trust him a little more.

Had he sworn that he knew how, there would have been considerable cause for concern.

After only a brief hesitation, Zhao Leming asked, "When can you give it to me?"

This time, it was Jiang Man's turn to fall silent.

Zhao Leming chuckled. "I'll waive your September Cultivation Gold. If the method works, you won't have to pay any Cultivation Gold through next August."

Jiang Man lowered his head. He was actually getting the short end of this deal.

If the method was real, it would surely be worth a fortune.

How could a year's Cultivation Gold compare?

But as he was now, he and the man before him were not on equal footing to begin with.

An equal exchange was simply impossible.

Besides, he was too weak to handle something like this alone.

Instead, he would only draw unwanted attention.

"I'll bring it to you tomorrow, sir," Jiang Man said.

Zhao Leming looked at the person before him, but in the end, he only nodded without saying anything more.

A little while later.

The two arrived at a small courtyard, one behind the other.

It was the sixth courtyard.

Fang Yong stood in the center, with the others gathered around him talking.

"Young Master Fang, I saw you riding a Flame-Treading Spirit Steed today."

"I saw it too. Is it yours?"

Fang Yong smiled. "It belongs to a friend. He asked me to check whether it was being raised properly."

The others exclaimed in surprise.

Being able to tell whether it was being raised properly naturally meant his family had one too.

Otherwise, how could he have that sort of experience?

Jiang Man was a little surprised as he listened.

Fang Yong was no simple fellow, either.

He could actually say all that without batting an eye.

Jiang Man quietly made his way to the back.

As soon as Zhao Leming entered, the chatter below ceased.

Then he looked around at everyone and said, "Those who have yet to pay this year's Cultivation Gold in full should do so as soon as possible.

"Also, now that you've reached the rear courtyard, you'll be taking the assessment next August.

"If you can't enter the Wuyun Sect, you'll have to find your own way forward."

As soon as Cultivation Gold was mentioned, everyone looked at Jiang Man at the back.

They all thought Jiang Man was behind on his Cultivation Gold.

Jiang Man found this strange. He had just reached an agreement with Teacher Zhao, so why bring it up again?

Someone else must be behind on their payments.

Zhao Leming then began explaining the key points of the day's lesson.

The subject was the Spirit Travel Step.

The application of techniques.

Unfortunately, Jiang Man had yet to begin cultivating, so he could only listen and could not try it himself.

A long while later, after finishing his explanation, Zhao Leming came over to Jiang Man.

"Do you still have questions about the qi refining method?" Zhao Leming asked.

Jiang Man was a little surprised. Private instruction?

Sure enough, offering a benefit meant I could receive one too.

Zhao Leming then explained the Simple Qi Refining Method to Jiang Man.

There were two aspects to the qi refining method.

The first was internal cultivation: raising the level of the qi refining method. The higher its level, the faster one could cultivate.

The second was external cultivation: using the qi refining method to absorb spiritual qi from outside. The more one absorbed and the faster one absorbed it, the greater and faster the increase in cultivation.

What Jiang Man needed to do now was learn the qi refining method first.

Only then could he use it to improve his cultivation.

After finishing his instruction, Zhao Leming left.

Jiang Man remained to cultivate alone.

The qi refining method required physical movements to assist the circulation of qi.

But as soon as he began the opening stance, Jiang Man discovered that the purple qi in his dantian moved along with him.

After Jiang Man completed one sequence of the qi refining method, the purple qi had also traveled through his meridians in a full circuit before finally returning to his dantian.

At that moment, Jiang Man felt his meridians open up.

Faint traces of spiritual qi appeared within them.

Initiating a full circuit was the sign of the first level of the qi refining method.

Had he learned the qi refining method just like that?

Jiang Man was somewhat surprised.

Although this was the simplest qi refining method, wasn't learning it in a single attempt a little strange?

Jiang Man then continued practicing, and the purple qi moved along with the cultivation method.

After going through it twice, he felt the circulation speed increase, and even his meridians had widened a fraction.

This was the second level of the qi refining method.

Jiang Man fell silent. This really was fast.

Was it because of the purple qi?

Jiang Man was unsure. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to circulate the qi refining method and start improving his cultivation.

He wanted to see whether it would stir the purple qi.

This time, he practiced external cultivation, circulating the cultivation method to absorb spiritual qi.

However, it did not stir the purple qi. Instead, he began absorbing the Flawless Spirit-Gathering Pill in his dantian.

But the results were not ideal.

If the first level of Qi Refining was a gourd collecting water, then his current efforts were almost like raising a little mist on its surface. He could not even open the gourd, and filling the entire gourd with water would take quite some time.

The qi refining method's level was still too low. He could not even enter the first level of Qi Refining.

Even with the pill's help, his progress was slow.

Jiang Man then resumed practicing the qi refining method.

He practiced all morning without stopping.

And his gains were extraordinary.

After four repetitions, the qi refining method reached the third level.

After another eight repetitions, it reached the fourth level.

After another sixteen, it reached the fifth level.

It was only noon.

The day's lessons had just ended, and the afternoon was reserved for independent practice.

What did reaching the fifth level of the qi refining method in a single morning amount to?

By now, almost everyone had left.

Jiang Man also planned to go back and get something to eat.

Then he could continue practicing the qi refining method. He wanted to see how long it would take to raise it to the highest level.

The Simple Qi Refining Method had nine levels in total. Having reached the fifth level in half a day, the remaining four probably would not take long.

But as he was heading back, Fang Yong stopped him.

"Need something?" Jiang Man asked.

Although they were in the same courtyard, they had never actually spoken in the past two years.

"I hope you'll be smart about this. Don't say things you shouldn't," Fang Yong said, looking at Jiang Man.

"Someone like you has no future at all, while I have a chance to take the Wuyun Sect's assessment. Offending me won't do you any good."

Jiang Man asked curiously, "Am I not eligible?"

"You?" Fang Yong sneered. "Never mind that you can't pay your Cultivation Gold. Even if you could, do you think everyone is eligible? The sixth courtyard only has two assessment slots, and those slots will be decided in December.

"Do you think you'll get a turn?"