Chapter Summaries

After taking first place in his courtyard, Jiang Man received a thousand Spirit Sources from Steward Miao and continued working at the Spirit-Gathering Hall. Back at his lodgings, Old Yellow Ox warned him that his cultivation of the Simple Visualization Method could attract scrutiny, while Cheng Yu planned to approach Jiang Man about replying to her letter.

• Steward Miao awarded Jiang Man a thousand Spirit Sources and arranged four guard shifts for him in December.
• Jiang Man asked about sparring work and learned he could earn ninety Spirit Sources a day by lighting eight lamps, so he returned to the Spirit-Gathering Hall to work.
• Steward Miao told the woman beside her that Jiang Man had risen from last place to first in his courtyard.
• Old Yellow Ox reminded Jiang Man that he had not collected the Simple Visualization Method, and Jiang Man worried the sect might discover his success and investigate.
• Jiang Man counted his wealth and realized he had 2,580 Spirit Sources before subtracting his debt to Little Fatty for six Spirit-Gathering Pills.
• Cheng Yu reflected on Jiang Man's influence on her cultivation and planned to visit him soon to ask for a reply to her letter.

Jiang Man improved his Spell Arts while guarding a side gate, then let Fang Yong’s injured household steward enter to deliver overdue cultivation fees. He ended the chapter waiting for Fang Yong to arrive, certain that no one in the Sixth Courtyard could sleep while he kept practicing.

• Jiang Man collected the Simple Visualization Method and continued practicing his Spell Arts and cultivation, though his cultivation made little progress.
• Jiang Man began a night-shift gate guard post and practiced the Collapsing Flow Technique until he raised it from the fifth to the ninth layer.
• Jiang Man resolved to focus on the Azure Smoke Prelude and reach Qi Refining, Seventh Layer, and considered borrowing Spirit Sources from Little Fatty.
• An injured steward arrived looking for Fang Yong and said he had come to deliver the cultivation fees.
• Jiang Man confirmed that Fang Yong was still in time to pay, sent word for him, and remarked that he could not sleep.

Jiang Man helped Steward Fang while he waited for Fang Yong, then spent the remaining days cultivating and preparing for the Brand-New Assessment. On the eve of the Qualification Competition, Jiang Man considered who might secure the second spot and worried that schemes could affect his own chances.

• Jiang Man watched Fang Yong reprimand Steward Fang, who handed Fang Yong Spirit Source before leaving with an injured foot.
• Jiang Man let Steward Fang rest in the pavilion and gave him medicinal plaster when he departed at daybreak.
• Jiang Man cultivated at the Azure Cloud Pavilion, using fifteen Spirit-Gathering Pills until his sixth gourd reached ninety-nine percent and his physical body reached the fourth stage.
• Jiang Man raised all his acquired Spell Arts to the ninth layer but found that he still lacked practical combat experience.
• Little Fatty told Jiang Man he was nervous because the next day's Qualification Competition would decide whether he could secure a sect spot.
• Jiang Man judged Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu likely contenders for the second spot, considered Fang Yong and Chang Qiwen less likely, and worried that outside schemes might affect the assessment.

Jiang Man prepared for the practical combat assessment and learned about Fang Yong’s extensive arsenal of Spell Arts. On assessment day, Mr. Zhao posted the overall rankings before the combat tests began.

• Jiang Man sought Old Yellow Ox’s advice and decided to rely on repeated, powerful attacks to end fights quickly.
• Cheng Yu asked Jiang Man for a reply to Luo Xuan, and Jiang Man claimed he was already married before Cheng Yu gave him information about Fang Yong’s Spell Arts.
• Jiang Man studied Fang Yong’s many mastered techniques and detailed habits, then resolved to secure first place in the assessment.
• On December 17, Jiang Man arrived at the Sixth Courtyard with the other candidates, and Mr. Zhao posted the overall rankings before announcing the practical combat assessment.

Jiang Man ranked first in the Sixth Courtyard assessment and faced Fang Yong in the opening match of the combat assessment. He kept attacking with his strongest Spell Arts longer than the observers expected, and the fight remained unresolved.

• The rankings showed Jiang Man in first place with sixty-seven points, while four others also qualified for the combat assessment.
• Mr. Zhao explained the tournament rules, and the five competitors drew lots; Cheng Yu received a bye, while Jiang Man and Fang Yong drew the first match.
• Zhao Leming prohibited pills, Law Treasures, and talismans above the qi refining sixth layer before starting the fight.
• Jiang Man and Fang Yong traded powerful Spell Arts, with Fang Yong using his experience and Jiang Man evading through Azure Smoke Prelude.
• Teacher Fu and Mr. Zhao expected Jiang Man to tire quickly, but he continued launching his strongest attacks through two incense sticks, leaving Zhao Leming surprised.

Jiang Man advanced after outlasting Fang Yong, while Luo Xuan defeated Chang Qiwen despite his surprise attack and learned that Cheng Yu had exposed her habits. The next matches were drawn, and Cheng Yu hinted to Fang Yong that he knew about the supposed Fang Household steward.

• Jiang Man kept attacking Fang Yong with his strongest Spell Arts until Fang Yong backed out of the formation, securing Jiang Man's advancement.
• Luo Xuan fought Chang Qiwen, who used a Blood Demon Pill and the Cheng Household Blood Battle Method to exploit her habits and injure her.
• Luo Xuan recovered and defeated Chang Qiwen, then realized Cheng Yu had likely revealed her openings; Zhao Leming declared her and Cheng Yu advanced.
• The next matches were drawn: Jiang Man against Luo Xuan and Fang Yong against Cheng Yu, with Fang Yong and Cheng Yu set to fight first.
• Cheng Yu told Fang Yong about meeting a supposed Fang Household steward in a village, making Fang Yong's pupils contract.

Fang Yong defeated Cheng Yu in a brutal match and advanced, despite suffering serious injuries. As Luo Xuan stood pale and weakened, Jiang Man asked whether she wanted to fight.

• Cheng Yu taunted Fang Yong about his background and tried to secure her place by defeating him.
• Fang Yong and Cheng Yu exchanged close-range attacks, and he refused to yield despite her warnings and talisman strikes.
• Fang Yong advanced through Cheng Yu’s attacks with his final Spell Art, Ascending Straight to the Azure Clouds, and knocked her out of the formation.
• Fang Yong took a pill and returned to await Luo Xuan’s challenge while Zhao Leming and Fu Yidan discussed his strength and resolve.
• Jiang Man recognized Fang Yong’s final Spell Art and asked the weakened Luo Xuan whether she wanted to fight.

Jiang Man became the sole uninjured contestant after Fang Yong defeated Luo Xuan, securing first place in the Sixth Courtyard. Zhao Leming told Jiang Man he ranked fourteenth among the Azure Cloud Pavilion’s nineteen places and would compete with Fang Yong for cultivation methods, while Luo Xuan left to report her failure to her parents.

• Luo Xuan conceded to Jiang Man and challenged the badly injured Fang Yong for the final qualifying place.
• Fang Yong and Luo Xuan fought by trading injuries until Luo Xuan fell first, and Fang Yong collapsed soon after winning.
• Zhao Leming confirmed Jiang Man and Fang Yong as the qualifiers, then told Jiang Man that he ranked fourteenth among the Azure Cloud Pavilion’s nineteen places.
• Zhao Leming ordered Jiang Man and Fang Yong to compete for cultivation methods at the Cloudfront Office during the others’ break.
• Two days later, Luo Xuan left the Cloudfront Office to tell her parents she had failed to qualify.

After Luo Xuan failed to secure a place in the contest, Luo Huaili offered her two ways to protect the declining Luo Lineage. Meanwhile, Jiang Man strengthened himself, rejected the Gao Lineage’s binding terms and the prospect of marrying into the Luo Lineage, then received a message from his wife demanding the Evil God in exchange for leaving him an heir.

• Luo Xuan returned to the Luo residence, where Luo Huaili told her that her second uncle had gone missing and explained the Luo Lineage’s precarious position.
• Luo Huaili offered Luo Xuan a choice between finding a common-born prodigy to marry into the Luo Lineage and forming a marriage alliance with another Lineage.
• Jiang Man advanced his physical body to the fourth stage while continuing to cultivate in the Stable courtyard.
• Little Fatty warned Jiang Man that the Gao Lineage’s resources came with terms requiring recipients to serve its direct descendants, and said Luo Xuan might be made to take a husband who would marry into her family.
• Jiang Man told Little Fatty he would do neither because he was already married.
• Jiang Man used the Light Orb to hear his wife offer to leave him an heir if he handed over the Evil God, and she said she would come when the Magpie Bridge opened.

Jiang Man learned that he would join a three-person team seeking a mid-grade Visualization Method and focused on raising his strength before the transmission. Meanwhile, Cheng Yu visited Luo Xuan and revealed that she had written an Admiration Letter in Luo Xuan’s name.

• Jiang Man told Old Yellow Ox about his conversation with the fairy, and Old Yellow Ox warned that she was curious about his origins but could not harm him while opening the Magpie Bridge.
• A woman recruited Jiang Man for a three-person transmission team, explained that they aimed to obtain a mid-grade Visualization Method, and gave him a team token for a trial in about three days.
• Jiang Man asked Old Yellow Ox whether his wife would agree to being touched, then cultivated until he formed a third Water Cauldron and cleared his bottleneck to Qi Refining, Seventh Layer.
• Jiang Man went to the Spirit-Gathering Hall to seek an advance of Spirit Sources from Steward Miao before the team transmission.
• Cheng Yu visited Luo Xuan and told her she had written someone an Admiration Letter in Luo Xuan’s name.

Cheng Yu revealed that she had written a letter of admiration in Luo Xuan’s name to manipulate Jiang Man, while Luo Xuan warned her that he was more dangerous than she realized. Jiang Man learned that his team would have to compete for a single cultivation method, and he headed toward the Back Mountain, where Yan Huimin and a powerful man discussed his dissatisfaction and awaited his arrival.

• Cheng Yu told Luo Xuan that she had written Jiang Man a letter of admiration to make him attack Fang Yong and help her secure a spot, but her plan had failed.
• Luo Xuan said her future depended on either taking a son-in-law into her family or entering a marriage alliance, and Cheng Yu suggested Jiang Man or Fang Yong as possible sons-in-law.
• Luo Huaili learned that two village-born contestants from Luo Xuan’s courtyard had secured spots and decided he needed to contact them.
• Steward Miao lent Jiang Man two hundred Spirit Sources and explained that groups of three could compete for only one shared prize at the Dharma Transmission Grounds.
• Yan Huimin told a tall, bronze-skinned man that Jiang Man ranked fourteenth in Azure Cloud Pavilion and wanted the Qi Refining Method; the man said he would explain why their group needed the Visualization Method.

Jiang Man joined Li Yuan and Yan Huimin for a competition, but refused to pursue a Visualization Method and instead followed Fang Tianyi’s offer to obtain a Qi Refining Method. He secured the method while Li Yuan blamed him for jeopardizing their team.

• Li Yuan and Yan Huimin introduced themselves and urged Jiang Man to compete for a Visualization Method, but he said he already had one above middle grade and wanted a Qi Refining Method.
• Fang Tianyi offered Jiang Man a thousand Spirit Sources and help obtaining a Qi Refining Method if he stayed out of the fight, then attacked Li Yuan and Yan Huimin with his companions.
• After Fang Tianyi’s group defeated Li Yuan and Yan Huimin, they tied the pair up, gave Jiang Man another thousand Spirit Sources, and told him to take them to the Qi Refining Method.
• Jiang Man dragged Li Yuan and Yan Huimin to the woods, where Fang Yuanyuan’s team had already defeated most of the puppets and let him enter the formation.
• Jiang Man obtained a Mortal Grade middle-grade Qi Refining Method, while Li Yuan angrily blamed him for undermining their team.

After the contest, Li Yuan tried to convince Fang Tianyi that Jiang Man had already possessed a superior Visualization Method, and Fang Tianyi began to suspect he had helped Jiang Man profit. Jiang Man returned to the Stable to cultivate his new Qi Refining Method, while Steward Fang and a woman arrived at the Cloudfront Office to see someone.

• Li Yuan and Yan Huimin remained tied up until Fang Tianyi and the others returned, and Li Yuan claimed Jiang Man had already possessed a middle-grade or better Visualization Method.
• Fang Yuanyuan dismissed Li Yuan’s claim, but Fang Tianyi knew Jiang Man had studied a Superior Visualization Method and worried that he had helped him obtain a Qi Refining Method.
• Jiang Man returned to the Stable, told Old Yellow Ox he planned to cultivate the Qi Refining Method, and said he expected to reach the eleventh level in about seven days.
• Steward Fang and a woman came to the Cloudfront Office’s side gate, where Steward Fang warned her not to ask anything she should not.

Fang Yong told Steward Fang and the woman that he had qualified for the Sect Examination, then questioned Jiang Man about marrying into the Luo Lineage and learned that Jiang Man was already married. At the Luo Residence, Cheng Yu told Luo Xuan that Jiang Man had given the same answer to an admiration letter, then went home after pausing outside the Cheng Residence.

• Steward Fang and the woman brought Fang Yong five hundred Spirit Sources, and he urged them to keep enough for themselves.
• Fang Yong told them he had qualified for the Sect Examination, and they congratulated him before leaving.
• Jiang Man began covering a guard shift for eighty Spirit Sources a night and told Fang Yong he was already married.
• Jiang Man checked his surroundings, cultivated the Qi Refining Method, and planned to prepare for the March Spell Arts contest.
• Cheng Yu told Luo Xuan that Jiang Man had refused to reply to an admiration letter because he was already married.
• Cheng Yu left the Luo Residence, paused outside the Cheng Residence, and went inside.

Cheng Yu’s mother beat and berated her for failing to secure a place, while Jiang Man spent the break cultivating and earning Spirit Sources. On January 1, Zhao Leming presented Jiang Man with offers from three lineages, each demanding service or marriage in exchange for support as he prepared for the Sect Examination.

• Cheng Yu’s mother struck her and blamed her for failing to secure a place despite years of support and training.
• Jiang Man advanced to the eleventh layer of the Dawn Qi Refining Method during the half-month break and continued earning Spirit Sources.
• On January 1, Zhao Leming told Jiang Man that three lineages wanted to support him because of his ranking and Sect Examination qualification.
• Jiang Man read the Li Lineage’s offer of monthly resources in exchange for ten years of service if he entered a sect, or repayment through labor if he failed.
• Jiang Man rejected the Cheng Lineage’s offer in his mind because it required fifteen years of protecting and obeying its disciples.
• Jiang Man read the Luo Lineage’s offer, which required him to take the examination in its name and marry into the lineage.

Jiang Man rejected offers from three Lineages and agreed to help Little Fatty cultivate in exchange for resources. After training and sparring at the Cloudfront Office, he was approached by a representative of the Li Lineage, who urged him to reconsider their offer.

• Jiang Man rejected the Li, Cheng, and Luo Lineages' offers, and Zhao Leming explained that their terms might improve as Jiang Man's ranking rose.
• Jiang Man asked Zhao Leming about new work, then returned to the Sixth Courtyard and sent Fang Yong to speak with him.
• Little Fatty told Jiang Man that his family had offered him a choice between marriage and cultivating toward a future in the family business, and he offered Jiang Man resources to teach him.
• Teacher Fu demonstrated defensive uses of the Collapsing Flow Technique, and Jiang Man later sparred with Luo Xuan.
• Cheng Yu wondered when Jiang Man would discover that she had written the letter, while Luo Xuan warned her not to tease the top-ranked student.
• A middle-aged man from the Li Lineage approached Jiang Man and argued that their offer gave him better prospects than the others.

Jiang Man rejected the Li Lineage’s offer for the time being, continued cultivating, and prepared to reveal his seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivation in the courtyard assessment. Meanwhile, Little Fatty followed Jiang Man’s demanding cultivation plan, but his father doubted Jiang Man’s ability to teach.

• A middle-aged man from the Li Lineage offered Jiang Man five thousand a month and argued that the lineage could help him establish himself in a sect, but Jiang Man said he would think it over.
• Old Yellow Ox gave Jiang Man a detailed cultivation plan for Little Fatty, which Jiang Man recorded and divided into three parts.
• Throughout January, Jiang Man cultivated and earned Spirit Sources, reaching the fifth stage of the physical body and filling his fifth qi and blood gourd to thirty percent.
• At the end of January, Jiang Man decided to reveal his seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivation at the courtyard assessment to secure first place and make it easier to speak with Li Yuan and the others.
• After the assessment, Little Fatty continued cultivating with Jiang Man’s guidance book, while his father considered replacing the plan because he thought Jiang Man lacked teaching experience.

Gao Cunfeng let Little Fatty pursue cultivation until August while Jiang Man led the Sixth Courtyard and continued improving. After the break began, Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu discussed their plans and Jiang Man’s unexpectedly high score.

• Gao Cunfeng agreed to let Little Fatty cultivate, but told him to reach Qi Refining Fourth Layer by August or accept a marriage arrangement.
• Jiang Man received a score of seventy-nine and first place in the Sixth Courtyard, and Little Fatty read his sheet and called him a genius.
• The courtyard rankings confirmed Jiang Man’s first place, but the Azure Cloud Pavilion postponed its broader rankings until April.
• The Sixth Courtyard cultivated throughout February, and at the next assessment Jiang Man scored eighty while the lowest-ranked students reached Qi Refining Third Layer.
• Mr. Zhao reminded the students about the coming contest and their future paths before the break began on March 15.
• Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu left the Sixth Courtyard together, and Cheng Yu said that her scheming nature would help her do better afterward.

Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu discussed the coming contest and the choice between taking a son-in-law and entering a marriage alliance. Jiang Man advanced his cultivation and learned from Old Yellow Ox how to maximize his strength, while Gao Cunfeng had Elder Chen examine the cultivation book Little Fatty had been using.

• Luo Xuan asked Cheng Yu when Jiang Man would discover she had written the letter, and Cheng Yu said it would be soon but had not changed him.
• Cheng Yu urged Luo Xuan to decide whether to take a son-in-law or enter a marriage alliance before August, while Luo Xuan doubted Jiang Man would submit to or marry into another family.
• Jiang Man completed the seventh gourd of Qi Refining, advanced his physical body and spirit cultivation, and planned to reach the eighth layer before the next contest.
• Old Yellow Ox told Jiang Man that the Cloudfront Office had ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivators and explained that cultivation levels in the body and spirit also distinguished them.
• Gao Cunfeng asked Elder Chen to assess Little Fatty's cultivation book, and Elder Chen found it advised only that the practitioner stay up.
• Gao Cunfeng told Elder Chen to revise the method for Gao Yao and planned to secretly replace the book before the next cultivation-method contest.

Jiang Man borrowed Spirit Sources from Chang Qiwen and cultivated toward the eighth level of Qi Refining while planning to claim first place at the Cloudfront Office. Three days later, he reached the eighth level and set his sights on the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, while Li Yuan prepared to compete for a Visualization Method.

• Jiang Man borrowed three thousand Spirit Sources from Chang Qiwen, promising to repay three thousand five hundred in September, and Chang Qiwen warned him that Li Yuan might target him.
• Jiang Man told Old Yellow Ox he intended to contend for first place and bought Spirit-Gathering Pills to continue cultivating.
• Li Yuan told Yan Huimin he planned to compete for the Visualization Method rather than the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal and intended to persuade or force Jiang Man to join him.
• Three days later, Jiang Man reached the eighth level of Qi Refining and decided to compete for the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal.