Chapter Summaries

Jiang Man joined Li Yuan and Yan Huimin for the second contest, but rejected Li Yuan’s plan to compete for a Middle-Grade Visualization Method and demonstrated his strength. He took charge of the team and led them toward the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, where they encountered Fang Yuanyuan.

• Jiang Man left Old Yellow Ox and went to the Back Mountain to meet Li Yuan and Yan Huimin.
• Li Yuan urged Jiang Man to trust his judgment and said they should compete for the Middle-Grade Visualization Method.
• Jiang Man said he wanted the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal and proved his strength by pinning Li Yuan in place with his spiritual qi.
• Li Yuan accepted Jiang Man as the team’s leader, and Jiang Man led the group toward their contest while asking about their opponents.
• Fang Yuanyuan approached Li Yuan and asked what he planned to compete for.

Li Yuan’s team overwhelmed Fang Yuanyuan’s teammates while she tried to hold him back, then followed her through Back Mountain. Fang Yuanyuan reached her eldest brother, Fang Tianyi, and warned him with Li Yuan’s group approaching behind her.

• Fang Yuanyuan mocked Li Yuan and sent her teammates to attack Jiang Man and Yan Huimin while she held him back.
• Jiang Man and Yan Huimin quickly defeated Fang Yuanyuan’s two teammates, and Li Yuan joined them in surrounding her.
• Fang Yuanyuan escaped, and Jiang Man led the group in following her toward Fang Tianyi’s team.
• Li Yuan’s group alternated between speeding up and slowing down, keeping Fang Yuanyuan under pressure as she continued toward her brother.
• Fang Yuanyuan reached Fang Tianyi while he searched a grove for the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, and he warned his teammates to stay alert.

Jiang Man defeated Fang Tianyi and revealed that his rapid advancement had made him a force the Fang family could not casually provoke. After Jiang Man left to pursue the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, Fang Tianyi resolved to apologize and compensate him, while Gao Cunfeng sought a new cultivation plan.

• Fang Yuanyuan warned Fang Tianyi that Li Yuan’s group was approaching and that Jiang Man might be their second seventh-layer cultivator.
• Fang Tianyi recognized Jiang Man as the group’s leader and challenged him over the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal.
• Jiang Man defeated Fang Tianyi with Six Harmonies Palm and revealed that he belonged to the Jiang Household, not the Luo Lineage.
• Fang Tianyi realized Jiang Man had reached the eighth layer and decided the Fang family should apologize and offer compensation.
• At the Gao Lineage, Gao Cunfeng used Little Fatty’s absence to seek a replacement for his punishing cultivation plan.

Gao Cunfeng received Elder Chen’s replacement cultivation book and learned that the Cloudfront Office’s second contest would rank participants by strength. Meanwhile, Jiang Man’s group found the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, where Jiang Man swiftly defeated the approaching contenders.

• Gao Cunfeng set aside Little Fatty’s cultivation book and accepted Elder Chen’s replacement, then discussed the contest rankings with him.
• Li Yuan explained that Fang Tianyi’s loss meant he was unlikely to warn others, while Jiang Man debated whether to suppress his cultivation for combat practice.
• Jiang Man, Li Yuan, and Yan Huimin found the grove containing the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal and waited for its formation to open.
• Li Yuan identified the approaching contenders as a Jade Water Pavilion team led by its top-ranked woman, who was likely targeting Nightglow Pavilion’s Yang Ling.
• Jiang Man called out Yang Ling to distract the contenders, then used Azure Smoke Prelude and Six Harmonies Palm to defeat them in one breath.

Jiang Man overwhelmed Gao Nian’s group, helped Li Yuan and Yan Huimin obtain the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, and declared that he would become the Cloudfront Office’s first-place entrant. The others planned to track his progress and investigate his claim that he never slept.

• Jiang Man ambushed Gao Nian’s group and defeated them with a rapid barrage of Spell Arts.
• Gao Nian questioned Jiang Man’s origins, paid him Spirit Sources for an answer, and heard that he cultivated every day without sleeping.
• When the formation opened, Jiang Man, Li Yuan, and Yan Huimin entered and obtained the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal.
• Gao Nian concluded that Jiang Man was a talented pauper who used free Spell Arts, then left to urge her Lineage head to recruit him.
• Jiang Man told Li Yuan that he would take first place in the Cloudfront Office starting that year, while Li Yuan and Yan Huimin planned to improve their cultivation and investigate his sleepless routine.

Jiang Man ranked first in Azure Cloud Pavilion and second among the six pavilions, shocking his peers and Gao Cunfeng. After learning the results, Gao Cunfeng ordered Little Fatty’s cultivation books returned so he could keep practicing them.

• Little Fatty met Song Qing while waiting for Azure Cloud Pavilion’s rankings, and they discussed Jiang Man’s likely placement.
• The rankings named Jiang Man of the Sixth Courtyard first in Azure Cloud Pavilion, ahead of Fang Tianyi.
• Chang Qiwen checked the six pavilions’ rankings and found Jiang Man in second place, behind Cheng Moyang.
• Gao Cunfeng learned Jiang Man’s rankings and connected his rise to the cultivation books he had swapped with Little Fatty.
• Gao Cunfeng ordered his people to retrieve the books and return them to Little Fatty.

Jiang Man secured the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal and began studying its difficult text, while the rankings made him a target of growing attention. Unable to get guidance from Old Yellow Ox, he went to seek a teacher as Mr. Zhao considered the pressure gathering around them.

• Yang Ling recalled watching Jiang Man defeat Gao Nian and his group with ease, then gave up competing for the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal.
• Jiang Man saw that he ranked second in the Six Pavilions and wondered whether the rankings accurately reflected his strength compared with Cheng Moyang.
• Back at the Stable, Jiang Man showed Old Yellow Ox the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, but Old Yellow Ox warned that his unfamiliarity with the Immortal Gate's theory could lead Jiang Man astray.
• Jiang Man decided to seek instruction from Mr. Zhao or Teacher Fu and considered the threats posed by Cheng Moyang and the lineages seeking to recruit him.
• Mr. Zhao reviewed six letters addressed to Jiang Man and worried that refusing the lineages could bring trouble, while Jiang Man's rise could also affect his own future.

After Jiang Man placed second among the Six Pavilions, several lineages offered him contracts, but he rejected them all rather than be bound to their service or marry into the Luo family. Zhao Leming deferred discussing the consequences while Teacher Fu arrived to teach Jiang Man the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, and Luo Xuan returned home to find her father had summoned her.

• Zhao Leming showed Jiang Man improved contracts from six lineages, drawn by his strong contest ranking.
• Jiang Man read the offers, including the Fang Lineage’s long service obligations, the Li Lineage’s control over his future, and the Luo Lineage’s demand that he marry into their family and put their interests first.
• Jiang Man rejected every contract, explaining that the Luo Lineage’s marriage offer would bind him for life and noting that he was already married.
• Zhao Leming agreed to turn down the offers but postponed discussing whether the lineages might retaliate, and directed Jiang Man to learn the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal from Teacher Fu.
• Luo Xuan returned to the Luo Residence, where her father summoned her after she heard about Jiang Man’s remarkable ranking.

Luo Xuan agreed to let her father pursue a marriage arrangement with Jiang Man, despite knowing he was already married and unlikely to accept. After learning the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal, Jiang Man discovered that the Li and Luo Lineages might use his teammate’s participation to pressure him, while Zhao Leming promised to protect him as much as he could.

• Luo Huaili proposed that Luo Xuan marry Jiang Man and asked whether she would accept taking him as a son-in-law.
• Luo Xuan told Luo Huaili that Jiang Man was already married, but agreed to leave the matter to her father if he could resolve the situation.
• Jiang Man studied the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal with Teacher Fu and completed his first circulation, though he had not yet reached its first layer.
• Jiang Man asked Zhao Leming about rejecting the lineages, and Zhao explained that the Li and Luo Lineages might approach him because his Li-surnamed teammate could determine whether he obtained a spell art.
• Zhao Leming promised to shield Jiang Man from pressure within the Cloudfront Office and handle what he could, then suggested the Li Lineage might be pursuing him as an incidental move.

Jiang Man discussed the Li and Luo Lineages with Zhao Leming, then learned from the Immortal Maiden that the Magpie Bridge would open earlier than expected. The chapter left Jiang Man worried that she would soon come for him and that Old Yellow Ox could not help him escape.

• Jiang Man asked Zhao Leming how to escape the Li Lineage's harassment, and Zhao Leming said he needed enough Spirit Sources to raise his cultivation.
• Zhao Leming explained that the Luo Lineage might recruit Jiang Man as a son-in-law because its younger generation was dwindling, but Jiang Man rejected the idea of marrying into the lineage.
• Jiang Man returned to the Stable courtyard and told Old Yellow Ox about the Spell Arts and the six letters; Old Yellow Ox said escaping a contract's restrictions would require becoming stronger than the Immortal Gate.
• The Immortal Maiden sent Jiang Man a message saying people had mocked her for being married to a husband whose name she did not know, and asked when the Magpie Bridge would open.
• Old Yellow Ox said the Magpie Bridge opened about once a year and would open earlier this time, then warned Jiang Man that he could flee danger but could not take anyone with him.

Jiang Man mastered the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal Great Accomplishment by the end of March while planning his next cultivation steps. Elsewhere, the Li Lineage youth ordered Lao Jin to recruit Jiang Man as a tool for the next contest, while Cheng Moyang and Young Master Yang recognized him as a potential threat.

• Jiang Man cultivated the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal from its first layer to Great Accomplishment, manifesting a golden dragon and nine marks.
• Jiang Man spoke with Old Yellow Ox, then planned to attend the Spirit-Gathering Hall and use the Spirit Source and pills arriving from Little Fatty to improve his cultivation.
• At Moon-Viewing Tower, the Li Lineage youth told Lao Jin to approach Jiang Man again and use Li Yuan's help if needed.
• The Li Lineage youth intended for Cheng Moyang to pressure Jiang Man and for Jiang Man to serve as a stepping stone in the next contest.
• At the Six Pavilions residences, Young Master Yang told Cheng Moyang that the poor man they had once toyed with had become a threat.

Cheng Moyang decided not to provoke Jiang Man, while Jiang Man worried about finding enough Spirit Sources to advance beyond the qi refining eighth layer. Luo Huaili, head of the Luo Lineage, came in person to invite Jiang Man to join his lineage as a son-in-law, but Jiang Man refused.

• Cheng Moyang explained that Jiang Man had become too valued by the Azure Cloud Pavilion to suppress, and decided to target Fang Yong instead while keeping watch on the Sixth Courtyard.
• Jiang Man went to the Spirit-Gathering Hall and concluded that his limited Spirit Sources might prevent him from reaching the qi refining ninth layer within three months.
• Jiang Man asked Old Yellow Ox why nobody would give him Spirit Sources, and Old Yellow Ox reminded him that he had once gotten him a wife for free.
• Luo Huaili arrived and introduced himself as the head of the Luo Lineage, then invited Jiang Man to join the lineage on any terms he wanted.
• Jiang Man refused to marry into the Luo Lineage, but Luo Huaili insisted that he could not refuse.

Jiang Man rejected Luo Huaili’s offer to marry into the Luo Lineage, preferring to keep his freedom while accepting that cultivation would grow harder. Later, Fang Yong revealed he had also refused a lineage marriage, and Jiang Man learned that the Li Lineage might approach him next.

• Luo Huaili offered Jiang Man resources and support if he married into the Luo Lineage, but Jiang Man refused and said he would consider financial support without binding himself to them.
• Old Yellow Ox explained to Jiang Man why lineages were reluctant to offer help without securing loyalty in return.
• On April 1, Jiang Man went to the Sixth Courtyard and met Fang Yong, who said he had declined a lineage marriage because its conditions limited his freedom.
• Fang Yong told Jiang Man that the Li Lineage’s people would come looking for him.
• Little Fatty asked Jiang Man how he had risen among the Six Pavilions, and Jiang Man credited secret hard work at home.

Jiang Man guided Little Fatty, accepted an unexpected gift from Song Qing, and received special instruction from Teacher Fu on using the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal in combat. His intense cultivation set the pace for the Sixth Courtyard, prompting Li Yuan to discover that even the first-ranked student was still training after everyone else had left.

• Jiang Man gave Little Fatty another book to study, and Little Fatty asked whether Jiang Man and his wife were close; Jiang Man insisted that she longed to reunite with him.
• Song Qing thanked Jiang Man and gave him a Spirit-Gathering Pill, which Jiang Man happily accepted.
• Teacher Fu taught Jiang Man how to activate the Nine Clouds Town-Dragon Seal while moving or being attacked, then explained how to process spirit medicine.
• The Sixth Courtyard continued cultivating after Teacher Fu left, with Jiang Man working intently at its head.
• Li Yuan went to the Sixth Courtyard and found that no one had left, including Jiang Man, the First in Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Jiang Man’s all-night cultivation habit spread through Azure Cloud Pavilion, pressuring students across the Six Pavilions to work harder. The chapter ended with Li Yuan apologizing to Jiang Man and offering him two thousand Spirit Sources.

• Li Yuan returned to cultivating, and the students who saw the top-ranked students staying late began cultivating instead of going home.
• Azure Cloud Pavilion’s students stopped leaving at night, and the saying that nights were for cultivation spread to the other pavilions.
• Cheng Moyang felt pressured to protect his first-place rank, led the other pavilions out, then secretly cultivated all night at home.
• Yang Feng and Yang Ling denied staying up all night to cultivate, while Jiang Man explained that observers had watched him through the night.
• Li Yuan met Jiang Man, apologized for his earlier narrow-mindedness, and handed him two thousand Spirit Sources.

Jiang Man received Spirit Source from Li Yuan and Fang Tianyi, then learned he could study a Middle-Grade Cultivation Method for a fee. He decided to pursue first place in the Cloudfront Office instead, while Old Jin of the Li Lineage confirmed Jiang Man had not paid the tuition and prepared to speak with him.

• Jiang Man accepted two thousand Spirit Source from Li Yuan and six thousand from Fang Tianyi, who warned Li Yuan that trouble might be coming.
• Jiang Man received a letter offering the Azure Cloud Pavilion's top three a chance to learn Middle-Grade Cultivation Methods for ten thousand Spirit Source.
• Jiang Man borrowed three thousand Spirit Source from Chang Qiwen and agreed to repay thirty-five hundred in September.
• Jiang Man told Old Yellow Ox that he would skip the Middle-Grade Qi and Blood Method because his goal was to become number one in the Cloudfront Office.
• Old Jin of the Li Lineage confirmed that Jiang Man had not paid tuition for a Middle-Grade Cultivation Method and decided to go speak with him.

Jiang Man rejected the Li Lineage’s offer and faced pressure over his access to cultivation resources, but Mr. Zhao resolved the trouble at the Spirit-Gathering Hall. Jiang Man left the middle-grade cultivation method unpaid for and focused on his own cultivation as the third contest approached.

• Lao Jin offered Jiang Man ten thousand spirit sources a month to join the Li Lineage, but Jiang Man refused after citing better offers from other lineages.
• Lao Jin warned that the Li Lineage could disrupt Jiang Man’s work and use the contest’s team rules to block him from obtaining spell arts.
• Jiang Man visited Steward Miao, who said orders barred him from the Spirit-Gathering Hall for now and gave him a Spirit-Gathering Pill.
• Mr. Zhao assured Jiang Man he could focus on cultivation, and the Spirit-Gathering Hall soon notified him that the issue had been resolved.
• Jiang Man encouraged Little Fatty to keep cultivating toward the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, then ignored an envelope demanding payment for the middle-grade cultivation method.

Jiang Man learned that the great lineages had driven up pill prices to pressure people who refused their contracts, threatening his plans to advance. Fang Yong offered to take him to someone who could sell him pills at the original price, though the deal would likely have conditions.

• Jiang Man found that Spirit-Gathering Pills and other pills had risen in price, so he asked Zhao Leming whether he was being targeted.
• Zhao Leming explained that the great lineages had coordinated bulk purchases to pressure people into contracts, and predicted pill prices would climb to around six hundred.
• Jiang Man visited the Sixth Courtyard and saw that the rising prices were troubling its poorer cultivators.
• Fang Yong offered to connect Jiang Man with a seller who could provide enough pills at the original price, but warned that the seller would likely impose conditions.
• Jiang Man agreed to go with Fang Yong while intending to stay within the Cloudfront Office, where Zhao Leming could protect him.

Jiang Man secretly cultivated harder after pill prices rose, while Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu discussed marriage prospects and the Luo Lineage’s growing urgency. Fang Yong took Jiang Man to meet a connection who had warned him about the price increase.

• Little Fatty warned Jiang Man that rising pill prices were meant to pressure cultivators like him into signing contracts, and Jiang Man teased him about wanting a wife who allowed concubines.
• Jiang Man secretly cultivated during Mr. Zhao’s lesson and left early to return to cultivating, prompting others to sigh with relief.
• Luo Xuan and Cheng Yu discussed Jiang Man’s relentless cultivation, the failed search for a live-in husband, and Fang Yong as a possible match.
• Luo Xuan reflected that the Luo Lineage was running out of time and that her father still hoped Jiang Man might join the family.
• Fang Yong told Jiang Man that a woman had warned him in advance about the pill-price increase, leaving Jiang Man wondering whether Fang Yong had been buying low and selling high.

Jiang Man and Fang Yong met Wang Yan, who offered poor Student Cultivators pills at their original price in exchange for drawing diagrams from a cultivation method. Jiang Man discovered the method was an upper-grade Qi and Blood Method, a subject he knew little about, and learned that the worst drawing would lose ten pills to the best.

• Fang Yong told Jiang Man that a wealthy woman was approaching poor Student Cultivators, and warned him to be cautious.
• Fang Yong brought Jiang Man to meet Wang Yan and three other Student Cultivators from the Three Towers; they shared their names and rankings.
• Wang Yan offered each of them up to thirty pills at the original price in exchange for drawing circulation diagrams from a cultivation method.
• Jiang Man recognized the text as an upper-grade Qi and Blood Method and struggled to understand its terminology.
• Wang Yan announced that the worst drawing would lose ten pills to the best, so Jiang Man began working harder to protect his allotment.