Chapter 12: New Records of the Heavenly Book

Jiang Man paid no attention to these people.He left the Sixth Courtyard directly.

He had noticed Little Fatty's expression and felt he shouldn't tell him about his secret cultivation next time.

Then he would return to cultivate in secret.

This way the other party would become complacent.

It would be quite convenient to surpass him.

By repeating this method, he could quickly surpass the top three and become one of the top three.

After that would be surpassing first and second place.

He first went to the management office to collect his other compensation for this month's stable work - ten pounds of coarse rice. Originally it was five pounds per month, but now it had doubled, making it fifteen pounds per month.

This would at least keep him from starving.

Cultivation consumed physical strength, so it actually still wasn't enough, but it was much better than before.

After delivering the items back, he then headed to the guard station.

The guard station belonged to the Cloud Front Division.

It was located within the Cloud Front Division.

Not particularly dangerous.

In front of the guard station's main gate, Jiang Man carefully observed his surroundings.

Blue-gray walls shimmered with cold light in the twilight, while bronze wind chimes hung from the eaves of the three-zhang tall watchtower, swinging in the evening breeze with dull sounds.

Two worn stone lion statues stood on either side of the guard department's main entrance.

Entering the gate, he could see two guards sitting at a table and chairs to one side.

They were watching him.

"Which academy's student?" the middle-aged guard asked.

Jiang Man walked over and said politely, "Azure Cloud Pavilion's."

"What are you doing here?" the other asked again.

"Looking for work here. This is my recommendation letter." As he spoke, Jiang Man handed the envelope in his hand to the other.

The middle-aged man glanced at it and said, "Do you know who to look for?"

Jiang Man shook his head.

Then the other looked at Jiang Man and remained silent.

Jiang Man immediately said, "My family has encountered some difficulties, and I'm a bit short on funds, but I'm ranked first in my courtyard. There will be more opportunities in the future. If I can receive guidance from you two seniors today, I will definitely repay you generously in the future."

Last place was still first place.

The two guards exchanged glances, then pointed inside, informing him of the specific location and some simple precautions.

Hearing this, Jiang Man thanked them and immediately headed inside.

The two guards watched him leave, and the younger one said, "First place, do you believe that?"

"I don't believe it, do you?" the middle-aged man retorted.

"I don't believe it either, so why did you help him?"

"He's thick-skinned. People like him who take unorthodox paths tend to succeed easily, and they're also petty. I'm afraid if he succeeds, he'll hold a grudge against me."

Soon, Jiang Man found the place, stated his purpose, and conveniently produced the recommendation letter.

The person in charge was a middle-aged woman.

She looked at the recommendation letter and said, "So you're Jiang Man? Teacher Zhao mentioned you to me. Can you do anything?"

Jiang Man nodded, "May I ask what I'll be doing?"

"Do you have any requirements?" the manager asked, looking at Jiang Man.

Jiang Man thought for a moment and said, "Being able to cultivate would be best."

"Here, we're only afraid you won't cultivate," the manager said with a smile. "What's your score?"

Jiang Man was silent for a moment before saying, "Zero points."

The originally recording manager was stunned, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

She seemed somewhat incredulous.

No wonder Zhao Leming hadn't explained clearly.

So he was waiting to spring this on her.

"Do you know the Qi Refinement Method?" Manager Miao asked.

Jiang Man nodded, "Yes, I do."

Hearing this, Manager Miao nodded and then said, "Barely usable."

Then she looked at Jiang Man and said, "In that case, it'll be thirty spirit sources per day. As for the time, starting from evening, one shichen will be enough."

Spirit sources were simple currency used for cultivation.

Spirit stones varied in size and had been unsuitable as currency for many years.

After the immortal sects took control, they conveniently changed it.

Using special methods, they extracted spirit sources that were difficult to absorb and more durable from spirit stones, which could only serve as currency for ordinary people.

Whether thirty spirit sources per day was a lot or a little, Jiang Man had no concept.

But thinking of his score, he understood - it was definitely very little.

"So what exactly will I be doing?" Jiang Man asked.

Only needing one shichen was indeed good for him.

It would free up plenty of time for cultivation.

"Take this token and go to the back," Manager Miao instructed someone to take Jiang Man to the rear.

Subsequently, a maidservant brought Jiang Man to a room with the sign "Spirit Gathering Hall" above it.

Then Jiang Man was brought into the main hall, where there were eighty-one statues.

About half of the statues were emitting light.

Then the maidservant brought Jiang Man behind a statue near the edge and opened the statue's door.

Inside was a small room.

"What is this?" Jiang Man asked, confused.

"Go in. What you need to do is continuously operate the Qi Refinement Method inside. The formation lighting up proves you're working. If the light goes out for too long, you won't get today's spirit sources," the maidservant explained.

"You need to make at least three beads light up within one shichen. If you light an additional bead, you get five more spirit sources.

Any other questions?"

"Just sit inside and cultivate? Don't need to do anything else?" Jiang Man asked the maidservant who appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six.

She nodded, "If you don't complete it, you probably won't get those thirty spirit sources. Also, once you start, you cannot make any noise.

We'll monitor your safety."

Hearing this, Jiang Man nodded repeatedly, though internally he thought, if there's danger and I can't operate the Qi Refinement Method, wouldn't they come check immediately?

After the person left, the door was closed, and she said it would be opened after one shichen.

After entering, Jiang Man found the space inside wasn't small, with many white beads embedded in the walls.

Currently only one bead was lit, and what he needed to do was operate the Qi Refinement Method.

Before operating it, he first touched it and communicated with the Heavenly Mirror Hundred Books.

Immediately the book pages kept turning, and Jiang Man thought it would stop at the last page.

With the phrase "not worth mentioning."

However, something unexpected happened - the book stopped at page thirty-six.

This surprised Jiang Man.

Such a high page number?

Then text appeared.

An unexpected surprise - Jiang Man hadn't expected this formation to have such significant origins.

This spell innate qi was probably similar to the technique purple qi.

But this was for cultivating spells.

It seemed his spell improvement speed wouldn't be too slow either.

Without further hesitation, Jiang Man began operating the Qi Refinement Method, not daring to use full power the first time.

He only operated it slowly, and after one complete cycle, the spiritual energy that should have landed in his dantian was absorbed by the formation.

There was a feeling of being forcibly separated from his body.

Slightly painful, probably because the formation was too crude. Prolonged use would cause some damage to the body.

"No wonder it's only one shichen - the body might not be able to endure it."

"I wonder if the complete version would have such side effects."

Then Jiang Man began operating the Qi Refinement Method at full power, and at the last moment he diverted part of the spiritual energy toward the formation while the remaining part landed in his dantian.

"Works."

Because his score was low, the formation's absorption of him was also low.

About equivalent to the Qi Refinement Method third layer.

The remainder was his own.

And the quantity was large, so the damage to his body could be ignored.

But trading cultivation progress slowdown for spirit sources - hard to say whether it was a loss or gain.

But obtaining the spell innate qi meant it was a gain.

After one shichen.

Jiang Man had operated the Qi Refinement Method dozens of times, and now the first gourd was completely full.

Click!

The door slowly opened.

It was the same maidservant from before.

She looked at the white beads - indeed three were lit.

"You broke off six times in the middle. Remember to pay more attention next time," the maidservant said.

Jiang Man was somewhat surprised - so precise?

"Come over. The manager wants to say a few words, then we'll distribute the spirit sources," the maidservant said.

Just as Jiang Man stepped out, he heard Manager Miao's voice: "Today I'm introducing a newcomer to everyone. His score in the rear courtyard is zero. Someone like him coming here to work fully demonstrates his unwillingness to accept his fate.

If even he can be like this, should you all continue being lazy?

I dare say, if anyone among you succeeds in the future.

It will definitely be this newcomer.

Zero points - have you ever seen that?

Someone like this is equivalent to disabled, yet he's disabled in body but strong in will.

Why can't success include him?"

Jiang Man: "..."