Chapter 180 - I Saw Through My Husband’s Name at a Glance

After Jiang Man finished his meal and began his Cultivation, the Old Yellow Ox stared at the places where the Spirit Medicines were, lost in thought.’Could he really be an omnipotent Unparalleled Celestial Pride?’

This kind of all-encompassing compatibility wasn’t difficult to achieve.

But it was absolutely impossible for someone who hadn’t even begun systematic training.

When Jiang Man returned from his Cultivation, the Old Yellow Ox asked, "You’re not going to take up a Minor?"

Jiang Man replied casually, "Nope."

The Old Yellow Ox asked, "Because you’re poor?"

"Because it’s not worth many points," Jiang Man said calmly. "Others take up a Minor because they can’t raise their scores in other areas, but I don’t have that problem."

"There’s no need to waste time learning something for extra credit."

"But you’re poor," the Old Yellow Ox stated.

Jiang Man smiled faintly. "An Unparalleled Celestial Pride doesn’t need to earn his own money."

The Old Yellow Ox looked away from Jiang Man and went back to chewing grass.

Jiang Man, of course, paid it no mind.

Nowadays, he paid his rent in advance; no need for a reminder notice in an envelope.

After deducting the cost of food, he still had 58,000.

And starting next month, he would have an income of 6,000 a month.

The future was looking bright.

’Why waste time on a Minor for no good reason?’

Besides, it was time to start cultivating the Top-grade Skill.

It had been two days; the Old Yellow Ox should have finished his analysis by now.

「The next day.」

Jiang Man began to study the Top-grade Observation Method.

"The Seven Stars Observation Method is compatible with the Seven Star Condensing Yuan Technique. Later, if you want to learn a Top-grade Body Refining Skill, you’d best choose the Seven-Star Body Refining Technique."

"That’s the only way to maximize the growth of your power."

"If you don’t, you’ll have to find a way to complete the set later. Otherwise, you’ll be at a natural disadvantage," the Old Yellow Ox warned.

Jiang Man was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected this to be a factor.

During the Qi Refining stage, he could cultivate whatever he wanted.

The Old Yellow Ox explained the general reason: Qi Refining itself was a rather jumbled process, and the body lacked the conditions for different powers to merge.

After Foundation Establishment, the body’s fundamentals changed. With fewer impurities, the conditions for powers to merge were finally met.

Simply put, the Physical Body, Spiritual Qi, and Spirit were cultivated separately, creating inherent barriers. If the skills one used were from different sets, their "paths" wouldn’t connect, making it difficult for these three powers to merge and synergize.

Using skills from the same set, however, would present no such obstacles to integration.

That’s why Top-grade Skills for the Foundation Establishment stage and beyond always came in complete sets.

Once you collected the full set, you could operate at full power without any hindrance. Otherwise, you’d have to force them to adapt to each other, a process that might not even be possible.

Jiang Man grasped these concepts quickly and nodded in understanding.

He then spent two days familiarizing himself with the Seven Stars Observation Method, and another two days on the Cyan Smoke Melody.

They were as complex as ever.

But he found them progressively easier to understand.

Jiang Man had to admit his fundamentals were a bit lacking.

But mastering them would require a great deal of study, and time was short. He even had to listen to lectures on Spirit Medicine while he ate.

He still hadn’t finished earning all the money from his master.

After that, it was time to improve his Top-grade Observation Method.

After two repetitions, he successfully reached the Entry Level.

After four, he entered the Second Layer.

After eight, the Third Layer.

After sixteen, the Fourth Layer.

After thirty-two, the Fifth Layer.

On the second day.

The Sixth Layer.

On the third day.

The Seventh Layer.

On the fifth day.

The Eighth Layer.

On the eighth day.

The Ninth Layer.

Jiang Man felt the Visualization Skill was more mentally taxing and difficult than the Nascent Condensation Skill.

On the thirteenth day.

The Tenth Layer.

On the twenty-second day.

The Eleventh Layer.

On the fortieth day.

The Twelfth Layer.

On the sixty-fifth day.

May 10th.

The Thirteenth Layer.

The instant he mastered it, Jiang Man felt his original Spirit Gourd begin to transform, turning into a cluster of stars.

His Spiritual Fifth Layer became five stars.

After reaching the Seventh Layer, it would become seven stars.

At the Eighth Layer, light would connect them.

And at the Ninth Layer, the Seven Stars would bloom, their light illuminating his entire body.

Suppressing his aura, Jiang Man let out a long sigh of relief.

"Two months... that’s way too long." Jiang Man felt this pace was far too slow.

If he continued at this rate, the short time he’d get for Cultivation in a Secret Realm wouldn’t be nearly enough.

’I need to get my hands on something special as soon as possible.’

’I should ask Senior Sister Yu about it.’

But then, Jiang Man remembered something.

"Senior, I remember my Fate Chart was supposed to send me into a Secret Realm after 550 days, which should have been around March 26th. Why didn’t it activate?"

He had been so focused on his Cultivation that he had forgotten about it.

The Old Yellow Ox looked at Jiang Man and said, "Didn’t you already leave behind a Palm Seal?"

Jiang Man froze for a second, then remarked with a sigh, "So the Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart is that much slower than me."

He had considered the possibility, but he hadn’t expected it to actually be that stone.

The Old Yellow Ox glanced at Jiang Man, then lowered its head and said casually, "It’s May now. In another two months, your wife should be here."

The Magpie Bridge was about to open. Jiang Man frowned. "Aren’t the Immortal Sects conducting strict investigations? She still dares to come?"

"She’s not using the Magpie Bridge as a channel anymore. For her, it’s just an opening. There’s still a chance she could be discovered, of course, but that depends on who’s doing the investigating and who’s trying to exploit the situation," said the Old Yellow Ox.

Jiang Man understood.

Meng Qiewei was too powerful for ordinary people to detect.

It would be useless unless the Immortal Sect dispatched someone of equal power.

Jiang Man didn’t dwell on the matter, because the 600-day mark was fast approaching.

"In ten days, the Fate Chart will reveal its next condition. I wonder what the Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart will give me this time, and how it’ll try to make things difficult for me," Jiang Man said.

"You don’t seem worried at all," the Old Yellow Ox noted.

Jiang Man smiled faintly. "In a few years, I will have proven that I am an Unparalleled Celestial Pride. At that point, it will be up to the Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart to prove that *it* is truly an Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart."

"How can a Fate Chart that can’t even keep up with me be called ’Unparalleled Celestial Pride’?"

The Old Yellow Ox stared at Jiang Man for a long moment before lowering its head to graze.

「Eighth Courtyard.」

Yan Yiqiu looked down at everyone and announced, "The June assessment is about to begin. Is anyone planning on being absent this time?"

Everyone knew her words were aimed at Jiang Man.

Jiang Man thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I don’t think I’ll be absent this time."

Hearing this, Zhao Yaoyao broke into a smile.

An Rong smiled as well.

Because Cao Cheng was about to be knocked out of the top five.

He would be relegated to the top ten, just like her, instead of remaining in the top five.

Lin Qingshan also sighed. He would be in the top five, not the top three.

The most pained of all was Zhuo Bufan. He had just received a huge influx of support from his family, only for his rank to be threatened.

’They’ll think it was a waste and pull their resources. Then they’ll see I’m still second place. And they’ll think they were right all along, plus they’ll have saved a ton of resources.’

For a moment, his heart filled with indignation. He felt he could still put up a fight.

After all, his score was already very high.

And Jiang Man had missed so many assessments. ’Maybe he’s just been stagnating?’

"Jiang Man, you cannot miss this annual assessment. If you do, you’ll lose the chance to learn the best Secret Skill," Yan Yiqiu reminded him.

At her words, Jiang Man nodded.

He was curious, though, about what exactly this Secret Skill entailed.

However, Yan Yiqiu didn’t tell him directly, saying he would find out once he obtained it.

In truth, the Secret Skill of each of the Seven Peaks was different.

But one had to be in the top three of the Seven Peaks to be eligible to learn it.

They valued quality over quantity.

"Additionally, the first-place winner of this assessment will be eligible to go to the Yunqian Bureau and serve as a chief proctor," Yan Yiqiu said, looking at Jiang Man and Zhuo Bufan. "Of course, you’ll receive a Spiritual Source for going, but there is a basic requirement."

"You must know the Sword Control Technique and Giant Swordsmanship, and you must also possess a Spirit Sword."

Jiang Man: "..."

He felt like his poverty was being specifically targeted.

He knew the Sword Control Technique, but he had never even heard of Giant Swordsmanship.

But he could imagine what it was.

And then there was the Spirit Sword.

’How could I possibly afford one?’

Afterward, during their cultivation time, Cao Cheng asked in a low voice, "Do you guys think there’s any suspense over who will take first place this time?"

"No suspense," An Rong said seriously. "It’ll definitely be Jiang Man."

"Couldn’t it be Zhuo Bufan? He’s got dark circles under his eyes. Even with all those resources, he still has dark circles—that just shows how diligent he is," said Lin Qingshan, sporting huge dark circles of his own.

Wei Beichuan felt that Zhuo Bufan was hard to catch, especially now that he had more resources. It was going to be even more difficult.

The time gap was just too large.

Otherwise, he would have definitely been number one.

As for Jiang Man...

He still gave off the same feeling.

An insurmountable mountain.

Maybe that mountain had changed, but the pressure he exuded was still greater than Zhuo Bufan’s.

They didn’t discuss it for long, because they would have their answer in another month.

They would see exactly where the former number one now stood.

From there, they could try to guess the annual rankings.

Jiang Man paid them no mind.

Instead, he focused on his Cultivation. His Spirit needed to be refined from scratch, and then he had to accumulate Spiritual Qi in his Gourd.

This continued until ten days later.

Jiang Man felt his Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart stir.

"So slow. It’s only just now catching up."