Chapter 211 - Why Doesn’t He Sleep?

But he soon received a secret letter, telling him to go see for himself that night.The next evening.

Using his patrol as an excuse, he headed toward the Seventh Courtyard’s resting area.

It was midnight, a time when everyone should have been resting.

However, when he arrived, his face darkened.

The area where they were staying was brightly lit, and every single one of them was in the courtyard cultivating.

Seeing this, Chen Shi was stunned and grew anxious.

’What are these people doing?’

’Since when could cultivating all night be done so openly and flagrantly?’

’Don’t they know that cultivating all night harms the Heart Spirit? Even if they don’t, how could their instructor not know?’

’If the instructor is acting so recklessly, won’t the others report them?’

’Why would these people pull all-nighters if they weren’t getting something out of it? If they’re benefiting, won’t the rankings of the other peaks drop?’

’How could no one report this? Are the people from the other peaks all so good-tempered?’

For a moment, he felt a sense of helplessness.

No wonder the person who was supposed to launch a sneak attack yesterday returned in failure. It turned out there was simply no opportunity.

These people never slept at all. How could anyone launch a sneak attack?

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would encounter an entire courtyard of people cultivating all night.

Chen Shi steadied his nerves and strode over.

As soon as he approached, Yan Yiqiu noticed him.

"I am Chen Shi, the Steward of the first area," Chen Shi introduced himself.

Only then did Yan Yiqiu lower her guard. "Yan Yiqiu, instructor of Cloud Mist Peak’s Seventh Courtyard."

"Mr. Yan." Chen Shi nodded politely, then looked at the people in the courtyard. "Are they...?"

He found it a bit awkward to ask directly.

Cultivating all night was not exactly something to be proud of.

"Cultivating all night," Yan Yiqiu said.

Chen Shi was surprised, but still curious. "Cultivating all night harms the Heart Spirit. Don’t they know that?"

Yan Yiqiu replied with a hint of resignation, "They do."

"Then... why are they doing this?" Chen Shi found it even harder to understand.

Yan Yiqiu shook her head. "Perhaps they feel it won’t harm their Heart Spirit."

Chen Shi inquired a little longer, ultimately concluding that these people were a lost cause.

’But it doesn’t matter. They’ll all join us in the end.’

’It’s like someone is giving them a chance.’

’They should count themselves lucky.’

After that, Chen Shi left.

He didn’t ask too many questions, only offering a kind reminder. He also paid no attention to who Jiang Man was.

Asking about such things would be highly suspicious.

There was still plenty of time, so he was in no hurry.

Jiang Man didn’t care whether someone had come or not, as long as it didn’t affect his Cultivation.

They were to acclimate here for three days, after which they would go out for practical combat training.

First place in practical combat skills would earn a Spirit Sword.

Jiang Man frowned, because the competition was based on practical combat skills.

And he only knew how to use ultimate moves.

’This puts me at a huge disadvantage.’

Ji Hao sat on the roof, watching everyone below. These people were truly cultivating nonstop, without sleep or rest.

He felt too embarrassed to rest himself.

For three days, not a single person from the Seventh Courtyard rested.

Over these past few days, they had finally grown accustomed to the Spiritual Qi conditions.

"Alright, it’s time to set out. This trip will last for seven days. Afterward, we’ll return to rest for three days. We’ll repeat this cycle nine times, and then we should be done," Ji Hao said to the group. "Remember to prepare everything you need. Don’t find yourself lacking supplies and unable to make any progress."

Jiang Man had been focused on enhancing his Spirit for the past few days.

While tempering it, he also hoped to advance another level.

’Soon. I’ll be able to advance to the Spiritual Seventh Layer very soon.’

’My Physical Body is also about to reach the Sixth Layer.’

In addition, he had started studying the Purple Mist Divine Light during mealtimes.

In a little more time, he would be able to begin cultivating it.

It was for this reason that he felt it was difficult to improve his practical combat skills; all his time was spent on enhancing his Cultivation and Magic Skills.

Honing one’s skills took just as much time, if not more, than improving a Magic Skill.

’It’s better to just improve my Magic Skills and Cultivation. That way, I can unleash even more power.’

Ultimately, their paths were just different.

His potential for growth was so immense that he had no time to ponder practical combat skills.

The path of an Unparalleled Celestial Pride was simply too broad.

Afterward, the group arrived at the seashore.

"Where’s the boat?" Yan Yiqiu asked.

The others were also puzzled. Many of them didn’t know Sword Control, and even those who did didn’t have a Spirit Sword.

And even if they knew Sword Control and had a Spirit Sword, they would still need sufficient Spiritual Qi.

The consumption was just too great.

"The first lesson in practical combat: utilizing the Wandering Dragon. You must learn to rationally control your Spiritual Qi to operate the Wandering Dragon." Ji Hao looked toward a small island in the distance. "Your task is to use the Wandering Dragon to reach that island."

"Also, a word of advice: put away your Elixirs and Talismans, or give them to Mr. Yan.

"Otherwise, if you fall into the water, you might run into trouble."

Everyone looked at the distant island. It didn’t seem very far.

The Wandering Dragon should be able to cover the distance.

The tricky part was operating the Wandering Dragon on water, something they had never tried before.

There was no sea this large anywhere near the Sect.

"I’ll go first," a young man from the back said as he stepped forward.

He wasn’t overconfident; he handed his belongings to Mr. Yan.

Then, he activated the Wandering Dragon and headed for the island.

But the moment his foot touched the water’s surface, a splash erupted, and he was unable to find purchase, nearly falling into the water.

However, he quickly burst forth with great power and flew out smoothly.

Then... SPLASH! SPLASH!!

After a few more steps, he fell into the water.

"A failure," Ji Hao said with a smile. "Are you going to swim the rest of the way, or come back and start over?"

The disciple chose the latter.

And so, Ji Hao dragged him back.

"Water is clearly different from the ground," he kindly reminded everyone.

"That’s right. Water and ground are different. Any Magic Skill will have a different effect in a different environment," Ji Hao began slowly. "You will learn many Magic Skills on your journey. Most of the time, they will be useless, but your job is to understand the environment and then apply your Magic Skills accordingly."

"At a critical moment, even a minor Magic Skill can have an extraordinary effect."

"One more thing. You need to hurry. If you don’t cross the sea within an hour, I will make you spend the next six days training with extra weights."

With that, he rose up on his sword and flew to the other side to wait.

Mr. Yan breathed a sigh of relief. ’That scared me to death. I thought I was going to be tested too.’

’Luckily, my only job is to watch their things.’

"Can you do it or not?" An Rong asked Cao Cheng.

"You should worry about yourself. When you fall in the water, that useless flesh you’re so proud of is going to get a lot of scorn," Cao Cheng said disdainfully.

"Useless flesh? You’ll never get a taste of anything good in your life," An Rong scoffed.

Then she looked at Zhao Yaoyao. "Yaoyao wishes she had some."

While studying how to cross the sea, Zhao Yaoyao took out a notebook: "An Rong mocked me for not being feminine."

’I have them too, I just bind them to make casting skills more convenient.’

’Being like An Rong purely affects one’s Cultivation and Magical Combat.’

’Cao Cheng is right. She should have gotten rid of them long ago.’

An Rong: "..."

Jiang Man gently patted the surface of the water, feeling its tension.

Then he made a simple calculation for force resonance.

With that, he activated the Wandering Dragon and crossed the sea as if walking on flat ground.

The others were filled with admiration.

’But could you at least tell us how you did it?’

When Jiang Man reached the other side, his brow furrowed slightly.

His pant cuffs were a little damp.

’It’s because of the spray from the waves.’

’So I still overlooked a detail.’

’I need more practice.’

Watching Jiang Man cross over, Ji Hao was taken aback.

He had expected Jiang Man to be fast, but not this fast.

He thought for a moment and decided he should really try to pull this person into his clan.

’If he can successfully reach Core Formation in seven years, then we should consider making him part of the direct line.’

’In seven years, the test should also yield the correct answer.’

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Shi watched Jiang Man and the others attempting to cross the sea, but he made no move.

He wasn’t in a hurry to do anything.

Ever since he learned they were pulling all-nighters, he couldn’t act rashly.

But he was already setting things in motion.

In two months at most, all his arrangements would be complete.

At that time, he would be able to throw these people into complete disarray.

In addition...

He took out a pearl. It was an extracted Illusion Realm.

It could make everyone who entered experience the despair of advancing after pulling an all-nighter.

Using this, he could make them understand what they would ultimately have to face.

Only that Immortal Spirit could bring them hope.

All that remained was to incite the people from outside the archipelago.

With so much activity here, they were already eager to make a move.

All of them could be used.

Also, it was a bit surprising that the Seventh Courtyard had two instructors this time, but it wasn’t a major problem.

Both could be stalled.

「Wuyun Sect.」

Huo Bingzhi, who had been imprisoned all this time, was still waiting. But the days passed one by one.

She never received any response.

Because Jiang Man never slept.

She felt that no matter how many all-nighters he pulled, he still had to sleep eventually.

Three days passed. She slept but received no response.

’I can wait.’

Ten days.

’I can still wait.’

Twenty days.

’I’ll keep waiting.’

One month.

Two months.

From the fifteenth of the ninth month to the fifteenth of the eleventh month.

She discovered that Jiang Man simply wasn’t sleeping at all.

She was starting to lose it.

Her eyes flew wide with fury.

"Why won’t he sleep?!"