Chapter 221 - Meng Qiewei: Select a Woman from the Direct Lineage for Him?

This time, Jiang Man had a rough idea of just how great an impact the Immortal Sect’s new governance had.According to the timeline given by the Sect.

Start cultivating at sixteen, enter the Sect at nineteen, join the Foundation Establishment Courtyard within a year, and enter the Inner Sect within ten years.

All told, a group of people could condense a Golden Core by the age of thirty.

From this, one could see just how valuable the Immortal Sect’s new governance was.

Of course, even within the Sect, many people remained stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage; the competition was too fierce.

But at least there were more options. With so many minors to choose from, as long as you had the talent for one, you could basically advance to the Golden Core realm.

This was because achieving proficiency in a minor allowed one to earn more Spiritual Source.

The last seven days passed quickly. The Seventh Courtyard didn’t get too involved.

They only felt the continuous roar of power from a distance.

They skirmished a few times on the periphery and then withdrew.

Once the seven days were up, it was time to leave this place.

How much longer the battle here would last had nothing to do with them.

Their arrival hadn’t changed anything.

When it was time to go back, one of the Stewards, Chen Shi, saw them off.

He said the battle here would end soon because the grand competition was also about to conclude.

At that time, a group of Golden Core cultivators would join the fray, and the Evil Demons and Outsiders weren’t fools; they would know to retreat from a superior force.

Jiang Man thought about it and figured that made sense.

Besides, those people had likely already achieved their objectives for the most part.

After that, the group entered the array.

They vanished completely from the islands.

Watching them disappear, Chen Shi’s brow furrowed.

’This Jiang Man is rather extraordinary,’ he thought. ’But advancing to the Golden Core realm will be a huge hurdle for him. It’ll be easy for the Sect to discover his secret, and once they do, he’s finished.’

’If he can be of use to me, I might try to help him. But if not...’

’...then I’ll have no choice but to let him attract the Sect’s attention. Someone has to be the one to step into the light, after all.’

He was waiting. Waiting for a critical moment to have Jiang Man transferred back so he could test him.

If Jiang Man proved useful, he could be part of a larger plan. If not, he would just become a pawn.

A pawn to be sacrificed to achieve his own goals.

No matter how much a person struggles, they always end up as a pawn—either his pawn or the Sect’s.

「Wuyun Sect.」

The moment he returned, Jiang Man felt like a fish back in water.

Everyone else showed a similar look of blissful relief.

Then, they all began circulating their cultivation skills, and their auras burst forth.

They were far more potent than before.

Mr. Yan said a few words, granting them a half-month break. Hearing this, the crowd joyfully and quickly dispersed.

They were off to buy elixirs to continue consolidating their cultivation.

Their bodies could now clearly absorb more power.

It was an opportunity they absolutely couldn’t miss.

Even Jiang Man immediately went and bought twenty God Strengthening Pills.

He started cultivating the moment he got back, not even taking the time to greet the Old Yellow Ox.

Fifteen days later, on January 1st, Jiang Man’s spirit spread out, and a wind swept through the entire courtyard.

The Old Yellow Ox raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the close-eyed Jiang Man without much surprise.

It was more like he was jaded.

At that moment, Jiang Man took a deep breath and quickly retracted his aura.

Spiritual Eighth Layer.

He was only one layer away from Great Success.

If not for the Top-grade Observation Method combined with the Hundred Refinement Stone, plus his special training experience, this many elixirs wouldn’t have been nearly enough to advance.

"Old Huang, long time no see," Jiang Man said with a smile.

The Old Yellow Ox glanced casually at Jiang Man. "I didn’t expect you to be so considerate as to come back injured."

Jiang Man froze for a second. "It’s still not fully healed?"

He checked himself and found that with his advancement, his Spiritual Stars had dimmed once again.

Indeed, it wasn’t fully healed.

The injury was quite severe.

Jiang Man then told the Old Yellow Ox about his training mission and experiences.

"Ji Hao is stronger than you think," the Old Yellow Ox said.

Jiang Man wasn’t surprised. Meng Qiewei’s power was plain for all to see.

He would have been more surprised if Ji Hao turned out to be weak.

"Furthermore, despite so much happening, he never acted rashly and even ensured you all returned unharmed. This shows he saw through everything from the start. All the ’accidents’ were things he deliberately allowed to happen."

"He was even able to let you emerge from the Seven-Color Domain unscathed."

"He was capable of handling any situation and could have intervened at any time."

"This demonstrates that not only is he powerful, but he’s also someone who can control the overall situation."

"People like him tend to be calm and steady."

"He tested you once, but that may not have been enough to dispel his suspicions."

"If he gets the chance, he might test you a second time."

"You need to be careful."

Jiang Man hadn’t considered all that. It was indeed very dangerous.

Right now, his biggest fear was being found out by Meng Qiewei.

There was no telling what would happen.

She was too strong, so he had no choice but to hide in the shadows.

"That place you encountered was an Evil God Domain. It’s not something you can break just by wanting to. If your body hadn’t been able to withstand it at the time, there could have been an accident," the Old Yellow Ox warned.

Jiang Man nodded and said with a sigh, "Looks like I was pretty lucky."

"You’re getting arrogant. If it happened again, would you still try to break it?" the Old Yellow Ox asked.

"Of course I would," Jiang Man said while starting to cook a meal for himself. "He wanted to imprison my body and bind my thoughts. How could I just surrender without a fight?"

"It’s very dangerous," the Old Yellow Ox stated.

Jiang Man lit a fire to boil water and said nonchalantly, "I certainly wouldn’t fight back against a cage of power; I’d just have to wait patiently and grow stronger. But a cage for the heart spirit? It’s not so certain who would have the upper hand."

Old Huang looked at Jiang Man and said, "The recklessness of youth."

"It’s the heart of a young man. You’re just old, Old Huang," Jiang Man said, looking at the ox.

Old Huang fell silent.

He didn’t deny Jiang Man’s talent, and he also felt the young man couldn’t be measured by common sense.

But now that he was starting to encounter true experts, he needed to learn to sheathe his claws.

After all, the situation in the Outer Sect was different from the one with the Evil God.

The former was a step-by-step progression, while the latter was unpredictable.

Later, while eating his coarse rice, Jiang Man smiled at Old Huang. "Old Huang, I know what you’re worried about, but I’m the most unusual prodigy you’ve ever met."

After a pause, Jiang Man added, "Just remember to put some extra protections on me to keep Ji Hao from discovering anything."

That was the most important thing.

While Jiang Man was still eating, Chang Qiweng appeared at the gate of his small courtyard.

He was a little surprised.

’Did Old Chang know I’m out of Spiritual Source and come to bring me some?’

But then Chang Qiweng took out three envelopes and said, "Collection notices. Your courtyard fees are one month overdue."

Jiang Man: "..."

Ren Qian looked at the statue and sighed with emotion. "This is the first time I’ve seen such a complete token. I have to say, Jiang Man really has a connection with the Evil God."

"The Evil God running into him is truly the worst choice it’s made in years."

"What should we do?" the woman beside Ren Qian asked.

"Let’s make use of Jiang Man," Ren Qian said.

"Have him enter the dreamscape? But Jiang Man is a proponent of pulling all-nighters, a leader of the movement, even. Will he even sleep?" the woman asked.

Ren Qian put down the token and said calmly, "Go apply for some funds."

The woman was perplexed.

Ren Qian sighed. "Haven’t you seen how Jiang Man dresses? He might as well have ’poor’ written on his face. Of course he’d refuse to be used for free."

"But Spiritual Source can make a poor Student Cultivator sleep peacefully."

"If it can’t, it just means you didn’t offer enough."

The woman was a bit surprised. "A genius like him should be hard to bribe, shouldn’t he?"

「The next day.」

"No problem, leave it to me. As a member of the Sect, it is my undeniable duty."

The woman watched, utterly shocked, as Jiang Man accepted the token.

She had applied for 50,000 Spiritual Source.

But he had agreed to sleep for one night for a mere five thousand.

She even felt a little bad, as if she had lowballed him.

「An ancient, rustic courtyard.」

Today, the rain poured down in torrents.

Meng Qiewei stood by the window, watching the rain fall and feeling the cool breeze, as if it reminded her of a time long ago.

"It hasn’t rained in many years," she said suddenly.

"Yes. Everything is recovering now, so there will be more rain in the future," Qing Dai said. "But if you do not like it, My Lady, I can make it stop."

"Let it rain," Meng Qiewei said calmly. "Has the new prodigy made any progress lately?"

"The new prodigy has been observing that Jiang Man recently. He says the boy is extraordinary and that it would be best to test him one more time. He also suggested considering the heaven-favored daughters from direct family lineages. If Jiang Man is willing to marry into a family, it should be one of theirs," Qing Dai reported.

"It seems he thinks very highly of this person," Meng Qiewei said after a pause. "Has he agreed to marry into a family?"

"No," Qing Dai said, shaking her head. "But the new prodigy has decided to keep an eye on him to prevent anyone else from getting to him first."

"He wants to stay and persuade him."

"At the same time, he also proposed that we select a suitable candidate as soon as possible, so he has something concrete to use in his persuasion."