Chapter 44: Actually, I'm Married

December 14th, evening.Jiang Man returned to the stable courtyard, his first task being to clean the stable.

He brushed the horses' coats.

During this period, some horses had been borrowed out, giving him considerably more free time.

After finishing these tasks, he finally approached Old Yellow Ox and said, "Old Huang, feeling pretty good lately?"

Old Yellow Ox raised its eyebrows slightly and said, "I can still live for a long time, but you might not. If you fail tomorrow's assessment, there won't be much of a future for you."

Jiang Man: "..."

That was true.

His current cultivation level was still somewhat lacking, and he needed to grow stronger quickly.

The practical combat assessment was on the 17th.

As long as his score reached sixty, he would have a chance at the practical combat.

Or if his ranking was in the top five.

Meeting either condition would suffice.

Because the courtyard quality was average, most people in the Sixth Courtyard made it through by being in the top five.

Other courtyards were harder to predict.

Jiang Man asked about some practical combat experience.

"Just the fact that you only use your strongest moves already puts you ahead of many experienced people," Old Yellow Ox said while chewing grass. "Others are strong not just because of technique, but also because of unknown spells you haven't encountered.

"So for you, the shorter the combat time, the better."

Jiang Man understood - he needed to continuously use his strongest power to break the opponent's rhythm.

Start with nine dragons appearing simultaneously, then Three Talents Force combined with Six Harmonies Palm.

Use everything at maximum power, repeatedly.

Because of his Spell Innate Qi, his familiarity with spells and their operation was extremely profound, and the interval between casting spells shortened as he grew more familiar.

The adjustment of his physical body's power was also extremely rapid, which had some relation to the Visualization Method as well.

He had many advantages.

But his disadvantages were equally obvious - his understanding of spells wasn't deep enough, he lacked practical combat experience, and he knew nothing about other spells.

Jiang Man sighed heavily.

"Feeling the difficulty of obtaining qualification?" Old Yellow Ox asked.

Jiang Man shook his head and said, "No, I just feel that my cultivation speed is too fast. In three months, I've covered what takes others several years, causing my foundational knowledge of spells to lag behind."

Old Yellow Ox remained silent for a moment, then said, "Do you still want a wife?"

Jiang Man looked at the other with confusion.

"After I recover some of my power, I'll find you another wife," Old Yellow Ox said sincerely.

Jiang Man looked at the other and shook his head, "No, you should keep her for yourself, Old Huang."

When he was foolish, he had nodded and encountered the Peerless Prodigy Fate.

Now it was too late for regrets.

Old Yellow Ox silently lowered its head and continued eating grass.

Jiang Man also prepared to cultivate seriously.

He couldn't reach the seventh level of Qi Refinement today, but there were still two days left - it wasn't impossible.

But just as he started cultivating, Jiang Man saw a graceful figure walking toward him under the moonlight.

The visitor was none other than Cheng Yu, who had come before.

Jiang Man looked at her, feeling somewhat puzzled in his heart.

Was she here to deliver another letter?

And the day before the assessment - was she trying to disturb his mental state?

Maybe he should give the envelope to Little Fatty untouched tomorrow morning, letting him experience the cruelty within the same courtyard.

That would surely shake his mental state, making him rank last in the assessment.

Even so, he might gain the favor of the second-ranked student, and when old, he could still recall this moment of glory.

"I'm here again," Cheng Yu said with a smile. "Am I disturbing your cultivation?"

"If you leave quickly, then not really," Jiang Man replied truthfully.

Stopping for a while wasn't a big deal.

Cheng Yu didn't mind this and said, "I came to ask for your reply letter. You saw the last envelope, and with the assessment approaching, is there anything you want to say to Luo Xuan?

"I can take it to her now."

Jiang Man shook his head, "No."

"Maybe just say something random?" Cheng Yu said somewhat helplessly. "After all, some people are anxiously waiting for your reply."

Jiang Man felt this matter was extremely troublesome.

After pausing for a moment, he said, "I'm married."

Jiang Man felt that nothing could match the power of these four words, thus avoiding the need to worry about reply letters.

Cheng Yu was completely stunned, truly shocked by this answer.

This response caught her completely off guard.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked, "Married? What do you mean?"

"It means someone already admires me, and I've already performed the heaven and earth ceremony with her," Jiang Man explained.

The heaven and earth ceremony was true, but admiration...

She hadn't said there wasn't any.

Cheng Yu looked somewhat incredulous: "What kind of person would marry the old you?"

Jiang Man: "..."

He then told her it was a girl from his hometown.

Cheng Yu stood frozen in place, first sighing softly, then immediately saying, "Actually, it's nothing. It's not like you have no chance.

"As long as you and Luo Xuan can both obtain qualifications, the past will be like fleeting smoke.

"The path of immortality is long, with extended lifespan, completely different from ordinary cultivators.

"Even a hundred years later would still be timely."

Cheng Yu paused briefly, then continued, "Enough said. I won't tell Luo Xuan about this for now. Both of you should focus on cultivation.

"Take this - it's information I collected about Fang Yong's spells.

"It might be useful to you."

Then Cheng Yu left quickly, as if she had suffered great injustice.

Jiang Man frowned - Cheng Yu definitely had problems.

But there was no time to think too much.

He needed to devote all his energy to dealing with the upcoming assessment.

Regardless of whether others could obtain spots, he absolutely had to take first place.

Only then could he securely obtain qualification.

Then it was time for cultivation.

He continued until dawn, when Jiang Man finally rested for a while.

He took the opportunity to glance at the information about Fang Yong's spells.

Divine Movement Steps - sixth level.

Six Harmonies Palm - ninth level.

Three Talents Force - ninth level.

Dragon Subduing Method - ninth level.

Torrent Collapse Technique - ninth level.

Green Smoke Prelude - ninth level.

Basic Sword Technique - ninth level.

Without exception, every spell provided by Azure Cloud Pavilion had been mastered by Fang Yong to the ninth level.

It seemed his talent was exceptionally high.

Besides these, the book also recorded that Fang Yong had other spells.

Yang Family's Thousand Water Technique - sixth level.

Cheng Family's Hundred Battles Method - sixth level.

Luo Family's Empty Force Palm - sixth level.

There were some additional descriptions afterward.

But Jiang Man was still extremely surprised - why could Fang Yong learn so many spells from other families?

Although only at the sixth level, if used well, they could significantly increase his combat strength.

This would indeed be difficult to fight against.

And besides these, Fang Yong still had spells he hadn't revealed yet.

Learning many spells didn't necessarily make one strong, but being able to learn this many and reach the highest levels certainly wasn't simple.

The family spells only reached the sixth level not because Fang Yong couldn't continue improving, but because the techniques were restricted.

The families only agreed to let him learn up to the sixth level.

Even if he secretly learned more, he couldn't show it - there would be trouble if discovered.

Additionally, the book contained some information about Fang Yong's habits.

Even his living habits were included.

Some details about his daily routines and habits - it practically told him outright that he could drug him.

Truly malicious intentions - if caught, qualification would be passed to the next in line.

Soon.

Jiang Man arrived at the courtyard, where everyone looked serious.

Especially those with scores close to sixty - all wanted to fight for their own future.

The two days of assessment held no surprises.

Everything proceeded as steadily as usual.

The entire Azure Cloud Pavilion was like this.

After two days.

December 17th.

Jiang Man came to the Sixth Courtyard early in the morning.

Not just him - others had come early too.

Little Fatty looked nervous and said, "I wonder what my ranking will be."

Then he looked at Jiang Man and said, "Brother Jiang, what about you? What score can you get?"

Jiang Man didn't speak, instead looking ahead at Teacher Zhao who had just entered.

He held a piece of paper and directly posted it on the wall, saying, "I'll announce the overall rankings directly, then we'll begin the practical combat assessment."