Chapter 184: Chapter 136: Tougher in Second Place Than in First

The people who hadn’t left yet and were still seated subconsciously shot to their feet the moment they saw him. Those who were already standing all took a step back and lowered their heads, not daring to look at him directly.

They watched him leave with deference.

The glory of first place was too dazzling. When it was first announced, it shone so brightly that everyone’s minds went blank, and they found it hard to breathe.

That was a lofty peak.

Even now, they still hadn’t recovered.

But Jiang Man felt the gap was shrinking. The second and third-place contenders were catching up.

He took out his paper and glanced at it.

June 3rd.

Wuyun Sect.

Outer Sect Cloud Mist Peak.

Foundation Establishment Courtyard, Front Sector, Eighth Courtyard.

Name: Jiang Man.

Rank: 1 (of 50)

Cultivation: Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Physical Body: Fourth Layer.

Spirit: Fifth Layer.

Minors: Alchemy, Talismans.

Hidden Spirit: top-grade.

Resources Obtained: Simple Yuan Condensation Method, Seven Star Condensing Yuan Technique, Simple Body Refining Technique, Simple Observation Method, Seven Stars Observation Method, Wandering Dragon, Shadowless Palm.

Score: 280.

Evaluation: Knowledge surpasses that of the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Courtyards.

Regarding the evaluation, Jiang Man felt Mr. Yan was being conservative.

’I could at least hold my own against the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Courtyards.’

Still, he was a long way from four hundred points.

The main gap was in his Physical Body and Spirit.

It seemed the two categories combined didn’t even earn him one hundred points.

The Physical Body had nine layers in total, as did the Spirit.

One layer was worth at most ten points, and at least five.

So, nine layers would be ninety points.

Jiang Man still didn’t know how to get a perfect score.

As for his Minors...

He hadn’t expected Alchemy to be listed as one of his Minors.

He figured he probably got a little over ten points for those two.

Two hundred eighty versus one hundred fifty-nine. The difference was just over one hundred.

Back then, his own score was ninety-eight, while Zhuo Bufan only had a dozen or so points.

The difference was several times over, but now it wasn’t even double.

’It seems my score is still too low.’

’I have to raise my Spirit and Physical Body levels.’

Returning to his residence, Jiang Man handed the paper to the Old Yellow Ox. "Old Huang, how was my performance this time?"

"Show it to your wife," Old Huang said without even glancing at it. "Ask her how you did."

Hearing this, Jiang Man immediately looked around, growing vigilant. "She’s here?"

"She’ll be here next month. The Magpie Bridge is about to open," the Old Yellow Ox said while chewing on grass.

Jiang Man breathed a sigh of relief. It was June 3rd, so the time was indeed approaching.

But with the external factor of the Immortal Sect, Meng Qiewei might not arrive on time.

After that, Jiang Man began to think about the annual assessment in August.

He was definitely going to participate in this assessment.

Unfortunately, there was too little time to improve his Cultivation.

And to be safe enough, he still needed to practice the Cyan Smoke Melody.

Cyan Smoke Melody was a Top-grade technique, with a total of thirteen layers.

Reaching Great Success would take a significant amount of time.

And now he also had to spare time to temper himself.

That left even less time.

Before, cultivating Magic Skills could also satisfy his Fate Chart’s requirements, but not anymore.

However, as he tempered himself, Jiang Man felt his Spiritual Qi grow heavier and his Spirit become much more solid.

Among those of the Same Tier, he feared few could match the weight of his Spiritual Qi.

But this also placed higher demands on his Physical Body.

Being unable to refine his Physical Body was indeed a problem.

The annual assessment for the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Courtyards probably wouldn’t offer a Top-grade Cultivation Method, only a Top-grade Technique at best.

That meant he would have to wait for next year’s annual assessment in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Courtyards.

It was truly a shame.

In the time that followed, Jiang Man focused on tempering his Cultivation and used the remaining time to enhance his Physical Body. He even went and bought thirty Nourishing Essence Pills.

Spiritual Source minus 16,200.

「One month later.」

「July 3rd.」

The Flesh Body Gourd was already full, and he was even on the verge of a breakthrough.

Jiang Man bought another ten Nourishing Essence Pills.

He should be able to break through within these ten days.

In the past, he could have focused all his efforts on advancing.

Now, he had to temper his Cultivation first, then enhance his Physical Body.

It wasted a lot of time.

Fortunately, the Cultivation Gourd was already eighty percent full.

Taking some Elixirs should just about do it.

But the further he progressed, the greater the bottleneck he felt.

He feared it wouldn’t be easy to break through.

’But that’s not something I need to think about now. First, I’ll focus everything on raising my Physical Body and Spirit.’

’The bottleneck will resolve on its own later.’

In order to get a feel for the bottleneck first, Jiang Man bought another ten Fire Element Pills.

A five percent discount.

The ten percent discount his master gave him was all used up, so he could only use the discount from his investor.

Ten pills.

Seven thousand six hundred.

His Spiritual Source was down to twenty-two thousand.

’Not enough to pay off my debt.’

After that, Jiang Man took Elixirs every day.

「Ten days later.」

The Late Stage of Foundation Establishment Gourd was ninety-eight percent full.

A dull sound also came from his body as the fifth gourd opened.

Physical Body Fifth Layer.

However, the bottleneck of the Late Stage was exceptionally heavy.

To break through to Perfection, he needed to polish his skills in this Realm for a while, or continue to improve his Spirit and Physical Body.

As Jiang Man was contemplating, a dull thud suddenly came from not far away.

It sounded like something had been dropped.

Jiang Man turned his head and saw two books lying on the ground.

"Books?"

Puzzled, he walked over and picked them up.

There was no text on the covers.

He walked into the courtyard with his head down, looking at the books. As he walked, he asked in confusion, "Old Huang, did you see who dropped these?"

With that, he opened the first page.

He found a title written in large characters on it—*The Meaning Behind a Dao Companion’s Words*.

Jiang Man was stunned.

’What kind of book is this?’

He continued to flip through it.

’If your Dao companion asks what you are doing, she wants to know your situation, and it is also a subtle way of mentioning that she misses you.’

’If your Dao companion says your words are stiff, she wants you to speak more gently and with affection, for example, "I think of you from dawn till dusk."’

Jiang Man frowned and closed the book.

’I can understand it.’

’Which means it’s a waste of time.’

What he needed were books he couldn’t understand.

Only then could he improve.

Just then, he looked up, intending to go inside and put the books away.

But the moment he raised his head, a graceful figure in light blue entered his sight.

She had appeared with extreme abruptness, without a single sound.

The book in Jiang Man’s hand was subconsciously tossed into the air.

Fortunately, he caught it immediately.

"Husband, what are you reading?" Meng Qiewei asked, looking at Jiang Man with a smile.

Although she was smiling, Jiang Man felt the air turn frosty.

’Her mood is off.’

’Have her methods already progressed to the point where they can interfere with me?’

"Fairy, you mentioned the Immortal Sect, yet you’ve come here so rashly. Aren’t you worried about the Sect’s methods?" Jiang Man asked.

"Is Husband concerned about me?" Meng Qiewei opened the door and walked inside.

Jiang Man glanced at the Old Yellow Ox, his eyes moving as if to say, ’Someone was here and you didn’t even tell me.’

The Old Yellow Ox kept its head down, munching on grass, not looking up at all.

Jiang Man strode into the room.

"Husband, do you know why I came into the room?" Meng Qiewei asked as soon as he entered.

Jiang Man looked over and saw her standing by the table and chairs.

He then shook his head.

"Because Husband doesn’t want me wandering around, for fear of exposing your location." Meng Qiewei turned to look at Jiang Man, her long hair swaying with the movement, possessing a kind of leisurely beauty.

Then, her red lips parted slightly. "Is Husband so afraid of me finding you?"

"Fairy’s power is immense. We’ve had a small misunderstanding in the past," Jiang Man said.

Meng Qiewei’s gaze remained fixed on Jiang Man. "Then has Husband ever considered that I’ve actually known where you were all along?"

For a moment, Jiang Man’s heart tightened.

But he quickly returned to normal, thinking she was just trying to bluff him.

By now, Meng Qiewei had averted her gaze. She lightly wiped the tabletop with her index finger.

Her fingertip left a trail on the dusty surface.

"Husband doesn’t rest in this room much?" Meng Qiewei asked in surprise, raising her hand to look at the dust on her finger.

Then she looked at Jiang Man.

’I have to cultivate; I don’t have time to rest in my room,’ Jiang Man thought to himself.

"Is Husband thinking about how I found you?" Meng Qiewei asked.

Jiang Man shook his head.

"It seems Husband doesn’t believe me." Meng Qiewei blew lightly.

In an instant, all the dust in the room condensed, finally falling like a stone in front of Jiang Man.

Catching the stone of dust, Jiang Man’s heart tightened again.

’Meng Qiewei has regained her power.’

But he still didn’t believe he had been found out.

’How much of what she says can be true?’

’She once said she wanted to contribute to our home, but then turned around and wanted to dish out punishment.’

’I was too young back then, too foolish to understand.’

’Old Huang really did me a disservice.’

Meng Qiewei sat down gracefully in a chair and said calmly, "The Palm Seal on the Five Elements Stone was left by Husband, wasn’t it?"

Hearing this, Jiang Man froze.

’I’ve been discovered?’

’No, up until now, no one should have known that I was the one who made it.’

’They could only know that such a Palm Seal exists.’

’As expected, when it’s related to the Secret Realm, it’s hard for me to hide.’

’Fame comes at a price.’