Cyan Cloud Pavilion.

Xiaopang had arrived early this morning.

He’d heard at home that Cyan Cloud Pavilion would be announcing the rankings today.

On his way, he also heard that the Six Pavilions would be releasing their combined rankings.

Of course, the third floor would be announcing its own overall rankings too.

But Xiaopang didn’t care about that.

After all, he didn’t know anyone there.

But it was a different story here at Cyan Cloud Pavilion.

This time, Brother Jiang was among the competitors.

He was the legend of the Sixth Courtyard.

So he was eager to see how high Brother Jiang would rank.

"Xiaopang, you’re here too?" a voice called out from the side.

In the Sixth Courtyard, the only person who would greet him like this was Song Qing.

Most student cultivators avoided those at the bottom of the ranks like the plague, believing they were bad luck.

Turning to see a disheveled Song Qing, Xiaopang was a bit surprised. "What have you been up to?"

"I’ve been going around asking if anyone would hire me as a guard," Song Qing said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, I’m too weak, so no one wants me. But there are still plenty of places I haven’t asked. I’m going to keep trying.

"What if I run into a kind person?

"It’s not very likely, though.

"But don’t worry, if I meet someone nice, I’ll definitely recommend you.

"We can be guards together then."

Xiaopang said disdainfully, "I’m not going to be a guard. My family isn’t poor."

Song Qing reminded him with a serious expression, "You can’t just live off your family’s fortune. You need to be prepared for a crisis. Maybe your family is earning a lot of Spiritual Source right now.

"But who knows how long this period will last?

"Once an opportunity like this is gone, it won’t be easy to earn this much Spiritual Source again. You need to be careful."

Just then, he saw Luo Xuan and her friends arrive.

He immediately changed the subject, saying to Xiaopang, "Do you think Luo Xuan is having a hard time right now? Does she still need a guard?"

"Even if she did, she wouldn’t ask you," Xiaopang said, twisting the knife. After a pause, he added, "And if she did ask you, you’d better be careful. You know your own strength. If a woman like that comes looking for you, it’s definitely not for anything good."

Song Qing sighed, then looked ahead and asked, "What rank do you think Jiang Man will get this time?"

"Top five for sure, maybe even top three," Xiaopang said confidently.

The wait was too boring, so Xiaopang asked Song Qing to tell him about all the ways he’d been rejected.

He gave him some snacks, of course.

The latter immediately began his tale.

This went on until the afternoon.

While Song Qing was still talking a mile a minute, someone went up on the stage and began to post the rankings.

Just then, Cheng Yu asked Luo Xuan, "What rank do you think Jiang Man will get?"

Luo Xuan thought for a moment. "Based on his progress in the Sixth Courtyard, he’ll probably make the top three.

"His strength is one thing, but the main factor is how unpredictable he is.

"The impression he gives is that he’s far beyond our expectations."

Cheng Yu also sighed with emotion. "I never would have thought that someone who went unnoticed for so long would suddenly have a breakthrough and soar to new heights."

"They’re done posting. Let’s see what rank Jiang Man got," Cheng Yu said, full of curiosity.

But a moment later, she froze.

And it wasn’t just her; everyone around them had the same reaction.

Many people had noticed an unfamiliar name on the list.

Cyan Cloud First, Sixth Courtyard, Jiang Man.

This line of text was clearly larger than the others.

It was seared into everyone’s vision.

They didn’t even know who he was.

Why would a place like the Sixth Courtyard produce a Cyan Cloud First?

As for the second-ranked, that was someone they all knew.

Cyan Cloud Second, First Courtyard, Fang Tianyi.

Cheng Yu and Luo Xuan exchanged a look of surprise.

"Cyan Cloud First?" Luo Xuan couldn’t possibly reconcile this person with the one she had paid seventy Spiritual Source to hire as a sparring partner.

"Let’s go check the Six Pavilions rankings," Cheng Yu said at once.

Originally, they weren’t interested in the Six Pavilions rankings.

But...

Jiang Man was number one.

That meant he had at least made the top ten of the Six Pavilions.

Maybe even the top five.

Meanwhile, Chang Qiweng, who had been working, came over during his break out of curiosity.

He happened to see Cheng Yu and her friends heading toward the Six Pavilions rankings board.

This surprised him.

Then he saw Song Qing and Xiaopang.

Curious, he had no choice but to ask what was going on.

The answer he received was staggering.

’Jiang Man is Cyan Cloud First?’

In an instant, he activated Divine Step.

He quickly appeared in front of the Six Pavilions rankings.

There weren’t many people here, as most were still checking their own pavilion’s rankings first.

Soon, Chang Qiweng saw the rankings at the top.

First in the Six Pavilions, Celestial Essence Pavilion, Cheng Moyang.

Second in the Six Pavilions, Cyan Cloud Pavilion, Jiang Man.

Third in the Six Pavilions, Ye Ming Pavilion, Yang Ling.

Fourth in the Six Pavilions, Celestial Essence Pavilion, Yang Feng.

Just as Chang Qiweng was reeling from the shock, someone next to him suddenly asked, "Where did this Jiang Man come from?"

"’Where did he come from?’ Do you have any idea how he trains?" Chang Qiweng retorted.

As for his tone, the other person’s rank was unlikely to be higher than his own.

The man beside him was confused. "How does he train?"

"How long do you sleep each night?" Chang Qiweng asked.

"The whole night, of course."

"He doesn’t sleep at night. He spends it all on cultivation. For every three years you’ve cultivated, he’s cultivated for six."

"No sleep? How is that possible?"

"You’re so young. How can you sleep when you could be cultivating instead?"

With that, Chang Qiweng walked away. He had to get back to work; his break was about to end.

—

The Gao Family Estate.

Having just seen off Elder Chen, Gao Cunfeng looked at Xiaopang’s cultivation books and sighed with mixed feelings.

"The more I look at these books, the more I’m convinced they weren’t meant for human cultivation."

He put the books down, hesitating between destroying them outright or simply hiding them.

His original plan was to hide them, but he was afraid they might cause some harm if practiced.

’It was written by someone who was only first in a minor courtyard. It’s worthless.’

Shaking his head with a sigh, he decided to give Xiaopang a bit of a buffer.

He then had someone find a place to hide them.

But not long after that person left, someone suddenly ran in from outside.

It was a young servant coming to report news. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He said respectfully, "Patriarch, the Cyan Cloud Pavilion rankings are out, and so are the Six Pavilions rankings."

"Oh?" Gao Cunfeng said casually, picking up his teacup. "Who’s first in Cyan Cloud Pavilion?"

"From the Sixth Courtyard, Jiang Man," the servant replied immediately.

Hearing this, Gao Cunfeng, who was about to take a sip of tea, froze. "Who?"

"Jiang Man from the Sixth Courtyard," the servant repeated.

Gao Cunfeng found it hard to believe. He remembered this person being ranked fourteenth in Cyan Cloud Pavilion before. With no resources provided, his rank should have dropped, not shot up to first place. ’How did he become number one?’

After a pause, he asked, "Who are the top three in the Six Pavilions?"

The servant reported truthfully, "First in the Six Pavilions, Celestial Essence Pavilion, Cheng Moyang.

"Second in the Six Pavilions, Cyan Cloud Pavilion, Jiang Man.

"Third in the Six Pavilions, Ye Ming Pavilion, Yang Ling."

Gao Cunfeng set down his tea, a storm raging in his heart.

He remembered that this Yang Ling was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

This meant that the person who had been ranked at the bottom with his son just over half a year ago had now leaped to become an expert at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

’Such talent?’

’Or is it a special cultivation method?’

In an instant, he thought of the swapped cultivation books.

In a panic, he immediately shouted to those outside, "Someone, come here!"

Someone entered at once.

"Quick, quick, have Xiaogao bring the books back! Go to the young master’s room and swap the old books back!"

"Return the books to their rightful owner!"

’First in Cyan Cloud Pavilion and second in the Six Pavilions, all in one go.’

’This cultivation method... there might really be something special about it.’

’I have to let Xiaopang continue practicing it.’

————

The bonus Chapter for 2,000 monthly tickets has been released early.

The rest is up to you all.