After asking around, Jiang Man discovered that Fang Yong hadn’t actually been scalping.

’Why is that?’

’Did he not believe me?’

Then, Fang Yong calmly said, "I’m poor."

Jiang Man was silent for a moment.

He felt it was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Even Young Master Fang was poor.

Afterward, Jiang Man brought up the person in question.

"I only know that she’s a Student Cultivator from the third floor. I also know her family is quite wealthy. But what’s strange is that she’s been contacting poor people lately, especially those who aren’t bound by a contract," Fang Yong said thoughtfully. "Besides you and me, she’s probably invited others. I imagine she has a specific goal in mind."

"As for whether this is good or bad for us, we’ll just have to wait and see."

As he spoke, Fang Yong looked at Jiang Man and said, "With your high Talent, you need to be careful. It might be a situation like with the Luo Family."

The Luo Family had been constantly looking for a son-in-law.

"A woman?" Jiang Man asked.

"Mhm," Fang Yong nodded.

Jiang Man wasn’t surprised, but he figured that probably wasn’t it.

Not every family had the same problem as the Luo Family, facing a gap in the upcoming generation.

He would only find out the true purpose once he got there.

As for how she could provide Elixirs at their original price, he could guess why.

She had warned Fang Yong before, so she’d likely stockpiled a large amount in advance.

Originally, he would have had to pay a significant price to get them to seek him out.

But now, the words "Elixirs at original price" were enough.

Life was indeed harder for poor Student Cultivators than for others.

Furthermore, this move by the major families was truly pulling the rug out from under them.

The rising prices could truly crush a Student Cultivator before they even crossed the Sect’s threshold.

If you didn’t sign, you couldn’t enter the Sect. If you did sign, you’d still have to work for the major families after entering the Sect.

So, to sign or not to sign?

Most of the time, those who lacked Spiritual Source had no choice.

And while Jiang Man seemed to have a choice, with the rising prices, he really didn’t have one either.

He was aiming for first place.

But at current prices, his Spiritual Source was nowhere near enough.

To get first place, he had to reach the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

So now, he too was being forced into a corner by the major families over whether to sign.

He could only hope that this connection through Fang Yong would be effective.

「A short while later.」

The two of them arrived in front of a residential courtyard.

Fang Yong lightly knocked on the door with a distinct rhythm.

The door was immediately opened by a young woman.

She looked to be only eighteen or nineteen, with delicate features and a smile on her face.

"Young Master Fang, you’ve arrived?" The woman glanced at Jiang Man and said softly, "Bringing a friend? Perfect, everyone’s here now. Please, come in."

With that, she gestured for them to enter.

Jiang Man followed Fang Yong inside.

In the courtyard, there were three other people.

Two men and one woman.

From their clothes, it was obvious they were poor.

They were only slightly better off than Jiang Man.

Fang Yong, on the other hand, looked a bit out of place.

One look at his clothes revealed the style of a wealthy young master.

Otherwise, why would the Sixth Courtyard call him Young Master Fang?

The others also fixed their gazes on Fang Yong.

They weren’t sure if he was actually poor.

But when they saw Jiang Man, they didn’t have to guess.

They even felt a sense of superiority.

However, none of them spoke.

Once Jiang Man and Fang Yong were seated, the woman who opened the door sat down and said with a smile, "Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Yan, and I’m the one who can sell you Elixirs at their original price."

"Naturally, I have a purpose for this, so I’d like to know your names and your best rankings."

Hearing this, Jiang Man paused. ’This is my strong suit.’

The only other woman among the five spoke first. Her skin was dark, as if she were constantly exposed to the sun. "Lin Minmin, ranked sixteenth in Jianyue Tower."

The mature-looking man to her left followed, "Gao Feng, ranked fourteenth in Jianyue Tower."

The tall, thin man on the other side spoke unhurriedly, "Yu Cheng, ranked sixteenth in Baili Tower."

Jiang Man was a bit surprised as he listened. ’They’re all from the third floor.’

And being ranked around fifteenth meant they were stronger than Fang Yong.

From certain signs, these people were likely all at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

’Is the gap between the ’Towers’ and the ’Pavilions’ really that big?’

At this point, everyone looked at Fang Yong.

"Fang Yong, ninth in Cyan Cloud Pavilion," he said slowly.

’Fang Yong’s ranking has improved so quickly?’ Jiang Man thought. ’Back when I was fourteenth, he was sixteenth or seventeenth. Now he’s already ninth.’

That was fast.

Then it was Jiang Man’s turn.

"Jiang Man, second in the Six Pavilions." After speaking, Jiang Man watched them.

As expected, all of them were somewhat surprised.

This was the expression of people seeing a prodigy.

’But this is just the beginning.’

’They’ll be even more surprised in the future.’

Wang Yan also gave Jiang Man a deep look. She hadn’t expected the second-ranked of the Six Pavilions to show up.

He had never associated with the wealthy young masters, so she hadn’t been able to approach him directly.

It would have been too abrupt.

But Fang Yong had given her a pleasant surprise.

She just didn’t know what this second-ranked from the Six Pavilions was made of.

Immediately, Wang Yan looked at the group and said, "Alright then, let me start by telling you what I can offer. The price of Elixirs outside has already reached five hundred, which is faster than expected."

"In previous years, the price would only go up to six hundred at most. This time, there’s a chance it might hit six hundred and fifty."

"So, if you buy Elixirs from me now..."

"You’ll save two hundred Spiritual Source per pill."

"The maximum I can purchase for each of you is thirty pills."

"At most, you’ll save six thousand Spiritual Source."

"But this opportunity is only for this month. I’ll be leaving at the end of the month."

As she spoke, she took out five books and handed them out one by one. "What I want is very simple. This is a part of a Cultivation Skill. I want you to help me draw out the skill’s circulation diagram."

"Just do your best."

"Consider it a way to expand your knowledge as well."

"You have about six hours."

Jiang Man was surprised. ’This is what she wants us to do?’

’But why ask poor people to do this kind of work?’

Her actions were a bit confusing, but Jiang Man didn’t ask any further questions.

He was here to buy Elixirs.

As long as he could do that, it was fine.

Then, he opened the book.

He saw a line of text similar to a Top-grade Visualization Skill, but the vocabulary was different. The feeling of obscurity, however, was the same.

’Top-grade?’

Jiang Man was shocked. Through Zhao Leming, he had come to understand one thing.

Top-grade Cultivation Methods were exceedingly rare.

’Is this person before me one of the top three in the Yunqian Bureau?’

’To be able to obtain a Top-grade Cultivation Method?’

Then Jiang Man read a bit further and found it was completely different from a Visualization Skill. Not only that, but it was also different from a Qi Cultivation Skill.

He had, after all, learned a Mid Grade Qi Cultivation Method. If this were similar, he should have been able to recognize something.

’So...’

’It’s a Top-grade Blood and Qi Method.’

’I’m screwed. This is my weakest subject.’

’This feels a bit like bullying.’

Afterward, Jiang Man forced himself to read through it all.

He found that he didn’t understand many of the terms and could only try to extrapolate based on what he had learned before.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t direct Cultivation. His Talent was in Cultivation itself, not in theory.

After all, for theory, he had the Old Yellow Ox.

He never had the time to ponder it himself.

Jiang Man snuck a glance at Fang Yong and the others.

Every single one of them was completely focused.

He didn’t know if they understood it or not, but for some reason, he felt like he was the remedial student.

Then, Jiang Man began to extrapolate and draw the diagram.

’I can only give it a try. If it doesn’t work, then so be it.’

’Surely the number of Elixirs isn’t based on our score, right?’

"Oh, right," Wang Yan suddenly said. "The person who does the worst drawing will have their Elixir count reduced by ten, and those ten will be given to the person who does the best."

Jiang Man: "..."

’Only twenty pills left for me?’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’My thirteen thousand Spiritual Source will be useless?’

To hold on to his thirty pills, Jiang Man could only rack his brains and start calculating.