novelraw Chapter 186 - 137: Meng Qiewei? Just an Old Woman
Chapter 186 - 137: Meng Qiewei? Just an Old Woman
Jiang Man, however, asked curiously, "Why was she so powerful this time?"
The Old Yellow Ox chewed on the Spirit Grass in its mouth and explained, "She isn’t strong. She just seems strong on the surface. She must have clashed with the Immortal Sect and used the opportunity to leave a sliver of power on the Magpie Bridge.
"That’s the only way she could target us.
"But she didn’t dare make it too obvious, or the Immortal Sect would have easily discovered it.
"The next time she comes, she won’t be able to do anything."
"Will she clash with the Immortal Sect again?" Jiang Man asked.
The Old Yellow Ox looked at Jiang Man and shook its head. "It’s highly unlikely. However, she might have been recorded, so people from the Immortal Sect will come to investigate.
"I can’t reveal my power, even more so now. If the Immortal Sect comes investigating, you’ll have to deal with it yourself."
"Will they be here soon?" Jiang Man asked.
"Very slow," the Old Yellow Ox replied.
In that case, Jiang Man wasn’t worried.
By the time they arrived, he would be far stronger than he was now.
There would be no need to avoid them.
Taking advantage of the remaining night, Jiang Man began his Cultivation.
The future was yet to come, and if the Immortal Sect were to show up now, he wouldn’t be able to resist anyway.
No need to overthink it.
It was better to focus on the annual rankings a month from now.
He had two choices before him: one, cultivate the Top-grade Cyan Smoke Melody, or two, improve his Spirit and Physical Body.
Currently, his Physical Body was at the Entry Level of the Fifth Layer, and his Spiritual Fifth Layer’s star was half-lit. With a month’s time, along with the Hundred Refinement Stone and Elixirs, he had a chance to reach the Spiritual Sixth Layer.
For now, there was no chance to advance his Cultivation.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Man made his decision.
He would focus on improving his Spirit first. As for Magic Skills, he would get and cultivate the True Martial Skill.
The Simple Skill was very fast to cultivate.
It wouldn’t take much time.
A Top-grade Skill would be too slow to improve, as the eighty rounds of tempering already took up too much time.
Afterward, Jiang Man went to collect the True Martial Skill.
The True Martial Skill was a body-enhancing Combat Skill that could increase the body’s strength, including power, speed, and Defense.
It also provided a certain boost when casting Magic Skills.
But it had a drawback: the Combat Skill was slow to activate. Unless it was cast in advance, it could be easily interrupted.
Not only that, but while the True Martial Skill boosted combat power, it also meant high consumption.
It placed a considerable burden on one’s Spirit, Physical Body, and Spiritual Qi.
Jiang Man looked at the True Martial Skill. He could understand it completely. Cultivating a Simple Skill was very easy.
However, as for why it was slow to activate, Jiang Man felt that it was missing something.
’It lacks the complex resonance.’
He asked the Old Yellow Ox and got the same answer: "It’s a Simple Skill. To make it simple, you have to lose something."
Jiang Man asked if there was a complete version.
The answer was no.
The True Martial Skill inherently increased the body’s burden; it had its pros and cons.
If it only had pros, it wouldn’t be just a Low-grade Skill.
It would be even higher than a Top-grade Skill.
It would be extremely difficult to cultivate, and unnecessary for the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Jiang Man understood. After the Immortal Sect’s Great Pacification, many Magic Skills became unnecessary.
Every Realm had corresponding Magic Skills that were the most effective.
Difficult and powerful ones naturally existed, but they were a waste of time.
After one’s Cultivation advanced, wouldn’t any of the corresponding new Magic Skills be better than those from Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment?
Spending time on arduous cultivation of such skills would just delay the advancement of one’s Cultivation Realm.
Thus, these types of Magic Skills were naturally phased out.
Using the Simple Skill was enough.
After that, Jiang Man began to cultivate.
Two repetitions.
True Martial Skill: Entry Level.
A golden light enveloped his entire body.
Then, Jiang Man sensed the light cover the first Gourd of his Cultivation, drawing on the power of that first Gourd.
After four repetitions.
True Martial Skill: Second Layer.
The light covered the first Gourd of his Physical Body.
After eight repetitions.
True Martial Skill: Third Layer.
The light covered the first star of his Spirit.
This was how Jiang Man activated the True Martial Skill.
It started by resonating the first Cultivation Gourd with the first Physical Body Gourd, and upon success, it would then resonate with the first Spirit star.
Only after this succeeded did the light begin to cover Jiang Man’s body.
At that moment, he felt a slight increase in his physical strength.
The Spiritual Qi within the Gourd also began to burn.
Like a flame.
For a moment, Jiang Man felt terrifyingly strong.
’This skill is truly amazing, but it’s slow to activate. The higher the Realm, the slower it gets,’ Jiang Man realized.
No wonder he hadn’t seen anyone use it when fighting in the Secret Realm before.
If you were interrupted during the resonance period, you couldn’t activate it at all.
Whether this problem could be fixed, Jiang Man didn’t know yet.
But he didn’t waste any more time and continued to improve.
After one day, he reached the Fourth Level of True Martial Skill.
The next day, the Sixth Layer of True Martial Skill.
On the third day, the Seventh Layer.
On the fifth day, the Eighth Layer.
On the tenth day, Great Success.
At the Ninth Layer, the True Martial Skill’s light covered nine Gourds.
Without reaching the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, it was impossible to cultivate this skill to Great Success.
After that, Jiang Man spent another two days specifically studying how to avoid being interrupted and activate it more effectively.
In the end, he found he couldn’t speed it up; he could only guard his Heart Spirit and activate it silently.
In short, practice makes perfect.
Additionally, having a high enough Spiritual Level allowed for better control over the Spiritual Qi in his body.
Of course, a Talent for meticulous detail was also very important.
Coincidentally, as an Unparalleled Celestial Pride, Jiang Man felt he also possessed such a Talent.
「Three days later.」
August 1st.
Jiang Man felt he had completely mastered the True Martial Skill and would no longer be interrupted while activating it in a fight.
The remaining half of the month would be dedicated to improving his Spirit.
He would push for the Spiritual Sixth Layer.
He had also been tempering his Spirit while cultivating the Magic Skill.
He had consumed many Elixirs.
Now, the star was completely lit, and he was just one step away from a breakthrough.
’I have to go see Master again.’
He had lost out by not being able to buy Fire Element Pills during this round of improvement.
He was about to advance to Foundation Establishment Perfection, and if he couldn’t buy Fire Element Pills and Earth Element Pills at a discount, he would lose a lot of Spiritual Source.
So, he had to find his master to pull some strings.
Afterward, Jiang Man prepared 4,500 Spiritual Source and went to find his master.
This left him with only 6,000 Spiritual Source.
「Red Water Peak.」
Jiang Man found He Huai’an in the Alchemy Courtyard.
Seeing that Jiang Man hadn’t brought any wine, He Huai’an breathed a sigh of relief. "What brings you to see your master this time?"
He sat lazily in his chair, his tone tinged with resignation.
This disciple, Jiang Man, had left the deepest impression on him.
Other disciples were excellent, but this one was just terrible.
He had never seen such a poor disciple.
The boy had even scammed him for free food and drinks.
Fortunately, he hadn’t brought anything this time, so he probably wasn’t up to any bad ideas.
But before he could feel happy about it, Jiang Man took out 4,500 Spiritual Source.
He Huai’an immediately sat up straight.
He stared intently at the young man before him.
"Disciple, what is the meaning of this?" he asked warily.
"For this year’s annual assessment, I plan to take first place," Jiang Man said, looking at He Huai’an seriously.
"And?" He Huai’an said slowly. "What must I sacrifice this time to ensure my disciple gets first place?"
"I would like to buy Fire Element Pills and Earth Element Pills," Jiang Man said.
"No one is stopping you," He Huai’an said.
"I can’t outbid the others."
"Isn’t that your problem?"
"Which is why I came to find you, Master."
"So you’re saying it’s my problem now?"
Jiang Man pushed the 4,500 Spiritual Source forward and bowed respectfully. "I ask for your help, Master."
"It’s not entirely impossible to grant." He Huai’an squinted with a smile. "Didn’t you say you want to get first place? First in the courtyard, or first for the year?"
"First for the year," Jiang Man replied.
He Huai’an chuckled. "Fine. Don’t say your master doesn’t support you. Since you’ve said as much, once you return with the first place for the year, you won’t have to compete for Elixirs anymore. You can buy as many as you want, regardless of the quota.
"How about it?"
"Thank you, Master," Jiang Man said with a respectful bow.
However, when Jiang Man tried to hand over the Spiritual Source, He Huai’an waved his hand. "Take it back. Consider it my support for you winning first place."
He said that, but what He Huai’an was really thinking was, ’I didn’t take the Spiritual Source, and I made the promise. If you don’t get first place, will you still have the face to come back?’
With this, He Huai’an felt he would finally have some peace and quiet in the future.
’But... is he only starting to stand out now because those three geniuses with their insurmountable lead are absent?’
’Clever of him.’
’He has his methods and his schemes.’
’A promising future!’
’I just wonder if he can really take first.’
’If he really does come in first, then I... ’
He Huai’an pondered for a moment. He’d probably be mocked a little.
People would say his disciple only dared to emerge because the geniuses were away.
But what smart person didn’t know how to avoid a direct confrontation?
The road ahead was long. Securing first place now to get resources was the path to long-term success.
"You’re very clever. You know to avoid confronting the geniuses head-on."
Hearing this, Jiang Man was stunned.
’Who do I need to avoid?’
’Meng Qiewei?’
’Just an old woman.’
’Sooner or later, she’ll be just another one of my defeated opponents.’