The End of the Immortal Path

Chapter 7: Witnessing the Rise of a Prodigy

The sixth courtyard was getting more and more crowded.

Fang Yong once again became the center of attention, receiving everyone's admiration.

This allowed Jiang Man to smoothly enter the sixth courtyard.

Not long after, Zhao Leming arrived.

As soon as he entered, he sternly addressed the people below: "Line up according to your rankings."

Everyone began adjusting their positions.

They formed two columns.

Jiang Man didn't move.

Because he was ranked last.

Soon, a man stood beside him.His figure was plump.

Jiang Man felt quite envious.

How much did one have to eat to achieve such roundness?

His family must be wealthy.

"Jiang Man, thank goodness for you, otherwise I'd be at the bottom. My family definitely wouldn't let me off easy," the other person said cheerfully, looking relieved. After a pause, he asked curiously, "You don't smell anymore?"

Gao Yao, the little fatty, belonged to the bottom ranks just like Jiang Man.

Jiang Man had been somewhat dull and sluggish before, while the other simply didn't want to cultivate and had limited talent.

"What's happening today?" Jiang Man asked.

Hearing this, the little fatty looked at Jiang Man with surprise: "You're actually interested now? Before, you had zero interest."

Before Jiang Man could come up with an excuse, the little fatty continued: "It's almost September, they're going to arrange the cultivation schedule for the second half of the year.

They'll also see who qualifies to compete for the Mist Cloud Sect assessment spots.

The sixth courtyard has two spots, and it's almost certainly going to be Fang Yong and Luo Xuan."

As he spoke, he looked toward the two people at the front with some envy.

Jiang Man also followed his gaze.

One was the high-spirited Fang Yong, and the other was a calm woman who seemed detached from worldly affairs.

With her beautiful features and exquisite clothing, it was obvious she wasn't from a village background.

Thus, them taking the top spots seemed quite reasonable.

Coming from wealthy families with sufficient resources.

They had already won more than half the battle.

With some effort and good talent, they could leave those from villages like them far behind.

To catch up would require multiple times the effort, plus extraordinary talent.

And such people were few and far between.

"But this has nothing to do with us. As the last and second-to-last place, we're not scheduled to participate in the assessment, we don't even get cultivation plans," the little fatty said.

This statement completely stunned Jiang Man.

They didn't even have the qualification to participate in the competition?

Fortunately, he had made a deal with Teacher Zhao, so there should still be a chance.

Jiang Man confirmed that his ranking was twenty-sixth.

The last place in the courtyard.

Little Fatty was twenty-fifth, second-to-last.

He had always been grateful to Jiang Man for covering the bottom spot for him.

"As long as we stay like this, whether I get beaten less when I go home depends entirely on you," Little Fatty said seriously to Jiang Man.

Jiang Man: "..."

The boat of friendship was probably about to capsize.

"You should all know your rankings by now. If you want to compete for qualifications, you have just over three months. The list will be finalized in December.

Once set, it cannot be changed.

Even if someone with qualification dies, the spot won't be passed down.

So in these final months, work hard if you need to work hard, go all out if you need to go all out.

If you miss this opportunity, no matter how hard you try later, you won't get another chance like this.

Think carefully about this."

Afterwards, Teacher Zhao handed out a piece of paper to each person, detailing the advantages and disadvantages of each ranking.

Then, he came to Jiang Man and Little Fatty.

After giving Jiang Man a deep look, he said calmly: "You two, come with me."

Some people were curious about this but didn't think too much about it.

Zhao Leming first met with Jiang Man alone.

"Do you understand today's situation?" he asked from behind his desk in the room.

Jiang Man bowed respectfully: "I understand."

"Any thoughts?" Zhao Leming casually picked up a book and asked.

Jiang Man thought for a moment and answered truthfully: "I also want to try competing for the assessment qualification."

Zhao Leming raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jiang Man, saying calmly: "According to Azure Cloud Pavilion regulations, you probably don't qualify to compete for the assessment."

Hearing this, Jiang Man understood that this was to see if what he could offer would be useful.

If useless, then the regulations would stand as they were.

If useful, then regulations were dead but people were flexible.

Then Jiang Man took out what he had hidden in his robe and placed it on the desk, pushing it toward the other person.

The latter unhurriedly picked up the book.

After a moment, he slowly closed the book and said:

"According to Azure Cloud Pavilion rules, you indeed don't qualify to compete.

But rules are dead, and if we eliminate your initiative because of rules, that would be somewhat inhumane.

Considering your cultivation isn't easy, and you're determined to compete for the final spots.

I'll make a special exception for you.

The exception is made, but it still depends on whether you're willing to participate in the competition.

If you participate, you must follow the sixth courtyard's arrangements and participate in daily cultivation assessments."

Hearing this, Jiang Man immediately said: "I'm willing."

Afterwards, Zhao Leming followed the normal procedure and met alone with Little Fatty Gao Yao.

Not long after, Gao Yao came out with a bitter expression.

Looking at Jiang Man, he sighed heavily: "We agreed to give up together, why did you suddenly change your mind? But my talent is higher than yours, so you'll still be at the bottom."

When they left, each held a piece of paper.

It detailed their situations.

Jiang Man's contained the simplest content.

August 17th.

Cloud Front Division: Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Back Courtyard: Sixth Courtyard.

Name: Jiang Man.

Ranking: 26 (out of 26).

Cultivation: None.

Technique Level: None.

Resources Obtained: "Simple Qi Refining Method", "Divine Movement Steps".

Plan: Practice Qi Refining Method thirty times daily.

Score: 0.

Evaluation: Room for improvement.

Only thirty times? They're underestimating me.

Not even worth a fraction of the Peerless Prodigy Fate, Jiang Man thought with emotion.

At this moment, Gao Yao secretly glanced at Jiang Man's evaluation, then said somewhat indignantly: "Why does yours say 'room for improvement' while mine says 'hopelessly stupid'?"

Jiang Man: "..."

Perhaps because I slipped him some treasure.

As soon as they returned to the courtyard, the others looked over.

Noticing the papers in their hands, they were somewhat surprised.

They hadn't expected these two bottom-ranked individuals would also participate in the qualification competition.

Little Fatty looked somewhat embarrassed.

"I feel like they're mocking us," Little Fatty gently nudged Jiang Man.

Your feeling is correct, Jiang Man answered inwardly.

But he didn't care.

How could sparrows understand the ambitions of swans?

Soon they would witness the rise of a peerless prodigy.

But very quickly, they began cultivating.

At a time like this, distracting themselves with others' affairs.

Would be wasting a great opportunity.

Hadn't they noticed that Fang Yong and Luo Xuan hadn't even glanced back?

Then, Jiang Man also began cultivating.

He continued practicing the Qi Refining Method.

First, he wanted to see when he could reach the ninth layer.

After reaching the ninth layer, he would improve his cultivation.

This should be the best approach.

But he also glanced at Little Fatty's paper.

Cultivation: Qi Refining First Layer.

So he was the only ordinary person in the entire class.

"As long as we both follow the plan, when they hand out new papers after next month's assessment, you'll definitely still be at the bottom," Little Fatty said with a smile.

Jiang Man smiled politely.

Then he practiced the Qi Refining Method.

Thirty times was naturally not enough - he planned to practice one hundred times before returning.