The End of the Immortal Path-Chapter 44 - 43: Who Will Get the Qualification

While he waited, the middle-aged man was a little anxious.

He stood at the entrance, craning his neck to look inside before glancing over at Jiang Man.

Seeing this, Jiang Man naturally backed away. He went to the pavilion and hid half his body in the shadows.

It was a spot where he wouldn’t be easily seen, but could still keep an eye on the main gate.

As a guard, he had to watch for anyone entering.

People leaving wasn’t a concern, but entries had to be strictly monitored.

From the shadows, Jiang Man saw Fang Yong come out.

Looking at the middle-aged man again, he noticed the man was standing ramrod straight, showing no sign of his foot injury.

Fang Yong’s expression was grim as he walked up to the middle-aged man.

His mouth moved a few times, his expression tinged with blame. It looked like he was scolding him.

Jiang Man didn’t specifically use his Spiritual Qi to listen to what was being said.

The middle-aged man had just needed him to step aside, so it was only right to respect the man’s pride.

’Whose pride, though, is anyone’s guess.’

The middle-aged man just kept his head down with an apologetic smile. Once Fang Yong finished speaking, he took out a bag.

He handed it over with a smile.

’It must be the Spiritual Source.’

After taking the Spiritual Source, Fang Yong said something else, speaking for a moment longer.

Jiang Man just watched.

Then Fang Yong went inside, seemingly tossing a warning over his shoulder as he turned.

The middle-aged man just nodded with an apologetic smile.

He then stood on his tiptoes to watch Fang Yong leave, only relaxing his foot once he was gone.

A pained expression appeared on his face.

Jiang Man emerged from the shadows and, sitting in the pavilion, waved the middle-aged man over.

The man came over, sat down, and asked curiously, "Did something happen at Cyan Cloud Pavilion?"

Jiang Man was puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"I just feel... our young master doesn’t seem well-rested. He’s speaking less and is in a great hurry." The middle-aged man paused, then looked at Jiang Man respectfully. "I share my young master’s surname, Fang. They all call me Housekeeper Fang. And you are, Guard...?"

"My surname is Jiang," Jiang Man said.

As for what the man had said, it was naturally because Fang Yong had run out of time as well.

’I’m not resting, Luo Xuan isn’t resting, so what gives Fang Yong the right to rest?’

’Does he even dare to rest?’

But Jiang Man just shook his head, not telling the man before him the truth.

"Are you planning to head back?" Jiang Man asked, glancing at the sky.

"I plan to rest nearby for a bit and leave at dawn." As he spoke, Housekeeper Fang took the best-looking steamed bun from his bag and offered it to Jiang Man, trying to curry favor. "Care for a bite, Guard Jiang?"

Jiang Man looked at the coarse-grain bun, accepted it, and said, "Leaving at dawn?"

"Leaving at dawn," Housekeeper Fang confirmed with a smiling nod.

This place belonged to the guards; not just anyone could rest here.

"Then you can sit in the pavilion. Leave when it’s light out." With that, Jiang Man walked out of the pavilion, eating the bun.

He was getting ready to cultivate.

He heard the man’s grateful voice from behind him.

But not long after, Jiang Man looked back at the pavilion and saw the man had curled up on the ground, leaning against the edge, and had fallen asleep.

His hand clutched the food bag tightly, as if afraid of dropping the dry rations.

The spot where Jiang Man had been sitting actually had a soft cushion.

The man hadn’t dared to sit on it.

Jiang Man moved a little further away and began his Cultivation.

This time, he circulated his Qi Cultivation Skill to advance his Cultivation.

He had specifically taken a Spirit Gathering Pill to speed up his progress.

Otherwise, it would just be a waste of time.

He continued until the sky began to lighten.

At that moment, Steward Fang woke up immediately and wiped down the spot where he had been sitting with his clothes.

Then he prepared to leave.

Jiang Man was already awake. Eating the remaining half of the bun, he asked, "Leaving now?"

"Guard Jiang." Housekeeper Fang bowed respectfully. "I’ve imposed on you, Sir Guard. It’s dawn now, and I must be on my way."

Jiang Man waved the bun in his hand. "The bun wasn’t bad."

As he spoke, he rummaged around in his clothes, tossed out a medicinal plaster, and said, "Here’s a Xie Li for you."

It was a plaster for treating external injuries.

Housekeeper Fang, who caught the plaster, quickly tried to refuse.

But Jiang Man just waved goodbye to him.

The man didn’t dare to disobey him either.

In the end, he offered a heavy word of thanks before executing the Divine Step to depart.

And so, Jiang Man finished his bun and headed for the Sixth Courtyard of Cyan Cloud Pavilion.

As the number one, he had to continue leading the courtyard in their Cultivation.

And he could also borrow some Spirit Gathering Pills from Xiaopang.

This time, Xiaopang lent him five pills.

For the last ten days, Jiang Man planned to constantly consume Spirit Gathering Pills to raise his Cultivation.

He had also exchanged all his Spiritual Source for Spirit Gathering Pills.

Ten pills in total.

That gave him fifteen pills.

Paired with his Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Method, breaking through was not impossible.

The days passed one by one.

Jiang Man’s Cultivation level rose continuously.

With so many Spirit Gathering Pills, the water in his sixth "Gourd" rose at a visible rate.

「One day later.」

Twenty percent full.

「Two days later.」

Thirty percent full.

「Four days later.」

Fifty percent full.

「Seven days later.」

Seventy percent full.

「December 14th.」

Ninety-nine percent full.

The Spirit Gathering Pills were all used up.

At the same time, his Physical Body successfully broke through to the Fourth Layer.

As long as the "Gourd" was full, he would meet all the conditions to advance to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

Qi Refining Sixth Layer, Physical Body Fourth Layer, and Spiritual First Layer.

However, Jiang Man hadn’t dared to neglect his Magic Skills during this time.

Mr. Fu had been teaching constantly, with a strong emphasis on Magic Skills.

Even Mr. Zhao’s lessons had become less frequent.

Currently, all the Magic Skills Jiang Man had received, he had mastered to the Ninth Layer.

But he was lacking in practical application.

He needed actual combat training.

He had approached Steward Miao several times.

However, his sparring partners also needed to be rich in combat experience.

So, Jiang Man could only use Luo Xuan and the others for practice.

Unfortunately, they were all just feeding him moves.

They had no intention of revealing their true strength.

Although, Jiang Man still had a certain degree of confidence if a real fight broke out.

After all, the Spiritual Qi he absorbed was from a Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Method.

The weight of his Spiritual Qi was on a completely different level from theirs.

But sometimes, brute force alone wasn’t enough, unless you were vastly stronger than your enemy.

"Brother Jiang, are you nervous?" Xiaopang asked, coming up to Jiang Man in the courtyard.

He took a deep breath, trying hard to calm himself.

Jiang Man looked at him in surprise. "You’re nervous?"

"How could I not be? Tomorrow is the brand-new assessment, the qualification tournament," Xiaopang said.

"You made it into the top five?" Jiang Man asked, a little uncertain.

He had been too focused on his Cultivation recently and hadn’t paid much attention to Xiaopang.

"No, but tomorrow is the assessment that will decide if I lose my spot." Xiaopang sighed. "After this, I’ll have nothing more to do with the Wuyun Sect."

"I’ll never get another chance like this in my lifetime."

"It’s like, starting tomorrow, my life will go down a new path."

"Even though I can still study at Cyan Cloud Pavilion for another half a year, the path to the Sect will be closed to people like us."

Jiang Man nodded. ’That’s true.’

Tomorrow would be a turning point in their destinies.

It was natural to be nervous.

He felt the same way. Although he had been first before, no one would have stopped their progress this month.

Someone might have already taken another step forward.

’Nothing is set in stone yet. I can’t let my guard down.’

"Brother Jiang, besides you, who do you think will get the second spot?" Xiaopang suddenly asked.

Jiang Man thought for a moment. "Chang Qiweng has the lowest chance."

Jiang Man had fought him before. While his Magic Skill studies were decent, they were just decent.

He was far too weak compared to Luo Xuan.

And he was no match for Fang Yong.

Luo Xuan was the previous number one, so logically, she was the most likely candidate.

’But...’

Chang Qiweng had someone backing him, and that person was very likely Cheng Yu.

In that case, with deliberate interference from outside the arena, the outcome of the match could be affected.

So Cheng Yu’s chances of winning were also very high.

Fang Yong, on the other hand, was rather ordinary, giving him the lowest chance of winning.

Besides that, Jiang Man also worried if he himself was part of someone’s scheme.