An Rong stood at the door, looking at the people inside.

She hadn’t slept well last night either.

She had wavered between cultivating and sleeping.

Everything she’d learned told her that sleeping was the correct choice, so she could cultivate better tomorrow.

But the example set by the courtyard’s top-ranked student told her that pulling an all-nighter to cultivate was the right way.

If she went to sleep now, others would get a full night’s lead on her.

A lead she could never make up.

Because the others wouldn’t just take a break and let her catch up.

She was already agonizing over this, and the moment she walked in, she found the courtyard’s top student looking through that little notebook of his.

It was like a bolt from the blue.

She sidled up to him and whispered, as if negotiating, "Can you cross that out?"

Jiang Man simply smiled in return.

’She hasn’t even mentioned the Spiritual Source, so how can I cross it out?’

At that moment, he felt he needed Fang Yong. These people were so inexperienced.

After that, the other students of the Ninth Courtyard trickled in.

When Cao Cheng came in, Jiang Man picked up his little notebook and started flipping through it again.

Seeing this, Cao Cheng froze for a moment.

Then An Rong went over to him and whispered something in his ear.

Upon hearing her words, Cao Cheng was stunned and looked at her in disbelief.

An Rong complained, "If it wasn’t for you, would I be in this mess?"

"You should lose some of that fat. Not enough blood is getting to your brain, and it’s making you look mindless," Cao Cheng kindly reminded her.

"It’s one of my strengths," An Rong said, standing up straight and looking serious.

"Everyone’s desperately trying to reach Foundation Establishment and improve their cultivation. Who cares about that stuff? Calling it a ’strength’ is just fooling yourself. You’re so hopelessly old-fashioned. No wonder you go around offending people for no reason," Cao Cheng said with a look of disdain.

"So what are you going to do now?" An Rong whispered. "Can you stand him flipping through that thing every day?"

If Jiang Man were ranked last, they wouldn’t need to care at all.

It wouldn’t matter even if he flipped through that little notebook until it fell apart.

But he was first.

And first by a long shot.

The kind of first place that no one could hope to surpass anytime soon.

When someone like that flips through a little notebook, it’s terrifying.

Jiang Man just flipped through it out of habit and did nothing else.

After that, they began to wait for Mr. Yan.

Also, Mr. Yan had hidden the number one score. Everyone else could only see the rankings; the actual score was only known within the Ninth Courtyard.

No one mentioned the all-night cultivation sessions to outsiders either.

They had to observe the effects for themselves first. If it led to improvement, they wanted to be the ones to improve first.

Once the scores were out, nothing could be hidden.

So everyone had a tacit understanding.

They would observe for a while before saying anything.

"After the first assessment, another batch of people should be coming in," Jiang Man overheard someone nearby say. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

As the courtyard’s top student, he now sat at the very front.

"There’s a batch in December and another in March. The December batch is arriving today," said Zhao Yaoyao.

"I wonder if there are any powerhouses in this batch," An Rong added.

Normally, there wouldn’t be.

Because the August-September batch was the strongest.

"I haven’t heard of anyone on our side, but I heard there’s one over at Peach Blossom Peak. Not sure if the rumor is true, but they say he’s only seventeen." Zhuo Bufan looked at Jiang Man and said, "Apparently, he’s from the same city as our number one."

"Seventeen? How did a seventeen-year-old get in?" Zhao Yaoyao asked in surprise.

"He was probably specially recruited. They say he completed the Ninth Layer of the Qi Cultivation Method, the Ninth Layer of the Qi Blood Technique, and the Ninth Layer of the Visualization Technique in a single year, after which he was brought to the Sect." Zhuo Bufan explained, "Then, this year, he earned a spot to enter the Secret Realm and was promoted to the Foundation Establishment Courtyard."

The others were shocked.

Because he was so young.

They had come over from the Yunqian Bureau at nineteen.

Even the fastest among them would be twenty by the time they entered the Foundation Establishment Courtyard.

Now, even with the one who pulled all-nighters to cultivate, he was still just nineteen.

Yet this person who had appeared out of nowhere was only seventeen.

Hearing their discussion, Jiang Man didn’t pay it much mind.

He had already heard of this person.

He wasn’t just from the same city, but the same village.

They were both from Bei Village.

Logically, Jiang Man should have met him during his childhood.

But...

He had no memory of him.

He’d forgotten many things from his childhood.

He was a simpleton back then and couldn’t remember things well anyway.

He was no longer a simpleton, but he still couldn’t recall things he’d failed to remember in the first place.

His most vivid memory was still of the Old Yellow Ox.

"Actually, we might be getting someone with extraordinary potential here too." Cao Cheng leaned in and said, "This person has supposedly been in the Rehabilitation Courtyard for two years. He believes in accumulating strength for a sudden burst.

"They say he’s built up a massive reserve and advanced to Foundation Establishment in his absolute peak state.

"The Thirteenth Layer of the Qi Refining Skill, the Thirteenth Layer of the Qi Blood Technique, and the Thirteen Layers of Visualization Method.

"I’m afraid he’ll surpass most of the people in the Ninth Courtyard very quickly."

Hearing this, even Jiang Man was a little surprised. ’So wealthy? Three top-grade skills. That foundation is truly impressive. Stronger than mine. It would definitely be a huge help for cultivating the Nascent Condensation Skill and others like it.’

It seemed that the latecomers weren’t necessarily weak.

There probably wasn’t anyone present with such a strong foundation.

"So you’re saying he won’t affect our rankings in the early stages?" An Rong asked.

Cao Cheng shook his head. "Your three-month head start won’t mean much. Besides, I heard his ambition isn’t to rank within our courtyard, but to rank in the Three Courtyards competition at the end of August next year.

"His targets are the Eighth and Seventh Courtyards."

Every year there’s a Three Courtyards ranking, fixed in groups: one-two-three, four-five-six, and seven-eight-nine.

The first, fourth, and seventh have the biggest advantage.

But as the years go by, today’s Ninth Courtyard will eventually become a future Seventh Courtyard.

In short, everyone gets a turn with the advantage; a new group gets it each year.

As for the competition between the Seven Peaks, that requires certain major tournaments.

Participants are selected to go.

Jiang Man wasn’t too clear on the details, but he’d heard that this kind of competition happens after the Three Courtyards ranking.

Mr. Yan hadn’t mentioned it yet.

Just then, Yan Yiqiu walked in, leading a group of people.

There were twelve people in total, seven men and five women.

"You will all sit in the back. After the rankings in three months, we will readjust the seating," Yan Yiqiu said calmly.

Jiang Man was quite curious. ’Which one of them is the person with the profound foundation?’