Afterward, Jiang Man left.

He waited at his residence.

This time, the assessment didn’t involve entering the Secret Realm as a group. Instead, participants waited at their residences and entered via their Tokens.

Once inside, their bodies would be shrouded by the power of the Token, making it impossible to know each other’s identities.

Furthermore, they were forbidden from revealing their identities.

They could compete as fiercely as they wanted without any reservations.

Jiang Man felt this method wasn’t very good.

’It’s completely unnecessary.’

On the contrary, the rankings should be displayed publicly.

That would be the only way to truly motivate people.

"The selection is about to begin," the Old Yellow Ox said, looking at Jiang Man.

"Old Huang, I heard the Secret Realm will last for many days. If Meng Qiewei sends a letter, will you be able to handle it?" Jiang Man asked.

"You should be worrying about whether this Secret Realm selection has anything to do with her," the Old Yellow Ox reminded him.

Hearing this, Jiang Man was taken aback. "This is just the selection. It shouldn’t be related, right?"

Her letter said someone was coming, and then Senior Sister Yu mentioned that a major figure was bringing a Secret Realm.

He feared the two events were connected.

But Jiang Man still wanted to take some precautions.

He could only rely on the Old Yellow Ox.

"Senior, I’m counting on you," Jiang Man said again.

The Old Yellow Ox gave him a cold look and remained motionless.

Just then, the hour of midnight passed.

Before Jiang Man could say another word, he vanished on the spot.

The Old Yellow Ox wasn’t surprised and continued to graze.

——

「Elsewhere.」

Yu Wanyi gazed at the moonlight. "The Secret Realm selection has begun. Being able to enter means there’s a chance. I just wonder how Jiang Man is doing."

"Weren’t you very confident in him?" said Senior Sister Xia, who was dressed in simple attire.

"I’m afraid he won’t be good at freeloading," Yu Wanyi sighed. "Do you think I should teach him how to win a girl’s favor?"

"Although, I can’t teach him directly. I can only give him books to read."

Senior Sister Xia said, "Who do you think that Fairy is?"

"How would I know?" Yu Wanyi shook her head. "In any case, she’s incredibly powerful, must have a profound background, and is very wealthy."

"Otherwise, how could she help someone improve so quickly?"

Being rich didn’t guarantee rapid improvement, but those who improved rapidly were usually rich.

"Senior Brother Lu is still thinking about getting his pride back at the annual assessment. You stole too much of the spotlight last time," Senior Sister Xia said with a smile.

Yu Wanyi shrugged. "Can’t be helped. I’m not competing this year."

Senior Sister Xia shook her head slightly. "They’ll just think the person you invested in was nothing more than a flash in the pan. It’s one thing if he can’t get into the Seven Peaks competition, but it’s another if he can’t even rank in the top three courtyards in the annual assessment."

Yu Wanyi paused for a moment. She had decided not to go out for a year.

’Next year, when I go out, they’ll know who the real genius investor is.’

"By the way, will the rankings for the Secret Realm selection be announced?" Senior Sister Xia asked.

Yu Wanyi thought for a moment before replying, "I heard it’s anonymous this time. The rankings should be visible, but we won’t know who is who."

"I don’t know why they’re doing it this way. It seems to be the strange hobby of that major figure."

"It probably won’t be anonymous once we officially enter, right?"

——

Just as Jiang Man was about to speak, he found himself in a vast forest.

There was a lake nearby, and occasionally, a Demon Beast would leap out of it.

In addition, stone pillars that shot straight into the clouds could be seen sporadically throughout the forest.

They were so tall that Jiang Man could see quite a few of them just by standing where he was.

The Secret Realm selection was actually quite simple. One had to climb to the top of a stone pillar, where Magic Skills and Cultivation Skills were located.

Whoever obtained one first would qualify.

The method to obtain one was also simple: defend the spot and defeat ten challengers who tried to snatch it.

If ten challengers didn’t appear, the stone pillar would generate ten Puppet People on its own.

These ten Puppet People would all have their strength copied from people currently within the Secret Realm.

Their strength levels were random.

However, this kind of generation usually only happened on the last day.

The Secret Realm would last for a total of fifteen days.

For the first fourteen days, participants could compete freely amongst themselves.

The last day was when the Secret Realm would generate challengers on its own.

’It’s all real combat.’

Jiang Man was quite struck by this.

Right now, he was at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, with a Physical Body Third Layer and a Spiritual Fourth Layer.

Wandering Dragon Fifth Layer.

Five-Layered Shadowless Palm.

Celestial Heart Seal Fourth Layer.

To remain undefeated, he needed to improve his Celestial Heart Seal.

But to defend a Cultivation Skill, he had to end the fight within half an hour.

Otherwise, the defender would be considered the loser.

’Ten days isn’t quite enough.’

Jiang Man sighed to himself. As expected, he still lacked a powerful Magic Skill.

For now, he could only focus on improving his Shadowless Palm and Celestial Heart Seal.

Additionally, he could also use Hidden Spirit here.

This was his ultimate killing move.

At the Foundation Establishment Introduction stage, Hidden Spirit could produce ten Gourds. Now, at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, it could produce thirty.

He hadn’t been practicing it for long, so his current Hidden Spirit total was fifteen Gourds.

He didn’t know if unleashing the power of fifteen Gourds would be enough to fight opponents above his level.

But it would be troublesome if others had it too.

He stopped overthinking it.

Jiang Man moved away from the stone pillars and began his Cultivation under a large tree. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

First, he would cultivate the Shadowless Palm.

To advance from the Five-Layered Shadowless Palm, he needed to practice it sixty-two times.

Fortunately, Jiang Man’s understanding of the Shadowless Palm was thorough enough that his Cultivation progressed much faster.

He continued until dawn.

The sixty-two repetitions were complete.

Sixth-Layered of Shadowless Palm.

Jiang Man didn’t dare to rest. During this time, he had already seen people ascending the stone pillars. It seemed that one needed to have reached the Wandering Dragon Ninth Layer or higher to get up there.

’Looks like I have no choice but to learn it.’

This was the first part of the assessment.

However, Jiang Man still didn’t stop practicing the Shadowless Palm.

By the evening of the first day.

Seven-Layered Shadowless Palm.

By the evening of the second day.

Eight-Layered Shadowless Palm.

On the morning of the fourth day.

Nine-Layered Shadowless Palm.

Over these few days, he saw many people climb the stone pillars, and he also saw many fall off.

A portion of them fell because their Wandering Dragon Level was insufficient.

Additionally, voices would occasionally drift over from the direction of the stone pillars.

Someone would shout about a dirty trick, challenging the offender to reveal their name if they had the guts.

Then, Jiang Man did indeed hear someone announce a name, but unfortunately, the accuser grew furious after hearing it.

They yelled that the top disciple of the First Courtyard wasn’t even in this area.

Jiang Man roughly understood now. This area was only for cultivators at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.

After all, this was just the selection, not the real entry into the Secret Realm.

Comparatively, the pressure was lower.

Later on, entering the Secret Realm might mean that those at the Mid-stage, Late Stage, and Perfection of Foundation Establishment would all be in the same place.

Without overthinking it, Jiang Man began to cultivate Wandering Dragon.

But just as he started cultivating, two people arrived at his spot.

"There’s someone here," came a woman’s voice.

"Oh, there really is. Are you also here to cultivate in secret?" This was a man’s voice.

Jiang Man looked at the newcomers. He could only make out their approximate height and build.

He could barely distinguish the man from the woman.

He couldn’t see anything else, as if they were covered in a fog.

"Are you also here to cultivate Wandering Dragon?" the man’s voice asked.

Jiang Man answered truthfully, "Yes."

"Does that mean you only recently reached the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment? Still in the phase of working hard to raise your Cultivation?" the man asked again.

Jiang Man nodded again. "More or less."

"You’re really not on your guard. Are you from the Sixth Courtyard or the Fifth Courtyard?" the man spoke once more.

"The Ninth Courtyard," Jiang Man said.

Hearing this, they both started laughing.

"My mistake. I just said you weren’t on guard, but I didn’t expect you to not only be unguarded but also take us for fools." The man chuckled. "Anyway, since we’re all here to cultivate, us being here won’t affect you, right?"

Jiang Man thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It won’t."

"By the way, what’s your Token number?" the woman asked curiously.

Jiang Man took out his Token. The number 210 was written on it.

"You entered quite late, then. The numbers are assigned based on who enters first. I’m number ninety-eight," the woman said.

The man added, "I’m ninety-nine."

Jiang Man didn’t care about this and resumed his Cultivation.

If he kept chatting, he would run out of time.

Wandering Dragon was a bit easier than Shadowless Palm.

So, cultivating it was also a bit faster.

Watching Jiang Man cultivate, the woman, number ninety-eight, said with some surprise, "He’s only around the Wandering Dragon Sixth Layer. He’s not going to make it in time."

The man, number ninety-nine, said, "It’s fine. There’s still a chance to get up at the Seventh Layer. It just depends on whether he can reach the Seventh Layer."

The two of them said no more.

Number ninety-nine began to instruct number ninety-eight.

At noon.

They took a break. When they looked over, Jiang Man was still cultivating, and he seemed to have made a lot of progress.

Number ninety-eight asked curiously, "Don’t you rest?"

"Why rest? Is it because I can’t continue cultivating?" Jiang Man replied casually.

’He’ll soon find out that it’s not easy to make progress without resting.’

However, at midnight.

They looked at Jiang Man again and saw he was still cultivating, and his progress was even more profound.

Late on the fifth day.

Jiang Man advanced once again.

Wandering Dragon Eighth Layer.

On the sixth day, Jiang Man was still cultivating, forcing number ninety-eight to start cultivating alongside him.

’Does this person just not rest at all?’

’Does he have to be like this?’

’Can he really improve like this?’

On the evening of the seventh day.

Wandering Dragon Ninth Layer.

Jiang Man stopped his Cultivation.

Number ninety-eight asked with some curiosity, "Are you finally going to rest?"

Number ninety-nine stopped her.

Number ninety-eight was puzzled.

Soon, number ninety-nine’s words left her stunned where she stood: "He has reached Wandering Dragon Great Success."

’Wandering Dragon Great Success?’

Those few words made number ninety-eight doubtful.

’Wasn’t he only around the Sixth Layer a few days ago?’

’We’ve met a genius.’