The sound of the hourglass in the room was very faint; you couldn’t hear it at all unless you listened closely.

This was especially true when the three people sitting cross-legged in the room started to speak.

A shroud of mist enveloped all three of them.

Two were situated at the front, with only Jiang Man sitting off to the side in a corner.

Out of curiosity about Jiang Man’s presence, the man at the front turned his head and initiated a conversation.

Hearing the man’s question, Jiang Man just looked at him without responding.

’Am I considered number one right now?’

’Not by rank, but my actual score is.’

But before Jiang Man could reply, the other man nodded and said, "So arrogant. You must be number one, no doubt about it."

Jiang Man looked at him in silence, offering no explanation.

’It’s not wrong to call me number one, though.’

"How long do you plan to take to comprehend the Five Elements Combined?" the man asked again.

"I’m not good at this," Jiang Man said honestly.

He had no intention of comprehending it. Besides, he had never studied it systematically, so he was at a disadvantage when it came to understanding it.

He could only try to practice its Cultivation.

However, it seemed that one needed to be at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment to cultivate the Five Elements Combined.

So, the only thing he had come here to do was not to comprehend or cultivate it, but to memorize it.

Then he would go back and hand it over to Old Huang.

He would wait for Old Huang to analyze it, then comprehend it.

And finally, cultivate it.

’Trying to understand it myself would take too much time.’

"Not good at it?" The man sounded a little surprised. "Then you’d better be careful. If you leave without comprehending it, it will reflect poorly on you, and the requirements to enter next time will be higher.

"If you still fail to meet the standard, your situation won’t be good.

"The position you’re assigned to will be the worst.

"The second assessment is an opportunity, but it also has penalties.

"That’s why many people act within their capabilities, looking for something that suits them and is easy to learn.

"Those who dare to sit here are either at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment or are about to advance, and they all have immense self-confidence.

"Especially the number ones from each division."

Jiang Man nodded. ’It seems I’m going to be marked down for a penalty.’

’And I might not even learn much by being here.’

His situation would become even worse.

But he had no intention of leaving. Since he was already here, he naturally wanted the best.

Otherwise, as an Unparalleled Celestial Pride, wouldn’t his trip have been for nothing?

Seeing that Jiang Man had no intention of leaving, the man stopped talking about it and asked, "Did you get a Top-grade Skill in the first round of the assessment?"

Jiang Man nodded.

The man asked curiously, "Then did you run into Number 210? I heard quite a few people suffered at his hands."

Hearing this, Jiang Man was a little surprised. ’I didn’t even do that much.’

But he still answered truthfully, "I didn’t."

"I didn’t either," the man explained with a smile. "I heard that many people were on the verge of success when they ran into his Puppet. A single Celestial Heart Seal forcefully ended their winning streaks.

"Now, a lot of people are looking for him to see just who it was that made them suffer such a loss.

"They’ve even posted a bounty of thirty thousand."

Jiang Man didn’t care at first and was even tempted to say it was him.

But when he heard the last part, he froze for a moment.

’How much?’

’A bounty of thirty thousand?’

"There’s a bounty?" Jiang Man asked.

The other man confirmed it.

Jiang Man asked if the bounty would increase, but the man shook his head.

Jiang Man was puzzled. ’Are they not rich enough?’

However, the answer he received was that "rich" could mean two very different things.

One hundred thousand was rich, but so was one million.

Besides, no matter how wealthy they were, every Student Cultivator bore the responsibility that came with their resources.

No one was willing to waste Spiritual Source. If you wasted too much, others would grow that much stronger.

It was a zero-sum game, and the losses could be enormous.

Therefore, a bounty of thirty thousand Spiritual Source was a lot.

Jiang Man nodded and said no more.

’It’s a shame to miss out on such a windfall.’

Looking at the hourglass again, Jiang Man saw that there was still no change.

He stopped thinking about it.

And chose to begin his Cultivation.

Waiting around idly was too much of a waste of time.

Jiang Man continued to raise his Cultivation.

Seeing Jiang Man do this, the man next to him was a bit surprised.

’What’s he doing?’ he wondered. ’Is he trying to make up for a lack of talent with hard work, or is he just getting a head start because he’s slow?’

Even the woman on the other side, who hadn’t spoken a word, glanced over.

She felt he was just trying to show off.

After that, she paid him no more mind.

Jiang Man paid no attention to the others’ gazes and continued to advance his Cultivation.

He didn’t know how long this wait would be.

As time passed, a few more people trickled into the room. They were all a little surprised when they saw Jiang Man.

They couldn’t tell if he was genuinely diligent or just trying to attract attention.

They had assumed he would just cultivate for a bit and then stop.

After all, almost everyone had arrived.

Anyone who was going to notice him already had.

However, Jiang Man didn’t stop, and the sand in the hourglass had not yet run out.

「One day passed.」

Everyone was still waiting patiently, and Jiang Man was still cultivating.

「Three days passed.」

The others frowned, because it was still not time for the lesson to begin.

But Jiang Man continued his sleepless Cultivation.

’Isn’t he afraid of exhausting his Heart Spirit?’

「Five days later.」

Jiang Man was filled with regret.

He had brought too few Elixirs.

He had finished all his Water Element Pills, and now the Gourd was over seventy percent full.

If he still had Elixirs, he felt he could fill it completely in another seven days.

Then he could move on to enhancing his Spirit and Physical Body.

With a sigh, he decided to take a break and work on improving his Celestial Heart Seal.

’The Celestial Heart Seal will definitely be necessary for the next Secret Realm.’

As he was resting, the man who had first spoken to him teased, "Why the sudden break?"

He had been wondering just how many days Jiang Man could keep cultivating.

Quite a few people had been waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

They wondered if he was so focused that he would forget to learn the Five Elements Combined.

Jiang Man looked at the man calmly and said, "You haven’t been cultivating?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Why would I need to?" the other man retorted.

Jiang Man said calmly, "It seems catching up to you will be easy."

Hearing this, the other man was taken aback.

He felt a sudden sense of pressure, but he quickly recovered. "Cultivating without sleep isn’t good for your Heart Spirit. When they start teaching the Magic Skill, I’m afraid your Heart Spirit won’t be able to keep up. It might just backfire on you."