A quaint, ancient courtyard.

A slender, elegant hand lifted the teapot and poured more water into her cup.

The sound of the water was long and drawn-out, yet it carried not a hint of warmth.

Even the surrounding air seemed to emit a bone-chilling cold.

It was as if the temperature here had suddenly plummeted.

At this moment, Qing Dai stood to one side, her head bowed, not daring to speak.

Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Are they dead?" Meng Qiewei asked calmly.

"Not yet, but they’re close," Qing Dai replied.

"Leave the tea leaves. Send the Brocade Bag and those two to the Immortal Sect." Meng Qiewei raised her teacup, her frost-white wrist seeming to radiate an unthawable cold.

Then, her calm voice spoke again: "Inform the Immortal Sect that they are to give me an explanation.

"Also, next time they send someone to investigate, tell them to send someone intelligent.

"Not some self-righteous fool.

"And ask them this: do they even know who they were investigating?"

Qing Dai nodded and said, "Is there anything else they should be made aware of?"

Meng Qiewei pondered for a long while before finally saying, "Since they already know I’m married, tell them I’m a newlywed. I don’t intend to get my hands dirty.

"But next time might be different."

Qing Dai nodded.

After confirming there were no other issues, she left.

Elders were already waiting outside.

When they saw two bloody figures being carried out, they were all stunned.

’The Eldest Miss is still the same as ever.’

But they had no idea why this had happened; they had assumed the Immortal Sect’s actions were in line with the Eldest Miss’s wishes.

Seeing Qing Dai emerge, one of the Elders immediately asked, "Miss Qing Dai, what happened?"

Qing Dai quickly explained, "The problem seems to stem from the Brocade Bag. You need to find out why, and quickly. Then the men must be sent back to the Immortal Sect."

Hearing the Eldest Miss’s words, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

Although the Eldest Miss wouldn’t attack her own clan members without reason, still...

’If someone were to provoke the Eldest Miss, it would be a disaster if we got caught in the crossfire.’

And yet, the more this happened, the more curious they became. Just who was the man who had married the Eldest Miss?

’Was he dead or alive? If he were dead, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but if he were alive...’

’A hero of such caliber... they felt an urge to worship him.’

Unfortunately, there was no news whatsoever.

The Eldest Miss wasn’t talking, and who would dare to press her for answers?

—

"Canceled?"

On Cloud Mist Peak, Jiang Man stared at Fang Yong in disbelief. "Why was it suddenly canceled?"

After returning from the Secret Realm, Jiang Man had sought out Fang Yong.

’The plan was to go collect the bounty as soon as the sun came up.’ 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

’Collecting it himself would lack credibility.’

’It would be a hassle, one way or another.’

But having Fang Yong go was different. He was from the same hometown.

’He’d have no problem selling me out.’

At worst, others would just scorn him for being a despicable person.

Besides, Fang Yong was that kind of person anyway; he wasn’t afraid of damaging his reputation.

So when they’d talked, it wasn’t about whether to go, but about how to split the reward.

In the end, since Jiang Man had provided the information and the means, they agreed on an 80/20 split.

Fang Yong would get twenty percent.

Jiang Man had thought he just had to wait for daylight to collect over twenty thousand Spiritual Source.

But to his dismay, the news he received was that the bounty had been canceled.

It was a bolt from the blue.

’A loss of over twenty thousand Spiritual Source.’

"Because your performance in the Secret Realm this time was heavily criticized. They think you’re all flash and no substance, a mere show-off, and that you no longer deserve a bounty. Continuing it might have been fine if it just served to prop you up, but they decided that keeping it active would only make them look foolish. So, they canceled it overnight." Fang Yong looked at Jiang Man with great curiosity. "What on earth did you do?"

Jiang Man told him the truth: he just focused on his Cultivation.

Fang Yong fell silent.

’Suddenly, he felt that he wasn’t diligent enough.’

He also never would have guessed that Jiang Man had skipped the annual assessment to participate in the Secret Realm’s assessment instead.

Others needed a score that was leagues above the rest just to qualify, yet the person in front of him had gone long ago.

After a long moment, he asked curiously, "If we had collected the bounty, your identity would have been exposed. Weren’t you worried?"

"Worried about what?" Jiang Man looked at Fang Yong calmly. "Am I supposed to hide from them?"

For a moment, Fang Yong was speechless.

Before he left, Fang Yong said there was no need to specifically mention his own number.

If he found another opportunity to sell him out, he’d give Jiang Man a cut.

Watching Fang Yong leave, Jiang Man shook his head slightly.

’To think someone from my own hometown would sell me out so easily.’

Jiang Man didn’t dwell on it. Still, waking up to a loss of over twenty thousand was indeed a bit heartbreaking.

’I found out too late.’

Immediately after, Jiang Man turned to the Old Yellow Ox and asked about the Five Elements Combined he had submitted last night, "Old Huang, is this the Five Elements Technique you mentioned?"

"It is," the Old Yellow Ox nodded. "Your luck is quite good."

"My luck reaches the heavens," Jiang Man said with a smile.

The Old Yellow Ox glanced at Jiang Man and said, "But this also means your wife definitely has her methods at play within the Secret Realm. You’d better be prepared. I’m afraid your wife is about to find out you’re here."

Jiang Man was startled. "Find out I’m here? What will happen then?"

"I don’t know," the Old Yellow Ox shook its head.

Jiang Man was stunned. "Senior, do you have a way to deal with it?"

The Old Yellow Ox shook its head. "No. It’s easy to evade her methods, but evading them means her methods have failed. The result is the same.

"The official Secret Realm will most likely have more obvious methods to deduce your presence.

"Unless you get lucky, happen to dodge her methods, and also don’t activate the measures I’ve prepared for you."

Jiang Man thought for a moment and decided he should just focus on his Cultivation.

’A contest of this level was completely beyond his ability to interfere.’

’No matter how much he thought about it, the outcome wouldn’t change.’

’There was no point in wasting his Heart Spirit on it.’

’Let the Old Yellow Ox worry about it. Or maybe my luck really does reach the heavens?’

’If all else fails, I’ll have to see if there are any other escape routes.’

In the twelfth month, Jiang Man bought Nourishing Essence Pills and began to advance his Physical Body’s Cultivation.

Half a month later, his Physical Body’s third Gourd had accumulated to the Sixth Layer.

But he didn’t have much Spiritual Source left.

It definitely wouldn’t be enough for his subsequent Cultivation.