Gao Mansion.

Gao Cunfeng looked at his son, whose dark circles were strikingly prominent, and said with a pained heart, "Why don’t we just stop this?"

At first, he thought this Cultivation Skill was good and worth a try.

After all, the person who wrote the Cultivation Skill was already second in the Six Pavilions.

But two months had made him realize one thing.

Cultivation is one thing, but teaching is another.

That person who was second in the Six Pavilions was indeed impressive.

But he really didn’t know how to teach. His method was complete chaos.

He was guiding others based on his own experience.

He never considered whether others could keep up, or that people are different from one another.

’My son is a fool, too.’

’Did that guy have such dark circles when he was cultivating? Did he get this skinny?’

’How can he cultivate himself into this state and not think there’s a problem?’

’He’s so unbelievably foolish.’

’How is he supposed to inherit the family business in the future?’

While cultivating, Xiaopang said, "Father, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Brother Jiang said that as long as I keep cultivating like this, I’ll definitely advance to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer before mid-August."

"I do have a Talent for Cultivation."

"What if I’m also a genius?"

"Just a late bloomer."

Gao Cunfeng opened his mouth, then sighed and said, "Have you ever considered... that there’s no chance of that happening?"

Xiaopang ignored him, determined to continue his Cultivation.

If he wasn’t allowed to cultivate, he wouldn’t get married.

If his father said any more, it would just mean he was afraid of Xiaopang gaining his freedom by advancing to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Gao Cunfeng was helpless in this regard.

There were many members in the Gao Family, but very few could inherit the family business.

Xiaopang was the only one.

Those who joined a Sect rarely returned. Even if they did, it was only because they urgently needed family resources to continue their Cultivation.

"What’s wrong with that young lady? She looks like she’d bear healthy children," Gao Cunfeng coaxed.

Hearing this, Xiaopang cultivated even more diligently.

With a sigh, Gao Cunfeng went to the main hall, where Elder Chen was already waiting.

"You just took a look at him?" Gao Cunfeng asked, looking at Elder Chen.

"I did. The young master’s condition is not good. We should stop him as soon as possible. The aura around him is unstable. If he forces his Cultivation, he risks a qi deviation," Elder Chen analyzed, drawing from his experience.

Xiaopang’s Spiritual Qi didn’t carry much weight, but circulating it for long periods, while physically endurable, was incredibly draining on his Spirit.

Once his Heart Spirit wavered, his Spiritual Qi would run rampant and out of control, which was extremely dangerous.

Gao Cunfeng sighed. It was a good thing for his son to be ambitious.

But he was too ambitious.

It was starting to scare him.

’If he keeps this up, he’ll ruin his body.’

’What if he becomes infertile...?’

’What am I going to do?’

"Swap them. Find a chance to swap out his Cultivation Books and burn them all." A vicious glint flashed in Gao Cunfeng’s eyes. "I can’t let this perverse nonsense continue to harm my son."

Turning to Elder Chen, he said, "I’ll have to ask for your help, Elder Chen. Please use a better Cultivation Method to soothe his body."

His body was already in need of conditioning.

He absolutely could not be allowed to act so recklessly.

All they needed was a chance to take the books away.

And destroy them.

He had been too merciful before.

He deeply regretted it now.

---

In the days that followed, everyone felt that something was different.

June 14th.

Luo Xuan and the others felt that a storm was brewing.

Especially with the rest period approaching.

The people on the third floor all seemed to be trying to win others over.

The people of the Sixth Courtyard were very curious.

Just how important was this competition?

It had made the entire Yunqian Bureau feel different.

In other news, prices had skyrocketed. An Elixir now cost 695.

It was about to break the 700 mark.

Yet people were still buying them in droves.

They were all from the various great families.

At first, it was a tactic to target the poorer cultivators.

But after that letter came out, it was no longer about targeting the poor.

Instead, it became a competition among the great families.

All for that one spot.

The poor, recruiting followers...

None of it mattered anymore.

Now, it was basically just a matter of giving someone Spiritual Source and having them become your hired muscle.

That was all it took.

"Young Master Fang, you joined in too?" Chang Qiweng asked Fang Yong in the Sixth Courtyard.

Fang Yong nodded. "I did."

"Then who are you helping, Young Master Fang?" Chang Qiweng asked.

"The Fang Family, of course," Fang Yong replied.

Hearing this, the others thought it was only natural.

’How could Young Master Fang not help the Fang Family?’

"Young Master Fang, I hear this competition is between those on the third floor. Which families are involved?" someone asked.

"The Fang Family, the Li Family, and the Cheng Family," said Fang Yong.

The others were impressed. They couldn’t get any information like that.

Luo Xuan asked curiously, "What about Jiang Man?"

Cheng Yu also smiled and said, "Young Master Fang, do you know who Jiang Man is helping?"

Fang Yong thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

The others were a little disappointed.

Fang Yong didn’t say much more.

’Things with Jiang Man are a bit complicated.’

He remembered someone from the Fang Family mentioning that Jiang Man had rejected everyone’s attempts to recruit him.

’I don’t know what he’s planning.’

Just then, Zhao Leming walked in and said, "The rest period officially begins tomorrow. You should all go back and focus on your Cultivation. Figure out what you’re good at. Those of you who need to find a path forward should do so as soon as possible."

After giving a few more instructions, Zhao Leming dismissed them.

The third competition was set to begin in a day or two. He had rejected all offers of employment on Jiang Man’s behalf.

’I don’t know why, but Jiang Man clearly has other plans.’

’But... if the three of them aren’t united, there’s nothing I can do.’

’It’s a real shame.’

「Evening.」

Jiang Man slowly opened his eyes.

Over the past few days, his Spirit had been steadily increasing.

He had advanced from the Spiritual Fourth Layer to the Fifth Layer, and then the Sixth Layer.

He had thought he could reach the Seventh Layer.

Unfortunately, he was stuck at the Sixth Layer.

’Tens of thousands of Spiritual Source and the Thirteenth Layer of the Visualization Skill, and this is all I get.’

Now, he was out of Elixirs and had three thousand Spiritual Source left.

He needed to go all out to advance to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

’I wonder if it’ll be enough.’

"Time is still too tight," Jiang Man remarked with a sigh.

A lot had actually happened during this period, but Mr. Zhao had handled it all.

The man had also kept him informed of the entire situation.

Making sure he knew just how much had been done for him. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Of course, that included Mr. Fu.

Jiang Man looked at the Old Yellow Ox beside him and said, "Old Huang, what do you think they want?"

"They want to eat beef, obviously," the Old Yellow Ox said casually.

"That’s not happening," Jiang Man said with a smile. "We’re the closest of friends."

The Old Yellow Ox shot Jiang Man a glance and went back to eating grass.

After a quick dinner, Jiang Man strode toward the guard post.

Steward Miao was quite surprised to see Jiang Man. "I heard something big happened with the competition for the Magic Skill. Are you all prepared now, coming to earn some Spiritual Source?"

Jiang Man shook his head. "How much Spiritual Source does it cost to enter the Spirit Gathering Hall?"

"One thousand," Steward Miao replied.

Jiang Man was slightly surprised. "The price hasn’t gone up?"

Steward Miao smiled. "Even if prices went up, they wouldn’t go up for you. You’re a genius who came from our Spirit Gathering Hall. At a critical time like this, we can even offer a ’buy three, get one free’ deal."

Jiang Man immediately took out three thousand Spiritual Source and said, "Then I’ll take a set."

Steward Miao was quite surprised but nodded. "Right away."

---

「The next day.」

Jiang Man walked out of the guard post. From a distance, his body seemed to carry an uncoordinated heaviness.

Not only that, but he left faint footprints on the path he walked.

It was as if his power was too heavy and overflowing.

Now, the heavy expression on Jiang Man’s face was gone.

But as soon as he returned to his residence, he saw someone waiting for him.

It was Li Yuan.