The End of the Immortal Path

Chapter 271 - 177: Young Lady, You Can Form a Marriage Alliance Now

January 3rd.

The Student Cultivators of the Sixth Courtyard were just waking up.

For some reason, they felt their Heart Spirits brimming with power, making them want to continue their Cultivation without sleep or rest.

It felt as if stopping for even a moment would be a waste of time.

Moreover, the feeling of becoming stronger was even more palpable than before.

It was enough to make them restless; they all felt that if they weren’t in a state of Cultivation, they would risk falling behind.

"We’ve been infected by the Outer Sect’s number one," An Rong said.

Cao Cheng nodded in agreement. "I’m all for pulling all-nighters to cultivate, but we don’t have to do it every waking moment, do we?"

"I’m not cultivating," Lin Qingshan announced.

Zhuo Bufan chimed in, "I’m not cultivating either. I’m going back."

Zhao Yaoyao sighed. "Then I won’t cultivate, either. I’m going back to get some rest."

One by one, they all left.

Since none of them had seen Jiang Man, it was almost certain he had succeeded.

Especially since they all felt surprisingly good.

They wouldn’t believe for a second that it had nothing to do with the missing Jiang Man.

Besides, their Cultivation had improved far too much.

It had never been like this before.

Therefore, the outcome of Jiang Man’s Core Formation was self-evident.

Most likely, they would hear good news about him as soon as they left the Sixth Courtyard.

Still, it was a shame they couldn’t personally witness his advance to the Golden Core.

’But since no one else saw it either, it wasn’t really a loss.’

’As for their claims of not cultivating... well, we’ll see who actually believed that.’

When Fang Yong woke up, he felt a wave of emotion. He had successfully mooched off the event, and his future seemed incredibly bright.

His Cultivation had advanced a great deal.

He now had a greater chance of victory in the upcoming grand competition.

With that, he left the Sixth Courtyard.

’I need to get back and continue cultivating, to solidify what I’ve recently learned and comprehended.’

Just as he stepped outside, however, he saw Wang Yan.

’I’ve been hiding here for months. It’s not surprising they found me.’

—

After enduring the last bout of agony, Cheng Yu found herself in better condition than ever before.

It wasn’t that her cultivation speed had increased, but she finally no longer had to worry about stabbing pains racking her body.

But the recovery felt a bit peculiar, which made her worry.

’It could very well be a different kind of danger.’

But she didn’t let it show, nor did she dare make any rash moves.

’I’ll have to wait a while. If nothing happens, then maybe I can relax.’

Furthermore, Fang Yong had been missing for a long time, and there had been no news of him.

Especially now that Jiang Man had successfully formed his Golden Core. If Fang Yong’s disappearance was related to that, he should have resurfaced by now.

But he hadn’t.

This made her increasingly uneasy.

Then one day, while Cheng Yu was still mired in her worries, she suddenly saw Fang Yong.

He was striding toward the shop, his face calm and unreadable.

Cheng Yu let out a breath of relief and walked over to greet him. "Young Master Fang, you were gone for so long, I thought I’d been abandoned."

Fang Yong raised an eyebrow at Cheng Yu. "You took Elixirs behind my back?"

Cheng Yu froze at his words, then quickly replied, "I paid with Spiritual Source."

"The lowest price?" Fang Yong asked.

Cheng Yu nodded, her heart pounding, but she did her best to remain calm. "I can make up the difference."

Fang Yong looked at her. "The investors backing me found out about this. They told me to handle it."

Cheng Yu’s pupils contracted. Finally, she said, "I won’t make things difficult for you, Young Master Fang."

She had prepared for the worst, but still hoped Young Master Fang might bail her out.

’No one wants to fall into the abyss.’

’She never imagined that paying the lowest price could bring such ruin.’

Fang Yong nodded. "They don’t allow you to secretly purchase Inferior Pills at rock-bottom prices."

Cheng Yu was silent.

Without any dramatic pause, Fang Yong continued, "Just buy Formed Pills from now on."

Cheng Yu, whose heart had already sunk, froze, wondering if she had heard him correctly.

"Of course, it can’t be at the lowest price; they won’t allow that either," Fang Yong reminded her. "Just add one Spiritual Source to the base price."

Cheng Yu took a moment to process this information. "Is that... allowed?" she asked.

"They only said you can’t buy Inferior Pills and you can’t pay the absolute lowest price. This doesn’t violate their rule," Fang Yong said nonchalantly.

Having explained all this, Fang Yong turned to leave.

Cheng Yu called out to him.

Fang Yong turned back.

"Young Master Fang, you seem even more... formidable now. If it causes you trouble next time, you can just abandon me," Cheng Yu said.

She paused, then continued, "And... be wary of the things I say. I’m a schemer, after all. Sometimes I say things just because I’m hoping you’ll help me."

Fang Yong was silent for a moment. "There should be an assignment to go back home this year," he said.

After saying that, Fang Yong strode away.

People from his village had been coming of age one after another.

He needed to make a trip back.

But he couldn’t just leave whenever he wanted.

Besides, the people backing him would be issuing missions.

With one of their missions, his path would be clear to do whatever he needed.

’During this time, I’ll probably run into a lot of people.’

’I need to think about how to mooch some Spiritual Source out of this.’

————

Jiang Man sat beside the Old Yellow Ox and took out an Elixir. "Old Huang, what kind of Elixir do you think this is?"

"You don’t recognize it?" the Old Yellow Ox asked.

"I’m asking you what kind of Elixir this is," Jiang Man said.

The Old Yellow Ox glanced at it. "Why don’t you just eat it and find out?"

"I don’t have a Cultivation Skill. Eating it would be a waste," Jiang Man said.

Although he could still use the Nascent Condensation Skill, it was completely insufficient now.

His physical condition was completely different now.

His power was no longer the same as before.

It was hard to use the old skill now.

It wouldn’t work as smoothly as it used to.

Unless he was powerful enough to modify the Cultivation Skill directly to suit his new physical state.

Old Huang could modify it, but Jiang Man wouldn’t dare practice the revised skill.

The moment he started practicing it, he might be caught.

"Speaking of which, I’m already at Golden Core, the Hundred Refinement Stone is gone, and the requirements for the Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart can’t be completed.

"Am I not going to face some kind of punishment?" Jiang Man asked, inspecting his body with a hint of worry.