As he approached, Jiang Man saw a young man anxiously staring at a Spiritual Steed lying on the ground, completely at a loss.
The stables housed not only horses but also the mounts of others.
However, Jiang Man was only responsible for tending to the few horses from Cyan Cloud Pavilion.
He only occasionally helped look after the other Spiritual Steeds.
The man who had called out was a Cultivator from the same small courtyard as him. Jiang Man remembered his name was Fang Yong.
Lying at his feet was an expensive Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed.
Its entire body was date-red, and its four hooves were wreathed in cold blue flames. It was said that when it ran, it left behind fiery hoofprints, but once tamed, the flames would not burn anything.
Only the wealthy could afford such a Spiritual Steed.
At this moment, however, the Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed was lying on the ground, twitching weakly.
The cold blue flames wreathing its hooves were also gradually dimming.
It looked like the situation was not good.
When Fang Yong saw Jiang Man approaching, it was as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.
He immediately took a step back, pointed an accusing finger, and demanded, "Jiang Man, what did you do to the Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed? Why is it so weak?"
Jiang Man stood his ground, looking at the man before him with some surprise.
'Am I being framed?'
After a moment of thought, Jiang Man recalled that this Fang Yong came from a relatively wealthy family.
He often bragged about his family's status, his abundant cultivation resources, and which influential people he was friends with.
'How could he twist right and wrong like this?'
'Is he being so loud because someone is nearby?'
Sure enough, a group of four people rushed over from the distance.
The moment he saw them, Fang Yong raised his voice again. "Jiang Man, and to think I trusted you as a fellow Cultivator from our courtyard, specifically asking you to look after my Spiritual Steed.
I never expected you to harm it behind my back and leave the Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed so weak."
As his voice fell, the group of four arrived.
The leader was a tall, slender man with sharp, handsome features.
The three people with him stood at his sides, consciously a step behind.
As they drew near, Fang Yong finally turned to the leader and said, "Young Master Cheng, my apologies for this embarrassing scene. It seems my fellow disciple here caused a bit of a problem while looking after the Spiritual Steed."
Cheng Moyang looked at Jiang Man with some surprise. "My Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed... you did this to it?"
Jiang Man looked back at him and shook his head slightly. "No."
"It seems he's afraid to admit it because he can't bear the responsibility," Fang Yong immediately interjected. "He's from some remote village and can't even afford next month's cultivation fees. If he admitted it, he wouldn't be able to pay for the damages even if he sold himself."
Cheng Moyang's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at Jiang Man and smiled. "Is that so? Then let's just forget about it. Perhaps it just ate something bad. Wouldn't you agree, Young Master Fang?"
Hearing this, Fang Yong was delighted. He then turned to Jiang Man with a disappointed, chiding tone, "What are you waiting for? Thank Young Master Cheng."
"No need. Doesn't everyone fall on hard times? Since Young Master Fang was the one who rode the Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed out today, he should be responsible for taking it back," Cheng Moyang said, looking at Fang Yong.
Fang Yong nodded immediately, promising he would definitely get the Spiritual Steed back.
After that, Cheng Moyang left with his group.
He paused, as if remembering something, and asked the person beside him, "By the way, what's the date today?"
"Mid-eighth month," a short man next to him replied.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Moyang had a moment of realization. "It must be the Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed's Weakness Stage. It happens twice a year."
He paused again, then looked at Fang Yong. "Young Master Fang, didn't you say your family also has Spiritual Steeds? Have you never encountered a Weakness Stage before?"
Hearing this, Fang Yong was taken aback. "I... I must not have been around when they were weak. The servants always take care of them."
Cheng Moyang nodded. "That makes sense."
He said nothing more and led his men away.
On their way out, the short man beside Cheng Moyang asked curiously, "Young Master Cheng, why didn't you take the opportunity to make that stable hand pay compensation?"
Cheng Moyang glanced at the man and chuckled. "Didn't you hear Fang Yong? The guy can't even pay his cultivation fees. If you force someone like that to pay compensation, what if he gets desperate and does something rash?
Even if he can't do anything to us, what if he takes it out on the Spiritual Steed?
Is his life worth more than the Spiritual Steed being frightened once?"
He paused, his tone becoming calm. "He's just some country bumpkin. Out in the world, he wouldn't even count as a person.
We're too close to him here. There's no need to push him into a corner.
It would just dirty our hands.
Besides, wasn't it fun to mess with Fang Yong?
Isn't it more interesting to watch him and his courtyard-mate fight like dogs?"
The short man immediately understood. "Yes, if a move is to be made, someone else should do it. There's no reason for Young Master Cheng to be resented.
Later, we just have to tell Fang Yong that the so-called Weakness Stage was a lie, something you said to save his face.
Then, we act cold toward him and stop taking him out with us.
He'll surely blame it on that stable boy.
He'll think that if only the stable boy had taken the blame, he could have continued to hang out with us and be admired by others."
At this, the group burst into laughter.
And just like that, it became a grudge between Fang Yong and the stable boy.
They would blame each other, fighting amongst themselves.
And none of the blame would fall on them.
「Meanwhile, at the edge of the stables, Jiang Man watched Fang Yong.」
He seemed to understand something.
Fang Yong and the others were clearly not in the same league.
"You got lucky this time. If I weren't so familiar with them, you'd have been thrown out overnight," Fang Yong said.
Then he tried to figure out a way to lead the Spiritual Steed away.
Jiang Man watched him leave without saying a word.
Only after he was completely gone did a question surface in Jiang Man's mind:
"In the end, am I the fool, or is he?"
"You're both fools," the Old Yellow Ox said as it walked over. "You'd better start your Cultivation, or you'll never finish the hundred repetitions."
"You should be more worried about yourself, Senior. That Fairy's revenge could come at any moment," Jiang Man kindly reminded it.
The Old Yellow Ox didn't seem to care. Instead, it said, "The Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steed does indeed have a Weakness Stage, but someone who truly knows how to raise them would never let it enter one."
"You know how, Senior?"
"Of course."
Jiang Man was a little surprised. "How do you do it?"
"You should worry about yourself first. If you don't complete the hundred repetitions, you'll lose all your Cultivation." Having said its piece, the Old Yellow Ox turned and went back to eating grass.
Jiang Man: "..."
'I don't even have any Cultivation yet.'
'If I just don't practice Cultivation, will there be any consequences?'
But he didn't dare to try it.
After all, he still had that wisp of Cultivation Purple Qi.
'If my Fate Chart backlashes and consumes this wisp of Cultivation Purple Qi...'
'Then...'
'The loss would outweigh the gain.'
Although he didn't know what this wisp of qi was for, it was clearly something extraordinary.
Checking the time, Jiang Man headed toward the front courtyard.
That was where the instructors held their lessons.
Cyan Cloud Pavilion had three main sections—Front, Middle, and Rear Courtyards—corresponding to the first, second, and third years of study.
Jiang Man was in his third year at Cyan Cloud Pavilion, so he was currently in the Rear Courtyard.
The Rear Courtyard contained seven smaller courtyards, and Jiang Man resided in the sixth one.
His instructor was a middle-aged man named Zhao Leming.
Unfortunately, on his way to the Sixth Courtyard, Jiang Man ran into this very instructor.
The moment they met, the man said bluntly, "You have fifteen days. If you can't pay your outstanding cultivation fees, you can start packing your things early."
Jiang Man thought for a moment. Recalling the morning's events, he wondered if there might be a way to stay without paying. After a slight hesitation, he tentatively asked, "Mr. Zhao, do you happen to know about Flame-Stepping Spiritual Steeds?"
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