Jiang Man had no idea what his wife's name was.
He was even more in the dark about her strength, methods, and identity.
All he knew was that she was anything but simple.
The Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart alone was bizarre enough.
He had never heard of anyone gaining such a thing just by performing a marriage ceremony.
Now, the Old Yellow Ox was saying her power was making its move.
Although it wasn't as bad as her showing up in person, it was still cause for concern.
After all, in this whole affair, she was the victim in name, while he and the Old Yellow Ox were the vicious Evil Demons.
And though he was also a victim, she wouldn't see it that way.
Once her power came for them, their chances of survival would be slim.
"Her power is here. Does that mean our location is about to be exposed?" Jiang Man asked immediately.
The Old Yellow Ox shook its head. "She won't be able to find us just yet. Even if she's powerful enough, she can't possibly locate us this quickly."
"It's just... I made a move against her back then. Now, she's tracing that original move to exert her influence on me."
Jiang Man observed the Old Yellow Ox.
He noticed something on its body flickering in and out of sight.
"Is this her power?" Jiang Man asked.
"This is the price for getting you a wife," the Old Yellow Ox corrected.
Jiang Man froze, then retorted, "Senior, I'm the one saddled with an Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart! I got the worst of this deal. I could die at any moment. You can't pin your injuries on me."
'From this marriage ceremony, all she got was a husband in name; her innocence is still intact.'
'Not only did I gain a wife in name, but I also got a lethal Fate Chart.'
'I'm the most miserable one of all.'
'He wasn't about to take the fall for the Old Yellow Ox.'
"She's trying to find her way here through me," the Old Yellow Ox said calmly, glancing at Jiang Man.
Jiang Man fell silent for a moment. "What should I do?"
"Use your Spiritual Qi to resonate with the things on my body," the Old Yellow Ox explained. "Her power has traveled a great distance."
Even in my weakened state, I can still resist it.
We're at a stalemate right now.
"But to resolve this, I need you to resonate with it and then draw it out."
Jiang Man didn't doubt the ox. After all, the man and the beast were in the same boat.
He then placed his hand on the Old Yellow Ox's head and began using his Spiritual Qi to connect with the flickering lights.
The sheer density of his Spiritual Qi, a result of his rapid advancement, made his body quite uncomfortable.
So, he circulated it with extreme care.
Soon, he perceived the flickering lights.
'It really does have a destructive aura. It would be extremely dangerous if it stayed inside the Old Yellow Ox.'
Immediately, Jiang Man linked them together and began to draw them out of the ox's body, bit by bit.
Finally, all the flickering lights gathered in his palm, coalescing into a ball of light.
Jiang Man was astonished. 'What is this thing?'
But before he could do anything, the ball of light began to expand, and a voice entered his mind: "My dear husband, the Magpie Bridge is about to open. I'm going to find you soon. What kind of funeral would you like?"
Jiang Man lowered his gaze, his heart pounding with panic.
"What's wrong?" the Old Yellow Ox asked, sighing in relief.
Jiang Man relayed the message truthfully, then asked, "Didn't you say the Magpie Bridge only opens once a year? Why is it suddenly opening now?"
The Old Yellow Ox fell silent for a moment before saying, "She's bluffing. Pay it no mind."
Jiang Man wasn't sure who was telling the truth, but he asked out of curiosity, "Senior, are you not her match?"
"It's hard to say. If I were in peak condition and launched a sneak attack, I'd have a fighting chance." The Old Yellow Ox considered this for a moment before adding, "But she's probably searching for my true name. If she finds it, we'll be in even greater danger."
"Then what do we do?" Jiang Man asked.
"You're a toad who's already tasted swan meat, what else can you do?" the Old Yellow Ox said coldly. "You should be more concerned with whether you can even survive the next hundred days."
Jiang Man sighed. 'I didn't actually get to eat any of the meat, though.'
'But there really was no point in dwelling on it.'
'Because as he was now, there was nothing he could do.'
"By the way, if you manage to survive all this and join a Sect, remember to take me with you," the Old Yellow Ox said.
It then explained its reasoning.
It said that if the Fairy could strike once, she could strike a second time.
If Jiang Man hadn't helped draw out those balls of light, the ox would have been in peril.
Jiang Man thought he could use this as leverage.
However, the Old Yellow Ox added that if he hadn't drawn the power out, not only would it have been injured, but their location might also have been exposed.
Neither of them would have escaped.
With that, Jiang Man agreed.
'Still, he had at least gained some initiative in their relationship.'
"Brother Niu, you can count on me from now on," Jiang Man said earnestly.
The Old Yellow Ox glanced at Jiang Man, seemingly not noticing the downgrade from "Senior" to "Brother Niu."
「The next day.」
Jiang Man arrived at the Sixth Courtyard early in the morning.
Today was the day the scores and rankings were to be updated.
'He was also curious about how many points he would get.'
'He had his own guess, but if his true progress with the Qi Refining Skill was somehow discovered, his score might be a point or two higher.'
'Then there was the ranking.'
'At the Qi Refining Third Layer, his rank wouldn't be very high; after all, he was two years behind the others.'
'But watching his rank climb...'
'...was something he was still looking forward to.'
He wasn't the only one concerned with ranks and scores.
Everyone was.
Practically all the Cultivators from the Cyan Cloud Pavilion's rear courtyards had gathered.
"Xiaojiang, you're here?" Xiaopang greeted him with a smile.
He was as confident and excited as ever.
"Have you estimated your score?" Jiang Man asked curiously.
"Of course." Xiaopang nodded earnestly, a grin spreading across his face. "My score is at a height you can only look up to. But that's just a minor detail, no need for us to get hung up on it."
"Let's see what the top four scored instead."
Jiang Man smiled and nodded.
Xiaopang never asked what score Jiang Man had estimated, and Jiang Man was in no hurry to say.
'Once the rankings were released...'
'...Xiaopang would surely come asking.'
Soon, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Zhao Leming entered.
Just as he had the first time, he carried a stack of papers.
They contained the information for everyone in the Sixth Courtyard.
Scores, rankings, and comments were all listed.
Even their Cultivation and Cultivation Level were recorded.
The Sixth Courtyard fell completely silent as everyone stared at Zhao Leming at the front of the room.
In the past month, they had all made progress.
They were all eager to see their progress quantified.
Zhao Leming was somewhat surprised. Part of the scores was determined by the books themselves, while the other part was graded by the instructors.
But there should never have been a large discrepancy between the two.
So when he saw Jiang Man's score, he was utterly astonished.
'The suspicion in his heart felt more and more true.'
'He was also thankful he hadn't taken any further action against him.'
'Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.'
He then proceeded to hand out the papers.
They were distributed according to the previous rankings.
Soon, everyone had received their sheet.
Only then did Zhao Leming speak. "At noon, the Cyan Cloud Pavilion will post the rankings in each courtyard. The overall top fifty rankings for the rear courtyards will also be announced."
Hearing this, everyone grew even more expectant.
Those with high ranks were especially eager to see if they could break into the courtyard's top ten, or even the Cyan Cloud Pavilion's overall top fifty.
Just then, Xiaopang leaned over and nudged Jiang Man. "Xiaojiang, what's your score? Let me see."
Jiang Man snapped back to reality. 'At his current level, he couldn't make it onto the overall rankings, so there was no need to pay them too much mind.'
'Right now, he should just compare himself to Xiaopang.'
He said with a smile, "I haven't looked yet. How about you?"
Xiaopang played along. "I haven't looked either. How about we trade and see? Want to get a taste of what a high score feels like?"
"Sure," Jiang Man readily agreed.
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