The End of the Immortal Path

It was as good as an Elixir.

This was a huge gain.

Once Ji Meng had finished eating, Jiang Man took out two boxes and said, "These are both gifts for you, Miss Ji Meng."

Ji Meng was both surprised and curious.

’Judging by the boxes, they must be swords.’

’A Spirit Sword?’

’That wouldn’t be bad. I could use it as a ceremonial sword.’

’But they’re very expensive. It doesn’t seem like the kind of gift Jiang Man could afford to give.’

Jiang Man had bought the boxes on his way back. He looked at the woman before him and opened the first one.

An Iron Sword met her eyes.

Ji Meng, who had been feeling a bit of anticipation, froze the moment she saw the sword.

She sat perfectly still, staring at the familiar Iron Sword.

Only after a long moment did she look up at Jiang Man.

"I had a feeling it was fated to be with you, Miss Ji Meng, so I brought it back," Jiang Man explained.

Ji Meng didn’t reply. Instead, she looked at the second box. "And this one?"

At her words, Jiang Man opened the box.

The moment she saw the Broken Sword, Ji Meng’s hands clenched involuntarily.

But her expression remained unchanged.

She simply stared at Jiang Man, her gaze placid.

A long time passed.

Qing Dai returned from outside.

Upon entering the courtyard, she saw her mistress sitting ramrod straight on a stone chair, two boxes resting on the table.

Jiang Man was nowhere to be seen.

"Miss, what are these?" Qing Dai asked, curious.

She could tell something was off about her mistress’s expression.

"Gifts from Jiang Man," Ji Meng said softly.

Qing Dai drew closer, her curiosity piqued. "Master Jiang was here?"

"Yes," Ji Meng nodded.

Qing Dai found it even stranger. "What did Master Jiang bring you?"

Ji Meng raised an eyebrow slightly at Qing Dai. "Open them and see for yourself."

’The Miss agreed? That makes this even stranger.’

’Did Master Jiang give her the wrong gift? Is that why she’s upset?’ Qing Dai thought.

She then opened the two boxes.

Her pupils contracted the moment she saw the Broken Sword.

***

「Cloud Mist Peak.」

When Jiang Man returned, he was holding a small box.

The first thing he saw upon his return was the Old Yellow Ox munching on grass.

A letter was lying next to it.

This piqued Jiang Man’s curiosity. ’Another letter.’

’I wonder who left it.’

He soon discovered it was from Chang Qiweng again.

He had left in December, nine months ago.

The rent, due every three months, had been paid at least three times. It was due again this month.

Chang Qiweng had fronted another eighteen thousand for him. However, three thousand of that was for Xiaopang, three thousand for Song Qing, three thousand for Luo Xuan, and three thousand for Cheng Yu.

"Everyone’s pitched in except Fang Yong," Jiang Man mused.

’Then again, Fang Yong probably doesn’t have enough Spiritual Source.’

After all, he was trying to break through to the Golden Core realm.

Even with a backer, Spiritual Source would be tight.

At a normal promotion speed, Fang Yong would soon reach the Fourth Courtyard. His strength was most likely around the Foundation Establishment Perfection realm.

After all, he was qualified to compete for the Secret Skill.

You couldn’t do that without reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection.

In his small courtyard, the top ten or so members had all reached Foundation Establishment Perfection. This September, they would enter the Third Courtyard. Before long, all of them would reach the Perfection stage and begin to refine their cultivation.

From the Second Courtyard onward, there was basically no such thing as being in the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

In the First, Second, and Third Courtyards, the vast majority of cultivators were focused on merging their powers to better align themselves with the Promotion Skill.

Jiang Man reflected on how quickly time had passed.

He had been in the Sect for six years without even realizing it.

His ten years in the Outer Sect were almost over. The people from his courtyard back at the Yunqian Bureau had all more or less found their paths in life.

"Old Huang, I ran into a lot of things on my trip," Jiang Man said, pointing to the box. "Guess what this is?"

"What is it?" Old Huang asked without looking up.

Jiang Man didn’t mind his indifference and simply said with a smile, "A gift from my wife. Old Huang, in all your long years, have you ever received a gift like this?"

After he gave Ji Meng her gifts, she had been very surprised. Then she had carefully taken out this box and said it was a gift for him.

Jiang Man hadn’t opened it right away, choosing to bring it back to examine.

It was the first time he had received such a formal gift, so it was impossible not to feel a little excited.

Old Huang continued to munch his grass silently, with no intention of looking up.

Jiang Man grew more animated. "Aren’t you curious, Old Huang? I gave her a gift, too. Do you know what it was?"

"You don’t need to tell me about you and your wife exchanging gifts," Old Huang said.

Jiang Man continued as if talking to himself, "I gave my wife her father’s last possessions."

Hearing this, Old Huang stopped chewing his grass and raised his head slightly to look at Jiang Man.

"Curious now?" Jiang Man said with a grin. "It was a stroke of luck, really. My father-in-law’s belongings don’t seem to be what they appear."

With that, Jiang Man gave Old Huang a rough account of what had happened at the Lingyue Sect. He also took out the Storage Treasure that he couldn’t open.

He also told him about the Evil God’s Technique he had learned from Ting Fengyin.

"His last possessions? Sword Intent? The Evil God’s Technique? Becoming the Evil God’s Spokesman?" A look of astonishment appeared in Old Huang’s eyes. He hadn’t expected Jiang Man to go through so much in just a few short months.

Jiang Man nodded. "I also managed to advance my Physical Body to the Mid-stage and finish studying the Thirty-Six Array Patterns of the Hall."

"I also completed my undercover mission and brought someone back."

Old Huang was silent for a long time before asking, "And what was *her* evaluation of you?"

Jiang Man paused for a moment. "She said that even an Unparalleled Celestial Pride didn’t have my kind of skills."

The skill to deal with the kind of situations I get into.

That’s truly what Ting Fengyin said.

’As for her saying my Cultivation was too slow... that was a biased opinion, no need to tell Old Huang about it.’

It took the Old Yellow Ox a long moment to process everything Jiang Man had told him. The gifts had been delivered, and the Evil God’s Technique was the perfect counter to the Evil God’s Spokesman.

The only thing left to deal with now was the unopenable Storage Treasure.

"Exactly," Jiang Man said, holding out the Storage Treasure. "This is it. But first, you have to help me check the Evil God’s Technique for any hidden dangers."