The End of the Immortal Path

The last day of August.

Jiang Man stood in the courtyard, having concluded his cultivation session.

"I’ve just filled the first Cultivation Gourd, but I still need to consume an Elixir to advance," Jiang Man said, finding it a pity.

He was completely out of Spiritual Source.

At that moment, Jiang Man could feel that the power contained within his Primordial Spirit had stabilized significantly.

As his Cultivation improved, the pressure from his overwhelmingly powerful Spirit was also gradually easing.

Now, the weight of his spiritual presence alone was enough to firmly suppress a typical cultivator in the Early Stage of Primordial Spirit.

Invincible within the same tier.

Of course, a true genius wasn’t just someone invincible within their tier; they also had to advance beyond that Realm quickly.

If you couldn’t leave that Realm, you couldn’t be called a genius.

"Master, when can we stop eating grass?" the Tengu asked, trotting up to Jiang Man’s side.

"Doesn’t it taste good?" Jiang Man asked.

"It’s awful," the Tengu nodded.

Jiang Man looked at the fluffy creature and decided that letting it go hungry wasn’t right.

So, he went to a flatbread shop and brought one back.

"Try this," Jiang Man said, handing the flatbread to the Tengu.

The Tengu, who had eaten nothing but Spirit Grass for half a month, quickly took a bite.

In an instant, it felt as though its entire doggy-self had ascended. "This is delicious! It’s so delicious! Master, what is this called?"

Jiang Man answered casually, "Flatbread."

"Flatbread is just too good!" the Tengu said excitedly. "It would be amazing if I could eat it every day."

Jiang Man looked at its simple, unadorned wish and thought to himself, ’That can be arranged.’

’Still,’ he thought, ’the Tengu has it pretty good. I used to eat coarse-grain buns every day.’

’The really low-quality kind, too—no different from black buns.’

Afterward, Jiang Man began to consider an important matter: moving.

Now that he was about to enter the Inner Sect, he obviously couldn’t keep living in the Outer Sect.

His current place needed to be vacated for other Outer Disciples.

’So, what were things like in the Inner Sect?’

Jiang Man asked the Old Yellow Ox.

"Why don’t you just go ask the Law Enforcement Hall?" the Old Yellow Ox replied dismissively.

Jiang Man shook his head. "I should go ask my wife."

The Old Yellow Ox looked at Jiang Man. "You’re getting less and less afraid of her."

Jiang Man smiled. "You can usually tell whether someone dislikes you or not."

With that, Jiang Man rose into the air via Sword Control. "Get ready," he called down. "We’re moving to the Inner Sect tomorrow. We need to bring everything that belongs to us."

The Inner and Outer Sects weren’t actually far from each other, and it didn’t take long to travel between them using Sword Control.

But as an Inner Sect Disciple, one was required to live in the Inner Sect.

Otherwise, things would descend into chaos.

Of course, there were bound to be exceptions.

But each had its own reasons.

Jiang Man didn’t think he counted as one of those exceptions.

Soon, he was knocking on Ji Meng’s door.

A Silver Bell chimed, and as before, it was Ji Meng who opened the door.

She looked at Jiang Man and asked curiously, "You’re entering the Inner Sect tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be preparing, Young Master Jiang?"

"My preparations are precisely why I’ve come to find you, Miss Ji Meng." Jiang Man glanced inside. "No one is preventing you from going out, are they, Miss Ji Meng?"

"Xiaoqing is making some pastries. Would Young Master Jiang like to wait a moment?" Ji Meng asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Jiang Man adopted a solemn expression. "My main concern is that you might be hungry, Miss Ji Meng. In that case, should we wait for you to eat before we go out?"

"I haven’t agreed to go out with you, Young Master Jiang," Ji Meng said, stepping aside to let him pass.

Jiang Man acted surprised. "You’re not going out, Miss Ji Meng?"

Ji Meng’s smile was as radiant as a flower. "Of course I am."

Jiang Man breathed a sigh of relief. "If I were by myself, I’d never find my new residence."

Jiang Man then explained his predicament.

He knew nothing about the Inner Sect and had no idea where to choose a place to live.

Most importantly, he didn’t know if he could still receive a stipend in the Inner Sect.

The Outer Sect stipend was six thousand a month; he really hoped the Inner Sect didn’t provide a single point of Spiritual Source.

That would be a real shame.

"I hear there’s no stipend in the Inner Sect. Looks like you’ll have to endure some hardship, Young Master Jiang," Ji Meng said with a smile, sitting on the stone table.

Jiang Man sighed. That would indeed be a hardship.

Six thousand a month hadn’t seemed like much when he had it, but the thought of losing it made the number feel enormous.

Especially now, when he was completely broke.

While they waited for the pastries, Jiang Man took out his Array Books and began asking Ji Meng questions.

"In such a rush?" Ji Meng asked with a smile.

"I can’t waste time," Jiang Man said seriously. "Entering the Inner Sect means facing new competition. Every second wasted is a second I fall behind the others."

"Immortal Cultivation requires a tranquil Heart Spirit. Won’t pushing yourself so hard have side effects?" Ji Meng asked.

Jiang Man thought for a moment before replying, "Every moment, I’m drawing closer to a powerful enemy. Every moment, I’m surpassing those around me. What could possibly go wrong with my Heart Spirit?"

Ji Meng rested her chin on one hand. After careful consideration, she looked at Jiang Man and asked, "Won’t you get arrogant?"

Jiang Man watched the thoughtful Ji Meng for a moment before snapping out of it and nodding emphatically. "Oh yeah, that definitely happens."

He got arrogant all the time.

’It couldn’t be helped. His progress was too fast, and his power was too great.’

’You couldn’t blame him for getting cocky.’

It was just the high-spiritedness of youth, and he never considered it a problem.

It wasn’t as if he was so full of himself that he thought he could run off and confront the Bai Family Ancestor head-on.

"Young Master, Miss, the pastries are here," Qing Dai said, bringing over the sweets.

Jiang Man’s gaze immediately fell on the pastries; they were all kinds he had never seen before.

’Qing Dai is so talented.’

’If only Old Huang were this skilled.’

After trying one, Jiang Man felt it was infinitely more delicious than the flatbread.

After they had eaten for a while and Qing Dai had poured their tea, Ji Meng stood up and announced she was ready to go out with Jiang Man.

She even had the remaining pastries packed for Jiang Man to take with him.

The two of them then quickly departed.

Qing Dai looked at the teapot in her hand, sighing with emotion.

"Profound Wisdom is truly extraordinary."

She then began to clean up, grabbing a packet of tea leaves to bring on her way to find Profound Wisdom.

—

"Let’s go check out the Inner Sect first," Ji Meng said from her spot on Jiang Man’s Flying Sword.