The End of the Immortal Path

’I don’t know if it’s safe to go over there.’

Jiang Man hesitated for a moment, then gave up on the idea.

’I should cultivate first.’

’I’ll deal with it later.’

For two days, Jiang Man cultivated in his dreams.

His progress was no slower than cultivating in the outside world.

But he couldn’t stay in there for long, as the statue’s energy was insufficient.

Fortunately, after two days had passed, he could resume his all-night cultivation.

The sign he had prepared could now be hung up.

On this day,

the Seven-Colored Bird arrived.

It was Miss Ji Meng’s reply.

Jiang Man rubbed his hands together and slowly opened the envelope. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the letter filled an entire page.

A long letter meant it would be an interesting read.

He then looked at the beginning.

"I have received Young Master Jiang’s letter. I was thinking that your handwriting seems a bit rushed, the strokes quicker than before. Were you in a hurry to get back to your Cultivation?"

Jiang Man was quite surprised. ’Was I really in that much of a hurry?’

’I was, in fact, eager to cultivate.’

’Miss Ji Meng really reads my letters carefully.’

Next, Jiang Man saw that Ji Meng had mentioned cultivating at the age of sixteen.

She explained that Spirit Root cultivation was the method of Ancient Cultivators. The main reason was to utilize their Innate Qi. When young, one’s Innate Qi is still present, allowing them to communicate with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and better advance their Cultivation.

However, after the great reforms of the Immortal Sects, this method was no longer suitable. A younger body has not yet fully developed; one’s Talent, bones, and Spirit have not reached their most solid state. Starting Cultivation early would place a huge burden on the body.

A Spirit Root could support the Ancient Skill, but it came at the cost of a certain degree of strength and made subsequent breakthroughs less convenient, making the path ahead more difficult.

For instance, one would be more susceptible to Heart Demons, and later on, lacking Innate Qi, their progress would also slow down.

Therefore, based on the research of the Immortal Sects, starting Cultivation at sixteen is the most compatible with the Simple Skill.

Moreover, progress would be very fast, far surpassing that of an ordinary Ancient Cultivator.

For someone with the same average talent, even if they started cultivating the Ancient Skill earlier, their progress with the same amount of resources would still be slower than with the Simple Skill.

For a prodigy of the same caliber, the Ancient Skill might be faster in the early stages. However, later on, the Simple Skill provides a deeper foundation and a smoother future path, eventually surpassing the Ancient Skill in both speed and strength.

For an Unparalleled Celestial Pride, comparing the speeds of the two methods is difficult, but the Simple Skill’s more stable foundation makes it the unequivocal choice.

As for all-night cultivation, Ji Meng wrote that it was likely due to the Evil God. When the Evil God was defeated, it left a lasting influence on the world.

It’s like a well that can easily lock one’s Heart Spirit.

Under the new order of the Immortal Sects, this influence has been weakened infinitely, but it still exists within the Outer Sect and Inner Sect.

Outside, where the Immortal Sects’ new order has no influence, this situation would be even more severe.

Jiang Man noticed that Ji Meng didn’t seem to fully understand this phenomenon, likely because the problem was too low-level for her.

After all, it only existed in the Inner and Outer Sects.

At the end of the letter, she mentioned Qing Dai, saying she had stolen her tea leaves again, and this time, it seemed she’d fed them to a cow.

She also stated that the tea leaves were a gift from Ji Hao, who wanted her to maintain a good correspondence with Jiang Man.

That was the general content of the letter.

Jiang Man was rather amazed. ’So Qing Dai steals tea leaves?’

’But the cow she fed... it couldn’t be my Old Huang, could it?’

’Does he get to eat so well the moment I leave home?’

This made Jiang Man feel even worse about his own suffering out in the world.

Nevertheless, he took out a piece of paper and wrote a reply.

"Miss Ji Meng, when I see something nice, I’ll save it and send it back to you."

"After I finish this letter, I have to go cultivate again."

After that, Jiang Man wrote about the matter of the Evil God’s Envoy.

This was something Ji Hao needed to be notified about, so he could help report it.

Otherwise, something terrible could happen.

After finishing the letter, Jiang Man handed the envelope to the Seven-Colored Bird.

"Xiaocai, when you get back, please give my regards to Miss Ji Meng. Tell her that her eyes are very beautiful, as if they can speak."

Jiang Man mulled it over. ’When they’re cold, they make people want to hide away.’

’But now, with their innocent liveliness, they make one unconsciously lower their guard.’

The Seven-Colored Bird blinked and then flew away.

「The next day.」

The Seven-Colored Bird landed on Ji Meng’s desk.

"A reply so soon?" Ji Meng was a little surprised.

She then took out the envelope, but the Seven-Colored Bird didn’t leave.

Ji Meng asked curiously, "Is there something else?"

The Seven-Colored Bird opened its beak, its voice somewhat childish. "He asked me to give his regards to you, Miss. And to tell you that your eyes are very beautiful, as if they can speak.

"I think he mistook me for an ordinary messenger bird."

————

In the time that followed, Jiang Man didn’t encounter any more problems.

「Five days later.」

After digesting five Glazed Pills, his Flesh Body Gourd was forty percent full.

There was no trouble from the outside.

「Fifteen days later.」

After digesting ten Glazed Pills, his Flesh Body Gourd reached sixty percent.

「Thirty days later.」

「Early March.」

The Flesh Body Gourd was now ninety percent full.

He had consumed thirty Elixirs in total.

「March 7th.」

The Flesh Body Gourd was completely full.

Without hesitation, Jiang Man chose to break through.

’I should be able to break through in about fifteen days.’

’Just in time to go replace the Array Stones.’

Jiang Man had no idea how their mission was progressing.

’I hope it’s going smoothly.’

’Otherwise, once my resources run out, I won’t be able to keep improving.’

’The resources of the entire Sect are probably less than that of a single Cloud Mist Peak.’

’Looking at it this way, it’s no exaggeration to call Ancient Cultivators Ascetic Cultivators.’

---

Outside the room,

the three returned to the courtyard once again.

They discovered that Jiang Man was still inside cultivating.

"He really doesn’t know what’s good for him. Does he actually expect a good outcome from this kind of hard cultivation?" the delicate-featured man said with a dry laugh. "Once his Heart Spirit is damaged, he’ll have no future to speak of. It’ll be too late for regrets then."

"Then why did you report him?" the woman asked.

The delicate-featured man shrugged. "Because I don’t think he has much of a future anyway, but I also don’t want him to use his all-night cultivation to reach the Qi Refining Ninth Layer too quickly."

"Let’s first figure out what to do now," the stout man said, looking at the other two. "We need four people to enter, and someone has to pull out midway. We can’t be sure if it’s safe. Where are we going to find someone like that?"

Hearing this, the delicate-featured man glanced toward Jiang Man’s room. "What do you two think? Would he do?"