The End of the Immortal Path

For cultivating through the night, Jiang Man was summoned to the residence of an Outer Sect Steward.

"You’ve just arrived, so you might not be aware, but the Sect forbids cultivating at night," the middle-aged Steward Hu advised good-naturedly. "If you’re reported, it’ll cause you a lot of trouble. The first time, you just have to deal with me. The second time, it might be the Criminal Law Hall.

"Once you go in there, you won’t get out without spending some Spirit Stones."

’Can’t get out?’ Jiang Man thought that as long as it was quiet, staying inside wouldn’t be impossible.

But he quickly dismissed the thought, because Steward Hu sighed as he mentioned the Criminal Law Hall. "After you go in, they’ll torture you and force you to do all sorts of things. No one who comes out of there looks human anymore."

The woman beside him chimed in with her own advice. "You just joined the Sect, so it’s not too late. As long as you don’t cultivate at night, you won’t have any problems."

Jiang Man looked at them curiously and asked, "Why can’t we cultivate at night?"

’The Yunqian Bureau doesn’t forbid it, and neither does the Outer Sect.’

’Logically, Ancient Cultivators were known for cultivating through the night. Why are people forbidden from doing so now?’

’Is it to stop other Sect disciples from progressing too quickly?’

Jiang Man was perplexed.

"Because it damages the Heart Spirit," said Steward Hu.

Jiang Man fell silent.

’Damages the Heart Spirit?’

"Does it really damage the Heart Spirit?" Jiang Man asked.

"Yes. Over three hundred years ago, a world-shaking war took place. Ever since then, cultivating through the night has damaged the Heart Spirit. This knowledge was passed down from our ancestors; there’s no mistake.

"Some people refused to believe it, and they ended up losing all hope of advancing," Steward Hu said gravely.

"That’s right. Resting at night is the first lesson you learn upon joining the Sect," the woman beside him added.

Jiang Man didn’t ask any more questions. It seemed they only knew that this had been the rule for over three hundred years, without understanding the specific reason why.

He didn’t know either.

But he wasn’t worried about such things, so he never paid them any mind.

’At Wuyun Sect, the most they did was go after Mr. Yan for his illegal teaching; they never targeted the Student Cultivators themselves.’

’But here, they directly target the Sect Disciples.’

’Completely forbidding anyone from staying up late.’

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Man took out two hundred Spiritual Sources and placed them on the table.

Both of them were taken aback when they saw the Spiritual Sources.

But they quickly accepted them, each taking a hundred.

"Junior Brother, what’s all this? You’re treating us like strangers," Steward Hu said with a smile.

Jiang Man felt a great sense of relief seeing them accept the Spiritual Sources.

’If they’re willing to take the Spiritual Sources, that means there’s some flexibility in the matter.’

’And these two were different from the people in his courtyard.’

’With the three undercover agents in his courtyard, he was in a standoff, betting they wouldn’t dare to make a move against him.’

’This Steward Hu, on the other hand, had nothing to worry about.’

’If any problems arose, he could just pass the buck to the Criminal Law Hall.’

’He was the one who would ultimately be in trouble.’

Jiang Man said softly, "Steward Hu, I’m someone who loves nothing more than Cultivation. If I don’t cultivate at night, I feel like I’m wasting time. I get restless all over.

"Is there any way for me to cultivate at night as well?"

"Look, I’m really not kidding. If you cultivate at night, reaching Foundation Establishment will become incredibly difficult. You might lose any chance of ever achieving it," Steward Hu tried to persuade him one more time.

Jiang Man was silent for a moment. Then, in a heavy voice, he asked, "Steward Hu, tell me the truth. Does someone like me even have a chance at Foundation Establishment?"

At his words, the two of them were stunned.

’A chance at Foundation Establishment?’

’To put it bluntly, you could count on one hand the number of people in this new batch of disciples who had a chance at Foundation Establishment.’

’And for a Loose Cultivator like Jiang Man—someone who had fled from the Evil Dao—achieving Foundation Establishment was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.’

’If he had what it took to reach Foundation Establishment, why would he have fled from that side in the first place?’

Steward Hu sighed. "So you want to cultivate to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer as quickly as possible?"

"Yes. That might be my limit. This way, I can complete more tasks, accumulate enough resources, and maybe... give it another shot in the future," Jiang Man said.

Faced with this reasoning, Steward Hu found he couldn’t argue any further.

It was a viable path, after all.

Besides, reaching the Qi Refining Ninth Layer would allow him to secure a decent post within the Sect.

All things considered, that was enough.

Foundation Establishment was just too difficult.

"In that case, we won’t try to dissuade you any further. Technically, cultivating at night is still forbidden, but seeing as you’re mentally prepared for the consequences, it won’t be a huge problem as long as you aren’t seen," Steward Hu said after a moment of thought. "Your best bet is to accept a task from the Sect—something like researching and interpreting Cultivation Skills."

"The Sect wants more people to interpret the Cultivation Skills to achieve a better understanding of them."

"After all, it takes someone at the Qi Refining layer to research Qi Refining skills to understand where the difficulties truly lie."

"By pooling everyone’s wisdom, we can help everyone find a path forward."

"Of course, this work isn’t uncompensated."

"As long as your interpretations provide new insights, you’ll be rewarded with ample resources."

"So where can I accept such a task?" Jiang Man asked curiously.

The woman beside him said with a knowing smile, "You can accept one right here from Steward Hu."

Jiang Man immediately turned to look at him.

Having accepted the Spiritual Source, Steward Hu was not stingy. He directly produced three books and said, "These are the three Sect Cultivation Skills. Take a good look and see if you can offer any new interpretations."

"There’s a review about every three months, and you must submit your findings. It’s fine if the content is nothing special; just go through the motions."

Curious, Jiang Man looked at the titles of the Cultivation Skills.

Lingyue Qi Refining Method, Lingyue Body Refining Technique, and Lingyue Observation Method.

’Three skills again?’

As Jiang Man flipped through them, his frown deepened.

’Isn’t this just the Simple Skill?’

’The old version of the Simple Skill, at that.’

’It was far inferior to the three manuals he had given that child.’

’Especially since the kid’s Visualization Skill had been a beta version.’

’But he was perplexed. Why would esteemed Ancient Cultivators practice the Simple Skill?’

’If everyone is practicing the Simple Skill, why even bother checking for Spirit Roots?’

’Under the great governance of the Immortal Sects, the Simple Skill was promoted so that everyone could pursue Immortal Cultivation, so that everyone could reach the Entry Level.’

’Given enough time, even those with the least talent could reach the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining.’