The End of the Immortal Path

Chapter 291 Inner Sect Ranking
Faced with the group's choices, the young fairy kindly reminded them, "Are you sure you want to challenge Jiang Man of Cloud Peak?"

Although she didn't know how these people made this choice.

Perhaps it was confidence, or perhaps it was the arrogance brought by the immortal sect.

Regardless, she had no reason to refuse these people's requests.

Let these people see that there are always people more capable than you.

Let's temper their arrogance.

"Yes," Shen Jinsheng said firmly.

In this way, the young fairy allowed the other party to enter the formation and be teleported into the assessment field.

The next instant, Shen Jinsheng arrived on a fighting stage.

At this moment, a figure was standing in the middle of the arena.

He was radiating golden light.

It is the True Martial Arts.

"He's actually using True Martial Arts? Could he still be at the Foundation Establishment stage?" Upon seeing the other party, Shen Jinsheng became even more certain that his choice was correct.

The assessment then began.

Without hesitation, he channeled his physical strength to attack.

However, the other party did not move, which was perfectly normal for Shen Jinsheng.

Because he excels at surprise attacks.

Just as his power was about to strike Jiang Man, Shen Jinsheng felt a surge of joy; he had won.

boom!
Just as he thought he was about to win, Jiang Man moved one of his hands.

They blocked the attack with lightning speed.

A powerful force erupted, instantly shattering Shen Jinsheng's power.

This sudden turn of events surprised Shen Jinsheng, who was unable to react for a moment.

However, in the next instant, Jiang Man moved.

He threw a punch.

In the blink of an eye, the opponent's fist filled Shen Jinsheng's entire field of vision, as if the whole world was covered by this punch.

Feeling the force of the punch, Shen Jinsheng experienced a sharp, intense pain in his body.

At that moment, he was filled with fear, knowing that he was doomed.

The next instant, Shen Jinsheng returned to the assessment room and appeared on the array.

He was somewhat dazed, but also felt a sense of relief.

"How is Brother Shen?" someone immediately asked.

Upon hearing this, Shen Jinsheng looked at the other party blankly and laughed, "Hehe, you'll understand once you try it."

As he spoke, he tried his best to step back to the side, praying in his heart that his thighs would hold on and not collapse now, that he wouldn't be the only one embarrassed, otherwise he would never be able to face anyone again.

At this point, the others gained confidence and immediately gave it a try.

Not long after, the people who went in came out again, laughing as well.

The crowd grew increasingly confident.

One after another.

The first man who failed was very curious: was Jiang Man really that easy to beat?
As the last person emerged, he was still hesitating about whether to challenge them when he suddenly saw all nine of them collapse to the ground.

It made him stop in his tracks the moment he was about to take a step.

There's something wrong with Jiang Man.

At this moment, the young fairy who was conducting the assessment shook her head slightly: "I really don't know where you got the courage to challenge the special recruitment."

Special, special recruitment?

The group exchanged glances, but ultimately said nothing, pretending the incident had never happened.

Shen Jinsheng and Shen Baimin did not leave the assessment room until their new round of assessments was over.

As soon as they came out, Shen Baimin said bitterly, "Did he remember us?"

"It's alright. Even if he can't catch up, our foundation is strong enough that we won't be too far behind. We're all Golden Core cultivators, so the difference isn't that big. We're not afraid of him," Shen Jinsheng reassured him.

At this moment, he received a letter, an envelope from the proud cousin of the Shen family.

They were curious; although they had a good relationship with their cousin, why would she send a letter on the very first day?

Upon opening the envelope, they found the following sentence written on it: Never, ever provoke a man named Jiang Man from the Misty Cloud Sect. He has mastered the Hundred Rivers Series and is invincible in the Golden Core stage!

Sister, it's too late. Everything is irreversible.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At this moment, Jiang Man had already arrived at the teaching courtyard on the Ninth Peak.

Compared to the other eight peaks, the spiritual energy here seems rather thin.

Perhaps due to poverty, everyone could only desperately absorb spiritual energy in order to catch up with some progress.

Jiang Man sighed, realizing that the outer sect members had chosen places with good night views, but he hadn't expected the inner sect members to be the same.

The inner gate is divided into three main courtyards: upper, middle, and lower. The inner gate has existed for fifty years.

For the first twenty years, he was in the Lower House, which was divided into the First Ten Houses and the Second Ten Houses.

For twenty years, the Central Court was under the jurisdiction of the Central Court, which was also divided into the first ten courts and the last ten courts.

The next ten years will be the Upper House, which will consist of only ten Upper Houses.

Unlike the outer sect, the inner sect has ten strongest academies and one weakest academy.

Jiang Man's residence is the first courtyard of the lower front yard.

Looking at the sign for the hospital, Jiang Man and the others went inside.

As soon as I entered, I felt a sense of oppression.

There were quite a few people inside at this time.

Zhuo Bufan and his group of eight were all present. Jiang Man was not very familiar with two of them, but he had seen both of them before.

They were at the very back at that moment.

In another corner were three people, led by Wei Ran.

In addition, there were two women and one man in the middle. Jiang Man did not recognize these people, but their cultivation was extremely high. He could tell that they were primordial spirits without them having to release their power.

Besides those, there are the three people at the very front.

Each one of them was arrogant and domineering.

His primordial spirit aura was constantly overflowing from his body.

One woman and two men, with the woman in the lead.

When Jiang Man and the others entered, their eyes fell directly on Ji Shoumo.

"Ji Shoumo?" The woman in the lead was quite surprised.

"Bai Qiufeng," Ji Shoumo said coldly, "what brings the Bai family's genius here?"

"If the geniuses of the Ji family can come, why can't the Bai family?" Bai Qiufeng sneered, then took a step forward.

The next moment, the immense aura belonging to the perfected primordial spirit erupted instantly, pressing down on Jiang Man and the others.

Even the mere thought of the primordial spirit can crush a Golden Core cultivator in the early stages.

Ji Shoumo snorted coldly and gripped his sword.

His thoughts were like a sword being drawn from its sheath.

It struck at Bai Qiufeng's thoughts.

boom!
An invisible impact caused the surrounding seats to vibrate.

The other two members of the Bai family immediately unleashed their power, and Ji Linglong and her companion were not to be outdone.

The six men were instantly on the verge of exchanging blows.

Any further friction and they'll start fighting.

At this moment, a young man sitting in the middle spoke up: "Well, just a friendly reminder, although the inner sect's management is a bit more lenient, it's not so lenient that people can start fighting on their very first day of admission."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over.

The other person looked to be in his early twenties and was reading a book.

An unfamiliar face.

“It’s normal that you don’t recognize me. Let me introduce myself. My surname is Ji and my given name is Ji An,” the young man replied softly.

Upon hearing this, Ji Shoumo and the others were stunned for a moment.

The next generation of young prodigies in the Ji family?

The other party rarely goes out and has seen very few people.

No one spoke; instead, they held their breath.

Seeing that they had stopped fighting, Jiang Man walked to the back.

I can't beat these people, so I can't sit in the front row.

They're always talking about the late stage of the Primordial Spirit realm or the perfect Primordial Spirit realm.

Even the most outstanding talents must avoid his sharp edge.

He is 28 years old this year and has just entered the inner sect.

He's much younger than these people.

After all, any one of these people would be over fifty years old.

Apart from Wei Ran, no one present was younger than him. Jiang Man sat down at the back, while Zhuo Bufan and the others looked somewhat bewildered.

Why do they have such strong fellow practitioners when they have just entered the inner sect?

This is not reasonable.

"I don't even dare to speak loudly anymore," An Rong said softly.

"It's alright, I don't even dare to speak," Cao Cheng added.

Zhao Yaoyao asked, "What's going on?"

Zhuo Bufan was silent for a moment before saying, "They were probably drawn here by the light of the peerless genius. They came together, which means they know each other."

Lin Qingshan whispered, "Don't you guys see the important point? Jiang Man is getting very close to that woman. He's never been this close to any other woman before."

"He's never been close to other women?" A sudden voice rang out behind them. "What was he like before?"

The group looked back and saw a young, pretty woman standing beside them, looking on with curiosity.

"My name is Xiaoqing. Can you tell me about Jiang Man's past?" Qingdai took out some tea leaves from her body and said, "Here, take these. I'm the same as you, and we'll definitely be on the same side from now on."

The people were already poor, so naturally they had no reason not to buy the tea.

“It’s on one side, it must be on one side,” An Rong said excitedly.

After breaking with their family, they lived a very miserable life.

She longed to get married and live a good life, but unfortunately, her cultivation level was too weak, preventing her from marrying a good man.

People nowadays are too materialistic. They can't see her strengths properly. They just say that many people have these strengths, but those with high moral character are truly outstanding.

She continues to improve, and by then, those with the same strengths as her will not have reached her level of cultivation.

They have the same cultivation level, but she doesn't have as many advantages.

"What is your relationship with Jiang Man?" Wei Beichuan asked.

Others were also quite curious.

“The woman next to him is my young lady. According to the Ji family, my young lady is to marry Jiang Man, so he is my son-in-law,” Qingdai said earnestly.

Son-in-law and daughter, a marriage alliance?
A series of words shocked everyone.

They then got into a discussion.

Jiang Man watched the group chatting happily and felt that they were talking badly about him.

However, as he sat down, he felt that the people in front of him were giving him vague, indifferent glances.

It seems everyone is observing him.

At that moment, two people walked in through the door: a middle-aged man and a mature-looking but somewhat haggard woman.

She looks to be in her late twenties.

Zhuo Bufan and the others looked at the newcomer with some surprise.

Isn't this Mr. Yan?
How come you look even younger?

Zhao Yaoyao said, "Perhaps it's because of his improved cultivation level, Mr. Yan seems to have reached the Golden Core stage."

Yan Yiqiu looked at the twenty-three students in the inner courtyard, her heart filled with mixed feelings.

His cultivation level, which had remained stagnant for decades, began to rise steadily over the ten years following his instruction at Jiang Man's small courtyard.

What exactly drove her to this point?
First, they had to undergo Mr. Ji's test to improve their cultivation.

Then comes the Enforcement Hall assessment, which aims to improve one's cultivation level.

Now it's time for the inner sect assessment to improve cultivation.

There's no need, really no need to waste manpower and resources.

At this moment, the middle-aged man stood at the very front and looked at everyone below, saying, "From today onwards, I will be your instructor. However, I cannot be here often. Mr. Yan will inform you of any additional matters."

"If you have any problems, you can contact her, and she will notify me."

The same applies to issues related to cultivation level.

“I will come here once a month to answer your questions.”

"Of course, I also have some places where I teach, and you can go and audit if you are interested."

"I will be the main speaker on physical cultivation."

The middle-aged man then left.

Jiang Man was somewhat surprised. Wasn't the name even mentioned?

Afterwards, Mr. Yan looked at everyone below and announced the name of the teacher who had just taught them.

Chen Yicheng.

Mr. Yan also introduced himself.

"I can't teach you anything. I'm only responsible for informing you of the inner sect rules and some important notices, and handling what I can handle as well," Yan Yiqiu said to everyone. "The inner sect is different from the outer sect in three ways: first, it involves teaching; second, it involves assessments; and third, it involves management."

Jiang Man listened quietly and quickly grasped the general idea.

The inner sect's teaching is not all held in the small courtyard, but rather students go to various places to study on their own according to their needs.

This includes cultivation methods, combat, spells, the use of spiritual energy, auxiliary cultivation and coordination, auxiliary cultivation learning, breaking formations, and various defensive techniques, etc.

Yan Yiqiu continued, "The rest is the inner sect assessment. The inner sect assessment is held once a year, once every three years, and once every ten years. Anything you need can be obtained through these assessments, competitions, and grand competitions."

"What if we want to get a promotion?" Bai Qiufeng asked.

"A quota for the Primordial Spirit?" Yan Yiqiu asked.

"Return quota." Bai Qiufeng replied.

“Yes, we also need a spot,” Ji Shoumo added.

Ji An nodded in agreement: "We're curious about these things too."

Upon hearing this, Yan Yiqiu was taken aback, feeling as if she had encountered Jiang Man in a small courtyard.

You're all about to return to the Void, what are you doing here?
For a moment, she felt mentally exhausted from being a teaching assistant.

What's the point of coming here?
Did they insult the image?
She quickly realized that she hadn't come because she wanted to, but because she was forced to.

“I haven’t heard of that before. I’ll look into it in the next couple of days and I’ll let you know the answer next time I come to the courtyard,” Mr. Yan said.

"Is the reward for the assessment or the competition a Golden Core or a Nascent Soul?" Ji Linglong asked.

“We have both, but it still depends on our strength,” Mr. Yan said.

Then she took out twenty-three beads: "These are for your assessment."

Soon, everyone had a black bead in their hand.

"Use your spiritual energy to identify it, and then use spiritual energy, magic, and other methods to make it turn white. This will be the basis for your test score, and your cultivation ranking will also be displayed through this bead." Mr. Yan said, pointing to a wall in the courtyard.

Sure enough, as one by one, spiritual energy was introduced.

The ranking of the courtyards then emerged.

First place: Ji An.

Second place: Ji Shoumo.

Third place: Bai Qiufeng.

Tenth place, Himemu.

Eleventh place, Xiaoqing.

Twelfth place, Jiang Man.

Thirteenth place, Wei Ran.

Twenty-first place: Cao Cheng.

22nd place, An Rong.

Fang Yong ranked 23rd.

An Rong was stunned. She looked at the two people in the back row in confusion: "Why are they ahead of me? Weren't they seventh or eighth in the courtyard?"

The man and woman behind them shrugged: "We've been accumulating experience for a long time. Reaching the Golden Core stage depends a bit on talent. We were poorer than you before, and we're just as poor now. It all comes down to talent."

Cao Cheng frowned: "Why am I behind them too?"

Fang Yong stared at the rankings in silence for a long time.

He came in last place.

But it's comforting to know that Jiang Man didn't even make it into the top ten.

However, excluding the eleven unknown individuals, Jiang Man is number one.

Yan Yiqiu stared at the rankings in silence for a long time; every stranger was above Jiang Man.

What kind of courtyard did she come to?
She then explained some relevant rules and quickly left.

I didn't even dare to ask if anyone had any more questions.

"Aren't you going to release the cultivation details?" a woman asked with some regret.

Ji An said, "It will be produced gradually; this bead needs some time."

Bai Qiufeng was silent for a moment before saying, "This is just a superficial ranking. It's not certain who will be number one after the actual battle."

Jiang Man ignored these people; he just wanted to go back and continue his cultivation.

This ranking is indeed a bit poor.

The most important thing right now is to break free from the destiny of being an unparalleled genius.

It has been 400 days since the requirement was set. I am 28 years old this September, and there will be a full year until my destiny catches up.

The time for your destiny will come about a month or so after next year.

Time is a bit tight.

(End of this chapter)