The protective array closed around their room in the Three Boars inn, and Jiang Yue sighed in relief before he began to speak.
"Should we leave Fengying city?" He asked, but without waiting for an answer, he continued.
"We have already bought cultivation concealing talismans, and we should be able to avoid attention if we go to another city."
Yu Nianzhen was conflicted when he heard Jiang Yue's suggestion, but his expression soon cleared, and he sighed in resignation.
"Ideally, that would be the best option, but if we leave now, we won't make it to another big city until three months later."
Yu Nianzhen didn't need to explain because Jiang Yue already understood the implication of his words.
There were only two months left before the recruitment of the Sea Cloud Sect. Even though they didn't want to join, it would be too late to change their mind if they missed the recruitment while travelling to another city.
"We can consider other sects."
"If we must join a sect, it should at least be one of the sixteen regional rulers. If we miss the recruitment this time, we will need to wait for the next one in three years or travel to another region."
Jiang Yue frowned when he heard that, and he flopped on the bed in depression.
From what they had learned, each region of the Cangxing world was several times larger than modern earth. Travelling from the Sea Cloud region to one of the neighbouring regions would take several years by cart, and that's assuming that they didn't encounter any incidents along the way.
If that was the case, it made better sense to wait for the next recruitment of the Sea Cloud sect than to travel to other regions.
"Seems like our only option is to remain in Fengying city." Jiang Yue intoned.
Yu Nianzhen wasn't enthusiastic about it either, but it was their only option.
"We will avoid Wang Hui as much as possible and if we can't, we will leave Fengying city irrespective of the Sea Cloud sect's recruitment."
In his previous life, the Yu family could cover the sky with one hand and Yu Nianzhen never had to run away or be cautious of anything. However, his reality in the Cangxing world had become the polar opposite and not only had he had to escape from Han city, he now had to escape if something unexpected happened in Fengying city.
Yu Nianzhen hated this new reality, but he understood that being alive and free was the most important. Still, he clenched his hands and promised himself that this situation would only last for a while.
In the future, he would have the strength to walk from South to North and East to West and no one would have the power to make him stay or leave if he didn't wish it.
"Do you think those people from Han city are still looking for us?" Jiang Yue suddenly asked.
"Fengying city is not that far from Han city, we still need to be vigilant." Yu Nianzhen answered.
It was almost six months since they left Han city and, in that time, they hadn't encountered any pursuers. It was tempting to believe that they were home free, but Fengying city wasn't too far from Han city and there was always a chance that they would encounter Lady Chu or other origin forging realm cultivators from the Pleasure Palace brothel.
Although Yu Nianzhen had the confidence to defeat or escape from a peak level meridian awakening realm cultivator, he couldn't guarantee that he would not die if he was pursued by an origin forging realm cultivator.
The difference between a high-level meridian awakening realm cultivator and a peak level meridian awakening realm cultivator was in force value, but there was a qualitative difference between a meridian awakening realm cultivator and an origin forging realm cultivator.
When one broke through to the origin forging realm, it didn't just mean an increase in force value, but a qualitative improvement of all attributes including speed, qi quality, and qi quantity.
As he thought of everything that they were facing, Yu Nianzhen was filled with a sense of urgency and he couldn't sit still.
"I want to try the stone milk." He said.
He felt like he had been injected with chicken blood and no longer wanted to waste time with trivial matters. If he had the time to worry, then he had the time to increase his strength.
Soon after, two wooden bathtubs were filled with water, and Yu Nianzhen removed the bottle of stone milk that he had been carrying on his person.
He carefully dropped a drop of stone milk in each bathtub and then placed the bottle on a stone table between the tubs so that they could easily reach it whenever they needed to add more.
"Let's try the effect of a drop first." He said as he began to remove his clothes.
"I can't wait." Jiang Yue also began to undress and this time, neither of the boys was in the mood for shyness and soon enough, they had both submerged into their respective tubs.
"Argh." Jiang Yue screamed as soon as his body touched the milk-coloured water and for a moment, he had the urge to jump out of the tub.
He didn't know what he had expected, but Jiang Yue clearly didn't expect every nerve in his body to light up in pain as soon as he got into the stone milk water.
At first, it felt like thousands of ants were gnawing at his body but after several minutes in the water, that sensation morphed. Jiang Yue felt as if someone was simultaneously drilling steel needles into all his pores, and he clenched his jaw to force down the scream that was stuck in his throat.
It was uncomfortable and painful, but eventually, Jiang Yue gritted his teeth and sat close legged at the bottom of the tub to cultivate.
As soon as he closed his eyes, his consciousness spread all over his body, and he saw that smoke-like white threads of stone milk were rapidly forming in the water. When they grew to a certain length, they would drill into his body through his pores which was the cause of the needle-like sensation.
Although Jiang Yue's body could easily absorb the stone milk, it couldn't easily refine it and the stone milk was quickly accumulating in his cells causing his body to feel heavy and sluggish.
Jiang Yue took a deep breath and when his mind cleared, he forgot the world around him and began to refine the stone milk.
Time passed in this way and when he opened his eyes again, a week had already passed.
'Disgusting.' Jiang Yue thought as soon as he opened his eyes.
The water in the bathtub had turned from white to a black sludge and smelly black filth covered his body from head to toe.
However, he didn't dwell on that because he could already feel the changes in his body, "I didn't expect stone milk to be this amazing."
At the peak of the seventh level of the meridian awakening realm, Jiang Yue had a force value of close to seven thousand kilogrammes.
Before refining the stone milk, he could only exert about half of his maximum force value in a single attack, but he now felt that he could exert more of it without causing damage to his meridians.
Although Jiang Yue couldn't be sure until he actually tried it, he had a feeling that his current body could handle about two-thirds of his maximum force value without causing any discomfort.
This, however, was not the only benefit of refining the stone milk. His meridians had become wider and sturdier which would be very beneficial when practising martial arts in the future.
However, the most surprising effect was that the stone milk had flushed out a lot of impurities from his body and when Jiang Yue thought of the benefits that this would bring to his future cultivation, he couldn't be angry when he saw the disgusting sludge formed by the expelled impurities.
"I am so hungry." He suddenly said as he placed a hand on his flat stomach.
They hadn't expected that it would take so long to refine a single drop of stone milk, but luckily, meridian awakening realm cultivators could go at least two weeks without eating.
It was naturally better to eat at least three meals a day before one broke through to the core formation realm, but missing a few meals wouldn't harm the body.
"Get out first." A voice said and Jiang Yue turned to see that Yu Nianzhen had already gotten out of his tub.
However, his body was still covered by a black residue which showed that he hadn't been out for long which made Jiang Yue feel slightly better for lagging behind.
"I will let some workers prepare bathing water." Yu Nianzhen said as he handed over Jiang Yue's robes.
Although the black filth was very uncomfortable on Yu Nianzhen's body, he hadn't dared to call for water earlier because he did not want to open the protection array while Jiang Yue was still cultivating.
Now that Jiang Yue had also finished refining his drop of stone milk, Yu Nianzhen didn't want to delay a bath any longer.
Jiang Yue quickly dressed and after Yu Nianzhen put away the bottle of stone milk that was still on the table, he used a small bell to call for the inn's workers.
The service at the Three Boars inn was very efficient and in less than the time it takes to make a cup of tea, the dirty water had already been poured out and replaced with clean bathing water.
By the time the two boys finished taking a bath and dressing, the meal that they had ordered from the inn's kitchen was promptly delivered and the two focused all their attention on eating.
"My appetite seems to have increased." Jiang Yue lamented as they ordered several more rounds of food.
"The stone milk removed a lot of impurities from our bodies and because of this, our bodies are more active and require a lot more energy for maintenance." Yu Nianzhen said as he also noted the changes in his body.
If they wanted to eat the same portions as before, they would need to replace the mortal beast meat in their diet with demonic beast meat.
As the two ate, they had no idea that a young boy had already left for the city lord's residence to report that the guests on the third floor had finally left seclusion.