The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment, but the two had a perfect tacit understanding.
They pretended not to see the cultivation mats in each other's arms, and Jiang Yue entered the room.
"What do you think?"
He sat on Yu Nianzhen's stone bed and looked at the other.
"It would be better if there was a bathtub."
Jiang Yue also thought so.
They still had a lot of stone milk, and if they had a bathtub, they could refine a few more drops before the second test.
Although they were confident about passing the second test, it didn't hurt to prepare more.
"We can try to get two bathtubs, but if there is no way, we can only give up for the time being."
After that, the two sat on their cultivation mats and began to cultivate.
Jiang Yue had already connected his fifth meridian and was now attacking the sixth while Yu Nianzhen was working on his fourth.
Time passed in this way, and dawn soon arrived.
Yu Nianzhen was the first to wake up from cultivation.
Since there was still some time before they had to head to the foot of the mountain, he busied himself with checking their belongings.
The bigu pill was still in effect, but it would only last for three more days.
At that time, they would need to eat a heavy meal full of nutrients or take another pill.
'It's better to eat.' He thought and looked at Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue was especially fond of eating, and Yu Nianzhen didn't want to force him to survive on bigu pills.
In that case, they had to find a way to sort their food situation.
Yu Nianzhen was still thinking about it when Jiang Yue woke up from cultivation.
"I have connected my sixth meridian."
A smile brightened his face, and Yu Nianzhen couldn't help but smile with him.
"At this rate, you will connect all nine meridians before the second test."
If they were outside the sect, Jiang Yue would be unable to connect the remaining three meridians within one short month. However, the Sea Cloud Sect was a blessed land.
The heaven and earth qi was dense and pure, which made cultivation easier than outside the sect.
"You may also make it if you put your mind to it."
Yu Nianzhen didn't refute, but he knew that he wouldn't make it.
It wasn't because he couldn't but because his body was working against him.
When Yu Nianzhen connected his first two meridians, his heart had birthed a vague trepidation.
At first, he thought the trepidation was because they didn't have a cultivation technique to break through to the origin forging realm.
He thought he was so worried about delaying their cultivation that his heart had given birth to trepidation.
However, they had now joined the Sea Cloud Sect.
A cultivation technique wouldn't be difficult to get, and his heart should have calmed down.
Unfortunately, this didn't happen.
Instead, the trepidation increased with every meridian that he connected.
Yu Nianzhen felt like he was recklessly rushing towards a cliff.
He felt with certainty that he would fall over the cliff, and his body subconsciously tried to delay the time of fall by impairing his cultivation efficiency.
Although he had this feeling for close to a month, he didn't know how to explain it to Jiang Yue.
At the moment, he was taking one step at a time and hoping that things would turn out okay.
"Let's go." He said.
Jiang Yue looked at Yu Nianzhen for an extra moment and then stood up from his cultivation mat.
He could tell that something was off with Yu Nianzhen.
However, it hadn't reached a point where he needed to force an explanation, so he was patiently waiting.
The two exited the cave and rushed towards the stairs that led to the foot of the mountain.
The sun was peeking from the East, and they were worried that their start was a little late.
They ran to the foot of the mountain, and luckily, not everyone had arrived.
When the world was fully bright, the group of one hundred followed the middle-aged odd job disciple away from the mountain.
They left the east mountains, traversed the plain where they had landed and walked to the South region.
The walk took two shichen.
When they arrived on the Southside of the outer sect, old and new disciples were already walking around.
The middle-aged odd job disciple did not give the group a chance to appreciate the surroundings.
Instead, he led them towards the most central building in the Southern region.
The majestic building had three floors, and the entrance was a five-metre door that opened into a large hall.
Floor to ceiling bookshelves were arranged a metre apart, and each shelf was filled with books, scrolls, and information jades.
"The first floor has history books and general information scrolls. The peak grade basic breathing techniques are on the second floor." The odd job disciple informed.
"What's on the third floor?" Someone asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"The third floor has silver rank cultivation technique manuals."
There was yearning in the man's voice and his hands clenched in frustration.
This was only the outer sect martial hall, and most of the scrolls weren't that valuable to the sect.
However, such scrolls were unattainable for someone like him who couldn't connect his ninth meridian even after thirty years.
"The condition for entering the third floor is connecting all meridians before eighteen."
"The resources in the outer sect can be exchanged with gold coins. However, everything in the inner sect and core sect can only be exchanged with contribution points."
The odd job disciple wasn't stingy with information, and he generously explained what he knew.
He did not have hope of breaking through to the origin forging realm, but there was still a chance for his life to get better.
If one of the new disciples took a liking to him, they could take him as a personal servant after they broke through to the origin forging realm.
For people like him, their dream was to graduate from an outer sect odd job disciple to an inner sect odd job disciple or personal servant.
Unfortunately, opportunities were few and far between since the sect charged disciples for keeping a servant.
When a disciple took an odd job disciple as a personal servant, that odd job disciple would no longer be able to contribute to the sect.
Because of this, the odd job disciple's master would be charged some contribution points every year to cover the loss.
However, it was rare for a disciple to have enough contribution points to support their cultivation, let alone have extra to keep a personal servant.
"You can stay in the martial hall for a day." The odd job disciple reminded and then walked away.
"Go to the second floor right away, or do you want to look around the first floor?"
Yu Nianzhen took a moment to think about it.
He had an interest in reading the books on the first floor.
However, he didn't want to waste any time on the first floor without knowing the situation on the second floor.
"Second floor first."
The two walked towards the stairs that led to the second floor.
Soon after, they arrived on the second floor, and the situation was much like the first floor.
"No wonder we were given a day to choose." Jiang Yue said grudgingly.
Although the scrolls on the second floor were considerably fewer than on the first floor, there were still thousands of them.
"Let's look around."
Yu Nianzhen was also a little flustered.
The floor was about one hundred square metres, and all walls were covered with scrolls.
Unless one had a few months, there was no way to check all the scrolls.
In such a situation, finding an appropriate scroll depended on fate.
"Earth Quaking basic breathing technique."
Jiang Yue grabbed a random scroll and returned it right away when he saw that it was an earth qi breathing technique.
"Phoenix Dance basic breathing technique."
"Wild Lotus basic breathing technique."
"Soft Water basic breathing technique."
Time passed, and the two went through dozens of breathing techniques.
However, none of the techniques were fitting, and they continued to search.
About six hours after entering the second floor, Jiang Yue finally found a basic breathing technique that satisfied him.
The technique was called the Flowing Moon basic breathing technique. It was a water element technique, and Jiang Yue liked it as soon as he saw it.
"I will take this one." He said, and Yu Nianzhen turned to look at the manual.
In fact, same grade breathing techniques weren't that different from each other.
They all refined the same quality of qi, but there was an advantage to using a technique that was suitable for one's temperament.
Using an appropriate breathing technique decreased the difficulty of attracting and refining element qi.
As a result, cultivation speed would be considerably faster compared to when using a random basic breathing technique.
Jiang Yue was satisfied with the Flowing Moon basic breathing technique, and he did not continue to search for more that were suitable for him.
Instead, he helped Yu Nianzhen look for metal element basic breathing techniques.
This search continued for half a day, but Yu Nianzhen could not find a breathing technique that satisfied him.
"It doesn't matter if I can't find one." He consoled Jiang Yue, who was looking a little worried.
It would be good if he found an appropriate breathing technique, but he wouldn't be hung up on it if he didn't.
He would just need to work a little harder to purify the qi refined using the Sky Dragon basic breathing technique.