Two days later...

As she circulated her inner qi, finally, she felt her last meridian open. She laid on the ground, exhausted.

The sect leader's technique was effective indeed! She didn't feel any pain in the process. In fact, she could swear her damaged meridians were even starting to heal, somewhat.

"Finally..." she grumbled.

Honestly, though, it was very, very boring. Mei would probably have been able to advance to the Qi Gathering stage by yesterday if she didn't procrastinate so much. Or even on the same day she got the technique if she pulled an all-nighter.

From the looks of the sunrise outside her window, it was probably around 7 in the morning. Just in time to go for breakfast.

Reaching for the comb beside her table, she haphazardly gave her hair a few quick combs.

Yesterday, after she finally showered, Xiuying suggested she should comb her hair every morning too.

She headed down the stairs, through a few corridors and into the cafeteria. Apparently, Liu Qiang wasn't up yet because only Xiuying and Yingyi were there.

"Hey, you're up early today!" Yingyi waved.

"Good morning! You look like you're in a good mood. Had a good sleep?" Xiuying smiled.

"I slept okay." she put on a confident face. "And by the way, I finally reached Qi Gathering today!"

She didn't really think she was the bragging type but she was rather proud of that. She couldn't wait to see the look on their faces.

"Oh. Congrats?" Xiuying looked unsure for some reason.

Yingyi, however, had a cocky look on his face.

"Hah! I already reached Qi Gathering 3 days ago!" he smirked.

"Ehhh?" Mei was stunned.

She came here because she wanted to show off for a bit, not to feel inadequate! And judging on the look on Xiuying's face... no way...

"Xiuying, you too?" she asked weakly.

Xiuying looked slightly panicked, unsure of what to say.

"Uh, well... you don't need to feel bad! It must be hard to cultivate with damaged meridians.

"Oh." Mei's face was blank.

"I heard Wang Wei is already at the peak of Qi Gathering too," Yingyi added.

Xiuying leaned towards his ear and whispered.

"Yingyi, you shouldn't make her feel worse."

Mei made up her mind. After the lecture today, she was going to cultivate diligently for the rest of the day and catch up with them!

So what was she doing reading the Monk novel now, at 1:00 in the afternoon? It wasn't even as if she liked it much.

Mei knew she really shouldn't be procrastinating like that. Ah, why did cultivation have to be so boring? She threw the book across the room then half-heartedly kicked the mattress beside her bed.

As the book flipped through the air, a magical barrier materialised around it and absorbed the impact before letting it hit the ground.

Maybe she could spend this time to finally find an elder to teach her, she thought. But thinking of what happened with Qiao Shun, she decided she'd do that another time.

Hmm... didn't the sect leader say once they reached Qi Gathering, the sect would allow disciples to do tasks for some jade?

Yes! She'll do that instead. She has done enough cultivation for today already, no? Doing some tasks now would be perfect. In fact, she might even be able to buy some pills to help her cultivation with the money she makes!

Having successfully deflected all logical reason to continue cultivating, she triumphantly exited her room and ran off.

Right now, most disciples were cultivating diligently, so there weren't a lot of people walking around. Because of that, she decided to grab an additional snack from the cafeteria before heading off. For someone who mostly ate plain porridge to cut costs, the food here was just heavenly in comparison.

Happily munching on a huge vegetable bun, she headed off to the task pavillon.

There was a really long line of disciples, which was unsurprising, considering it was the main source of income for most of them.

Mei was really glad she bought a snack along.

But just as she was about to get in line, she spotted Wang Wei.

Perfect. Her mom had a habit of getting her to substitute in queues before coming back later to join her spot. Mei apparently picked up on that.

"Wang Wei! You're here?"

"Huh?" he turned around. "Oh, Mei Xiu. You're here for a task too? You can join me if you want."

He stepped back and made room for her. Mei was relieved she didn't have to explain it to him. That would have been really awkward.

As Wang Wei was already fairly close, it didn't take long for their turn to enter the building.

Inside, there were many boards lining the walls, tons of people crowded around them and chatting. There were stairways that led higher to more of those boards too. After looking a bit closer, she realised they were displaying images and words, leaving her amazed. Magic was so convenient!

Honestly, she felt like this might be kind of overkill just for outer disciples. But then again, they provided a lot of amenities that weren't necessary. It was definitely a lot better than the conditions for outer disciples in most novels she had read. Mei couldn't help but wonder how much better the conditions would be for inner and core disciples.

Little spirits were flying around, helping confused people. Seeing them enter, a spirit to flew over to them. It was vibrant blue and floated peacefully in the air. Very different from Xiao Huo, who practically bounced all over the place while flying around.

"Hello, I am Tian Lan. Do you need any help?" it asked.

"I know how to use those things but she might not, so explain it to her." Wang Wei said.

Mei was slightly annoyed by that.

"Alright, follow me to an available interface." the spirit bobbed.

They followed it to an available board, the people who were using it just heading off. Mei saw the screen change to display the outline of a hand.

"Put your hand on the screen," it said.

Well, that was obvious enough. Mei touched it. The smooth wood was cool to the touch.

[Mei Xiu identified]

[Please tap again if there are no other group members.]

"If you are in a group, all members should touch the interface one by one. The sect places identification seals on all disciples." Tian Lan explained.

"Um... on second thought, maybe we don't need your help?" Mei said. "It seems to be obvious enough."

She didn't really feel like she needed someone to explain the obvious. Plus, if she was stumped, Wang Wei should be able to help.

"Suit yourself." the spirit floated away.

Mei wondered if it was a little upset by that.