Unlike the fiction half of the library, the technique section was many times more organised. It was divided into 10 sections, 9 for elements: Wood, Water, Earth, Metal, Fire, Air, Electricity, Ice and Light, while the last one was for element-less techniques.

Furthermore, each elemental section was divided into different sections for various uses, ranging from utility to various forms of combat.

Naturally, Mei walked past the utility shelves and into the combat section first. It really was a small section compared to all the utility shelves, amounting to only 30% of them... She sighed as she put a book back into the shelf. The other elements probably had many more combat-related abilities.

To her surprise, there were actually a sizeable amount of wood based body techniques, but Mei didn't think she could make significant progress in just 3 days. Plus, thinking about all the pain protagonists usually suffered from such cultivation... it made her hesitate.

As she skimmed through the rows of book titles, struggling to pick an interesting technique, she heard the flapping of wings.

She turned her head, spotting the librarian crow, much to her surprise. It landed on the shelf before her, towering over here despite being half her height.

"Mr Crow?" she asked.

The crow let out a strange raspy laugh.

"Haha, I'm not a man, but humans tend to think I am because of my voice. You can call me Luye."

"Ah... sorry," Mei mumbled.

Because of the hoarseness of the crow's voice, it lacked any semblance of femininity. From how her throat vibrated as she talked, it seemed Luye was using her vocal cords to talk instead of some magical technique.

"It's fine, no worries. You must be wondering why I flew here, no?"

"Uh?"

"Well, the library is a bit empty today and I was getting bored, so I decided to see what you were up to."

...

What if someone wanted to borrow a book then?

"Thanks? I'm trying to look for a combat technique for a wood cultivator, but they don't really seem all that good..." Mei smiled sheepishly, hoping for guidance.

"I see. Mind if I take a look at your physique?" the crow hopped onto her left shoulder, making her flinch, but to her surprise, the bird wasn't all that heavy.

Was it just her, or did the elders like to scan disciples a lot? Li Xuan, the spirit elder, had even scanned her without asking first... Mei really didn't like it because she felt like it violated her privacy, but she nodded, slightly resigned.

Having gotten permission, Luye send her qi into Mei, before letting out a shocked caw.

"How awful! What happened?"

A bit disgruntledly, Mei gave a brief explaination. She always had to explain why after scans...

"Ah... I see..." the crow seemed deep in thought. "Well, based on what I sense, I think body techniques might be the most suited for you! You're trying to brush up for the upcoming tournament, no?"

"Uh-"

"Body techniques mostly draw upon your body cultivation instead of your qi reserves! Since you're already in the 1st level of body cultivation, I think they will be best suited for you. For now, at least."

"Oh..."

Seeing the look on her face, the crow realised something.

"Ah, don't be discouraged. Body cultivation is a lot harder and takes a lot more qi and time. The first level of body cultivation usually takes a lot more time and effort, so most people don't even practice it until they're preaparing to reach the Foundation realm! It's strength is also dependant on your cultivation base too, so it isn't just a minor boost!" she said. "So don't look down on it, you have a huge advantage in that field!"

"Y-yes, thank you!"

Now, Mei was starting to get excited. If what the crow said was true, she might actually have a chance to get a good score in the tournament!

With the crow's help, she had borrowed 2 techniques.

The 1st was Might of Trees, a wood-based body technique. It entailed channelling the dormant power within her wood-attuned body, making her skin and muscles as tough and durable as wood temporarily.

The 2nd was Harmonic Strength, which was actually just a general body technique. If she managed to learn it, she would be able to better harmonise her muscles and fuel them with her cultivation base, allowing her to utilise her strength better and empower her attacks.

With the two books stuffed in her bag, she headed to the grove outside Li Xuan's residence and sat on the grass, taking out the 2nd book eagarly. For some reason, the grove here had denser wood qi than the massive tree. She figured it might help when she practiced the 1st technique later.

The cover was plain, a faded yellow with "Harmonic Strength" written neatly on it. At the bottom left of it, "Twin Vessels" and "Wide Channels" were written vertically.

According to Luye, meridian type was very important when practising a technique, so the compatible meridian types would be written on the covers. It meant that even if she came across a powerful technique by chance, she might not even be able to use it. How inconvenient...

Mei could vaguely recall the Sect Master talking about meridian types a few weeks ago, but she wasn't paying all the much attention. Luckily, Luye was there to tell her what type she actually was, the Wide Channel Type.

Cultivators with Wide Meridians could channel their qi quickly and with a lot of force, but would find it difficult to control their qi precisely. As such, while they could unleash their qi faster and with greater force, complicated magic would be a lot more difficult for them. There was also the benefit of faster cultivation, but the damage to her meridians had kicked that benefit in the face.

Truly, it was one of the best meridian types for body cultivation, as it didn't often need fine control. Why would focusing energy and hitting someone be complicated?

Mei wasn't sure if she should be happy or upset. With how Wood magic seemed to be mostly defensive, coupled with her meridian type, wasn't she just getting forced into being a body cultivator?

Sure, she wasn't opposed to beating up people with brute force, but at the same time, when she joined the sect, she had envisioned being able to do all kinds of awe-inspiring magical arts! Not just... hitting very hard.

Well, at least the lower complexity meant she didn't need to spend a billion hours trying to figure out how to cast a difficult spell. After realising that, she felt a lot better.