Closed-Door Cultivation

After bidding Uncle Tian farewell, Liu Xiaolou headed northeast up the mountain. Rather than taking the usual Qianzhu Ridge path, he threaded through dense forest and jagged rocks. Halfway there, he reached a thick old pine, sprang up into its branches, and parted the pine needles to reveal a tree hollow below.

Though the entrance was small, he could still squeeze through. Liu Xiaolou put his feet in first, then his legs, drew in his breath and tucked his waist, raised both arms straight overhead, and wriggled inside. After dropping more than a zhang, his feet touched ground. He snapped his fingers to ignite a three-inch flame, revealing a narrow, winding tunnel before him.

After following the tunnel diagonally downward for a quarter of an hour, turning six or seven corners and replacing several "fire fingers," the space before him suddenly opened up into a karst cave about half an acre wide.

At both ends of the cave were several stone holes and cracks connecting to the outside, through which wisps of cool air blew in, pleasantly refreshing.

At its center lay a pool. Though small, it was deep, and its bottom connected to the Wu Chao River. In an emergency, it could serve as an escape route.

This was the Three Xuan Sect's refuge. According to his master, their patriarch had first found this place for closed-door cultivation while passing through Wulong Mountain. Only afterward had he founded the Three Xuan Sect on Qianzhu Ridge. There had been a cave before there was a sect.

With a splash, Big Bai suddenly poked its head out from the bottom of the pool. Paddling with its webbed feet, it hopped out of the water, waddled over to Liu Xiaolou, and honked twice.

Whenever the Three Xuan Sect took refuge, this fellow required no one to worry over it. It would usually swim over from the bottom of the Wu Chao River, and from time to time even carry a few fat fish into the cave. It truly was a fine helper in times of refuge.

Liu Xiaolou ignored it, sat cross-legged beside the pool, and began cultivating.

The purpose of Qi Refining was to open the meridians; the effect of Foundation Establishment lay in opening the channels. To open the meridians, one had to open the twelve meridians; to establish the foundation, one had to open the eight channels. Every pass required diligent cultivation, consuming months and years. How could one squander the glory of youth?

Half a year had passed, yet his cultivation had not advanced an inch. If this went on, how could he afford to waste the days? Qi Refining cultivators might live to a hundred, but if they could not break through to Foundation Establishment before sixty, it would only grow harder with age. Even if one barely achieved Foundation Establishment, where would there be time left to form a core? Let alone seek immortality?

The twelve meridians were divided into the Three Yang of the Hands, Three Yin of the Hands, Three Yang of the Feet, and Three Yin of the Feet. Only after opening three meridians could one be said to have crossed the threshold of cultivation and reached the Qi Refining first layer. Otherwise, one could only be counted among the Martial Masters of the martial world. Thereafter, each meridian refined counted as one further layer. Once all twelve meridians were opened and formed a circulating heavenly cycle, one would reach the complete Qi Refining tenth layer and could begin Foundation Establishment.

The cultivation arts passed down beneath heaven differed in their ways. At the outset, some opened the Three Yang of the Hands in one sweep; some opened the Three Yin of the Hands in one sweep; others opened the Three Yang of the Feet or Three Yin of the Feet in one sweep. Most entered cultivation this way, because the three meridians of the same kind followed similar paths and shared the Five Elements, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort. Take the Hand Taiyin Meridian, Hand Jueyin Meridian, and Hand Shaoyin Meridian among the Three Yin of the Hands: their qi all traveled from chest to hand, belonging to the same qi source.

Yet the Three Xuan Scripture cultivated by Liu Xiaolou's Three Xuan Sect differed from other schools at the start. It refined one branch each from the Three Yin of the Hands, Three Yang of the Hands, and Three Yin of the Feet: the Hand Taiyin Meridian, Hand Yangming Meridian, and Foot Taiyin Meridian. Only at the second layer did it refine the Foot Yangming Meridian among the Three Yang of the Feet. This method was far more difficult than those of other schools. He had begun cultivating at eight and practiced for ten years, only barely reaching the second layer.

According to his master, Mister Sanxuan, the Three Xuan Scripture was so different from the rest in order to make the path of cultivation more balanced.

"Whenever you open a meridian, you must look ahead and behind, hesitate left and right. No amount of caution is excessive. Only by balancing yin and yang, hands and feet, can you follow the proper principle. That is true harmony between exterior and interior. If you open three meridians in succession from one hand, one foot, or one yin and one yang, would that not be like a heavy head and light feet, one side long and the other short? How could that be the proper path? Rest assured, disciple. Our sect's cultivation art may proceed slowly, but it is incomparably stable. You need not fear disharmony of yin and yang or imbalance between hands and feet, much less Qi Deviation when breaking through in closed-door cultivation. It is steady!"

Those words still rang in his ears, and they did sound reasonable. Of course Liu Xiaolou obeyed them faithfully. Besides, he had no choice but to obey. Once he had stepped onto this path of cultivation, there was no turning back.

Liu Xiaolou was now at the Qi Refining second layer and had been stuck on the Foot Yangming Meridian for nearly three years. For one thing, he lacked cultivation resources; for another, he had gained no insight to speak of. This time, he had received three spirit stones and a spirit herb at the Hero Assembly, and had drunk deeply of Spirit Wine. In particular, he had undergone a trial of life and death. This was precisely the best chance for a breakthrough—signs of it had already appeared when he fled Jinping Mountain Villa.

Opening meridians meant opening the acupoints along them. Each meridian was divided into left and right sides, which balanced fullness and emptiness: if the left was full, the right was empty; if the right was full, the left was empty. One only needed to cultivate one side, and the other would open on its own through sympathetic resonance.

Liu Xiaolou had cultivated both sides before, but in the end chose the meridians on his right side, which he was more accustomed to. The Foot Yangming Meridian he was currently cultivating had ninety acupoints, forty-five on each side. In practice, he only cultivated the right side. Once every acupoint on the right was opened, the corresponding acupoints on the left would naturally open as well.

The Foot Yangming Meridian began at the Chengqi point and ended at the Lidui point. Liu Xiaolou still had the Xiangu, Neiting, and Lidui points unopened. With three spirit stones in hand, he intended to break through them all in one burst.

He took out a spirit stone, slapped away Big Bai, which had come sniffing over, and clenched the stone tightly in his palm. Fine threads of spiritual energy seeped through the skin of his palm and entered his body.

It was truly refreshing beyond measure!

Thread by thread, spiritual energy was drawn from the spirit stone and converted into true essence usable by cultivators. Spirit stones were the distilled essence of heaven and earth's spiritual energy. Not only was the energy they contained dense, it was also exceptionally pure, making them more suitable for refinement. Usually, seven or eight tenths of their power could be refined.

After being drawn out, this spiritual energy circulated and was tempered within his body under the operation of the Three Xuan Scripture. A small portion of impurities was expelled from his body, either as sweat seeping from his skin or wisps of green smoke rising from above his head. Most of it transformed into true essence, gathered within his meridians, and launched an assault on the Xiangu point.

The Xiangu point, when open, was like a valley; when closed, like a mountain. It had yet to be opened and was now half-open, half-closed. Once opened, it could disperse wind and release the exterior, clear heat and open the orifices, and stabilize one's emotions. It was where the Foot Yangming Meridian retained spiritual essence, making it especially crucial.

Back at Jinping Mountain Villa, the smoke had been so dense that one could scarcely make out anything a zhang away. Yet Liu Xiaolou had raced through it at high speed, avoiding obstacles at critical moments time and again. It had seemed perilous upon perilous, but his mind had remained steady. That had been a sign that the Xiangu point was about to open.

Part of it was due to those mouthfuls of Spirit Wine rich in spiritual energy, part to more than half a year of emotional settling, and part to the mindset born from being forced to the brink—placing himself in the jaws of death and finding life afterward.

Now, as Liu Xiaolou sat cross-legged and cultivated, guiding his true essence to strike the acupoint, the point that had once been as impregnable as a fortress began to loosen faintly.

Liu Xiaolou suppressed his excitement and did his utmost to keep his mind steady. Like a detached observer, he mobilized his true essence to strike the acupoint barrier again and again, prying at the foundation of the acupoint bit by bit. Each pry sent a stab of pain from the barrier.

When hungry, he ate a rice cake. When tired, he calmed his spirit and rested. Sometimes, he roasted one of the fat fish Big Bai had carried in to ease his mind. He did not know how many days passed, but the "opening" of the Xiangu point grew wider and wider, and more and more true essence passed through it, entering the essence pool to accumulate.

Then one day, when the true essence accumulated within the essence pool had grown increasingly abundant, the opening suddenly flew wide. True essence surged in with ease, without the slightest effort or obstruction.

At that moment, an ultimate comfort surged from the Xiangu point. Liu Xiaolou's spirits soared as he truly experienced the sensation of "clearing heat and opening the orifices."

The Xiangu point had opened!