Smash Your Skull to Pulp

As his mastery of internal cultivation rose, the time required for further internal cultivation would inevitably increase.

But for most martial artists, training martial techniques was also a slow process that consumed more and more time the further one progressed.

At times like this, a martial artist had to decide whether to focus primarily on internal cultivation or martial techniques.

If one's talent was insufficient and one's energy limited, one inevitably had to make a choice between the two.

Cultivating internal arts, Achievement Points +10.

When another notification appeared before Gu Shao'an, he guided his inner force back into his dantian after finishing the nourishment of his meridians. He glanced at Zhou Zhiruo, who was still cultivating across from him, then picked up a medical book and began reading.

As Gu Shao'an's mind sank into the medical principles described in the book,

his Physician proficiency also steadily increased at a stable rate.

He did not even notice that the carriage beneath him had returned to the main road, his attention wholly captivated by the contents of the medical book in his hands.

It was not until the carriage wheels rolled over a pothole and gave a distinct jolt that Gu Shao'an's thoughts were interrupted.

Studying medical books, Achievement Points +20.

Current Achievement Points: 1002

Gu Shao'an's eyes lit up at the notifications before him.

"Finally, I've saved up enough Achievement Points."

Five days had passed since they had wiped out the Mountain Bandits.

And at this very moment, Gu Shao'an had finally accumulated one thousand Achievement Points.

With a thought, the prize wheel immediately appeared in Gu Shao'an's mind.

As the Achievement Points that had only just reached four digits dwindled to a mere remainder, the prize wheel before him began to spin.

A few breaths later, when the wheel stopped, another notification popped up before Gu Shao'an.

Congratulations, Player, you have drawn a Twenty-Year Cultivation Card (Superior Bone Structure).

The instant that notification appeared, even the hand holding his medical book trembled involuntarily.

"A Cultivation Card? And a twenty-year one at that?"

Gu Shao'an had not expected that Abbess Miejue had only recently given him a Bodhi Exquisite Pill to increase his cultivation by two years, yet he had now drawn a twenty-year Cultivation Card.

Once he used it, Gu Shao'an's cultivation would soar by twenty years.

One had to know that Gu Shao'an was only eleven years old.

What did it mean for an eleven-year-old child to possess more than twenty years of cultivation?

See these little hands?

One palm strike carried twenty-two years and two months of cultivation. Tell me, were you scared yet?

He'd smash your skull to pulp.

At that moment, Gu Shao'an was like someone who had been poor for a long time and suddenly received a ton of gold. His emotions surged without end.

But when he opened his eyes and saw Abbess Miejue and Zhou Zhiruo meditating beside him in the carriage, Gu Shao'an could only force down the urge to use the Cultivation Card immediately.

After all, once twenty years of cultivation appeared in his body and was refined, the resulting fluctuations of inner force would certainly be noticed by Abbess Miejue beside him.

If Abbess Miejue probed his body with her inner force and discovered that her eleven-year-old disciple suddenly possessed more than twenty years of cultivation, she would probably be scared senseless on the spot and start questioning life itself.

He waited until night, when they passed through a town and checked into an inn. After locking the doors and windows, Gu Shao'an leaped onto the bed and sat cross-legged, then excitedly summoned the Cultivation Card he had drawn during the day.

At the command of his thoughts, the word "Use" seemed to carry some profound power.

The next moment, an immense, unimaginable energy suddenly appeared within Gu Shao'an's body. Yet unlike the violent, volcanic eruption of the Bodhi Exquisite Pill during the day, it was mellow and gentle, like a waterfall of moonlight descending from the nine heavens.

This power was warm, pure, vast, and majestic, carrying the serene feeling of time's accumulation.

It was as though it had not been forcibly poured in from outside, but had naturally welled up as a sweet spring from the deepest source of his life.

There was no anticipated agony of being torn apart. Instead, an almost swollen warmth instantly filled his limbs and bones, making every cell in Gu Shao'an's body seem to let out a comfortable sigh.

This energy was incomparably vast, yet also incomparably gentle and obedient.

The moment it entered his body, it merged seamlessly with the inner force of his Emei cultivation method, blending like water and milk until they were indistinguishable.

It was as if the memories of twenty years of arduous cultivation, along with the pure inner breath produced through Bone Structure training, had all been completely packaged and delivered to him at this moment.

But gentleness did not mean it was easy to endure!

Twenty years of cultivation was simply too enormous. Although it lacked the tearing sensation caused by the Bodhi Exquisite Pill, his dantian was still stretched to the limit by the sudden twentyfold surge of energy!

The feeling was like an intensified version of desperately needing to relieve himself in the middle of the night. It was unbearable.

Fortunately, the cultivation within him was gentle and pure. Moreover, Gu Shao'an had taken the Bodhi Exquisite Pill a few days ago, greatly improving his inner force. With the second layer of the Emei Nine Yang Skill operating at full strength, he rapidly refined this cultivation into his own.

As one force waned and the other grew, the bloated pressure in his dantian gradually eased.

His inner force continued to increase. Under the circulation of his cultivation method, the bottlenecks that had once been firm and stable appeared utterly fragile before this surging flood of inner force, as mighty as rivers and seas.

As his inner force circulated, hidden meridians were blasted open one after another by the powerful current.

In an instant, the circulation route of the second layer of Gu Shao'an's Emei Nine Yang Skill abruptly changed, incorporating several Hidden Meridians that had just been opened.

Immediately afterward, even more Hidden Meridians were opened.

This caused the circulation route of the second layer of the Emei Nine Yang Skill to change once again.

In less than a quarter of an hour, with the vast inner force within him, Gu Shao'an's second layer of the Emei Nine Yang Skill had already entered the realm of completion.

As his core internal cultivation method reached completion at its current level, the routes through which his inner force flowed instantly became several times more complex.

And because of the changes in his cultivation method, the inner force in his body was continuously compressed, tempered, and purified.

Until all of his inner force gained a touch more of a vast, righteous, and profound quality.

"Pop!"

Finally, at the peak of a certain limit, two sounds like bursting bubbles emerged from within Gu Shao'an's body.

The Dai Meridian among the Eight Extraordinary Meridians was forcefully opened beneath the impact of his inner force.

It was immediately followed by the Yin Qiao Meridian, Yang Wei Meridian, Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, and Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian.

When all three meridians and three channels involved in the first and second layers of the Emei Nine Yang Skill had been opened, Gu Shao'an suddenly felt his body grow light!

An indescribable sense of smoothness swept through his entire body like a spring breeze passing over a frozen river!

In an instant, the torrent of inner force rushed and roared through his completely unobstructed network of meridians, without the slightest hindrance!

Wherever his inner force passed, there was only warmth and vigorous vitality.

His muscles, bones, and even his internal organs were subtly nourished and strengthened by this rapid circulation of pure inner force.

A long while later.

The rushing inner force, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, finally flowed into the "lake-sea" of his lower dantian, which had already expanded into something broader and deeper.

Gu Shao'an slowly opened his eyes. Within the depths of his dark pupils, a sharp gleam seemed to flash like a cold star in the night sky—fleeting, yet leaving behind a chilling trace of light.

The instant he opened his eyes, Gu Shao'an could clearly see the barely noticeable scratch in the corner of the wall.

Even the sound of cicadas by his ears was several times louder than before.

Even his sense of smell had become sharper.

These were precisely the changes in the five senses brought about by opened and nourished meridians.

Feeling the heavy, flowing power within his body, condensed like mercury yet surging with force,

Gu Shao'an was ecstatic.

It worked!

To borrow an explanation from a reader in the comments: just how powerful would Zhang Wuji be eight years later, when his divine skill reached Greater Mastery? Abbess Miejue would be forty-seven then, with around forty years of inner force, yet even wielding the Heavenly Sword, she would still be no match for Zhang Wuji! By then, the protagonist would have twenty-two plus eight, making thirty years of inner force—not even as much as Abbess Miejue's forty years—so it won't be too outrageous. Don't worry, everyone!