Breaking Through Realm

At noon in spring, the sunlight was warm, and birds occasionally swept past overhead.

The food at the Training Field was mediocre, and so was the wine. Seeing him here, Nie Yannian noticed that, aside from the gelding-maker, everyone else seemed ill at ease. He did not wish to linger.

"Take the day off today. Train properly tomorrow, and ask Scholar Meng if there's anything you don't understand!" Nie Yannian rose and left.

Meng Yuan immediately followed him out and caught up. "Master Nie, you're leaving already?"

"Ah, what can I do?" Nie Yannian hurriedly sighed. "I'm too poor to afford food. The Martial Arts School is clamoring to disband, so shouldn't I go deal with it?"

I haven't even asked to borrow money yet, and you're already crying poverty? Who was it that just said money was shit?

Meng Yuan immediately played along. "That's what I thought too. Since Master Nie has so many matters outside, I'll put more effort into the Training Field. But I know too little—only the Gale Wind Saber Technique. Why not teach me a few more things, Master Nie? Then I can teach Tie Niu and the others. It'll also keep people from saying that you only care about business and not the Training Field's proper affairs."

"No rush these next couple of days." Nie Yannian patted Meng Yuan's shoulder. "Wait until you enter the Eighth Rank and meet the Princess Consort."

After finishing his nonsense, Nie Yannian slipped away with remarkable speed, as if terrified that Meng Yuan might ask to borrow money.

"It's as though I only truly count as the Princess Consort's man after meeting her! Is she going to stamp my ass?"

Meng Yuan grumbled inwardly, then recalled Master Nie's words that the Princess Consort was a celestial figure. He could not help longing to meet her. "Standing alone beyond this world, captivating cities and toppling kingdoms."

"Brother? Are you thinking about Grandmother again?" Seeing Meng Yuan pose like the Young Lord, one hand behind his back and one before his chest as though he were about to recite a poem, Tie Niu grabbed his arm and shook it hard. "Everyone's waiting to toast you!"

"A toast?" Meng Yuan frowned and adopted Master Nie's tone. "You haven't learned anything good, but you've picked up heaps of dross!"

When he returned to the dining hall, no one had touched their chopsticks. They were all looking at Meng Yuan.

The looks in their eyes had already changed somewhat.

Previously, Meng Yuan had taken charge of the Training Field because he had been the first to enter a rank. In truth, everyone accepted it. After all, Meng Yuan trained the hardest, worked the most, hit people the fiercest, and handled matters fairly enough.

But people feared comparison. After Ren Debiao entered the Eighth Rank and stirred things up, quite a few people had received Ren Debiao's guidance and felt that their horizons had broadened.

Moreover, Meng Yuan had never told them how many Opening Acupoints he had opened. He also went out from time to time, often returning reeking of alcohol. Many had genuinely believed that Meng Yuan's entry into the ranks had been mere luck, privately muttering about how a promising child could grow into nothing.

Yet only today did they learn that Meng Yuan had not only captured demons outside, but killed them as well.

And with the strength of the Ninth Rank, he had forcibly defeated the Eighth-Rank Ren Debiao. It had not been a narrow victory, nor a victory of wits, but a crushing triumph carved out saber stroke by saber stroke through genuine skill.

And that was not all. He had injured someone, yet Master Nie had personally sent him back, as though there had not been the slightest punishment.

"Senior Brother Meng!" Wu Changsheng raised his bowl of wine, and Hu Qian raised hers as well.

The rest immediately followed suit.

Meng Yuan picked up his wine bowl and drained it in one gulp. Smiling, he said, "I hope everyone trains diligently, forges their will, and protects the Princess Consort!"

Hu Qian watched silently. After Meng Yuan drained his bowl, he seemed as though he wanted to smash it and roar something about loyalty. But then he cautiously touched Jiang Tang's purse, seemingly afraid he would have to pay for the bowl, and ultimately held himself back.

"Even a loyal and steadfast man can be trapped by money!" Hu Qian sighed inwardly. Recalling her theory of losing momentum, she felt that the saying no money, no power truly made sense.

Meng Yuan drank several bowls in a row, then Wu Changsheng and the others pestered him into recounting his battle against the Black and White Goat Demon. Only then did the gathering break up.

When he returned home, no one was there.

However, Jiang Tang had left a note in the kitchen, demanding to know why Meng Yuan had not eaten breakfast.

"She's getting more and more nosy." Though he said that, Meng Yuan still wolfed down all the food she had left behind.

As he silently contemplated, the Essence Fire remained as small as a soybean, only growing slightly stronger.

"At this rate, even with two or three pounds of meat every day, the Essence Fire will probably need half a year, perhaps even longer!"

"The Essence Fire has already tempered my body twice. Its effects grow stronger each time, and now my sinews, bones, and flesh far surpass those of others at the same rank—perhaps even those of the Eighth Rank."

"But nourishing the Essence Fire is becoming harder and harder."

"Eating meat is ultimately only a minor path. If I want to nourish the Essence Fire quickly, I still need to find Green Fruit."

"I need to speak with Master Nie and ask around about Spiritual Herbs and Precious Medicines. But before that, Breaking Through Realm into the Eighth Rank is the top priority."

After sitting quietly for a while and letting the alcohol fade somewhat, Meng Yuan practiced the Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art several times.

The thirty-three Opening Acupoints throughout his body pulsed, and True Qi filled his dantian.

Meng Yuan drew his saber and began practicing the Gale Wind Saber Technique.

According to Master Nie, when executing the Gale Wind Saber Technique and circulating True Qi through the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens, one could sense the response of the Middle Thirty-Three Heavens.

Of course, other methods would work as well, such as fist techniques or sword techniques. The key was to pair them with the corresponding circulation method for True Qi. With transformations of moves outside and the circulation of True Qi within, the two became one, allowing one to uncover where the Middle Thirty-Three Heavens lay.

This was not something that could be achieved overnight. It required diligent and bitter training, and one's state of mind could not be disturbed.

But Meng Yuan had already undergone the Second Body Tempering. The Essence Fire had probed deep through the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens and long since loosened the Middle Thirty-Three Heavens.

This time, the thirty-three acupoints already showed signs of giving way.

Meng Yuan merely calmed his mind and performed the Gale Wind Saber Technique once, yet he felt a response from all over his body.

After practicing it twice more, Meng Yuan returned to his room. He sat steadily on the bed, closed his eyes, emptied his mind, cast aside stray thoughts, and slowed his breathing.

The True Qi filling his dantian slowly circulated. Rather than seeking the places of reflected imprints, it flowed like water through a broad river channel, arriving at the crown of his head. This was the first Opening Acupoint of the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens that Meng Yuan had opened.

After passing through that acupoint, the True Qi slowly descended about an inch before encountering an obstruction.

This was the Niwan. It borrowed its name from Daoism's Nine Palaces Niwan Palace; the location was similar, but it was not the same place.

The first step to entering the Eighth Rank was breaking open the Niwan.

Meng Yuan kept Master Nie's words firmly in mind. The Middle Thirty-Three Heavens lay within the body, and opening acupoints most easily caused self-inflicted injury. Thus, he no longer dared to strike forcefully, merely guiding his True Qi closer bit by bit.

He lingered outside it for a long while before slowly withdrawing the True Qi, without forcing his way through.

After resting briefly and restoring his spirit, he slowly mobilized his True Qi to press against it again.

After repeating this several times, Meng Yuan finally guided his True Qi to gently wear away at that blocked place.

He did not know how much time passed. The obstruction grew increasingly loose. Then, all at once, Meng Yuan felt a roar within his mind, as though great bells and grand chimes were ringing.

Then the skin, flesh, sinews, bones, and organs throughout his body trembled without pause, as though some enormous thing lay hidden within them, seeking to burst out of his body.

At that moment, the Niwan had opened, and Meng Yuan stepped into the Eighth Rank of martial cultivation.

The feeling was incomparably wondrous. Meng Yuan even felt as though his body could contain all things under heaven, yet no corresponding method manifested outwardly.

"Master Nie said that only by opening the body's hidden treasury and obtaining the Heavenly Secret Technique can one turn rot into magic. Is this feeling the hidden treasury? How do I open it? Can entering the Eighth Rank let me glimpse the Heavenly Secret Technique?"

As Meng Yuan pondered, he suddenly sensed faint breathing beside him and opened his eyes.

Jiang Tang was sitting by the bed, holding a handkerchief and staring at him with wide eyes from less than a foot away.

The room held only a faint candlelight, while outside, the moon hid beyond the windowsill. It was clearly already the latter half of the night.

"Are you hungry? Dinner has been kept warm the whole time." Jiang Tang used the handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Meng Yuan's face.

On the spring night, her voice was soft and gentle, like a clear breeze brushing past the railings.