Xiantian Stage

In the following days, Wang Hong found another book, "Henglian Liuhe Gong," in the library.

This cultivation method has nine levels. When practicing, one circulates the energy while striking the entire body. Levels one to three require striking the body with a wooden stick. After the power progresses to the fourth level, one switches to an iron stick, and upon reaching the seventh level, a large iron bar is used. After each striking session, medicinal ingredients that relax tendons, activate collaterals, strengthen bones, and remove blood stasis are used for body tempering.

The initial one to three levels only require ordinary medicinal ingredients that can be bought at any major pharmacy. However, from the fourth level onwards, more precious and aged Chinese herbs are needed, which will be a considerable expense. If it weren't for the Mysterious Space, Wang Hong would never dare to practice this kind of cultivation method.

In the days that followed, Wang Hong practiced day and night. When he got tired from practicing "Thunderclap Spear," he would drink some medicinal wine to recover his strength, then continue practicing "Muscle-Tendon Cleansing Cultivation Method." When he felt sleepy, he would go into the Mysterious Space to sleep, and after waking up, he would continue practicing "Henglian Liuhe Gong." He also had to make time to read books in the Mysterious Space.

With the help of the food and medicinal cuisine from the Mysterious Space, Wang Hong's progress was rapid. In just three months, he had unblocked the Chong Mai, one of the eight extraordinary meridians.

More than two years passed in intense cultivation. In these two years, Wang Hong had also grown into a strapping young man.

During the first year, Wang Hong went into the mountains dozens of times with the team to find all the medicinal ingredients needed for practicing "Henglian Liuhe Gong." He then planted them all in the Mysterious Space.

The commotion caused by the arrival of immortals had finally subsided. This was mainly because enough people had died; those who were hot-headed had mostly perished, and the remaining ones had started to calm down.

Most importantly, the academy possessed the strength to make these people calm down. Once, over a hundred martial artists with Houtian Stage strength came. They were routed by several formations of students organized by the academy. These scattered troops were no match for the organized and coordinated military formations. Within a few rounds, the invaders were all annihilated. That battle further enhanced the reputation of Qingyang Academy.

In these two years, Wang Hong had cultivated "Henglian Liuhe Gong" to the sixth level. Now, even if Wang Hong stood still and let others attack him, it would be difficult for ordinary Houtian martial artists to injure him. A steel knife could only inflict a small cut on his skin.

His internal energy cultivation had also unblocked all eight extraordinary meridians, reaching the peak of the Houtian Stage. Now, he only needed to accumulate strength for a few more years and grasp an opportunity to break through from Houtian to the legendary Xiantian Stage.

After growing for more than two years, the first batch of medicinal ingredients planted in the Mysterious Space had reached a hundred years old. The other medicinal ingredients, aged thirty to fifty, seventy to eighty years, were growing everywhere.

During this time, Wang Hong had read most of the books in the library. He had learned the medical and martial arts books by heart. In terms of theory alone, he was even better than the academy's instructors.

In a medical book, Wang Hong found a formula for increasing cultivation. The formula was called "Dragon Tiger Elixir," with a hundred-year-old ginseng and a hundred-year-old purple ganoderma as the main ingredients, supplemented by over ten other medicinal ingredients to harmonize the medicinal properties. It was said that consuming one pill could increase cultivation by one year.

Wang Hong decided to prepare a batch to try, as he was not short of medicinal ingredients. He took a hundred-year-old ginseng and a hundred-year-old purple ganoderma from the Mysterious Space and ground them into a very fine powder. The ten-odd supplementary ingredients were decocted in water to extract the juice, and then the liquid was concentrated into a paste. Honey and the hundred-year-old ginseng and purple ganoderma powder were added and stirred evenly, then rolled into pills. It took more than half a day to finally produce twenty-five pills the size of pigeon eggs.

Wang Hong immediately took one pill. The pill slowly dissolved in his abdomen, and the medicinal power was refined into surges of vigorous and fierce internal energy that rampaged through his meridians.

He guided these internal energies to flow slowly downwards to the dantian, then circulated through the meridians. With each circulation, the violent energy within the internal energy decreased by a notch.

Then, he guided it along the eight extraordinary meridians. During the circulation, it was slowly absorbed by the meridians and acupoints.

Meridians and acupoints are like rivers and lakes, and the internal energy cultivated by a martial artist is like the water flowing in these rivers and lakes. When there is enough internal energy, it will accumulate and be stored in the acupoints. Only when the internal energy stored in the acupoints is sufficient can it flow into the meridians, thereby unblocking the next section of the meridians. Once the meridians are unblocked, for example, if internal energy needs to be used during combat, the stored internal energy in the acupoints can be mobilized to flow into the meridians.

When the medicinal power of one "Dragon Tiger Elixir" was fully absorbed, it only made the internal energy in the meridians and acupoints a little fuller. Wang Hong unhesitatingly took another pill. After this pill was digested, he still had not broken through to the Xiantian realm. However, Wang Hong dared not take any more. At this point, his entire body's meridians and acupoints were extremely swollen and painful. Taking one more pill would likely cause him to explode.

Wang Hong then found an iron stick and, with all his might, smashed it onto the back of his left index fingertip. Wang Hong's expression remained unchanged as he smashed another iron stick onto the back of his left hand. Starting from his left index fingertip, Wang Hong beat every inch of his body severely with the iron stick. Some of the internal energy in his meridians was vibrated into his muscles and bones, and thus absorbed.

Wang Hong carefully sensed it and found that the swelling and pain in his meridians had lessened slightly. Excitedly, he picked up the iron stick and continued to beat himself. It would be hard to find many people in the world who would be so excited about beating themselves.

After beating himself six times all over his body, he got a large bucket of boiling water, poured his prepared medicinal powder into it, stirred it a few times, and then jumped in. Holding his breath, he sank to the bottom of the water, even his hair being submerged in the medicinal water. After a while, he popped his head out to take a breath and then sank back into the water.

In this way, he took two pills daily. First, he cultivated his internal energy to increase his power, followed by a beating with an iron stick. On the seventh day, "Henglian Liuhe Gong" broke through to the seventh level. The iron stick he used to beat himself daily was replaced with a large iron bar, and the number of times he beat himself increased from six to seven.

On the tenth day, Wang Hong took the second pill and circulated his cultivation method. When his internal energy reached the middle dantian, a small stream of internal energy entered his lungs, bringing a cool sensation that spread throughout his lungs. After circulating a few times in his lungs, it gradually weakened and was about to disappear.

Wang Hong immediately took another pill. As he circulated his cultivation method, another surge of powerful internal energy rushed towards his lungs.

This internal energy nourished and moisturized his lungs repeatedly. After a long time, a stream of internal energy finally flowed out of his lungs, entering the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian on the left side. It slowly flowed to the Zhongfu acupoint, where it lingered for a quarter of an hour, causing the Zhongfu acupoint to gradually heat up and swell, as if a stream of warmth was slowly filling it.

Afterward, this warm, swollen sensation followed the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, slowly flowing towards the Yunmen acupoint. Upon reaching the Yunmen acupoint, it stopped moving.

Wang Hong slowly retracted his cultivation and exhaled deeply. The internal energy entering the Taiyin Lung Meridian meant that he had officially become an Xiantian martial artist, even if only the Zhongfu acupoint on the left side was unblocked.

Wang Hong twitched his nose. He could smell his own sweat, the scent of various medicinal ingredients and seasonings from the medicinal cuisine he made in the kitchen, and the smell of various weeds on the lawn in the courtyard. And also, why could he still smell the sewage from so far away?

Wang Hong felt a wave of nausea and held his breath. As soon as he held his breath, he discovered that he could control the opening and closing of his pores and breathe faintly through them.

"Could this be the legendary Fetal Breathing?"

Once a martial artist enters the Xiantian Stage, when each of the five organs—liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—and their corresponding meridians are unblocked, their corresponding sense organs and body parts are strengthened.

Wang Hong had unblocked his lung meridian. The lungs open to the nose, which enhances the function of the nose, allowing him to smell scents from miles away. The lungs govern the skin and pores, which also enhances the function of the skin pores. The Fetal Breathing that many people dream of could now be achieved with ease. If Wang Hong were to submerge himself in water and breathe through his skin pores, he could last for half an hour without needing to surface for air.

For more than ten consecutive days, he had consumed over twenty Dragon Tiger Elixirs, and today he had finally reached the Xiantian realm. In the entire Chu State, with a population of over a billion, there were fewer than a hundred Xiantian Stage martial artists.

And Xiantian Stage martial artists under the age of twenty were virtually unheard of. At least, in the history of Chu State, none had ever appeared.

If this matter were to spread, it would undoubtedly cause a sensation throughout the land. Wang Hong reveled in it for a while, deciding to keep a low profile and maintain secrecy for the time being, to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble.