True Meridian Realm

Shen Che stood frozen, feeling the warm yet domineering flow of energy within him, leaving him completely numb.

Common martial arts knowledge churned in his mind, only to be crushed into dust.

Internal training focuses on breath, external training on muscles, bones, and skin.

This was the ironclad rule every martial artist was drilled into their heads by their masters on their very first day.

And here he was, having somehow cultivated breath within his muscles, bones, and skin.

What did this even count as?

Was the end of external martial arts the beginning of internal martial arts?

He tried to channel this newly born energy.

As soon as the thought arose, the energy responded instantly, like an extension of his own will.

It wasn't as gentle and prolonged as the internal true qi described in ancient texts. Instead, it was filled with explosive power, wild and brutal, like a beast locked within his meridians.

Horizontal Training True Qi.

Shen Che gave this rebellious force a name.

With another thought, the Horizontal Training True Qi flowed through his meridians, spreading throughout his body.

"Hoo—"

An invisible wave of energy rippled outwards from him, causing his black robes to billow as if in a strong wind.

His skin surface shimmered with a faint, dark golden luster, completely different from how it looked when he activated the Golden Bell Shield before.

It was a texture that emanated from within, as if his entire body had transformed into a humanoid magical artifact.

He casually threw a punch into the air.

He didn't use any Bloodline Power, merely channeling this Horizontal Training True Qi.

His fist sliced through the air, letting out a piercing shriek.

The friction between his fist and the air was so intense that it even sparked tiny fragments.

Holy crap.

Shen Che himself was startled.

Was this even human?

The appearance of this Horizontal Training True Qi had pushed his strength and physical resilience to an unbelievable new level.

A thought began to grow wildly in his mind.

Since he now had true qi, could he... open up his True Meridians?

Stepping into the True Meridian Realm required two prerequisites.

First, a sufficiently powerful physical body capable of withstanding the pain and impact of true qi tempering during the meridian opening process.

Second, the presence of true qi within the body, serving as the foundation for opening and nurturing the meridians.

Shen Che looked down at his fists.

Physical strength?

The fourteenth layer of the Golden Bell Shield, the eleventh layer of the Iron Shirt. Both top-tier external martial arts had broken through their limits.

He'd be second to none in this regard.

True Qi?

Although he didn't know how it came about, he had it now.

Everything was in place.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent emotions.

Let's do this!

Shen Che sat down cross-legged, placing his hands palms-up towards the sky, and focused his mind within his body.

He carefully channeled the wild Horizontal Training True Qi, cautiously wrapping it around the first main meridian of the twelve primary meridians—the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian.

The moment the true qi touched the meridian, a sharp pain shot through him.

His meridians were countless times tougher than those of ordinary martial artists, yet under the impact of this Horizontal Training True Qi, he still felt an intense stinging sensation.

This wasn't nurturing; it felt more like scraping with a whetstone!

At this rate, with such slow progress, it would take at least half a year to succeed.

Too slow.

"System."

Shen Che called out in his mind.

"Consume Time Value and accelerate my meridian opening!"

[Detected host undergoing meridian tempering. Time Value can be consumed for acceleration.]

[Accelerating...]

[Time Value consumed: 100 points.]

[Time Value consumed: 200 points.]

[...]

The Time Value on the panel was rapidly clearing to zero at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Originally, there were 500 points left.

In the blink of an eye, it was zero.

At the very moment the Time Value was completely depleted.

Inside Shen Che's body, it was as if an invisible shackle had been violently broken!

The Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, which had been repeatedly scoured and tempered by the Horizontal Training True Qi, suddenly erupted with a brilliant radiance. The originally fragile meridian walls underwent a transformative metamorphosis at this moment, becoming tough and wide.

The first True Meridian, successfully opened!

A power far more refined and immense than before surged from the newly formed True Meridian, instantly flowing through his limbs and bones.

Shen Che's entire body's bones emitted a dense series of "crackling" sounds. Every pore of his body expanded, greedily absorbing this power.

His entire being felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, warm and comfortable, almost to the point of groaning aloud.

He had officially entered a realm that countless martial artists dreamed of.

True Meridian Realm!

Shen Che slowly stood up and clenched his fist.

An unprecedented sense of power filled his mind.

He could clearly feel that the strength within his body had undergone a qualitative leap.

According to the records within the Demon Suppression Division, when an ordinary martial artist enters the True Meridian Realm, each opened True Meridian can increase their strength by about a thousand jin.

But he felt that the increase he experienced in that instant was definitely more than a thousand jin.

He walked to the stone lock in the courtyard.

It was the heaviest one he used for basic strength training, weighing a full ten thousand jin.

Before, he could lift it with one arm, and although it was easy, he could still feel its weight.

Now...

Shen Che extended one hand and gently pinched it with two fingers.

The ten-thousand-jin stone lock was effortlessly lifted by his two fingers, as if he were picking up a small pebble.

His single-arm strength, after opening the first True Meridian, had surged by a full ten thousand jin!

It directly soared from the original twenty thousand jin to thirty thousand jin!

Ten times that of others!

Was this the True Meridian opened by Horizontal Training True Qi?

It was simply outrageous.

After the intense excitement, Shen Che calmed down and realized a serious problem.

He opened the System panel.

[Host: Shen Che]
[Time Value: 0]
[Cultivation Techniques:]
[Black Tiger Saber Technique (Level 6) (Cannot be upgraded temporarily)]
[Golden Bell Shield (Level 14) (Cannot be upgraded temporarily)]
[Iron Shirt (Level 11) (Cannot be upgraded temporarily)]

The Time Value was gone.

Opening the first True Meridian had exhausted all 500 points he had painstakingly saved.

What about the second one?

Given the nature of increasing difficulty, it would probably require a thousand points? And two thousand for the third?

Opening all twelve True Meridians would require an astronomical figure.

Relying solely on the current method of scavenging corpses in the Demon Suppressing Prison, it would take ages to gather enough.

He had to find another way.

Shen Che's mind raced, and he quickly identified two paths.

First, continue to strengthen his physical body.

The root of his Horizontal Training True Qi lay in his monstrous physique.

The stronger the physical body, the more potent and higher quality the Horizontal Training True Qi it could produce.

Using stronger True Qi to nourish the meridians would naturally increase efficiency, potentially reducing the Time Value consumed.

Second, using external aids.

He recalled the "Meridian Opening Pill" Yan Xiu had mentioned before.

That kind of pill, specifically used to aid breakthroughs in the True Meridian Realm, would definitely significantly shorten the time needed to temper the meridians.

Meridian Opening Pills required contribution points from the Demon Suppression Division to exchange for.

Contribution points, in turn, were obtained by completing tasks or slaying Demonic Beasts.

If you can't find the book by its title, you could try searching for the author; perhaps they just changed their name!