Opening the Meridians

Day after day, Yi Yun's footprints covered the back mountain of the Lian Clan.

Yi Yun would refine Savage Bones at night, sneak peeks at the Warrior Reserve Camp's training in the morning, and then cultivate in the back mountain all day. He would only return home for a short nap of one hour at dusk.

Yi Yun's cultivation was so diligent that his strength advanced by leaps and bounds.

The back mountain was quite a distance from Medicine Mountain, and it was also far from the tribe's village. Normally, no one would come here. There was no one during the day, and not even a ghost at night. Yi Yun practiced here without any worry of being seen.

Fifteen days later—

"Hoo!"

Yi Yun roared, his body shooting out like an arrow. He leaped onto a ten-meter-high rock face!

The wind whistled past his ears, and Yi Yun's joints popped and cracked like a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry!

"Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain!"

Yi Yun tensed his body, using his legs to drive his waist, transferring the power from his spine to his arms, and unleashed a punch!

"Buzz!"

A clear vibration emanated from within Yi Yun, like a taut bowstring being drawn. This was the resounding twang of Yi Yun's tendons! The sound was even more intense than that of Yao Yuan that day!

"Crack!"

Before Yi Yun, a large rock, a foot square, was shattered by his punch!

Web-like cracks spread across the entire stone!

This was no ordinary rock, but Black Iron Rock, which was much harder than common stones. Yet today, Yi Yun had shattered it with a single punch.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

In the jungle, birds that had already settled down were startled and flew away. The insects chirping and frogs croaking all fell silent out of fright.

For a moment, the wilderness was utterly silent, with only leaves and bird feathers falling, landing on Yi Yun's head and shoulders.

Thunderclouds gather in the heavens, startled arrows bring down flying geese!

My punch has now reached this realm!

Currently, when Yi Yun unleashed his full strength, his joints did indeed crackle like thunder, but as for startling flying geese with a bow, that would only be possible for a wounded lone goose. Otherwise, even a powerful bow of nine stones wouldn't be able to startle a goose.

Casually moving his body, Yi Yun's joints made "kacha, kacha" sounds again. His bones were now like finely forged iron, and his tendons were truly like the dragon tendons of a drawn bow!

"My current realm has been completely consolidated. I can attempt to open my meridians and break through to the Fourth Layer of Mortal Blood: Meridian Realm!"

The human body has meridians, but ordinary people's meridians are blocked, preventing circulation. Thus, they cannot accommodate Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi.

Martial Practitioners, after their physical bodies are greatly tempered, must open their meridians to prepare for truly stepping onto the path of martial arts.

The meridians in the human body are divided into twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians.

The twelve regular meridians pass through the limbs, consisting of the three yang meridians of the hand, the three yin meridians of the hand, and the three yang meridians of the foot, the three yin meridians of the foot, totaling twelve.

The eight extraordinary meridians are distributed throughout the body. The two most important meridians among the eight extraordinary meridians are the Ren and Du Meridians.

The Ren and Du Meridians are located on the body's midline. From the front, they appear as a straight line.

The Ren Meridian is in front, and the Du Meridian is in the back. These two lines form a circle along the human midline, passing through the Dantian and Perineum. They are like two ropes passing through the crotch and encircling the body.

There is a break in the connection between the Ren and Du Meridians. By opening these two meridians and reconnecting the broken parts, the body's energy will form a perfect, closed circulation loop along the midline. Therefore, opening the Ren and Du Meridians is a crucial step in opening all the body's meridians.

Yi Yun had read many martial arts novels with plots about opening the Ren and Du Meridians.

For example, Zhang Wuji cultivated the Heaven and Earth Great Shift to open all his body's vital points, and Xu Zhu opened his meridians while receiving the internal energy inheritance from Li Qiushui and Grandmother Tong.

Ancient medical texts also contained many records of opening the Ren and Du Meridians. Once the Ren and Du Meridians are open, one can undergo a complete transformation and greatly increase their power.

The perfect closure of the meridians also paves the way for cultivating to higher realms in the future.

Yi Yun sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the energy accumulated within his body, impacting his meridians!

Once his meridians were open, Yi Yun's strength would essentially be comparable to the peerless masters in martial arts novels.

If this were ancient China, he could truly scale walls, leap over rooftops, and seek revenge with a clear conscience, even beheading an enemy general amidst thousands of troops.

There are two methods to open the Ren and Du Meridians: one is with external help, and the other is through self-cultivation.

In biographical novels, peerless masters would expend their own power to help the protagonist open their Ren and Du Meridians, causing the protagonist's strength to increase dramatically overnight. This is known as "transmitting power."

Although this method is quick, it is not the orthodox way and is not as solid as cultivating it oneself.

Yi Yun naturally chose the second method, which is to open his meridians through his own efforts.

The "Dragon Marrow Tiger Bones Fist" contains methods for opening meridians. One sits cross-legged and tries to make each breath as deep and long as possible.

After a Martial Practitioner reaches the third layer of Mortal Blood, the breath inhaled into the body, mixed with the energy already accumulated within, becomes a stream of fire circulating within the body!

Yi Yun consciously guided this energy to the Dantian and compressed it there!

Again and again, Yi Yun's entire body's energy slowly gathered. His breathing became faster and deeper.

Absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, and breathing in the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi!

If someone were nearby at this moment, they would see Yi Yun's body faintly enveloped in a soft glow.

Especially his chest, where purple light condensed, gradually spreading throughout his body.

This is the radiance emitted when the Origin Purple Crystal absorbs Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. As Yi Yun sat cross-legged, breathing in and out, the Purple Crystal in his heart also absorbed the energy of heaven and earth along with him, assisting Yi Yun in his final breakthrough.

Slowly, the purple light on Yi Yun's body grew more intense. This purple light was precisely like the "Purple Qi from the East" in ancient Chinese legends, a sign of a sage!

With repeated energy accumulation, sounds like a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry emanated from within Yi Yun. The blood flowing through his body was like a mighty river, surging ceaselessly!

With each breath, the airflow around Yi Yun spun rapidly, like a great whale drawing in water, his presence astonishing.

"Hoo—Hoo—Hoo—"

Yi Yun's breathing grew heavier and rougher. With every breath, his body swelled, as if his body were a small boat on waves, rising and falling.

And within these undulations, Yi Yun's entire body's strength continuously gathered, and gathered again.

His internal tendons made sounds like a taut bowstring, his resilient skin stretched taut like an inflated oxhide, and his bones cracked like popping beans.

When all of this reached its peak, Yi Yun felt his body was about to explode. He controlled the gathered strength, along with the heat he had inhaled, and channeled it all into his Dantian, wave after wave, like angry tides crashing against rocks!

When Yi Yun felt he had reached his limit, and the tiny blood vessels on his skin began to rupture, a "boom" sounded. Centered on Yi Yun, the energy erupted completely. The rock he sat on shattered, and the bushes and small trees within a five-meter radius were all destroyed!

Yi Yun's body was utterly drained. Blood flowed from his nostrils and ears, but it wasn't fresh blood; it was black blood. Even his pores exuded some gray sweat.

It was done.

Fourth Layer of Mortal Blood—Meridians!

Yi Yun knew that he had finally opened all the meridians in his body, officially entering the Fourth Layer of Mortal Blood: Meridian Realm, becoming a figure equivalent to the peerless heroes in martial arts novels.

Back when Yi Yun read martial arts novels, he had also longed to become a dashing swordsman, capable of leaping over rooftops, upholding justice, and settling grievances swiftly.

And today, he actually possessed such strength.

However, in this different world, the energy was far richer than on Earth. On Earth, opening the Ren and Du Meridians was already the mark of a supreme master. That was probably because Earth lacked the so-called "Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi."

Here, not only was there Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, but also Savage Power, spiritual energy, and all sorts of mysterious powers that Yi Yun had never understood before, powers as exaggerated as nuclear energy on Earth.

This power could be used by him, so the Fourth Layer of Mortal Blood: Meridian Realm was merely the starting point of the Martial Path.

Yi Yun leaped up from the ground. He surveyed his surroundings, his senses once again sharp. Within ten paces, he could clearly hear the rustling of leaves in the wind and the sounds of small insects burrowing.

He could even count the number of fallen leaves on the grass around him at a glance – thirty-two in total!

His perception was clear, and his thoughts were agile. Many martial arts masters possessed photographic memories precisely because their meridians were all connected, leading to significant improvements in their mental faculties!

One must understand that the circulation of the Ren and Du Meridians passes through the brain. When energy flows to the brain, a person's memory naturally becomes stronger, and their reactions become much quicker.

"Awesome, so awesome!"

The changes in his body filled Yi Yun with joy. He had perfectly broken through to the Fourth Layer of Mortal Blood: Meridian Realm. Not only that, but he had once again used this breakthrough to undergo Marrow Cleansing.

Ordinary people consume grains and various foods, accumulating many impurities in their bodies. Before reaching the Purple Blood Realm, one must undergo Marrow Cleansing.

The more thorough this Marrow Cleansing, the better. Yi Yun had already cleansed his body twice, and the impurities he expelled were less each time.

Yi Yun stripped off his clothes and jumped into the deep pool to bathe. He dove over a hundred meters deep and held his breath for twenty minutes before swimming out.

"Splash!"

Water erupted as Yi Yun leaped onto the large rock like a big carp!

He was completely naked, with no spare clothes. Yi Yun put on his freshly washed old clothes while they were still wet.

These coarse cloth clothes, soaked with water, clung to Yi Yun's body, accentuating his perfect physique.

After days of arduous training, Yi Yun's muscles had become increasingly firm, his physique more toned. He had also grown a few inches taller, looking more and more like a handsome young man.

Especially now that Yi Yun had broken through to the Meridian Realm, his overall aura had changed.

He stood on the large rock, his body like a drawn sword, his presence sharp and extraordinary. The soft moonlight shone down, illuminating Yi Yun's smooth skin like flowing mercury.

Where did such a youth resemble a poor child who couldn't even afford to eat?

He was like an uncarved piece of jade, yet already exuding a beautiful luster. The coarse cloth clothes, which could almost be described as "ragged," couldn't conceal his radiance.