Someone Was Born in Rome

As the sun began to set, Shen Lin and Zijing followed behind Sun Zhi, leaving Qiulin County.

After seeing Sun Zhi at the city gate earlier, Zijing had sensed something was amiss.

When she realized Sun Zhi's destination seemed to be the same as hers, her lips twitched slightly. She turned to Shen Lin and said, "You were planning to go to Baoshan Village all along?"

Shen Lin nodded, a satisfied smile on his face.

"That was my intention."

The wealthy patron was very particular. Before they departed, she had given him two Meridian-Opening Pills as a deposit.

This made Shen Lin incredibly excited. While pretending to put the Meridian-Opening Pills back into his embrace, he had already activated the system to perform deductions.

With the two Meridian-Opening Pills and the remaining lifespan from demons and monsters, Shen Lin had managed to break through his tenth meridian.

If this trip went smoothly and he obtained enough lifespan from demons and monsters, breaking through the last two meridians would be no problem.

The Innate realm was already within his grasp.

Seeing Shen Lin nod, Zijing pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "Is it because of the three dog demons in Baoshan Village?"

Shen Lin's steps faltered slightly, and he turned to look at Zijing.

He wasn't particularly surprised that she knew about the demonic creatures in Baoshan Village.

After all, if even Sun Zhi could contact them, it was natural for the extraordinary Zijing to have her own channels to find out.

Perhaps...

He could obtain some information through her channels.

With that thought, Shen Lin directly asked, "Do you know their specific strength?"

Zijing nodded and said, "Baoshan Village is the territory of the third boss of Black Wind Stronghold, Huang Xiaotian. His strength is roughly equivalent to a Martial Artist at the fifth level of the Meridian Opening Realm. His two younger brothers are also in the Meridian Opening Realm, but because all the resources were given to Huang Xiaotian, their strength isn't great. They've only just broken through their first meridian."

"You seem very familiar with this Black Wind Stronghold?"

Facing Shen Lin's probing, Zijing didn't respond directly but instead asked, "Including the two Meridian-Opening Pills you received earlier, you should be able to break through at least six meridians now, right? Why don't you choose to break through to the Innate realm and are still working so hard to slay demons here?"

"I'll wait a bit longer. Everyone always needs higher aspirations."

Hearing Shen Lin's calm words, Zijing chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Are you perhaps aiming to break through all twelve meridians?"

"Why not?"

Shen Lin retorted.

Seeing his serious expression, Zijing's smile faded, and she spoke earnestly, "Putting aside the difficulty of finding the meridians, even if you have the highest-grade Meridian Opening Secret Art and can find all twelve meridians, opening them is another problem.

After the sixth meridian, the difficulty of opening each subsequent meridian increases exponentially, and the amount of Meridian-Opening Pills consumed is astonishing.

Even the great families in the provincial capitals only choose the most outstanding descendants of each generation to provide them with resources to attempt the twelve meridians.

You don't have a prominent family background, and by wearing this official uniform, you cannot join those prestigious sects. Even if your talent is outstanding, your future path will only become more difficult.

It's even possible that failing to reach the twelve meridians could affect your mindset and even hinder your breakthrough to the Innate realm.

It would be best to break through while you are young."

Zijing's advice was, undeniably, very sound.

Before reaching the Innate realm, a Martial Artist's lifespan was no different from that of an ordinary person.

For someone from Shen Lin's background, even if he spent the rest of his life slaying demons, it would be difficult to earn enough rewards to attempt the twelve meridians.

However, Shen Lin's confidence was not shaken in the slightest. Instead, he chuckled, "According to you, should I go to the capital and marry into a wealthy family? That way, I'd have enough resources to open the twelve meridians."

Upon hearing this, Zijing's body trembled slightly, and her expression became somewhat unnatural. She turned her head and said, "The descendants of wealthy families in the capital do not lack those who can open the twelve meridians."

Shen Lin couldn't help but sigh, "That's true. Such wealthy families probably wouldn't lack Meridian-Opening Pills either."

"No!" Zijing slowly shook her head. "The descendants of wealthy families in the capital don't need Meridian-Opening Pills to open their meridians..."

After a moment of hesitation, she finally continued, "Because from birth, those individuals are bathed in medicinal baths daily, using the power of rare and precious herbs to nourish their meridians and prevent them from being blocked by impure energies.

Their starting point for cultivating martial arts is already the Innate realm!"

Zijing had initially thought that revealing this would be a huge blow to Shen Lin.

After all, within the small Qiulin County, he was already considered a genius rarely seen in a century.

Yet, the goal of his lifelong efforts was merely the starting point for the disciples of the wealthy families in the capital.

How cruel.

But to her surprise, Shen Lin showed no sign of dejection. Instead, after hearing her words, he became quite excited.

This is how it should be.

A fierce tiger doesn't take pride in slaughtering rabbits.

The stronger those wealthy family disciples are, the greater the sense of accomplishment will be when he tramples them underfoot on his way to the peak.

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, Shen Lin looked at Zijing and asked curiously, "You should have been able to break through to the Innate realm long ago. Why?"

Given Zijing's clear understanding of the imperial capital's elite families, her background must also be quite significant.

However, the aura emanating from her was distinct, not at all like those elite scions born with naturally clear meridians.

Even so, judging by how easily she could produce so many Meridian-Opening Pills, her family background was certainly extraordinary.

It wouldn't be difficult to directly use Meridian-Opening Pills to break through the twelve meridians.

But why now...

As if sensing Shen Lin's confusion, Zijing's gaze briefly dimmed. She didn't answer, but instead quickened her pace, walking ahead of Shen Lin.

When her family rose to prominence, she had already passed the age limit where she could maintain clear meridians through medicinal baths.

She had intended to use Meridian-Opening Pills to directly break through the twelve meridians once she reached the age for cultivation.

But who could have imagined that such a thing would happen...

Zijing sighed softly, then abruptly raised her head, the regret in her eyes vanishing.

Therefore, this time, she absolutely had to retrieve that cultivation technique.

Only by doing so could she, despite her disadvantageous start, catch up to the prodigies of the imperial capital.

Only by doing so could she gain enough strength to reclaim everything she had lost.

"Baoshan Village isn't far now. I'll tell you in detail about the Wu family..."