Knowing Yourself, Meridian Levels

The text in the Quest Log was merely a quantification of Lin Lin's current state.

As far as Lin Lin himself could tell, although his vitality and mental strength had been greatly depleted during that sudden enlightenment, he had never felt better.

His inner breath coursed rapidly through his body, Sword Intent surged within his heart, and his muscles, bones, blood, and flesh were brimming with strength. He had never felt so powerful.

The depletion of his vitality and mental strength merely meant that Lin Lin could not sustain combat at the moment, but his fighting strength had made genuine, tangible progress during that sudden enlightenment.

"Clang!"

At that moment, the bell signaling the end of Morning Martial Arts Practice rang out, bringing Lin Lin back to his senses.

He glanced at the sun already hanging in the sky, then at the fellow disciples around him, whose expressions were complicated with envy, jealousy, and other emotions. He realized that Morning Martial Arts Practice should have ended long ago, but had been forcibly extended because of his sudden enlightenment.

"I am Lin Lin. My thanks to Senior Brother and all my fellow disciples for your care."

Lin Lin clasped his hands and bowed to those around him, expressing his gratitude.

If those fellow disciples had not prolonged Morning Martial Arts Practice and maintained the sword formation, his sudden enlightenment likely would not have gone so smoothly.

When one received help, one should express gratitude. Lin Lin had never been the sort of arrogant person who thought others' help was only natural.

Lin Lin's politeness improved the expressions of the fellow disciples around him.

Though they were still somewhat jealous that Lin Lin had actually attained sudden enlightenment, they also felt relieved.

"Junior Brother Lin, you should practice some movement techniques."

Cui Hao offered his guidance.

Lin Lin was slightly taken aback.

Up to now, he had only practiced internal cultivation and swordsmanship, but movement techniques could also greatly improve one's martial arts.

With movement techniques, one could evade and pursue enemies with greater ease.

It was only because no one had guided him before that Lin Lin had failed to realize his own weakness.

At this moment, Cui Hao's guidance came at exactly the right time.

Lin Lin clasped his hands, bowed, and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Cui Hao did not make much of it. He merely smiled, patted Lin Lin on the shoulder, and said with a laugh, "Keep working hard in your cultivation."

With that, he turned and left.

Morning Martial Arts Practice had ended, and the other fellow disciples gradually dispersed as well. Next came breakfast.

After breakfast, the Official Disciples had to attend classes, while the Outer Sect Disciples had to carry out their assigned Chore Tasks. Each had their own matters to attend to.

Before Morning Martial Arts Practice began, Lin Lin had been ignored by everyone and even mocked and ridiculed. Yet now, he had suddenly become the center of attention.

Fellow disciples who knew him and those who did not alike gathered around him.

"Lin Lin, you actually attained sudden enlightenment. Your cultivation has advanced tremendously over the past month."

"Do you have any cultivation secrets? Why not share them with us so we can exchange pointers?"

"Lin Lin, your swordsmanship should rank among the best of the disciples from our generation now. You're incredible. When you have time, give us some pointers."

On the road away from the Martial Arts Practice Square, everyone spoke at once. Some flattered him, while others tried to pry for information.

Besides some senior and junior brothers, there were even lively, youthful, beautiful senior and junior sisters crowding around Lin Lin.

To be honest, hearing so many fellow disciples praise and flatter him made Lin Lin feel a little lightheaded.

Being the center of the crowd truly felt good. Being called handsome one after another made it easy to lose himself.

But he had not forgotten how these fellow disciples had secretly mocked and ridiculed him not long ago.

At their core, they were merely strangers he knew, not friends.

Thus, Lin Lin wore an awkward yet polite smile.

He brushed them off, saying, "Thank you for your regard, senior brothers, junior brothers, senior sisters, and junior sisters. What tricks are there to sudden enlightenment? Nothing more than hard work, sweat, and a tiny bit of insignificant talent. None of you lack these things. As long as you persist in cultivation, you can all attain sudden enlightenment."

"Exchange swordsmanship? My mother told me to go home for dinner."

"Next time. Definitely next time."

A short while later, Lin Lin broke free from the crowd and headed home.

The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a cold expression.

"The world I'm in has changed, but its essence has not. If I want to earn others' respect, I can only become stronger myself."

"These fellow disciples are praising and flattering me today only because a mere bottom-ranker like me unexpectedly attained sudden enlightenment. But in truth, among the Official Disciples of my generation, my martial arts level has only just reached slightly above average."

"I must recognize my own position. I cannot lose myself in this vanity. I still need to keep working hard."

As his thoughts turned, Lin Lin reflected on the Morning Martial Arts Practice from not long ago.

One sudden enlightenment had earned him everyone's attention and made him the center of the crowd, but that was merely a temporary illusion. It did not mean he had already become exceptional.

Once he recognized this, Lin Lin's somewhat inflated mindset returned to normal, and he calmed down once more.

"Senior Brother's guidance makes a great deal of sense. I'll find time to learn some movement techniques today."

After making his decision, Lin Lin opened the Attribute Panel while continuing down the road home and examined the newly added meridian level display.

It was a supplementary page. Once opened, Lin Lin saw a diagram of the human meridians modeled after his own body.

The Twelve Principal Meridians—the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, Hand Jueyin Pericardium Meridian, Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian, and others—as well as the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, including the Ren Meridian and Du Meridian, were all clearly displayed. Each glowed with a faint blue light, indicating that they had been activated.

Numerous acupoints were also shown along these meridians, but they were all gray and unactivated. This represented that Lin Lin had yet to formally cultivate his acupoints.

Beside the meridian diagram, the status of each meridian was also displayed.

Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, Level 1. Current progress: 22/100. Vitality limit +6. Inner force limit +1.

Total Meridians Level: Level 20. All attributes +5. Vitality +100. Inner force +50. Inner force and vitality recovery speed per unit time +1.

The other meridians displayed roughly similar attributes. In addition, there was an extra attribute display for Total Meridians Level.

This made Lin Lin understand that once a meridian had been fully nurtured, it would grant fixed increases to his vitality and inner force limits. Raising the levels of all the meridians throughout his body would grant additional development of his potential.

With this level display for the Meridian System, Lin Lin could develop evenly, tap into his body's potential as much as possible, and clearly see the finer progress of his internal cultivation. He would not end up focusing on one area while neglecting another, creating obvious weaknesses for himself.

By the time he finished understanding the Meridian System, Lin Lin had arrived home.

Breakfast had just been prepared.

Compared with the communal food in the Hundred Flowers Valley disciple cafeteria, the food prepared at home was clearly far more refined.

Lin Lin enjoyed a hearty meal, soothing his ravenous stomach.

After eating, Lin Lin took a Hundred Flowers Heart Clearing Pill and cultivated his internal arts for a while. He used up the meridian durability that had already recovered, and his internal cultivation improved slightly once again.

Afterward, seeing that it was about time, he took up his sword and headed out to attend his morning lessons.