Great Yin Jade Lotus Treasure Scroll

Li Wei felt a heaviness atop her head, followed by a warm, smooth sensation.

Then it was as if a hole had opened in her forehead, and a torrent of heat poured downward, scouring every corner of her body.

She could not help trembling. Her cheeks flushed bright red, and she felt as though she were soaking in a hot spring, so comfortable she was about to melt.

"Grandma... G-Grandma, what are you... doing? Ah♀~" Li Wei's voice trembled, the final note turning into an uncontrollable moan.

Damn! This is way too... There goes my lifelong reputation!

"An empowerment infusion. What else could I be doing?" Jiang Xinyue's voice was utterly calm.

The warm current surged through her body in wave after wave, and Li Wei gradually adapted to it.

Suddenly remembering Jiang Han's mention of the toll such an infusion took, she could not help worrying. "Grandma, weren't you injured? Could this infusion..."

The warm current paused slightly, then surged even more fiercely.

"Ah~" Li Wei nearly bit her tongue. Her whole body shook like a sieve, and just as she was about to collapse, an invisible force held her upright, leaving her able to do nothing but maintain her cross-legged posture.

Only after that lethal wave of pleasure passed did she hear Jiang Xinyue's somewhat teasing voice. "Good granddaughter, don't worry. Your grandma here was faking it!"

"Huh?" Li Wei's almond-shaped eyes went round. "Faking it?"

"Otherwise?" Jiang Xinyue's voice was lazy. "Those two from the Gu Family—one lying unconscious, the other half-dead. If I didn't come back to hold the fort, would this wedding be able to proceed peacefully?"

"The Zhang Family has a Martial Immortal, you know. You're only a Grandmaster... Ah~~~ spare me~" Li Wei lost control again, stars bursting before her eyes.

Fuck! This is so humiliating! That soft, limp voice came from me?!

Damn it, I'll never be able to face anyone again!

If she had been able to move, Li Wei would have dug a three-bedroom apartment beneath her feet and crawled inside, never to show her face again.

After the wave ended, Li Wei panted heavily. Her hair was damp with sweat and clung to her cheeks, while the corners of her eyes and her neck were flushed an unnatural red, leaving her looking rather disheveled.

Jiang Xinyue snorted. "What, you still dare look down on your grandma?"

"N-No..." Li Wei answered cautiously.

Grandma, you really do love your ex-boyfriend...

"All right, stop letting your mind wander!" Jiang Xinyue's voice suddenly turned serious. "Embrace the Origin and guard the One. We're beginning!"

"Huh? It hasn't started yet?" Li Wei exclaimed in astonishment.

Jiang Xinyue sneered. "That just helped you organize your body, invigorate your qi and blood, and restore some of your mental strength. Now shut up and calm your mind!"

Li Wei hurriedly gathered her thoughts and sensed her body.

All at once, she noticed that her body had begun to "boil." Her qi and blood were vigorous and abundant, surging warmly in every direction. Even the mental exhaustion caused by that mysterious state in the morning had vanished.

Huh? Has the "skill" finished cooling down?

She was still puzzled when Jiang Xinyue's astonished voice suddenly came from above her head. "Why are all your acupoints fully open?!"

Li Wei fell silent, not daring to make a sound.

She heard Jiang Xinyue muttering to herself, "'Dao-Approaching Body' has this benefit too? That old Yun Sheng never mentioned it... Could he have been holding out on me?"

Li Wei continued playing dead. Silence was golden, and she even felt like whistling to conceal her guilty conscience.

"Forget it! Whatever! We'll go straight to the next step!" Jiang Xinyue stopped dwelling on it.

As she guided the qi and blood inside Li Wei's body with her own strength, she explained carefully:

"The human body has three hundred and sixty acupoints. One hundred and twenty are in the skin and membranes, one hundred and twenty in the sinews and bones, and one hundred and twenty in the organs! Connecting these acupoints through specific qi-and-blood meridians creates different qi-and-blood circulations, and different methods of connection produce different effects."

"The so-called divine arts and supreme techniques are methods whose predecessors found approaches close to perfect connection. More importantly, they can merge with the technique's unique artistic conception, unleashing power far beyond that of ordinary techniques."

"Now that technology is advanced, the computational power of supercomputers can also deduce qi-and-blood circulation routes that are nearly perfect."

"But lifeless things are lifeless things in the end. Techniques deduced by machines have no artistic conception and no soul. For example, the 'Natal Lotus Flower' of our Jiang Family's 'Great Yin Jade Lotus Treasure Scroll,' and the 'Primordial Essence Great Sun' of the Gu Family's 'Great Sun Meditation Method'—none of these can be calculated."

Jiang Xinyue spoke brightly, with a hint of pride, like a child showing off a toy. "Our Jiang Family's 'Great Yin Jade Lotus Treasure Scroll' ranks among the finest inheritances in the entire Hua Nation!"

"When others break through to become First Order martial artists, they usually first connect the one hundred and twenty acupoints in the skin and membranes, constructing a small outer circulation."

"Upon reaching the Second and Third Orders, they construct the other two small circulations in the sinews and bones and in the organs respectively. The three streams of qi and blood run along their own tracks, independent of one another."

"Only at the moment they break through to the Fourth Order do they forcibly connect and fuse the three independent small circulations, using that instant of explosive force to blast open the Lower Dantian."

"But the 'Great Yin Jade Lotus Treasure Scroll' is different. From the very beginning, it focuses on the whole, connecting all three hundred and sixty acupoints into one complete and unified great circulation, with the position where the Lower Dantian should be serving as the central 'node' of the entire circulation network."

"In this way, the acupoints are the 'soil,' the meridians are the 'roots,' and that central 'node' is like a 'lotus root' buried deep in the mud. Once enough has been accumulated, the 'lotus root' breaks through the 'mud,' and the Lower Dantian forms on its own."

"Later, advancing to the Fifth and Sixth Orders is the process of the 'stem' continually growing, the 'lotus leaves' unfurling, and the 'flower bud' condensing, until it blossoms above the rippling waters. Breaking through the realms becomes as natural as water flowing downhill, and the foundation is incomparably solid..."

Li Wei was captivated. Unable to resist being cheeky, she asked, "So, Gu'er... cough, cough~ Grandma, what's the price?"

Jiang Xinyue paused, her voice gritting with frustration. "The price? The price is that before the Natal Lotus Flower blooms at the Sixth Order, this lousy technique gives you no bonuses whatsoever—it's even worse than those common rubbish techniques sold on the market!"

Li Wei asked, "Techniques have bonuses?"

Jiang Xinyue snorted twice, irritably saying, "Obviously! Take the Gu Family's 'Great Sun Meditation Method.' At the First Order, the qi and blood already carry a burning effect, so punching someone is like roasting meat... At the Fourth Order, the Essence Refining Realm, it can even condense a phantom 'Great Sun' in the Lower Dantian..."

"Just talking about it makes me angry!!!" Jiang Xinyue grew exasperated and humiliated.

"That old bastard Gu Litong! Even when we were at the Martial University, he always loved challenging me to spar! How was I supposed to fight him? Huh? Throw lotus roots at him? Wait for him to turn me into fried lotus-root sandwiches?! Do you know how I got through those days?! I'm so pissed—I'm so pissed—!!!"

The corner of Li Wei's eye twitched. Holy crap, there's a story here... Who was Gu Litong? Another member of the Gu Family? From the sound of it, he was from the same generation as my cheap grandma. Could he be Aunt Liang's father-in-law? That injured Grandmaster?

And it's weak before the Sixth Order? Then it's fine, just a minor problem! Wouldn't advancing to the Sixth Order as soon as possible solve it? Hehe~ I've got a cheat, after all!

While she was lost in wild thoughts, her face suddenly went pale. The flush vanished from her skin, and beads of sweat the size of beans pattered down.

Pain!

From within to without, every inch of her body felt as though countless red-hot needles had pierced it simultaneously. The agony nearly made her faint.

In a daze, Jiang Xinyue's voice sounded distant. "Hold on! We're beginning to 'take root'!"

Jiang Xinyue firmly restrained Li Wei's continuously trembling body while cautiously using her own "true essence" to guide Li Wei's qi and blood, opening up those minute meridians!

Thread by thread, three hundred and sixty "rootlets" were forcibly coaxed into existence.

They twined around one another and connected together, rapidly and precisely forming a complicated blood-vessel network with a strange beauty.

At first, everything proceeded smoothly. But the instant the central "node" was established, Jiang Xinyue froze.

The moment all the meridians finished connecting, the qi and blood within Li Wei's body seemed to have found an outlet, surging madly toward the "node"!

This phenomenon...

Impossible! She had only just become a martial artist. How could her qi and blood already be showing signs of charging into the Lower Dantian?!

Her thoughts churned like a stormy sea. Terrified that something might go wrong with Li Wei, she hurriedly increased the flow of true essence, attempting to forcibly suppress the restless qi and blood.

But when her divine sense sank in to investigate, and the full appearance of the "node" finally emerged clearly in her perception—

"Th-The Lower Dantian is half-open—?!!!"

Jiang Xinyue let out a shrill, explosive cry.