Reaching Entry Grade

Jiang Liu sat cross-legged and meditated, repairing the internal injuries caused by his qi and blood running amok. It took quite a while before he finally recovered.

This won't do. I need to calm down and think this through. Jiang Liu immediately resumed sitting cross-legged, his mind entering a state of perfect clarity.

The meridians required by the Five Elements Heart Sutra and the techniques with special attributes seemed to appear in Jiang Liu's mind as a three-dimensional image. The various circulation routes automatically linked together, but he could never make them run smoothly.

The requirement for circulating the heart sutra was to complete one technique before connecting it to another. Yet he kept turning onto a different route halfway through, making it impossible to complete even one technique's circulation path.

Suddenly, Jiang Liu thought of something. It seemed to be a matter of habit. Every time he experimented, he always started with the Five Elements Heart Sutra. What if he started with the Lightning Guiding Art this time?

A stream of qi and blood rose from his lower abdomen and followed the circulation route of the Lightning Guiding Art. After completing it, he successfully circulated the Five Elements Heart Sutra as well. Then he circulated the Thunderclap Art, which also succeeded. Next came the Wind Rise Art—but this time, his qi and blood ran amok.

Jiang Liu was thoroughly frustrated. The first few had gone perfectly, but once he reached the Wind Rise Art, everything fell apart. Something had to be wrong somewhere.

Jiang Liu decided to continue experimenting. This time, he started with the Wind Rise Art, but he failed when connecting it to the first technique. His qi and blood immediately ran wild in all directions, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Jiang Liu hurriedly stopped.

Jiang Liu meditated while regulating his breathing and recovering his qi and blood. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. Could it be that the Five Elements Heart Sutra could connect to every technique? When he drew out all the various circulation routes and looked at them again, he was so embarrassed by his own stupidity that he nearly cried.

Jiang Liu began by circulating the Lightning Guiding Art and setting his qi and blood in motion. Next, he circulated the Five Elements Heart Sutra, then connected to the Thunderclap Art while continuing to circulate the Five Elements Heart Sutra. After that came the Wind Rise Art, followed by the Five Elements Heart Sutra once more. Then he circulated the Frost Art and finally the Five Elements Heart Sutra again. Next came the Lightning Guiding Art, finally forming a perfect cycle.

After completing one cycle, the four special-attribute heart sutras had each been circulated once, while the Five Elements Heart Sutra had been circulated four times. The number of circulations was high, but each cycle also took a long time! Although it was faster than circulating each heart sutra separately, it was not by much. Perhaps once his proficiency increased, the time required would decrease considerably.

Jiang Liu circulated the heart sutra route he had worked out through experimentation once more. By the time he finished, the sky had already grown completely dark.

Yet Jiang Liu's eyes were exceptionally bright. He had been focused on experimenting before and had not noticed what was different about the circulation routes of these heart sutras. But during the second circulation, he finally realized that when combined, the routes of these techniques formed the circulation route of the body's major meridians.

In other words, there was no such thing as cultivating only one technique! Those who cultivated only one were merely taking shortcuts. Jiang Liu did not yet know what this meant. He only knew that he seemed to have discovered something extraordinary. He felt uneasy, wondering whether he should tell anyone. But he thought that his strength was still weak, so it was better not to say anything for now.

With a thought from Jiang Liu, a deep-blue light screen appeared.

Auxiliary System:

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: Martial Artist (Not yet Entry Grade 24/100)

Heart Sutras: Five Elements Heart Sutra (No Grade, Not Initiated 10/500)

Lightning Guiding Art (Yellow Grade, Low Rank, Not Initiated 4/100)

Thunderclap Art (Yellow Grade, Low Rank, Not Initiated 4/100)

Wind Rise Art (Yellow Grade, Low Rank, Not Initiated 3/100)

Frost Art (Yellow Grade, Low Rank, Not Initiated 3/100)

Techniques: None

Seeing that he was already close to reaching Entry Grade, a smile spread across Jiang Liu's lips. His progress was truly fast! Although circulating the heart sutras took more time, it refined far more essence! After all, this was only his first day of cultivating the heart sutras.

Jiang Liu's heart was now filled with hope. Even if he cultivated all his meridians, his cultivation would not fall behind others. After all, a martial artist's grade was determined by the amount of essence stored.

Because he cultivated every attribute, he could cultivate martial arts of any attribute. Moreover, martial arts of different attributes could be used in coordination. He believed that their power and grade would surely rise to another level.

______________________

Whoosh!

Jiang Liu followed the heart sutra circulation route he had designed earlier. After completing one cycle, a vortex of airflow suddenly appeared in his lower abdomen. At first, the vortex turned rather slowly, but it gradually accelerated.

As the airflow vortex sped up, a suction force slowly appeared. The force grew stronger and stronger, pulling Essence Particles into the vortex! One particle after another gradually filled the airflow vortex, causing it to expand steadily.

Jiang Liu knew that he was finally about to open his dantian. The appearance of the airflow vortex marked the beginning of opening the dantian. Only after the airflow vortex had been filled for the first time would he officially enter the ranks of first-grade martial artists.

The airflow vortex continued tugging at the Essence Particles. The particles already pulled inside began rotating along with the airflow vortex.

When the last Essence Particle in his meridians was pulled into the airflow vortex, the vortex gradually stopped spinning. The Essence Particles, however, did not stop. They continued to rotate.

Finally, they reached a peak. Jiang Liu felt his entire body shudder. His body, which he had previously thought he had tempered to the utmost limit, suddenly began to release clumps of grime through his skin. His body was cleansing and refining his meridians once again, expelling the impurities within.