It was impossible to say how much time had passed. After carefully going through the Morning Sun Acupoint Nourishing Art from beginning to end, Zheng Qian finally decided to try it himself.
"Phew..."
As he let out a long breath, his hands slowly formed a Treasure Vase Mudra.
Then, with a thought, the True Qi in his Dantian Sea of Qi wrapped around a strand of astral energy and slowly moved toward the Ren Du Meridian Channels.
Afterward, it shifted toward the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian, the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, the Yin and Yang Heel Vessels...
More than half an hour passed before the astral energy wrapped in his True Qi finally returned to the Ren Du Meridian Channels and surged toward the Baihui Acupoint atop his head.
The Baihui Acupoint was precisely the starting acupoint of one of the two complete Small Heavenly Circuit acupoint diagrams recorded in the Morning Sun One Qi Art.
By then, after more than half an hour of continuous circulation, that strand of astral energy had been diluted to its limit. Any further dilution would cause it to revert to Innate True Qi.
Soon, the astral energy diluted to its limit moved outside the Baihui Acupoint and slowly began to seep inside.
As the astral energy entered, he immediately sensed his Baihui Acupoint swelling. A faint, prickling pain also appeared within the acupoint.
However, the pain was not intense and remained within the limits of his endurance.
Moreover, as time passed, the prickling sensation slowly faded, indicating that his Baihui Acupoint was becoming increasingly refined.
Another half hour or so passed before the strand of diluted astral energy was finally depleted. His Baihui Acupoint had also strengthened slightly.
"Phew..."
Zheng Qian slowly opened his eyes again and let out a long breath. Then, he muttered with some emotion, "I never expected one circulation to take this long..."
He had spent nearly an hour and a half just circulating the Morning Sun Acupoint Nourishing Art once. To initially nurture a single acupoint, he would have to repeat the process dozens or even hundreds of times.
Although the time required for each attempt would decrease somewhat as his acupoints became more refined,
repeating it dozens or hundreds of times was still destined to be a massive undertaking that required painstaking effort.
After all, he had to spend time replenishing his astral energy after it was depleted, which also required quite a lot of time.
However, time was the one thing Zheng Qian lacked least.
Eight days had passed since he finished his last simulation, and his panel had accumulated eight Simulation Points once more.
In other words, he only needed to wait another two days to gather ten Simulation Points and begin a new simulation.
Now that he had obtained the Morning Sun One Qi Art, the only uncertain factor standing between him and a formal breakthrough to the Grandmaster Realm was whether he had accumulated enough astral energy.
Even under the worst-case assumption, he would at least be able to open several acupoints by the end of the simulation.
By then, he would also be able to use astral energy in battle.
With the enhancement provided by astral energy, even if the Commandery Captain joined forces with the four old monsters of the Four Great Families, he was confident he could retreat unscathed!
At that thought, the corners of Zheng Qian's mouth lifted slightly despite himself.
Soon, he reined in his thoughts and continued circulating the Morning Sun Acupoint Nourishing Art to nurture his Baihui Acupoint.
--
Day after day passed, while the outside search for Zheng Qian and Lu San never stopped.
But the slums were far too large, and far too chaotic and filthy.
Even the local powers were unwilling to linger in a place full of filth, let alone those who normally lived in grand mansions.
Thus, although these people continued searching everywhere, they were not thorough at all. As a result, they still failed to discover the hiding place Lu San had carefully selected underground.
Just like that, two days passed in the blink of an eye.
In the dim and decaying basement, Zheng Qian slowly opened his eyes after completing another circulation of the Morning Sun Acupoint Nourishing Art.
This was already the eighteenth time he had completed the Morning Sun Acupoint Nourishing Art over the past two days. His Baihui Acupoint had also strengthened considerably and could now withstand tempering with astral energy at one-fifth concentration.
But to Zheng Qian, this speed was still far too slow.
After waking up, he opened his Attribute Panel with a thought, just as he had done before:
[Myriad Worlds Simulator] Host: Zheng Qian Realm: Half-step Grandmaster Realm Talents: Eating Is a Blessing (White); Strength Multiplier (White); Simplified Body of the Purple Cloud Divine Skill (Green) Simulation Points: 10 (Recovery Rate: 1 day/1 point) Storage Space: 1,000 cubic meters (+)
"Hm? I finally have enough!"
Seeing that the total number of Simulation Points at the bottom of the panel had recovered to ten, Zheng Qian's eyes immediately lit up.
Then, without hesitation, he silently said in his heart, "Begin simulation!"
[Ding! Ten Simulation Points consumed. Simulation activated! Randomly selecting a Low Martial World...] [Ding! World selection complete. Host will enter The Deer and the Cauldron world!]
"The Deer and the Cauldron? There don't seem to be many experts in it. Whatever. It's only a transitional world anyway."
Seeing the name of the world he had drawn, Zheng Qian's eyes narrowed.
Although The Deer and the Cauldron was practically a household name, it did not contain many experts.
Those who could perhaps be considered to have reached the Innate Realm were likely limited to Hong Antong, Jiu Nan, Gui Xinshu, and a handful of others.
Of course, according to the timeline, Yuan Chengzhi should have been in his prime during the era of The Deer and the Cauldron. If he existed in this world, he would naturally count as one of them.
However, these people merely brushed against the Innate Realm. Compared with Zheng Qian, who was in the Half-step Grandmaster Realm, they were far too weak.
[Ding! Insufficient Simulation Points. Unable to draw a talent.] [Ding! World loading complete. Simulation beginning...]
As the Simulator's genderless mechanical voice rang out, a pale-blue screen immediately appeared before Zheng Qian.
Then, rows of black text began to appear on the screen.
[Year One: You were born in the capital of The Deer and the Cauldron world, becoming the son of a merchant. It was the thirteenth year of the Shunzhi era, or 1656. The future Emperor Kangxi, Aisin Gioro Xuanye, was only two years old.] [Your parents were overjoyed at your arrival and spent money to have someone name you Zhao Yiming, hoping that you would remain silent until suddenly astounding everyone.] [Your parents ran a restaurant, and business was good, allowing you to grow up free from worries about food and clothing.] [Year Three: You continued to grow healthily.] [Year Four...] [Year Five...] [Year Six: You were strong and robust, becoming the king of all the children on the street.] [Year Seven: On your birthday, you successfully awakened your past-life memories and learned everything about your previous life. That same year, the only eight-year-old Aisin Gioro Xuanye ascended the throne as emperor and changed the era name to the first year of Kangxi.]
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