Opening Meridians, Sister Wu Stands at Attention

A figure flickered through the mountains.

The moment Xue Jing thought of his disciple's grand-disciple opening his meridians under Shang Wu's guidance, his scalp could not help but go numb.

If he went any later, it would be more than simply leading a student astray.

He might have to administer emergency aid to his grand-disciple.

That was not the slightest bit exaggerated.

Junior Sister Shang Wu had once considered taking on a disciple. Everyone had thought that since she had reached Inner Scene at such a young age, even if she was usually unreliable, teaching a disciple should still be child's play for her, so they had tacitly allowed it.

Who would have known that on the very first day, that poor wretch would suffer qi deviation?

After that, whether because Shang Wu felt taking disciples was no fun, or because she realized she was not cut out to be a teacher, she never mentioned taking a disciple again.

Unfortunately, that child Li Mo—his talent was good, truly good, but he gave people the feeling that there was nowhere to even begin.

The other elders did not know how to teach him, and the true-disciple slots under Xue Jing himself were already full.

Otherwise, with a talent that had reached the summit together with Ying Bing, how could he have fallen into this den of demons?

Xue Jing no longer hoped that Li Mo could be like Ying Bing and open his meridians in a single day.

If he came out safe and sound, that would already count as burning high incense.

He sighed.

Wind rose beneath Xue Jing's feet, and his entire body seemed to slip into the clear breeze, his speed nearly impossible for the naked eye to follow.

In only a few breaths, he had carried the medicine chest on his back and stepped onto Jade Cluster Peak.

However, before he had even reached the summit, the worry on Xue Jing's face turned into puzzlement.

"Something's not right."

"Someone is drawing in the essence of heaven and earth to train?"

Drawing in the essence of heaven and earth was also called Heaven-Man Unity.

This state was what every martial practitioner dreamed of.

Those who trained needed to nourish themselves through food, pills, and the like to obtain the energy required to temper their qi and blood.

However, whether food or pills, neither could be consumed without end.

Yet by a lucky chance, a martial artist might be able to achieve Heaven-Man Unity. This state was somewhat similar to the External Scene Realm, where one's own small heaven and earth reflected and cycled with the vast heaven and earth outside.

The speed of absorbing energy became more than a hundred times faster!

Moreover, there were no side effects afterward, and there would even be unexpected benefits.

"Shang Wu should be sleeping right now. Why is she training today, and even entering Heaven-Man Unity?"

Xue Jing quickened his pace a little more.

At the summit.

Li Mo sat quietly before the wooden hut, his entire person seeming to merge into nature.

Countless pores on his body seemed to have opened, continuously exchanging breaths with the outside world.

It was as though his body had already connected with heaven and earth.

To heaven and earth, he was like a small hollow, causing the purest Source Qi wandering between heaven and earth to surge in from all directions, as if to fill that hollow level.

Faintly, one could sense it.

Inside that boy's dantian, it was as though a lotus seed had already been planted.

At this moment, it was madly absorbing Source Qi, heading toward taking root, sprouting, and even blooming.

Hiss—

A soft sound rang out.

Before Xue Jing could even be shocked—

Hiss—

Another sound came.

"After opening his meridians, he opened another main meridian?"

Xue Jing's mouth fell open, his two wisps of long beard drifting in the wind, his entire person sinking into a daze.

He had not only successfully opened his meridians.

Moreover!

Within a single day, he had not only successfully opened his meridians, but had also broken through like splitting bamboo and opened a main meridian.

Not only had he learned the Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique without anyone guiding him, he had even entered the state of Heaven-Man Unity!

Xue Jing was already questioning life itself, unable to describe his feelings in words.

"Elder Xue, when did you get here?"

Li Mo's ears twitched, and he opened his eyes.

"Y-you, don't get distracted talking! Heaven-Man Unity is something you can encounter only by chance, not seek!"

Xue Jing was so anxious he was practically blowing his beard and glaring.

"Huh? Heaven-Man Unity?"

Li Mo froze for a moment, then said in confusion, "But I kind of need to go to the outhouse."

Old Xue's vision went black. Was this the time to relieve himself?

He was currently in the Inner Scene Realm.

Heaven-Man Unity was equivalent to experiencing the External Scene Realm ahead of time. Its value was something that could be encountered only by chance, never sought.

If this opportunity had fallen on him, it would have given him a few more chances of climbing another level.

This kid had no idea how precious it was. He was squandering heaven's gifts!

"Oh, all right."

Li Mo had no idea why Old Zhang had suddenly seemed a little broken.

Just now, he had thought the sun here was too strong, so he had even shifted his spot beneath a tree.

Then he continued cultivating, and his speed was still this fast.

Could it be...

Other people did not cultivate like this?

Perhaps it was a benefit brought by the Profound Gate Immortal Physique...

At that thought, Li Mo found it a little strange.

"The Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique says that once the twelve meridians are opened and twelve lotus seeds are planted, the technique is complete, and one has reached perfection in the Blood-Qi Realm."

"But... why do I feel like there's more?"

He could sense it.

The twelve main meridians were far from his limit.

His body seemed like a bottomless pit.

Opening the first and second meridians did not even count as a beginning.

"Forget it. I'll take it one step at a time."

"The foundation is very important. I should try to cultivate it to perfection."

Li Mo closed his eyes and once again entered a state of cultivation.

Meanwhile, Xue Jing kicked open a nearby wooden door. When he saw Shang Wu still sleeping like the heavens had collapsed without waking, his forehead immediately throbbed wildly.

He took out a stick of Spirit-Awakening Incense from the medicine box and waved it beneath the tip of her nose.

"Achoo!"

Shang Wu sneezed, her graceful face scrunching into a ball.

Having her sweet dream disturbed twice in a row, she clenched her fists. Only when she saw that the one who had come was Xue Jing, the sect's nice guy, did she say impatiently, "Old Xue, you'd better have a reason."

"Your disciple is outside in Heaven-Man Unity, and you can still sleep? How can you sleep?"

Xue Jing spoke in an annoyed tone.

"Either you drank too much, or I did."

Shang Wu tilted her head, thinking Old Xue was telling some Arabian Nights tale.

"Won't you know if you go out and see for yourself?"

After Xue Jing said that, he could not be bothered to keep arguing with her and walked out the door.

Shang Wu's gaze stayed hazy for a moment, then she scratched her head and looked outside too.

With that one look, Sister Wu snapped to attention.

[Congratulations, Host. By demonstrating Heaven-Man Unity, you allowed Xue Jing to gain insight.]

[Congratulations, Host. By demonstrating Heaven-Man Unity, you allowed Shang Wu to gain insight.]

[Calculating rewards...]

[Investment return: three gourds of Ice-Fire Wine.]

[Investment return: twenty years of martial Dao insight.]

[Ice-Fire Wine]: "After drinking it, the body is tempered by the double heavens of ice and fire. It is a sacred product for increasing the strength of the fleshly body."

Watching me cultivate can count as an investment too?

This reward was basically no different from having a sword come flying over, right?

"Ice-Fire Wine..."

Li Mo decided not to take it out and try it for now.

From what little he had learned about his master in this short time, if he took out anything like wine, there would definitely not be a drop left.

Perfectly enough, he still did not know how to temper and refine his physical body.

Ice-Fire Wine counted as something good that fit the purpose exactly.

After practicing for roughly four hours, he really could not sit still anymore.

As for the muscle soreness and swelling described in the martial arts booklet, he did not feel any of that.

His bladder, however, was truly both sore and swollen.

Thinking this, Li Mo stopped drawing from heaven and earth, patted down the hem of his clothes, and stood up.

That strange state vanished with it.

The first thing he saw was—

Xue Jing reluctantly came back to himself, then turned to him with a face full of emotion.

"This old man ought to owe you a favor."

At their age, bottlenecks were rooted deep. To go a hundred feet up the bamboo pole and take another step was exceedingly difficult.

Observing Heaven-Man Unity had benefited him greatly as well.

"Elder Xue is too serious. Father often mentions you at home."

Li Mo went along naturally and cupped his hands.

His father, Li Dalong, had once been Xue Jing's disciple.

Back then, Xue Jing had not yet held the position of elder.

"Hehehe, good thing he still remembers this old man."

Xue Jing stroked his long beard and sighed. "That child Dalong was truly a pity. If he hadn't met with an accident, he should have been an inner sect steward by now."

Old Xue's appearance looked about the same age as his father.

But Li Mo knew that when his father first entered the sect all those years ago, Xue Jing had already looked like this middle-aged man.

His true age was probably only greater than ninety-six, not less.

Li Mo spoke up at just the right time.

"Everyone has their own fate. Father said that being able to keep his life was entirely thanks to Elder Xue's intervention."

"If Father hadn't met Mother on his way back to his hometown after being injured, then I wouldn't exist either."

"To lose at the eastern corner but gain among the mulberry and elm—this is exactly that principle."

Little Li had a deft hand at coaxing elders.

"Dalong is blessed."

The way Xue Jing looked at Li Mo gained a few more traces of gratification.

This kid was not the least bit as stubborn and unruly as Li Dalong had described in his letters.

Perhaps when a father looked at his son, he would always be a little stricter.

The atmosphere between the old and the young was just right.

Li Mo suddenly smelled a waft of alcohol at the tip of his nose. Then his neck tightened, and he felt a bout of suffocation.

Shang Wu hooked an arm around her only beloved disciple's neck and vigilantly declared her ownership.

"Hey, hey, hey, this is my disciple! You lousy old man, don't even think about poaching him."

"This old man would like to poach him, but where would I get another slot under my name?"

Xue Jing said irritably.

Looking at the loud and excitable Shang Wu, he felt a slight headache.

His grand-disciple was a good seedling. Surely Shang Wu would not lead him astray, right?

Being poor at the arts was a small matter, but a perfectly good child could not be allowed to pick up those stinking bad habits.

"Little Mo, if you want to verify your martial learning or find someone to spar with, you might as well go take a look at the Martial Arts Hall down the mountain."

Shang Wu narrowed her almond eyes for a moment, then nodded as well.

"If it's just learning some shallow moves, the Martial Arts Hall will do."

Li Mo: "..."

Sister, you're just too lazy to teach, aren't you?

Still, now that he had a cultivation method, he really was preparing to learn some martial techniques.

If he went to the Martial Arts Hall, he could also take a look in passing to see whether there were any targets worth investing in. It was not a bad place to go.