Some People Were Born in Rome

As the sun sank in the west, Shen Lin and Zijing followed behind Sun Zhi and left Qiulin County.

After seeing Sun Zhi at the city gate earlier, Zijing had sensed that something was amiss.

When she realized that Sun Zhi seemed to be headed for the same destination as them, the corner of her mouth twitched. She turned to Shen Lin and asked,

"You were planning to go to Baoshan Village anyway?"

Shen Lin nodded, a satisfied smile on his face.

"I was considering it."

The wealthy lady was quite particular. Before setting out, she had already given him two Meridian Unblocking Pills as a down payment.

Shen Lin was overjoyed. As he pretended to tuck the pills back into his robes, he had already activated the system to make a deduction.

With the two Meridian Unblocking Pills and the remaining demon lifespan he had, Shen Lin had broken through his tenth meridian in one go.

If this trip went smoothly and he gained enough demon lifespan, breaking through the last two meridians would be no problem.

The Xiantian Realm was now within reach.

Seeing Shen Lin nod, Zijing thought for a moment, then ventured, "Is it for the three dog demons in Baoshan Village?"

Shen Lin's steps faltered slightly. He turned to look at Zijing.

He wasn't particularly surprised that she knew about the demons in Baoshan Village.

After all, even Sun Zhi had managed to get in touch with her. A young lady of Zijing's extraordinary background would naturally have her own channels for gathering information.

Perhaps...

He could get some information through her channels.

With that thought, Shen Lin asked outright,

"Do you know how strong they are?"

Zijing nodded. "Baoshan Village is the territory of Huang Xiaotian, the third-in-command of Black Wind Stronghold. His strength is roughly equivalent to that of a fifth-level Opening Meridians Realm martial artist. His two younger brothers have also reached the Opening Meridians Realm, but since all the resources went to Huang Xiaotian, they aren't very strong. They've only just opened their first meridians."

"You seem to know Black Wind Stronghold very well."

Rather than answer Shen Lin's probing question, Zijing asked him in return, "Including the two Meridian Unblocking Pills I gave you earlier, you should be able to open at least six meridians by now, right? Why not break through to the Xiantian Realm? Why keep working so hard to slay demons?"

"Let's wait a little longer. People should always aim higher."

Hearing Shen Lin's calm response, Zijing covered her mouth and laughed. "Don't tell me you want to open all twelve meridians?"

"Why not?"

Shen Lin countered.

Looking at his serious expression, Zijing's smile faded. She said earnestly, "Setting aside how difficult it is to locate the meridians, even if you had the highest-grade meridian-opening secret art and managed to find all twelve, breaking through them would still be a problem.

"After the sixth meridian, the difficulty of opening each additional meridian rises sharply, and the number of Meridian Unblocking Pills required is staggering.

"Even the great families in the provincial capitals only choose the most outstanding descendants of each generation to provide with the resources needed to break through all twelve meridians.

"You have no illustrious family behind you, and you've put on this official uniform, which means you can't join those prestigious sects. No matter how talented you are, the road ahead will only get harder and harder.

"You may never manage to open all twelve meridians, and that could even affect your state of mind and hinder your breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm.

"It would be better to take advantage of your youth and break through in one go."

There was no denying that Zijing's advice made a lot of sense.

Before reaching the Xiantian Realm, a martial artist's lifespan was no different from an ordinary person's.

With Shen Lin's background, even if he spent the rest of his life slaying demons, it would be difficult to earn enough rewards to attempt all twelve meridians.

But her words did nothing to shake Shen Lin's confidence. Instead, he chuckled. "By that logic, should I go to the Imperial Capital and marry into a wealthy family? Then I'd have enough resources to open all twelve meridians."

At those words, Zijing's body trembled slightly. Her expression turned awkward, and she looked away. "The descendants of the wealthy families in the Imperial Capital don't lack people who've opened all twelve meridians."

Shen Lin couldn't help but remark, "True. I imagine those families have plenty of Meridian Unblocking Pills, too."

"No!" Zijing shook her head slowly. "The descendants of the wealthy families in the Imperial Capital don't need Meridian Unblocking Pills to open their meridians..."

After a moment's hesitation, she continued, "Those people have been soaking in medicinal baths every day since birth. The power of rare herbs nourishes their meridians and keeps them from being sealed by turbid qi.

"Their starting point in martial cultivation is the Xiantian Realm!"

Zijing had thought that telling him this would deal Shen Lin a crushing blow.

After all, in this little place called Qiulin County, he already counted as a once-in-a-century genius.

Yet the direction he had devoted his whole life to pursuing was merely the starting point of those wealthy heirs in the Imperial Capital.

How cruel was that?

But, contrary to her expectations, Shen Lin showed no trace of dejection. Instead, her words seemed to excite him.

That was more like it.

A fierce tiger didn't pride itself on slaughtering rabbits.

The stronger those wealthy heirs were, the greater the satisfaction he'd feel when he trampled them underfoot and reached the peak.

Shen Lin suddenly seemed to think of something. He looked at Zijing in puzzlement. "You should have been able to break through to the Xiantian Realm long ago. Why haven't you?"

Since Zijing knew so much about the wealthy families in the Imperial Capital, she must come from an extraordinary background.

But her aura was clear. She didn't seem like one of those wealthy heirs born with naturally unblocked meridians.

Even so, judging from how casually she could produce so many Meridian Unblocking Pills, her family background was certainly no ordinary one.

It shouldn't have been difficult for her to simply use Meridian Unblocking Pills to open all twelve meridians.

So why was she still...

As if she understood what Shen Lin was wondering, a shadow crossed Zijing's eyes. She didn't answer. Instead, she quickened her pace and moved ahead of him.

When her family had risen to prominence, she had already passed the age limit for keeping her meridians clear with medicinal baths.

She had planned to use Meridian Unblocking Pills to open all twelve meridians once she was old enough to begin cultivating.

But who could have imagined that something like that would happen...

Zijing let out a quiet sigh, then abruptly raised her head, the regret in her eyes fading away.

That was why she had to reclaim that cultivation technique this time.

Only then could she catch up with the prodigies of the Imperial Capital despite having started behind them.

Only then could she gain enough strength to take back everything she had lost.

"Baoshan Village isn't far now. I'll tell you the details about the Wu Family..."