The night was deep as water.
The search in the city was proceeding at a frantic pace. The soldiers combing the streets were all tense, searching every corner.
They wanted to find that fiend and earn a reward, yet feared they might run into him the very next moment and die a violent death.
Under this tense atmosphere, two hours passed in the blink of an eye.
The deep darkness gradually gave way to the hazy light of dawn.
The medicinal power in Zhao Cheng's body was finally exhausted.
A layer of black, foul-smelling grime coated his skin. It reeked, making him wrinkle his nose.
The good news was that after the cleansing and transformation of his meridians and marrow, his body had been reborn.
With each breath, he absorbed more than ten times as much Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi as before.
All the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi stored throughout his body had also entered his meridians.
Streams of Primordial Qi coursed through the meridians in his limbs and body, continually tempering them and the physique in the areas they served.
Zhao Cheng silently sensed the state of his body, growing more and more astonished.
"The meridians can hold so much Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi!
"All the Primordial Qi I accumulated over such a long time has entered my meridians, yet it occupies less than one percent of their capacity. And as it circulates, it keeps growing more concentrated."
This meant that after cleansing and transforming his meridians and marrow, Zhao Cheng could store over a hundred times more Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi than before. What's more, the Primordial Qi stored in his meridians would hardly dissipate at all.
Zhao Cheng was greatly encouraged.
He stood up and used some of the old man's scant supply of water to wet a coarse hemp cloth and wipe himself clean.
Then he checked the system.
[Current remaining lifespan: 8564 years]
"There's still some time before we leave the city, and the simulation won't take too long. I'll simulate Qi Body Refining first and see how it goes—whether I can complete it to perfection."
"System, invest 564 years to simulate the Basic Body Refining Technique."
[Beginning lifespan investment to cultivate the Basic Body Refining Technique.]
[Year 1: Having cleansed and transformed your meridians and marrow, you have shed your mortal body. Your meridians are clear throughout, and your constitution is completely different from before. With one breath, you absorb more Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi than you did with ten breaths previously.
You keep breathing in and out, rapidly absorbing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. More and more Primordial Qi accumulates in your meridians, circulating and continually tempering them...]
[Year 10: You discover that the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi you absorb enters the great vessel running down the center of your chest and abdomen first. Drawing on your scant knowledge of meridians, you conclude that it is the Conception Vessel, one of the Conception and Governor Vessels. You therefore begin breathing in and out diligently, preparing to fill it with Primordial Qi.]
[Year 50: The Conception Vessel can store far too much Primordial Qi. Only after fifty years of tireless breathing do you finally fill it.
You discover that the Conception Vessel governs nearly half the meridians throughout your body. The Primordial Qi stored in it can circulate throughout your body, but ultimately returns to the Conception Vessel...]
[Year 120: After the Conception Vessel, you finally fill the Governing Vessel that runs down the center of your back. The Conception and Governor Vessels are now connected!
Your Primordial Qi now circulates at incredible speed. In a single breath, it can reach any part of your body...]
[Year 180: Through continual breathing, you fill the Thoroughfare Vessel, which shares a common source with the Conception and Governor Vessels. Your blood and qi are nourished by Primordial Qi once more, surging like a dragon as your strength increases greatly again!]
[Year 240: The Primordial Qi fills the Girdle Vessel around your waist, making its reserves within your body extremely stable.
The already slow rate at which your Primordial Qi dissipates drops many times over. Even if you stop breathing in and out, your Primordial Qi can now last for decades, even a century.]
[Year 280: Primordial Qi branches off in your neck and flows into another vessel in your chest and abdomen, then connects with the vessels along the insides of your thighs. It gradually fills the insides of your lower legs, completing the Yin Linking Vessel. Your Primordial Qi circulates even faster...]
[Year 320: Primordial Qi branches off from the Governing Vessel in your neck, runs through your shoulders and ribs, and reaches the outsides of your lower legs, filling the Yang Linking Vessel. Your Primordial Qi circulates even faster...]
[Year 400: The Yin Heel Vessel and Yang Heel Vessel, which connect the Conception and Governor Vessels to the insides and outsides of your heels, are connected one after the other. Primordial Qi fills your Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and countless streams of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi course through them. The speed of circulation increases several times over...
Your eight vessels now serve as the main trunks, your Twelve Standard Meridians as branches, and your sinews, bones, flesh, and blood as leaves. As Primordial Qi circulates, it naturally flows through and radiates into your sinews, bones, and flesh. Every movement you make is supported by an abundance of Primordial Qi...]
[Year 410: Primordial Qi begins rapidly widening and tempering your meridians. Now that it circulates through all eight vessels, each full circuit also makes it a little more concentrated...]
[Year 495: After centuries of tempering by Primordial Qi, your meridians are broad, unobstructed, and incredibly resilient. Your Qi Body Refining has finally reached perfection, and you have broken through the Qi Body Refining threshold!]
[The Basic Body Refining Technique has reached perfection. This lifespan simulation has ended.]
[Your lifespan has increased by 300 years.]
"Huh? I reached perfection in less than five hundred years."
Zhao Cheng froze, his feelings complicated. "This Marrow Cleansing Pill really is extraordinary. It was worth the ten thousand years of lifespan."
"Four hundred and ninety-five years to fill all eight Extraordinary Meridians and break through Qi Body Refining! Without this Marrow Cleansing Pill, who knows how many tens of thousands of years it would've taken to temper my body to perfection..."
As he thought this, the Primordial Qi in his body surged like a tide, pouring into Zhao Cheng's eight great vessels as if the sea had flooded inland.
At the same time, his meridians rapidly grew broader and more resilient. If his meridians before had been narrow paths, then even after they were cleared, the Primordial Qi could not flow quickly.
Now they were broad highways wide enough for eight horse-drawn carriages to travel abreast. No matter how much Primordial Qi poured in, there was no congestion at all; the passageways were broad and clear.
In the span of a single breath, boundless Primordial Qi could circulate through his whole body.
What's more, with one breath, he now absorbed more Primordial Qi than he had with over a hundred breaths before!
The Primordial Qi was also more than three times as concentrated as before.
It was stored in his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, circulating over and over.
With every circuit, it flowed through the Twelve Standard Meridians and into every corner of his body, then seeped into his flesh and bones, nourishing his physique and supplying it with energy.
Judging by the Primordial Qi in his flesh and bones alone, Zhao Cheng now possessed even more than he had before opening his meridians.
But there was one difference: he could now expend the Primordial Qi in his flesh and bones as he pleased.
Whenever he used some, the Primordial Qi in his eight vessels would replenish it instantly, without him having to breathe in and out again to absorb more from the world.
"I don't know whether it's because my meridians and marrow were cleansed and transformed, or because my great vessels were connected, but I seem to be able to guide and control the flow of Primordial Qi."
Sensing the Primordial Qi surging through his body, Zhao Cheng focused his mind. A great stream of it instantly rushed into his arm, filling it with explosive power.
He had to release that power. He threw a punch.
Boom!
A sonic boom erupted, echoing for several miles.
The houses nearby immediately erupted in chaos, while Feng Quan and Feng Ruo rushed out in alarm, their faces filled with wariness.
"What happened?"
"My lord, are you all right?"
Zhao Cheng stared at his arm in astonishment, then waved a hand. "I'm fine. Rest a little longer. We'll leave the city as soon as it's barely light."
Feng Quan and Feng Ruo were still uneasy, their eyes fixed on their surroundings. "What was that sound just now?"
"It sounded like a mountainside collapsing."
"Could it have been an earthquake?"
Zhao Cheng could only laugh helplessly. The force of that burst of Primordial Qi had been truly astonishing—it had even made Feng Quan think there'd been an earthquake.
Fortunately, he had reached perfection in body refining. His sinews, bones, and meridians had been tempered by Primordial Qi and could withstand such an outburst—and even more.
Otherwise, with the strength of his body before, that blast might have torn the muscles in his arm and damaged his bones and meridians.
Zhao Cheng brushed them off. "What earthquake? Maybe the enemy army is up to something."
Feng Quan eyed Zhao Cheng suspiciously. The sound had seemed far too close.
But after looking around carefully and listening for a while, he found nothing unusual, so he reluctantly went to pack their things.
Zhao Cheng stood in the courtyard and didn't continue the simulation.
Instead, he pondered carefully.
"Qi Body Refining is the final stage of the Basic Body Refining Technique. If I want to keep cultivating, I'll probably need to devise a new technique."
"Unfortunately, I know nothing about meridians and acupoints. I need to make up for that lack of knowledge. Otherwise, all I can do is feel my way around, and the results will be meager."
"Given the situation now, there's only one way for me to advance: circulate the Primordial Qi to keep concentrating it, then replenish it before concentrating it again, repeating the process until it can't be concentrated any further."
"That way, the quality of my Primordial Qi will keep improving."
"Besides that, acupoints might be another path to a breakthrough, but the Basic Body Refining Technique says nothing about them."
"Unfortunately, even after reaching perfection in body refining, I still haven't sensed the existence of any acupoints."
Zhao Cheng felt a little regretful, but the Body Refining Technique was, after all, just a basic method for tempering the body.
What he had touched on now was already equivalent to cultivating qi and immortality. It was only natural that the Body Refining Technique had nothing beyond this stage.
Fortunately, with his current strength, he could attack cities, seize fortresses, rout enemies, and capture their generals with ease. There was no need to rush into cultivating what came next.
By now, Feng Quan and Feng Ruo had finished packing.
Zhao Cheng led the two of them north.
The atmosphere throughout the city was as heavy as water. There were hardly any people on the streets.
A few people happened to be fetching water or buying rice. They looked panicked and fearful, hurrying along.
Large numbers of soldiers were also patrolling and searching the streets. Seeing that Zhao Cheng and the other two looked calm, the soldiers immediately found them suspicious and stepped forward to stop them.
"You three, what are you doing?"
Feng Quan replied, "We're going out of the city to hunt and gather firewood. Sir, what's going on today? There's hardly anyone on the roads, and the atmosphere feels strange."
The soldier eyed the three of them suspiciously. "You don't know?"
Feng Quan put on an innocent look. "What happened?"
The soldier said, "Yesterday, some ruffians caused a disturbance in the city and killed many civilians. Many more were frightened, and the general was alarmed. He ordered us to guard the city closely and not let anyone leave."
"You three seem rather suspicious to me. Everyone in the city's heard about it. How could you not know?"
Feng Ruo quickly replied, "The three of us live in a remote spot, in the southeastern corner. We don't have much contact with our neighbors..."
The soldier waved a hand. "Enough nonsense. Come with me to see the magistrate. You can explain yourself after he questions you!"
Before you continue