The Drunkard

The person Chen Wu was going to meet was none other than Wu Chengyi.

Since he had time to spare, he might as well go and see this Cloud-Grasping Iron Hand.

Outside the east gate of the prefecture city, leaning against the city wall, stood a large stockade; this was the livestock market of Jincheng Prefecture. The scents of animals, fodder, and manure mingled in the air, creating a peculiar odor.

Chen Wu looked around, seeing horses and camels arranged in rows within the pens. It did not take long for him to find Wu Chengyi, who was busy in front of a horse.

Wu Chengyi was holding a wooden brush, grooming the coat of a jujube-red horse with meticulous attention.

"Brother Wu!" Chen Wu greeted him in a low voice.

Wu Chengyi turned his head, and upon seeing Chen Wu, his face immediately lit up with pleasant surprise.

"Daoist!"

Though he spoke, his hands did not stop, continuing to brush the jujube-red horse.

"Wait a moment for me, I still have some chores to finish!" Wu Chengyi said while brushing.

"You are certainly meticulous in your work!" Seeing how earnest Wu Chengyi was, Chen Wu offered a sincere compliment.

"My old man mocks me too, saying I tend to the livestock with more care than I tend to him, his own father. Guess how I replied back then?"

"How did you reply?"

"I said, 'Father, you can't be used as a beast of burden, so why should I be so attentive?'"

Chen Wu barely managed to hold back his laughter. "Then your father..."

"He gave me a sound beating right then and there!" Wu Chengyi said with a laugh.

"Then you carry on! I'll wait for you." Fearing he would burst out laughing if the conversation continued, Chen Wu hurriedly told Wu Chengyi to proceed.

"Alright!"

Wu Chengyi quickened his pace, feeding and watering the remaining horses, grooming them, and even inspecting their horseshoes.

His movements were so deft that they held a certain aesthetic appeal in Chen Wu's eyes, reminding him of the hoof-trimming videos he had seen online in his past life—they were all quite stress-relieving.

By the time Wu Chengyi finished, half an hour had passed. He gathered his tools, washed his hands, and greeted Chen Wu.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Wu Chengyi said. "Did the Daoist come to find me for wine and meat?"

Thinking that he still had to cultivate his Jade Bone tonight and that drinking was not suitable, Chen Wu replied, "Meat is fine, but I cannot drink alcohol today. I will treat you to it, though!"

"Such a coincidence?" Wu Chengyi looked a bit suspicious.

"A very unfortunate one."

"Then I won't make things difficult for you, Daoist. As for today's wine, I, Old Wu, will drink it myself." Seeing Chen Wu's insistence, Wu Chengyi did not dwell on it. "But it must be good wine! Since getting out of the jail these past few days, my mouth has been so bland I could die!"

"Agreed!" Chen Wu laughed.

"What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to bribe me?"

Looking at the stack of banknotes before him, Guo Xuchu asked in confusion.

"How could I harbor such a pipe dream?" Yang Yuchun, sitting opposite Guo Xuchu, shook his head. "I simply want to tell the Star-Pulling Sword one thing. Do you know who gave these two hundred thousand silver dollar banknotes?"

"And what is the story behind it?" Guo Xuchu narrowed his eyes.

"This is a greeting gift sent to my Crown Prince's Mansion by Qiao Jisheng, the only son of Qiao Weisheng."

"He has arrived?"

"He has arrived, and he came very quickly! So quickly that none of us expected it."

"That bastard!" Guo Xuchu suddenly realized what was happening, stood up, and cursed, "That bastard!"

"He is indeed a bastard! But this bastard is now under the protection of our Crown Prince's Mansion!"

"Are you truly going to harbor him?"

"What we are harboring is the Zhong'an Bank!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Guo Xuchu said the word "good" three times, his tone carrying a mix of anger and desolation.

"Good! Good! Good!"

At a wine stall in the east gate market, a plate of hand-grabbed mutton, a plate of beef shank, a dish of lamb liver, and a dish of peanuts were laid out on the table.

But Wu Chengyi seemed not to see the meat on the table, picking up the wine pot and drinking directly, leaving Chen Wu stunned.

"Ah, good wine!" Wu Chengyi gulped down several mouthfuls before setting the pot down and wiping the corners of his mouth. "This Highland Barley Wine from Hehuang is truly potent."

Seeing Chen Wu staring at him, Wu Chengyi showed no sign of awkwardness. "I, Old Wu, just love a little drink. When I was in jail a while back, it nearly drove me mad with craving."

"I'm treating today, Brother Wu, so drink as much as you like."

Chen Wu knew that this man truly loved his liquor. Some of the elders in his past life were the same; they could happily drink half a catty of spirits with nothing but a plate of peanuts.

"I've put you to expense, Daoist," Wu Chengyi said. "I, Old Wu, have only been out for a few days, and I really don't have many silver coins on me. Next time, next time I will make it up to you."

"It's just a bit of wine money, don't take it to heart."

Chen Wu didn't have any particular goal, so he began chatting idly with Wu Chengyi.

To his surprise, the more they talked, the more they hit it off. Wu Chengyi was, after all, a master of the Circulatory Realm, and many of his insights into martial arts made Chen Wu's eyes light up.

"Are you saying... there is a distinction between the minor and major stages of the Meridian Realm?"

"Of course! Does the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower not know this?"

Don't generalize the actions of a few assassins to the entire Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower! It's just that I don't know; I've forgotten so many of my memories, damn it.

"How is it divided?"

Wu Chengyi didn't dwell on it and answered directly: "The minor Meridian Realm is what is commonly referred to as the Meridian Realm. It is the opening of all hundred meridians, the fusion of internal and external, breaking the barrier between internal cultivation and external training. From then on, internal and external cultivation can be unified, allowing for dual cultivation and the projection of true qi."

"That's the theory, but human energy is limited, and even with dual cultivation, there is a focus. If one enters through internal arts, the priority remains circulating qi and accumulating power, with the enhancement of protective true qi being merely incidental. If one practices external arts, the focus shifts to projecting hard qi, forging a layer of protective armor, with less emphasis on the dantian's internal energy cycle."

Chen Wu listened intently, forgetting even to eat the mutton in his hand.

"But as for the major Meridian Realm..." Wu Chengyi paused slightly, "to go a step further at this level, one must bridge the gap between the human body and heaven and earth, allowing the meridians to absorb the power of heaven and earth directly."

"The power of heaven and earth?" Chen Wu was a bit dazed. Is this turning into cultivation for immortality?

"Do you know why we are able to practice martial arts?" Seeing Chen Wu's confusion, Wu Chengyi couldn't help but show off.

Chen Wu had never really pondered this question. Since he transmigrated, the fact that people in Dashun could practice martial arts had become a fundamental setting, so he had subconsciously skipped over it.

"I must ask Brother Wu to enlighten me." Chen Wu wanted to see how the people of Dashun viewed this issue.

"I don't really understand it either, I just heard it from someone at the Academy of Sciences." Unexpectedly, Wu Chengyi suddenly became modest. "In this world of ours, there is a kind of invisible, intangible... uh, energy, that's what they called it. This energy can only be absorbed by the bodies of us martial artists. Our practice is, in reality, the process of turning this energy into our own."

The Dashun Academy of Sciences really researches everything!

"The major Meridian Realm refers to the meridians absorbing this energy directly, without needing the body to accumulate and transform it first."

"Actually, once one reaches the Mystic Realm, one can become one with this energy, becoming inexhaustible. Even if one is severely injured, one won't die for a good while. This major Meridian Realm, while not as miraculous as the Mystic Realm, can barely be considered a 'mini-Mystic Realm'."

So that was it. The greatest peculiarity of this Dashun world was the existence of this energy, which was why martial arts had emerged.

"Then how does one cultivate this major Meridian Realm?" Chen Wu asked eagerly.

Wu Chengyi answered just as bluntly: "I don't know!"

"You don't know?"

"The mini-Mystic Realm is harder to cultivate than the true Mystic Realm." Wu Chengyi shook his wine flask and tilted his head back to finish it off. "For the true Mystic Realm, as long as the technique is suitable, there is at least a narrow path to follow, a direction to head in. But for the mini-Mystic Realm, it all depends on the individual martial artist's unique encounters; whether one succeeds or not depends entirely on fate."

Ah, what a wasted excitement!

Wait! Chen Wu suddenly recalled the next stage of cultivation for the Heaven-Intercepting Dao-Exposition Method; it seemed to have some similarities to this major Meridian Realm.

Indeed, as long as there is a path, there will be people trying to walk it, even if the method might be a bit outlandish.