Seven Apertures

"Cultivate."

After recovering his strength, Jiang Chen didn't get caught up in the martial hall's heated discussions. He continued focusing on his fist practice.

The other Outer Courtyard disciples could prepare for the Martial Exam next year or the year after.

But he couldn't.

He had to place highly in this year's Martial Exam.

And if he could take the top spot, even better.

There was no choice.

He had Ordinary Bone Aptitude. If he wanted to be taken seriously, he had to distinguish himself.

Outside the martial hall, however, the entire Prefecture City was in an uproar as the True Sun Sect's envoy entered the city.

The lively main streets and the lanes at the ends of the side streets were all abuzz with discussion.

Everyone was talking about the year-end Martial Exam and the future changes in the Prefecture City's situation.

Amid all the noise and commotion, several more days passed.

"Senior Brother Sun, some newcomers have come to have their bone aptitude tested."

That morning, a disciple came to report to Sun Wu.

Ever since news about the City Guard had spread, the martial halls across the Prefecture City had been packed with visitors. Every day, large numbers of people of the right age came to have their bone aptitude tested.

Anyone with martial aptitude, no matter how good or poor, would be sent into a martial hall.

Faced with an opportunity that could change their lives, everyone wanted to give it their all.

"I know."

Sun Wu nodded and headed for the martial hall's main gate.

About two quarters of an hour later, several plainly dressed youths followed Sun Wu to the Inner Courtyard to register.

The martial hall never turned away anyone who came to study under them, as long as they had martial aptitude.

After all, every additional disciple meant another source of income.

And if one or two geniuses emerged among those disciples, they would strike it rich.

"Hah!"

At noon, Jiang Chen, drenched in sweat, finished his morning practice.

[Cultivation: Second Qi and Blood Gate · Late Stage (72%)]

On the Myriad Dao Chart, his cultivation progress had already passed the halfway mark.

In two more days, he could begin breaking through to the Third Qi and Blood Gate.

Splash.

Jiang Chen came to the stone well beneath the shade of a tree, drew a bucket of cool Well Water, and poured it over his head. He felt completely refreshed.

"Jiang Chen, has the Zheng Clan come looking for you lately?"

Luo Yang, also drenched in sweat, finished his practice and came over to the stone well.

"The Zheng Clan? No. Why?"

Jiang Chen's heart stirred, but his expression remained calm as he handed Luo Yang the bucket.

"The Zheng Clan has been secretly contacting martial hall disciples these past few days."

Luo Yang spoke as he drew water.

"Why are they contacting martial hall disciples?"

Had the Zheng Clan found something?

"They're asking whether Zheng Hao and the others had any grudges with anyone while they were alive."

Luo Yang was well informed.

"What do you mean? Does the Zheng Clan suspect martial hall disciples killed Zheng Hao and the others?"

This truly caught Jiang Chen off guard.

They had died in a dark alley, yet the Zheng Clan was looking into the martial hall?

Could he have left behind some clue?

No.

If he had left behind a clue, the Zheng Clan wouldn't be raising the alarm like this.

They were probably just suspicious.

"Who knows? But if the Zheng Clan comes to you, it's best not to say anything."

Luo Yang set down the bucket and warned Jiang Chen.

The Zheng Clan was secretly probing for information, so they must have their suspicions.

But if the killer really was someone from the martial hall, it could only have been an Inner Courtyard disciple.

Either an elite disciple at the Third Qi and Blood Gate,

or a core disciple of the True Martial Realm.

They couldn't afford to offend either one, so it was best to keep their mouths shut.

"Mm."

Jiang Chen nodded, but he had already made up his mind.

The Zheng Clan was a liability.

And liabilities had to be cut out, or sooner or later they would blow up in his face.

Fortunately, the mole in his family had already been caught.

The Zheng Clan wouldn't be able to trace things back to him anytime soon.

Two days passed just like that.

That evening,

thump!

As Jiang Chen practiced his fist technique, the familiar, ethereal Daoist sound rang in his mind.

[Cultivation: Second Qi and Blood Gate · Perfection]

He focused inward. Sure enough, his cultivation had reached perfection.

"My five viscera have transformed!"

With the stage perfected, Jiang Chen could clearly feel that his five viscera had grown much stronger.

His heart beat with steady strength.

His lungs drew long, even breaths.

His spleen brimmed with vigor.

His liver's energy flowed freely.

His kidneys grew dense, nurturing his essence...

Even his body had become lighter, as if every impurity had been purged.

"Senior Brother Sun."

Jiang Chen immediately left the Practice Field and found Sun Wu.

"You've perfected the Second Qi and Blood Gate?!"

Hearing Jiang Chen's words, Sun Wu couldn't help but freeze.

If he remembered correctly, Jiang Chen had only entered the Second Qi and Blood Gate twenty days ago.

He had perfected it in just twenty days?

Since when had refining the Five Viscera Essence become so easy?

"I have your high-quality Five Elements Pills to thank for that, Senior Brother."

Seeing Sun Wu's reaction, Jiang Chen's smile widened.

That was exactly what he wanted. The more talent he displayed, the more seriously he would be taken.

"High-quality Five Elements Pills are indeed stronger than ordinary ones, but they shouldn't be this much stronger..."

Sun Wu came back to himself and looked Jiang Chen up and down as if he were a monster.

If he hadn't personally tested Jiang Chen's bone aptitude a few days ago,

he would have suspected that Jiang Chen had Medium Bone Aptitude.

He had never seen anyone with Ordinary Bone Aptitude cultivate so quickly.

"My bone aptitude may be ordinary, but my constitution is excellent. I can absorb even a Five Elements Pill's medicinal power in a single day."

Jiang Chen offered a perfectly reasonable explanation.

The speed at which one refined the Five Viscera Essence depended on the quality of one's bone aptitude.

But the speed of absorbing medicinal power depended on the strength of one's constitution.

And the faster the medicinal power was absorbed, the faster the Five Viscera Essence could be refined.

An excellent constitution, combined with the Chart's insights, was what gave him such extraordinary speed.

"An excellent constitution?"

Sun Wu wasn't entirely convinced by Jiang Chen's seemingly reasonable explanation.

The martial hall had seen more than a few disciples with excellent constitutions, but none had cultivated as quickly as Jiang Chen.

In other words, Jiang Chen's astonishing speed had to be due to some other factor.

Of course, he didn't press him.

Everyone had their secrets.

As long as Jiang Chen hadn't taken any forbidden drugs, the faster he cultivated, the happier Sun Wu would be.

After all, Jiang Chen was a talent Sun Wu had discovered, and could be considered one of his own.

"Now that you've perfected the Second Qi and Blood Gate, it's time to practice a breathing method."

Thinking this, Sun Wu took a scroll from his robes.

When he unrolled it, nine illustrations of the human body appeared, with five characters written on the left:

White Ape Breathing Method!

"The First Qi and Blood Gate awakens the Primordial Energy."

"The Second Qi and Blood Gate refines the Five Viscera Essence."

"The Third Qi and Blood Gate breaks through the Seven Apertures and fuses with innate qi!"

Sun Wu explained the cultivation of the Three Qi and Blood Gates.

Innate qi referred to the Primordial Pure Qi nurtured in the womb.

This Primordial Pure Qi was utterly pure and true—the most fundamental energy in heaven and earth.

However, for most people, their Primordial Pure Qi dissipated after they breathed in the turbid qi of the world outside the womb.

Those with martial aptitude, however, sealed their Primordial Pure Qi within the Seven Apertures.

To fuse with the innate qi, they had to use a special breathing method to guide their martial Blood Qi and break through the Seven Apertures one by one.

The process was extremely difficult, and extremely dangerous.

The slightest misstep could leave one crippled or even dead!

But once they made it through, they could break through the profound barrier and undergo a complete transformation.

That was why only those who had reached the Third Qi and Blood Gate were qualified to enter the Inner Courtyard.

It was a watershed!

At this stage, the gap in talent widened dramatically.

Those with good bone aptitude could break through the Seven Apertures with ease.

For those with poor bone aptitude, there was no telling how long it would take.

Take Zheng Hao and the others, who had been killed. They still hadn't reached the Third Qi and Blood Gate after two or three years.

"There are a total of eighty-one breathing rhythms."

Jiang Chen took the scroll and studied it closely.

Each of the nine illustrations on the scroll showed nine changes in breathing.

Taken together, that made eighty-one breathing rhythms.

It was far more complex than the White Ape Fist!