All Six Meridians Opened

Innate spiritual qi is categorized by grade, and the level of this grade determines one's future path in the Dao.

Star Flow Sand is a fifth-grade spiritual qi capable of forging a medium-grade Dao foundation; it is the primary qi cultivated by the cultivators of Black Soil Fortress in the Ancient Wei Territory.

Above this lies the third-grade spiritual qi, Fire Quicksand, which can form a superior-grade Dao foundation—something even the master of Black Soil Fortress does not possess.

The better the forged Dao foundation, the greater the chance of achieving the Purple Mansion realm.

It can be said that the grade of the innate spiritual qi absorbed during the initial cultivation phase determines one's upper limit.

Before Shen Yue lay hard sand blocks, scorched for years by the fire vein, which perfectly met the collection requirements for Fire Quicksand: the intersection and flow of water, fire, and earth attributes.

However, whether he could successfully collect it remained to be seen.

"Minister Shen, beware of the fire poison!"

The Seventh Prince offered a reminder before beginning to clear the sand.

Shen Yue nodded, stopping less than half a meter away from a piece of fire-sand porcelain.

Although the object met the collection criteria, its inherent fiery nature required caution.

He cleared the sand while channeling the Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique to gather the Fire Quicksand Qi.

He had expected to be burned several times, but to his surprise, his first attempt successfully condensed wisps of Fire Quicksand Qi.

Not far away, the Seventh Prince sighed inwardly as he watched Shen Yue's slow progress.

General Shen's cultivation is still too weak.

I shall have to clear more and share some with him.

A day passed, and the lake clearing concluded.

The Seventh Prince returned to the boat first and swallowed an Ice Soul Pill.

Although he had tried his best to avoid areas with intense fire energy, the lake bottom was too close to the Chen Fire Vein, and the fire poison within him had deepened.

At this moment, Shen Yue surfaced. The Seventh Prince pulled him onto the boat and handed him an Ice Soul Pill.

"No need, I am fine," Shen Yue said.

"Do not force yourself!" The Seventh Prince shoved the Ice Soul Pill into Shen Yue's hand, his expression stern.

If he could not suppress the fire poison, General Shen must be in an even worse state.

Shen Yue did not refuse further and accepted the pill.

It was true that the fire energy below was intense, but in reality, the fire poison within his body had not increased; rather, it had been suppressed significantly.

The Fire Quicksand Qi, being a spiritual energy of water, fire, and earth, actually faintly countered the fire poison—an unexpected delight.

"Take some of this sand," the Seventh Prince said, pointing to the sand on his own boat.

Seeing that the sand in Shen Yue's cabin was only half-full, he thought to himself that it was fortunate he had the foresight to collect extra.

Otherwise, when the Chen Clan came to inspect, General Shen's Water-Avoiding Bead would likely be confiscated.

"Forget it, I will help you."

The Seventh Prince chanted an incantation, and a golden hand made of energy scooped up the sand and dumped it onto Shen Yue's boat until the cabin was essentially full. Only then did he stop.

For Minister Shen, I truly have exhausted myself.

Just then, a streak of light flashed overhead. Chen Qiaoqian stood upon a spiritual sword, her expression cold.

Of the three hundred island guards tasked with clearing the sand, all were slacking off and using ordinary mud to deceive them; not one had cleared the long-accumulated fire-aspected debris.

"Eh?"

Chen Qiaoqian's eyes brightened as she flew downward.

The Seventh Prince's expression changed when he saw the light approaching.

She must have seen me sharing the sand!

He stepped forward and bowed, "Miss Chen, this was my idea. If you must punish someone, punish me..."

Chen Qiaoqian ignored him and arrived before Shen Yue. With a light flick of her finger, two porcelain shards flew out from the sand in his cabin.

"Strange. These are clearly remnants scorched by the fire vein for a long time, so why is the fire energy only on the surface, while the inner fire nature is so weak?"

Filled with doubt, she retrieved three more fire-vein porcelain shards to examine.

They were the same.

Chen Qiaoqian's eyes shifted toward Shen Yue.

She remembered this man; he had been the one to proactively clear the sand earlier, and he was currently the only one cleaning up the fire-aspected debris, even if these remnants were somewhat peculiar.

She put away the shards, intending to take them back for study, then took out a medicinal pill and gave it to Shen Yue.

"Cultivate well."

With that, she departed on her sword.

Once his figure vanished.

The Seventh Prince hurriedly jumped into Shen Yue's cabin, using a golden hand to claw through the mud and sand.

Shards of fire-porcelain were unearthed one by one.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Others avoid this place like the plague, yet here you are, digging it up yourself!"

"If you die from fire poison, who will conquer the empire for Me?"

"Here." Shen Yue handed over a medicinal pill.

This pill was an Essence Condensing Pill, a superior cultivation elixir for the early stage of Qi Refining. Each one cost three spirit stones, and Chen Qiaoqian had given him two.

The Seventh Prince stared at the Essence Condensing Pill, his face tightening even further.

"This pill was bought with your life and My empire; I will absolutely not take it!"

As he said this, he stuffed the Essence Condensing Pill into his pocket.

In the inner room of the small courtyard by the lake.

Shen Yue sat cross-legged, circulating the Geng Metal Art. After three cycles, the spiritual energy within his body became vibrant.

He took out the Essence Condensing Pill and swallowed it.

A massive medicinal force dissolved in his belly, surging through his limbs and bones like a mountain torrent.

"As expected of a superior elixir! An effect like this can save at least a month of bitter cultivation."

"Cultivating like this is truly gratifying; it's a pity there's only one..."

Sensing the seven spirit stones in his storage bag, Shen Yue could barely resist the urge to go buy more Essence Condensing Pills.

However, seven spirit stones could only buy two pills, which was a drop in the bucket for him.

"Once my cultivation improves, I must thoroughly explore the Ancient Wei Territory."

That night, Shen Yue paused his practice of the Geng Metal Art and instead took out two wisps of spiritual Qi to examine them.

One wisp of Qi resembled golden grains, while the other contained fire within the gold.

During the day at the clear lake, he had collected one wisp each of Fire Quicksand Qi and Star Flow Sand Qi.

"If I collect one wisp a day, it will take over two months..."

Thirty-six wisps of fire Qi could form the Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique, while seventy-two wisps of sand Qi could form the Fire Quicksand Qi.

The Fire Quicksand Qi was harder to collect than the Star Flow Sand Qi and required more time.

Collecting only the Star Flow Sand Qi would take half a month.

Shen Yue was in no rush; he was determined to prioritize a superior Dao foundation.

But there was a problem: the Fire Quicksand Qi required diving to the bottom of the lake, and scooping sand from the surface was highly inefficient.

Furthermore, the Refining Lake did not have clear lake missions every day.

"If only I could go to a place with fire veins, like the Chen Clan's forging grounds; collecting Fire Quicksand Qi should be much faster there."

But only blacksmiths were allowed into the forging grounds.

"Blacksmiths..." Shen Yue's expression turned thoughtful.

Whether in the Chen Clan or the marketplace, blacksmiths held esteemed positions and earned spirit stones as easily as drinking water.

If he were to achieve Qi-subjugation using Fire Quicksand, it would be perfectly suited for forging or alchemy.

"Cultivate first."

Two months later.

At night, all was silent.

Shen Yue's skin felt like a branding iron and his blood like molten lava. All the strength in his body gathered at the center of his brows, charging toward the Ancestral Aperture Meridian, the last of the six meridians.

After repeated scouring, the meridian gate wore down rapidly until it finally broke through.

A sense of transparency and comfort surged forth instantly. Shen Yue felt his strength skyrocket, his mind clear, and his five senses heightened.

The sound of the wind outside the courtyard and the rippling of the lake water had never been clearer than at this moment.

"No wonder the cultivation techniques of the Ancient Wei Territory can birth divine sense upon achieving Qi-subjugation..."

With his five senses already this sharp at the sixth meridian, it seemed only natural that divine sense would emerge at the Qi-subjugation stage.

Feeling his own transformation, Shen Yue smiled.

"For this period, I will prioritize practicing the Star Sand Return-to-Store Technique."

As long as the final meridian was perfected, he could swallow the Fire Quicksand, step into the Qi-subjugation stage, and master divine sense.

Additionally, the third page of the Nine Heavens Profound Mirror was about to unlock; he wondered what special effects it might hold.

Time flowed like water, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Refining Lake, Clear-Turbid Island.

The Seventh Prince, Changqin Wuming, manipulated a black spirit bag, reclaiming the black mist from the island.

"Your skill at recycling waste qi is getting more and more proficient. If you keep this up, we'll all be swept away by you," a few people nearby teased.

Changqin Wuming merely smiled, saying nothing as he continued his work.

Once all the black mist was collected, he sent the bag to the center of the island for processing, then impatiently left the island to reach the shore and find Shen Yue.

"General Shen, once I reach Foundation Establishment, I will make you the Grand Commander of the Three Armies. We shall dominate the market, annihilate the Chen Clan, avenge our blood feud, and prove the Dao through slaughter..."

Changqin Wuming had switched to the waste qi recycling side, far from the fire poison, and his cultivation was growing day by day; he was now in high spirits.

Shen Yue had heard this no less than ten times over these past few days and was long since accustomed to it, but the middle-aged man sitting opposite them chuckled upon hearing these words:

"Heh, proving the Dao through slaughter? I fear the fortune of this Refining Lake will be sucked dry by you, Emperor Ming."

This man was named Zhou Chongwen; he had once been the emperor of a mortal kingdom, though he had been overthrown after only two and a half years on the throne.

"Cultivation is like rowing a boat against the current; one must know how to forge ahead despite the difficulties and have the courage to challenge the status quo," the Seventh Prince felt invigorated.

Zhou Chongwen smiled.

He had been in the market for over a decade. Back then, he had been just like Changqin Wuming, believing himself to be a man of great talent and strategy capable of reaching the pinnacle.

But in the end, he was still only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, his foundation damaged, unable to make any further progress.

Cultivation did not rely on grit or lofty ambitions; it relied on resources and background!

For those of them coming from mortal kingdoms, even an emperor was worth nothing.

Thinking of this, he looked toward Shen Yue: "General Shen, let me confirm once more: do you truly intend to purchase the Blood Refining Pill for body tempering?"