Meridians?

In Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu held Jiang Jiu's hand, her fingertips gliding lightly over his palm and arm.

After watching him today, she figured she could teach him some more advanced knowledge.

"Let your Soul Power flow along this route. Don't rush; take it slowly."

First, Jiang Jiu memorized the basic route. Then Xiao Wu had him feel the flow of Soul Power in her own body with his hand.

Jiang Jiu placed his hand in Xiao Wu's.

It still felt soft and smooth. But as Xiao Wu began circulating her Soul Power, it seemed as if nothing had happened—and yet something had changed.

"Now try moving around a little," Xiao Wu continued.

When Jiang Jiu tried to pull his hand away, Xiao Wu's hand was as light as air, offering no resistance at all. Yet it stayed in contact with his hand just as before. Even when her arm twisted into an awkward position, it was as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Wu could use this strange adhesive effect across her entire body. Once she latched on, breaking free wouldn't be so easy.

This sticking power was a technique. There was also a way to make the body more resilient; Jiang Jiu could feel it as soon as he gripped her tightly.

"All right, Xiao Jiu, give it a try?"

The two of them switched positions, with Xiao Wu placing her fingertips on Jiang Jiu's hand.

"Your Soul Power needs to flow smoothly through these areas," Xiao Wu said softly.

Jiang Jiu tried, but after a while, his brows furrowed.

As ever, precise control over Soul Power wasn't easy.

He could now gather the Soul Power inside him wherever he wanted: he could pool it in his feet to run faster, or in his hands to strike harder when forging iron, or in the place he was about to be hit to strengthen his defense. But this was still a fairly crude way of using Soul Power.

The routes for circulating Soul Power involved in Xiao Wu's Soft Technique were far more intricate.

Naturally, the results of such a rhythmic, specialized route were beyond what simply gathering Soul Power could achieve.

"Mm, did I push you too hard?" Xiao Wu scratched her head, troubled.

For her, the way of circulating Soul Power contained in the Soft Technique came as naturally and easily as breathing. But for Xiao Jiu and the others, it probably took time to learn and adapt.

"Just keep trying and practicing. Take it slow." Jiang Jiu hadn't expected to succeed on his first try.

Compared with people who started with nothing but a picture and had to figure everything out on their own, he already had it much better. At least he had a patient teacher to guide him.

"True. But don't practice by yourself, Xiao Jiu. It can be a little dangerous."

"I'm not stupid."

The next day, Jiang Jiu's running plan entered its reduced-load recovery phase.

He felt fine, both in terms of energy and his nerves, and his sleep quality was still perfect. Still, he rigidly stuck to the plan he'd set. There was nothing wrong with managing fatigue.

"You're done already today?" Xiao Wu came over with her bag.

She'd seen Jiang Jiu run thirteen kilometers, so when he only ran five today, it naturally seemed like he'd finished exercising unusually quickly.

Five kilometers or not, he still had to stretch afterward. Xiao Wu came over with a grin and started putting her hands all over him.

"Feels good, right?"

"Mm."

At this point, Jiang Jiu couldn't be bothered worrying about whether it was embarrassing or not.

For one thing, it worked well. Xiao Wu's stretching helped him recover faster and did a lot to improve his flexibility, too.

For another, he'd gotten somewhat used to it. Once something became routine, it was only natural to enjoy it.

After getting used to stretching, skipping it actually felt like something was missing.

But soon, Jiang Jiu realized he wasn't quite as accustomed to it as he'd thought.

"Why are you coming in here?"

Xiao Wu, who usually waited outside the men's bathhouse, followed Jiang Jiu inside today as if it were perfectly normal.

"Um, well, I reflected on things last night and realized I've been a bit neglectful as your teacher," Xiao Wu said with a serious expression.

"What does that have to do with you following me into the bathhouse?"

"Shouldn't you ask me what I've been neglectful about first?"

Jiang Jiu grabbed Xiao Wu by the shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her toward the exit.

"Oh, come on, I'm serious!" Xiao Wu kept looking back, though she didn't resist his push.

Near the entrance, she finally dug in her heels.

"Xiao Jiu, I'm here to teach you about meridians!"

At Xiao Wu's words, they both stopped.

"Xiao Jiu, I've noticed you seem to know very little about meridians. But that's probably my fault as your teacher, isn't it?"

"Meridians?"

"Yeah!"

Xiao Wu actually found it rather strange, too. This academy for training Soul Masters didn't seem to mention meridians at all. It almost seemed like even she, a Soul Beast who had taken human form, knew more about them.

"You know about this?"

Jiang Jiu felt like he'd just asked a pointless question.

If it were just ordinary physical techniques, one could rely entirely on one's physical attributes. But Xiao Wu's "Soul Power body techniques" were impossible without understanding how meridians worked.

"The things I pointed out yesterday were meridians."

"You need to teach me in the bathhouse?"

"It works better if you're not wearing clothes."

"..."

"Wait until I'm done washing."

After pushing Xiao Wu outside, Jiang Jiu rinsed the light sheen of sweat from his body.

Meridians?

It felt like getting to middle school only to realize he'd never learned the multiplication table.

To cultivate Soul Power, all a person had to do was sit in meditation.

For Soul Master combat, having Soul Rings and being able to use Soul Skills was more than enough.

Sometimes, meridians really did seem "unimportant."

But anyone who reached the pinnacle of Soul Master cultivation probably wouldn't be lacking in this knowledge. At the very least, they would know how to use it.

"Can I come in now?" Xiao Wu's voice came at just the right moment.

"Come in."

"Hehe. Ahem, mm-hmm." Xiao Wu changed her expression from a grin to one of seriousness, but the mirth in her eyes refused to fade.

Back in the bathhouse, Jiang Jiu stood with his back to her, his skin still glistening with water.

Xiao Wu blinked, then considerately walked around to face Jiang Jiu.

"Let's begin," Jiang Jiu said calmly.

As long as he set the tone as an academic inquiry, surely it wouldn't feel too strange.

"Oh, right." Xiao Wu pulled her attention away from Xiao Jiu's body, put aside her curiosity, and reached out toward Jiang Jiu's chest.

Jiang Jiu: "?"

"Here, here, and here."

Xiao Wu's fingers followed a path from Jiang Jiu's chest, slowly moving toward the inside of his arm.

This time, she used both hands, tracing the routes on either side of Jiang Jiu's body, until they reached his thumbs.

"There's a major Soul Power route here." This time, Xiao Wu had truly put aside her playful mood.

Jiang Jiu nodded and tried circulating his Soul Power along the route marked by Xiao Wu's fingers.

This was much smoother than yesterday's winding route.

It was clearly the difference between a basic method and an advanced one.

"How does it feel?"

"Pretty smooth."

"So this really is the way to teach it." Xiao Wu nodded, very pleased.