Breaking Through

"Did Pang Jian just say that he was the one who killed those many Dark Ghost cultivators?"

Han Duping watched Pang Jian disappear, then whipped his head around to stare at Luo Hongyan, exclaiming, "That kid isn't joking with us, is he?"

Su Yuntian, He Rong, and little Su Meng with her braided pigtails were all wearing expressions of utter disbelief.

From Luo Hongyan, they had only known that the Dark Ghost cultivators led by Hong Tai had set an ambush for them at Blackwater Pool.

It was only because of the sudden appearance of Ouyang Duanhai and the "Black-White King Python" turning on Hong Tai that the group had managed to escape in the chaos.

Luo Hongyan had never truly clarified the fate of Hong Tai and those Dark Ghost practitioners, so naturally, they had no idea.

When Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen returned and headed to the top of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda to break the formation, they had actually claimed... that he had slaughtered every single Dark Ghost attacker except for Hong Tai!

How could that be possible?

The group looked at Luo Hongyan, seeking confirmation.

Zhou Qingchen, his face covered in unkempt stubble, saw a strange glint in his eyes. He actually believed it somewhat and asked curiously, "Lady Ning, is what he said true?"

"Yes."

Luo Hongyan's expression remained cold. She kept her gaze on the White Tower, not even bothering to turn around, and said impatiently, "I forgot to tell you all earlier: that 'Black-White King Python' that betrayed Hong Tai only did so because of Pang Jian's instigation."

"After you all fled, he lured the Dark Ghost members to the bottom of Blackwater Pool and rode the giant python to slaughter them beneath the water."

"Except for Hong Tai, not a single one of the other Dark Ghost attackers escaped."

Luo Hongyan stated the truth of the matter with a casual air.

Han Duping was stunned: "It really was him..."

"No wonder Sister Ning is so taken with him. It seems he saved Sister Ning's life over at Blackwater Pool!"

Su Meng suddenly realized.

Zhou Qingchen, lost in thought, stood stunned for a moment before sighing, "I never expected that the vow I made before leaving would be fulfilled by him."

"I was so eager to break through to the Xisui Realm precisely to hunt down Hong Tai and those Dark Ghost attackers and avenge our fallen companions."

"This fellow Pang Jian didn't wait for me to take action; he did exactly what I should have done."

He knew Pang Jian harbored secrets and admired many of his qualities, but he still hadn't imagined that after he and Han Duping were forced to flee, Pang Jian had actually utilized Hong Tai's "Black-White King Python" to turn the tide and slaughter so many Dark Ghost cultivators.

Luo Hongyan curled her lip, a look of disdain flashing in her beautiful eyes. You only know how to talk big, she thought. Weren't you the first one to run when things went south?

She gave a light cough and added, "That includes Dong Qianfeng—the one wearing the golden mask."

"Dong Qianfeng!"

Han Duping gasped, "Wasn't he expelled by the Blazing Sun Sect? How did he end up drifting into the Fourth Realm and colluding with those people from the Dark Ghost?"

"Doesn't the Dark Ghost organization recruit those who aren't recognized by the Seven Great Families and have been cast out by the powers of the upper realms?" Zhou Qingchen was not surprised and said calmly, "The Blazing Sun Sect expelled him, and the Dong Family didn't dare take him back. With his cultivation level, it was too difficult to survive in the Third Realm, so he had no choice but to fall to the Fourth Realm."

Fifth floor of the White Tower.

While the others were discussing outside, Pang Jian stood once again before the giant skull and picked up the Dragon-Patterned Spear that had been resting on the ground.

Inside the skull, the deep-green Spirit Turtle no longer moved, and the many souls and ghosts circling it continued to howl incessantly.

Pang Jian slowly closed his eyes.

The Spirit Sea beneath his dantian suddenly stirred with a tidal wave of spiritual energy, massive swells rising like mountains, surging violently within the sea.

The essence of the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art" surfaced in his mind. He carefully sensed the anomaly within his body, feeling the churning of the spiritual energy waves and the growing restlessness of the "sea."

A feeling of needing to release this pressure suddenly sprouted in his heart, and he allowed the tidal waves of spiritual energy beneath his dantian to erupt even more ferociously!

Gradually, he felt a strong, bloated pain radiating from his lower abdomen, from his dantian.

The burning, bloated pain made Pang Jian feel as if the dantian Spirit Sea, which was whipping up the spiritual energy tides, contained giant pythons and heavenly dragons hidden deep within, desperate to break free from his lower abdomen and storm through the meridians of his entire body.

Feeling this terrifying, bloated pain, he let this "fire" burn even more intensely, roaring in his heart with exhilaration.

"Pulse-Opening Realm: the first layer is to reclaim the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, using spiritual energy to penetrate the four limbs!"

"The eight meridians start from the Spirit Sea and run through the meridians of the hands and feet; each limb has two meridians connecting to the Spirit Sea."

Pondering the details of the breakthrough to the Pulse-Opening Realm and experiencing the increasingly terrifying pain, a look of madness appeared on Pang Jian's face.

His blood boiled with a craving for this storm!

When the waves rising high above the Spirit Sea finally reached their peak, they suddenly crashed down with a thunderous roar!

The massive, downward force found a vent at the bottom of the Spirit Sea, piercing through eight deep, well-like channels.

The vast, violent spiritual energy poured into the eight deep channels like a floodgate opening, gushing out from the Spirit Sea beneath his dantian.

A loud rumble erupted in Pang Jian's lower abdomen, as if a god were beating a war drum, or a thunder dragon were roaring at the heavens!

Under the intense pain, he clearly perceived four meridians starting from the dantian Spirit Sea and connecting to the palms of his hands. Like riverbeds that had been parched for ten thousand years, they were suddenly injected with violent, rushing water, charging toward his palms with a momentum that could swallow mountains and rivers!

The narrow, river-like meridians were suddenly flooded with such massive, heavenly river water that his arms went numb and his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

"Clang!"

The Dragon-Patterned Spear slipped from his grasp and slammed heavily onto the ground.

He sat down cross-legged, his shoulders twitching rhythmically as his arms trembled with a sensation like electric shocks.

With some difficulty, he slowly rolled up his sleeve and stared wide-eyed at his arm.

On his bare, exposed skin, tiny streams of light could be seen coursing along four meridians, surging from his shoulder toward his palm.

Within those four meridians, the visible ribbons of light were, in his perception, a vast, torrential flood of spiritual energy.

Like a tidal wave, the spiritual energy inched forward through the narrow meridians, clearing away a millennium of debris from the dried-up riverbeds as if tilling barren fields.

This process of opening the meridians was accompanied by a sharp, piercing pain that made Pang Jian grimace.

Gritting his teeth, he manipulated the flood-like energy with his mind while keeping his eyes fixed on his arm.

Beneath his Spirit Sea lay four more meridians connected to his feet, but he resisted the urge to open them all at once.

He focused his spirit, choosing to open only the four extraordinary meridians running through his hands, intending to complete the task using the existing power within his Spirit Sea.

For the vast majority of people, because the spiritual energy stored in the Spirit Sea is limited, breaking through from the Qi Refining Realm to the Pulse-Opening Realm and clearing all eight meridians using the tidal force of spiritual energy is an arduous task.

Only a select few, after opening the eight meridians, can choose one or two to cultivate further.

Most people choose the meridians in their left and right hands.

Since the capacity of a Spirit Sea filled for the first time is limited, the stored energy is generally insufficient to even clear a single meridian in either hand.

In the Pulse-Opening Realm, the first stage of clearing the eight extraordinary meridians usually requires continuous, day-by-day effort.

Because many people's Spirit Seas are not vast enough, a single full charge does not last long, and the opening of meridians must be a gradual process.

It was never an easy task that could be accomplished in one go.

Originally, he only needed to open one of the two meridians in his dominant right hand to allow the energy to flow to his palm, then use the Dragon-Patterned Spear to amplify his strength and attempt to shatter the Soul Array.

However, after the eight meridian channels suddenly appeared, he felt that the massive spiritual energy stored in his Spirit Sea was sufficient to open all four meridians connected to his arms at once.

He trusted his intuition!

Thus, he was opening all four meridians simultaneously, keeping his eyes open to ensure he could succeed.

Enduring the intense, stinging pain, he clearly saw the streams of spiritual energy moving slowly through the four meridians.

He also secretly sensed his Spirit Sea; if the energy flowed away too quickly, he would adjust his strategy and concentrate his power on opening just one meridian.

Yet, every time he sensed his Spirit Sea, he found that the energy within remained abundant.

Only then did he realize that his Spirit Sea was likely different from others—far wider than that of cultivators at the same level, capable of storing much more energy!

"It's the Blackwater Pool! The acidic, toxic energy in the black water helped me expand my Dantian Spirit Sea!"

Pang Jian suddenly realized.

While enduring the agony, his mind wandered; at this moment, he didn't need to concentrate or maintain the state of the Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

"Shhh!"

A tiny speck of cyan light, like a firefly in the deep night, suddenly appeared in the palm of his left hand.

As the cyan light emerged, Pang Jian snapped to attention. "It's done!"

That was the light released by overflowing spiritual energy!

Depending on the cultivation art one practiced, the color of the overflowing spiritual energy varied. For him, practicing the Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art, the spiritual light was cyan.

To avoid wasting energy, he shifted his focus and used his will to cut off the flow of spiritual energy to that meridian.

The meridian that had been successfully opened no longer received energy, and the corresponding channel connected to the Spirit Sea closed.

It was a marvelous sensation; he could control the eight open meridian channels as he pleased.

Afterward, he concentrated his energy on the remaining three meridians, continuing to open them in the same manner.

"Shhh! Shhh-shhh!"

In just half an hour, the other three meridians connecting his palms to his Spirit Sea were successfully opened, marked by the reappearance of cyan light in his palms.

Having just entered the Pulse-Opening Realm, Pang Jian had opened four meridians in one go, and yet his Spirit Sea still held a third of its energy!

If there were no Soul Array to destroy, he could have used the remaining energy to open the two meridians connected to the soles of his feet.

Naturally, he did not do so.

Destroying the skull Soul Array relied on spiritual energy, and he could not squander it; he had to save his strength for more important matters.

"That's enough."

Without the leisure to carefully sense the changes in his body, he moved his arms a few times and gripped the Dragon-Patterned Spear tightly.

He aimed the spearhead at one of the stones forming the hollow skull, which was saturated with "Profound Yin Power."

With a thought, the Spirit Sea in his Dantian, which had just calmed down, surged once more. The spiritual energy, like a torrential waterfall, instantly poured into the meridians of his right arm and rushed toward the Dragon-Patterned Spear in his palm.