At school, in the practice room.
Jiang Ding wielded his sword with fluid motions, two bottles of pills placed before him.
They were the Essence Refining Marrow Pill, suitable for the Bone-Refinement Realm—mild in nature, easily absorbed, and boasting a high pill-formation rate—and the Hundred Essences Transform Qi Pill, suited for the Qi-Inertia Realm.
Both were classic pills whose patent periods had long since expired in the Immortal Sect; the former came six to a bottle, while the latter came twelve.
They were produced by Harmony Pharmacy, with the production date and the alchemist's name engraved on the bottoms of the bottles.
Among them, the Essence Refining Marrow Pill had already been mostly used up. At one pill a day, each ingestion transformed into a massive surge of supplemental primordial energy that nourished the body, to the extent that one might even suffer from being overly nourished if not careful.
Naturally, Jiang Ding had no such problem.
The Lesser-Success-stage Young Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art circulated, sword light flickering as it hungrily absorbed the primordial energy erupting from his stomach, frantically strengthening his body and bone marrow.
Yet on the light-blue translucent screen, among the tiny humanoid figure, only one or two segments of the spine not yet at 100% visibly jumped all the way from 90 percent.
98%
99%
100%!
As he finished executing a set of sword forms, Jiang Ding returned the hidden sword to its scabbard. He felt a series of creaks from his joints, a warm current rising from all the limbs and bones like a hundred rivers converging into the sea. It transformed into a strand of Qi-Inertia as thin as a fish line that surged into his Dantian, then took the Dantian as its starting point and circulated through the Lunar Lung Scripture.
Jiang Ding drew his sword, and his Dantian and meridians instinctively began to operate, advancing along the Lunar Lung Scripture and finally surging into the long sword, turning into a hazy, somewhat scattered white light.
Whoosh!
With a gentle wave, the blade emitted a wind-breaking sound, its destructive power several times greater than before.
He looked at the panel projected by the Array Spirit.
[Name: Jiang Ding] [Student ID:] [Realm: Early Qi-Inertia] [Last Training Subject: Sixty-Eighth Set of Fledgling Flight Art (Lesser Success 5%)]
Beneath the panel remained the light-blue humanoid figure, except this time the muscles, bones, and skin faintly visible within it were no longer present; instead, there were trails of meridians.
They ran vertically through the entire body, taking the twelve regular meridians as their foundation and the eight extraordinary meridians as their orientation, extending in all directions for a total of one hundred and eight thousand two hundred and twenty-two meridians!
This was the heritage of the Immortal Sect, and the terrifying aspect of cultivation techniques capable of artificially forging the embryonic form of a Dao physique!
Ordinary martial arts manuals—such as those practiced by Gong Caiyu and the so-called "Sky-Flip Monkey" from the Dragon-Tiger Martial Hall—could be considered supreme arts if their techniques had even a thousand meridians.
This exceeded the cognitive limit of martial artists regarding the human body's meridians!
It also exceeded the limit of a martial artist's independent capability to temper and nourish meridians without external assistance!
First branch of the Lunar Lung Scripture (1%)
Ninth branch of the Lunar Lung Scripture (2%)
3654th branch of the Lunar Lung Scripture (0%)
Minute meridians were marked out on the light-blue humanoid figure, intertwining like dragons and serpents, densely packed in a way that induced dizziness.
Beneath the humanoid figure, rows of retracted character symbols marked out detailed information on the minute meridians, totaling one hundred and eight thousand two hundred and twenty-two.
The vast majority of people had a minute-meridian count fluctuating around one hundred and eight thousand.
Simultaneously, under the guidance of the Array Spirit, the humanoid figure began to practice swordsmanship.
Sword Unfurling Form!
The sword left its sheath, forming an arc in mid-air. Jiang Ding clearly saw that on the foundation of the previous sword forms, modifications involving meridian operation and the mobilization of Qi-Inertia had been added. The power of the sword forms surged, while the Qi-Inertia also nourished the dense clusters of minute meridians along the path, allowing them to utilize the circulation of Qi-Inertia to refine essence and transform Qi with even greater efficiency.
The methods of mobilizing Qi-Inertia and nourishing the meridians seem to have elements of Array Dao, alongside the principles of meridians and cultivation techniques learned in language class...
Jiang Ding's eyes lit up brightly, and he finally understood the true meaning of the phrase his teachers had always emphasized: "Immortal Dao is a discipline closely integrating study and practice."
Recalling the past subjects of language, mathematics, geography, biology, and others that he had rote-memorized and forcibly understood, he now felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
Clang!
Sword light flashed, and Jiang Ding could not help but draw his sword and leap forward, following the posture of the light-blue humanoid figure to mobilize the internal force in his Dantian with diagonal slashes and horizontal cuts. The sword shot out like lightning, and he felt every fiber of his being unhindered.
At first, the sword forms were somewhat scattered, unable to fully grasp the newly born power. After several moves, the sword light condensed and merged once more.
Three minutes.
After finishing a set and a half of sword forms, his internal force dried up, shrinking back into his Dantian to the size of a broad bean. Jiang Ding sheathed his sword, breathing slightly.
Qi-Inertia is too weak; it can only sustain three minutes...
Jiang Ding recalled the Qi-Inertia section of the Young Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art.
Meridians did not exist in isolation. Starting from the Lunar Lung Scripture, once all twelve regular meridians—including the Hand Greater Yang Sanjiao Meridian—completed the tempering of their ten largest primary and branch meridians to form a "Minor Celestial Circuit" loop, the Qi-Inertia Realm would initially stabilize.
Afterwards, completing the warming and tempering of one thousand minute branch meridians across the twelve regular meridians like the Lunar Lung Scripture and Hand Greater Yang Sanjiao Meridian would allow one to enter the Lesser Celestial Circuit operation. Both the speed and quality of the Qi-Inertia would grow by a huge margin, marking the Lesser Success stage.
Building on this foundation, further tempering and nourishing one thousand primary and branch meridians of the Ren and Du extraordinary meridians would achieve the Greater Celestial Circuit, resulting in an unceasing circulation of Qi-Inertia. This was Greater Success.
The final perfection consisted of tempering and nourishing over eighty-eight thousand meridians!
Swallowing the final Essence Refining Marrow Pill, Jiang Ding continued practicing his sword. He no longer mobilized Qi-Inertia, instead using his fully tempered skin, flesh, and bones to temper his body.
Refining essence to transform Qi.
The massive primordial energy within his limbs and bones had nowhere to go, automatically transforming into Qi-Inertia and slowly replenishing the Qi-Inertia in his meridians and Dantian.
Relying on the Essence Refining Marrow Pill, he practiced three rounds like this, then practiced the Qi-Inertia sword art one more time to temper and nourish the still fragile Lunar Lung Scripture.
Once the Essence Refining Marrow Pills were exhausted, he switched to the Hundred Essences Transform Qi Pills. Their medicinal efficacy was ten times greater than that of the Essence Refining Marrow Pills; massive amounts of primordial energy were continuously generated from his stomach, comparable to swallowing an entire ox, yet the impurities were scarce and easily digested.
Through such continuous cycles, the sword light never stopped.
Two hours later, accompanied by the class-dismissal bell, Jiang Ding was drenched from head to toe, sweat dripping down drop by drop. Leaving footprints with every step, his complexion was pale and his meridians ached faintly.
The human body is truly fragile; it's reached its limit already...
Jiang Ding's eyes were bright without a shred of fatigue. He sheathed his sword, went to the bathroom to wash up, changed his clothes, and walked back to the classroom.
From two hours of exercise, six of the largest meridians of the Lunar Lung Scripture had completed 20% of their tempering progress.
It will take about two weeks to achieve a minor loop, on the condition that high-supplement primordial energy medicines like ginseng cannot be stopped; otherwise, a month won't even be enough.
Jiang Ding calculated inwardly.
Along the way, he unconsciously used a trace of Qi-Inertia in his eyes and ears, feeling as though the heavens and earth had been washed with clear water—unprecedentedly clear. He could even hear the conversations of classmates returning from drill at the school gate.
Entering the classroom, class monitor Hua Bing, Wu Tianli, and a few others glanced at Jiang Ding with slight surprise.
The rest remained completely oblivious.
Even as a newcomer, his degree of control over internal force was not something others could easily perceive.
After the routine equipment maintenance and slogan shouting, class monitor Hua Bing reminded them, "Tomorrow is the mid-term examination, students, do not forget."
"Understood."
The expressions of all the students turned solemn and somewhat nervous.
Many who were still in the Body-Refinement Realm and could hardly claim to have top-tier academic scores faintly revealed looks of despair. The gap was simply too great, and there was not a shred of hope for them to enter the School of Dao Cultivation.
They could only consider which university's ordinary department to enter instead, though most people could still get into key institutions.
"Class dismissed!"
On the bus, he was fortunate enough to grab a seat.
Jiang Ding placed his long sword diagonally across his knees, closing his eyes to rest his mind. He mobilized the Qi-Inertia in his Dantian—which had recovered somewhat—to circulate within the ten largest meridians of the Lunar Lung Scripture. Amidst a slight stinging sensation, he used the Qi-Inertia to soothe and promote healing.
For any healthy human, meridians were not blocked; rather, they were too fragile and small to accommodate the entry of Qi-Inertia.
What a martial artist needed to do was continuously temper and nourish them until they pierced through the entire body in a grand celestial circuit.
This "static cultivation" was a technique secret taught by the Array Spirit within the Young Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art. Its efficiency was one-tenth that of dynamic cultivation, but correspondingly it did not consume too much mental energy, winning through unceasing persistence and gathering small amounts into a large total.
It was simply too difficult; the slightest lapse in attention would damage the meridians, resulting in losses outweighing the gains.
Jiang Ding's cultivation technique had already reached Lesser Success, so the problem was not severe, but he only dared to try it slightly. Otherwise, encountering an emergency situation would likewise cause damage to the meridians, and it was best to practice in a secure, static room.
To naturally cultivate with Qi-Inertia while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, or even to automatically cultivate while sleeping, required at least the Greater Success stage of the Young Eagle Takes Flight Formula.
Many Innate martial artists found this difficult to achieve.
Ding!
He opened his eyes and took out his phone.
Colorful Cloud Pharmaceuticals Finance Department transferred... 3,000 Fan coins to your savings bank card ending in 5247. After deducting a 5% tax, your balance is 3,052 Fan coins.
Joy welled up in Jiang Ding's heart.
The money from Colorful Cloud Pharmaceuticals for the Purple Jade Grass had arrived. This was still only preliminary research and experimentation; once they confirmed that a certain component of the Purple Jade Grass had value, the other party would further purchase its patent authorization.
This was a huge sum of money!
The crucial point was that it was entirely explicable. Finding a mutated unknown plant by sheer luck in a roadside flower bed was completely reasonable, right?
Getting off the bus, Jiang Ding found an ATM, withdrew thirty crimson hundred-yuan bills, and counted them with satisfaction.
And he counted them while walking.
Unconsciously walking downstairs to his residential building, just as he was about to step onto the elevator—
"Dingding, long time no see. How has your studying been recently?" A middle-aged uncle blocked his path and asked gently.
Jiang Ding put the money away into his pocket and glanced at the other person.
Standing well over six feet tall with skin carrying a bronze tinge, a chiseled jawline, and masculine good looks—let alone peers of the same age, even young girls might not be able to withstand it. He was a rare, handsome older uncle.
His name sounded pleasant as well: Jiang Chaoyang.
Jiang Ding did not answer. He bypassed the man, walked into the elevator, and pressed the close-door button.
"Dingding!"
Jiang Chaoyang hurriedly stepped inside, a look of guilt on his face: "I know you've resented me all these years. Back then I fought hard for custody of you, but your mother wouldn't agree, and the court ultimately ruled in her favor."
Following that, he chattered on about many things—that he had no choice, that he wanted to see him but lacked the time, that he had sent money and items multiple times in the past but Lin Wanqiu refused to accept them and threw them straight out, and so on.
Yet he received no response whatsoever.
Jiang Chaoyang glanced at the boy, finding that from beginning to end he remained completely quiet—not as if someone beside him was speaking, but rather like a lump of air.
"You brat..."
Jiang Chaoyang grew somewhat angry.
Ding-dong!
The elevator doors opened, and Jiang Ding walked out on his own accord.
The elevator and the residential complex were both public areas. Any citizen could use them; what did it have to do with him?
Arriving at his front door, he used one hand to shield the keypad and the other to input the password, pressed his thumb on the fingerprint scanner, and with a click the door opened. Carrying his schoolbag, he walked inside.
Jiang Chaoyang frowned slightly, saying nothing.
Following him in, his right foot crossed the boundary separating the doorway from the room—
Clang!
A cold gleam that made one's scalp tingle flashed abruptly, and the sharp tip of a sword wrapped in highly condensed Qi-Inertia pressed against his throat, less than a millimeter away.
Jiang Ding quietly looked at the man.
He was probably at the Greater Success stage of Qi-Inertia, and moreover still practicing the Young Eagle Takes Flight Formula without switching to another Qi-Inertia technique. It seemed that even now, approaching fifty years of age, the man still had not given up hope of becoming an Immortal Cultivator.
His combat experience was extremely poor, and his technique realm was also very low.
"What are you doing?!!"
Jiang Chaoyang's body stiffened as he angrily said, "Is this how your mother taught you? Is this something you can just play around with? I see you've grown too wild; you're overdue for a beating!"
As he spoke, he reached out to swat away Jiang Ding's sword.
Sizzle—
As he moved, the Qi-Inertia defense at his throat was easily sliced through. The tip of the sword truly touched his skin, feeling cool and stinging slightly.
Jiang Chaoyang's body stiffened once more, and he incredulously looked at the teenager before him, as well as his unnervingly steady sword.
Was he truly not afraid of killing him?
"Stranger, do not enter my home without permission," Jiang Ding slowly said.
Before you continue