Advancement, Refugees

With his breathing rhythm, the light filling his body seemed to transform into inner qi.

It was a strand of cool inner qi.

It seemed as though an unceasing sensation of qi was being born from somewhere in his abdomen, flowing trickle by trickle through the meridians recorded in the Essentials of Nurturing Life, guided by Zhang Jian's control.

When it met a mountain, it split the mountain.

When it met water, it built a bridge.

One blocked meridian after another was completely opened by the circulation of that cool inner qi.

"Heavenly Pool, Jade Palace, Divine Gate..."

The meridian map he had memorized surfaced vividly in Zhang Jian's mind, and his heart filled with astonishment.

Zhang Yi had mentioned it before.

Sensing qi was the first hurdle. Once the first trace of inner qi appeared, one was considered initiated. After that came the slow work of grinding water through stone—following the meridian-opening secrets of one's school to open meridian after meridian until a complete cycle of circulation formed. Only when inner qi formed a cycle could it continuously accumulate.

Drops of water gathered into a pool.

This was also the life cultivation of an internal cultivation martial artist.

It was a long process.

Many skilled internal cultivators became trapped at this stage, unable to connect the full circulation for a long time, and thus unable to develop any obvious combat power.

At the shortest, this process took several years. At the longest, it could take decades.

Yet Zhang Jian felt that with every breath in and out,

the inner qi stirred by the breathing of the hundreds of tiny meridians contained within the Essentials of Nurturing Life surged forward, breaking through them one after another. What had originally been mere threads of qi now rolled through his body like pearls.

The three-dimensional map of meridians within his body seemed to have been completely illuminated, producing a strange effect.

At that moment, crimson fire lightning seemed to flicker and pulse faintly in Zhang Jian's eyes.

With every breath, it was as though he were forcibly drawing some wandering power from heaven and earth. Yet he had not mastered the method of opening and closing certain acupoint valves throughout his body, and so could not absorb it.

Even so, it was already terrifying beyond measure.

Standing nearby, Zhang Lu looked directly into Zhang Jian's opened eyes and felt a scorching heat rise from the depths of his heart. Startled, he lowered his head instinctively, almost suspecting that he had been surrounded by flames and set ablaze, nearly fainting from the heat.

Only after quite some time did he suddenly come back to himself. He slowly looked himself over, then finally let out a breath of relief when he saw that he was unharmed.

"The full circulation has been completely opened and has begun to cycle. I never expected to break through to the Body Strengthening stage so quickly!"

Sensing the rich inner breath flowing through his body at the command of his heart and mind, Zhang Jian's eyes gleamed with amazement.

He raised a hand. A faint jade-like radiance emerged in his eyes, allowing him to see the rich inner breath gathered beneath his flesh.

Body tempering had five stages: Bone Forging, Tendon Transformation, Marrow Cleansing, Organ Refinement, and Grandmaster.

Internal cultivation also had five stages: Qi Sensing, Body Strengthening, Origin Nurturing, Innate, and Grandmaster.

The two were largely similar. However, martial artists who followed the path of internal cultivation possessed little combat strength at the Qi Sensing stage.

But upon reaching Body Strengthening, they began to gain some ability to protect themselves.

When one's inner qi completed a full circulation and cycled without rest, that was Body Strengthening.

At that moment, Zhang Jian could clearly sense the surging, vigorous life-nurturing inner breath within his body.

This inner breath continuously circulated through his five viscera and six bowels, tempering them. Like threads of spring rain, it nourished his entire body beginning from the five viscera and six bowels. It truly was excellent for nourishing the body.

However, his life-nurturing inner breath possessed no attributes whatsoever, which meant its destructive power was lacking.

Still, it was clearly different from Qi Sensing.

At the Qi Sensing stage, the full circulation could not be opened. One merely had better spirits and slightly greater stamina. Compared to skilled body temperers, one had little power to resist.

For martial artists at the Body Strengthening stage, their innate wonders gradually began to manifest. As they continually nourished their five viscera and six bowels with inner breath, those organs became stronger. Their hands and feet grew light and nimble, their ears sharp and eyes keen, and with inner breath circulating, they could hold their breath longer as well.

But the stage where one could truly form destructive power was Origin Nurturing.

A brilliant light shone from Zhang Jian's eyes.

Completing Qi Sensing in a single day gave him tremendous confidence.

For the next stage, Body Strengthening, he only needed to continuously circulate his inner breath, temper his five viscera and six bowels, and at the same time open more meridians and acupoints of the greater circulation. Eventually, once his inner breath grew strong enough to burst forth from his body and form externally released qi force, he would have succeeded.

In martial arts, this was in truth a process of moving from within to without, ultimately becoming one with heaven and man.

Zhang Jian felt that this process should be very swift for him.

After eating the Fire Apricot, he felt as though the firelight within it had pierced through his physique. There were not many impurities in his body, and his blocked meridians had already been opened. What he lacked was merely familiarity with the process of opening and closing the meridian "valves."

"A single Fire Apricot has brought me such enormous benefits. It seems I need to find a way to visit the ancestral shrine more often and shear some wool off the sheep—no, I mean, pay filial respects to my ancestors!"

Zhang Jian's heart burned with eagerness.

After considering it, Zhang Jian went to see his old man again.

"Father, your son has heard that the drought around Fengyang Commandery has lasted for months, and refugees have already begun heading toward Fengxi County. Your son wishes to set up porridge sheds outside the city to aid the people and do his small part."

Zhang Yi looked at Zhang Jian before him. Though he found it somewhat strange, he still nodded.

The Zhang family was one of the foremost great households in the region. They controlled more than a dozen merchant caravans, and their wealth needed no explanation. Setting up porridge sheds was no great matter.

"Very well. Your father will instruct the steward to handle it. You need not go yourself!"

"Recently, displaced people around Fengxi County have gathered in bands and become bandits. Your Fourth Uncle is suppressing them, and it is not safe. If you go out, remember to bring the family guards and estate retainers with you."

Zhang Jian nodded at this. The current age was no flourishing golden era. After several stirring transfers of power, Great Qian's national strength had begun to decline.

There were quite a few roaming bandits in all directions.

Naturally, Zhang Jian would not be careless.

Zhang Yi looked at his eldest son with some satisfaction. His eldest son was intelligent and had earned scholarly credentials at an early age. Even more rare, he possessed a reverent heart. He truly was an excellent heir.

Setting down the account book in his hand, a trace of concern appeared on his face as he added,

"I heard that you recently sought out your Uncle Yi and began practicing martial arts? Practicing martial arts is a good thing, especially in times like these, but do not force yourself. If it truly does not work, you must know when to choose and when to let go!"

"In today's world, the path of the imperial examinations is the proper road. No matter how powerful an individual's martial strength may be, it is ultimately limited. Heaven and earth are far too vast, and there are too many unknown things. Look at how the civil officials of Great Qian have always occupied the mainstream, and you will understand the reason!"

Zhang Jian nodded, though his heart was thoughtful.

With the Zhang family helping to set up porridge sheds far and wide to aid refugees from every direction, Zhang Jian immediately turned his focus back to tempering his inner breath.

He still progressed at astonishing speed in this step. In only about three days, he felt his inner breath become abundant, with the major and minor circulations within and without fully completed. He was only a hair's breadth away from breaking through the bottleneck of inner breath and releasing qi force outward.

But at this point, the Essentials of Nurturing Life had already reached its limit, with no further methods recorded.

"It's been castrated?"

Zhang Jian carefully leafed through the Essentials of Nurturing Life. There truly was no method of further breakthrough afterward.

This volume of internal cultivation technique really was a method for nurturing life...