Pills to Open the Meridians

In Dragon City, the imperial capital, stood the grandest Cloudflower Immortal Market.

Rare heavenly and earthly treasures gathered from every corner of the world, spirit treasures and spirit artifacts unearthed from ancient tombs and forgotten lands—one could buy almost all of them here.

The place teemed with people, its stalls and shops displaying a dazzling array of goods.

Xu Yan and Qin Nishang wandered through the market at leisure.

He bought some thousand-year earthly treasures, then went to the Myriad Medicine Pavilion to refine the finest Meridian-Penetrating Pill—the Origin Meridian Pill. Only earthly treasures of such age could be used to refine this pill. Its spiritual power was tyrannical beyond compare; once consumed, it would surge straight through one's spiritual meridians like savage waves.

It was the most suitable pill for opening the meridians.

By dusk, several eunuchs found Qin Nishang. She was taken away unwillingly, presumably to meet her parents in the Purple-Gold Palace. She could not avoid a scolding, and might even be confined for some time.

Xu Yan also made his way to the Great Yin Treasury, the imperial capital's official treasury, intending to hand over his copy of the Hunyuan Great Method.

As soon as he reached the entrance, a goat-bearded steward came to greet him.

The steward had sharp eyes. Xu Yan had been in Dragon City for less than a day, yet the steward had already heard of him. He looked Xu Yan over from head to toe, his gaze settling on the jade pendant at his waist, before smiling. "Are you the young master of House of Prince Wu'an?"

"Steward, I have an ancient method here. Will you take it?" Xu Yan asked.

"Young Master Yan, please come inside." The steward gestured.

Once they reached the inner room, Xu Yan directly took the enormous dark-black scroll from his spatial pouch.

Such a massive Dao scroll made the steward view it in a different light. It radiated an ancient, primitive air.

He spread it open on the counter and inspected it closely. His expression shifted slightly. Then he took out several ancient books for comparison before looking up in surprise. "Young Master Yan, this book is the inherited supreme method of the ancient sect, the Hunyuan Sect—and it is even the original copy. Where did you find it?"

"The Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains." Xu Yan spoke plainly, then asked directly, "Steward, how much is it worth?"

"This method is extraordinary. It is an inheritance method left by a terrestrial immortal, and it is worth quite a great deal." The steward pondered.

Not long after, Xu Yan walked out of the treasury carrying a bulging purple-gold spatial pouch.

One copy of the Hunyuan Great Method had fetched a full five hundred thousand Great Yin spirit coins—a considerable fortune. By usual standards, an inheritance method of this sort would be valued at roughly this price.

However, this was the first time this method had appeared in the world; not even a fragment had existed before. Its price was therefore somewhat higher than the market rate, and Xu Yan was quite satisfied.

By the time he returned to Nishang Residence, it was already deep into the night.

After resting for a night, Xu Yan returned to the training ground at the hour of the dragon to practice the Li Clan Body Tempering Art.

Twenty days passed in succession.

Every day, he practiced martial arts and read in an orderly routine. With the aid of Origin Meridian Pills, he broke through another twelve turbid meridian segments in a row.

His physical strength rose rapidly.

By now, he had broken through thirty-eight turbid meridian segments. He was already more than halfway toward mastering the first realm of the Li Clan Body Tempering Art, Meridian-Penetrating Bone Tempering.

But the further he progressed, the more difficult it became.

The Great Yin spirit coins he had only recently obtained by trading away the Hunyuan Great Method had already been half spent on earthly treasures and spirit materials.

So it was true: the poor cultivated literature, while the rich cultivated martial arts. Studying before had cost him almost nothing, but ever since embarking on the Dao, the spirit coins in his pocket had vanished like water flowing away without end.

As for the Formless Spirit Apertures, he likely could not open any more for the time being. After opening three Formless Spirit Apertures, the spiritual energy resources required had become enormous, and the difficulty had increased as well. Xu Yan did not rashly attempt another opening.

He had already realized that when opening spirit apertures from now on, there seemed to be a chance of failure. That was terrifying.

Those who opened apertures after birth could open at most nine apertures, yet Formless Apertures were even harder to open. Xu Yan had proceeded relatively smoothly through the first three because he had sufficient resources, but he would have to deliberate carefully before opening another Formless Spirit Aperture.

If the nine Formless Apertures were damaged, his path of seeking the Dao might end here.

Boom!

Within Blackstone Dojo, Xu Yan's entire body gleamed golden as currents of force-energy swirled around him.

He performed the Military Body-Strengthening Fist on the training ground. With every move, the air trembled, and muffled grunts like rolling thunder rang continuously through the dojo.

Without wielding any artifact, he could leap more than ten zhang in a single breath purely with the speed of his physical body.

At that moment, atop the tall tiled wall not far away—

Three heads suddenly popped up. They belonged to three boys of fourteen or fifteen, their hands gripping the edge of the wall as only half their heads showed. Squinting, they stared fixedly at Xu Yan as he tempered his body on the training ground.

"Qin Longxiang, didn't you say this Xu Yan was a scholar? Why do I feel that his martial skills are quite impressive?" The speaker was a slightly plump-faced boy with narrowed little eyes, speaking in a low voice.

"He's just putting on a show. Don't tell me you're scared!" Qin Longxiang glared, baring his teeth as he growled.

"Your Highness, perhaps... we should forget it." A boy in black robes said.

All three came from extraordinary backgrounds.

The slightly plump boy was named Qin Luo, the youngest son of the Prince of Kang's household. He had only come to Great Yin this year to study literature and martial arts.

The black-robed boy was named Kuai Chen, the eldest son of the current Vice Minister of War. He was slightly older than the other two.

"Why all this nonsense? The three of us can't take him down together? Besides, he has been practicing for more than an hour. He must be utterly exhausted by now. We'll take this chance to subdue him, and then..." As he spoke, Qin Longxiang clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Your Highness, Xu Yan is no ordinary person. He's from Prince Wu'an's Residence..." Kuai Chen's expression was rather strained. It was one thing to indulge the Fifth Prince in some mischief now and then, but while he might be able to afford offending Prince Wu'an's Residence, Kuai Chen's family could not.

"I'm the emperor's son too. If anything happens, I'll take the blame. Get up there!" Qin Longxiang blurted without restraint.

With that, he abruptly grabbed the robes of the two beside him.

The three of them used their movement arts and soared into the air!

"Hmm?"

Xu Yan noticed immediately. He tilted his head to the left and saw three boys shouting as they pounced toward him.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yan planted his left foot firmly on the ground, twisted at the waist, and turned halfway around. Then his right leg swept out through the air!

Boom!

In that instant, terrifying force-energy gathered like a torrential flood. The sound of the air shaking was like the roar of a ferocious tiger as it surged toward the three of them.

The trio's spiritual power was instantly shattered and dispersed by Xu Yan's bodily force, and they were sent flying back over the wall by the kick.

Three impacts sounded as they hit the ground, followed at once by pained cries.

Then Xu Yan heard the three of them cursing and grumbling as their voices gradually faded into the distance, until they finally vanished from his hearing.

"What was that about?"

Xu Yan raised a brow.

He paid it no mind, merely straightened his clothes and washed up.

Having been here for so many days, he still needed to pay a visit to the Great Teacher. Besides, Xu Yan planned to move out of Qin Nishang's residence.

It was not proper to remain all day in the residence of an unmarried princess.

If word reached the palace, who knew what the Emperor and Empress would think? They might well believe that Prince Wu'an had deliberately arranged for his adopted son to spend more time with Qin Nishang.