Warming Meridians: Xiao Xun'er

Watching the gray-robed old man fall toward the ground, Xiao Lin couldn't help but smile with delight.

The contents of a Dou Wang expert's Storage Ring would be enough to tempt anyone in the Jia Ma Empire.

After a brief pause, Xiao Lin flapped his Dou Qi wings and pursued him toward the ground.

Crouching before the gray-robed old man, whose breath was faint as a thread, Xiao Lin removed the Storage Ring from his hand and said with a faint smile, "I'll gladly accept these."

At that moment, the dying gray-robed old man suddenly widened his eyes and seized Xiao Lin's wrist with lightning speed, sneering like a vicious ghost.

"If you want my things, then be prepared to pay with your life!"

As he spoke, the gray-robed old man's withered body rapidly swelled at a visible rate, while dense wind-attributed Dou Qi seeped out from within him.

Seeing the gray-robed old man's appearance, two words immediately surfaced in Xiao Lin's mind—self-destruction!

The self-destruction of a Dou Wang expert was absolutely terrifying!

At this critical moment, Xiao Lin did not panic. His reaction was incredibly swift. With his hand like a blade, he severed the arm gripping him and immediately retreated!

Watching Xiao Lin's shrinking figure, the gray-robed old man's body reached its limit.

Boom!

Wild, violent wind-attributed Dou Qi erupted, instantly sweeping across a radius of several hundred meters. Under the impact of this force, the once lush trees suffered devastating destruction.

Within several hundred meters of the gray-robed old man, not a trace of green remained. It was as though a meteor had struck, overturning several feet of earth.

With a bang, a dazzling azure light flashed, and a figure blasted out from within, crashing through several large trees before finally stopping.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Xiao Lin looked at the countless bloody gashes torn across his body by the gale. He knew he had been seriously injured this time. Surviving had been pure luck.

He took a precious healing pill from his Storage Ring and swallowed it, then pulled out a black robe and put it on. Ignoring his injuries, Xiao Lin hurried away from the place where he had caused such a commotion and returned to the Xiao Clan.

Hearing that his grandfather had returned, Xiao Yan ran out of his room in eager anticipation.

Seeing Xiao Lin walk through the door fully conscious and even speak with Xiao Zhan and the three elders, Xiao Yan was overjoyed.

The outcomes of the previous simulations had been completely different. Either an arm had been broken, or Xiao Lin had passed out at the entrance. Even in the best outcome, he had barely managed to make it through the door.

Watching everyone bustle about to treat Xiao Lin's injuries, Xiao Yan did not step forward to interfere. He would not have been able to help much anyway.

However, judging by Xiao Lin's condition, he should be able to retain more of his strength.

Returning to his room, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged and quickly cleared his mind of distractions.

"Sixth stage Dou Qi, break through!"

Having decided to raise his strength by another level today, Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes and began cultivating.

In an instant, a continuous stream of heaven-and-earth energy enveloped Xiao Yan's body.

Xiao Yan had already possessed exceptional talent, and under the nourishment of the Primordial Origin Pill, he was constantly growing stronger.

Combined with the Three-Origin Circulation Method, which was far stronger than the Dou Qi cultivation methods commonly used by others, the amount of heaven-and-earth energy Xiao Yan gathered while cultivating was simply unimaginable.

With every breath, Xiao Yan rapidly refined and absorbed this energy, strengthening his Dou Qi, nourishing his meridians and bones, and increasing his soul power.

As his body absorbed without end, its absorption speed surged. Within a few breaths, it had completely drawn all the surrounding energy into him.

Once all the energy had been absorbed by Xiao Yan, his body fell briefly still. Then it suddenly shuddered violently, and his lower abdomen contracted slightly.

"Finally, the sixth stage!"

Xiao Yan abruptly opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, deeply satisfied with his true cultivation speed.

The first through third stages of Dou Qi were low-level, the third through sixth stages were intermediate, and the seventh through ninth stages were high-level.

After cultivating the Three-Origin Circulation Method, the sixth stage of Dou Qi counted as the beginning of Foundation Establishment. From then on, every further improvement would bring a qualitative transformation to every aspect of his body.

For Xiao Yan, who would eventually cultivate the Flame Mantra and endure the burning of Heavenly Flames, this was an enormous benefit.

Seeing that it was already dark outside, Xiao Yan got out of bed. He had not forgotten his cousin Xiao Xun'er, who would care greatly for him in the future.

Regarding this cousin, whose background even Medicine Elder could not compare with, Xiao Yan had occasionally wondered why someone with such a powerful background had been fostered in the Xiao Clan.

After giving it some thought, Xiao Yan felt there were two possibilities.

First, Xiao Xun'er's cultivation aptitude might have been truly terrible, completely unbefitting her family's background, leaving them no choice but to send her away.

After all, during the first simulation, Nalan Yanran had already been a three-star Dou Zhe, while Xiao Xun'er was only at the ninth stage of Dou Qi.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, Xiao Yan, who had once been labeled trash and had his engagement broken off because of it, understood this deeply.

At Xiao Xun'er's level, she did not seem at all like the favored daughter of a great power.

The second possibility was that she had been sent out for training to undergo some sort of trial, much like Medicine Elder absorbing his Dou Qi. If she succeeded, she might gain unimaginable rewards.

A person's Dou Qi strength was difficult to sense. Generally, only after being tested by the Testing Magic Stone Stele could one accurately determine how many stages its owner had reached.

Yet in the life simulations, Xiao Xun'er, who only possessed Dou Qi, could easily see through his strength every time they met. It was truly unusual.

Knowing that soul power was not impossible to cultivate, only that it was difficult to encounter such cultivation secrets in the Jia Ma Empire, Xiao Yan felt that his cousin's aptitude might not actually be ordinary.

Perhaps Xiao Xun'er had to divide her attention to cultivate soul power, which was why her Dou Qi strength seemed unremarkable.

He just did not know what level of soul cultivation technique that would be.

Shaking his head, Xiao Yan cast his wild thoughts from his mind and silently walked out of the room.

No matter what the truth was, Xiao Yan felt he should still do his small part.

In the darkness of night, Xiao Yan darted through the Xiao Clan like a black cat. Before long, he had slipped into Xiao Xun'er's room.

It was midsummer. As Xiao Xun'er slept, she wore a delicate undergarment embroidered with green lotuses. Her fair little hands and legs were exposed, and her childish face still retained a hint of baby fat.

By the faint moonlight, Xiao Yan quietly made his way to the bedside.

After examining the soundly sleeping Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Yan's thoughts stirred. Milky-white Dou Qi condensed in his palm, and beginning with Xiao Xun'er's boneless jade-like feet, he started nourishing her meridians.

Only after personally doing it did Xiao Yan understand the difficulty involved.

The most important part of Dou Qi cultivation was warming the meridians and tempering the channels, laying a foundation for the future.

When cultivating himself, he could constantly absorb heaven-and-earth energy to replenish his reserves at any time.

But when nourishing someone else, he could only rely on the Dou Qi he had cultivated himself, with no heaven-and-earth energy to replenish what was expended.

As a result, the amount of Dou Qi stored within someone at the initial and intermediate stages of Dou Qi was hardly enough to complete the task of nourishing another person's meridians.