Meridian Opening

Another month passed.

The numbers for Mountain-Suppressing Fist in his vision had reached the end.

That evening, Zhou Yan struck the wooden post with two hundred punches. When he finished, his fist landed on the post without moving it in the slightest, yet two blue bricks in the courtyard wall behind it cracked. Clearly, the force of his punch had passed through the post and shattered the bricks.

Now, probably no one in the entire martial hall understood Mountain-Suppressing Fist more thoroughly than he did.

[Martial Dao Limit-Breaking System]

[As Heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should strive unceasingly for self-improvement.]

[Host: Zhou Yan]

[Realm: Qi Gathering Perfection]

[Mountain-Settling Stance: Limit-Breaking]

[Mountain-Breaking Fist: Limit-Breaking]

[Mountain-Suppressing Fist: Limit-Breaking]

[Edge-Breaking Saber Technique: Beginner 30/300]

Mountain-Breaking Fist had broken through its limit a month ago. After breaking its limit and reaching the pinnacle, the original three forms—Stele Splitter, Stone-Rending, and Mountain-Crushing—had fused into one. A single punch carried three currents of force at once: shaking flesh, breaking tendons and bones, and crushing internal organs. Its power was more than twice that of the Perfection Stage.

A few days ago, he had tested a punch against the blue bricks in the courtyard. His fist had still been a foot away, yet the inner force had already penetrated the bricks and shattered one into three pieces.

When Liu Tiehe passed by the tea stall that day, he saw the broken bricks in the courtyard. He squatted down, picked one up, and complained, "Are all the bricks in your courtyard this brittle? They've crumbled to pieces."

"I broke them practicing my fists," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Liu Tiehe turned the fragment over and saw that its fractured surface was as smooth as if it had been cut by a blade.

He opened his mouth, then put the brick back by the wall. Rising to his feet, he dusted off his hands.

"How long has it even been since you entered Class A? If that fist of yours landed on me, I'm afraid there wouldn't even be bone fragments left."

"Then you'd better listen to Senior Brother Zhou from now on!" Zhou Yan said with a grin.

Liu Tiehe grinned as well, though his tone was strange. "Yes, Senior Brother Zhou. This junior brother understands..."

That night, Zhou Yan stood in stance in the courtyard.

He pressed all the inner qi in his dantian into his meridians.

After reaching Qi Gathering Perfection, his inner qi was as abundant as a vat of water. The water circulated faster and faster through his meridians. The foundation of the Mountain-Settling Stance rooted him firmly to the ground, and a three-inch crack split the blue brick beneath his feet. After his inner qi circulated through several cycles, a hot current suddenly surged from his dantian, rushing along his meridians to his fingertips.

He punched at the air before him, and his fist force left his body by a foot.

The crooked jujube tree in the corner of the courtyard swayed, and a fist-sized indentation appeared in its trunk.

He had broken through! Early Meridian-Opening Realm!

At last, he had become a Martial Adept!

Zhou Yan lowered his head to look at his hand and could not help sighing. "This system really is overbearing. For me, breaking through realms comes as naturally as water flowing into a channel. There's no bottleneck at all!"

It had been just over two years since he had first stood in stance in Class C.

He had practiced martial arts for three years now.

A Martial Adept bottleneck that trapped others for ten years had been crossed by the system with a single progress bar.

He clenched his fist, and his fingertips could still feel the lingering numbness from that hot current.

The next day, Zhou Yan arrived early at Class A. Han Zongyuan was the only one in the courtyard.

Han Zongyuan had not paid much attention when he saw someone arrive, but after taking a closer look, his brows tightened.

He was already at the middle stage of the Meridian-Opening Realm. Zhou Yan had only just broken through and could not yet conceal his inner qi, so this senior brother saw through him at a glance.

Han Zongyuan took the initiative to suggest a spar, and Zhou Yan wanted to test his current strength as well, so he agreed.

The two fought for half an incense stick's time. The longer Han Zongyuan fought, the more alarmed he became. He had never expected that his middle Meridian-Opening Realm cultivation would fail to defeat Zhou Yan, who had only recently entered the Meridian-Opening Realm. Moreover, this junior brother seemed faintly capable of suppressing his fist techniques. Unwilling to continue the struggle, he instinctively withdrew his fist.

Zhou Yan's fist wind swept toward him. Han Zongyuan twisted aside, and the fist force grazed his shoulder before striking the wooden post behind him.

"When did Junior Brother Zhou break through?" Han Zongyuan asked with cupped fists.

A month ago, he had still had some complaints about his master accepting a Qi-Gathering Realm disciple into Class A.

Now, this junior brother could fight him evenly immediately after entering the Meridian-Opening Realm. Thinking of the Martial Examination in a few months, warning bells rang in Han Zongyuan's mind.

"Last night. I was lucky enough to break through to the Meridian-Opening Realm. Senior Brother was also going easy on me. Otherwise, I would not have been your match," Zhou Yan said, also cupping his fists.

Han Zongyuan wiped away his sweat and said casually, "By the way, now that you've broken through to the Meridian-Opening Realm, when do you plan to tell the hall master?"

"Tell him what?"

"About the Martial Examination. Registration closes next month. In previous years, the hall master personally led Class A there. Now that you've reached Meridian Opening, the hall master will definitely ask whether you plan to register."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan said he needed to think about it. Han Zongyuan glanced at him before resuming his stance and practicing his fists.

Within a single morning, news that Zhou Yan had broken through to the Meridian-Opening Realm and become a Martial Adept swept through the entire martial hall like a gust of wind.

Quite a few disciples came to visit him. Only after Feng Jiping and the others finished sparring did Feng Jiping come over and hand him a bottle of ointment.

"It's made by the Sun Family. You've just broken through to Meridian Opening, and your meridians are unstable. Third Master heard about your breakthrough and specifically had someone bring it over."

Zhou Yan accepted the ointment and thanked him. "Third Master has gone to a lot of trouble. I haven't even finished the Qi Gathering Pills from last time, and now he's sending ointment too."

"Third Uncle said Meridian Opening is the stage that consumes the most resources."

Feng Jiping leaned against a pillar. "Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall can only provide so much. He told you not to stand on ceremony—if you need anything, just ask. He also asked me to ask you whether you plan to enter this year's Martial Examination."

"There's more to consider than simply whether to enter the Martial Examination?" Zhou Yan asked.

Feng Jiping smiled. "Of course. Everyone who participates is in the Meridian-Opening Realm, whether early, middle, or late stage. You've only just entered the Meridian-Opening Realm, and it will be difficult for you to reach the middle stage in a few months. You won't achieve a particularly good ranking, either. My suggestion is that you participate in the next Martial Examination."

Zhou Yan tucked the ointment into his robes and smiled. "I understand. Thank you, Senior Brother Feng. I'll personally thank Third Master later."

Xue Zhenshan only learned of it that afternoon. When he summoned Zhou Yan over—

He heard from his newly made Martial Adept disciple that Zhou Yan intended to travel far away, to the Demon-Slaying Hall.

"So you still chose the Demon-Slaying Hall and don't intend to participate in the Martial Examination?" Xue Zhenshan sighed, as though he had expected it.

"The Demon-Slaying Hall doesn't look at family background or origins." Zhou Yan set his saber on the stone table. "I'm in the Meridian-Opening Realm now. My strength will improve quickly there."

Xue Zhenshan was silent for a long while.

He lifted his teacup and took a sip. The shadow of the jujube tree in the courtyard swayed across the ground, while the wind rustled the dry leaves.

"I won't stop you. But my junior brother Meng Cang said the same thing to me back then." He set down his teacup and sighed. "He said the sect was too slow, and that the Demon-Slaying Hall was the fast track. When his corpse was sent back in his third year, I was the one who received it. I never expected that after all these twists and turns, another disciple would still want to go to the Demon-Slaying Hall!"

Xue Zhenshan raised his head and looked at him. He opened his mouth, then swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

"I can't persuade you out of something once you've decided on it." He set down his teacup, rose to his feet, picked up the shears, and continued trimming the jujube tree with his back to Zhou Yan. "Nor will I try. Everyone has their own road to walk. Before you leave, make the most of your time and practice the remaining moves of the Edge-Breaking Saber Technique. After you go, the martial hall will help you take care of your family."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan cupped his fists and solemnly bowed to Xue Zhenshan.

Azure Cloud Gang.

Five sheets of paper were spread out before Zhao Xiong.

One bore a portrait of Zhou Yan and recorded everything he had done since beginning martial arts practice, including when he entered the Sun Family and when he joined the martial hall.

But most importantly, it contained a record of Zhou Yan leading White Cloud Martial Hall into Blackwind Ridge.

Coincidentally, Lei Bao of the Azure Cloud Gang had also disappeared in Blackwind Ridge at nearly the same time.

That was rather thought-provoking.

"I have to admit, this boy really is an exceptional genius. He became a Martial Adept in less than three years," Zhao Xiong muttered.

The old steward stood there for a long time before speaking. "Gang Leader, should we summon him and question him?"

Zhao Xiong flipped to Sun Wenli's calling card and the Class A roster beside it, then looked again at the Martial Adept mark beside the name on the roster.

"He's reached Meridian Opening now," Zhao Xiong said. "He's a Martial Adept, and he's also the disciple of the Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall's master. If he refuses, can we force him?"

"The masters of the county's three great martial halls are all at the peak of the Meridian-Opening Realm. And that old Xue Zhenshan is the oldest of them. He hasn't made a move in a long time—who knows if he has taken that step and entered the Astral-Condensation Realm? If he truly is in the Astral-Condensation Realm, our Azure Cloud Gang wouldn't even be enough for one slap from him." Zhao Xiong snorted. "We have to take it slowly!"

The old steward froze.

"He was still at Qi Gathering Greater Achievement during the Martial Meet, yet he broke through to Meridian Opening in one month." Zhao Xiong pressed the papers against the table. "Sun Wenli also keeps sending things to the martial hall every few days. And he comes from the Sun Family. Moving against him means offending two sides."

Zhao Xiong stacked the five sheets and pressed them beneath the inkstone. "Have someone watch him closely. Inform me immediately when he leaves the city. As long as he's alone, even a Meridian-Opening Realm Martial Adept has to die."

The steward withdrew. Zhao Xiong's expression was gloomy as he straightened the inkstone, pressing the papers firmly beneath it.

In the tea stall's rear courtyard, Zhou Yan finished three hundred punches of Mountain-Breaking Fist, drenched in sweat.

After Meridian Opening, his dantian had expanded greatly, and Qi Gathering Pills were no longer useful.

Their medicinal power dissolved into him like drops of water falling into a river. He draped a dry cloth over his shoulder and looked up at the moon.

Zhou Yan gripped the Edgebreaker Saber and slashed at the wooden post, beginning his saber practice.