May, Meridian Opening!

After the disturbance at Qingshi Beast Arena died down, Ye An's days settled into a routine.

Every day, he went out at dawn to practice Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada at the Martial Practice Ground. Once he finished his footwork, he found a place to jab at the bluestone slabs and practice Azure Cloud Finger.

In the evening, he returned to his room to meditate, read a few pages of Rosy Cloud Sword Art, then went to sleep.

As for Rosy Cloud Sword Art, a Spirit Grade sword technique, he still could not practice it as he pleased. Even if he did, he would have to be careful. Better to wait a few months at least.

In early April, a new row of white marks appeared on the bluestone slabs east of the Martial Practice Ground.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 654/800]

By mid-April, fine cracks had begun to appear around the white marks.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 699/800]

At the end of April, the bluestone slab was replaced.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 737/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 762/800]

"Just a little more." Ye An stood before the slab, his finger hovering an inch above its surface. Internal Energy gathered at his fingertip, but he did not strike.

In early May, no one else was at the Martial Practice Ground yet.

Ye An walked up to the newly replaced bluestone slab, stilled his mind, and extended his right index finger. He aimed at the slab and jabbed.

His Internal Energy left his body and struck the stone without a sound.

A tiny depression appeared on the slab's surface, its edges smooth, without a single crack.

At last, he could send out his Internal Energy in full.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 799/800]

He glanced at it, drew back his hand, and stood straight. Then he extended his index finger again and struck a second time.

This time, he held nothing back. His Internal Energy traveled its entire path, from his Dantian through his chest and arm to his fingertip, then out of his body.

A finger-sized hole appeared in the bluestone slab, piercing it clean through.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Level): 800/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Perfected)]!

He had mastered Azure Cloud Finger, this Body Tempering technique!

The change in his body came more fiercely than he had expected, as though something had suddenly exploded beneath calm water.

His Dantian was no longer merely a vessel that stored Internal Energy. It had begun to pump it outward.

His Internal Energy no longer needed his deliberate guidance. It circulated through his meridians on its own.

With every heartbeat, his Dantian pushed it outward once more.

His meridians widened by an entire measure, and the flow grew nearly twice as fast. Internal Energy now took only two breaths to travel from his Dantian to his fingertips; before, it had taken at least five.

The change to his senses was even more obvious.

Ye An raised his head. Someone was training at the far end of the Martial Practice Ground. He heard every sweep of fist-wind across the Wooden Dummy, and could even see a hairline crack on its surface.

The distant mountains were no longer a blurred outline. He could make out the course of a path along the mountainside and the patches of light slipping through gaps in the treetops.

He picked up the pierced bluestone slab and weighed it in his hand. Its inner grain, the depth of its cracks, the coarseness of the stone dust—all of it flooded into his fingertips the instant he touched it.

He let go. The slab fell back to the ground with a dull thud.

What separated Body Tempering from Meridian Opening was not a sheet of paper, but an entire level. Before Meridian Opening, Internal Energy hid inside the body. It was a "tool." After Meridian Opening, it became part of the body, as natural as breathing. He no longer had to make a conscious effort to "use" it.

Ye An lowered his finger, rose to his feet, pulled off his Iron Sand Gloves, and carried them in one hand as he headed toward the management office.

He had just entered the courtyard when someone called out behind him.

"Ye An?"

Ye An turned toward the voice.

Two people stood at the courtyard entrance, a young man and a young woman. Both wore Outer Sect Disciple uniforms, with Outer Sect iron badges hanging at their waists.

The clean-cut young man with a smile at the corners of his mouth was Lu Xingzhou. Beside him stood Shen Qing, still as cool as ever, though this time she had no book in her hands.

The three looked at one another for a moment.

Lu Xingzhou reacted first. He looked Ye An up and down and sensed how much stronger his aura had become. That vigor was nothing like what someone in the Body Tempering Realm should possess.

His gaze paused on the iron badge at Ye An's waist. It was still an Outer Sect badge; he had not exchanged it yet.

Lu Xingzhou froze for a beat, then understood. "You're here on business at the Inner Sect Management Office?"

"I got lucky and broke through," Ye An said modestly.

Lu Xingzhou opened his mouth, then closed it again, as though he needed to take another look at Ye An.

He and Shen Qing had met Ye An on the road from Linjiang County. With High-Grade C Bone Structure and Third Body Tempering, they had thought he would reach Meridian Opening. They had not thought it would happen so soon.

Lu Xingzhou himself was still in the late stage of Third Body Tempering, and Shen Qing was at about the same point.

He smiled, a little ruefully but genuinely pleased. "Look at you, getting there ahead of us. I'll have to call you Senior Brother Ye now!"

Beside him, Shen Qing thought for a moment before saying coolly, "Senior Brother Ye."

Ye An nodded. Lu Xingzhou was easygoing and outspoken; Shen Qing was calm and aloof.

Ye An found the two of them interesting, their personalities nearly opposite, but gave it little further thought.

Lu Xingzhou stepped aside and said nothing more.

Shen Qing stood beside him. Her gaze lingered on Ye An's back for a moment, then on the Outer Sect iron badge he had yet to exchange, before she looked away.

After Ye An had gone, her expression remained unchanged. Not even a ripple crossed her eyes.

Ye An had reached Meridian Opening faster than both her and Lu Xingzhou.

But so what? She had never believed someone with High-Grade C Bone Structure could go very far. Perhaps he had simply been a little luckier than she and Lu Xingzhou this time.

He would stall at Early-Meridian Opening, while she would keep climbing. She would not have to call him "Senior Brother Ye" for long.

Ye An did not notice her expression. He walked into the Inner Sect Management Office.

A middle-aged deacon sat behind the counter. He took Ye An's record, glanced at it, then looked up at him. "Reached Meridian Opening?"

"Yes."

The deacon nodded and took a new iron badge from a drawer. Instead of handing it over, he set it on the counter and tapped its face.

"The rules for Inner Sect disciples are different from those in the Outer Sect. Your stipend doubles, and you get two hundred and forty Contribution Points a year. It's all written in these booklets; read them when you get back. Also, Inner Sect disciples have regular duty assignments. They count as part of your obligations. Skip them, and Contribution Points will be deducted at the end of the year."

Ye An nodded without asking further questions.

The deacon glanced at him and pushed the badge across the counter. "Room 7 of C Block. Report there within three days. Someone will give you your specific duty assignment. Disciples who've just reached Meridian Opening are usually sent to the Beast Arena or the Medicine Field first."

"What does the duty involve?"

"Patrols, inventories, recordkeeping. Much like the tasks you took in the Outer Sect, but on a fixed schedule. The supervisor there will explain it." The deacon pushed the badge a little closer. "Take it."

Ye An picked up the badge. The front was engraved with "Inner Sect · C-7." "Thank you, Deacon."

He turned and left the office, looking down at the iron badge in his hand.

His first official assignment as a Meridian Opening disciple. He wondered where he would be sent.

C-Rank Courtyard lay toward the eastern side of the Inner Sect grounds,

much quieter than the Outer Sect courtyards, with larger grounds and more spacious rooms.

Room 7 stood deep within the courtyard. Opening its window revealed the main peak of Cangwu Mountain in the distance. Ye An set down his bag, hung the Shuanghong Sword back on the wall, and placed his Iron Sand Gloves by the bed.

Meridian Opening was only the beginning. Qi Condensation came next.