Meridian Opening Formula, Star-Shattering Finger

The day after Ye An settled into the Inner Sect, someone knocked on the door of Room 7 of C Block.

Ye An opened the door and found a young man in an Inner Sect Deacon Uniform standing outside. He was a familiar face; Ye An had met him several times.

It was Lu Yun, the mild-mannered deacon who had questioned him in the side courtyard.

He held a wooden box. When Ye An opened the door, Lu Yun's gaze lingered for a moment, sweeping him from head to toe. Only after confirming his aura did he speak.

"Junior Brother Ye, the Sect has finished verifying your achievements in the Beast Arena battle. You killed several Heaven Overturning Cult members there. Under the Sect's standards for Outer Sect Disciples, each cult member below the Meridian Opening Realm is worth one merit, equivalent to fifty Contribution Points. That comes to two hundred. The information you provided also helped the investigation into the cult's branch activities in Cangwu Prefecture, so the Sect awarded you another three hundred Contribution Points. Five hundred in total. Here's the voucher."

Ye An took the wooden box and opened it. Inside was a Contribution Point voucher bearing the seal of the Inner Sect Management Office. "Thank you, Deacon Lu."

Lu Yun did not hurry away. He smiled and waved a hand. "You're in the Inner Sect now. Just call me Senior Brother. Have you given any thought to cultivation methods and Martial Arts?"

"I'd appreciate your guidance, Senior Brother Lu."

Lu Yun nodded. His gaze fell on the iron badge at Ye An's waist, which had already been replaced, and a thought stirred.

He remembered that when he questioned Ye An in the side courtyard not long ago, Ye An had been only a Third Body Tempering Outer Sect Disciple.

Shen Li had been questioning him then, asking how he had managed to come back alive. Lu Yun had said little, merely recorded his merits according to the rules and offered a few polite remarks.

At the time, he had thought nothing special of Ye An. The young man had simply seemed articulate, someone who knew what to say and what to keep to himself, unlike the impulsive Shen Li.

But now, standing at the doorway and sensing Ye An's Meridian Opening aura, Lu Yun realized that the goodwill he had casually shown him was worth more than he had expected.

He let none of that show. He merely glanced at Ye An again, his tone a little more casual. "Disciples who've just reached Meridian Opening usually need cultivation methods and Martial Arts. The Scripture Repository offers new disciples a discount: all Spirit Grade cultivation methods are thirty percent off, one book only. You should take a look."

Ye An cupped his fists. "Thank you for the reminder, Deacon Lu."

Lu Yun waved a hand, turned, and left.

Ye An closed the door and set the voucher on the table.

With the hundred and fifty points the Sect had automatically awarded him for reaching Meridian Opening, he now had six hundred and fifty points in his account.

He put the voucher away, changed into clean clothes, pulled on his Iron Sand Gloves, and went out.

He followed the Inner Sect's bluestone path for fifteen minutes and arrived at the Scripture Repository.

An elderly man with graying hair and beard sat by the entrance. Ye An approached and placed his iron badge on the table. "I'd like to borrow a Meridian Opening Realm cultivation method and a Martial Arts manual."

The old man set down his tea bowl and picked up the badge. Instead of registering it at once, he looked at Ye An. "You're the Outer Sect Disciple who came back from Qingshi Beast Arena?" His tone was even, as though confirming something he already knew.

"Yes." Ye An was puzzled, but he answered.

The old man asked nothing more. He turned the badge over, checked its number, and set it on the table, then glanced toward a low shelf nearby.

"Meridian Opening Realm cultivation methods are on the left side of the first floor. Martial Arts manuals are on the right. New disciples get thirty percent off their first cultivation method. One time only."

He paused. "I registered the file on that Beast Arena incident. You dispatched those cult members cleanly and decisively. Not like someone fresh out of the Outer Sect."

Ye An understood, but before he could prepare an answer, the old man waved him inside.

Ye An paid it little mind. The man seemed to have been making casual conversation, without much interest in him.

Ye An entered the Scripture Repository.

The shelves on the left were stacked with Meridian Opening Realm cultivation methods. He leafed through them one by one. When he reached the third book, "Xuanyuan Skill," he read two pages before closing it.

It was not bad, but its energy circulation routes were too broad—wide-ranging, yet lacking precision.

He picked up the fourth book, "Qingmu Formula." By the third page, he found that it described a nurturing approach to Internal Energy, which did not suit his current path.

At the fifth book, his fingers paused. "Meridian Opening Formula."

He opened it to the preface. A passage explained that its Internal Energy circulation route was not straight but spiral: it started at the Dantian, advanced along the outer side of the meridians, and returned along the inner side, forming a complete double circuit.

He had practiced the Qi-Nourishing Formula's route before. That route was straight and linear; it ended once it reached his fingertips. But now that he had reached Meridian Opening, he had enough Internal Energy to send it farther.

"Meridian Opening Formula" fit perfectly. Ye An pulled it out and set it aside.

Then he went to the shelves on the right and scanned the labels. There were fist arts, sword arts, palm arts, and movement arts. After looking them over, his gaze settled on a thin booklet—"Star-Shattering Finger · Spirit Grade, Upper Rank."

He pulled it out and read two pages. Its opening line said, "The key to finger arts lies not in force, but in the point of contact. Excess force scatters; a true strike breaks through."

His fingers stopped when he reached the third page.

The method of applying force described there connected with the force-generation route of Azure Cloud Finger's fourth layer.

Azure Cloud Finger drove straight in from the front, while Star-Shattering Finger cut diagonally from the side. The two routes met at the wrist.

He studied those lines a little longer, then closed the booklet, stacked the two books together, and returned to the counter.

"Senior, I'll take these two."

The old man picked up "Meridian Opening Formula" first and checked the price on the back cover. "Three hundred normally. Thirty percent off for a new disciple makes it two hundred and ten." He picked up "Star-Shattering Finger" and flipped through it. "Spirit Grade, Upper Rank. Four hundred. That's six hundred and ten for both. How much do you have?"

"Six hundred and fifty."

The old man nodded, took the voucher, recorded both transactions, and pushed the badge and books back across the counter. "You can borrow the cultivation method for six months and the Martial Arts manual for three. Late returns cost points. Keep track of the dates." Ye An took the badge and books, thanked him, and left the Scripture Repository.

Unfortunately, the thirty-percent discount applied only to Meridian Opening Realm cultivation methods. If it applied to Martial Arts manuals, plenty of people would probably choose a more expensive one.

Outside, the sky had darkened. The sun had sunk behind the mountains, turning Cangwu Mountain's outline into a deep silhouette.

He followed the bluestone path back. From the courtyards on either side came the occasional murmur of conversation or light clash of weapons.

The Inner Sect was quieter than the Outer Sect, and its lamps were farther apart, but each one burned brighter.

He walked unhurriedly with the two books in his hands, one thin and one thick, stacked together. They seemed to weigh down his hands with the long road ahead. Only with these two books did his path through Meridian Opening truly begin.

Back in Room 7 of C Block, he shut the door, sat at the table, and spread the two books before him.

He started with "Meridian Opening Formula," reading from the first page. Half an hour later, he had finished the preface and the first three chapters. Then he picked up "Star-Shattering Finger," turned to the third page, reread the passage that had made him stop earlier, and closed it.

The two books lay on the table: one a foundation, the other a means of attack. He first ran through the route of the Meridian Opening Formula's First Layer, then tried gathering his Internal Energy according to Star-Shattering Finger's method of applying force. He opened his eyes and let out a breath.

[Meridian Opening Formula (First Layer): 1/100]

[Star-Shattering Finger (Initial Glance): 1/100]

It worked.