Clamped Spine Gate, open!

Because he had spent a vast amount of soul liquid, his stay in the Mysterious Space lasted longer than ever before.

The visualization was, of course, not his half-baked "Great Sun Visualization Method." He visualized the original from which it had been derived, directly contemplating the "Blazing Sun" to create the most powerful wondrous force field. The "force" born within it could easily carry out all three forms of guidance in full.

First, drawing Heaven and Earth essence toward his body;

Second, drawing the soul power in his Dantian through the meridians throughout his body, establishing a self-sustaining circulation of soul power;

Third, drawing a portion of the soul power diverted from his Dantian upward along his Governing Vessel, patiently wearing away at the gates like water grinding stone, without pause;

Even with the "Mysterious Heaven Skill" to guide him, Tang San had opened his Governing Vessel last, and his soul power had already reached level 59 at the time. Jiang Dongjun, however, had automatically started with his Governing Vessel, attempting it with only level 14 soul power. All he could say was that the "Blazing Sun" was far too fierce.

Of course, the "Mysterious Heaven Skill" also stated-

The Eight Extraordinary Vessels were naturally connected, but those connections were so minute that soul power could not pass through them. Thus, they had to be forced open.

The younger one was, the easier it was to open the Eight Extraordinary Vessels.

Without a doubt, Jiang Dongjun had entered Deep Meditation again.

One day, two days, three days... all the way to the seventh day.

After completing his proudest creation in the Soul Tool Workshop, Jiang Ming had been standing guard over Jiang Dongjun. At last, he began to grow restless.

The Heaven and Earth essence in the courtyard continued flowing toward his son's bedroom, showing no sign of weakening. Clearly, this session of Deep Meditation would last longer than any before it.

That was a good thing, but could his son's body withstand it?

Preparing for rain before the clouds gathered, Jiang Ming hurriedly sent his wife to the Soul Tool Department. She was to use the contributions they had accumulated at the academy over the years to exchange for several doses of precious medicinal liquid that could strengthen his foundations, replenish his vitality, and make up for his depletion.

He also crushed another Communication Bead, summoning a covert operative from the Viscount's Estate and urging them to speed up their collection of the ingredients for Immortal Spirit Fungus Soup. The ingredients already gathered were to be delivered immediately by a Soul Master, rather than waiting until everything had been collected, lest they arrive too late.

If his son truly needed to replenish his body after waking, he could not afford too many scruples. Buying a few of the missing ingredients in Shrek City would be fine.

Day after day passed.

Nearly four hundred drops of soul liquid could indeed allow Jiang Dongjun's consciousness to linger in the Mysterious Space for a long time, but not indefinitely. At the very least, they could not let him visualize the "Blazing Sun" for more than ten days.

In truth, this extraordinarily long session of Deep Meditation was due to Jiang Dongjun's initial intense visualization guiding his soul power to break through the "Clamped Spine Gate," one of the three gates.

Even without the aid of a ten-thousand-year spirit object, it had guided his level 14 soul power to chisel through the mighty barrier of the Central Pivot bit by bit, pass Jinsuo, travel through Zhiyang, climb to the Spirit Platform, open the Divine Path, batter through the Body Pillar, and traverse Taodao. Finally, it lingered before the Dazhui Point, unable to advance, gazing toward the final Jade Pillow Gate.

After he opened the Clamped Spine Gate, its unique nature and its connection with the Tailbone Gate produced a lingering effect. Thus, even after Jiang Dongjun's consciousness was kicked out of the Mysterious Space, his Deep Meditation did not end.

The Tailbone Gate was the source of innate vital essence, while the Clamped Spine Gate was the hub for transforming and circulating essence and energy. It linked the internal organs with the channels throughout the body. Once it opened, the circulation of soul power within his body became smoother and more efficient.

Ten days, eleven days, twelve days... all the way to the sixteenth day.

The surging Heaven and Earth essence above the Fireplume Soul Guidance Workshop's three-courtyard compound finally settled.

Jiang Ming immediately stationed himself outside Jiang Dongjun's room. After waiting a little to give Jiang Dongjun enough time to respond, he gently knocked and called out.

A sinister, chilly wind blew out from the room, eerily passing through the tightly shut door.

Jiang Ming was not surprised. With practiced ease, he stepped back to make room.

An illusory figure passed through the door and appeared.

It was none other than Jiang Dongjun's Yin Spirit... Martial Soul.

Ever since he had acquired his Yin Spirit Martial Soul, his thoughts no longer had to run around naked. It was like a set of clothes, armor for his soul.

Jiang Ming asked with a touch of schadenfreude, "Deep Meditation felt wonderful, didn't it? But is your body still all right?"

Even though the figure before him was the Yin Spirit Martial Soul, he could still tell that Jiang Dongjun was in a foul mood. Its face was rather dark.

"Goddammit, Soul Masters actually can't live without food. When will I be able to stay full of energy just by feeding on qi?"

"I'm not dead, but it feels like I'm close. I've never been this weak before. After waking up, I didn't even have the strength to move. Dad, do you have anything nourishing? Get me some, quick. Or how about picking up a mild, nourishing thousand-year spirit object from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion?"

"Haha, don't worry. I've already prepared everything for you."

Jiang Ming turned his palm over like a magician, and two little porcelain bottles, each smaller than his palm, appeared in his hand.

One was deep crimson, the other sky blue.

"Drink the liquid in the red bottle directly. Pour the blue bottle into the bathtub, dilute it with water, and soak for an hour before getting out. You should have mostly regained your ability to move by then."

"Do you need my help?"

The Yin Spirit Martial Soul took the two bottles of medicinal liquid and shook his head.

"No. I can still carry myself. Make me some meat porridge. I'm starving."

With that, he pushed open the door and returned to the room with the two bottles.

Jiang Dongjun had already pried apart his dry, stuck-together lips with his tongue, leaving them bloody and raw. Now he simply pulled the stopper from the red bottle, put it into his physical body's mouth, and lifted his chin, sending the medicinal liquid down his throat.

After busying himself in the bathroom for a while, he directed his Yin Spirit Martial Soul to toss his physical body into the bathtub. Then he dismissed his Martial Soul, and his thoughts returned to his flesh.

Sensation returned.

His belly felt warm. Streams of warmth continued flowing into his limbs and throughout his body, and his weakened muscles slowly regained their vitality, like parched earth blessed with long-awaited rain.

As his body recovered, Jiang Dongjun examined what he had gained from this round of "point allocation" and Deep Meditation.

The least noteworthy gain was the increase in his soul power cultivation.

Right, there was a misconception to correct: Deep Meditation did not necessarily produce a massive increase in soul power cultivation.

In the original story, Huo Yuhao frequently entered Deep Meditation. How many times had it greatly increased his soul power cultivation? For Huo Yuhao, its most obvious effect was repeatedly adjusting his body and meridians, gradually improving his cultivation aptitude to an outrageous degree.

For example-

During one night of Deep Meditation after fusing with the gold of life, he completed one-third of the progress from level 28 to level 29;

After sixty days of Deep Meditation inside the Golden Tree, he absorbed a ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion arm bone, raising his soul power cultivation from nearly level 29 to the level 30 bottleneck. He then refined a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear palm bone and absorbed the Soul Ring of a ten-thousand-year Purple Spirit Beast (six thousand years), finally reaching the peak of level 32;

At the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, he spent half a year in Deep Meditation. Without nourishment from the Golden Tree, he nearly wrecked his body. His soul power barely increased; all the benefits went into strengthening his body, reducing Ultimate Ice's effect on his soul power cultivation. This also reduced the threat Huo Yuhao posed in Jing Hongchen's eyes;

In one of the clearest increases in cultivation, seven days of Deep Meditation raised his soul power cultivation by one level at the level 80 Soul Douluo stage. However, that was the Golden Tree giving them an unfair boost. Huo Yuhao and his companion absorbed the Heaven and Earth essence contained within it. Strictly speaking, that act was damaging the foundations of Shrek Academy.

When Huo Yuhao refined pills, their fragrance spread outward and caused hundreds of people to enter Deep Meditation. Their soul power cultivation did not increase; their bodies merely expelled impurities, and the intrinsic quality of their Martial Souls improved.

This session of Deep Meditation had raised Jiang Dongjun's soul power cultivation from midway through level 14 to level 17, and he had already completed two-thirds of the progress through level 17. He had truly gained three levels in a row.

If he had undergone this session of Deep Meditation somewhere else, such as Sea God Island, where Heaven and Earth essence was more abundant, and fed on the Golden Tree's reserves, his soul power cultivation would have increased even more significantly.

The wondrous force field created during visualization was indeed powerful at drawing in Heaven and Earth essence, but the amount scattered through the surrounding space was finite.

"Allocating points" with soul liquid only improved the intrinsic quality of his Martial Soul. Unlike genuine immortal herbs and spirit objects, it did not have leftover medicinal power to increase his soul power cultivation after its primary effects took hold.

Opening the Eight Extraordinary Vessels would not massively increase cultivation either. It merely improved cultivation aptitude and physical strength, as demonstrated by both Tang San and Tang Wulin.

His first gain was an increase of more than three levels in soul power cultivation.

His second gain was opening two-thirds of the Governing Vessel, one of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels.

-The second of the three gates, the Clamped Spine Gate!

Once the Clamped Spine Gate opened, Jiang Dongjun felt as though every meridian in his body had been cleared. They could withstand faster circulation of soul power, his qi and blood flowed more smoothly, and his organs' capabilities had improved significantly: his heart and lung function, his liver's ability to reject foreign substances, his spleen and stomach's digestive capacity...

Likewise, opening the Clamped Spine Gate also affected him mentally.

When he previously opened the Tailbone Gate, Jiang Dongjun had felt filled with boundless energy and unmatched courage.

Opening the Clamped Spine Gate brought mental steadiness, a composure akin to "Mount Tai collapsing before him without changing his expression, a deer springing up at his side without making him blink."

Besides, the Tailbone Gate and Clamped Spine Gate have formed a connection. Opening two-thirds of my Governing Vessel has already begun showing results. My physique must have improved. Once I shine the "Light of Time and Space" on myself later and check how many more point allocations the "Density" field allows, I'll know.

His third gain naturally lay with the star responsible for this session of Deep Meditation-the Fireball Martial Soul!

Whoosh!

A brilliant golden fireball rose before Jiang Dongjun.

The golden flames pulsed, casting golden light everywhere. Rolling waves of heat surged outward, distorting the surrounding air. They already displayed the flame temperature expected of a top-tier fire-attribute Martial Soul.

"At last, I can just barely count myself as standing on the same starting line as Ma Xiaotao, Wu Ming, and Xu Tianzhen."

"Still, when Ma Xiaotao was approaching seven-ring cultivation, her Phoenix flames were already close to Ultimate Fire. Judging by the data from the 'Light of Time and Space,' she probably had something like-Fire Element Control: top-tier (8000-9000+/10000)."

"Later, after her corruption, they even became ultimate Darkness Fire [note 1]..."

"I still have catching up to do. Once I fill the top-tier experience bar, it'll definitely become Ultimate Fire, right?"

With a thought, Jiang Dongjun drew a wisp of golden flame down from the brilliant golden fireball and let it dance on his fingertip.

"Wonderful, wonderful! This is the exclusive flame of a top-tier Martial Soul-Sun True Fire!"

[Note 1]: Qiuqiu Reading, Chapter 210, Eye of Destiny.

In the original text, Mu En personally stated that it was ultimate Darkness Fire.