"Did you feel any obvious difference after opening all your orthodox meridians?" Day had broken, and Zhang Xing was holding up his little notebook, conducting research.
"Yes... my sight, hearing, sense of smell, stamina, all of those seem to have improved a little." In the rain-soaked courtyard, Qin Bao clenched his fists and answered earnestly. "But none of them improved all that much. It's like how some children always have slightly better eyesight than others... still, with all my senses and strength improving, I should be much stronger overall than before."
"What about true qi?" Zhang Xing asked eagerly as he took notes with a charcoal pencil.
"That changed the most." Qin Bao calmly circulated his qi as he answered. "Before, each of the eleven orthodox meridians was independent. Whenever I used true qi to exert force, it had to start from the Qihai Dantian, pass through particular internal organs, and reach a particular limb. But after opening the twelfth orthodox meridian, the true qi throughout my body felt like a single whole. It's not that the routes it takes when exerting force have shifted. It's more like using my own physical strength. The true qi feels as though it's become one with my body's meridians, much easier and smoother to release and withdraw."
Sitting beneath the veranda, Zhang Xing nodded repeatedly, trying to summarize as he wrote. "So, on one hand, all your bodily functions have improved. Although no individual improvement is dramatic, the comprehensive improvement still increases your overall strength. On the other hand, the circulation of true qi and its integration with your body have become closer. The routes haven't changed, but the true qi and your body seem to have become one... is that right?"
Qin Bao looked at the utterly earnest Third Brother Zhang before