When Loa woke from his deep cultivation state, he discovered that a thin layer of autumn frost had already cloaked the old locust tree in the courtyard.
"Almost another year already."
He stretched, his joints giving a series of soft cracks. At thirteen, he already stood as tall and straight as a boy of sixteen or seventeen. Years of training had broadened his shoulders and back, and the lines of his arms were sleek and powerful. Looking at his reflection in the water vat, he saw a face that had shed its childishness, with a composure and sharpness beyond his years in his brow and eyes.
The year 9991 of the Yulan Calendar was nearing its end. In just over a month, the new year of 9992 would arrive. Loa counted the time and realized that nearly two years had passed since he had come to Fenlai City.
After recovering from the injuries he had sustained while creating his own cultivation method, Loa had shifted the focus of his training. Every morning, after his basic exercises, he devoted most of his time to the "Great Circulation."
Battle-qi was like a stream, and meridians were like river channels. Most ordinary warriors cultivated by continually widening those channels to increase the flow. But Loa had discovered that the channels' "resilience" and "carrying capacity" were equally crucial. In particular, with three types of battle-qi of different attributes circulating through his body at once, insufficiently resilient meridians could lead to another disastrous "burst barrel" at any moment.
There were only three ways to strengthen meridians: first, letting them grow stronger naturally as one's battle-qi rank rose; second, consuming rare natural treasures; third, using secret methods.
The first was too slow, the second too expensive, and the third was closely guarded.
Loa still remembered his