Chapter 10: Breaking through

Liu Xiaolou steadied himself. After resting for half a day, he began preparing to open the Neiting acupoint. The Xiangu acupoint was where his true qi gathered—the primordial pool that both nourished and stored it. So what he needed to do now was simply fill this primordial pool with as much true qi as possible. He knew better than to rush. Breaking through the Neiting acupoint took more than brute force. Instead of blindly forcing his way forward, Liu Xiaolou drew all the spiritual energy from the three spirit stones he held, refining it inside his body and converting it into true qi. Bit by bit, he stored that energy in the primordial pool of the Xiangu acupoint. When the last trace of spiritual energy was drained, the three stones crumbled into ash. By now, the Xiangu primordial pool inside him was like a dammed-up lake; the water level kept rising, and the pressure kept building. Until the moment the dam could no longer hold. That’s when Liu Xiaolou let go. The torrent of true qi surged toward the Neiting acupoint, crashing into it over and over, swelling and receding, washing through it again and again until, all at once, it broke through and surged on toward the Lidui acupoint. The Neiting acupoint was connected to pain relief and mental clarity. As soon as he broke through it, Liu Xiaolou felt a sharp jolt in his mind. Everything suddenly felt clearer, his awareness of the world around him sharper than before. Every meridian ends with its most difficult acupoint. It’s not just about the acupoint itself; it’s about reaching a particular state of being. That state is hard to describe. Sometimes it feels like wandering a barren desert. Other times, it comes like a sudden gust of wind or the gentlest breeze. Sometimes it’s a flash of insight. Cultivators call it "comprehension." After surviving the life-or-death struggle at Jinping Manor, Liu Xiaolou had finally touched that state of insight. With that, the hardest part was behind him. All that remained was to keep flushing the acupoint with true qi, over and over again. No one knows exactly how long it took. But when the moment finally came and the Lidui acupoint gave way to the flow of true qi, the 45 acupoints of the Stomach Meridian (Foot Yang Bright) were fully open. Liu Xiaolou felt an overwhelming sense of calm, his entire body connected from top to bottom. There was even a strange feeling of lightness, as if he might float off the ground at any moment. Of course, that floating feeling was just an illusion. He was nowhere near that level yet. But according to the True Mysteries Scripture, once a cultivator reached this stage, they wouldn’t have to worry about digestive issues anymore, at least. Ten years of cultivation had led to this moment. Liu Xiaolou had finally cleared four meridians and reached the third level of Qi Refinement. Now, it was time to turn back and begin work on the second meridian of the Hand Three Yin—the Pericardium Meridian (Hand Faint Yin Meridia). Each side of the Pericardium Meridian has only nine acupoints, but every single one is a major acupoint: Tianchi, Tianquan, Quze, Ximen, Jianshi, Neiguan, Daling, Laogong, and Zhongchong. All nine of these acupoints contain a primordial pool, making this meridian one of the few among the twelve where true qi can be stored and nourished. To break through this meridian would take more spiritual energy than any of the others Liu Xiaolou had opened so far. He gathered the true qi stored in the primordial pools of the four meridians he had already opened—Hand Greater Yin, Hand Yang Bright, Foot Greater Yin, and Foot Yang Bright—and directed it toward Tianchi, the first acupoint of the Hand Faint Yin Meridian. But he quickly realized this was far harder than expected. Even getting the true qi to move freely through these four meridians was an achievement in itself. Each meridian guarded its own territory and couldn’t be forced to do another’s work. Unfortunately, his supply of spirit stones was already depleted. He’d need to find another way. If only he had been born into a major sect or a prestigious family, then he wouldn’t have to worry about something as basic as running out of spirit stones. The thought left Liu Xiaolou feeling frustrated and a little bitter. He took out the spiritual herb he’d been keeping and studied it for a moment, but still couldn’t figure out what it was. He decided it was time to leave seclusion and find someone who might recognize it; someone who could tell him whether it was safe to consume or if he could trade it for more spirit stones. Time had blurred while he was inside the cave, but judging by the fact that he had long since finished the rice cakes he brought with him, and eaten dozens of fat fish brought by Big White, it had to have been nearly two months. The cultivators from Dongyang Sect couldn’t possibly still be searching Wulong Mountain after all this time. He retraced his steps and carefully peeked out through the tree hollow he’d entered from, only to feel his scalp crawl. Reaching up instinctively, he pinched something off his forehead. It was a giant centipede that had just fallen onto him. The thing was longer than a finger, its body constantly squirming. It wasn’t a spiritual creature, but its massive pincers were incredibly sharp, easily on par with blades. This was the earth dragon. A creature unique to Wulong Mountain. Liu Xiaolou had suffered at the jaws of one before. Even with the toughness granted by reaching the second level of Qi Refinement, his skin couldn’t withstand a single bite from it. The last time, it had torn a bloody gash into him instantly. But now, holding it in his fingers, he had an idea. He let the creature bite the back of his hand. It only left a pale mark. He was quite pleased. This was the remarkable effect of the True Mysteries Technique: cultivating both inside and outside, with consistency between exterior and interior. While opening his meridians, Liu Xiaolou had been also tempering his physical body. He flicked the earth dragon away and crawled out of the tree hollow, slipping quietly down the mountain. It was close to noon now, and the heat had grown heavy and oppressive. It must have been the start of the dog days of summer, though he wasn’t sure which phase exactly. With the new meridian he had opened now allowing cooling energy to circulate through his body, the sweltering heat was much easier to bear. As he ran along the mountain path, he could feel the difference. His movements were lighter, his leaps longer. Each step carrying him a full foot farther than before. If that guy from Dongyang Sect, the one named Han, tried chasing him again, Liu Xiaolou was confident the man wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of his back. Heading down the mountain before returning home was a common habit among Wulong Mountain’s rogue cultivators. Liu Xiaolou made his way to the village at the base, chatted briefly with a familiar auntie and a young man he recognized, then stopped by Uncle Tian’s house to get a full update. To his surprise, his closed-door cultivation had lasted over two months. As for the cultivators who had entered the mountain earlier, they really were from Dongyang Sect, but it turned out they had been after the wrong person. Their attention had been focused on Wei Hongqing, Liu Xiaolou’s sworn brother. Wei hadn’t even participated in the Heroes' Gathering and had vanished without a trace long ago. Naturally, they had come up empty-handed. After searching Wulong Mountain for over half a month, they had given up and left. Relieved, Liu Xiaolou made his way back to Qianzhu Ridge without worry. He had been gone for two months, but the bamboo fence still stood strong. Not a single post had toppled, since each one had been driven deep into the ground with a solid foundation. That said, weeds had overgrown everything. Some had even climbed all the way to the top of the fence. The yard was no better. The thatched hut had been weathered by rain and was starting to fall apart, giving the whole place a run-down, abandoned look. Liu Xiaolou headed into the bamboo grove, cut down some long stalks, and trimmed them into pieces to patch up the roof. At some point, Big White the goose had returned and was now standing below, looking up at its master repairing the house beams. “Don’t just stand there!" Liu Xiaolou shouted. "Go weed the yard or something!” So the white goose lowered its head and started plucking weeds with its flat beak. It didn’t move slowly either. In no time, it had cleared a patch of ground. This creature… If you said it wasn’t a spiritual beast, it often seemed to understand human speech and could do human tasks. But if you said it was a spiritual beast, well, it couldn’t absorb sunlight or moonlight, couldn’t take in spiritual energy, and even when it sneaked some precious item to eat, it would just poop it out without a trace of transformation; nothing at all like what a true spiritual creature should show. Liu Xiaolou figured it was best to just treat it like a companion. In this so-called Sanxuan Sect, it was really just the two of them getting by together. They’d repaired the hut so many times it was practically routine. Both Liu Xiaolou and Big White worked like pros, and by nightfall, everything was back in order. They ended the day with a pot of river crabs Big White had caught, then settled in for the night inside the thatched hut. The next day, Liu Xiaolou made a trip to Ghost Dream Cliff. He pulled aside the thick vines hanging over the cave entrance and stood silently inside for a long time. In the end, he stepped out with a heavy heart. Wei Hongqing really wasn’t coming back. His master had passed on, and now his closest friend was gone too. A deep sense of loneliness settled over him. Wulong Mountain suddenly felt vast and empty. Still, cultivation had to go on. Clenching his fists, he turned and walked away. Down below Ghost Dream Cliff roared the churning Wuchao River. Liu Xiaolou pulled a bamboo raft from the tall grass near the bank. It was caked with dirt, but still sturdy and intact. Wei Hongqing had made this raft. Back when they used to leave the mountain together, Wei often built one to ride the current downstream, and Liu Xiaolou had joined him more than once, enjoying the ease and speed. Now that Wei was gone, it was only right that Liu Xiaolou, his sworn brother, take up the raft in his stead.