Chapter 49: Artificial Networks
Over the next two weeks, Anji would spend hours sitting with her shifu on some days. Although she knew this was treatment, she had no idea what Yan Ping was doing. Her teacher often appeared exhausted after every session and needed time to recuperate before continuing her treatment. Despite her efforts, Anji felt no different from before. Plucking up her courage, she decided to ask about the treatment method the next time she visited her teacher.
"Treatment method?" Yan Ping wondered how it took the curious child this long to finally ask her about it. "It’s creating a set of artificial valves and switches in your network. However, I have to repair the broken chains first. Think of it as building artificial networks in your body so you can learn to cultivate the basics without dying."
Artificial networks? Anji had never read about them in the books in her library. Curious, she asked for more information. Yan Ping put her treatment session on hold to answer Anji’s questions. Like an incessant rain, her questions came in torrents once the dam was broken.
Patiently, Yan Ping explained the basics of spells and formation arrays to describe the artificial networks she wanted to create.
"You’ll learn more of these at the Mystical Qilin Sect," she reassured Anji, who appeared to have more questions than answers.
According to the blind lady, she would slowly modify Mingfeng’s seal on Anji’s core to allow the pressure built up in Anji’s core to trickle out slowly as she learned to cultivate using an artificial network of meridians. Similar to redirecting a river through irrigation, Yan Ping was repairing the broken channels and introducing taps in her body in every meridian.
"Every meridian path has a main valve. Only after you can control the flow of qi will these valves open for you. Of course, that’s only the beginning. I’m still repairing your broken meridian pathways and introducing seals at every major acupoint to control the flow of your qi so that these fragile pathways are not damaged."
According to Yan Ping’s theory, once Anji could cultivate and use the qi in her body, her body would automatically attempt to repair all the damage done to her health. She would not only become healthier but also strong enough to practise martial arts without the strange interval training method designed by Doctor He.
"Will I be able to meditate underneath a roaring waterfall like brother Yihao?"
Under the White Tiger sect leader’s tutelage, Anji’s third brother was trained in a recklessly rough manner that somehow suits the troublemaking boy’s temperament. Although training under the waterfall was commonly done in the past to tamper with the physical body and accelerate the acquisition of a tough body, it wasn’t necessary to go through that sort of training to achieve the Ultimate Body.
"You could," Yan Ping replied cautiously. "However, that’s not how the Mystical Qilin Sect trains. Unlike your third brother, who was born with a Yang Body condition, you would still be weaker than most cultivators without proper meridians. Sect Leader Bai’s training is too reckless. Shifu doesn’t recommend it."