Chapter 125 : Chapter 125
Chapter 125. Seven Meridians!
The following day, the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month.
Inside the quiet chamber, the morning light had yet to filter in. Only a single candle flame swayed gently.
Xu Yuan sat cross-legged, his aura as heavy and still as a mountain.
A faint swelling pain came from the meridians within his body. His blood and qi surged without end, creating the oppressive feeling of bearing a massive stone on his back.
He opened his eyes. Candlelight reflected in them as he murmured softly, “It is about time.”
The step from the Sixth Meridian to the Seventh Meridian had halted countless people.
Ordinary martial artists accumulated strength for years, even more than a decade, before daring to attempt the breakthrough.
Yet less than a month had passed since he himself broke through into the Sixth Meridian.
If anyone learned of such speed, their jaws would likely drop in shock.
But Xu Yuan knew very well that all of this came from that “one in ten thousand” aptitude.
The rise in his talent had pushed his control over blood and qi and his understanding of cultivation arts far beyond his peers.
“Now is the moment...”
Xu Yuan drew a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
His mind sank into the Jade Platform Stance Art.
As the art began to circulate, his blood and qi moved with it.
At first, it was like a small trickling stream. Then it became like rivers surging forward. In the end, it transformed into towering waves that roared through his meridians.
The temperature in the quiet chamber gradually rose.
Xu Yuan’s skin flushed red, as though flames were burning inside his body.
Blazing heat radiated from him, distorting even the air in the room.
Thread after thread of blood and qi became almost tangible, forming a faint red mist around him.
That red mist lingered and did not disperse. It rose and fell with his breathing, and with every inhale and exhale, a strand of blood and qi seeped into his limbs and bones, tempering his frame and nourishing his organs.
Time passed slowly.
No one knew how much time had gone by before that surging blood and qi finally gathered into a vast wave. With the force of dry branches and rotten wood being smashed aside, it burst through the final barrier.
Boom!
It was as though thunder had exploded inside his body.
That immense force suddenly shattered the bottleneck, rushing down through his meridians and pouring directly into the Yin Qiao Meridian.
The Yin Qiao Meridian lay deep within the body. Its route was longer than the Yang Qiao Meridian, and its acupoints were even more complex.
For an ordinary martial artist, opening this meridian would take at least several months, perhaps even half a year, and every single step would be filled with danger.
But now, beneath the washing force of Xu Yuan’s boundless blood and qi, that tough bottleneck crumbled like paper.
The Yin Qiao Meridian was open!
Blood and qi flowed slowly through the meridians in an endless cycle, like a miniature heaven and earth contained within him, complete unto itself.
Haa...
Xu Yuan slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
That breath remained condensed instead of dispersing, becoming a trail of white vapor that rose slowly from his mouth. Under the candlelight, it appeared especially clear.
Only after a moment did it gradually fade into the air.
The intense heat throughout his body receded like the tide, replaced by an unprecedented feeling of ease and exhilaration.
Xu Yuan opened his eyes, and for an instant the empty room seemed to brighten.
He was still sitting there, yet his aura was utterly different from before.
It had become deeper and more restrained, like a bottomless pool. Calm and still on the surface, but with fierce undercurrents hidden below.
The Seventh Meridian—he had reached it!
A faint smile rose at the corner of his lips. With a thought, he opened the panel in his mind.
【Jade Platform Stance Art (Proficient 1%) Benlei Fist (Major Mastery 98%) Wandering Dragon Step (Perfection 32%) Iron Garment Art (Perfection 36%)】
【Aptitude: 34 (One in Ten Thousand)】
【Martial Seed (0): Berserk】
“So I have finally reached the Seventh Meridian.”
A trace of satisfaction flashed through Xu Yuan’s eyes. “My aptitude rose by another two points, and my control over my own body has grown even more refined.”
The feeling was difficult to describe in words.
It was like looking at the world through a thin veil all this time, only for that veil to finally be lifted. Everything had become clear and transparent, revealing its true face to him.
He raised a hand and slowly curled his five fingers into a fist, feeling the explosive power contained within it.
“Not bad.”
Xu Yuan rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. His bones gave off faint crackling sounds, proof that strength was brimming within him.
He moved at once into the Wandering Dragon Step. The proficiency level of the martial art did not change, but with one more meridian opened and with his inner breath now thicker and more condensed, his speed increased by another clear margin.
‘Over here in the Level Three zone, most Workshop Masters are only at the Sixth Meridian. Seven-meridian fighters are few enough to count on one hand, and eight-meridian fighters are even rarer. Now that I have broken through, I have widened the gap between myself and the vast majority of them.’
Xu Yuan came to a stop, reflecting inwardly.
A seven-meridian martial artist in Shangyang Residence was a seven-striped household guard.
Their benefits, authority, and status would all rise to another level.
If things were handled properly, he might even be able to land a position as a battle overseer, the sort of post that could reap no small amount of benefit.
But...
Xu Yuan stood where he was, pondering for a moment.
The situation on the Bai Family’s side was clearly nearing its end.
The crushing defeat Huo Gang and Yuan Danqing had suffered yesterday was the best proof of all.
The Bai Family had been driven so far into desperation that they had even brought out a seven-meridian martial artist.
And what did that mean?
It meant their trump cards were nearly exhausted. They were close to no longer being able to hold on.
The more chaotic the situation became at a time like this, the better.
Victory amid chaos, fishing in troubled waters—that was the proper path.
If he suddenly made a move at a critical moment with the cultivation of a seven-meridian fighter, it would absolutely produce an unexpected effect.
‘Still, just to be safe, I should prepare a few more trump cards...’
Having made up his mind, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze to the panel once more.
The progress of Benlei Fist had already reached its peak.
During this period, he had thrown himself entirely into improving his cultivation and had not deliberately focused on polishing Benlei Fist.
Now that his cultivation had entered the Seventh Meridian, it was the perfect time to conveniently raise it to perfection as well.
He returned to the center of the quiet chamber and closed his eyes to regulate his breath for a moment.
Only after his mind had completely settled did he open his eyes and take his stance.
With his current ability, using Benlei Fist was as easy as eating and drinking.
Techniques that had once required endless tempering could now be used with effortless fluency.
His fists shot out like lightning, and fierce wind whistled through the air.
Inside the quiet chamber, his figure wheeled and shifted. Every punch carried a sharp tearing sound as it split the air.
Time passed.
No one knew how much time had gone by before Xu Yuan suddenly drove a punch straight forward.
A white gleam nearly six inches long flickered from his fist, as though it could tear apart the very air around it.
With a thought, he opened the panel.
【Skills: Jade Platform Stance Art (Proficient 1%) Benlei Fist (Perfection 1%) Wandering Dragon Step (Perfection 32%) Iron Garment Art (Perfection 36%)】
【Aptitude: 35 (One in Ten Thousand)】
【Martial Seed (0): Berserk】
As expected, his aptitude had risen by another point.
Xu Yuan nodded inwardly.
Although Benlei Fist could not exactly be called some common roadside technique, anything meant for ordinary martial artists to cultivate was never going to be all that profound.
Besides, with his current aptitude, bringing it to major mastery naturally offered only limited improvement.
Xu Yuan understood this clearly. The higher one’s aptitude becomes, the less simple martial arts would do to improve one’s potential.
If he wanted to keep raising his aptitude in the future, he would probably have to find deeper, more advanced cultivation arts to train.
But that was a matter for later.
For now, he was already a seven-meridian martial artist. He held the power of Berserk, and he had Perfection-level Benlei Fist, Wandering Dragon Step, and Iron Garment Art at his side.
Even if he encountered that Bai Family seven-meridian fighter again, he would be able to handle him with ease.
With that thought, Xu Yuan pushed open the door and stepped out of the quiet chamber.
The sky overhead was gloomy, dark clouds pressing low, as though rain could fall at any moment.
Xu Yuan stood in the small courtyard and looked at that heavy sky. A strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
These past few days, he had hidden in the rear, and outsiders only thought him timid, afraid of trouble, unwilling to fight or compete.
But who knew that this very moment was what he had been waiting for all along?
The Bai Family had hidden a seven-meridian fighter, and Huo Gang’s group had smashed themselves bloody against the trap.
Meanwhile, he had remained perfectly safe, his cultivation rising steadily.
‘I wonder what sort of scene the Level Three zone will become from here on out?’
Xu Yuan smiled faintly, quickly withdrew his gaze, and turned back toward the quiet chamber.
Behind him, muffled thunder rolled. A great rain was about to arrive.