Bloodline of the Forgotten Emperor

After a few moments of rest, I stood and tried to pull out a healing pill to aid my recovery, from the spatial ring Mei had given me earlier.

It didn't work. *Why is it refusing to come out — am I doing this wrong?*

"No recovery pills, no pills of any kind during training, unless I permit it," I heard Elder Mo Xuan's voice cut in suddenly.

"Seriously." I took a breath and settled into a meditation pose, trying to follow the qi-channeling pattern I'd worked out the night before.

After a stretch of silence—

"Time's up, Young Master Zaitian." Elder Mo Xuan appeared, right where he'd been standing before.

I stood and gave a slight bow — custom, in the Long Clan, for welcoming a mentor back.

"Next, you'll work on qi channeling and circulation. You already carry the Long Clan's core cultivation manual. I'll show you how to actually use it," he said, calm, gaze heavy with something unreadable.

I sat down, doing my best impression of an attentive student — which earned exactly zero praise from him.

"The Dragon Scripture Manual was formed by the first dragon ancestor of the Long Clan. Records state that..."

My attention checked out right there. *Where is this going — I just want to learn the technique, not its whole family history.* I let my expression go visibly bored.

"What realm had the first ancestor reached, when he comprehended the Dragon Scripture Manual?" Mo Xuan asked, out of nowhere.

"Huh..." Caught off guard, confused, then embarrassed. *He knows I stopped listening.*

"Young Master Zaitian. A technique's origin matters as much as the process of comprehending it," he said, flat.

"I'll say this once, and only once. The first ancestor comprehended it by observing the nature of the world alongside his own physique, this was during the First War of the immortal races. It was later refined by the second and third ancestors, who wove the essence of every leading race into the Scripture itself." He watched me carefully, checking whether I'd drifted off again.

"I'm paying attention, okay," I said, hands raised in mock surrender.

"All three of those ancestors reached the peak of this world's cultivation during their lifetimes. We, their descendants, won't fail them." Reverence, solemnity, both threaded through his voice.

"Oh, before I forget," he added, after that long stretch of history. "This Scripture encompasses every path of the Dao. That's what makes it so terrifying." Serious, though pride and admiration colored the words.

"So the path of fishing's in there too, then," I said, mostly to break up the heaviness.

His eyebrow twitched. "Hmm. The path of fishing is, in fact, in there," he admitted, sounding almost defeated by the fact.

Before I could ask another ridiculous question, "No more questions," he cut me off flatly.

"A dragon's body holds tens of thousands of meridian points — far more than most races. That's why our cultivation is slower, though our strength at any given realm outpaces weaker races at the same stage."

"How many does the human race have?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He studied me, clearly trying to figure out why I'd suddenly care about humans. "Why the sudden interest in the human race?"

"Just curious," I said, keeping my expression carefully blank.

"From what we understand, they have 108 meridian points, though that number can shift depending on various factors," he said, satisfying my curiosity without much fuss.

"Okay."

He touched me, hand wrapped in qi. "Follow the path my qi takes through your body. It should go easier, given how gentle the herbs and pills you've taken have been."

"Your only job is to strengthen these paths — make them smoother, more stable."

His qi moved through me like warm spring water, pleasant enough that I nearly let out an embarrassing sound before catching myself.

I focused entirely on tracking his qi's path, certain he wouldn't repeat the demonstration twice.

"Since you're apparently curious about humans, here's something worth knowing — we store our qi in a dragon core. Humans use a dantian instead."

"Which means you need to stay careful, always. Never let anyone channel their qi into yours — if they mean you harm, it can cause an explosion." He guided his own qi along a different path just then, deliberately steering clear of my dragon core.

After completing a full circulation loop through my body: "I believe you've got a feel for the circulation now. For the next four hours, guide qi through your body and open as many meridian points as you can manage."

"The clan's already opened a thousand for you. The rest is on you." He turned and left, walking down the mountain on foot — the first time I'd seen him do that instead of simply vanishing and reappearing.

"This should be easy enough, right?" I asked the System.

*Depends on the cultivator's aptitude — for you, that means your bloodline.*

"Okay."

I tried retracing the exact path he'd shown me. It wasn't easy.

"Why can't I get this right." Frustration creeping in.

*You're an impatient man, host. Let your body guide you — it already leaked through once, remember, guiding your energy on its own. Let it lead. It's the same thing that's been steering those medicinal pills and herbs, with the clan's experts' help,* it said, a little exasperated.

I let out a helpless breath, steadied myself, and aimed for stillness instead of force. It didn't work out immediately but with a bit of clarity and focus it began to flow quietly and with time I mastered the feeling.

My body began drawing qi from the atmosphere on its own, and I followed that thread, gradually shifting the process from unconscious to deliberate.

Time slipped by, and I found myself actually enjoying the sensation of qi moving through me. Eventually, I started tracing it all the way to my dragon core — vast, boundless, genuinely mysterious to move through. Only certain areas carried qi freely; the rest sat gray and lifeless, refusing to let anything pass through at all.