Chương 52: The Path Forward (Part II)

Within seconds, Lucian drained all the blood and Qi from Magistrate Yue, turning her body into a lifeless husk. While it would have been more valuable to extract information from her, his current skeletal form made it clear that he was struggling to survive. Even he knew which was more important between gathering information and staying alive. Unbeknownst to Magistrate Yue, by depleting her stomach of the unknown Qi in that chaotic state, she had helped accelerate Lucian's plan.

He had originally thought she would absorb the Qi, not simply disperse it. Because of it, he could cut down a few steps. After she 'cleaned' the blood, it was a simple matter of refining it into Blood Essence and activating the Rune of Sloth to reconstruct his humanoid body. Due to the low reserves of Blood Essence, he turned out to look like a monster. It didn't help that he had to prioritize his internal organs and the structure necessary to sustain meridians.

He looked far more like a ghoul than Wang Chen ever had. Lucian finished draining her Qi and blood and picked up her blood-soaked robes, using them to cover himself. Then, he sat down on the ground, feeling the blood mixed with Qi rampaging inside. I lack Blood Essence to heal completely, he thought. I could drain Bai Xiaomeng, but that won't be enough. I need to deal with the Qi inside Magistrate Yue's blood to survive! Staying still and waiting for death or help wasn't how he dealt with problems.

When he arrived at the previous conclusion, Lucian acted without second guesses. He channeled Blood Essence to control the blood inside the Rune of Greed, perfusing his insides and creating thin vessels, serving as artificial meridians. He had practiced with Wang Chen, and after studying Magistrate Yue's body, he was more confident than ever in replicating the thin pathways! The main difference from what he did with Wang Chen was that now Lucian controlled blood mixed with Qi.

He couldn't refine it into Blood Essence, but he could use Blood Essence to guide this mixed blood to carve meridians! He was unaware of the reason, but as he began opening the first meridian, he recalled the Two-Leaf breathing technique from Xu Hua's memories. Next, Magistrate Yue's altered breathing pattern came to his mind. He recalled the strain her body endured when she activated Heaven's Decree.

Then, his next thoughts wandered to the azure boar's leather, the silver box markings, and the engravings on Liu Tian's wooden puppet. Qi itself does not have a natural flow. We impose the flow and force it into our own patterns, Lucian thought, the Qi inside his body increasing his enlightenment.

Instead of following the predetermined path of opening a meridian, Lucian directed the blood to the base of his spine and from there created a thin vessel leading to his upper abdomen, forming the first meridian, called the Governing Meridian. Qi from outside began to flow through it, and Lucian felt his mind expand. For a moment, he heard his own voice echoing within his mind, but he could not understand what it was saying.

In this state of enlightenment, dominated by instincts and pure thoughts, he only knew he should trust himself. Controlling Blood Essence, he created another artificial meridian, starting from his lower abdomen and connecting it to the Governing Meridian. With it, the second meridian, called the Conception Meridian, was formed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Qi-infused blood passed through the meridians, and the blood followed one way, while Qi moved the other. Lucian refined the clear blood into Blood Essence, while opening the third meridian. In his spleen, a rupture formed, creating a pathway that connected to bones and blood vessels. After it was connected to the Governing Meridian and Conception Meridian, it signaled the opening of the third meridian, called the Greater Yin Earth Meridian.

Lucian's mind trembled, as if something grand had occurred, but he did not dwell on it. The voice he heard, which seemed to be his own, grew louder, both encouraging him and warning him with incomprehensible sentences. Following his instincts, he continued opening the meridians. From his upper abdomen, near the nodes of the three meridians, another pathway formed. Lucian shaped it to mirror the Greater Yin Earth Meridian, according to the memories he received and his own observations.

With that, his fourth meridian, the Bright Yang Meridian, was unlocked. Most of Magistrate Yue's blood had already been depleted, and unbeknownst to Lucian, he had refined a significant portion of it. Meanwhile, Qi moved through his artificial meridians, accompanying the remainder of the Qi-infused blood.

Continuing the task at hand, at the center of his chest, within his pericardium, blood gathered and rapidly formed another pathway, extending through his arm and closing the cycle at the node formed by the four opened meridians. Lucian exhaled as he unlocked the Reverting Yin Meridian. Next, he attempted to open the sixth meridian, but the Qi within his body was now being used to sustain the meridians, leaving nothing to redirect elsewhere.

He had finally refined all of Magistrate Yue's blood, doing something he couldn't do when he arrived at this world. Sighing mostly in regret for not unlocking more meridians, Lucian opened his eyes and commanded the freshly refined Blood Essence to reconstruct his skin and missing flesh. A crimson rune in the form of a closed eye formed by three lines shifted on his left pupil, and what had once been a skeletal and grotesque figure became a composed man once more, with long black hair and pale skin.

Lucian took a deep breath and stared at the tree roots piercing the ground. It's not complete, he thought, rising to his feet and pulling the bloodstained robes over himself. I still cannot sense Qi. But cultivators should be able to do it... Which means I'm not a cultivator yet. Despite that discovery, he was not discouraged. On the contrary, he felt certain that once he opened all twelve meridians, he would find a new path forward.

Maybe not unique to him, but certainly different from the usual way cultivators grew. Wang Chen must have suffered Qi deviation when I was experimenting on him. I heard nothing during my own cultivation, he thought, recalling the process. Next time, I should find a way to guide Qi into his meridians as well. This should work better. Next, he grabbed Magistrate Yue's dried corpse, dragged it behind him and made his way toward the center of the village. Time to finish this and head to Three Feathers City.

Lucian moved carefully, avoiding sunlight where he could with the bloody robe, and crossing exposed areas swiftly when necessary. Sometimes, he used the semi-naked mummified body to cover himself. As he approached the center, he saw Wang Chen placing Bai Xiaomeng onto one of the horses. The young plump man was watching a golden sphere of Qi with deep wariness. With a single glance, Lucian noticed the sphere was where Xu Duan had been, and shouted, "Treat your wounds first, Wang Chen."

The bleeding Wang Chen turned toward him in shock, his eyes widening as he said in disbelief, "You're alive?" With a cold smile, Lucian did not answer. Carrying the satisfaction of his discoveries and advancements, he said in a lighter tone than usual, "Treat your wounds, search the corpses and horses, gather the supplies, and prepare to leave for the Azure Magpie Forest. Make Bai Xiaomeng help you."

Lucian's eyes gleamed, renewed determination igniting within his ancient heart, as he thought, Who knows, perhaps with Qi I can finally deal with the vampire curses! Very soon, he would leave Ganshou Village far richer and far more powerful than when he had arrived. In his mind, becoming a cultivator was but a matter of time, and he should already be halfway there!

Curiously, if any cultivator could see Lucian's meridians, however, they would think he was at the middle stage of the Qi Gathering realm, suffering from Qi deviation. After all, every single one of Lucian's meridians flowed opposite to the natural order!