Chương 40: Golden Finger (Part V)

The cold blade pierced through Wang Chen's skin, fat, and muscle as if they were tofu. Lucian's improved coordination, along with his familiarity with the human body, meant the strike did not damage any bone or vital organ.

"You should know," Lucian said as Wang Chen's blood splattered across his robes.

"To change one's fate and walk your own path, one must be ready to endure before striking back." Lucian shamelessly recited teachings from his old world while Wang Chen stared at him with a painful expression, gulping down a mouthful of blood. The weirdest part about the scene was that the attack should not have been enough to incapacitate Wang Chen. After all, after his ghoulification, his overall resistance was way above a human's threshold. For all that's worth, he should not be frozen in place.

"Without a Spiritual Root, Qi merely passes through the body. This invisible energy is always fleeting, never to be gathered or used by mortals," Lucian continued, pushing the sword deeper. The sound of metal tearing through flesh echoed through the room.

"But a mortal must always seek other paths! Other ways to grow stronger! Ways to stand against those blessed by the heavens!" Lucian slowly stepped forward, pushing the blade until its tip emerged from Wang Chen's back. He stopped a palm's distance from Wang Chen's face, and they stared at each other.

"These last words I said belonged to a mortal. A man delusional enough to challenge cultivators. He challenged the heavens, and lost. Nine generations enslaved, many more slaughtered. Yet he still managed to cut down a cultivator before death, leaving these words as his last. That is why his tale endures, passed down among cultivators." Wang Chen could hear him. He could feel the pain in his chest, the coldness of the blade mixing with Lucian's harsh words.

"Mortals do not dare spread such stories, fearing punishment. But for cultivators, these tales are like fine wine, invigorating them. Because if even a mortal can find the courage to defy their fate, why can't they? Why can't they defy the heavens?" With his lips trembling, Wang Chen attempted to speak back, his eyes locked on Lucian's cold gaze. He began to fear for his life, that his blood, leaking through the wound and staining his clothes, meant he was close to his grave.

"That is why I am asking you to be brave, Wang Chen," Lucian said.

"I know you can endure this pain. I know you understand that without me, revenge will remain forever out of reach. Defy. Your. Fate!" After those words, Lucian's eyes glowed crimson, and he pushed the blade slightly back. It was just enough for him to slide his free palm along its edge, drawing his blood. Next, he tilted the blade downwards, guiding the blood through the wound. Inside Wang Chen's chest. At that moment, Wang Chen felt a coldness spreading through his chest.

He could neither control his body nor fight back the surging sense of submission and fear rooting in his heart. Lucian's blood slowly moved inside his body, like tiny worms moving through his insides. The blood gathered below Wang Chen's navel, and while his body should fight back the intruding substance, he could feel his blood and muscles embracing Lucian's energy. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

His own body recognized that his existence depended on Lucian's blood. Devouring human blood each month, consuming a human heart each year, and receiving a single drop of Lucian's blood every decade. As a ghoul, Wang Chen had to abide by those rules. Otherwise, he would be nothing more than a mindless monster, waiting to be put down by others. Without his control, his muscles twitched violently, his fat quivering and his bones cracking faintly as he adapted to Lucian's blood.

After a few seconds of this painful situation, Lucian's blood settled above Wang Chen's abdomen. Then, u nwilling to waste time, Lucian proceeded with his plan, while Wang Chen's eyes rolled back. Controlling the drops of blood, Lucian formed a line slightly thicker than a strand of hair above Wang Chen's navel and guided it down to the base of the young man's spine. The blood line followed blood vessels where possible, and pierced through muscle when necessary.

Lucian fed drops of Blood Essence into it to stabilize the pathway formed by the line as it moved. Once the thin line of blood reached the base of Wang Chen's spine, it solidified as an improvised meridian. Lucian had used Xu Hua's memory about the first meridian of the Qi Gathering realm to create something with Blood Essence that should not exist in the human body, except in very special cases. By doing so, he had found a physical way to create a pathway that didn't rely on Qi.

Now, he only needed to test if it worked. Lucian maintained the flow of his blood inside Wang Chen, feeding it drops of Blood Essence so that the artificial meridian wouldn't disperse. Next, he recalled the Resonant Sea Ancestor's teachings on the proper sequence of opening the first meridian. First meridian complete, he thought, increasing the blood flow. Now, let's go to the second meridian, at the lower abdomen.

Second after second, minute after minute, Lucian continued shaping one meridian after another through brute force. First Meridian, Governing Meridian, at the base of the spine. Second Meridian, Conception Meridian, at the lower abdomen. Third Meridian, Greater Yin Earth Meridian, at the spleen. Having completed three, Lucian moved to the fourth one when he was struck by a splash of blood. It had squirted out from Wang Chen's open wound.

Something's wrong, Lucian thought in alarm, and immediately stopped the test Wang Chen collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently. Meanwhile, Lucian frowned, analyzing the situation. Qi is gathering on its own, without a breathing technique, he thought. Is the ghoul constitution clashing against Qi? Or is this what Xu Hua called Qi Deviation? Was I carving meridians too fast for Wang Chen to handle?

Lucian's mind was flooded with dozens of questions and theories, while Wang Chen thrashed on the ground, blood leaking from his wounds. I can either save him or observe to avoid making the same mistake, he thought. Suddenly, he was caught off guard by Wang Chen coughing. The plump young man was pushing himself up from the ground, wheezing. The vomiting had stopped, and Wang Chen wore a bright expression, ignoring the sword lodged in his chest.

"I heard it," Wang Chen muttered, his eyes unfocused as he sat down.

"I felt it, and I heard it." Lucian stepped forward, pulling the sword from Wang Chen's chest and using Blood Essence to seal the wound, guiding the blood with his left hand. He could do so because drops of his Blood Essence were inside Wang Chen.

"Explain what you felt and heard," Lucian ordered, observing him with narrowed eyes.

"The flow of heaven," Wang Chen said, tears forming in his eyes.

"I heard the Nine Heavens telling me I'm the chosen one! I'm one of the blessed!"