Chapter 31 - Uh? Greatest prodigy? Is that food? (1/2)

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Spiritual veins were veins that transported energy from the pores on the skin, to and all around the body. Meridians, on the other hand, were broad valve-like checkpoints that existed in the complex network of spiritual veins. There were actually thousands of spiritual veins, but only 20 of such meridians.

Places, where spiritual veins intersected, were called acupoints. One could freely operate one's acupoints to assist in directing energy, but meridians were different.

There were two types of meridians, called the Eight Gates and the Twelve

Doors, respectively.

How many meridians you had unsealed at birth was a measure of your cultivation talent. Especially your Gates: the more you trained, the more Doors you could open. The number of Gates however never changes, you are stuck with that number for life.

In the beginning, Will had six Doors that were unsealed and five unsealed Gates.

Each of the Doors was trait less and thus was simply named according to the order in which they were unsealed, from the First Door to the Twelfth.

The more Doors were opened, the better your control of energy.

The Gates, however, were named according to the attribute which they boosted. The Gates available in Will's body were; the Water Gate, the Spirit Gate, the Wood Gate, the Space Gate, and the Metal Gate. His Fire, Earth, and Taiji Gates were forever untouchable.

The 12 Doors and the 8 Gates.

These were the true symbol of being a cultivator. It didn't matter what class or what abilities one had, they all hinged on the operation of these 20 meridians. Energy traveled in separate veins called spiritual veins. A human had as many spiritual veins as they had capillaries, thus the routes energy can take in a circulation are nearly endless. Some veins, especially those which have the Gates, have certain attributes that allow for extra abilities. All cultivation routes must pass through at least one Door and at least one Gate.

Acupoints were areas were spiritual veins intersect. There were 120 major acupoints within one body. Usage of these major acupoints determined a key role in one's power. To unlock a Door, one had to have 10 major acupoints under their complete control.

In Will's case, he had sixty-nine acupoints under control and was about to gain control of his seventieth. Once that happened, energy would flood to the nearest closed Door from the tenth acupoint and forcefully open it. The more Doors one unlocked, the faster they could cultivate.

Opening a Door was essentially opening an unused powerful spiritual vein. One's cultivation path is only allowed to deviate from its course when passing through a newly unlocked meridian, and that meridian would integrate itself into the course creating a new one. This is why few powerful cultivators are the same and there are millions upon millions of classes, some more common than others.

Will was somewhat aware of this information, but there was still a lot he did not understand. He was not at the level where he could fully explore his own body so he barely had an inkling of what was occurring.

It was only when Will struck out for the ten thousandth time that he understood what was happening.

The answer was nothing. There was no resistance, there was no odd feeling there was no energy drain. In fact, Will felt as if this was the smoothest and most perfect strike he had ever performed. As Will was striking, he felt as if he had control over every single fiber within his body.

The output of the strike was now completely clear to him. Before he had been merely fiddling around, but now this became second nature to him. This caught Will by surprise, but he did not have 64 minds for nothing. Mid-way, he quickly adjusted his power output to the smallest he could release.