Chapter 134 – The Second Layer of Qi Practitioner (1/2)

With a Diamond Sutra cast aside on the ground, Xiao An leapt behind Li Qingshan and placed a bone finger on the Fengchi acupoint on the back of the latter’s head.

He seemed to hear the chiming of bells.

True qi rushed towards its final target, that great untraversable dam. Afterwards, it easily seeped through as if there was not an impenetrable wall blocking its way, but a soft sponge instead.

The final speck of light lit up, expanding in all directions like river water returning to the ocean. True qi flowed through the Yang Heel meridian constantly with no more obstruction anymore.

Li Qingshan had finally opened his first meridian, reaching the second layer of Qi Practitioner.

The Yang Heel meridian was like a highway, stretched from his head to his foot through his body, forming a passageway through his entire body. The acupoints were no longer closed. Instead, as every single one of them lit up, his whole body experienced change.

Li Qingshan opened his eyes. His surroundings became clearer and brighter than before, as if a layer of dust had been wiped away. The chirps of the summer insects outside his window were clear and layered. He even felt like he could count just how many insects were chirping. From time to time, a leaf would be blown off a tree, landing on the tiles of the roof. It would be as clear as a clap of thunder.

His sense of smell had increased by the least, but he could smell the fragrance of each flower outside the window, and the grass outside gave off a grassy smell from being baked by the hot, humid, summer night. As for his sense of taste, he knew it had become much stronger even without testing.

This was the strengthening of his five senses that came with the opening of the Dicang, Jùliao, Chengqi, and Qingming acupoints.

When he got up off his bed and stepped on the ground, there seemed to be a layer of air cushioning his feet. His body had become extremely light. He felt like as long as he used a little bit of force, he could fly through the sky. These were the changes brought on by the Shenmai, Pushen, and Fuyang acupoints on the bottom of his foot.

He casually raised his arm, and the Naoshu, Jianyu, and Jugu acupoints lit up. True qi flowed through his arm naturally to his hand, bursting out from his palm and striking the wall from afar. It left behind a hand print.

Every single movement seemed so smooth and natural. He personally felt like the meridian had connected his whole body together. Who knows how much faster he could circulate his true qi now.

It was like when emperor Yang of Sui completed the Grand Canal, connecting north and south, allowing people to move and transport goods freely. His efforts prompted economic exchange across the entire country. These acupoints were all like important hubs for transport.

Fengchi, or Wind Pool, was where wind evil accumulated. As mentioned in the Fundamentals of Nature: Acupoints along skeletal indentations, wind is the primary cause of all diseases. Once wind evil entered the brain, it would cause all types of diseases. As a result, it was an extremely important acupoint within the human body.

The moment he opened the Fengchi acupoint, some qi seemed to surge out as if he had opened a new cavity apart from his mouth and nose, allowing him to breath. However, he was not breathing air, but the qi of the world.

Of course, this was not exactly connecting with the spiritual qi of the world, but it was the first time he had sensed the existence of the spiritual qi of the world. It was just like wind, a qi that constantly flowed around.

When he used the mental cultivation method that came with the fourth layer of the Innate Method of Practising Qi, a gust of ‘wind’ would enter his body from the back of his head from time to time, reaching all the way to his feet. He could not help but shudder before feeling pleasure spread through his body.

On the back of the heads of wild beasts was a horizontal bone, the Henggu. Once they refined it, they would awaken their intelligence. As for humans, they had a Fengchi on the back of their heads. Opening the Fengchi allowed them to connect with the world.

Li Qingshan exhaled gently. The art of practising qi that humans created was extremely impressive. And, he could feel that practising qi provided assistance to daemon cultivators as well, just like how his physical strength would increase naturally once his daemon body became larger.

The two supplemented one another in a positive feedback loop.

Did brother ox leave the thing for me in the sumeru ring and encourage me to practise qi because he wanted me to merge these two different cultivation methods so that I can find my own path? Li Qingshan guessed. However, no matter what path he took, he was still a tiny shrimp who had just set off. He was nowhere close to achieving that.

There was a saying that the rocks from other mountains were tough enough to shape jade1. He would be sitting between two of these mountains and having them rub and collide with one another. Just what kind of sparks could he produce?

Li Qingshan suppressed his eagerness and delight as he said to Xiao An, “Did you help me out earlier?” It was definitely not a coincidence for him to be able to open his Fengchi meridian so easily.

The blood flames in Xiao An’s eyes were rather dim. His finger from earlier had drained him substantially.

While Li Qingshan was cultivating with his eyes closed, he watched slowly and gradually, his gaze managed to pierce Li Qingshan’s skin and muscles, akin to what modern radiography could achieve, looking through Li Qingshan’s body clearly. However, it was also clearer and more vivid that anything radiographic imaging could produce.

He saw the existence of the meridian and saw how Li Qingshan’s true qi constantly climbed upwards. Eventually, it climbed to the very top and rushed towards the Fengchi meridian at the back of his head. However, it clearly did not have the power to open it.

As a result, at that critical moment, he poked the Fengchi meridian.

By the human body, one really was just referring to a combination of bone and flesh. Even the wondrous meridians and profound acupoints were based on flesh. The Path of White Bone and Great Beauty could control both flesh and bone.