I Can Merge Techniques

Chapter 396: Chapter 143: Phantom of the Stone Forest, the Blood Curse Strikes; The Zhang Family of Qing Province Plots, Burial Immortal Valley Stirs a Storm

After this battle, Chu Fan was unrivaled by anyone below the Acupoint Realm.

Chu Fan slowly clenched his fist, sensing the Evil Qi and Primordial Qi flowing through his body as he assessed his own strength.

With his various Martial Arts having broken their limits multiple times, on top of their terrifying, stacking Traits, he truly had few rivals at the Spirit Awakening Realm.

It would not be difficult for him to surmount the gap in realms and slay even an ordinary Cultivator at the Fifth Level of the Divine Power Realm.

But when he thought of the Protective Primordial Qi of an Acupoint Realm Cultivator—as massive as a mountain and incomparably resilient—Chu Fan’s brow furrowed slightly.

It was like a bucket of cold water jolting him from his complacency.

This battle had laid his greatest weakness bare for him to see...

His Cultivation Realm was too low.

His Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand had undergone a Second Limit Break; the Palm Technique was both treacherous and tyrannical, its strikes infused with Yellow Springs Death Qi and a bone-piercing cold.

Both his Nine Blood Soul Blades and Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber had reached the Perfection level and undergone a Limit Break. When he drew his blade, the flashing steel was fierce and mighty, and the Evil Qi surged like a tidal wave.

With such mastery of Martial Arts, even that Acupoint Realm expert from Medicine King Valley would be left in the dust.

It was enough to pose a massive threat to those in the Divine Power Realm.

Yet, against the Protective Primordial Qi of an Acupoint Realm expert, even striking with all his might—be it with palm or blade—he could only cause the Qi to tremble slightly. He couldn’t break through the defense at all.

In the end, he could only rely on his Evil Qi to slowly corrode it, using a clever trick to force his opponent’s retreat.

Ultimately, the quality and quantity of his Primordial Qi, as well as the number of his meridians, were simply too far behind those of an Acupoint Realm expert.

This was a chasm that could not be bridged by exquisite Saber and Palm Techniques alone.

His Primordial Qi was like a shallow bowl of water.

An Acupoint Realm Cultivator’s Primordial Qi, however, was a deep spring.

A quantitative change leads to a qualitative one. Before an Acupoint Realm expert, other Cultivators at the Second Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm were truly as insignificant as ants... With a mere flick of their finger, such an expert could crush them with absolute power.

Therefore, after leaving the Chaotic Stone Forest, Chu Fan divided his daily time into three parts:

One part was for cultivating the Demon Dragon Celestial Spirit Scripture to solidify his foundation.

Another was for refining the Nine Heavens Wind Mastery Scripture to advance his Body Technique.

The last part was dedicated entirely to opening his meridians, so he could rapidly raise his Realm.

For the time being, he shifted the focus of his training entirely to his Cultivation, no longer pouring all his energy into Martial Arts Limit Breaking.

’Wouldn’t it be a shame to possess a host of exquisite Martial Arts, only to be unable to use them due to a lack of Primordial Qi?’

Whether it was the Five Elements Cauldron, which possessed infinite power but required a sea of Primordial Qi to activate, or the even more mysterious Ten Thousand Souls Banner that surged with Evil Qi, he couldn’t control either of them with his current level of Primordial Qi.

Previously, in the Chaotic Stone Forest, he had forcefully activated the Five Elements Cauldron to lay down the Five Cauldrons Seal. In just over ten breaths, the Primordial Qi in his Qi Sea had been completely drained!

If he had a vast reserve of Primordial Qi to support him, allowing him to activate the Five Elements Cauldron at full power for an extended period, why would he have needed to struggle and scheme so much?

He could probably just wield the great cauldron like a brick and smash an ordinary Acupoint Realm Cultivator to death!

Chu Fan thought no more of it. He sat down cross-legged, formed a hand seal, and gathered his focus to begin cultivating. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

The five heavens of the Spirit Awakening Realm were not as clearly demarcated as the stages of Foundation Establishment.

Its Realm divisions depended on two main factors: the quantity and quality of one’s Primordial Qi, and the number of meridians opened within the body.

He was currently at the Second Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm. His Dantian Qi Sea was already fully developed, so to advance quickly, the key was to open more meridians.

With every new meridian opened, not only did his Primordial Qi have more pathways to circulate through, allowing for faster mobilization, but it also nourished the Qi Sea, causing it to expand and accommodate even more Primordial Qi.

To break through from the First Heaven to the Second Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm, one had to open eighteen meridians.

To advance from the Second Heaven to the Third Heaven, however, required opening a full thirty-six.

This was a matter of slow, patient work, an accumulation of one’s foundation.

In the day and night since leaving the Chaotic Stone Forest, he had spent most of his time opening meridians, only pausing to travel.

In that single day and night, he had already opened thirteen of them.

Chu Fan held his breath and focused his mind, his consciousness sinking into his Qi Sea.

With a single thought, the nebula-like mass of spinning Primordial Qi in his Qi Sea converged, condensing into a formless, intangible "Engraving Knife" of immense sharpness—the first step in using Divine Thought to guide Primordial Qi for opening meridians.

Under his precise control, the formless Engraving Knife slowly but firmly began to "carve" its way along an unopened meridian path.

Normally, the process of Primordial Qi striking the walls of a meridian should bring an excruciating, tearing pain. It was one of the most grueling trials on any Cultivator’s path.

Yet whenever Chu Fan opened a meridian, he felt only a powerful resistance and a distinct sensation of forging ahead, not intense pain.

This allowed his speed of Washing Marrow and Rushing Meridians to be dozens of times faster than others.

This was all because his Vajra Undying Body not only granted him a powerful physique and immense defensive capabilities, but had also imbued every part of his physical form with vitality and resilience, down to the most delicate meridians.

As a result, when his meridian walls sustained the impact, their greatly increased resilience cushioned much of the pain that came with forging them open.

This advantage undoubtedly improved both the efficiency and the comfort of opening his meridians.

Time slipped away quietly in the silence of his cultivation.

Early the next morning, the heavy rain outside the cave finally subsided.

The morning sun rose in the east, its golden light spilling through the mouth of the cave and onto Chu Fan.

Inside the cave, Chu Fan was wreathed in the faint glow of Primordial Qi. His breathing was long and steady as he continued to focus all his effort on guiding the Qi to open his meridians.

Four hours later, Chu Fan slowly opened his eyes. A sharp glint flashed through them before they returned to their usual calm.

In a single night, he had managed to open another seven meridians!

He felt the flow of Primordial Qi within him become noticeably smoother and more active, and a tangible sense of expansion from his Qi Sea. A satisfied smile finally touched the corners of his lips.

’At this rate,’ he thought, ’it might not be long before I can open the remaining sixteen meridians and break through to the Third Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm!’