Chapter Sixty: Qi Arises Naturally (Part Two)

Rumor had it that the human body possessed twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary vessels interconnected in a grand cycle, allowing the flow of qi and mastery of internal energy. Those who managed to open these pathways would see their strength surge dramatically.

Living in a world where martial arts truly existed, Chen Yu was well aware of this. The first two statements were true, but the latter two were utterly false.

Meridians did exist in the human body. When he examined his own form from within, the acupuncture points and channels were clear as day. Yet unlike the rumors, these meridians were all connected.

It was much like the body’s apertures—many were interconnected, though some were not, and rightly so, as certain points were never meant to be linked. Flesh and blood tissue formed solid masses; if forcibly opened, the consequences could range from mild bruising, swelling, and numb pain to severe, even fatal outcomes. For instance, some vital apertures near the heart or stomach, if completely cleared, could end life in an instant.

Chen Yu had no time to meddle with these. His body was undergoing transformation; his primordial blood merged with his spirit, and qi condensed and revolved within. Since he had no way to increase the growth of his embryonic breath for now, he had to find a new way to nurture and generate more qi.

He knew well that qi was born from the union of spiritual power and embryonic breath. Reflecting on past efforts—whether sinking spirit into the dantian to capture scattered embryonic breath or clutching fragments of embryonic breath to align with spirit—none had proven convenient.

While he could not alter the form of their fusion, he could modify the process itself.

After much thought, he recalled the idea of meridians and acupuncture points.

He had already been using these points as relay stations, storing the dispersed qi—since qi had no singular storage place like upper or lower dantian.

Originally, he intended to store it nearby in the lower dantian, but perhaps influenced by that strange force still lingering, the qi stored there was slowly being expelled, including his spiritual power.

Though he had opened the gates of the dantian, that force persisted, never fully gone.

Unable to store qi there, he had to find another method—returning the qi back to the acupuncture points.

Fortunately, the body was covered with countless such points. After his transformation, many points that could be refined without easily reacting with qi numbered in the thousands.

Even if each point could only hold a small amount, he would not have to fret about finding space to store qi for a long time.

In truth, merely letting qi accumulate chaotically within the body wasn't impossible.

But the disorder displeased Chen Yu. He reasoned it best to give qi a proper home.

Within his body, he completed the first connection: a thin, delicate network linking the mud pellet (the brain’s core area) and the lower dantian via acupuncture points. If this were outside the body, it wouldn’t work, as spiritual power would dissipate; but inside the flesh, there was no such worry.

He could replenish qi anytime without fearing loss.

The network was slender and fine. Without pause, Chen Yu immediately began constructing a second route. This time, he did not start from the mud pellet but extended outward along already connected acupuncture points, reaching another point on the side. He then activated embryonic breath and spiritual pathways, selecting portions to converge within.

Repeating this process again and again, his spirit was not overly taxed, yet it still drained his focus. Waves of fatigue crashed through his mind like relentless tides.

Yet he pressed on, only stopping after a faint network covering forty-seven points around the spleen and stomach fully materialized.

The spleen and stomach lay near the lower dantian, and since embryonic breath was now scarce, building a wider network was unrealistic. Even maintaining this extent was nearing his limit.

With a long breath, Chen Yu slowly activated his Spirit Summoning Technique and Organ Rebirth Technique. The dense spiritual network threading through his upper body and the embryonic breath network, finer than a hair, gradually came alive.

Contracting and pulling apart, the mud pellet and dantian were tightly connected by a central acupuncture point at this moment.

Within this collision, he could see the two forces gradually wearing each other down, while strands of qi were nurtured and born within the points.

The acupuncture points were very close to the dantian, linked one after another, forming a vast web operating simultaneously.

The energy cost of fusing the two was nearly minimized.

Chen Yu smiled, knowing that once the rest of his upper internal organs and more acupuncture points were linked by these spiritual and embryonic breath threads he crafted, the spiritual power drawn from the mud pellet would no longer suffer any loss.

It would flow directly into the acupuncture points, fusing with embryonic breath.

But this was still far off—he had to restore his embryonic breath first. For now, it was only sufficient to support the spleen and stomach.

Pausing his two self-created techniques, Chen Yu’s breathing rhythm suddenly shifted, becoming more varied.

As breath entered and exited, he sensed spirit and embryonic breath also flowing, though less actively than before. Compared to focusing on two things at once or silently reciting formulas to cultivate energy, this method of breathing to circulate qi suited him better.

No matter how familiar he was with his two techniques, he could not perform them instinctively. When he slept, the techniques ceased, and with them, the entire meridian network.

Breathing, however, was different. It had the potential to become an instinctive skill if mastered deeply. Chen Yu believed it could be further refined. After this transformation, his use of breathing methods had advanced greatly, inspiring new ideas. Perhaps uniting all three techniques into one was truly possible.

...

June 18th, clear skies.

In the medicinal garden behind the courtyard, transplanted plants flourished, lush and vibrant, their red and green hues dazzling beneath the sunlight.

The Orchid Court fruit bore abundant yields, some large, some small, with three varieties differing slightly in taste but identical in effect. The Jade Worm Silk plant was the most resilient; none had perished.

Others also grew well. His greatest concern, the Azure Spirit Root, had sprouted buds.

After surveying the garden, Chen Yu came to the pond not far outside the vegetable patch. It had rained several days in a row recently, both heavily and lightly, and the pond was full.

Looking down, stones and soil lay beneath the water’s surface, with several fish darting through.

Earlier, he had caught crucian carp and loaches with a shrimp basket and placed them in the pond. As for the crabs, they had all been eaten—none remained.

He had not visited the other side of Wocan Gorge or the small creek, a treasure trove, for over half a month. Lately, he had been busy constructing his internal qi cultivation network, leaving little leisure time.

He had created a semi-automatic qi generation network within himself—a nourishing system for qi.

This greatly reduced unnecessary energy loss.

Meanwhile, his research on embryonic breath progressed steadily. Apart from the deepest part of the lower dantian base, he had nearly explored every inch, linking spiritual fluid, qi, and spirit. More than once, he even considered solidifying blood and qi together to examine them.

However, blood and qi were merely reflections of spirit upon primordial blood, almost indistinguishable from spiritual power, so he dropped the effort.

Through repeated verification, he traced the source of embryonic breath back to primordial blood, then further to the body’s flesh—a conclusion he had anticipated.

The details were complex, but broadly, embryonic breath could be regarded as the primordial qi described in Taoist scriptures.

Or the ‘Essence’ of Taoism from a past life.

One of the three treasures: Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The fundamental similarity lay in embryonic breath being the condensation of the body’s essence.

Yet the difference was that embryonic breath required spiritual fluid to nourish and awaken it. No matter how strong one’s body became through martial cultivation, embryonic breath would not arise without it.

Or rather, everyone possessed embryonic breath, but without spiritual fluid to rely on, it remained completely hidden and undetectable.

Having understood the origin of embryonic breath, Chen Yu’s breathing technique also achieved notable success. Though he had yet to reach the level of absorbing the essence of heaven and earth through skin and hair, after recently completing the internal networks nurturing qi in the five internal organs, he had barely reached a new milestone.

Spirit and embryonic breath interacted endlessly, qi was born ceaselessly.

His new breathing method had undergone repeated refinement, the three methods initially unified, breathing present both in movement and stillness.

Qi power generated spontaneously.