Chapter 1912: The Importance of Meridians

Sizzle!

Spiritual energy surged into the acupoints and entered the meridians.

Crack! Crack!

The meridians inside his body, as if injected with mercury, cracked again, and his entire body became extremely heavy. He hurriedly used Heavenly Dao true qi to repair them, but his face grew redder and redder. After a moment, his pupils contracted, and blood spurted from the corner of his mouth.

"No good..."

He shook his head helplessly and stopped.

He had thought that with his cultivation progress, he could absorb this power, but now it seemed he still couldn't.

If he forced absorption, his meridians would shatter completely, his dantian would collapse, and not only would he fail to refine it into true qi, but his soul might also be suppressed, unable to move, and utterly destroyed.

"Pity the vine is gone..."

He was filled with helplessness.

If he still had the vine from the Gourd of Cavern Void, he could use it to modify his meridians and adapt to this power, but unfortunately, it had been used up completely.

"No, among the alien spirit race, two out of ten can absorb it, and the ruthless one back then also absorbed this power without dying..."

Just as he was about to give up, a thought struck him.

Yan Qing, the ancient sage, had conducted experiments: out of ten alien spirit race members, two could absorb this power without dying. The ruthless one back then, without any vine to modify his meridians, had also succeeded.

Could it be that changing true qi into killing qi, combined with modified meridians, would yield better results?

"Let's try!"

Since he had no cultivation method to refer to anyway, he acted on the thought. His true qi turned, and killing qi surged out from his acupoints. His entire being instantly transformed, as if he had become an alien spirit race emperor, supreme and exalted.

After changing the nature of his true qi, he opened his acupoints again and slowly began to absorb.

Sizzle!

The spiritual energy entered his body again, no longer as heavy as before, but instead giving him a warm and comfortable feeling.

"So that's it..."

His fists clenched, and Zhang Xuan was filled with excitement.

Although Liu Yang had become the alien spirit emperor and possessed dense killing qi, his meridians had never been modified; they were still human meridians, so he too could not absorb it.

Zhang Xuan was different. When the alien spirit race fought the "gods," he was shaken down to just a skeleton. When he was reborn with the help of special energy, his meridians were completely altered to be more in line with the Great Dao.

Thus, when he now absorbed the mercury-like spiritual energy, it was incredibly smooth.

After absorbing for a while, just like Zhao Ya, he also felt the barrier's power.

"Break through!"

He concentrated his mind, immersing his spirit entirely in the Spring and Autumn Canon within the library. Time accelerated, and the sky full of mercury-like spiritual energy descended like a tornado, surging into his body.

Zhao Ya, Kong Shiyao, and the others were all startled and stepped back in unison.

After the teacher emitted the aura of the alien spirit race, he could absorb this spiritual energy for cultivation, but... the speed was too terrifying!

With such fierce power, even the high platform might not withstand it and could be crushed to pieces.

With the support of the Spring and Autumn Canon, Zhang Xuan cultivated extremely fast. Even so, it took nearly a day before he completely transformed the power within him and consolidated his cultivation to the critical point.

Boom!

After another half day, the power exploded, and like Zhao Ya, he took the final step, reaching the initial stage of Shattering Void.

After reaching this realm, just as she had said, no matter how much he absorbed, he could not advance any further. It seemed his dantian and meridians had reached saturation, unable to absorb even a bit more power.

"What a pity!"

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan stood up.

The advancement in cultivation gave him a deeper understanding of this mercury-like spiritual energy.

Human meridians were too fragile and indeed could not adapt.

The alien spirit race not only had a more advanced meridian diagram than humans, but their meridians were also extremely resilient, allowing them to absorb this spiritual energy without dying. That was only natural.

"Teacher, can... we cultivate?"

Seeing their senior sister and teacher both break through to Shattering Void, Zheng Yang, Kong Shiyao, and the others could no longer contain their burning desire.

If they could absorb it, did that mean they too could succeed?

"You can't for now," Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Zhao Ya succeeded because of the Gourd of Cavern Void vine, while he succeeded because of the healing energy from the "gods." Without these, being stripped to a skeleton alone would take who knows how long to recover, let alone having the chance to modify the meridian diagram.

The others lacked such opportunities; succeeding would not be easy.

Disappointment appeared in everyone's eyes.

"Normal humans indeed cannot absorb this power. Generations of experts from the Hundred Schools of Thought have conducted experiments, and no matter how talented the genius, not one succeeded," Kong Shiyao explained with a bitter smile.

When it came to understanding this power, even Zhang Xuan was no match for the Kunxu Realm experts.

Their ancestors had guarded this seal for generations, and they had understood this power down to the marrow.

So many brilliant individuals had failed, and Zhang Xuan did not think that he, having only been exposed to it for less than two days, could succeed.

"However, although no one has succeeded, as time has passed, the duration people can withstand this power has grown longer and longer!"

Zhang Xuan was startled.

"Yes. I've seen records from tens of thousands of years ago. Back then, ordinary people who absorbed this power would have their meridians shatter and even die within three breaths. But now, even those who haven't cultivated can last over ten minutes!"

Kong Shiyao nodded.

Zhang Xuan frowned: "Let me take a look."

If they were all ordinary people, they should be the same. Could it be that because the people here had eaten green sprout wheat for years, their physiques had strengthened, and their endurance had also increased?

His divine sense spread downward, and in an instant, it covered an area outside the Grand Confucian Hall, where many native ordinary people of the Kunxu Realm lived.

"Not only have their physiques strengthened, but their meridians are also slightly different from those on the Master Teacher Continent..."

After observing for a while, Zhang Xuan was full of surprise.

He had seen these people before but had never considered the issue of meridians. Now, upon careful observation, he indeed noticed something was off.

In the Kunxu Realm, after tens of thousands of years of nurturing, the native human race had not only changed their physiques—reaching the Master Teacher realm upon adulthood—but their meridians had also shown a trend toward those of the alien spirit race. Although not completely changed, they were already quite different from ordinary people on the Master Teacher Continent.

No wonder they could endure longer.

"If I could find a way to change... the meridian pathways of Zheng Yang and the others, could they also absorb this power and successfully break through to Shattering Void?"

An idea popped into his mind.

Since the strength of the physique was closely related to the meridian diagram, finding a way to modify the other's meridians should bring about a qualitative change and allow everyone to break through.

But...

Modifying meridians involved discarding flesh and blood. Even if Zheng Yang and the others were willing, the ancient sage power needed for recovery would be enormous—far beyond what he could provide.

Moreover, what if they discarded their bodies and still couldn't succeed?

"Kong Shiyao, where are Yan Qing, the ancient sage, and the others?" Zhang Xuan asked.