Chapter 1942: Shan Xiaotian's Breakthrough to Ancient Saint

"Mas..."

Filled with excitement, Shan Xiaotian was about to shout "Master" when he saw the other gently shake his head, and he couldn't help but stop.

Just now, his master had specifically transmitted a message to him, saying that he kept a low profile and didn't want to show his face. In private, they could treat each other as teacher and student, but in front of outsiders, they should say they were friends.

Given the age difference between them, no one would suspect.

"I am Zhang Xuan, a friend of Shan Xiaotian. Greetings, Elder Lu..."

Zhang Xuan walked over slowly.

Seeing his appearance, Huo Jianghe showed an unnatural expression.

At Hongyan Merchant House, the two had fought. At that time, the other was wrapped in bandages, obscuring his face, so he hadn't recognized him earlier. Now, with his voice and physique, how could he not know who it was?

"You say that within one and a half hours, Shan Xiaotian can break through to Ancient Saint?"

Elder Lu Yun frowned.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "He saved me after I was injured, and I know his true strength! In fact, he had already broken through to the Ancient Saint level, but to help heal my injuries, he expended too much, reducing him to the third level of Great Saint! With proper handling, it shouldn't be difficult for him to recover to his original state within one and a half hours!"

"He was originally an Ancient Saint?"

Full of doubt, Elder Lu Yun looked at the young man again...

Does an Ancient Saint look like this? Even if you're making up a story, there should be some standard... Is it really okay to talk nonsense?

Shan Xiaotian was also stunned, completely bewildered.

Yesterday, he was just a small figure at the sixth level of Saint Domain. After killing the Gu worm, he suddenly soared to the third level of Great Saint, which was already incredibly heaven-defying. Now his master said he was originally an Ancient Saint...

When did I become an Ancient Saint?

Why don't I know myself?

"Give me one and a half hours, and absolutely no one must disturb us. I guarantee he will recover to his original state!"

Seeing the disbelief, Zhang Xuan said.

To be honest, saying that in one and a half hours he could forcibly help someone rise two major levels to become an Ancient Saint would definitely be unbelievable... If he actually succeeded, the glory would be impossible to hide, and he might even be captured as a lab rat for careful study.

After much thought, the only option was to claim that the other was originally an Ancient Saint!

Recovering strength would certainly not be as shocking as rapid improvement.

Sigh, for the sake of keeping a low profile, he had gone to great lengths. I, Zhang Xuan, am such a good person who does good deeds without leaving a name, a peerless handsome man loved by all, blooming flowers at my sight.

"What's so hard about not being disturbed?" Seeing his confident tone, although still doubtful, Elder Lu Yun nodded and looked at Huo Jianghe: "Take them to a quiet place. We'll take this opportunity to assess the other examinees!"

"Yes!" Huo Jianghe acknowledged and led the way.

He had stayed in the city lord's mansion for several days and was very familiar with it. The courtyard arranged for him was very secluded, and outsiders would never come to disturb.

Soon they arrived at the courtyard. After arranging everything, Huo Jianghe turned and left. Entering the room, Shan Xiaotian closed the door, turned around, and knelt before his master: "Master, I am not an Ancient Saint at all..."

"Do you think I was lying just now?" Zhang Xuan looked at him.

"This..." Shan Xiaotian's face flushed.

As a disciple, thinking that his master was lying was itself a great disrespect.

"It's true that you haven't reached Ancient Saint, but... that doesn't mean you can't advance to that level within an hour!"

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

"Advancing two major levels in an hour?" Shan Xiaotian was full of confusion.

It wasn't that he didn't believe, but that he dared not believe.

If cultivation were so easy to advance, experts would be everywhere.

"From now on, follow my orders completely without any resistance. Do whatever I tell you to do," Zhang Xuan said.

"Yes!" Shan Xiaotian nodded.

From the moment he became a disciple, he had already decided never to disobey his master's orders.

Zhang Xuan looked at him and said: "Although over the past ten years, the spiritual energy you absorbed has not been converted into true energy and remains in your body, the constant refinement of spiritual energy has made your body and internal meridians far superior to ordinary people, already comparable to an Ancient Saint. As long as we find a way to alter the layout of your meridians, breaking through in cultivation won't be difficult!"

"Alter... the layout of meridians?" Shan Xiaotian became even more confused.

Can that even be altered?

Aren't meridians fixed from birth? Once altered, isn't it easy to die?

What is called 'deviating from the right path' is actually improper cultivation, where true energy enters the wrong meridians...

If just going into the wrong meridian can cause that, can altering meridians really allow one to survive?

"Correct! This is something I just discovered and haven't tested yet. Are you willing to give it a try? If successful, you'll reach the Ancient Saint level in one step; if not... you might become a cripple, unable to cultivate ever again!"

Zhang Xuan's expression was grave.

"..." Shan Xiaotian felt his scalp tingle and wanted to cry but had no tears.

So after all this, it only existed in theory, never tested on anyone...

And he was to be the test subject...

This master really had a big heart!

Although he felt that the master he had taken was somewhat unreliable, Shan Xiaotian still nodded, without any hesitation or doubt in his eyes: "My life was given by you, Master. Without you, I would not be at the Great Saint level; I might already be dead. What do I have to fear!"

"Since you dare, the rest is simple..."

Zhang Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

He wasn't lying; the so-called method had indeed just come to mind.

Under normal circumstances, following his guidance in cultivation, as long as resources were sufficient, breaking through to Ancient Saint within a few days was easy. But wanting to do it in one hour... two levels, unless it was a Heavenly Dao technique.

However, such techniques, aside from himself, ordinary people simply couldn't cultivate. Even if taught, it couldn't be done, and there was a risk of being crushed to death by the Heavenly Dao.

So, he had to think of another path.

Through observation, he found that the meridians of native-born beings in the Upper Firmament were more correct than those of the Alien Spirit race, but still not perfect.

Human meridians had many errors, adults being mere mortals; the humans of the Hundred Schools had fewer errors, reaching the Grandmaster realm in adulthood; the Alien Spirit race had even fewer errors, reaching the Mortal Transformation realm in adulthood; native-born beings of the Upper Firmament had the fewest errors, reaching the ninth level of the Saint realm in adulthood!

From this, it could be inferred that if meridians were altered to be flawless, and combined with sufficient true qi, could one's cultivation increase rapidly, similar to how sacred beasts change their bloodlines?

Previously, Zheng Yang and others had broken through to Shattering Void quickly by altering their meridians, breaking the shackles that the Master Teacher Continent couldn't overcome.

Of course, these were all inferences, never successfully tested, so he could only experiment on the person before him.

With a flick of his wrist, a large cauldron and firewood appeared in the room. Then he went outside to fetch a bucket of water and brought it to a rolling boil.

Having a storage ring, and knowing he might get injured in the future, he had prepared the cauldron and firewood in advance.

"Be good, come out and take a bath..."

Communicating with his dantian mentally, soon a gourd appeared before him and fell into the boiling water.

His Heavenly Dao true qi could quickly heal injuries, but... for a native-born being of the Upper Firmament with shattered meridians, even he couldn't guarantee restoring them to their original state within an hour.

So, he thought of the gourd's bathwater.

This stuff had great effects even for him, a Shattering Void powerhouse, so it would certainly work for a Great Saint.

While he boiled the water, Zhang Xuan looked over, his expression solemn: "Bear the pain!"

"Yes!"

Shan Xiaotian nodded, sitting cross-legged on the ground as instructed, motionless.

Stepping forward, Zhang Xuan pressed his palm down.

In an instant, true qi drilled into the other's body through acupoints, shaking violently.

Pfft!

Shan Xiaotian spat out a mouthful of blood.

In that moment, his meridians were shattered by the teacher.

The intense pain made his vision go dark, and he nearly fainted.

Anyone else would have long been unable to bear it, but he had suffered disaster at age six, his will already as hard as iron. Even so, he felt on the verge of unconsciousness at any moment.

"Hold on, whatever you do, don't faint!"

Seeing his state, Zhang Xuan instructed, continuing to channel Heavenly Dao true qi into his body, connecting the broken meridians along a perfect route.

The Heavenly Dao true qi, refined from quicksilver spiritual energy, was even purer. It traveled through the severely injured body, quickly constructing a new set of meridians.

"It works, but... Heavenly Dao true qi isn't that fast at healing injuries..."

With the meridians complete, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, finding his guess correct. Heavenly Dao true qi healed quickly, but only if the other's strength wasn't too damaged. Now, this disciple's internal energy was completely destroyed, equivalent to having no strength at all... In this situation, similar to when he had turned into a skeleton, the effect of true qi weakened considerably.

Without ten days to half a month, it couldn't succeed!

In another hour, the other would turn seventeen; there was definitely not enough time.

He brought over the gourd's bathwater: "Drink this..."

Without much hesitation, Shan Xiaotian gritted his teeth and drank.

His physical body, as Zhang Xuan had said, after ten years of tempering, was already comparable to an Ancient Saint. Just drinking hot water wouldn't harm him at all.

Gulp, gulp, gulp!

The bathwater entered his body, and the severe injuries visibly healed. In less than a minute, he was fully recovered.

"This..."

Shan Xiaotian's eyes widened; he never dreamed that a gourd's bathwater could be so powerful.

"Quickly absorb spiritual energy and break through!"

Seeing him stunned, Zhang Xuan frowned and scolded.

"Yes!"

Shan Xiaotian focused his mind.

Earlier, his meridians had shattered and his power was destroyed, but true qi still stored in his dantian hadn't diminished at all. Now, absorbing spiritual energy activated this power, restoring him to the Great Saint Third Layer Great Perfection.

The barrier that had been hard to break through now trembled, ready to open at any moment.

"Break!"

Without any hesitation, he circulated true qi and struck violently.

In an instant, he broke through the shackles, reaching the Great Saint Fourth Layer, the Immortal Realm.

His cultivation advanced rapidly.

Immortal Realm initial, mid, late, peak, perfection, great perfection...

In less than an hour, he was only a step away from Ancient Saint, ready to break through at any moment.

However, at that moment, Zhang Xuan clearly felt that the power within Shan Xiaotian had lost its previous ferocity, like a receding tide. Only the final step remained, but he couldn't pass through.

"It seems I thought too simply... Ancient Saint is a major realm, not easy even in the Upper Firmament..."

His expression darkening, Zhang Xuan's heart tightened.