Chapter 2 - Dual Meridians
Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
The thick scent of meat wafted through the wilderness. A terrifyingly large beast leg was being barbecued above a fire. Occasionally, fat would trickle down, giving out a sizzling sound.
Seeing that the boar skin had already turned golden brown, Zong Shou carefully brushed on a layer of oil and fresh spices. The wonderful scent made one drool.
The wild boar that weighed close to four tons was split into numerous portions. At least half of the creature was fed to the horned horses, which were also called Cloud Stepping Foals. The boar meat was mixed with yellow beans and other grains, and they were eating heartily.
Of the remaining three boar legs, apart from the one that was still being barbecued, Yin Yang and Su Chuxue had both taken one. Currently, they had grease all over their mouths.
The former was still slightly gentlemanly and civilized, while the latter did not bother about her image at all. It was like she wanted to swallow up the entire bone. She chewed and gnawed while looking at Zong Shou with worshipping eyes.
“So good! So delicious! Young master’s barbecue meat skills are so much better than before...”
Her voice was vague. If one did not pay close attention, they would not be able to hear what she was saying. Zong Shou could not help, but smile.
Chuxue was his maid. She came from the tiger-cat race, which was a branch of the monster race. Although she looked really pretty, she was very active and loved to eat. She looked like a gentle and quiet person, like everyone’s dream girl, but she could not sit still for even a moment. When she ate, the jaws of others would drop. Although her name was Su Chuxue, apart from her skin being snow white, her temperament and personality were totally different from her name.
Based on the records, the so-called monster race were ancestors who injected the blood of strong beasts into their bodies to increase their fighting strength. They did this to face the wild beasts that swept the land.
However, once that intense and cruel era ended, humans started to fear these people. As such, they decided to form their own race among themselves, which was how the monster race came about.
After tens of thousands of years, this race had pretty much become extinct. Zong Shou had only seen them within the game.
Using the dagger in his hand to casually cut off a piece of barbecued meat, he started to slowly eat it. His gaze could not help but look toward the carriage at the side.
“Uncle Yin, with so many enemies eyeing us, isn’t it inappropriate for us to be starting a fire and stopping?”
Spending seven days in the carriage, although Zong Shou did not personally witness Yin Yang and Chuxue fight others, the marks on the sides of the carriage were really new. There were also numerous holes shot through the iron boards of the carriage. There were even blood stains on some spots, a shocking sight. It seemed like they had faced some dangers before he arrived in this world.
During these two days, the two of them regularly went away, saying that they were going to hunt. However, every time they returned, their bodies would be covered with the smell of blood. It was not beast blood, but human blood.
His words gave Yin Yang pause. He acted like he did not care, continuing to feast on the meat and coldly said, “Don’t worry, prince. The area for six hundred miles around here has been cleaned out. Only the eagles above are following us night and day. Whether we start a fire or not doesn’t matter. Chuxue and I also need time to rest up...”
Zong Shou looked up at the sky. As expected, he saw a few small black dots up in the clouds. His heart sank once more. With these ‘eyes’, the enemy knew the tracks of his group.
Furthermore, this carriage was really eye-catching, and it was nearly impossible to cover up its tracks.
It seemed like there was truly an enemy present, and the danger was evident.
However, what he cared about was what Yin Yang called him. Chuxue called him Young Master, while Yin Yang called him Prince.
Prince, within the monster race, it definitely meant the son of the Monster King!
There were hundreds of branches of monsters, and most of them were untamed and unrestrained. To be the inheritor of the Monster King and so weak, one could imagine the outcome he would have.
Sighing, Zong Shou continued to eat the wild boar meat in his hand. When he was around ninety percent full, he felt a warm current move around his body.
Zong Shou got up. He walked to one side and chose an empty spot. He started to move, stretching his back, bending over, and suddenly stretching out his four limbs. These actions were similar to those fat reduction exercises in the future.
At that moment, Chuxue had also finished the boar leg in her hand. She then tore off half of the front leg. As she ate, she looked over curiously.
“He’s training those stances again. It looks so weird, and also can’t be used to fight others. Did young master learn this from Linhai College? Those Spirit Masters only know how to cheat others, saying how what they taught were special, and they accepted everyone from the four seas...”
Zong Shou acted like he did not hear that, focusing on executing each and every action perfectly.
This basic direction of energy did not come from ancient times. Instead, it was self-created by some players in the game. The goal was to lead and direct the energy that the body absorbed from the outside world and turn it into their own. If it were trained together with heart-calming cultivation methods, one would benefit greatly. When cultivating basic cultivation methods, it could help raise the efficiency by thirty percent.
Zong Shou was one of the participants and founders of this method. Before he came to this world, he was developing the seventh set of actions. Unfortunately, before he could complete it, the Book of Eon Extreme Life was released, giving rise to the War of Seven Emperors.
He had then mysteriously appeared in this world.
At the current moment, any movement that he completed would direct an energy current into the energy sea in his stomach.
However, this energy was not truly internal energy. Rather, it was the so-called energy essence, made up of the purest spiritual energy. The energy from the wild boar meat should have dissipated on its own as time went on. However, Zong Shou was using this method to forcefully gather it in his dantian. It could strengthen his body, be used to heal up injuries, or be transferred to others; there were many uses for it.
In his last life, this energy-directing technique was the reason why Zong Shou was able to get ahead of hundreds of millions of players.
Usually, Zong Shou would practice this in the carriage three times a day. Chuxue had seen it several times already, so after looking on for a moment, she lost interest.
However, this was the first time Yin Yang had seen it, and his eyes shone sharply, not blinking at all.
Only after Zong Shou completed the entire set of the Energy-Directing Technique did Yin Yang retract the sharpness from his gaze; he said expressionlessly, “Who knows where the prince learned this series of movements from? If you continue training hard in it, you will be able to become a mighty ruler, and it can also help you strengthen your body.”
Zhun Shou slightly nodded, expressing acknowledgment. However, he had a weird expression on his face.
During these seven days, the only thing he knew was that he had studied in the really familiar Linhai College. Furthermore, he was not there for only a short time. The two of them had only fetched him away recently.
Next, would be Yin Yang. Despite how knowledgeable and well-read Zong Shou was, he actually could not read the person in front of him.
Cold and calm, every action done with manners. No matter what, he did not look like a coachman.
After finishing the meat, Yin Yang and Chuxue went to meditate and adjust the energy in their bodies. Their breathing slowed down like they had fallen asleep.
Zong Shou also sat cross-legged. First, he tried to use a basic heart technique to transform the essence energy in his energy sea into internal energy. At the start, he did not feel much. However, when the energy entered his meridians, he felt a piercing pain all over his body. It was like hundreds of thousands of needles stabbing into him, making him cry out.
He instinctively took in a cold breath, and bore the pain without disturbing and alerting the two beside him. Only after a short while did the intense pain stop. Cold sweat flowed from his entire body.
“As expected! It is because my meridians are flowing together!”
A look of enlightenment flashed in his eyes. Zong Shou used his will to move that warm current back into his energy sea. He had already temporarily given up on cultivating internal energy.
All races in the Cloud World used the nine Chakra Meridians in their bodies as the foundations of cultivation. These nine Chakra Meridians circled the entire body.
When he was moving the energy, he could feel the traveling essence energy splitting up within his meridians.
Within his body, as he had expected, co-existed two sets of meridians!
This body was half-human and half-monster, possessing both the human race and fox race bloodlines. As both races had exceptional histories, someone having the strengths of both races, their spiritual potential and foundations would be extraordinary.
It was also this factor that caused a clash, resulting in his stamina being so shockingly low. It rendered him unable to train in any internal techniques.
Most people would give up on cultivation if they had such a body. However, he had no choice.
Coming to this world, what he felt most fortunate about was that his years of reading and experience in the game world had helped him amass a cultivation experience that exceeded all cultivators in this era.
Recalling all the information in his last life, Zong Shou’s brows locked tight.
There were many special cultivation methods suitable for people with dual meridians. Many of these were really strong, even exceeding the secret arts level. However, none of them were suitable for him.
First, he needed to obtain a few heavenly materials and herbs to strengthen one of his bloodlines to suppress the other. He needed to change his body and merge his meridians.
However, such items were exceedingly rare. Zong Shou did not even dare to think about them.
“I really deserve it! Blistering Blaze Cold Flame Method, Moon Brilliance Art, Diabolic God Technique, why didn’t I take a close look when I got all of them? Although they were a little rubbish...”
historical
Just as he was wracking his brains, a set of words flashed across his mind like a sentient light.
“The Path of Heavens, reduce what is too much, increase what is too little. The Path of Man, reduce what is lacking and increase what one has.”
Zong Shou was instantly stunned. He immediately chased out those words like a person who saw a snake or a scorpion, dredging them from deep in his memories.
These words came from a set of ancient secret texts he had gotten known as ‘Swallow Energy’. It had once caused endless amounts of waves in the Cloud World, leading to several wars and gory fights. Its name spread far and wide, and people deemed it a prohibited art.
If he used this method, it could help to solve his bloodline conflict problem. It could even cause his cultivation to rise rapidly. However, this method was something he was unwilling to touch unless he was at a dead end. With his body, this might add more problems, which was why he hesitated.
He let out a bitter sigh. Zong Shou dispersed all the essence energy that he had gathered into his bones and limbs, to strengthen his body.
Especially his hands; the muscles, bones, and joints had all become tougher.
After which, he chopped down a commonly seen ironwood tree in the forest and used the elite steel treasure sword in his hand to carve it into a six inch long flying dagger.