Chapter 10: Unblocking Muscles, Bones, Skin, and Flesh with Qi

“Damn it, are you messing with me?” At this moment, Rod felt like crying but had no tears left. His internal condition clearly showed that the danger hadn’t passed yet—everything was still ongoing. Not daring to be careless, he quickly entered a state of cultivation.

He focused his mental energy, carefully guiding those chaotic internal qi, slowly bringing them under control. Following the techniques in *Self-Cultivation*, he repeatedly used them to cleanse and nourish his meridians.

It took a long time before the internal qi was finally brought under control and began to flow swiftly along the meridians. Yet this was only a small part of the problem—the external qi continued to flood his body without restraint, constantly striking all his meridians. The pressure grew uncontrollable, and he was on the verge of losing control. Rod was drenched in sweat, unable to find any solution.

Although his lower abdomen was helping to absorb the excess internal qi, this slow absorption was of little use at this point; it could only buy time.

“Damn it! I’ll go all in!” Facing the threat of losing control again, Rod shouted angrily in his heart.

He activated his internal qi and quickly began a new set of cultivation techniques derived from the method of unblocking the five zang-organs and six fu-organs. Desperate, Rod made a risky decision—to directly advance to the second stage: unblocking muscles, bones, skin, and flesh with qi.

Although Xuan Yuan had strictly warned against acting rashly earlier, and Rod had already suffered greatly from such actions, there was no other choice. He was now at a dead end—this stage required unblocking the remaining meridians throughout the body to form a unified network of qi.

During the previous stage of unblocking the five zang-organs and six fu-organs, Rod had already unblocked the Heart Meridian, Liver Meridian, Spleen Meridian, Lung Meridian, Kidney Meridian, Large Intestine Meridian, Stomach Meridian, Small Intestine Meridian, Bladder Meridian, and Triple Burner Meridian. Only the Pericardium Meridian remained unblocked. So, what Rod needed to do now was unblock the Pericardium Meridian and the smaller meridians that ran through his hands and feet.

Despite this, Rod didn’t dare relax at all. The Pericardium Meridian was precisely the most important among them, playing a crucial role in cultivation. It originated in the chest, connected to the pericardium, and passed downward through the diaphragm, linking the upper, middle, and lower jiaos from the chest to the abdomen—essentially a major artery. Although the other meridians that had been unblocked earlier could also be considered major arteries, Rod was at least familiar with their locations and many aspects, unlike the Pericardium Meridian, which was completely unknown to him. More importantly, according to the cultivation techniques, it seemed to be the hardest of the twelve major meridians to unblock. After organizing his thoughts, he hesitated none and quickly plunged in, following the guidance in the techniques to direct his internal energy to attack the Pericardium Meridian first! This time, Rod didn’t try to unblock all the meridians at once—not because he had fully understood them, but because he wasn’t sure exactly which minor meridians existed; without familiarity, he could only proceed one by one. He still worried that doing this might cause problems. Soon, under Rod’s guidance, his internal energy rushed to the location of the Pericardium Meridian. Gritting his teeth, he drove the energy through it swiftly. Starting from the chest, this meridian, of which he knew nothing about, brought him his first trouble! Untested at the entrance, it created an immediate barrier. With gritted teeth and furrowed brows, Rod had no time to think further. He mustered all his strength and charged wildly at the barrier. With a loud “boom,” a violent shockwave erupted, shaking his entire body as darkness enveloped the world in an instant. Severe pain spread to every corner and cell. “I can’t fall, Rod! You’re meant to stand at the pinnacle of the world—don’t be defeated here!” His remaining consciousness urged him loudly. With a fierce cry, Rod forced himself to endure the pain and kept moving forward, using his slightly chaotic internal energy. He then rushed through the barriers at the pericardium and diaphragm in the same manner, ignoring the consequences, until finally, the Pericardium Meridian was unblocked, connecting all twelve meridians in his body.

The internal energy surged like overflowing river water, finding a gap and rushing recklessly into the Pericardium Meridian! By this time, Rod was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, his face pale. His clothes were soaked with sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of water. His hair, still damp from what seemed like a recent wash, clung tightly to his scalp, covering his eyes. “Huff… huff…” He breathed heavily, trying desperately to control the wild surging internal energy. At that moment, he felt an urge to give up. “Damn fate! My destiny isn’t in your hands! You can’t control me!” Rod shouted inwardly in defiance. Despite his mental energy being exhausted, the internal energy continuing to surge violently, and his life hanging in the balance, some unknown strength within him still allowed him to keep guiding the energy through the twelve meridians! Soon, one cycle was complete, but there was still no improvement in his condition. Suddenly, Rod felt heat inside his body, again in his lower abdomen. This time it was completely different from before—intense and fierce. Boom… Without any warning, a loud explosion sound occurred, as if a tiny universe had burst. The shock nearly drove Rod’s last bit of will away. With his mental energy already depleted, he spat out another mouthful of bright red blood. He felt the world spinning around him, unable to distinguish east from west, north from south; his consciousness grew increasingly blurred. He could sense the heat in his lower abdomen expanding, as if the internal energy in his meridians were being drawn there by some immense force. “The dantian… it’s the dantian!” Realizing this, Rod, with his blurred consciousness, murmured to himself, experiencing the existence of the dantian for the first time. Indeed, the unblocking of the twelve meridians had connected Rod’s entire meridian system to the dantian! Up to this moment, Rod had unblocked all the main meridians for cultivation, officially stepping into the realm of cultivation and laying a solid foundation! Wasn’t his internal energy now flowing toward the dantian? In an instant, the entire dantian absorbed the incoming energy like a dried-up ocean, greedily and unrestrainedly, just like a sponge. And the internal energy, in turn, flowed generously into his dantian, surging uncontrollably like an overflowing Yellow River.

It’s just a pity that although this situation temporarily stabilized things and saved Rod’s life, it was only a band-aid solution—ultimately not a real fix, as internal energy continued to flow into his body! Helplessly, Rod could do nothing but quietly monitor his condition. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to do something; he simply lacked the ability. Not only could he not get involved at that moment, but even if he had the ability, his body wouldn’t have been able to withstand such exertion. His mental energy was completely exhausted, at a state of overload; if not for his strong resolve, he would have already lost consciousness. His physical strength was also depleted, leaving him powerless. Time passed unbeknownst to him—Rod felt as if ages had gone by, as if waiting for eternity. Such a long period of rest and recovery had significantly restored his mental energy. His dantian continued to absorb internal energy, and after so much time, it gradually filled up to saturation. Yet it seemed insatiable, like a greedy goldfish, continuing without pause. “Damn it!” Rod cursed fiercely upon realizing this. He knew that if he didn’t take action now and let the dantian keep absorbing, the consequences would be unimaginable. Had one never eaten pork, could they not have seen a pig run? For a martial artist, the importance of the dantian goes without saying. Gathering his strength, he focused intensely and used his mental techniques to control the surging internal energy. After immense effort, Rod finally managed to restrain it, then proceeded without pause to guide it through the smaller meridians and branches in his limbs. This time, however, he learned from his mistakes—instead of rushing in all at once, he broke through them one by one, following the method of penetrating the Pericardium Meridian. With the method mastered and the help of that damned internal energy, things went much smoother this time! Apart from the pain during penetration, no other accidents occurred. As for the pain, it was nothing compared to the pain of penetrating the twelve major meridians—trivial and not worth mentioning.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but this time it felt so brief. Rod found himself having pierced through all the other minor meridians in his body. With each minor meridian opened, it helped to dissipate and bear the violent internal energy, allowing him to survive in a precarious situation without reaching the brink of collapse and thus preserving a sliver of hope. The opening of the meridians also gave him an immediate sense of unobstructed flow throughout his body!
Having cleared two levels in a row, Rod could perhaps be considered unprecedented at this point. As for whether anyone else would follow, he wasn’t sure, but at least at this moment he stood at the forefront of history.