Chapter Eleven: Conquering Three Levels in Sequence

“Weilu xianzhong qiu!” Gritting his teeth fiercely, Rod felt that his current condition was fairly good—at least better than before. With a firm resolve, he declared in a deep voice. He would go all out; this time, it was truly a last-ditch effort. He planned to use this momentum to directly advance to the third level of the third chapter of “Self-Cultivation,” focusing on the exchange of energy between the body and the outside world.

Ignoring all dangers and adopting a fighting attitude, with the mindset that death was inevitable either way, he began to cultivate the techniques for the third level without hesitation.

The exchange of energy between the body and the outside world is the most crucial and final stage of the “Self-Cultivation” techniques. Once this stage is completed, the third chapter of “Self-Cultivation” can be considered fully finished.

Of course, this level isn’t simple. The so-called exchange of energy involves enabling the practitioner to effortlessly alternate between internal energy and external air, just like breathing—allowing the meridians to breathe and absorb the essence while discarding impurities.

After all, although he was currently inhaling air, it was far from what true exchange of energy entailed. What he was doing now was merely absorbing all kinds of air from the outside, just like normal breathing, which includes not only essential oxygen but also unwanted carbon dioxide and other impurities.

True exchange of energy requires learning to filter out these unwanted impurities, retaining only the essential elements. More importantly, it involves eliminating the impurities and toxins already present in one’s internal energy. At this stage, what could Rod’s so-called “internal energy” even be? It was just ordinary air—perhaps slightly purer than normal air, but utterly useless. If what he had in his body could truly be called internal energy, then he would already be a master.

To achieve internal and external breathing, what Rod needs to do now is to open up those last, even more delicate meridians. These meridians are hardly noticeable during cultivation—they are extremely small. If meridians of martial artists are classified by level, then the first level is undoubtedly the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Of course, among them, the Conception Vessel and Governor Vessel are the most important! The second level corresponds to the Twelve Regular Meridians, while the third level includes those hand and foot meridians that Rod has just opened up. Thus, the meridians he needs to open now can only be classified as belonging to the fifth level.

Yet, these small meridians should not be underestimated, as their functions are quite crucial. This is also why they only became apparent at the third level. Besides their large number, there is another factor, the most important one—although they may not be the most critical for cultivators, they are absolutely essential. Without them, a person is doomed never to make progress in their cultivation.

Only by opening up these small meridians can one achieve internal and external breathing and proceed with cultivation.

A diagram of the human meridians appeared in his mind. The complex diagram made Rod’s scalp tingle.

But what could he do? He had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue. Internal and external breathing—perhaps only by reaching this level could he save his life. Rod smiled bitterly in resignation.

For the sake of his life, he focused intently on the dazzling diagram, not daring to be careless.

In times of danger, especially when on the brink of death, people can unleash terrifying abilities. For example, after viewing the diagram twice, Rod had almost mastered the locations of all the meridians.

He didn’t have time to memorize more, as an alarm signal inside his body indicated danger.

With a serious expression, Rod quickly directed his internal energy toward the meridians he knew. His first target was naturally the head—the most critical part of the body, where no mistakes were allowed. So he had to take advantage of his current clarity to deal with this area.

Here, he dared not be reckless or as aggressive as before. He moved cautiously, carefully penetrating deeper, and once he reached the barrier, he controlled his internal energy tightly, turning it into something as fine as a thread before slowly making contact.

Sss… He immediately gasped in shock—this place was indeed extraordinary. Just by making contact, he felt pain no less intense than when he had previously unblocked his twelve meridians.
Breaking through bit by bit was a torturous process that made Rod feel like crying.
“Damn it! If I survive this time, I’ll definitely enjoy life to the fullest!”
It took him immense effort to conquer just one meridian, leaving him drenched in sweat and feeling extremely exhausted. Feeling the fatigue in his body, he silently vowed that at least he wouldn’t regret being a virgin in another life-or-death situation like this!
It was unclear how much time passed, but once all the meridians in his head were unblocked, Rod fell into extreme weakness once again. The explosive sensations from the meridians inside his body made him grit his teeth—unblocking these minor meridians didn’t help much at all.
Still, it was fortunate that at least the most dangerous area—his head—was now resolved. Next was to deal with the meridians in his body, which were somewhat simpler.
He unblocked them all at once, with relentless determination, just like waging war and capturing fortresses one after another. Finally, when the meridians in his body reached a critical point and showed signs of cracking, he managed to unblock all the minor meridians.
Huff… The pain forced Rod to take several deep breaths to relieve the agony.
“The revolution is not yet complete; comrades must keep striving,” he thought. Right now, the crisis was severe and demanded immediate action.
Only one step remained: initiating the first internal and external breath exchange.
He hurriedly began practicing according to the final section of the technique.
His internal energy surged wildly through his meridians, with the dantian as the center and the twelve meridians as the main pathways. The energy washed over them repeatedly, each time fusing and refining itself.
Under these conditions, his internal energy was quickly depleted but also became increasingly pure. At that moment, Rod was surprised to discover that he could now control his connection to the outside world—able to pause absorbing air from outside.
Feeling this, and having overcome the obstacle, a relieved smile appeared on his lips. “Damn, I really am lucky!”
The crisis was finally under control and resolved. Rod, who had barely escaped death, let out a deep sigh of relief.

Relying on his last vestiges of consciousness, he circulated his internal energy several more times to nourish his meridians and repair the cracks. Once that was done, his spirit slackened, and he immediately fell into a coma, lying on the bed without any awareness at all!
After prolonged mental strain, with his mental energy being exhausted and restored repeatedly, he was utterly exhausted. Having survived the danger, he completely collapsed.
At this moment, Rod’s world was completely silent—no sound, only darkness and stillness! It turned out that sleeping could be such a pleasant thing; even in a coma, the corners of his mouth retained a hint of a smile—a relieved smile.
What Rod didn’t know was that while he was in a deep sleep, his internal energy continued to circulate as it had before he fell asleep, following the same pattern, and it wasn’t until 36 full cycles later that it finally settled down.
…
Rod didn’t know how long he slept. He felt as though he had had a very long dream, in which he saw himself wearing armor, standing atop the world’s peak on colorful clouds, looking down upon all beings. It was the deepest and most comfortable sleep he had ever experienced.
When he woke up again, the outside was bathed in bright sunlight.
“Comfortable…” After stretching lazily and letting out a contented groan, Rod murmured to himself. Only now did he realize how pleasant it felt to be fully refreshed.
“No good, damn it! How much time has passed? The old man won’t have come back, will he?” Suddenly remembering how long he had been practicing and not knowing how much time he had slept, Rod quickly jumped out of bed and landed on the ground, speaking anxiously.
A wave of pain rushed through his body, making him grit his teeth. His whole body ached—exactly the kind of pain caused by overexertion!
“Cough, cough, cough…” A sudden foul smell made Rod almost vomit! Frowning tightly, he looked around. His eyes widened instantly—he realized the room was in chaos! Could it be that thieves had broken in? he thought to himself. But he didn’t know that the culprit was himself! During his practice, those gases had rushed toward the wind he had created.
Covering his nose in an attempt to block the smell, he found it only grew stronger. Glancing at his own body accidentally, he froze! He took his hand away and sniffed carefully at himself!

Rod was both amused and puzzled. It turned out that the strange smell was coming from his own body. At that moment, his skin was covered with a thin layer of black solid that adhered tightly to his flesh, appearing dark red—these were the sources of the foul odor. Indeed, weren’t these substances the ones emitting the bad smell? Rod wasn’t sure, but in fact, they were all products of his own cultivation. The main component was his blood. That reckless action had caused severe damage to every pore, and the blood that seeped out from the skin surface had coagulated into a dark red color! Moreover, the waste and dirt expelled from his body after passing through the twelve main meridians and various minor meridians covered his skin, and due to the lack of cleaning over time, such a disgusting smell was emitted.