Chapter 9: The Crisis Persists

Clearly, Rod was unaware of the concerns regarding the Sword Spirit. At this moment, he gritted his teeth tightly and charged once again. His firm belief and unwavering determination prevented him from giving up.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his face turned red, and sweat streamed down uncontrollably—his appearance was utterly disheveled.
His head felt dizzy, and his mental energy, exhausted to the extreme, brought him to the brink of unconsciousness. The situation was extremely dangerous. Not to mention how weak his internal energy had become after being scattered, it was already almost depleted after one impact. As for his mental energy, if it weren’t for his strong will and unwavering belief holding him together, he would likely have given up and fallen into a coma by now. If that happened, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The remaining internal energy would not only dissipate but also cause chaos within his body, leading to a state of obsession. By then, even if Rod survived, his life would be ruined.
“Damn it! I’ll go all out!” In the next moment, he followed the techniques in the third chapter of “Self-Cultivation,” desperately channeling energy, widening his pores, and absorbing external energy into his body without regard for the consequences.
Instantly, Rod felt a chill in his body; every pore could clearly sense the flow of that energy. The massive influx of energy caused pain in his pores. At that moment, Rod seemed half-possessed by madness.
As time passed, Rod felt as though all his meridians were now filled with internal energy, even more so than ever before!
“Don’t you want to live? This is sheer recklessness!”
Feeling Rod’s actions at that moment, the Sword Spirit inside his abdomen shouted loudly in his mind.
At this point, Rod’s actions were nothing short of a life-or-death struggle—one with little chance of success. He couldn’t imagine or foresee the consequences of such actions. At least, he had never heard of anyone daring to act so recklessly during cultivation.
Especially at such a critical moment, such actions were nothing but reckless attempts. If he succeeded, he would create a miracle by opening all the meridians related to the internal organs at once. But the resulting health problems were unknown. If he failed, at the least his meridians would be severed, and at the worst, he would die instantly from bleeding from all seven orifices!

Yet, despite his extreme anxiety, the Sword Spirit was helpless. At this point, nothing he could do could stop Rod’s actions—there was no time left! So all he could do was watch helplessly from afar. The gas continuously flowing into his body was no longer under his control; it seemed to have found an outlet and rushed in frantically. Once his meridians reached saturation, the flow continued to surge, forcing Rod to face yet another new danger while still trying to deal with the current one.

“I still refuse to believe I can’t defeat you!”

Rod, already in a state of chaos, was unaware of the approaching danger. Feeling his meridians saturated and ignoring the needle-like pain spreading throughout his body, he let out a roar and channeled all his internal energy toward the eleven obstacles blocking his path. With an unyielding determination and a willingness to die trying, he launched his final assault. He realized the situation was dire, but there was no way back—he had to keep going.

Sometimes things just start and can’t be stopped until they’re over! Unfortunately, that was exactly Rod’s situation now.

“Boom…” Several loud explosions echoed in Rod’s mind, leaving him dizzy. The intense pain made his whole body tremble. The agony was worse than death. The mental strain and physical torment gradually overwhelmed him, to the point where he no longer knew what was happening.

“Damn you, bastard! It’s over… really over! No, this can’t happen! The master can’t suffer! Absolutely not! Well, I have no choice but to try one last time!”

The Sword Spirit’s voice, deep and powerless, came from Rod’s lower abdomen. With a loud roar, a golden light suddenly burst forth from Rod’s abdomen—only to fade after a short while.

Boom, boom, boom…

Another series of explosions knocked Rod unconscious. At this point, apart from the pain, he seemed unable to perceive anything else!

If anyone had been standing beside Rod at that moment, they would have been terrified by his appearance—his face was pale as death, with no trace of color, and his expression was even more horrifying. It was a sight that made one’s blood run cold.

His consciousness gradually blurred, with the explosions continuing unabated. Yet Rod was the first to give up, his mental energy completely exhausted. At this point, his internal energy was no longer under his control, acting as it pleased, while his meridians were on the verge of exploding at any moment.

“Damn it, it seems I’m really done this time! I never thought I’d die at my own hands. Was coming to this world just for a brief visit?” A hint of helpless bitterness appeared on his lips as he silently thought with his last vestiges of consciousness. The world grew darker, the light before his eyes fading away, replaced by silence and darkness.

“I can’t, I can’t leave like this! I have to get stronger! I want to stand at the peak of the world! There are still so many things waiting for me to enjoy! Damn it, I’m still a virgin! I can’t stay a virgin through both lives!”

With his last traces of resentment and regret, Rod shouted inwardly, though his voice sounded weak and powerless. His situation didn’t improve at all from his outburst.

The world remained cold, and Rod could even sense the call of death, feeling the arrival of the Grim Reaper—this time it felt so real, so clear.

It was then that Rod suddenly felt a chill surge into his body, spreading rapidly throughout his body before entering his mind. It swiftly pulled his blurred consciousness back. At that moment, his mental energy was like a dry sea surface encountering seawater, absorbing it recklessly and quickly replenishing itself.

“Xuanyuan Sword Spirit, it’s you! Is it really you?”

The restoration of his mental energy instantly cleared Rod’s mind. The familiar sensation allowed him to recognize it right away. Wasn’t this the same feeling he had when he was in danger last time? It was the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit—it was helping him!

Receiving this answer, Rod felt secretly relieved, but he also didn’t dare slack off in the slightest. He knew that even though the Sword Spirit had helped him this time, he still had to rely on himself to solve things.

“Master… my master, this is all Xuanyuan can do. From now on, it depends on you! Remember, don’t be reckless. Hold on and don’t give up.”

A moment later, the weak voice of the Xuanyuan Sword Spirit came through Rod’s mind, growing fainter until it disappeared.

Without time to think further, Rod was pulled back by excruciating pain.

The frantic influx of gas caused the already overloaded meridians to swell to the point of rupture! On top of that, the disappearance of his consciousness earlier had left his internal energy uncontrolled, now wandering everywhere chaotically.
“Give it my all!”
Although the Sword Spirit had warned him not to be reckless, the situation at hand left Rod with no choice but to try. Failing to do so would lead to even worse consequences; death was inevitable either way, so it was better to give it a shot.
He mobilized all his internal energy and once again launched an attack at the eleven meridians connected to his internal organs.
This time, without any hesitation, he charged forward with full force, delivering a devastating strike.
“Boom…”
A thunderous noise erupted, almost driving Rod’s soul out of his body. He could only barely recover after coughing up blood.
Once he felt somewhat restored, Rod’s heart raced, and excitement spread rapidly through him.
At that moment, his meridians were temporarily relieved, and the excess internal energy was discharged.
Indeed, by sheer luck, he had managed to break through all eleven meridian barriers in one go.
Taking two weak breaths, Rod, whose mental energy had been greatly depleted once again, was overjoyed. He had succeeded—by chance, he had reached the stage where his internal organs were connected through the meridians!
This luck not only allowed him to achieve his goal under dangerous circumstances but also enabled him to create an unprecedented miracle, though he was unaware of this.
Feeling his internal energy flow through these eleven meridians and form a unified whole, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“How… how is this possible?”
However, it wasn’t long before Rod realized something was wrong. His expression tightened again, becoming serious and anxious once more.
He noticed that the gas flooding his body hadn’t decreased at all but had become even more intense. Although the eleven meridians were now fully open, providing more space, they still couldn’t withstand such force. In just a short while, they reached saturation, causing the meridians to swell again.