Chapter 11: Opening the Spirit Meridian

Two years without seeing Xia Chenyu, and Anran’s body and mind had become incredibly relaxed. The only thing troubling her was the absence of any leads regarding the mysterious person. That person always appeared at critical moments, reversing the timeline. If she couldn’t find this person, she wasn’t sure if the task could still be completed.

Lu Xiuyuan came again to drink tea, sitting face to face with Anran in the tea room, leisurely chatting. If there was anything Anran liked in this dimension, it was the Yunwu tea from Lingyun Peak.

The spring water was poured into a silver pot, boiled with charcoal fire, and the pot was held high to pour, causing the tender tea buds to swirl in the cup. In an instant, a refreshing fragrance filled the room, as if the purest spring in the world was cleansing the heart.

Anran was so immersed in this peaceful atmosphere that she almost forgot her original purpose for coming to this dimension.

At that moment, two figures appeared outside the tea room. One of them whispered, “Master.”

A vein seemed to pop out on Anran’s forehead, and she put the tea cup down coldly, responding, “Didn’t I tell you? No one is allowed to leave the garden without my orders?”

Xia Chenyu simply kept bowing, silent, not answering.

The other person, after respectfully bowing to the Second Master, spoke: “Outer sect disciple Du Ziming, pays respects to the Second Master.”

Du Ziming? Upon hearing this name, Anran quickly searched her memory, and moments later, her face showed shock.

Lu Xiuyuan was also stunned for a while, then asked, “Du Ziming, the one who never steps into the inner sect, what brings you here?”

Anran was shocked not by Du Ziming coming into the inner sect, but because in the original timeline, Xia Chenyu’s number one rival was this person.

If the timeline had not been disrupted, Du Ziming would have opposed Xia Chenyu everywhere, due to his disapproval of Xia Chenyu’s methods. After Xia Chenyu fell into demonhood, Du Ziming, who had always stayed out of worldly matters, even went down the mountain to fight against the demon cultivators.

But now, the two of them were standing together in front of her.

She paused for a long while before slowly asking, “What is this about?”

Du Ziming pulled Xia Chenyu forward and said, “Lingyun Xianzun, your disciple has been poisoned. Although I have detoxified him, his spirit meridians are blocked, and the poison is accumulating. I cannot save him, so I had to bring him to you.”

Anran didn’t care much about the poisoning and continued to ask, “Why are you two together?”

“He is my friend,” Xia Chenyu replied, lifting his eyes to look at her.

Du Ziming nodded and casually added, “I’ve seen him being bullied by your disciples too many times, so I helped a few times.”

Just then, the Heavenly Eye reminded her again in a most annoying tone: The dimension’s timeline has shifted by 35%.

Unintentionally, she crushed the tea cup in her hand, spilling the tea all over the table. Lu Xiuyuan jumped in shock, “What happened?”

“No matter,” Anran sighed long and called out coldly, “Xia Chenyu, come here.”

Du Ziming helped the boy walk up to her, and Anran finally noticed the pale face and dim eyes of the young man.

She grabbed Xia Chenyu’s wrist and checked his pulse for a moment, nodding. “It’s just as you said.” Then, she released her hold and thought for a moment before adding, “He won’t die.”

The three others were all stunned by her calm words.

“Master…” Xia Chenyu looked at her in disbelief and weakly asked, “What do you mean?”

Anran glanced at the boy, sighed softly, and continued, “The poison is accumulating due to the stagnation of his spirit meridians. But because these meridians are blocked, the poison won’t spread throughout his body, so he won’t die.”

Du Ziming wasn’t satisfied and said, “But you can cure him.”

She could indeed cure him, but curing the poison would require opening his spirit meridians, and she didn’t want to.

Her eyes shifted, and after a moment of contemplation, she explained, “He has the spiritual power of the Qinglong sealed within him. If I open his meridians, it will cause an explosion and he will die. I cannot detoxify him.”

Du Ziming was left speechless and looked at Xia Chenyu before asking again, “Isn’t the mighty Lingyun Xianzun capable of removing the Qinglong’s spiritual power from him?”

Anran could, but again, she didn’t want to.

At this point, Lu Xiuyuan spoke up, “Let me take a look.”

After checking Xia Chenyu’s pulse, he frowned and looked at Anran before slowly saying, “You should rest for now. Let me and your master think of a way.”

Xia Chenyu nodded obediently and was about to leave when Du Ziming stopped him, saying with a hint of annoyance, “Where are you going? Back to the garden?”

Lu Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, glanced at Anran, and threw her a look. Anran understood and reluctantly said, “You don’t need to go back to the garden.”

Once the two had left, Lu Xiuyuan asked, “Why…”

“I don’t want him to advance too quickly in his cultivation,” Anran answered truthfully.

Lu Xiuyuan rested his chin thoughtfully and said, “That’s true. This child is indeed advancing too quickly. But you’ve sealed his meridians for two years already; it should be enough.”

“Enough?” Anran thought back to when she first accepted Xia Chenyu as a disciple and suppressed his cultivation for two years, only to have the mysterious person destroy all her efforts in an instant. At sixteen, Xia Chenyu should only be at the mid-stage of the Foundation Building realm.

In fact, with the timeline warped as it was, it no longer mattered if their cultivation levels differed by one or two stages. But Anran still felt competitive, thinking she had to make up for the situation in this matter, or she wouldn’t be able to swallow her pride.

“I think you should stop being so stubborn. After all, he’s your disciple,” Lu Xiuyuan gently teased and continued to persuade her.

Anran remained silent for a while. If she opened the meridians and released the Qinglong’s spiritual power, she could keep Xia Chenyu’s cultivation suppressed at the Foundation Building stage.

She finally responded, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it myself.”

---

On the other side, Du Ziming returned Xia Chenyu to his room. Xia Chenyu, still with a dark expression, walked in and immediately said, “So this is the master you speak of?”

Xia Chenyu slowly said, “Master is always like this. He appears cold, but actually…”

“Actually what? I’ve been speaking up for him all these years. I used to think he was doing it for your good, worrying that you’d advance too fast, so he sent you to the garden to train your heart.”

“But just now, I saw he didn’t care at all about your poisoning.”

Xia Chenyu thought for a moment and said firmly, “Master must have his reasons.”

Every time Master seemed strict or harsh in his punishment, it ultimately turned out to be for his benefit. This time would be no different.

Du Ziming shook his head and sighed, “Forget it, I’ll take care of it.”

Xia Chenyu was confused, “Didn’t you say you had no solution?”

“It’s difficult, but…” Du Ziming paused and then continued, “Consider this a big favor I’m doing for you.” He said and turned to leave.

---

That night, Du Ziming returned, looking grim. Xia Chenyu walked up to him and asked, “What happened?”

Du Ziming grinned and pulled out a golden pill from his pocket, handing it to Xia Chenyu.

“This is?”

“I killed a Redrock Python.” Du Ziming casually replied, sitting down and grabbing a cup of tea to drink. “I was thirsty to death.”

Xia Chenyu froze for a while.

A Redrock Python? The overlord of Ningyun Peak? A spiritual beast at the Nascent Soul stage?

“You…” Xia Chenyu finally reacted and hurriedly checked Du Ziming for injuries, “Are you hurt?”

Du Ziming waved his hand nonchalantly. “Its cultivation was high, but it was still just a beast,” he said, pointing to his head, “Humans are smarter than beasts, right?”

“I can’t repay this favor.” Xia Chenyu shook his head helplessly.

Du Ziming didn’t care, patted Xia Chenyu on the shoulder, and said, “Stop talking nonsense. This inner pill can absorb the stagnation in your body. Take it and see what happens.”

Xia Chenyu hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind and swallowed the pill.

A warm current immediately surged through his chest, quickly spreading throughout his body. The warmth grew stronger and started to feel like burning.

“So hot,” Xia Chenyu’s forehead began sweating heavily.

“Focus, concentrate,” Du Ziming’s expression grew tense. Though he knew the effect of the pill, he had never actually seen it in action.

Xia Chenyu meditated, but no matter how long he tried to adjust his breath, the heat in his body only grew, and his blood seemed ready to boil.

“It’s not working,” he panted. “My spirit meridians are too stagnant. It’s hard to adjust.”

Du Ziming thought for a moment, then steadied himself, “Let me help you.” He sat down, preparing to help circulate his energy.

At this point, Anran walked in, seeing Xia Chenyu radiating heat and flushed, and asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

“Master,” Xia Chenyu was too weak to stand and could only say weakly, “I…” But before he could finish, his vision blurred, and his body swayed, almost collapsing.

Du Ziming quickly caught him, realizing something was wrong, and immediately placed his hand on his back to start circulating his energy.

Anran stepped forward, grabbed Xia Chenyu’s wrist, checked his pulse, and scolded, “What are you doing!” She then pulled Du Ziming away, saying, “I’ll handle it.”

“Xianzun… I…” Du Ziming was taken aback by the scolding, feeling a little flustered.

Anran, still with an expressionless face, adjusted her robes and sat cross-legged. A spiritual flow surged from her palm and entered Xia Chenyu’s brow. She sighed and said, “He has the Qinglong’s spiritual power sealed inside. This Redrock Python’s inner pill will clash with it. Do you want him to die?”

Du Ziming finally realized, “I wasn’t… I didn’t mean to…” He wanted to explain, but realized it was useless, so he lowered his head and said, “Sorry.”

Anran felt quite vexed. If she had been hesitating about unlocking Xia Chenyu’s meridians, now it was clear that she had no choice but to do so. Otherwise, the boy might truly be in danger.

She pressed her palm to unlock the meridians, and with another hand, she drew out the Qinglong’s spiritual power from Xia Chenyu’s Baihui point.

After half a stick of incense, she finally resolved the crisis.

Xia Chenyu, whose head had almost been burned into a pulp, gradually regained consciousness. In his hazy state, he saw the familiar cold face of his master, who now showed a faint trace of worry.

“You’re awake,” Anran nodded. It seemed everything was fine.

Feeling the concern from his master, Xia Chenyu felt a warm current surge within him.

“Take another look inside. Is there anything unusual?” Du Ziming asked eagerly.

Xia Chenyu nodded and began to meditate.

The Qinglong’s spiritual power had been released, but the Redrock Python’s inner pill seemed powerless. Anran suddenly had an uneasy feeling.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Xia Chenyu opened his eyes and excitedly said, “Master! I’ve reached the Golden Core stage!”