Chapter 26: The Theory of Six Meridians

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/

There’s a saying that goes: “Wield a blade to roam the world, open six meridians to stand above all men.”

Those who can lift blade and spear may call themselves martial artists, but only those who break through the six meridians can be crowned with the title of innate.

Through his casual conversations with Zhang He, Xu Yan learned about the theory of six meridians.

The Governing Vessel, Conception Vessel, Penetrating Vessel, Yin Vessel, Yang Vessel, and Union Vessel—these six meridians were as important to martial practitioners as grain to farmers or the state to emperors. Breaking through one meridian allowed one to cultivate a breath of innate true qi. Only by opening all six meridians could one squeeze into the ranks of cultivators.

Zhang He didn’t understand the secrets of cultivators, but he was quite clear about the theory of six meridians. According to him, Yuan Mountain Stronghold’s first leader, Flying Centipede, was a two-meridian innate martial artist, while the second leader Han Lei and third leader Lu Hai were both one-meridian innate martial artists.

Martial artists cultivated the six meridians—the more meridian gates they opened, the stronger they became. With just one meridian’s difference, even if the second and third leaders joined forces, they still couldn’t defeat Flying Centipede.

The theory of six meridians made Xu Yan quite curious. While busying himself with his tasks, he asked, “Fellow traveler benefactor, how many meridians have you opened? Do you become a cultivator once all six meridians are opened?”

“I’m nowhere close—haven’t even opened half a meridian. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be working as a cook here.” Zhang He curled his lips. “To become a cultivator, you don’t actually need to open all six meridians. I heard there’s a type of pill refined by cultivators that’s extremely precious. After taking it, innate martial artists can easily break through the last three meridians. As long as you can open the first three meridians and get your hands on that kind of pill, you can reach the level of having all six meridians opened.”

“One pill can open half the meridian gates?” Xu Yan blinked. “Isn’t that cheating?”

“Cheating? That’s called strength!”

Zhang He snorted. “You think that pill is cheap? You couldn’t buy it no matter how much money you have. With a pill that directly breaks through the last three meridians, only an idiot would painstakingly struggle to break through the remaining meridian gates. One pill down the hatch and you directly become a cultivator—that’s what I call strength. It’s like those rich people—they have three wives and four concubines, delicacies from land and sea, while you’re stuck with just yourself, eating steamed bread and chaff all day. Understand?”

Zhang He spoke with righteous indignation, and Xu Yan nodded repeatedly beside him. Seeing someone agree with his viewpoint, Zhang He became quite pleased and said, “Wait a while, and I’ll take you to a good place to make money…”

“What good place to make money? Let me see it too.”

Before Zhang He could finish, a woman’s voice came from the side—sweet, alluring, making one’s bones go soft.

It was a woman dressed in a blue dress, carrying a small vegetable basket, her hair elegantly pinned up. She looked to be under thirty, with an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and phoenix eyes. Before she even arrived, a subtle fragrance preceded her. Her phoenix eyes held an enchanting charm, as if she was flirting with whoever she looked at.

“Oh, Madam, you’re here.” Seeing the approaching woman, Zhang He quickly bowed, not daring to look at her face directly. “There’s no good place to make money. I was actually talking about Qi Yuan Gorge.”

“Qi Yuan Gorge is full of dead people. Do corpse meals taste good?” The woman glanced at Xu Yan, her willow eyebrows moving slightly as she swayed her hips closer, asking curiously, “How did the stronghold get a little Taoist priest? Is someone planning a ritual?”

“He’s a newly joined brother who’s submitted his pledge of loyalty.” Zhang He explained. “His name is Xu Yan, and I’m his fellow traveler.”

“So young yet dares to kill—I really couldn’t tell.” The woman smiled at Xu Yan. “Little Taoist priest, do you know how to perform soul-guiding rituals? My brother’s memorial day is coming up soon.”

Xu Yan nodded. “Yes, Master taught me.”

“That’s good. Help big sister with this favor, and I won’t treat you poorly.”

After speaking, the woman grabbed a few handfuls of vegetables from the nearby vegetable patch. When she bent over, her figure was stretched taut by her dress, appearing graceful and alluring. Zhang He stole a glance and secretly swallowed his saliva.

Soon, the woman who had picked a small basket of vegetables gave the two men a charming smile and swayed away.

“That’s the first leader’s stronghold wife, called Mei Sanniang. The madam likes to eat vegetarian food and comes to pick vegetables herself every day. She used to be a young lady from a wealthy family and can’t get used to the food we cooks prepare.”

Staring dryly at the departing figure, Zhang He spoke to himself. Turning back to see Xu Yan still staring intently at her, he said irritably, “Stop looking. You’re a Taoist priest. If the first leader discovers someone daring to stare at his wife, he’ll definitely gouge your eyes out.”

Xu Yan chuckled foolishly and asked, “How did the madam’s brother die? The food at Yuan Mountain Stronghold is pretty good—shouldn’t starve anyone to death.”

Upon hearing Xu Yan mention Mei Sanniang’s brother, Zhang He’s expression changed. Looking around to make sure no one was there, he lowered his voice: “The madam was supposedly captured five years ago. Her brother was still young then. When he saw someone taking his sister, he cursed loudly and was killed with one slash by the first leader. Don’t ask about this anymore—remember, the madam considers it taboo.”

‘A woman who was captured, whose brother was killed—she should have been irreconcilable enemies with Yuan Mountain Stronghold, yet she became the stronghold wife. Who knew how this Mei Sanniang had lived these past five years.’

Glancing at the distant figure, Xu Yan continued chatting casually with Zhang He. He wasn’t interested in looking at the woman’s figure—rather, that stronghold wife’s silhouette was identical to the one he’d seen by the well that night.

‘The stronghold wife appearing by the well in the dead of night made Xu Yan somewhat curious.’

At Yuan Mountain Stronghold, there weren’t many unusual events. The group of bandits would set ambushes outside the mountain every few days to rob passersby. Sometimes they’d return cursing and swearing—that meant they hadn’t encountered fat sheep and perhaps only killed some common people. Sometimes they’d return happily, pushing carts and driving horses.

Whether they robbed poor or rich people, whenever Yuan Mountain Stronghold’s bandits returned from outside the mountain, their blades were inevitably stained with blood.

They claimed to rob for wealth, but in reality, every time this group of bandits went out, they killed people—especially the second leader Han Lei. Each time he went out, he’d return with a body full of killing intent. Who knew how many wronged souls had died by his hand.

Others couldn’t see wronged souls, but Xu Yan could. He could see dark shadows occasionally circling around Han Lei’s tower-like robust body. However, those wronged souls were too weak—they’d disappear as soon as Han Lei’s killing intent washed over them.

In recent years, the Yuan Mountain bandit menace had increasingly become a nightmare for surrounding villagers. People’s mention of Yuan Mountain bandits could even stop children from crying.

Yuan Mountain bandits were fierce, but the little Taoist priest in the stronghold was quite foolish—this was the conclusion the bandits had reached after two months of interaction.

He could eat and sleep, and even ground his teeth while sleeping. In others’ eyes, the little Taoist priest who joined Yuan Mountain Stronghold was just a stupid pig. Fortunately, this pig didn’t slack off in his work, and Xu Yan hadn’t suffered much bullying over the past two months.

Having lived at Yuan Mountain Stronghold for two months, Xu Yan had thoroughly seen the cruelty of this bandit den, yet was powerless to change anything.

‘He was just a half-grown child. His stone-throwing skills were excellent, but how many bandits could he kill? If he really turned against these fierce bandits and fought them, Xu Yan would probably be chopped into dozens of pieces and fed to dogs.’

After all, he didn’t know martial arts.

Though he didn’t know martial arts, Xu Yan was very interested in the sword strike that third leader Lu Hai had intended to kill him with.

It wasn’t that Lu Hai’s swordsmanship was particularly impressive. What caught Xu Yan’s attention was the thin layer of light surrounding the opponent’s sword—what Zhang He called innate true qi.

Others couldn’t see this true qi, but Xu Yan could see it clearly. If it were other strange phenomena, even if he saw them, he wouldn’t care. But when he first saw true qi, Xu Yan felt somewhat shocked and curious.

Because when he threw stones with full force, there was also a layer of dim flowing light on the stones he threw—and it was much brighter than the aura on third leader Lu Hai’s sword.

‘Could it be that I also have true qi?’

Xu Yan scratched his head, unable to figure out where the flowing light on his thrown stones came from. He could pick up a blade, but didn’t know even half a technique.

Xu Yan never dwelled on things he couldn’t understand. Having endured for over two months, he could finally see some hope. In less than a month, Zhang He wouldn’t be following him around constantly. He’d already scouted the mountain path multiple times—as long as no one was watching, escaping this bandit stronghold in the middle of the night shouldn’t be difficult.

Just as Xu Yan was silently waiting for the three-month period to end, on the other side of Qi Yuan Mountain, the great armies of Qi and Pu, as if by prior agreement, finally clashed in the massive gorge. The earth-shaking battle cries could even be heard at Yuan Mountain Stronghold.