Volume 2: Breaking into Fengdu Chapter 90: Xu Yan Who Broke Through Five Meridians

When drawing his blade, Xu Yan didn’t use the Seven Star Sword Manual but employed his Flying Stone movement technique instead. The blade followed his arm’s motion as he slashed toward the Testing Sword Stone Tablet.

His dantian heated up, warm current rising. With a crisp crack, the steel blade penetrated one inch into the stone!

The Testing Sword Stone Tablet’s purpose was to test martial artists’ innate realm levels. Those who cut one inch deep were one-meridian innate, and so forth. Zhuo Shaoyu beside him saw the youth slash one inch deep and frowned slightly.

The person was very young, which made Zhuo Shaoyu look at him with some admiration. If a youth of this age truly had three-meridian innate cultivation, his future achievements would be immeasurable. Compared to those who only reached three-meridian innate in their twenties, the younger the age, the higher the talent.

Unfortunately, he was only one-meridian innate.

Just as Zhuo Shaoyu felt a trace of regret, he saw the youth’s hand continue moving, slashing down again.

The first slash was merely Xu Yan’s probe. He struck the moment warm current arose from his dantian, the blade carrying a very dim halo. Though it only penetrated one inch, it verified one of Xu Yan’s theories.

With the second slash, the warm current in Xu Yan’s body had already flowed into his waist and abdomen. This strike drove the steel blade two inches into the stone!

Two-meridian innate?

Zhuo Shaoyu raised his eyebrows, becoming somewhat curious about this unfamiliar youth. To reach two-meridian innate at this age—even without qualification to take the stage, he would want to find a way to keep him in Ghost King Gate.

Before Zhuo Shaoyu could think further, Xu Yan had already drawn his blade again and delivered a third slash.

This time, the warm current in Xu Yan’s body rushed from waist and abdomen straight to shoulders and back. The halo on his blade was comparable to the two three-meridian innate fighters from earlier. With a crisp crack, the blade edge penetrated three inches into the stone!

Three-meridian innate!

Zhuo Shaoyu suddenly stood up from his chair, eyes showing a trace of approval. He nodded and asked, “What is your name? Are you a Ghost King Gate disciple?”

Sheathing his steel blade, Xu Yan cupped his fists. “Reporting to Guardian, I’m called Xu Yan, a lay disciple of Ghost King Gate.”

Speaking thus, Xu Yan pulled out his Ghost King Gate waist token from his chest and handed it over. Zhuo Shaoyu could determine its authenticity with a glance. He laughed heartily, “What a young hero! I never expected such talent among our Ghost King Gate’s lay disciples! Hahahaha!”

Zhuo Shaoyu was indeed very pleased. If a youth under twenty possessed three-meridian innate cultivation, he might truly reach the grandmaster realm in the future—breaking through six meridians with his own ability rather than relying on Foundation Establishment pills.

Using one’s own power to open all six meridians—innate martial artists who reached this level, though also in the Foundation Establishment realm, had another title: Grandmaster.

Within those mysterious cultivation sects, Foundation Establishment realm was merely the lowest level of sect disciples. Only Foundation Establishment realm members who achieved grandmaster status were the talents most valued by cultivation sects. Such people were true geniuses, prodigies on the cultivation path!

The reason he struggled so hard to break through five meridians—Zhuo Shaoyu, as Ghost King Gate’s Grand Guardian, though Foundation Establishment pills were extremely precious, wasn’t without opportunities to obtain them. He didn’t take Foundation Establishment pills precisely to become a grandmaster. Otherwise, he could have become a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator years ago.

Not only Zhuo Shaoyu—among martial world experts who reached four meridians, all struggled in cultivation for the sake of becoming grandmasters.

“Xu Yan, is it? Good, take the stage.” Zhuo Shaoyu sat back down, watching the youth walk onto the wooden platform with great interest. As for his identity, he had no doubts whatsoever.

The waist token was genuine—this couldn’t be faked. Moreover, high-level experts appearing among lay disciples wasn’t unusual. Many wealthy family children didn’t want to follow sect halls. If they had money, they could hire famous masters for guidance or visit extraordinary people. In Zhuo Shaoyu’s view, Xu Yan should be one of those aristocratic young masters who, due to exceptional talent and famous master guidance, reached three-meridian innate at such a young age. This guardian reselection opportunity was precisely a chance for these wealthy family children to make their names.

Once he became a Ghost King Gate guardian, this status and position couldn’t be compared to those aristocratic families. No matter how wealthy the family or how powerful their influence, unless it was Qi Nation’s royal family or those feudal lords, no wealthy family could compare to a guardian of Great Qi’s foremost evil faction. Even those feudal lords had to show three parts respect before Ghost King Gate’s Eighteen Guardians.

Climbing onto the wooden platform in a few steps, the small youth stood with chest out and head high, looking spirited and ambitious. Though his mouth carried a foolish smile, he still appeared energetic, immediately drawing cheers from below the stage. Mixed in with the cheers was a sharp scream.

The screamer wasn’t some beauty but Eight Fingers Wang. Ever since seeing Xu Yan slash a three-inch sword mark on the Testing Sword Stone Tablet, his jaw nearly couldn’t close. Especially seeing Xu Yan actually standing on the arena—while others cheered, Eight Fingers Wang could only scream.

When did Brother Yan become three-meridian innate?

Eight Fingers Wang was completely bewildered. Looking at that steel blade again, the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed. Wasn’t it the one he’d lost?

As a mere lackey, what Eight Fingers Wang thought naturally didn’t matter to anyone. At this moment, Xu Yan stood on stage, surveying his surroundings. His mouth wore a foolish smile, but his eyes carried a trace of cold clarity.

Xu Yan didn’t like this feeling of being under everyone’s gaze—not from stage fright, but because the more people watching him, the more carefully he had to maintain his disguise, especially regarding those three testing slashes.

The reason he delivered three consecutive slashes wasn’t only to verify his own theories—he also needed to hide his true strength as much as possible. From the moment he made the first slash, Xu Yan could roughly determine his real strength. After three slashes, he was even more certain of his cultivation level.

He wasn’t one-meridian innate, nor two-meridian, but five-meridian innate realm!

True qi from dantian was one-meridian innate; true qi entering waist and abdomen was two-meridian innate; true qi reaching shoulders and back was three-meridian innate; true qi flowing through both arms was four-meridian innate; true qi entering the neck was five-meridian innate. As for the final sixth meridian, if Xu Yan wasn’t mistaken, it should be true qi directly reaching the heart meridian.

When practicing Flying Stone movement technique, Xu Yan would feel a warm current. Previously, he wasn’t certain whether this warm current was true qi, nor did he know if the five positions the warm current reached were the five meridian locations. Only when he used the warm current that had rushed to his shoulders and back to slash out a three-inch blade mark did Xu Yan truly understand—he had unknowingly broken through five meridians long ago.

Feeling grateful in his heart for his master’s teaching grace, Xu Yan’s foolish smile became even more cheerful.

Since he was a five-meridian expert, wouldn’t this Ghost King Gate guardian position be a sure thing? Once he became a guardian, Third Sister would be saved.

Gripping his blade, Xu Yan’s heart settled completely.

Where there was a first to take the stage, there would be a second. At this moment, the crowd parted with a whoosh. A lean youth with a long sword on his back came to the Testing Sword Stone Tablet, channeled true qi, and slashed out with one sword. A sword mark over three inches deep immediately appeared on the stone tablet.

“Yin Fuyou of Hundred Flowers Hall seeks instruction.”

The newcomer glanced at the youth on the arena, casually cupped his hands, and announced a name unfamiliar to Xu Yan. Then, under the gaze of countless Ghost King Gate disciples, the lean youth arched his back and lowered his waist, sword tip pointing to the ground, assuming a starting stance before fierce combat.