Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 498: Meridians Reshaped

Zhao Changhe returned to the courtyard and looked over at Yue Hongling’s room through the bamboo screen. The lights were already out, indicating she must have gone to rest.

The past few days had been filled with intense battles, leaving both of them battered and exhausted. Even after the effects of the gu had worn off, Zhao Changhe still felt very tired, and it seemed that the afternoon of dual cultivation had not been very effective.

After some thought, he decided not to disturb her. He returned to his room and began doing what the blind woman believed any proper martial artist would have done as soon as possible.

The blind woman watched with tears streaming down her face as Zhao Changhe took out the Heavenly Tome.

Looking at the pages that had increased from two to three, it felt at least a bit better—now, it did not resemble a pamphlet as much. Well, pamphlets or manuals could also be tri-fold, and it still felt somewhat unworthy of the Heavenly Tome’s reputation. Truth be told, even nine pages would look crude, like a cheap erotic book from a street vendor. Who knows if the tome would someday transform into something more grand once fully assembled?

But regardless of how unimpressive it appeared visually, its overwhelming aura was undeniable. It was far more powerful than it had been with just two pages. The moment it was taken out, it exuded an aura so intense that it felt oppressive, a pressure that would make it difficult for others to even approach.

Zhao Changhe did not dare to recklessly let the Heavenly Tome’s aura be released. He quickly stored it in his ring and focused on sensing it with his mind.

Luckily, this is the Night Emperor’s ring. If it were just a regular storage ring, it probably wouldn’t have been able to contain the Heavenly Tome’s aura.

His consciousness entered the ring, and he found himself in that familiar illusory landscape of beautiful mountains and clear waters. However, this time, there was a difference. Previously, there had only been flowers, grass, and occasionally the imagery of white cranes flying past. But now, he could clearly see phoenixes soaring, dragons roaring, and all sorts of rare and mythical beasts roaming freely.

The aura of the Heavenly Dao lingered indistinctly, and countless ineffable insights flowed through his heart.

Being immersed in it felt like truly returning to the primal wilderness of the previous era.

It was in this kind of environment that the ancients rose, comprehended the heavens and the earth, learned from the divine beasts, and began the path of martial arts.

Theoretically, these three pages could already be said to encompass the entirety of martial arts. Zhao Changhe found it difficult to imagine what content the subsequent pages might have.

The second page, which he had acquired earlier, could be called the page of nature, and the blind woman’s primary introduction of it had been related to helping Tang Wanzhuang’s condition. It had definitely been useful—at least her life had been extended. Otherwise, Zhao Changhe would have fully expected her to have left this world by the time he returned.

As for the effects it had on him, they were not as significant. It merely helped him learn to sense and use his surroundings when breaking through the first layer of the Profound Mysteries. While it had also benefited his masteries of the Spring Water Sword Intent and the Thief Saint’s movement art, it mainly impacted his sensing of the surrounding vicious qi, though that was not even particularly related to the Dao of nature itself.

Of course, since it had helped him break through to the first layer of the Profound Mysteries, it was still incredibly significant.

But the third page, the page of life, was of unparalleled importance to Zhao Changhe. It was practically tailor-made for him.

For now, the Blood Asura Body could be set aside, but as he continued to make breakthroughs, he would certainly need the support of this page. It was clear the two were strongly connected.

The most pressing issue was still the problem with his meridians.

Having narrow and rigid meridians was a significant issue as it was practically the foundation of a person’s martial arts aptitude, and it was rare for any treasures to be capable of altering that. However, it was fundamentally still a basic problem, and there was surely a way to solve it—after all, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling[1] had managed to solve their issues through the jade of the He family[/ref]Also known as Mr. He’s Jade and He Shi Bi (和氏璧). It served as both a catalyst and a symbol for their ambition and journey to become able to contend for the highest power in the land. The jade also has a very interesting history in real life Chinese legends.[/ref].

Venerable Dulou’s Eternal Blood Demon Body was a great example—he could quite literally regenerate an entire body from just a single drop of blood. The problem with Zhao Changhe’s meridians could not be worse than that, right? After all, Venerable Duoluo didn’t even have any meridians left. He developed an entirely new body from scratch.

Of course, Venerable Duoluo could only achieve that by relying on this very page of the Heavenly Tome. Now that the Heavenly Tome was right in front of him, Zhao Changhe did not believe he would not be able to overcome this particular shortcoming.

But one thing did seem strange: while Venerable Duoluo had been able to draw on the power of the Heavenly Tome, Zhao Changhe, despite having carried the Heavenly Tome with him for so long, had not found a way to harness its power for himself.

Even now, though he could use it to create a vision that compelled the Spirit Tribe to kneel, harnessing its power to reshape his meridians was beyond reach. He could not even locate where its energy was.

Could it be possible that while the Heavenly Tome is yet to be fully collected, its energy can be used by anyone, but once it’s collected, the blind woman siphons all of its energy for herself?

That must be it. If all the gods and demons across the heavens are in a weakened state, then the blind woman must be as well. With that being the case, what is she relying on to recover?

Damn it.

“Hey, blind woman.”

The blind woman played dead and did not respond.

“You were urging me to get the Heavenly Tome even when I was injured, even entering my dreams, yet now that I’ve got it, you’re playing dead?” Zhao Changhe said. “You said that getting the Heavenly Tome was for my own benefit, but what good does it really do me? If you don’t give me something worthwhile, I’m not getting the next page. Just let someone else do it.”

The blind woman remained silent.

What good does it do you? I was actually planning to push you to look at the Heavenly Tome sooner, so you’d get a taste of its sweetness and be more eager for the rest. But you decided not to taste the sweetness. Well, suit yourself.

The two of them remained in a stalemate for a while. Zhao Changhe was quite surprised that even after making such a harsh threat, the blind woman still did not respond.

Could she really not be here? If she isn’t here, there’s nothing I can do...

Zhao Changhe reluctantly began exploring on his own, hoping to find a way by combining the three pages of the Heavenly Tome. After all, the second page could provide guidance on medicine, the third page could serve as a reference for the body and its blood, and he also had the Rejuvenation Art. He should thus be able to manage even without the blind woman.

Zhao Changhe tried to channel his true qi into the ring, using the Dragon Capturing Art to maintain the connection between the true qi and his body. He used the true qi as a substitute for his hand to lightly caress the Heavenly Tome.

The blind woman: “...”

Of course, Zhao Changhe was not just caressing her. He wanted the Heavenly Tome to perceive the state of his true qi. Based on his understanding of the Heavenly Tome, it should reveal the issues he had and provide a solution.

As expected, before long, large words began appearing in the virtual reality landscape: “A newly created divine art of the current era... self-titled as the Six Harmonies Art. This cultivation technique is righteous and grand, embodying an imperial intent of unifying the six harmonies and internalizing the concept of all rivers converging into the sea. It accommodates the blending of all energies, righteous and incorruptible, repelling all evil.”

After all that, it was just analyzing the Six Harmonies Art.

Zhao Changhe continued reading patiently, and soon the Heavenly Tome began its critique: “However, the meridians of the user are frail, the true qi is feeble, and vicious blood qi hangs overhead, suppressing it. It is like Mount Tai suspended upside-down, an emperor dwelling in the underworld, with beasts adorning the walls of the palace.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

The blind woman crossed her arms. This truly was not her critique. If it were her, she would have said “the fool with his frail meridians is the real beast.”

“The meridians are difficult to expand perfectly, and thus it is better to simply rebuild them. The Eternal Sword Body, the Eternal Demon Body, the Creation Sacred Body, the Sun-Changing Divine Art... all can accomplish this...”

The Heavenly Tome then went on to list more than thirty different applicable methods.

Zhao Changhe’s lips twitched. “What’s the point of giving me all these names? How about providing me with an actual cultivation technique or body-tempering technique that I can practice?”

“Nothing can be created from nothing.”

Zhao Changhe moved his true qi and pressed a spirit bag against the Heavenly Tome. “What about now?”

Inside the spirit bag was Venerable Duoluo’s remnant soul. Since Venerable Duoluo had the Eternal Blood Demon Body, all the Heavenly Tome needed to do was analyze it, and that should settle things.

The blind woman watched Zhao Changhe’s sequence of actions quietly, feeling somewhat conflicted inside.

This guy really didn’t keep asking for help. He actually managed to come up with something on his own using his resources.

And sure enough, the way to cultivate the Eternal Blood Demon Body began to appear word by word on the Heavenly Tome.

Zhao Changhe pondered as he read the technique. It was originally the White Lotus Sacred Body of ancient Buddhism, which primarily had a strong healing ability and did not inherently possess the ability of indestructibility or rebirth... After Venerable Duoluo merged with the Blood Ao, which itself was a species of longevity, he seized and integrated its powerful immortal bloodline, acquired numerous Spirit Tribe flesh and blood witchcraft manuals, and drew upon the vitality of many innocent boys and girls. Combining all this with his original cultivation technique, he finally transformed it into this unique demon body.

The prerequisites for practicing it were very high. First, one needed the level of a yin spirit. The soul needed to be stable enough to reside in an object without easily dissipating. Without even reaching that point, there was no need to talk about rebuilding a body.

Furthermore, Venerable Duoluo also relied on the energy of the Heavenly Tome to complete the process. Without such divine power, the so-called eternal or indestructible aspect of the physique was pure exaggeration.

It seemed like it would not be directly useful for himself. However, the specific method for the reconstruction of the body still held considerable reference value, and parts of it could be incorporated into his Blood Asura Body, granting it a characteristic of rapid recovery.

Ultimately, it was all about manipulating blood and qi. Venerable Duoluo’s attack patterns, which were derived from merging with the Blood Ao, were actually quite similar to Lie’s Vicious Blood Art. They could be traced to the same origin for reference. Plus, Zhao Changhe also had the Rejuvenation Art...

Zhao Changhe stood still for a long, long time before suddenly leaving his room and heading beyond the mountain.

On the previous battlefield, the Blood Ao’s corpse still lay on the ground, guarded by a group of Spirit Tribe members. Sisi had so many things to deal with that she had forgotten to arrange for the handling of the corpse.

Seeing Zhao Changhe approach, the Spirit Tribe guards all kowtowed and said, “Greetings, Sacred Envoy.”

Zhao Changhe nodded without saying much to them. He drew Dragon Bird and cut off a piece of meat from the Blood Ao, then headed toward the mountain that had the Ao Pool. There, he jumped straight in.

The longevity factor within the flesh of the Ao could be analyzed and extracted under the influence of the right cultivation technique.

The life bloodline power within the pool of blood could also be sensed and absorbed with the right method.

Zhao Changhe tried taking out Dragon Bird and cutting open his own arm. He simultaneously activated the Rejuvenation Art and part of the restructuring method of the Eternal Blood Demon Body, and in an instant, the wound on his arm healed visibly, growing new flesh.

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. Suddenly, he gathered his power and violently exhaled, shattering a section of the meridians in his pinky finger—the endpoint of the small intestine meridian, Hand Taiyang, specifically the Shaoze acupoint[2].

The blind woman’s eyes widened in shock.

How ruthless. He really went ahead with experimenting on himself, shattering a small part of his own meridians just to see if they could be rebuilt!

Even if a person lost their pinky, it would not affect them much, so breaking this small section of a minor meridian certainly would not have any significant impact. It was just a question of whether he had the nerve to do it.

Zhao Changhe was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, but his eyes grew sharper and more focused.

All of his knowledge and experience began to work in unison. The wild energy of the blood pool surged into him, and within his inner vision, the shattered meridians started to regenerate little by little, forming brand-new meridians.

Compared to the original, they were three to five times thicker.

1. Also known as Kou Chong (寇仲) and Tzui Zhi Ling (徐子陵). These are characters from The Legend of the Twin Dragons of the Great Tang Dynasty (大唐双龙传) by Huang Yi (黄易). ☜

2. The Shaoze acupoint (少泽穴) is located on the outer side of the pinky finger, in the depression roughly half a centimeter from the corner of the nail. ☜