Chapter 166: Meridian Opening
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Fourth young master, the missus has already lifted your restraining order and have given you 10 gold taels to let you prepare for your exams!"
Chun Lan was around 16 or 17 years old and wore a red dress. When she smiled, two dimples could be seen.
"Help me convey my thanks to the missus!"
Fang Yuan accepted the gold and said indifferently.
"You...hmmmm!"
She stomped away angrily when she did not receive the response she expected.
"How cute...even though she is angry!"
Fang Yuan returned to the house and started to pack up his things. He smiled coldly.
When Yang Hu came looking for trouble, He purposely dragged Lady Wang into the picture.
No matter how hypocritical and evil the person was, she would maintain a kind front in front of the clan.
Lady Wang was not willing to bear the name as the person who purposely prevented the child from taking the imperial examinations.
After all, she had other methods that were more direct and efficient.
For example...generously giving him the money and wait for him to leave the Yang Family before purposely making things difficult for him or even kill him, creating a case with no lead!
"I would definitely die if I was still the weak youth!"
Fang Yuan's eyes were deep and he had an epiphany.
"Maybe Yang Fan never completed the imperial examinations. However, I must be successful and make a name for myself! It is a reasonable goal!"
Truth be told, this was a test to see where Yang Fan's desires lie.
Was it a success or was it revenge? Was it something else?
"I just do not know which rat will come."
After a while, Fang Yuan carried a small bundle and walked out of the Yang Family gate under the malicious gazes.
The Yang Family was located on the outskirt of the county and was half a day's journey away from the city where the imperial examinations were held.
There were carts pulled by donkeys available. However, Fang Yuan chose to walk. He walked slowly and arrived at a dense forest.
"How? Isn't it time to show yourself after following me for so long?"
Fang Yuan took a breath. He suddenly turned around and looked behind him.
"Fourth young master can actually detect me?"
A black shadow walked out. It was Yang Qing!
He had not changed his clothes. He walked out confidently in front of Fang Yuan, fists clenched. "Please forgive me, young master, I am only following orders!"
"You are here to kill me?"
Fang Yuan shook his head.
Yang Qing smiled and his expression grew dark. "How did you know?"
Fang Yuan replied, "Sigh, Lady Wang would be too kind if you are dressed as such to break my limbs. However, she is crazy and no medicine can save her!"
"It appears that the people in the residence have misunderstood you!"
Yang Qing nodded his head, "Fourth young master, you are as intelligent as the eldest young master and the third missy!"
He slowly moved forward, his palms had already started to gather yin energy.
He had already received orders from Lady Wang and must not fail his task!
Yang Qing became fervent after he remembered what Lady Wang had promised him.
'There is not much hope for me left. However, this is for my beloved son.'
"It seems that you are sure that there is no one around to dare to act here!"
Fang Yuan looked towards Yang Qing.
"That's right!"
Yang Qing appeared to be pleased with himself, "Even if you shout till you are hoarse, no one would come to your help!"
"Why do these words sound so familiar?"
Fang Yuan was speechless, "This can already be considered overconfidence?"
"Overconfidence?"
Yang Qing could not understand what Fang Yuan was talking about[1]. His face showed his desire to kill.
"Huff..."
Fang Yuan exhaled, "Whatever happens here would not attract the attention of the Yang Family."
He touched the space between his brows. In that instant, clouds started to emerge in the surroundings!
Heavenly and earthly energy started to gather to form a spiritual whirlpool which enveloped him.
The spiritual energy in Da Qian was denser than that in Xia Country by a huge margin which caused Fang Yuan to take on a terrifying appearance as a dream master.
"Elemental Force is the force of the heavens and earth! What I have as the dream master is the Dream Elemental Force!"
In his mind, threads of energy from the heaven and earth converged and mixed with the magical energy to form a Dream Elemental Force embryo which once again transformed into a ball of mercury-like Dream Elemental Force.
In an instant, Fang Yuan transformed into a dream master!
Yang Qing could not believe his eyes after witnessing the transformation.
"Impossible!"
He collapsed onto the floor and soiled himself. "Even the young master had not become a spiritual knight...you, you are just a commoner! Yes, you are not Yang Fan but a demon who possessed him! You are dead, once you are discovered, you will be arrested!"
"Idiot!"
Fang Yuan looked at him and waved his left hand.
Huhu!
The Bewildering Fog started to move forward. Yang Qing, who was on the ground, rolled backwards and retreated.
"Oh? It appears that you were only putting on an act!"
His technique was good. While it was unsightly of him to roll around on the ground, his speed was fast as lightning.
If Fang Yuan had been complacent and walked up to him, he would have regretted it.
No matter how good Yang Qing's lightness skill was, he was unable to outrun the fog.
Yang Qing gave a look of despair as the fog surrounded him before it was dispelled.
Fang Yuan walked forward and looked at Yang Qing who looked empty.
He lifted Yang Qing and used shadowsteps to arrive in the middle of the dense forest.
"Dream!"
After Fang Yuan found a cave, he took a deep breath, touched the space between Yang Qing's eyebrows and used his ability.
"This is Yang Fan's true dream world. As the rules of this world is the same as the real world, it means that the living things have consciousness and dream worlds...as such, I can enter their dreams as well! A dream within a dream!"
In that instant, many thoughts flowed into Fang Yuan.
Inside the cave, Fang Yuan's real body was motionless as he delved into the mind of Yang Qing and looked for the information that he was interested in.
"It was really that vicious Lady Wang's idea to send him here!"
"Even though he committed many crimes, he was extremely good to his only child. He only helped them so that his child could have a future..."
...
Fang Yuan looked through all his memories. One memory caught his eyes:
In the dream world, within a secret room, an elder spoke solemnly, "Yang Qing, you have broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates. Now it is time to impart to you the part of Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique that is relevant to the Wu Zongs. You must remember..."
...
Fang Yuan went through and remembered all the memories.
After a while, he opened his eyes and smiled. "It appears that after Wu Zong, there is another level, the Meridian Opening Realm!
He had really achieved a lot by entering the dream this time.
Experimenting with dreaming within a dream was only one of the small ideas that he had.
The big idea lied with Yang Qing's martial arts knowledge as well as memorizing them so that he would be able to use them next time!
"The most important stage for a Wu Zong is the Elemental Gathering Realm where they gather elemental force and give it form outside of one's body. In Xia Country and Wu Country, there are many Wu Zongs, including General Fei Long, who are stuck at this stage...In Da Qian, the spiritual knights have Elemental Opening Realm while the Wu Zongs have Meridian Opening Realm! This meridian is no common meridian. Rather, it is spiritual meridian! Since the path to cultivating martial arts had been destroyed, they used elemental force to train their spiritual meridian for cultivation! For every meridian that is opened, the Wu Zong would gain 1 elemental power level.
This 'Elemental Power Level 1' was a unique notion of the Da Qian Empire. It could be seen as the full power of a newly ascended Wu Zong!
"The Giant Spiritual Strength that a person gains after breaking through to Wu Zong using Yang Family's Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique is actually 1 elemental power level! Those who advanced to Wu Zong using the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique are twice as strong as a normal Wu Zong!"
"That is not all, this spiritual technique can help cultivate 8 spiritual meridians. Even in the Da Qian Empire, this is quite an impressive technique!
The better the technique, the more spiritual meridians that could be cultivated. In the end, you would be able to undergo 'body forging'!
Rumours had it was a change that is similar to being reborn for martial artists. Even the elders had only heard of it and had never witnessed it with their own eyes before.
There were sayings that the more spiritual meridians opened, the stronger the power of the Wu Zong. The divine body forged would also be more terrifying and comparable to the bodies of the deities and the demons!
"The Meridian Opening Realm for martial artists is similar to the Elemental Opening Realm for spiritual knights and the Illusionary Divine Stage of the Dream Master! No one knows what the corresponding cultivation level for Body Forging was either ..."
Fang Yuan had the feeling that regardless of the pathways to cultivation, the end would be extremely frightening.
"What a shame...Yang Qing's memory only had the Giant Spiritual Technique to open the spiritual meridian and did not have the portion of Cast Body!"
This was natural. The higher the level of the technique, the more secrets involved.
Fang Yuan predicted that the last stage of the Qian Kun Giant Spiritual Technique was either known by the clan elders collectively or was only known by the clan master.
"If I want to try next time, and able to procure the whole manual, the price would be terrifying..."
Fang Yuan could not calculate what would happen if the manual was spread to the whole of Da Qian Empire.
"Of course, the most important thing now is that I have a direction for improvement for my martial arts!"
He looked at the unconscious Yang Qing and suddenly pressed him with his right hand.
Yang Qing jerked on the ground and stopped breathing shortly after.
"It is lucky that I left early. If not, I would miss the timing of the exams!"
Fang Yuan walked out of the cave and struck it once with his palm.
Huala!
A small amount of spiritual light appeared on his palm and seeped into the rocks.
Not long after, cracks started to appear. The entire wall crumbled and buried the cave.
Although he would not admit to what he had done, it was better to have lesser troubles.
Without the interference from Yang Qing, the remaining journey was smooth-sailing for Fang Yuan. He arrived at the county at noontime.
The golden rays of the sun fell onto the tall building and added a golden sheen to the walls of the building.
The gate opened and the passers-by bustled around.
"The patrols are mostly martial artists (6th gate) with inner power?"
Fang Yuan's eyes shone.
Just this point alone showed that this city surpassed his Secluded Mountain Prefecture.
[1] Fang Yuan was using a slang that was relevant to the real world and as such Yang Qing of the dream world was unable to comprehend what he was talking about.