This True Technique required a cultivator to channel True Qi through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, following the Twelve Main Meridians and 365 acupoints to complete a full circulation.
However, after his body was remolded by this world’s Martial Dao, his meridians had long since fused into a single, unified state of "Jade Marrow Golden Bone." The so-called meridian nodes of traditional Martial Arts had no corresponding traces within him.
Xu Yunfan’s eyes flickered, and his figure darted from the attic like a phantom.
A moment later, he returned carrying two unconscious thugs. In a place as wild and chaotic as Jade Capital City, there was no shortage of petty thieves who took advantage of the turmoil to plunder. With his Spiritual Sense as a Ninth Realm Supreme Grandmaster, catching such rabble was as easy as taking something from his own pocket.
He pressed a finger to the thug’s wrist, and a wisp of Ten Extremes True Qi slipped into the man’s body like a floating thread.
As his True Qi circulated and probed the man’s body, Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed ever more tightly.
In this mortal body, the Ren and Du Meridians were vague and indistinct, and the Twelve Main Meridians were fragmented and incomplete. It was a far cry from the "meridian network akin to the Stars of the Celestial Sphere" described in the *Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust*.
’The Heart Sutra stated that everyone should possess a complete network of meridians.’
He reached out to check the other one.
Nothing.
Unwilling to give up, Xu Yunfan went out and grabbed several more.
His True Qi flowed like silken threads from his fingertips, probing into the meridians of the seventh thug.
According to the *Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust*, a mortal’s Twelve Main Meridians should surge like mighty rivers, and their Eight Extraordinary Meridians should crisscross like hidden canals.
Yet in the body before him, aside from the pulse that reflected its physical state, the meridian system required to walk the path of the Extraordinary was completely absent.
Xu Yunfan tested them one by one, all with the same result.
Nothing. Still nothing.
There was no sign of the meridians described in the *Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust*.
’No wonder Master Bi Yuan called me a Celestial Demon. In their eyes, this Cultivation System of mine must seem utterly alien.’
’But in my past life, this was the orthodox path of Cultivation!’
’It was true for the Immortal Dao, and it was true for the Martial Dao.’
’The Martial Dao of this world is the Qi Blood Martial Dao. It seems they switched to cultivating their muscles, skin, and membranes precisely because the human body here lacks the Eight Extraordinary Meridians...’
Xu Yunfan slowly sat down, his expression dark and uncertain. He glanced at the Jade Scroll in his palm, which had already cracked into several pieces, and said nothing.
’I’ll have to wait until I get back and ask to find out the truth.’
-----------------
「Early the next morning, in the central plaza of Jade Capital City.」
The morning mist had yet to disperse, but the area around the Black Tortoise Martial Arts Arena was already packed with Mortal Wanderers.
Yesterday’s major events had naturally drawn these death-defying troublemakers to join the spectacle.
The arena, cast from a single block of Profound Iron, stood ninety feet tall. Its surface was engraved with Dragon-Suppressing Patterns, and at its four corners stood bronze statues of the Black Tortoise. In the morning light, the beastly eyes of the intertwined turtles and snakes glinted with a cold light.
Xu Yunfan arrived with the tolling of the 7:00 AM bell.
He wore a simple green robe, with the Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer hanging from his waist. On his back, he carried the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, and slung across his shoulder was the Sky-Sundering Cloud-Piercing Bow. The carved dragon head on the bow’s tip was barely visible through the mist.
The moment his foot landed, a series of sharp CRACKS echoed from the viewing stands. The artifacts held by seven purple-robed officials from the Observatory were shattered to pieces by his overwhelmingly dense aura, and the copper needles of their detection devices twisted like pretzels.
"So strong!"
At the edge of the viewing stands, Guo Lang’s heart shook violently, and a shadow of dread fell over him.
’This man is no ordinary Ninth Realm.’
"Xu! Yun! Fan!"
The guttural, teeth-grinding roar came from the Martial Arts Pavilion to the west.
The Minister of War, Zheng You, dug his nails into the sandalwood armrest. The Great Zhou generals beside him had ashen complexions.
Behind them stood three hundred elite soldiers of the Imperial City Department, clad in Profound Armor. Yet these fierce troops, whose name once struck fear into the heart of the Mortal World, now didn’t even dare to grip their hilts firmly.
Last night, the Empress herself had issued a verbal edict: "When this man takes the stage, no matter how deep your grievances run, you must abide by the rules. This is a gambit to slay a dragon, not something that can be resolved by force of arms."
On the east side of the arena, a commotion suddenly erupted from the area where disciples from the other five major sects, excluding the Taoist Sect, were gathered.
"Is that... Mituo Temple’s ’Bone-Eroding Incense’?"
A disciple suddenly covered his nose and mouth. About thirty feet away, several gray-robed monks were burning incense and chanting scriptures. The wisps of smoke rising from the censer condensed instead of scattering, drifting off into the distance.
"Those bald donkeys. How malicious."
A True Disciple of the Profound Daoist Sect narrowed his eyes.
Last night, the abbot of Mituo Temple had entered the Imperial Palace to meet with the Empress of Great Zhou. They had obviously reached some sort of agreement.
Further in the distance, Su Wanqing of the Celestial Pivot Start Sect stood in silence with her twelve Sword Attendants. Frost seeped from the wooden box at her waist, combining with the aura her body unconsciously radiated. The resulting Frost Cold Sword Qi spread out, etching a spiderweb of frost across the bluestone pavers.
"Silence!"
As the proctor’s hoarse voice rang out, a ten-foot-tall Kui Ox Drum was beaten.
Its drumhead was made from the belly skin of a North Sea Flood Dragon, and every beat sent a tremor through the spectators’ very organs.
The Senior Steward, dressed in a Vermilion Official Robe, unrolled a scroll. As he began to recite the rules, his voice suddenly caught in his throat, as if he had seen an astonishing name.
The Senior Steward’s Adam’s apple bobbed. At last, he bellowed, "The combatants for the first match are: Xu Yunfan, and... Marquis Lv!"
The entire arena fell silent as everyone wondered who this Marquis Lv could be.
"Marquis Lv?"
"The top three Martial Dao champions of the Seventy-Two States... I’ve never heard of this person!"
A wave of whispers immediately swept through the stands.
The various sects had pored over the rosters of the top three Martial Dao champions of the Seventy-Two States until the pages were worn, but this name had never appeared.
When he saw the person clearly, even Xu Yunfan’s pupils contracted.
Walking out from the shadows of the arena was a stooped, white-haired old eunuch.
His indigo Python Robe, washed to a faded white, swayed slightly. Marquis Lv shuffled forward two steps, his body hunched. His left hand, withered as a chicken’s claw, clutched a silk handkerchief embroidered with a Spider Lily, which he periodically used to cover his mouth as he coughed.
"I am Marquis Lv. Greetings, Daoist Master Xu."
His raspy voice sounded like a dull blade scraping across rotting wood. As he bowed, a purplish-black, cadaverous patch on the back of his neck glinted eerily in the sunlight.
When he looked up, a sinister smile spread across his age-spotted face, though not a trace of it reached his cloudy eyes.
"Sixty years ago..."
He began to cough again, a wheezing sound like a broken bellows escaping his throat. "I once delivered the late Emperor’s Red-inked Iron Certificate to the Taoist Sect..."
His withered fingers caressed the gilded token at his waist. "Today... COUGH, COUGH... it seems we’ll be dealing with each other in a different fashion."
’Is this right?’
Xu Yunfan turned to the stands, pointed at Marquis Lv, and said, "He’s supposed to be under thirty?"
The Senior Steward expressionlessly opened the roster, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "Marquis Lv. Age: thirty. Place of origin: Jade Capital Dao."
"HEH HEH HEH..." Marquis Lv let out a cackle like a night owl, holding his pinky finger high in an effeminate gesture. "But I am... thirty years old..."
As he spoke, he shook a stack of yellowed Sect Identification papers from his sleeve. The topmost one was stamped with the bright red Great Seal from the thirty-fifth year of the Tianshun reign—exactly thirty years ago.
Xu Yunfan sneered. ’The Great Zhou Imperial Court is truly shameless, dragging someone with one foot in the grave out here, changing his official age to thirty just so he can compete.’
’This old eunuch is without a doubt in the Ninth Realm. Having been castrated, he’s spent his entire life cultivating. So this is what they mean by the ’crouching tigers and hidden dragons’ of the Great Zhou Imperial Court—these old eunuchs who have lost their manhood.’
"Please," Xu Yunfan said coolly.
The old eunuch suddenly exploded into action!