Chapter 92 - Beneath Still Waters (Part II) (Patreon)

Rushing through the forests beyond the marsh, Lucian moved far faster than before. His body had been strengthened once again through Blood Essence, and after enduring the second activation of the Curse of Sloth, every wound he previously carried had fully healed.

Next time, it will last three or four years, Lucian thought grimly, reflecting on the increasingly longer periods of forced slumber brought by the curse. Cultivation is my only hope of growing stronger within a reasonable timeframe.

That realization caused part of his attention to drift inward. He could feel the torrent of Qi flowing through his meridians.

Interesting, he analyzed silently. According to Xu Hua’s memories, this amount of Qi is abnormal for someone merely at the Qi Gathering realm.

Now that Lucian could genuinely sense and differentiate Qi to some extent, many of Xu Hua's memories that had once seemed vague became far clearer. This included the reason the Two-Leaf breathing technique had failed previously.

Like I always knew, breathing techniques are not about inhaling air, Lucian thought. They are about gathering Qi, guiding it into the Spiritual Root, and distributing it through the meridians. I can finally test this!

“One leaf falls, two leaves turn, three leaves shift, and all leaves return.” As he ran through the forest, he muttered the technique’s opening lines. “Once there was nothing, and now there is the world. For one to become everything, two need to exist. Taiji is part of the world, the heavens, and ourselves.”

At that moment, now that he sensed the movement of Qi within himself, Lucian grasped the technique's hidden meaning.

This breathing technique is about balance, he thought. It mirrors the cycles of heaven and earth, shifting continuously to gather Qi. I remember that the next section speaks of receiving the world’s grace. It explains how the breath entering the lungs must rotate like two leaves, one descending and the other ascending throughout the body.

With a frown, Lucian noticed that this piece of enlightenment was absent from Xu Hua’s memories.

Resonant Sea Ancestor may have erased those insights instead of merely sealing them away, Lucian theorized. This is worrisome. She's inside my soul. Betting my life on her being locked in those endless memories is too naive.

While immersed in his thoughts, he arrived at a coastal region filled with cliffs, leaping downward without hesitation. Dawn was approaching, and Lucian had no desire to remain exposed when sunlight rose above the horizon. He stopped his chants, landed on the rocks below, and used them to propel himself toward a hidden cave.

Deep inside the cave sat two young men beside a small boat.

No lanterns illuminated their surroundings. They only saw through the faint light from outside, and the pair was silent, like watchers.

Lucian entered without making a sound, observing them. He scanned his surroundings with enhanced senses and then said, “I’ve been away for a while.”

Both young men jolted in alarm and instinctively reached toward the daggers at their waists. Several tense seconds passed before they realized nothing had attacked them. Calming down, one of them stepped forward cautiously, looking forward. He had finally recognized the previous sentence as the agreed phrase.

Unable to see Lucian within the darkness, he failed to notice that a hooded man stood a few steps away from him, rather than near the cave entrance.

“It’s been four months and two days,” one young man said, using the agreed safe phrase of the day.

“Put the boat in the water,” Lucian ordered, startling both of them again due to how close his voice sounded. “We are returning to Three Feathers City.”

The second young man frowned uncertainly, his mouth opening and closing several times in hesitation.

“Speak,” Lucian said after hearing the slight acceleration in the youth’s heartbeat.

“Boss,” the young man muttered nervously, “there were preparations to move you toward another coastal city further west. Wasn’t that the plan?”

“That is no longer necessary,” Lucian said bluntly. Then, he issued another order. “Whatever instructions Little Crab gave you, ignore them. Take me back to Three Feathers City. Now.”

Prince Xuan had discovered him, so he assumed news of his whereabouts had been leaked. Returning to the city was the best option in Lucian’s opinion. At least there, he had hidden cards to play. If he traveled to other cities, he feared falling into a trap.

When they heard Lucian, both young men felt chills crawl down their spines. They moved to the boat, pushing it across the sand aided by small wooden planks until it finally reached the shore. When they turned to call for Lucian, they were startled once again.

Lucian was sitting silently in the boat, staring at the sea.

The pair exchanged uneasy glances before quickly boarding and rowing toward Three Feathers City.

Meanwhile, Lucian crossed his legs and closed his eyes. In his mind, he recited the Two-Leaf breathing technique, attempting to guide the Qi inside his body according to its teachings.

It did not take him long to grasp the process, as he was accustomed to controlling Blood Essence, and both energies used his physical body as the main medium.

Because of it, dealing with Qi felt less like learning a new ability and more like awakening a new sense and muscle.

Slowly, Lucian rotated his Qi through the twelve meridians. With this, he immediately noticed that the deep blue Qi flowing inside him, the Water Qi he had absorbed while slumbering within the marshlands, had increased tremendously.

At the same time, he could feel Qi subtly reinforcing his flesh, bones, and organs.

Although the enhancement was minor compared to the overwhelming improvements brought by Blood Essence, Lucian still appreciated the discovery that the two energies did not reject one another.

Inside his body, half the Qi descended while the other half ascended, both currents revolving through the twelve meridians around the fleshy Spiritual Root in his upper abdomen, the two-rooted ginseng-like organ made from artificial vessels.

Within his perception, the Qi flow resembled a rotating Taiji diagram. The Qi circulation was strong enough to pull Qi from the outside world inward.

But the moment one full cycle was completed, Lucian’s meridians suddenly contracted violently. Pain exploded through his body as his organs trembled.

Qi deviation, Lucian realized immediately. So this is what it truly means.

His thoughts raced. Stopping what he was doing, he tried to grasp the meaning behind his failure.

Normal cultivators draw Qi through their mouths, nose, and skin. The Qi then gathers in the Spiritual Root before flowing to the meridians and eventually returning to the root. This is the flow all cultivators must follow.

Lucian frowned, remembering how he unlocked his Spiritual Root. With a quick check on his Qi flow, he perceived the difference.

My flow is reversed. Qi enters through the twelve endpoints of my meridians, which I created with Blood Essence, then spreads through my body, gathers inside the Spiritual Root, and then returns to the meridians. It strengthens my body over time, but it goes against the common flow. Moreover, I guess other cultivators' bodies also get strengthened.

His meridians functioned like rivers flowing opposite to the world’s natural current.

Attempting to force more Qi inward through a traditional circulation method is akin to slamming water against a raging stream, he thought, feeling the backlash's damage. I was right about a cultivator being able to give meaning to Qi, but I didn't realize that these cultivation techniques followed the established Qi flow!

If Lucian’s physique had not been enhanced through Blood Essence and the Curse of Sloth, several meridians would likely have ruptured on the spot after his use of the breathing technique. It would cause a severe decrease in his cultivation base, or maybe crippling him.

Understanding this is valuable, Lucian thought, and then shook his head slightly. But if this breathing technique can only accomplish this much, then it is useless to me.

At that moment, the Rune of Lust flashed inside Lucian’s brain. Then, using intent, Lucian accelerated his reversed Qi flow. Then crimson energy traveled downward through his body toward the base of his spine.

The surrounding seawater began to rise, entering the boat. Next, the currents nearby subtly shifted, startling the two young men rowing and forcing them to struggle harder against the waves.

“Open,” Lucian muttered softly, issuing the command through intent. He was simultaneously forcing the Qi within his body and the surrounding Qi outside to move. His goal wasn't merely to circulate the Qi in the old meridians, but to open a chakra point!

After his actions, pain came first, as the base of his spine tightened, compressed by an unseen force. Then, as his Qi reserves depleted, a pool of refined Qi began to form there while the gaseous energy gradually compressed into a dense mist.

Lucian felt his body hardening. The transformation began at the base of his spine and spread outward through his flesh and bones. The change only halted because the Qi within him wasn't enough to complete the process. Because of this, only his back carried that hardened sensation, as though stone were forming beneath his skin.

It was a sign that the first chakra point, the Root Chakra, was opening. It would take more attempts, sure, but it had begun.

However, Lucian’s focus was elsewhere entirely. The moment he attempted to open the Root Chakra, another spike of pain struck him. This one came not from his body, but from his soul. Although he still could not influence his soul, he sensed that it had grown slightly larger.

What is this madness? Lucian thought in disbelief. How can my soul still have room to grow? It should be impossible!

His trembling crimson eyes opened wide.

Cultivation can strengthen the soul?!

Lucian almost couldn't believe his own conclusion.

That is why cultivators resist my illusions! That is why there are portions of Xu Hua’s knowledge I cannot fully access through memory alone. Those memories were not stored in the mind, but engraved upon his soul!

Despite that shocking thought, another theory rooted itself even deeper within him.

I once theorized that if my soul became large enough, I could resist the Seven Curses. Lucian clenched his fists tightly. But throughout countless ages, I discovered there is a limit. Not even necromancers could grow their souls larger than their framework allowed. But cultivation ignores that limit!

For the first time in longer than he could remember, genuine hope surged through him.

This is the correct path!

Before, Lucian had sought cultivation merely to escape dependence on the curses of vampirism and gain another path toward power.

But now, everything had changed.

Unable to contain his emotions, Lucian burst into laughter. Sunlight rose beyond the horizon, reaching his body. He stared toward the rising sun while his pupils threatened to burn away beneath the golden light. It was Qi that protected them for a while!

Only after two seconds did he finally lie down within the boat and pull the robe over his body.

Anastasia, he thought, picturing a smiling blonde woman. You were right. Hope truly is one of the strongest and brightest forces in existence.

Along the memory of one of the five Beyond the Supremes' existences, Lucian’s thoughts accelerated, and his plans shifted rapidly. He would still construct the sewage system and travel north afterward to capitalize on the coming war.

He would, however, add the objective to his plans.

Xu Hua’s memories provided a path up to the Foundation Establishment realm. Everything beyond that remained incomplete, so he had to find another way forward.

How one advanced into the mysterious Core Formation realm, or even the terrifying Nascent Soul realm, remained unknown to him.

And if parts of Xu Hua’s true enlightenment had indeed been etched upon the soul itself, then those secrets had likely vanished alongside Xu Hua into the underworld or beyond.

Lucian lacked too much crucial knowledge, which would surely slow down his cultivation progress.

Because of this, his new goal was to accelerate his path to the Nascent Soul realm, no matter how many bodies would lie at his feet!