Chapter 42: I’ll Smash Your Skull To Bits

as one’s cultivation in internal energy deepens, the time required for internal energy cultivation will inevitably increase as well.

but for most martial artists, cultivating martial techniques is also a slow endeavor that demands more and more time the further one goes.

at this time, martial artists must decide whether to focus primarily on internal energy cultivation, or on martial technique cultivation.

if talent is insufficient and energy is limited, there must inevitably be a trade-off between the two.

【cultivate internal energy mind method, achievement points +】

until a prompt popped up once again in front of gu shaoan, just as he finished nurturing his meridians and guided his internal energy back to his dantian. glancing at zhou zhiruo opposite him, who was still cultivating, gu shaoan picked up a medical book and began to read.

as gu shaoan’s mind fully sank into the medical principles described in the book.

at the same time, gu shaoan’s proficiency as a physician was also steadily increasing at a constant pace.

he did not even notice that the horse carriage beneath him had already re-entered the official road, for all his attention was drawn into the contents of the medical book in his hands.

only when the wheels of the carriage rolled over a rut and a distinct jolt came up from below did gu shaoan’s thoughts get interrupted.

【study medical book, achievement points +】

【current achievement points: 1002】

looking at the prompt in front of him, gu shaoan’s eyes lit up.

“finally gathered enough achievement points.”

it had been five days since the eradication of the bandits.

and at this moment, gu shaoan had finally saved up one thousand achievement points.

with a thought, the lottery wheel immediately appeared in gu shaoan’s mind.

as his achievement points, which had just reached four digits, were instantly reduced to a mere remainder, the lottery wheel before him began to spin at once.

after a few breaths, when the wheel stopped turning, a prompt popped up in front of gu shaoan.

【congratulations to the player for drawing a twenty-year merit card （superior root bone）.】

the moment this prompt appeared, the hand holding the medical book could not help but tremble.

“a merit card, and a twenty-year one at that?”

gu shaoan had not expected this. only a few days ago, miejue had just taken out a bodhi exquisite pill to increase his merit by two years, and now he had actually drawn a twenty-year merit card.

once he used it, gu shaoan’s merit would surge by twenty years.

keep in mind that gu shaoan was currently only eleven years old.

what concept was it for an eleven-year-old child to possess over twenty years of merit?

see these little hands?

with one palm strike, twenty-two years and two months of merit behind it. are you scared or not?

he could smash your skullcap into mush.

in this moment, gu shaoan was like a man who had been poor for a long time suddenly receiving a ton of gold; his emotions surged uncontrollably.

but when he opened his eyes and saw miejue and zhou zhiruo in the carriage with him, both seated in meditation and cultivating, gu shaoan could only force himself to suppress the impulse to use the merit card immediately.

after all, once those twenty years of merit appeared in his body and were refined, the surge of internal energy would inevitably be sensed by miejue beside him.

then, if miejue sent her internal energy into his body to probe, discovering that her eleven-year-old disciple suddenly had over twenty years of merit, she would probably be scared silly on the spot and start doubting life.

only when night came and everyone passed through a town and checked into an inn did gu shaoan, after locking the doors and windows, leap onto the bed to sit cross-legged, clutching his excitement as he drew out the merit card he had obtained during the day.

as soon as his thought moved, the two words “use it” seemed to carry some mysterious power.

in the next instant, a vast and unimaginable, yet completely different from the volcanic ferocity of the bodhi exquisite pill’s earlier eruption, mellow energy descended upon gu shaoan’s body like a moonlight waterfall from the nine heavens.

this power was gentle, pure, immense, and majestic, carrying a sense of tranquil depth tempered by time.

it felt as though it was not an external force being forcibly poured in, but a sweet spring naturally welling up from the origin of life itself.

there was none of the expected, overwhelming agony, only a near-bursting warm current instantly filling his limbs and bones, making every cell in gu shaoan’s body seem to sigh in comfort.

this energy was so vast, yet so mild and docile.

the moment it entered his body, it blended seamlessly into his own emei internal energy mind method, merging like water and milk, indistinguishable from one another.

it was as if the memories of twenty years of arduous cultivation, together with the pure internal breath refined through tempering the root bone, were at this moment completely packaged and delivered to him.

however, gentle did not mean easy to bear.

twenty years of merit was ultimately far too immense. although there was no tearing sensation like when he took the bodhi exquisite pill, his dantian was still forced to swell sharply by this energy that had suddenly multiplied twentyfold.

the feeling was like an intensified version of waking up in the middle of the night with an urgent need to pee, an unbearable pressure.

fortunately, the merit within his body was mild and pure, and coupled with the fact that he had taken the bodhi exquisite pill a few days earlier, which had greatly improved his internal energy, under the full circulation of the 《emei nine yang skill second layer》, this merit was rapidly refined into his own internal energy.

as one was consumed and the other grew, the swollen, bursting sensation in his dantian gradually eased.

as his internal energy continued to increase, under the circulation of his cultivation method, those originally stable bottlenecks became unbelievably fragile in the face of this mighty flood of internal energy like a surging river and sea.

following the circulation of his internal energy, one hidden meridian after another was blasted open by this vast energy.

in an instant, the circulation route of gu shaoan’s 《emei nine yang skill second layer》 abruptly changed, incorporating several of the hidden meridians that had just been connected.

immediately after, even more hidden meridians were opened.

this caused the movement route of the 《emei nine yang skill second layer》 to change once again.

in less than a quarter of an hour, by relying on the surging internal energy in his body, gu shaoan’s 《emei nine yang skill second layer》 had already stepped into the level of perfection.

as the core internal energy mind method reached perfection at its current layer, the routes of internal energy circulation instantly became several times more complicated.

and the internal energy in his body was continuously compressed, quenched, and purified as his cultivation method changed.

until all of his internal energy carried a more lofty and substantial quality.

“pop!”

finally, at a certain ultimate point, two bubble-like popping sounds came from within gu shaoan’s body.

the belt vessel among the eight extraordinary meridians was forcefully connected under the impact of his internal energy.

next came the yin qiao vessel, yang wei vessel, hand shaoyang triple burner meridian, foot yangming stomach meridian, and foot taiyang bladder meridian.

until all the three vessels and three meridians involved in the first and second layers of the 《emei nine yang skill》 were fully connected, gu shaoan suddenly felt his body grow light.

an indescribable sense of smoothness swept through his entire being like a spring breeze melting a frozen river.

in an instant, the torrent of internal energy roared freely along the unobstructed network of meridians, without the slightest hindrance.

wherever the internal energy passed, there was flowing warmth and vigorous vitality.

even his muscles, bones, and even his internal organs were subtly nourished and strengthened by this rapid, pure circulation of internal energy.

after a long while.

the surging internal energy, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, finally converged into his lower dantian, which had already been expanded into an even broader and deeper “lake-sea.”

gu shaoan slowly opened his eyes. deep within his pitch-black pupils, it was as if a sharp gleam flickered, like a cold star in the night sky, flashing and disappearing in an instant, yet leaving behind a chilling trace of light.

the moment he opened his eyes, gu shaoan could even clearly see the faint, nearly invisible scratch in the corner of the wall.

the sound of cicadas in his ears was also several times louder than before.

even his sense of smell had become more acute.

this was precisely the change in the five senses brought about by the meridians being connected and nourished.

feeling the heavy, mercury-like, condensed yet surging power flowing within his body.

gu shaoan was visibly excited.

he had succeeded.

borrowing the explanation of readers in the comment section: eight years later, when zhang wuji attains divine skill great accomplishment, how strong is he? at that time, master miejue is 47 years old, with around forty years of internal energy, yet even wielding the heavenly sword she is no match for zhang wuji. by then, the protagonist will have 22 plus 8, which is 30 years of internal energy, still less than master miejue’s 40 years, so this is not too exaggerated. everyone can rest assured.