A dim room, curtains swaying.
A mysterious black cat lounged on the sofa.
A strange-eyed black fish drifted in the basin.
And in the center of it all, a shirtless young man, fists clenched.
“So this is what it feels like… to have the meridians opened?”
Chen Huaian inhaled deeply.
The wind beat rhythmically at his ears.
The weeds on the windowsill stretched green.
The bananas on the table smelled like bananas.
The cat litter box smelled like… well, cat litter.
Then, without warning—
Chen Huaian’s eyes snapped open. He stepped forward and smashed a fist into the wall.
BANG!
“AHH-WOOOOO!!!”
A howl like a slaughtered pig shook the entire building.
Tenants shivered under their covers, wondering if someone was butchering livestock.
Baji stayed silent, calmly licking his paw.
The black fish spat a single bubble, flicked its tail, and sank.
Ten minutes later, Chen Huaian sat with plaster wrapped around his swollen fist.
And he finally figured it out.
The problem wasn’t the meridians.
It was that he didn’t have a cultivation technique.
No method, no spiritual energy.
No martial arts background, no exercise habit.
His punch just now was nothing more than a weak, spiritual-energy-less haymaker.
Worse still, he noticed something alarming.
The spiritual stone bracelet on his wrist had gone completely dim.
Not because he had absorbed its energy.
But because the meridian-opening needles themselves consumed it.
Otherwise, he’d be brimming with spiritual energy right now.
“Most importantly… the wound didn’t heal at all.”
Chen Huaian stared at his swollen fist, realization dawning.
His so-called “rapid recovery” had nothing to do with cancer cells.
It was entirely the bracelet.
He’d once dreamed of turning into something monstrous—like K9999 from King of Fighters—his arm transforming into a giant mutated insect limb, blasting monsters away with a single punch.
Now it looked like his only option was… being a cultivator.
Alas. Such was the life of a man of destiny.
Too many excellent paths to choose from, and the regret of missing one always lingered.
Opening his phone, he found Li Qingran and Yue Qianchi practicing on the flying boat.
He pinched Li Qingran’s face closer to the screen, studying it like a porcelain doll.
If he didn’t call it “awesome,” he had no words left.
It was that feeling…
Like during student days, sitting under the shade of an old tree.
The girl across from you quietly turning pages of a book.
Wind blowing her hair, a faint smile tugging her lips.
Strangers. Yet she could amaze the whole summer.
Everyone had someone like that in their memory.
And Li Qingran gave him that exact feeling.
Just looking at her was pleasing. Subconsciously, he reached out and poked her cheek.
Her skin dented beneath his fingertip. Real, almost.
“Amitabha… form is emptiness, emptiness is form!” Chen Huaian forced himself back to focus, opening his talent page.
The Chao Sheng Jue, once grayed out, now gleamed.
“Hahaha! The sky shall no longer blind my eyes!”
Laughing like a maniac, Chen Huaian tapped it open.
A genius like him, son of destiny, would surely grasp the method in one day.
After all—
A small step in Qi Refining is a giant leap for immortals!
Splash.
The sound of the ocean filled his ears.
He glimpsed waves crashing against the shore, a cultivator’s silhouette rising and falling with the tide, spiritual energy whirling like a vortex. With every movement, sun and moon alternated, tides rose and fell.
Then—gone.
Before his eyes appeared a page rippling with water.
【Chao Sheng Jue · Volume I — Observing the Waves:
To begin practice, one must clear the mind, calm the thoughts, and press the five hearts to the ground. Only thus can heaven and man communicate. This posture embodies yin and yang, joins the three elements, and forms the foundation for entry.
The practitioner must sense the alternation of sun and moon, observe the surge of spiritual energy within. This energy permeates the cosmos, arising from a single origin, gathering and dispersing without end, circulating endlessly—the wonder of following the Dao to achieve oneness…】
…
Then suddenly, the text shifted topics.
Li Qingran, deep in cultivation inside the advanced Spirit Gathering Formation.
Senior Sister pressed hard, her aura domineering.
But Master’s force was gentle, protective.
Li Qingran bit her lip, face flushed from exertion.
“Master rarely visits, yet here I am cultivating…”
Pouting, frowning, torn between practice and wanting to speak to him.
“No… no. Master would prefer me to work hard. He’d be pleased to see me diligent.”
But then… she couldn’t talk to him.
She sighed, fingers worrying at her chest.
Practice too hard, and she might not even notice him arrive.
Slack off, and she’d be scolded.
Oh, what a dilemma!
【Qingran.】
A voice echoed in her ears.
Her eyes lit up, brows curving like crescents. She gazed up into the void.
“Master! You’re here!”
Sensing his gaze, she quickly explained, “I was practicing hard, Master. I only stopped for a moment’s rest…”
【Mm.】
“Master, is something troubling you?”
Her heart tightened. His tone was tired, almost frustrated.
In truth, Chen Huaian was tired.
Half an hour of studying Chao Sheng Jue… and he still had no clue how to start.
The first step was right there in plain text, yet it felt like trying to swallow the sky with a tiger’s mouth—impossible to bite into.
The Qinglian Sword Manual hadn’t been this hard.
That one had diagrams, step-by-step flows, and came with the gaming helmet.
But Chao Sheng Jue?
Just cryptic classical Chinese, stitched together in a way that made no sense.
Even Baidu Translate spat out gibberish.
No wonder it took the Demon Slayer Bureau ten years to decipher a single breathing technique.
It was obviously derived from some spirit beast’s consciousness. Words on the page looked like Chinese, but understanding them was another matter entirely.
But he couldn’t just… not cultivate, right?
So he came up with a plan.
Seeing Li Qingran pausing, he said, “Qingran, how’s your Chao Sheng Jue coming along? Tell me the details. I’ll check if there’s any problem with your practice.”
A majestic male voice resounded in the void she gazed at adoringly:
【Qingran. You have practiced for some time now. The Chao Sheng Jue is profound and hard to grasp. Today—your teacher shall test you!】
