Chapter 304 - 242: Successful Deduction, the Next Realm Opens

Chapter 304: Chapter 242: Successful Deduction, the Next Realm Opens

"You don’t get it. This is called atmosphere. The rich love this stuff. They’ll skip a top-tier banquet at a grand restaurant just to hunt for a little eatery in a back alley," the middle-aged man explained proudly, as if recognizing Wu Liangchen made him look good too.

Old Liu, however, didn’t listen to their chatter. He just stared in the direction Wu Liangchen had just left, engraving the name "Wu Liangchen" into his heart.

Meanwhile, after resolving this little interlude, Wu Liangchen felt completely refreshed, as if the stifling frustration of the past three days had been swept away.

Don’t be fooled; although the gang of hooligans hadn’t committed any unforgivable sins, the harm they caused was by no means small.

This was because they preyed on the small vendors at the very bottom of society.

And people like Old Liu had no ability to resist whatsoever; they could only be trampled on.

That was why Wu Liangchen had shown no mercy, punishing them severely.

As for the effect...

Let’s just say that for the rest of their lives, they wouldn’t even dare to have the thought of bullying someone.

Wu Liangchen returned to the rear courtyard of the Xu family residence, closed the door and windows, steadied his mind, and then picked up the piece of paper.

[Cultivation Technique: Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill]

[Cultivation Technique Level: Treasure Grade, Mid-Tier]

[Estimated Cost: 10,877 wisps of Life Fire]

[Consume Life Fire to begin deduction?]

Seeing these prompts appear before him, Wu Liangchen couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

’His efforts over the past few days hadn’t been in vain after all.’

The required Life Fire had been reduced by nearly four hundred wisps.

Although this wasn’t much compared to the enormous base cost, one had to remember that deducing the Hundred Beasts Sky-Facing Pile had only cost a little over one hundred wisps of Life Fire.

And after three days of madly consuming pills, Wu Liangchen had accumulated over ten thousand wisps of Life Fire. Without any further hesitation, he chose to begin the deduction.

This time, the reaction from the Ten Thousand Laws Tripod was more violent than ever before.

The Ten Thousand Laws Tripod in his sea of consciousness rose swiftly, releasing ten thousand rays of brilliant light.

Wu Liangchen even felt as if these rays of light were shining straight through his entire body.

Muscles, bones, meridians...

Everything was laid bare and revealed in perfect detail under the illumination.

Immediately after, Wu Liangchen felt countless images appear in his mind.

These images were of star-filled skies or human meridians, but each one was so vast and complex that it was mind-boggling.

As these images gradually merged into his sea of consciousness, Wu Liangchen felt as though ten thousand steel needles were coursing through his muscles and meridians.

The excruciating pain struck the very depths of his soul.

Even with a mind as solid as a rock, Wu Liangchen couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan as beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.

Fortunately, though the pain was overwhelming, it also faded quickly.

In the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal.

At the same time, a line of brilliant golden characters appeared before his eyes.

[Deduction successful. 10,877 wisps of Life Fire consumed.]

[Cultivation Technique learned: Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill]

[Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill: Initiate (5/100)]

Not only that, but even his Martial Arts Realm, which had been stagnant for a long time, was now changing.

[Opening Veins (3%)]

Immediately, Wu Liangchen felt a brilliant light burning in his Dantian, three inches below his navel, as all the Qi and Blood in his body converged there.

His Dantian was like a bottomless pit, indiscriminately and greedily devouring everything.

Even with Wu Liangchen’s immense reserves of Qi and Blood, he couldn’t keep up with the rate of consumption. He soon began to feel a deficiency in his Qi and Blood.

Fortunately, Wu Liangchen had ample reserves. Even after consuming a whole gourd of Qi Blood Pills during his three days of seclusion, he still had three gourds left.

So, fighting back his nausea, he poured a handful of pills directly into his mouth.

The sickeningly familiar medicinal taste washed over him, quickly transforming into Qi and Blood that surged toward his Dantian.

After swallowing a full hundred Qi Blood Pills, the speed at which his Dantian consumed Qi and Blood finally began to slow, eventually stopping altogether.

At this moment, Wu Liangchen felt a slight distension in his lower abdomen. It was as if a rising sun had appeared in his Dantian, its heat causing him to break out in a sweat all over.

However, this sensation also faded quickly.

[Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill proficiency +33]

[Opening Veins +3%]

This frantic conversion had caused his martial arts progress to soar.

Wu Liangchen immediately opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Wu Liangchen] [Age: 18]

[Life Fire: 847 wisps]

[Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill: Initiate (38/100)]

[Hundred Beasts Sky-Facing Pile (Mastery 467/500)]

[Eight-Step Wind-Chasing Fist (Major Accomplishment 112/1000)]

[Sun-Chasing Archery Skill (Major Accomplishment 351/1000)]

[Jingzhe Blade Technique (Major Accomplishment 101/500)]

[Golden Body Cross Training Skill (Major Accomplishment 88/500)]

[Opening Veins (6%)]

After all this time of unremitting effort, even his Hundred Beasts Sky-Facing Pile was on the verge of a breakthrough.

But that wasn’t the main point.

Wu Liangchen raised his hand in front of his face, studying it for a moment before suddenly clenching his fist.

BANG.

A deafening boom, like muffled thunder, erupted. A fierce gust of wind tore through the room, shattering the teapot and teacups on the table and blowing them away.

’Is this the power of the Vein Opening Realm?’

Wu Liangchen carefully sensed his condition, and a hint of joy suddenly appeared on his face.

’The ten thousand-plus wisps of Life Fire really weren’t spent in vain.’

It turned out that a giant tableau had appeared in his sea of consciousness.

The top of the tableau depicted a vast expanse of stars, though most of them were gray, while the bottom showed a complex diagram of the human body.

At this moment, the location of the Dantian was illuminated, and corresponding to it, a single star in the star chart above shone with brilliant light.

There was even a thoughtful note next to it, indicating the star’s name.

Dubhe!

’Corresponding to the stars above, opening the meridians below!’

’Is this the true essence of the Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill!’

Wu Liangchen was suddenly filled with curiosity about that overseas secret realm.

It was there that Yan Shu had obtained such a marvelous technique, which suggested that the martial arts over there must be even more prosperous than here.

Moreover, Wu Liangchen had a faint feeling that even after successfully opening his veins, his path in this world had reached its apex. To continue further, he would have to change his world entirely.

The Jiang family.

Jiang Minghai was once again eating stinky tofu, a dish he could never tire of.

He took a whole, uncut flatbread, spread it open, and used his chopsticks to place a few pieces of stinky tofu evenly inside before carefully smearing them into a paste.

The entire process was performed with intense concentration, filled with a sense of ritual.

Even the smell, which others found unbearable, was a fragrant aroma to his nose.

But just as he finished spreading it and was about to roll it up and take a hearty bite, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air in the doorway.

By the time Jiang Minghai noticed, Wu Liangchen had already walked inside.

With a single glance, Jiang Minghai’s gaze sharpened instantly. He stared intently at Wu Liangchen, and a look of excitement gradually appeared on his face.

"This... this..."

Even for someone like him, who had weathered countless storms, he couldn’t control his excitement in the face of Wu Liangchen. He repeated the word several times, unable to get the rest of his sentence out.

Wu Liangchen smiled faintly. "That’s right. This is the path forward."

Hearing this, Jiang Minghai fell silent. After a long moment, he sighed toward the heavens, his face filled with relief and acceptance.

"Good, good, good! I thought I would never get to see what the path ahead looked like in this lifetime. To have met you when I’m at death’s door... Heaven has not been unkind to me!"

As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears, and his voice choked with emotion.

Only a Grandmaster, someone who had languished in a single realm for ages and tried every method imaginable only to fail to break through, could understand this feeling.

It was as if a group of people were trapped in a sunless cave. Everyone had already given up hope, believing this was their final resting place.

Then, suddenly, a newcomer arrived and, with little effort, found the way out, revealing a sliver of dawn.

How could those who had grown to see the darkness as normal not become wildly excited by this?

"What is the name of the next path?"

Finally, after calming his turbulent emotions, Jiang Minghai asked impatiently.

"Opening Veins," Wu Liangchen said succinctly.

"Opening Veins..." Jiang Minghai murmured softly, a dazed look on his face.

Wu Liangchen didn’t press him. Only after Jiang Minghai came back to his senses did Wu Liangchen begin to explain the details of the next stage, along with his own understanding and feelings about this new realm.

Jiang Minghai listened with great interest, but when Wu Liangchen offered to teach him the Star-Swallowing Meridian Opening Skill, he just smiled, shook his head, and refused.

"There’s no need. Just knowing what the path ahead looks like is enough to satisfy me. As for anything else, I stopped having such extravagant hopes long ago."