Chapter 11: Chapter Twelve

His internal force surged vast and torrential. Although three years of cultivation had only built it into a small river, and two acupoints on the Ren Meridian remained unopened, not even a complete Minor Heavenly Cycle, the moment he began practicing the Golden Bell Shield, that river-like internal force transformed into a Yangtze-like great river, charging to batter one of the Twelve Regular Meridians. The momentum was fierce, but the sustaining power was extremely lacking — after all, the internal force was originally only the volume of a small river; forcing it to become raging waves in an instant was nothing but draining it dry for one burst.

Originally, an assault like this, lacking sustaining power, would find it very hard to break open an acupoint — breaking open an acupoint wasn't the end of it; internal force still needed to flow within the opened acupoint to consolidate it before the acupoint could be considered opened. Sure enough, the first wave didn't break open the acupoint, but Bai Lang's movements didn't stop, and his breathing remained steady, so soon internal force circled back from the already-opened acupoints and meridians, gathering into a new wave, and began the assault once more.

The assault was actually quite painful — the key was that this wasn't a pain one could overcome by rubbing it; it felt as if the meridians were snapping inch by inch, yet one could only endure it raw. Bai Lang gritted his teeth and bore it, while forcibly gathering his mind, forcing himself to focus on the coordination of movement and breathing, and not think about the sensation of battering the acupoints. The second wave likewise failed, but hurt even more — and as the movements continued, the third wave had already formed.

The third wave succeeded, breaking open the acupoint, opening the first acupoint of this Regular Meridian. But Bai Lang couldn't stop yet — because the manual stated that the full set of movements for this sequence had to be completed. So he endured the pain and continued, and this time, the acupoints being assaulted became the last two acupoints of the Ren Meridian... Likewise three waves of assault; the intense pain nearly made Bai Lang's movements falter, but still failed to break open the acupoints. Fortunately, this set of movements was finished.

Bai Lang concluded his practice, breathing slowly to calm the turbulence of his internal force, controlling it bit by bit and drawing it back into his dantian qi sea. By now the sky was bright — time to head back — and grab breakfast along the way. At noon and dusk he would continue cultivating, though those sessions weren't as important as the morning one. Of Bai Lang's twenty-four hours a day, fully half was spent cultivating — movement and stillness each consumed that much time.

The rest of the time he could go online to gather information, wander around to relax his mood, or even think about nothing at all, simply enjoying the modern pleasure of zoning out — even zoning out was far better than being a thug for a broker's house in that world he'd transmigrated from... "Looks like no wonder they need those so-called Zhuangqi Pills. Given the level of internal force I've already cultivated, it's already like this; if someone here hadn't cultivated any internal force at all, wouldn't it be a waste of effort?" Bai Lang thought this as he flipped through the manual.

As for the medicinal decoction for external training, it now seemed relatively unimportant — because Bai Lang had definitely used better medicinal ointments than this; the small jar issued monthly as a gang benefit was very likely more effective than the decoction recorded in this manual. And Bai Lang's three years of unbroken cultivation had long since let the ointment's efficacy seep deep into his marrow; his qi and blood had already been developed enough that merely practicing the first pass of the Golden Bell Shield wouldn't damage his body.

Looking at it this way, even the Zhuangqi Pills probably weren't necessary; at Bai Lang's level he could cultivate just fine without them — the key point was that this Golden Bell Shield really could open acupoints; it didn't look fake. Still, he had to be careful about qi deviation, but with Bai Lang's entry-level internal art and river-like internal force, he probably didn't even qualify for qi deviation, did he? Not needing those prescriptions had one benefit: in Bai Lang's view, these prescriptions served more as entry restrictions — "using expensive or even unobtainable medicines to block practitioners — the reason you can't master it is because you can't afford the drugs. Isn't that the usual trick of江湖 swindlers?"

A hundred-year-old wild ginseng, as far as Bai Lang knew, would probably have already turned woody, hardly possessing much medicinal efficacy, but the price was absurdly high... As for tiger bone? Forget it, better see if cow bone could substitute. In Bai Lang's view, for practicing this art, eating more meat was best for him.

It seemed the case truly hadn't implicated him; by rights this assault should have earned at least three years in the can, but if they couldn't find Bai Lang, it could only remain an open case. The second day, the third day... and the following months, Bai Lang spent them all like this — a straight line between two points, no more troublemaking, quietly cultivating. The progress was naturally decent enough.

One of the Twelve Regular Meridians was opened, and even the Ren Meridian had only one acupoint left. Once he broke through it, his Minor Heavenly Cycle would be complete — from then on, his internal force would circulate without interruption; it could be called a great advancement in martial arts. Only at this step could he call himself a man of the martial world. A martial practitioner who hadn't even completed the Minor Heavenly Cycle could only be called a thug. Therefore, Bai Lang's spirits lifted further, his cultivation grew more earnest, and the intense pain in his meridians had begun to feel routine.

This day was the same as always: first, a breath of purple qi at sunrise in the morning, then begin cultivating the Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield, likewise enduring the intense pain of his meridians being forcibly widened, letting the gathered great waves of internal force assault the last acupoint of the Ren Meridian. Thanks to these months of unremitting hard training, his internal force had grown considerably; this outside-in training method of the Golden Bell Shield likewise strengthened his external martial arts, drawing a breath of true qi from the external tendons, bones, skin, and flesh, reinforcing his internal force — this was actually of the same origin as the San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan he had first cultivated.

So now the great waves his internal force transformed into already had two crests, one ahead and one behind; moreover, if the front wave failed to break through, it could stack thirty percent of its power onto the back wave, adding to its might — and of course, adding to the pain. Bai Lang practiced the external fist and footwork of the Golden Bell Shield strictly by the book, while outside, a circle of idlers — or rather, martial arts enthusiasts — watched him practice. Traditionally this was considered a bit of a taboo, but Bai Lang simply didn't know and didn't care — practicing openly in a park was hard to avoid; otherwise, wouldn't he just cultivate in his own courtyard?

He merely controlled the explosive power of his punches, pulling in his force again and again, not wanting to draw more attention. If some bored reporters came and gave him a city interview, that would be troublesome — Bai Lang couldn't guarantee that appearing on TV wouldn't let those few men he'd beaten recognize him. The people surrounding him ranged from old to young, about seven or eight. Over these months the number had gradually grown: one or two at first, then slowly, slowly becoming these seven or eight. It seemed they hadn't actively spread the word.

Bai Lang ignored them for now. For this day's great wave assault, he had originally estimated it still wouldn't work, perhaps needing a few more days. But unexpectedly, the very first wave broke open this last acupoint of the Ren Meridian. Internal force poured滚滚 in, completing a circuit along the Ren Meridian; the intense pain instantly transformed into an indescribably wonderful sense of舒畅, his whole body felt light as if about to take flight, and the pores all over his body that had been sealed suddenly all opened at once. Sweat poured out in the blink of an eye, soaking the clothes on his body; the sweat steamed upward, making him look like a freshly出炉 steamed bun...