Chapter 18

A thousand-year earth pearl.

A treasure that appears in countless tales and legends.

Now that he held it, Dou Changsheng examined it closely, yet saw no mystery whatsoever.

This could only mean one thing: the treasure had no connection with him, which made Dou Changsheng feel a pang of bitterness—had this been future Dou Changsheng, the treasure would have glowed, leaping automatically into his mouth.

Otherwise, how would future Dou Changsheng even know about this treasure?

Both are Dou Changsheng, yet fate treats them differently.

Divine objects conceal themselves; no clues can be discerned. Or perhaps this Northern Ice Pearl is merely a Northern Ice Pearl, and not a thousand-year earth pearl.

Dou Changsheng toyed with the treasure in his hand, hesitating—the thousand-year earth pearl is said to be the essence of the earth, the source of qi.

After consuming it, no matter what martial art one practices, one can cultivate a mighty qi that dominates the world.

Of course, the quality of this qi still depends on the martial art, with tiers of high, medium, and low—but it easily overcomes quality with sheer quantity.

Yet with this talent, once one learns divine techniques and profound methods, this vast internal qi and magic power become peerless in the world.

This is precisely why many protagonists in tales and legends, starting weak, rise rapidly to overpower their foes.

This item won’t make you ascend to heaven in a single step, but it will reshape your innate talent.

But if this were merely a Northern Ice Pearl, swallowing it directly would carry certain dangers.

Dou Changsheng hesitated precisely here: if he swallowed the wrong one, the consequences would be severe, though not fatal.

Dou Changsheng decisively swallowed all these chaotic thoughts and acted.

Given Black Eagle Sovereign’s resources, he possessed only this single Northern Ice Pearl—there could not be a second.

The simplest way to consume a thousand-year earth pearl is oral ingestion.

Dou Changsheng swallowed it whole, giving it no chance to be chewed—it dissolved instantly upon entry, becoming a warm stream that spread through his body, nourishing his meridians, flesh, and bones.

The abundant primordial internal qi within him suddenly began to surge wildly, instantly doubling in volume.

With primordial internal qi exploding in growth, Dou Changsheng dared not slack off—this time, there was no [Beautiful Life System] to safeguard him; he could not afford any mishap in breaking through.

He actively attempted the breakthrough method he had obtained from Tang He, beginning with the Twelve Regular Meridians.

These past few days, Dou Changsheng had not wasted his time—he had practiced whenever possible, but only lightly, never formally breaking meridians; his goal was simple: to familiarize himself with controlling internal qi as it flowed along the meridians.

The howling primordial internal qi instantly burst open one meridian, then surged forward like a bamboo shoot splitting open, striking the next.

Dou Changsheng clearly felt the primordial internal qi within his dantian slowly begin to rotate, like a great whirlpool—each rotation released primordial internal qi, no, it flowed out.

After breaking a meridian, primordial internal qi increases, but far less than the amount surging from the dantian.

In the blink of an eye, the meridians filled, and as primordial internal qi struck the next meridian, it also expanded them, making them wider and more resilient, increasing their capacity for primordial internal qi.

The Twelve Regular Meridians were swiftly opened, and now he turned toward the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

The warm power of the thousand-year earth pearl was seeping into the meridians, strengthening their resilience—Dou Changsheng dared to swallow it without fear of internal qi explosion because there had never been a recorded case of anyone dying from internal qi rupture after consuming a thousand-year earth pearl.

A potent pill, for an ordinary person, is a tiger or wolf’s poison—swallowing it brings no benefit, only death from being overwhelmed by its power.

But the preciousness of the thousand-year earth pearl lies in the fact that even if one is weak, with no cultivation at all, one need not fear internal qi forming and harming oneself.

The howling primordial internal qi surged through the meridians, while the whirlpool in the dantian continuously produced fresh primordial internal qi—Dou Changsheng’s original two-month supply had now grown to five months.

This condition had not ended; it continued unabated.

Among the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the hardest to break through are the Ren and Du Meridians—this barrier’s difficulty is known throughout the world.

Countless martial artists have been stuck here, trapped for life in the Post-Heaven realm, unable to advance further.

Yet now, counting half of the Twelve Regular Meridians, the entire Eight Extraordinary Meridians had been successfully opened in less than a quarter of an hour.

Vast torrents of primordial internal qi surged through the meridians; each time it returned to the dantian, the primordial internal qi increased slightly.

After the Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the next step is the Heaven and Earth Orifices.

Piercing the Heaven and Earth Orifices transforms Post-Heaven internal qi into primordial internal qi.

This is the most crucial step for any martial artist.

Wait.

Dou Changsheng was pondering how to break through, mentally reviewing the relevant techniques, when—

The abundant primordial internal qi had already begun auto-attacking, and the breakthrough had already succeeded—one of the Heaven and Earth Orifices had been opened.

With Dou Changsheng’s active cooperation, the breakthrough became even simpler.

The Heaven and Earth Orifices were effortlessly pierced; suddenly, Dou Changsheng felt heaven and earth had grown far closer to him.

His gaze reached the vast, boundless sky, the heavy, solid earth.

A mysterious, indescribable bond formed between himself and the world.

Primordial internal qi surged again, growing once more—within moments, it reached ten months’ worth, then climbed steadily until it reached one full year’s worth, at which point the explosive growth finally began to slow.

Each flow of primordial internal qi still brought growth, but the increase was far smaller than before.

Dou Changsheng felt the mountain-sea-like primordial internal qi within him, realizing that now, purely in terms of primordial internal qi, he might rival his own self two years from now.

Just slightly weaker.

After all, future Dou Changsheng had passed through the Post-Heaven realm before reaching Primordial.

But I began directly in Primordial—this breakthrough was easy because I stood on his shoulders. Had I not cultivated primordial internal qi through the [Three Yuan Return Qi Scripture], and relied solely on Post-Heaven internal qi to break through, how could I have advanced so easily into Primordial?

Future Dou Changsheng was only two years ahead—even with the thousand-year earth pearl, going from a cultivation novice to Primordial Realm would still take about a year.

In an instant, Dou Changsheng realized he had overthought it.

After acquiring the [Three Yuan Return Qi Scripture], he could actively cultivate, growing far faster than my passive increase, plus the vast resources of the Wang Clan of Xiangzhou poured into him.

Though it seemed he cultivated for only a year, the primordial internal qi he gained likely equaled five or six years’ worth.

That’s even an underestimate—his three-zhang sword qi was merely his basic attack, not his limit.

I have a cheat, but he has his own luck cheat—what nerve do I have to surpass his two years of cultivation in less than a month?

But in the end, I will overtake him.

After all—

He’s already twenty-one!