Chapter 48

Chen Mo looked at the Five Elements Essence-Nurturing Art in his hands, his brows knitting slightly.

It is no wonder that practitioners of Internal Martial Arts are rare in the pugilistic world; simply trying to understand this Internal Martial Art is likely no easy task.

Not to mention the obscure terminology and phrasing itself—regarding this, he had the annotations gifted by his foster father, which explained everything in great detail, allowing him to understand it without any effort.

But he had to learn everything recorded in the annotations, and even master them thoroughly.

Dantian, meridians, and acupoints all exist within the body's Inner Qi; although a Martial Artist who has cultivated Inner Qi can perform internal observation, the meridians and acupoints are not labeled with names.

If a Martial Artist wishes to open their meridians and acupoints, they must have a certain understanding of the human body.

The saying that medicine and martial arts are inseparable is precisely because of this.

In order to cultivate, internal-style Martial Artists must study medicine to some extent; otherwise, if problems arise while opening meridians, having one's cultivation stagnate is a minor matter.

If one were to force open the meridians and cause internal injury to oneself, that would be the real disaster.

What Chen Mo needs to learn now is exactly this; he must memorize and study these things from now on, rather than waiting until he actually needs to break through to learn them.

His foster father not only gave him the method for the Five Elements Essence-Nurturing Art but also gave him a Meridian Chart of the human body.

As long as he wants to mobilize his Dantian Internal Qi to exert its effect, he must memorize these things.

Only in this way can the Dantian Internal Qi travel through the meridians and acupoints and exert its true effect.

The vast majority of human meridians and acupoints are unobstructed, with only a small number being closed.

If a person were born with all their meridians blocked, they would inevitably die prematurely.

And a person with all meridians open refers to someone whose meridians are naturally wider and tougher than those of ordinary people.

The Tongmai Realm requires making the meridians more unobstructed so they can withstand the flow and transmission of a sufficient amount of Inner Qi.

Otherwise, no matter how much Inner Qi is stored in the Dantian, only a tiny fraction can be utilized.

If one were to compare the meridians of an ordinary person to a muddy country path, at most allowing people to pass on foot,

then the Tongmai Realm is about building a main road three zhang and three chi wide, capable of letting three carriages race side by side.

To achieve this step, one cannot expect results without over a decade of hard work.

Chen Mo carefully browsed the Five Elements Essence-Nurturing Art word by word, pairing it with the annotations given by his foster father and the Meridian Chart, and unconsciously, the sky outside had grown dark.

When he came back to his senses, he felt his stomach rumbling with hunger, and Chen Mo rose and headed straight for the cookhouse.

"Brother Mo, why did you only come now!" the Cook Soldier responsible for serving food asked, his tone slightly surprised.

One must know that in the past, when it was time to eat, Chen Mo would already be waiting in the cookhouse before they had even scooped the dishes out of the pot; why did he come so late today?

"I went to do some idle tasks; is there still food?" Chen Mo did not answer much; he only cared about whether there was still food left.

"Of course there is! Seeing you hadn't come, I prepared it for you early on!" the Cook Soldier said with a smile upon hearing this.

Such treatment is not something every Personal Soldier can enjoy; if others miss the mealtime, they can only go hungry.

But Chen Mo is the foster son of Sun Jiangjun, and the new soldiers who currently belong to the Neutral Faction basically all take him as their leader.

Therefore, in this military camp, he can more or less enjoy many privileges different from ordinary Personal Soldiers.

"Hurry and bring it up." Chen Mo sat at the table and urged.

The Cook Soldier quickly brought over two large bowls of pork and tofu meatball stew, a small steamer of steamed buns, and a plate of stir-fried spinach.

Chen Mo picked up three steamed buns in one hand, grabbed a few pieces of fatty pork, and wolfed it down without a care.

Before long, the food on the table was wiped clean.

The Cook Soldier on the side was not surprised by this speed; seeing such a thing for the first time is indeed jaw-dropping, but after seeing it often, one gradually gets used to it.

"Many thanks." Chen Mo finished eating, wiped his mouth, said his thanks, and hurried back to his room.

He still lives alone, all so that no one disturbs his cultivation.

Returning to his room and closing the doors and windows tightly, Chen Mo lit the oil lamp and turned up the flame.

Although he can afford candles now, there is no need; lamp oil can be pilfered from the cookhouse, while buying candles requires spending his own money.

A single candle costs at least a dozen wen; with that money, it is better to buy half a jin of pork.

If he bought pork ribs, he could buy nearly two jin; after all, ribs are not fatty and have bones, so the price is relatively much cheaper.

Chen Mo sat cross-legged, with a three-foot-square Meridian Chart on the ground.

He took a deep breath and sensed the Inner Qi in his Dantian; for some time now, he had been diligently practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, and following his last breakthrough, the speed at which he accumulated Inner Qi during his daily practice was increasing visibly.

If one were to compare the Dantian to a clay pot, then there was already half a layer of water in this pot now.

And to enter the Tongmai Realm, one must accumulate seventy percent of Inner Qi in the Dantian before one can attempt to break through this realm.

In the Tongmai Realm, Inner Qi circulates within the meridians, nourishing and expanding them so they can withstand more Inner Qi.

To break through this realm, it does not mean one must fill the Dantian with Inner Qi; one can start attempting it once there is seventy or eighty percent.

It is not strictly necessary to wait until the Inner Qi is full before attempting a breakthrough; if one's meridians are naturally stronger than those of ordinary people, then one does not need to waste too much time in this realm.

Chen Mo guided wisps of Inner Qi, surging out of the Dantian to reach the Guanyuan Point; this is one of the acupoints closest to the Dantian.

Moving upward along the Guanyuan Point, Chen Mo was quite satisfied with the meridians and acupoints in his own body.

After two rebirths, the strength of his meridians far surpassed that of ordinary people; now, even if all his Inner Qi surged out from his Dantian, it was unobstructed, without the slightest difficulty or blockage.

Chen Mo separated a wisp of Inner Qi and cast it into the Transformation Pearl; the situation was exactly the same as the many tests he had done before.

The Inner Qi passed directly through the Transformation Pearl, as if it had not sensed its existence.

It seems the Inner Qi he currently masters is too weak, unable to even make the Transformation Pearl produce any reaction.

Without pausing, he continued to control the Inner Qi to travel through his body; when it passed his heart, Chen Mo suddenly sensed that his own Inner Qi seemed to be being pulled.

This feeling was extremely faint, but it was always there.

Moving the Inner Qi to other areas, he immediately could no longer sense this attraction.

Chen Mo slowly opened his eyes and took a flat pouch from his Huai.

Inside were a few Talismans he had obtained from the hands of the Dutian Dao Sect members, the Red Blood Stone he had obtained when he hunted the Blood Monkey, as well as a silver note with a face value of five taels and a small piece of gold.

These were the most important and valuable things on him, and under normal circumstances, he always carried them with him.

As for that Dutian Great Dao Scripture, firstly it was too large to carry easily, and secondly, there was still a certain risk in coming into contact with it, so he kept it strictly sealed away.

He first took out the items from the wallet one after another, and then began to test them one by one.

The gold, silver banknotes, and those few Talismans did not have any reaction to his Inner Qi.

Only the Red Blood Stone obtained from hunting the Blood Monkey back then produced a reaction to his Inner Qi.

Chen Mo gripped the Red Blood Stone tightly, but he was deep in thought, wondering whether he should use his Inner Qi to stimulate this stone.

He was now able to mobilize his Inner Qi to flow through his meridians; although he could not release the Inner Qi outside his body, there was no problem with it circulating within his body.

As long as he could make contact with the Red Blood Stone, he would be able to input his Inner Qi into it.

After a brief moment of contemplation, without much hesitation, Chen Mo decided to give it a try right then and there.

He had possessed this Red Blood Stone for a long time, yet he had not discovered any use for it until now.

Since his Inner Qi had actually reacted to it, he naturally had to try it out to see what specific effects it had.

(End of this chapter)