Chapter 144: Vortex
Chapter 144: Vortex
The qi that Ryu breathed into his body was incredibly pure. If it wasn’t already enough that the Immortal Path was innately blemishless, even if it wasn’t, his Ice Jade Crystal Bone structure wouldn’t allow impurities to last very long. Due to this, Ryu didn’t have to spend much time, if any at all, cleansing the energy he inhaled.
If one could see the inside of Ryu’s meridians, they’d be absolute shocked. They’d assume he was an individual who had completed at least two Revolutions already, when the reality was that he had yet to complete even one. This was the difference between those with talent and those without.
Ryu worked quickly, after converting all of his Qi Fumes into a sort of primer energy for Mortal Qi, he begun circulating [Revolutions Amplifier] in earnest. The route was incredibly complex, even Ryu felt like his head was spinning, so he took the first cycle incredibly slowly, etching the pattern into his mind.
The main difference between One Star and Six Star techniques was the complexity of their circulations. One Star techniques can only make use of a single Qi Pulse, and as such, their circulation pattern is appropriately simple. However, Six Star techniques must cycle through all six Qi Pulses, thus meaning that they must be appropriately complex.
With every Qi Pulse a cultivator opens, numerous novel meridian nodes and meridian pathways open as well. This was the fundamental difference between those who opened more Qi Pulses and those who opened less. This difference in foundation would only compound.
Still, even with Ryu taking his time for his first circulation, he completed it in just half an hour. Just like this, after completing just a single circulation, the sound of a cracking barrier resounded. Ryu felt a rush of Essence careen toward himself, seeping into his skin, muscles and bones.
Ryu panicked. If he broke through now, wouldn’t that mean he would have to given up on [Six Realm Opening] and [Abyssal Vortex Qi]? In the end, he was too inexperienced in cultivation. He hadn’t even considered this problem before he began.
‘There are only two ways to fix this, either abolish my cultivation, or compensate with speed!’
Ryu didn’t hesitate. Abolishing his own cultivation was something he was unwilling to do, namely because he was unsure if there were consequences to such an undertaking. He had just been taught a lesson about his own inexperience, so how could he make another rash decision so quickly?
[Six Realm Opening] was definitely the easier of the two to complete with speed. Its appeal was tied in the opening of miniature dantian within the Qi Pulses. However, they only needed to be opened one at a time. One should be opened before entering the Qi Refinement Realm, then there would be one opened for each of the four stages of the realm, and finally, the last would be opened upon completing the Great Circle Refinement.
‘No, I should complete [Abyssal Vortex Qi] first.’ Ryu was in a race against time. He slowed the process of his breakthrough, he knew he would face backlash if he stopped it completely. From his quick calculations, he would officially become a Qi Refinement expert in less than ten minutes. Normally individuals would be ecstatic at this short timeframe. But, at the moment, Ryu’s talent was his own Hell.
[Abyssal Vortex Qi] was a bit different from normal techniques. It didn’t rely on complex circulations, relatively speaking. Instead, it formed miniature vortexes of qi within meridian nodes. It then relied on these vortexes as centers of power. Not only did they allow one to store more energy in a more compact way, it also allowed cultivation speed to increase thanks to the unique suction abilities of the vortex.
The issue was that this technique required mind numbing amounts of qi control. One needed to create and stabilize hundreds of vortexes. Even the lowest estimates would still have a person needing several hours to reach equilibrium. But Ryu had ten minutes!
Ryu grit his teeth. It was time to see just how reliable his Chaotic Silk Meridians were. He didn’t have the time to take it slowly like everyone else. He would be rash. He could only hope that his meridians could withstand the failures that would undoubtedly occur.
With a thought, he began. The meridians nodes he had to date totaled 333. One was born with 111, and 37 more were opened for every Qi Pulse that was awakened. In order to complete the foundation of this technique, Ryu needed to form 111 vortexes plus 37 more.
The primer qi within Ryu’s body began to spin viciously. This was when Ryu learned the horror of what he was attempting. In the beginning, he called the circulation method of [Abyssal Vortex Qi] simple. From an objective point of view, it was. However, that was only if you created one vortex at a time.
For the creation of every vortex, there would be a small circulation pattern around a single meridian node. After a few circulations, the vortex would be created and stabilized, you could then move on to the next circulation. However, with Ryu’s time constraints, he was attempting to form multiple vortexes at once. Suddenly, those simple patterns began to overlap and complicated matters within the 3D structure of Ryu’s body. Things only became worse when Ryu realized that some circulation patterns overlapped.
However, Ryu soon saw that even when he failed and his energy exploded within his body, despite some painful bloating, he felt nothing else at all. This realization made him more brazen. At first, he only attempted to form two vortexes at once, but then it became three, then four. Eventually, he was creating ten at once, and his proficiency was only growing as he familiarized himself with the Qi Technique.
Ryu’s body became a battlefield. Sometimes, blood would flow from his lips and crimson would erupt from old wounds. This couldn’t be helped. Though his meridians were nigh indestructible, they were still attached to his far more vulnerable inner organs and muscles. But, he continued to push him.
A maddened light shone in Ryu’s eyes once more. He could feel the barrier between himself and the Qi Refinement Realm crumbling more and more with each passing moment.
‘It’s not enough!’ Ryu’s qi circulation became faster and faster. He didn’t need experience to know that even a big mistake along the complex paths of his meridians would end his life. Chaotic Silk Meridians or not, cultivation deviation wasn’t something many could survive. However, Ryu didn’t seem to care as he immediately began practicing [Six Realm Opening] even while still circulating [Abyssal Vortex Qi].
What Ryu didn’t notice at this time was just how much easier it had become for him to split his mind between multiple tasks. If he had, he would have checked his Mental Realm to find a shocking change had occurred while he slept.
Ryu roared out as he completely opened his first Pulse Dantian. Completion of the foundation of a second Six Star technique didn’t give him any relief. In fact, now that he had set two perfect foundations, his breakthrough had quickened! But, Ryu still smiled. Because at that moment, his 148th vortex was formed.