Looking around at what seemed to be the inside of a wooden cabin, Xiao Yan muttered to himself in his heart:"I didn't die after all!"
Not long after falling from the cliff at Gui Jianchou, he sensed that he might have transmigrated again.
Back then, however, his body had been extremely exhausted—barely conscious, mostly asleep, and rarely awake.
It seemed like more than a month had passed before he finally had the energy to open his eyes.
Glancing at his thin, delicate arm, Xiao Yan confirmed that he really had transmigrated again—and this time, he'd become a baby.
"No wonder I kept feeling so tired... turns out I became a kid."
Suddenly, a towering man approached, holding a wooden spoon filled with rice porridge, emitting a rich aroma.
Stomach growling with hunger, Xiao Yan opened his mouth and cooperated with the man's movement, drinking the porridge.
But after just one sip, Xiao Yan almost felt like he was going to die—again.
It was hot. Scaldingly hot!
Tears burst from Xiao Yan's eyes as his throat burned, unable to utter a single word.
But the man didn't react at all, feeding the porridge like a soulless puppet.
After more than ten minutes, once the porridge was finished, Tang Hao finally left the bedside with the empty bowl.
Xiao Yan stared intently at the ceiling, muttering internally:"It seems I've fallen into the hands of an enemy… Is he trying to torture me to death?""No way—I won't just sit here and suffer! I refuse to die like this!"
A normal person would think like this. If the original Tang San had transmigrated here, he would probably be overwhelmed by this "scalding fatherly love."
Realizing the situation he was in, Xiao Yan recalled the memories in his mind about Xuan Tian Gong.
Xuan Tian Gong was an orthodox internal technique from an unknown Taoist sect. After cultivating it, it could strengthen the body and repair injuries.
Taoism emphasized harmony between man and nature, so there was no need to sit cross-legged in meditation to train—it was just slightly less effective.
But fortunately, Xiao Yan was now in an infant's body, with very little loss of innate qi. Compared to regular cultivation, he would get twice the results with half the effort.
Therefore, his training wouldn't be slower than someone meditating—it might even be faster.
After reviewing Xuan Tian Gong three times, and combining it with over twenty years of martial experience from the merged Tang San, Xiao Yan gained a clear understanding of the technique and was elated.
"For a martial artist, if they can open up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and circulate internal energy without obstruction, that's considered high-level internal skill. But for most martial artists, even those with great talent, they usually start training as teenagers. Their bodies are already affected by the external world, making their meridians rigid and hard to open.
But I'm a baby now, barely affected by the outside world. If I start cultivating now and unlock the Eight Meridians, my future progress will be like a rocket!"
Excited by the potential, Xiao Yan quickly calmed himself, closed his eyes slowly, and entered a meditative state—not daring to waste this precious opportunity.
Under the pressure of pain and the threat of death, Xiao Yan quickly entered a deep meditative state. His chest rose and fell gently, forming a perfect breathing cycle.
After just one day of training, he felt a fist-sized ball of pure internal energy gathering in his lower abdomen.
If he had started cultivating as an adult, it would've taken at least ten days to half a month to reach this point.
The next morning, Xiao Yan didn't rush to open his meridians. Instead, he continued building up internal energy.
Opening the meridians was an extremely dangerous task. It required a stable environment—any physical disturbance could cause the internal energy to veer off track, leading to serious injury or even death.
Strangely enough, a whole day passed and Xiao Yan only smelled strong alcohol. The man never touched him.
This further confirmed his suspicion that he was in an enemy's hands—his life hanging by a thread.
Watching the darkening sky outside the window and hearing thunderous snoring, Xiao Yan confirmed the man was asleep. Only then did he begin to open his meridians.
Before the Qin dynasty, people only knew of the Twelve Main Meridians. During the Qin and Han periods, a divine doctor named Duan Mu discovered another eight unique channels—the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
These meridians weren't directly connected like the main ones, nor did they cycle through the organs. They acted more like reservoirs.
Human energy and blood are like water. The twelve meridians are like canals. The Eight Meridians are like lakes and oceans. When the canals overflow, the lakes store the excess. When the canals dry, the lakes replenish them.
Before the Qin and Han dynasties, martial artists would take decades to reach this point. After the discovery of the Eight Meridians, the same cultivation could be achieved in just five years.
Lying in bed, Xiao Yan guided his energy with his will. It flowed from the Lung Meridian through the Lieque point to the Huiyin acupoint, slowly ascending through the abdomen to the Guanyuan acupoint, and then dispersed through the Ren Meridian to key points like Jueque, Shanzhong, Zigong, Tiantu, and Chengjiang.
At first, his arms felt heavy, legs numb, and his internal energy moved like a crawling caterpillar. Outside, insects chirped in the silence.
But as a baby in peak cultivation condition, two days of training gave him what others needed one or two months to achieve—he had gathered a decent amount of internal energy.
To channel the water from the canal into the river, all he needed was an initial push.
Once the floodgates opened, it was only a matter of time before the torrent rushed to the sea.
After one or two hours, Xiao Yan's willpower faded and the energy began to circulate on its own. He felt an indescribable sense of euphoria.
He had reached a selfless state of cultivation—each breath was long, smooth, and effortless.
Two days later, the ever-drinking Tang Hao suddenly felt hungry and remembered his son.
Seeing his son lying motionless on the bed, his heart skipped a beat:"It's been three days… Did he starve to death?"
He wiped his face, sobered up, and quickly cooked some hot porridge. Nervously carrying a bowl to the bed—
At that moment, Xiao Yan had just fully opened all his meridians. His internal energy now flowed smoothly throughout his body, feeling incredible.
Even the burning pain in his throat had lessened significantly.
Seeing his son open his eyes, Tang Hao let out a sigh of relief. He sat down and began feeding with the wooden spoon.
Seeing that steaming hot spoon coming toward him, Xiao Yan swallowed nervously. His heart resisted, but he was still human—he hadn't eaten in three days. Cultivation had kept him going, but now awake, he was starving.
Activating Xuan Tian Gong, he protected his tongue, throat, and esophagus with internal energy and finally opened his mouth.
Seeing his son still had an appetite, Tang Hao completely relaxed and began feeding spoon after spoon.
With the protection of internal energy, the porridge felt pleasantly warm—no longer painful like before.
But looking at the man in front of him, Xiao Yan felt even more certain:"This guy is definitely my enemy… only someone out for revenge would torture me like this!"
(End of Chapter)