It was still morning when Blood River reached the outskirts of the Primeval Forest. The trip from Flowing Water was uneventful, the only life along the way some wild animals that didn't even merit ranking. Mister Black had remained silent, deferring the discussion of meridian circulation until they had entered the forest proper.

Entering the perimeter of the woods, he felt that there was a quality to the air that he hadn't noticed before. In what felt like almost no time at all, he reached the indigo zone of the forest, and this feeling of a special quality deepened as he crossed the colored veil, zooming from tree trunk to tree trunk in a blur.

"So, Mister Black," he said, prodding his mental mentor, "I'm feeling something different about the air in here now. I'm guessing that has something to do with essence?"

"Correct. Hold on to that sense if you can. It can come in handy in places outside the Primeval Forest where the differences in essence density aren't so visually pronounced."

River nodded. "So, since I can feel it here, should this layer work? Or do we go deeper?"

"Let's go into the violet zone, right across the edge," Mister Black directed. "You can climb up and find a safer vantage where we can start opening one of your meridians."

"Okay," River acceded to the request. "So, is now a good time to ask about the process?"

"Silly me, I sometimes forget that your entire education is from me. Let's see, where to begin..." there was a momentary pause while the old man picked where to begin. "As you can now sense, essence is an energy that you can feel all around you. What many call magic is the harnessing of this essence and commanding it towards an end. To do this, you need a way to interact with essence. Your meridians are the point where this interfaces."

"Okay, so what are the meridians then?" River was already getting lost in the explanation, only understanding that essence was power.

"As you should be very aware of by now," Mister Black replied, "blood flows through the body in the veins and arteries. Your meridians are another kind of channel in your body, but their natural state is one of dormancy. The first step in learning magical techniques, then, is to correct this problem by awakening and opening the meridians, allowing essence to enter and exit the body in a manner under your control."

"So then I use the meridians to pull and push essence? Where does it all go then?"

"I was getting to that. Connecting your meridian requires awakening the full length of the meridian, from the external acupoint to your solar plexus."

"Huh?"

Mister Black sighed. "From a hole so tiny it can't be seen with the naked eye all the way to the spot in your chest just under the ribcage. That's the plexus, and it's where most of the essence you store ends up."

"So then where are all these holes?" River would have started examining his skin's surface if he hadn't needed to focus on navigating through the trees as he was.

"Every person's acupoints and the number of their meridians are different. They need to be located before they can be tapped. One of the reasons why cultivators aren't so common, besides the requirement of physique tempering to the Earth Realm, is because this is very difficult to do without external aid. Luckily for you, you have me."

"So that's why the clan only has a single essence cultivator, then..." River considered.

"Well, that's a combination of a lack of talent, a lack of resources, and yes, a lack of good techniques for acupoint delving. Backwater regions like this also tend to use harsh techniques for opening the acupoints involving needles and caustic substances, and this leads to damage in the meridians, limiting the potential of those who use such methods."

River nodded. "So I take it we have a better way, then."

"Correct. The most efficient way to open your first meridian is to have an essence practitioner who has already opened theirs use their essence to nourish and dilate the opening. We obviously can't do that. You, however, have other means since you have access to blood energy. That vitality can substitute for essence and is compatible with your body, so we'll use that to handle your initial meridian opening."

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River again nodded to that in acknowledgment, noticing that the transition to the violet zone was in sight. "It looks like we're about there, Mister Black. I'll cross the line, ascend a bit to somewhere stable, and then we'll begin."

River now increased his altitude with each leap from tree trunk to tree trunk, using higher branches as steps as he crossed that intangible threshold between layers of the Primeval Forest. After about a minute of this, he found a branch sizable enough to give him ample room to sit in meditative repose and landed on it.

"Okay, what's next?" River's heart was pounding, more from excitement than from the exertion. The feeling in the air had once again increased, almost oppressively so, but he took this as a good sign.

"Take a seat, young man," Mister Black replied, "and then circulate your breathing technique while I take a look around."

"Okay." River sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, visualizing the black hole in his mind's eye. He circulated his breathing according to the Passion Sublimation Technique and for good measure tossed in that twinge of excitement bubbling up inside him.

"Hm, hmmm..." Mister Black seemed to be deep in contemplation as he performed his examination.

Inside his special mental state, River could feel nothing different about what was going on. He continued his circulation for about a quarter hour.

"Okay, you can stop now." Mister Black announced.

River's eyes snapped open as he halted his circulation of Passion Sublimation. "Where do I start?"

"Looking over the available meridians," Mister Black announced, "the best one I could find for you is on your right hand, palm side, right underneath your middle finger. That one should harmonize well with your Blood Devouring Palm, making opening it easier as well as paving a path for some blood-related essence magic."

"So what do I do?" River asked.

"Close your eyes. Think about the spot I mentioned on your hand. See it in your mind's eye. Now visualize a line running from there down your arm, over your chest, and down to your plexus. Don't think too hard about that line, just consider it roughly. That's about how your meridian should run, once opened."

"Okay." River did as he was instructed.

"Now, here's the tricky part. You need to tap into your Blood Reservoirs as though you are about to activate Blood Ignition Acceleration, but instead of directing that energy through your body, you need to direct it to that point below your finger. What's tricky is that you need to control it; this is a steady process, not an explosive one like the ignition is."

River opened a Blood Reservoir and directed the energy to that spot. There was a sharp pain.

"Stop!" Mister Black barked, and the young man complied. "Keep trying, and be gentle with it. You're trying to nourish it, to make it want to open, not to stab it."

River tried again, to the same result. And again. And again. And again.

Sweat beaded on the devilish young man's brow as the failed attempts piled up. His muscles trembled as fatigue settled in, but the pain was lessening with each trial, at least.

"Okay, stop." Mister Black commanded.

River shuddered in relief as he halted the blood-fueled torture session. His breathing was rough, gasping with shallow, ragged breaths. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?" He managed to squeeze out the words before returning to gasping.

"Yes," Mister Black affirmed the assessment. "You've had it pretty easy up until this point, young man. Fighting and killing are perilous enough, but cultivation is not only dangerous but requires patience and an iron will. And, in your case, it's going to take some more blood."

Recovering his breath, River checked the state of his reserves. They were almost entirely depleted. "So I guess it's time I go hunting, then?"

"Yes, and given your current state, you'll want to head back into the indigo zone to hunt and replenish your blood vitality before we begin again. Be prepared, young man," Mister Black warned, "this isn't going to be pleasant or short."

"Of course, Mister Black. You've told me all along that this is what I was stepping into, how could I give up so soon?" Composing himself, River stood up and headed off to hunt.

The beasts of the indigo layer were reasonably trivial for River to kill now. Many of them that had been before dangerous to encounter now couldn't score a hit on him, and the few that could manage it barely give him scratches now. Refilling his stores was thus not a problem.

River continued this process -- go to the indigo zone, hunt beasts, store vitality, return to the violet zone, attempt to open his acupoint until he was near drained, repeat -- through the rest of the daylight hours and well into the night. It wasn't until midnight that by some quirk of fate he found himself feeling a different sensation.

"Mister Black, it's... it's opening?"

"Yes. Good. Very good. Keep at it, but remain gentle."

River maintained the flow of blood energy, and that itching sensation continued for a couple more moments until the familiar stab of pain returned.

"Don't be discouraged, my young friend," Mister Black comforted him. "This is the most difficult step, and you have to do it on your own. You need to keep at it, letting the energy penetrate deeper roughly along that path you should still be envisioning. It'll flow naturally on its own, so continue to adjust, but keep your focus on being steady with it."

"Yes, Mister Black." River gritted his teeth and returned to his painful work, continuing through the night. Even if he had to drain every single beast in the indigo zone, he wouldn't give up.