A moment later, Xu Que finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The plan provided by the system was not a dead end, suggesting he learn to "sever his own meridians," but rather a way to consume the excess spiritual energy within him.

Because spiritual energy flows along the eight extraordinary meridians, each time a meridian is severed, the spiritual energy will automatically repair it.

And it will also make the meridians more resilient and powerful, while simultaneously tempering the body.

However, this process was somewhat unbearable to watch. To allow the spiritual energy to repair the meridians, the automatic repair function had to be turned off. This also meant that Xu Que was about to face the excruciating torment of severing his meridians countless times.

"Forget it, let it break. It's better than being overwhelmed."

Xu Que ultimately made a decision.

Gritting his teeth, he spent ten points of his pretentiousness value to buy the book "Severing One's Own Meridians."

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he instantly mastered this self-harming technique.

Following that, he closed his eyes, concentrated a wisp of spiritual energy between his fingers, and fiercely pressed it onto various major acupoints on his body.

Immediately, the sound of blood-curdling screams echoed through the forest..

This break lasted for two days and two nights. Finally, Xu Que's strength was completely exhausted, and he fell into a deep coma.

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I'm sorry, but it seems like the source text is missing. Could you please provide the text you would like translated?

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a shabby little wooden cabin. Beside him were simple wooden furniture, and on the table, a rusty little iron kettle was steaming.

"Survived again..."

Xu Que laughed happily.

He licked his dry, chapped lips, trying to prop himself up to get some water to drink.

"Hiss!"

Instantly, he gasped in shock, a searing pain tearing through his entire body, and he collapsed back onto the bed.

At this moment, he realized that his entire body was wrapped like a mummy, and a strong, pungent smell of medicine emanated from him.

Nima, which quack did this?

Xu Que was instantly furious. What was a mere injury? It could be fixed with a bit of pretense value, yet you wrapped me up like a mummy. How am I supposed to get out of bed and show off now?

"Squeak!"

At this moment, the wooden door was gently pushed open, and a petite figure appeared at the entrance.

"Huh, you're awake?"

A clear and melodious voice reached Xu Que's ears.

Xu Que looked up, but he was completely stunned.

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The little one before me was pure and charming, with tender, fair skin. Her jet-black, lustrous hair fell naturally, and her large, sparkling eyes were incredibly clear.

Seeing Xu Que wake up, she slightly curled her lips, revealing an angelic smile.

"You finally woke up. Yesterday, I went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables and saw you lying on the ground, covered in blood. So I asked Brother Erleng and the others to help carry you back. You must be from out of town, right? You shouldn't go up that mountain anymore. If you don't know the way, it's easy to run into wild animals." The pure and beautiful village girl smiled, revealing two sweet dimples on her cheeks.

Xu Que was still stunned.

My goodness, how is it that this world is filled with such beauties! It was one thing to have that little fairy who was always shouting and ready to fight, but now even a random village girl who appears is so stunningly beautiful and pure, making it impossible for anyone to remain composed.

"Don't be afraid, this is Panshan Village. Wild beasts won't come here. There are many immortals on the mountain who will drive them away." The little village girl saw Xu Que's dazed expression and thought he was still scared, so she waved her small hand as if to chase away the beasts, looking extremely adorable.

Xu Que immediately snapped back to reality. Admiring beautiful women was one thing, but the grand endeavor of showing off, which spanned the entire universe, could never be neglected for even a moment!

Immediately, his body trembled with a tiger-like intensity, and he said, "Afraid? I, Xu Que, have never known what fear is. To be honest, I am a hunter. That day on the mountain, I encountered thousands... uh, dozens of wild beasts wanting to eat me, but I wasn't afraid at all. At that moment, I told that group of beasts, 'A man’s death is inevitable, it can be as weighty as Mount Tai or as light as a feather. I, Xu Que, will never surrender without a fight.' So, I engaged in a fierce battle with them, fighting for three days and three nights. Look at this scar, it was left by a vicious wolf..."

"Huh? There have never been wolves on this mountain!"

"Didn't you see it? It must have come from another mountain! Oh, never mind those details. The point is, in order not to die in their jaws, I jumped off the mountain without hesitation. Unexpectedly, heaven favored me and sent a little fairy to save me. Thank you."

"Ah... I, I'm not a little fairy, I'm Xiaorou." The village girl's snow-white cheeks immediately turned red, and she shyly lowered her head.

"It's okay, Xiaorou, from now on, you are my little fairy," Xu Que said tenderly.

"You... how could you... ah..." Xiao Rou was suddenly both embarrassed and anxious. In the end, she covered her face with her hands, turned around, and ran away.

In this place, even in a village, people's views remain very traditional.

Words like those from Xu Que were nothing short of blatant teasing, not praise at all!

After Xiao Rou, blushing with embarrassment, ran out of the wooden house, she hid outside, continuously fanning her burning red cheeks with her small hands.

Xu Que lay on the wooden bed, smiling contentedly.

Just now, that act was quite successful and actually earned two points of pretentiousness, which is why he praised Xiao Rou as if his mouth were smeared with honey.

He summoned the system, and the personal information interface automatically popped up again:

"Host: Xu Que

Realm: Qi Refining Stage, Level Ten (Slightly Accomplished)

Experience Points: 0/1000

Pretentiousness Level: 7 points

Cultivation Technique: "Ancient Five Elements Art" Beginner Chapter

Occupation: None

Status: Prince Consort of the Fire Yuan Kingdom in the Eastern Wilderness Continent

"Huh?"

Xu Que suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

Previously, when he checked his own information, he was also at the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage, but the system's evaluation was at the beginner level. Now, however, it had changed to "slightly accomplished," clearly indicating an improvement. Could it be that the gains came from severing and then continuously repairing his meridians?

Hmm, in that case, all those hardships weren't in vain.

Xu Que felt a slight sense of balance restored in his heart and said to the system, "Activate the repair function and help me recover from my injuries."

"Ding, the auto-repair function has been activated, deducting one point of pretentiousness value."

Swish!

In an instant, a cool and gentle sensation coursed through his entire body.

Chen Cong felt completely relaxed, as if he had lain down in a warm pool at his most exhausted moment, with every pore on his body opening up.

After a few breaths, the pain in his body gradually disappeared, his strength returned, and he felt much stronger than before he was injured.

Xu Que smiled with satisfaction, sprang up from the bed in a flash, clenched his fists, and his muscles tensed all over.

"Clap! Clap! Clatter!"

With a series of muffled sounds, the bandages on his body snapped and fell to the ground.

"Squeak!"

At that moment, Xiao Rou, who had calmed her emotions outside, pushed the door open and entered once again.

Her gaze happened to fall on Xu Que, her eyes suddenly widened, her small mouth slightly opened, and she let out a scream before rushing out the door with a flushed face.

Xu Que was taken aback for a moment. When he looked down in confusion, his entire face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

Damn it, who stripped me naked?