Chapter 10 – Opening Meridians

Lin Yue pressed the spirit stone against her navel. A faint tingle spread across her skin, like static before a storm. Heat radiated from the crystal—pleasant at first, then increasingly uncomfortable. The sensation reminded her of touching a car that had sat too long in the sun.

“This is stupid.” Lin Yue shifted the stone against her stomach. “I feel like an idiot pressing a rock into my gut.”

Shadow coiled through the air above her head. “You need to focus. Open yourself to the energy. I can’t help if you don’t break the dantian free.”

“Open myself? What mystical bullshit.” Lin Yue clenched her jaw until copper flooded her mouth. The stone’s edge dug deeper into her flesh, sharp enough to leave marks.

Pressure built beneath her skin. The same crushing weight from the demon market returned, squeezing her insides like a giant’s fist. Each breath became a battle against the mounting force.

A wet pop echoed through her core. Lin Yue’s eyes widened. Fuck, did I just impale myself with a rock?

Fire erupted in her belly. Not the gentle warmth of soup or tea—but molten metal poured directly into her guts. Lin Yue snatched the pillow and buried her face into the rough fabric. Her screams filled the thin cushion as her back arched off the bed. Every muscle seized. Her legs kicked against the mattress in a desperate dance.

Warmth spread down her thighs. The acrid smell of urine filled the air as her bladder gave out. The spirit stone vanished completely, leaving no wound despite the inferno raging inside her.

She clutched her stomach and writhed. The liquid fire burned where her core should be, searing through flesh and bone with relentless intensity.

“That looks exceptionally painful.” Shadow drifted closer, his serpentine form casting no shadow on the sweat-soaked sheets.

She thrashed against the mattress. “Do something, you useless fucking parasite!”

“Fascinating. You’ve located your dantian.” Shadow’s clinical tone made Lin Yue want to strangle him. “Let me take a closer look.”

The shadowy form dove straight into her abdomen. The burning sensation intensified where his ethereal scales touched.

Lin Yue squeezed her eyes shut. Make it stop. Just make it stop.

“Focus on your core.” Shadow’s whisper tickled her ear. “That burning pit is your dantian. The power has nowhere to go—it’ll consume you from within. Death comes soon.”

The words struck deep. She believed him. The inferno raged stronger, threatening to reduce her organs to ash. Tendrils of energy swirled outward from the burning core in her belly, reaching through her flesh like searching fingers.

“Find the meridian.” Shadow’s voice turned urgent. “Look for the knot. You need the second stone.”

Lin Yue grabbed another spirit stone with trembling fingers. She closed her eyes and tried to track the wandering tendrils, fighting to ignore the scorching pit at her center.

The energy tendrils writhed from her dantian like octopus arms. One brushed against something solid—a knot of resistance that felt like stone beneath silk.

“There it is.” Shadow’s words echoed through her burning core.

The tendrils snapped back, leaving emptiness where Shadow’s presence had filled her. She gasped at the sudden withdrawal. The burning intensified without his guidance.

How do I reach that knot? Death loomed closer with each breath. She needed to act.

Lin Yue pictured a garden hose in her mind—something simple. The mental image helped focus her scattered thoughts through the pain. She imagined grabbing that spiritual tendril and pulling it toward the blockage, just like dragging a hose across a lawn.

Shadow’s manic laughter filled the room. His serpentine form spun in delighted circles above the bed. She ignored his theatrics and concentrated harder.

The hose refused to penetrate the hard knot. Each attempt felt like trying to thread a needle with a rope.

“Spirit stone!” Shadow’s excitement peaked.

Lin Yue pressed the spirit stone against her navel again. Fresh heat flooded through her system, amplifying the inferno. The imagined hose pressed harder against the hardened meridian, energy building like water pressure behind a clog. The blockage remained stubborn, refusing to yield.

A needle. The thought sparked through her pain-addled mind. She reshaped her mental construct, transforming the ineffective hose into a thin steel needle trailing golden thread. The needle struck true, piercing the crystallized barrier.

Cracks spider-webbed from the puncture point. Energy surged through the opening, shattering the blockage like glass. Power rushed through the newly cleared channel. The overwhelming heat diminished to a bearable burn, though each breath still scorched her lungs.

“Excellent work, newbie.” Shadow’s serpentine form twisted above her. “Now connect it back to your dantian.”

Lin Yue’s skull threatened to split as she fought to maintain focus. Sweat drenched her clothes while she guided the energy flow back toward her core. The connection snapped into place with an internal lurch that made her stomach flip.

The endless pit of agony transformed into a river of molten power that ebbed and flowed with each labored breath. The change brought little comfort—her insides still felt like they’d been doused in boiling oil.

“Ten more spirit stones to go!” Shadow’s enthusiasm grated against Lin Yue’s nerves. “And don’t you dare pass out? You’re not safe yet.”

Shadow bared his ethereal fangs in what might have been a smile. “Instead of dying in minutes, you’ve bought yourself a few hours. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Each breath required concentration as she fought to maintain control over the burning current inside her.

No room to breathe… She reached out with her thread and needle, probing for another blockage. There were plenty of pebbles to run into, but she had to find another thick knot.

Time lost its meaning until she slammed into it by accident.

She pushed her spiritual needle through the rock hard shell. The crystallized barrier shattered, sending fresh waves of burning qi coursing through her system. Her new meridian drank from the raging inferno as she added it to the loop. The intensity of everything diminished.

Shadow’s ethereal form twisted through her spiritual landscape like smoke through branches, hijacking the splintered material to highlight pathways she couldn’t feel.

“Here.” Shadow’s tendril traced a deep channel that branched from her core. “This river needs opening next.”

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Lin Yue gritted her teeth and drove her consciousness forward. The needle pierced true, cracking another barrier. Sweat soaked through her robes as she guided the flow back to her dantian.

She repeated the dance over and over.

Each time, it was easier.

Each time, it felt less like she was going to die.

When she punched open the fifth major meridian along with the four major paths, it felt like heated water from a faucet for cleaning dishes was tumbling through her.

Uncomfortable, but something that wasn’t going to kill her.

“Three stones left.” Lin Yue clutched another spirit stone. “You said five meridians and their paths. What’re the last three for?”

Shadow spun through the air, his laughter echoing off the inn’s walls. “Done? You think you’re done? That was just the core framework, little cultivator. Dozens of smaller meridians still need opening.”

“What?” Lin Yue squeezed the spirit stone until her knuckles turned white.

“Look here.” Shadow’s spirit condensed inside of her. A pinpoint of pressure indicated another blockage—tiny compared to the main channels.

Lin Yue pressed the stone against her navel and directed a thin stream of qi. The smaller point burst open with a sharp sting, like a needle prick compared to the earlier agony. The energy settled without needing constant attention.

“At least these don’t need babysitting.” Lin Yue targeted another minor meridian.

Five minor points were cleared with one stone. Six with the next. Each release sent fresh sparks of pain through her system, but nothing compared to the initial meridians. The last spirit stone crumbled to dust between her fingers.

Lin Yue traced the web of blocked meridians through her spiritual awareness. Dozens of crystallized points dotted her inner landscape like stars in a night sky.

“What about all these?” Lin Yue directed her focus toward the remaining blockages.

Shadow coiled through the air in lazy loops. “Leave them. Your pathways burn raw from the forced opening—like someone took sandpaper to your insides. Healing comes first.”

“Also...” Shadow paused mid-loop. “You’re about to suffocate.”

Lin Yue blinked her eyes open. Thick, black oil coated her face in a suffocating layer. The tar-like substance clung to her mouth, nose, and eyes. It soaked through her robes and spread across the bed in greasy pools.

The putrid stench hit her—rotting meat mixed with sewage. Her stomach heaved. Bile rose in her throat, threatening to add to the horrific mess.

Shadow’s ethereal form darted around her body. Each pass through her flesh swept away layers of the black filth. He spiraled faster, gathering the disgusting substance into his serpentine form until the last traces vanished from her skin and clothes. Then he gathered what had found its way onto the bed and floor.

The shadow dragon floated onto his back, patting his belly with his tail. A loud burp echoed through the room.

“Now that’s what I call a proper meal.” Shadow stretched mid-air.

“The fuck...” Lin Yue whispered. Exhaustion drained the venom from her words, leaving only hollow confusion behind.

She sprawled across the sweat-soaked sheets, each breath sending ripples of burning qi through her system. The spiritual energy pulsed erratically, grinding against her channels like sand in machinery.

No mystical enlightenment flooded her mind. No divine understanding opened the secrets of the universe. Just pain, exhaustion, and the constant awareness of power scraping through her newly opened channels and bits of whatever formed them crumbling away to join the flow.

“Why do I feel like death warmed over?” Lin Yue pressed a hand against her burning core. “Aren’t cultivators supposed to be stronger?”

Shadow drifted closer, his ethereal scales catching non-existent light. “You didn’t exactly take the scenic route to power. Most cultivators spend years in meditation, gradually opening their meridians through enlightened self-reflection. Others use magical pills or blessed techniques.”

He swirled around her head. “You? You just shoved burning metal through your spiritual system and blasted holes in the dam. The energy flows, but it’s messy—like trying to irrigate a field with spark powder instead of proper channels.”

“But did it work?” Lin Yue clenched her jaw against another wave of burning pressure. “Or am I just dying slower?”

Shadow spun lazy circles above the bed before freezing mid-loop. “You’ll survive. The energy from the spirit shards should sustain you for now, and I have more souls in reserve.” His serpentine form twisted into a tight coil. “Though depending on how quickly you learn the Sable Script, we’ll need to go hunting again soon.”

Of course, that’s his answer. Lin Yue tracked Shadow’s movements through half-closed eyes. Any excuse for more souls.

Something about what he said made her frown. The spirit stones would sustain her? She took a breath and focused on the hot pot of her dantian. It was nearly full.

It being overfilled was what had burned her, and now it was trickling down as she breathed? “So I’m losing energy over time?” she asked.

Shadow barked a laugh. “Of course you are! You didn’t think there was free energy in the air in Big City, did you? This isn’t some cushy realm where you can simply exist and get power. Unless you’re part of a sect and breathe near a point of power, you’ll be feeding the world around you with every breath!”

Fuck…

She stared at the clean sheets, grateful Shadow had devoured the black filth before it could seep into the mattress. The innkeeper would’ve thrown them out for destroying the bedding.

She reached out and collected the leather-bound manual: ‘ The Sable Script Manual: Lin Yue ’ was embossed in dark characters across the cover. She traced the letters with her fingertips before attempting to open it. The cover remained sealed tight, like pages fused together.

“What the hell?” Lin Yue tugged harder at the binding.

“The ink.” Shadow floated near her shoulder. “Use the ink.”

Lin Yue blinked. The red ink? She pushed up her sleeve, revealing the crimson mark Master Yan had branded into her skin. The symbol pulsed as she pressed it against the manual’s cover.

The book fell open without resistance.

“So this obedience mark doubles as a key?” Lin Yue flipped through the first pages, scanning the text about meridian opening. The detailed diagrams matched what she’d just experienced—from the initial burning sensation to the proper flow of energy through opened channels.

The next section outlined organ refinement, followed by strengthening a person’s skin. An entire section detailed how to refine the ‘immortal’ bones. Each page described increasingly complex methods for gathering and controlling qi.

Her eyes blurred as she tried to absorb the information. The words swam across the page while exhaustion crept through her system.

“Too much.” Lin Yue dropped her head back against the headboard. Exhaustion pulled at her consciousness like an eager child tugging a sleeve. But she needed to check one last thing before giving in.

She thumbed through the manual’s last pages before they went blank. The paper crackled beneath her fingers until a bold heading caught her attention: ‘Soul Binding Law.’

The text detailed an intricate technique for binding weaker spirits and mortals into permanent servitude. The process required integrating their souls directly into the cultivator’s spiritual network—a method that ensured absolute obedience through metaphysical chains.

Ice spread through Lin Yue’s veins as understanding dawned. Master Yan expected her to bind Xue into a puppet.

The price of bringing Xue with her meant taking her soul. Yue frowned. She didn’t even fully understand all the ramifications of that.

Blackspire Pavilion. Lin Yue stared at the manual’s crimson markings. The name felt ominous. Shadow might know more about the sect, but that question could wait.

Lin Yue glanced toward the window. Two paths stretched before them—she could seek an orphanage, some haven where Xue might grow up normal. Maybe with enough threats, coin, and her new power, she could actually do it, too.

Or she could drag the child into a world of soul-stealing cultivators and demonic arts.

The choice weighed heavy: abandon her to chance, or chain her soul forever?