The Sword Goddess Killed Me, So I Came Back For Revenge

Chapter 10

He sat still on the bed and carefully checked his body. The first meridian was fully open and stable. A thin but clear flow of true qi now moved through it in a complete cycle. The small true qi pool under his Divine Martial Mark felt a little larger than before. Impurities had been forced out, and his blood felt cleaner.

Martial cultivation in this world was divided into four major realms: the Celadon Extreme Realm, the Glaucous Extreme Realm, the Azure Extreme Realm, and the Wisteria Extreme Realm. Each major realm was further split into several minor stages, early stage, middle stage, late stage, peak stage, and then higher levels of perfection.

Adrian was now at the early stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm.

In the early, middle, and late stages of the Celadon Extreme Realm, a cultivator focused on opening more meridians and using true qi to steadily strengthen the physical body. Every time a person advanced by one minor stage, their power increased by a clear margin. The body became tougher, the senses sharper, and the amount of true qi they could control grew larger.

The Seventh Young Master was already at the late stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm. At that level he could lift heavily with one hand and throw  more than ten feet away. That kind of strength made him stand far above ordinary people and even above most of the other young masters in the Vale Clan.

Adrian was still only at the early stage. The gap between them remained large. Yet the fact that he had reached this point in one night, with a weak body and only one bottle of medicine, already changed everything.

He wiped the sweat from his face and let out a long, quiet breath. The heavy smell of impurities still hung in the small room. Dark sweat had soaked through his clothes. His arms and legs felt sore, but underneath the soreness there was a new sense of strength that had never existed in this body before.

In his previous life he had stood at heights far beyond the Celadon Extreme Realm. Coming back to the very beginning felt strange, almost like learning to walk again. But the foundation he was building now was clean and solid. 

He closed his eyes once more and slowly circulated the thin stream of true qi according to the early part of the Nine Heavens Scripture. The energy moved more smoothly than before. The first meridian accepted it without resistance. Small blockages that had remained in other pathways began to loosen under the steady flow.

Most martial artists who reached the late stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm still had a long road ahead. 

When a person broke through from the late stage into the small extreme position of the Celadon Extreme Realm, their strength jumped sharply.

A martial artist at the small extreme position facing someone still stuck in the late stage was like an adult facing a child. The difference was that clear.

The medium position, great position, and great perfection were even more terrifying. The power they held was something ordinary people could not even imagine. Those levels were still far away from Adrian. He did not need to think about them yet.

Steady cultivation, one step at a time, was the only way to go further.

The Seventh Young Master had cultivated for eight full years and had only reached the late stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm. That level of progress could only be considered ordinary talent. He had also spent an entire year and four bottles of Bone Tempering Elixir  just to finish the bone cleansing and  flushing.

Adrian had completed the same step in a single night with only one bottle. That difference gave him real hope.

If the Eighth Young Master needed eight years to reach the late stage, Adrian believed he had a chance to reach it within two months. It would not be easy, but it was not impossible.

Two  months later would be the end-of-year assessment of the Vale Clan. Every young martial artist of the clan, direct disciples, side-branch young masters, and even some outer disciples with potential, would take part. The assessment tested the results of their cultivation over the past year.

In the Vale Clan, status, respect, and resources all came from strength. If you wanted better treatment, better living conditions, and more cultivation materials, you had to prove your power in front of everyone.

Adrian was still feeling the new flow of true qi moving through his first open meridian. His body was sore and covered in dried sweat, but underneath the tiredness there was a solid sense of progress.

He had entered the early stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm and that was only the beginning.

To reach the late stage in two months, he would need to open more meridians, expand his true qi pool, and steadily strengthen this weak body. The Nine Heavens Scripture would guide him. 

The white crystal that had helped him open the Divine Martial Mark might still hold more secrets. And the single bottle of Bone Tempering Elixir  had already done its work. From now on he would have to rely on his own effort and the experience from his previous life.

He thought about the Matriarch’s cold eyes and the Seventh Young Master’s mocking laughter. They had already decided he would fail. They expected him to remain a joke of the clan.

He would not cultivate only for himself. He would also fight for the dignity that belonged to him and to the woman who had stood by him when everyone else turned away. Cora had protected him, worried for him, and suffered humiliation because of his weakness. She deserved to lift her head again inside this clan.

If he could stand on the assessment stage two months from now at the late stage of the Celadon Extreme Realm, the looks directed at both of them would change.

Adrian slowly circulated the thin stream of true qi again. The pathway felt clearer than before. Small impurities continued to leave his body with each cycle. The true qi pool under his Divine Martial Mark was still small, but it was stable.

He planned his next steps carefully.

First, he would continue opening the remaining meridians one by one according to the early stages of the Nine Heavens Scripture. Each new meridian would allow more true qi to flow and would strengthen his physical body further.

Second, he would find ways to increase the size of his true qi pool. A larger pool meant more energy to use in both training and combat.

Third, he would temper his body every day. Even without expensive medicines, hard training combined with proper circulation of true qi could slowly change this frail frame.

There were no elders to guide him and no rich resources waiting for him but that did not matter. In his previous life he had walked through far more difficult situations. 

This time he started lower, but he carried memories and knowledge that no one else in this clan possessed.