The moment Ekosus was back in his physical body, he felt his whole body start heating up at an alarming rate, accompanied by smoldering pain. It was bearable for Ekosus though, as he had felt far worse pain.
'Immortal Codex' Ekosus thought to himself as he gritted his teeth.
The next second, his brain felt like it exploded with information. Detailed maps of the human meridian system stormed his brain, and after he found the starting point for the first level of the Immortal Codex, he began to try and guide the energy flowing through his body.
He could feel two types of energies coursing through his body. One was seemingly operating on its own, circulating through his entire body, causing pain wherever it went.
'That must be the Essence of Creation.' Ekosus thought to himself before beginning to channel the other, static energy through his first blocked meridian.
From what he had been told by Keos, the human body had 99 major meridians.
The Immortal Codex, however, stated that there were actually a total of 99 major meridians, and 9 hidden meridians, coming to a total of 108 meridians.
Cultivating all 108 meridians would allow one to have a foundation far beyond normal Meridian Opening stage artists
That said, one needs to spend massive amounts of energy to unlock the latter 9 meridians.
Ekosus gathered the extremely pure Qi in his body into a large stream, and then sent it flying towards his first meridian. The previously closed meridian acted like it had been hit by a battering ram, and opened with no issue. The pure Primal Qi flowed through that meridian, widening it and nourishing it at the same time.
Not wasting any time, Ekosus started working on the next meridian, and like the one before it, it also opened with relative ease.
This continued until Ekosus had reached his 25th meridian. By that time, the Primal Qi had noticeably lost most of its force, and instead of opening the meridian with ease, it had to push against the closed meridian for some time before finally opening it.
'Kaiser told me to try and break through past the Meridian Opening stage in one go, but at this rate, I won't even be able to finish opening all 108 meridians before the Primal Qi runs dry!' Ekosus thought to himself.
"Kaiser, I thought you said I should try and break past the Meridian Opening stage, but it seems that I won't have enough Primal Qi to do so!" Ekosus exclaimed aloud.
"What do you mean not enough Primal Qi?! There was enough Qi for you to open all your meridians, and possibly enter the Skin Forging stage or higher! Let me take a look at your meridians and see if there is anything wrong with them." Kaiser said with disbelief .
A moment later, Ekosus could here Kaiser's resounding laugh echo throughout his mind.
"HAHA!! So that's why you're running out of Qi!! I never would have thought that a mortal would be so fortunate enough to be born with a set of Primal Chaos meridians! That explains why the previous owner of your body hadn't been able to reach the Meridian Opening stage! Primal Chaos meridians are the highest level of meridians in existence. Most people are born with Common or Uncommon rank meridians. Others can be lucky and be born with Earth or Heaven rank meridians. Very few are born with Divine or Supreme rank meridians, and practically no one is born with Primal Chaos rank meridians!" Kaiser explained with excitement.
"So Primal Chaos meridians are high on the list, but what advantages do they have?" Ekosus asked in confusion.
"Think of it like this, if the amount of Qi common rank meridians can channel through themselves were expressed as a 1, then the amount of Qi Primal Chaos meridians can channel through themselves would be 1000. That's oversimplifying it, but I'm sure you can get the gist. Their difference is like the difference between heaven and earth." Kaiser explained, still excited by this new found revelation.
"The only downside is that they take a massive amount of energy to open and use properly. I only injected you with a single wisp of Primal Essence because I didn't think you would be able to handle that much Primal Qi, but it appears my worries were not needed. The only thing is, your body can't handle large amounts of Essence of Creation at one time, at least not right now as it is. I can only inject you with about 4 more wisps of Primal Essence. Any more than that, and your body could explode from the Essence of Creation." Kaiser said.
"Alright! I'll let you know when I'm getting low on Qi, and you can inject more Primal Essence into me!" Ekosus said to Kaiser before again focusing on opening his meridians.
A few minutes pass, and he's at his 46th meridian, and he's unable to open it.
"Alright Kaiser, pass me some more Essence!" Ekosus said aloud
"Okay, but there's still some Essence of Creation left inside you, so we might have to stop if it keeps building up before you finish opening your meridians!" Kaiser said in a commanding tone before injecting Ekosus' soul with more Primal Essence.
Instantly, Ekosus felt his body start to heat up again, and began working on opening more meridians.
With the reinvigorated Primal Qi, he is able to swiftly open up another 30 meridians before the Qi was too weak to open more.
Kaiser added another wisp, and they started the process over again.
After about half an hour, he finally opens his 99th meridian, exhausting the last of the Primal Qi in the process.
"Alright, now I just need to open the last 9 hidden meridians and I'll have reached the true peak of the Meridian Opening stage!" Ekosus said with excitement
"Be prepared! The last 9 hidden meridians are much harder to open. I'm going to inject you with 2 wisps this time!" Kaiser spoke with a warning tone
The next instant, Ekosus felt his body temperature spike, making him feel like his blood was boiling. Steam was even rising from his forehead. He hurriedly started practicing the Immortal Codex, and sent a massive flow of Qi flying straight towards his 100th meridian.
The stream of Qi slammed into the meridian, and after a few moments of fighting, managed to open it.
The moment his 100th meridian opened, Ekosus felt an overwhelming sense of power rush through his body. All 99 meridians he had opened prior to this one grew a bit wider, and they all became more tough and resilient by a notch.
Not focusing on the changes his meridians were going through, Ekosus started work on his 101st meridian, repeating the same process as before.
A few moments pass, and his 101st meridian gave way, opening up like the ones before it, and like before, his prior meridians grow in size and in resilience.
This continues until he reached his final 108th meridian.
Thanks to the still powerful Primal Qi, after a few attempts at opening the meridian, it finally opens, and Primal Qi fills it to the brim.
The moment his 108th meridian opens, Ekosus is filled with an intense sense of euphoria that overshadows the pain he feels from the large amount of Essence of Creation flowing through his body.
All 108 of his meridians link together, forming a perfect pattern, and if you tried to compare them to their size from before he opened the 100th meridian, you would notice that they are twice their original size, and they glistened like diamonds.
Something unthinkable happens next though, the smoothly circulating Essence of Creation is sucked
into his meridians, freed from the control of Kaiser, stunning him in the process.
He immediately tries to regain control of the Essence, fearing that its strength would cause damage to his meridians. He stops an instant later though, as he is once again stunned when he realizes that instead of harming his meridians, the Essence is flowing through them as smoothly as butter, and is circulating at a far faster pace than it had been when he was in control of it, permeating every inch of Ekosus' body.
"Perfect Primal Chaos meridians really are something else." He says with a sigh, before going deep into thought.
Ekosus is oblivious to this new development, as he is still relishing in the euphoria brought on by opening his last meridian.
It isn't until an hour later, when all of the Essence is gone, and the euphoria fades, that he finally opens his eyes and rises from his bed.
"Well, how does it feel to be a peak Meridian Opening stage artist?" Kaiser asks Ekosus
Clenching his fist, Ekosus exclaims to Kaiser, "It's like nothing I've ever felt before. My muscles feel like they have so much power in them that it's insane!"
"That's because they do. You've taken your first step on the path of greatness, the path of shedding mortality, but don't get too happy. You're still nothing but an ant compared to most other cultivators" Kaiser said with mockery.
"Everyone had to start somewhere. Given time, I'm confident that I can grow my strength enough to make others think twice about ever getting in my way to the apex." Ekosus stated with a cold look in his eyes
"With your Primal Chaos meridians, me, and the Immortal Codex, you'd be the biggest failure in the world if you couldn't do what you have said." Kaiser said ridicule in his tone.
'Ashley... Anna... Wait for me!' Ekosus said to himself with an unyielding resolve in his eyes.