The spirit vapor began to swirl more aggressively as Fang Jian approached whatever vortex was inhaling the Water Qi in the air. Before too long, Fang Jian identified the source of the suction as one of the rare herbs on the herb bounty list he was given: the Nine Colored Serpent Grass! He did not know the use or application of the Nine Colored Serpent grass, but that did not diminish the wide smile that spread across his face- the Ten Colored Serpent Grass is worth fifty silvers!
Ten Colored Serpent Grass was a misnomer, it was actually a terrestrial pitcher plant that closely mimicked the appearance of the common yang serpent: Iridescent colors flashed up and down the petals of the plant and the flared leaf at the top of the pitcher closely resembles the hood of the yang serpent. Those who were experienced; either in flora or fauna, would not be fooled by the clever disguise, but demonized beasts, especially those with poor eyesight, would think twice before munching on the 'serpent' before it.
Fang Jian was unsure what step to take next: on the one hand, he could harvest the rare plant and immediately return to Heaven Shattering Pavilion; while on the other hand he could wait for the Nine Colored Serpent grass to absorb it's fill of the surrounding spirit vapor. If he harvested the plant now he would lose nothing, except if it absorbs enough water Qi, it could have a miraculous transformation, increasing it's value; if he waits to harvest the plant, a demonized beast or greedy immortal could be tempted by the same Qi fluctuations that attracted him- an ordinary man. He decided to trust in his luck and sat on crossed legs and focused his breathing to cultivate beside the rare herb.
Much as every time he cultivated prior, the prenatal qi within his meridians travelled incredibly slowly, as if it was unwilling to revolve and empower him, as if it would take thrice the effort to succeed compared to another man. Still he breathed in through his nose for a slow count of five, then exhaled through his mouth- trying to stimulate his lower dantian and force it to open.
Time moves strangely as one cultivates, in the blink of an eye on can spend months, years, or even decades sitting on the same mat, contemplating the same minutiae of the martial dao seeking revelation; or one could cultivate for an eternity, living the lives of generations- only to open your eyes and see the breeze has barely blown in the interim. Cultivation is impacted by the environment; certain places had more world energy than others, the fullest hour of the moon was dangerous for some cultivators, and spirit arrays could be used to change the cultivation potential. Fang Jian sat in soaked clothing as the moon rose to power, agitating the water qi essence within the spirit vapor and stimulating the nine colored serpent grass- this was the only boon of his inability to open his body dantian, the ambient yin origin force of the moonbeams could not enter him and poison his cultivation.
Before Fang Jian's prenatal qi could make a single revolution of his meridians, he was startled to consciousness by particularly violent qi fluctuations. The moon had already passed its zenith and the spirit vapor around him had been almost completely absorbed by the nine colored serpent grass. The herb was shaking violently, as if all the absorbed energy would soon cause it to explode. Cold sweat beaded on his brow as he began to regret allowing the little plant to gorge itself on world energy. He quickly reached out his hand to pluck the herb, which was now the size of his forearm. The moment his fingertip touched the herb he recoiled in pain, clutching his aching hand. From within the pitcher plant, a young yang serpent had lunged and bitten him. The serpent's one meter long body dangled from his hand as wave after wave of turbulent yang origin force was pumped into his body.
Desperately howling at the moon in pain, Fang Jian dropped to his knees and broke the neck of the serpent. Extracting its finger length fangs to allow his boiling blood to drip into the grass. His meridians were aflame as the invasive turbulent yang origin force flowed across them like the waters of a burst dam. His prenatal qi was swept up in the flood and carried along as the venomous pain spread deeper into his body. He pressed his thumb into his armpit, trying to delay the rampaging energy from reaching his heart.
"Engage your cultivation art! Are you a fool?"
Fang Jian forced his eyes open to reveal Luo Liwei examining the dead yang serpent and the, still engorged, nine colored serpent grass.
"You know I cannot cultivate, elder brother Luo- my body dantian never opened." Despite his response, Fang Jian had not hesitated to comply, he could not think of a better plan, after all.
"Your prenatal qi is too weak to force your dantian open- you've just been injected with pure yang origin force- use that to force your dantian open before that force burns away your meridians."
Jian steadied his breath and attempted to control the violently surging origin force. As wisps of yang force were slowly stripped away and combined with his prenatal qi, Fang Jian felt like a cicada bursting from its shell. The energy within his meridians moved faster than ever before, melting the impurities into flawless glass as the heat of the yang energy spiraled through his body. Luo Liwei watched on as the energy flowed across Fang Jian's twelve meridians, his experienced eye having no trouble tracing its path. In half the time it took a stick of incense to burn, the yang force had completed its first cycle of Fang Jian's body, but it did not find his body dantian! Luo Liwei frowned as he realized he may have been wrong- after all, how could the young man's meridians fail to deliver the energy to his own dantian? Before the old man could give up hope, he realized that the yang origin force was twisting along beside the first path it had taken.
"A blessing and a curse! You have double helix meridians! This doubles the length of your meridians; it makes it easier to purify and refine qi, but doubles the energy you need to complete a revolution of your qi cycle. Keep cultivating! You haven't even finished your first cycle yet!"
Luo Liwei jumped in celebration as Fang Jian quietly squirmed beside him from the pain of his burning meridians. Sweat no longer poured down his face, rather he looked desiccated and worn, as if his very bones had dried out. Frustration began to build within the young man. As much as he respected Luo Liwei, he could feel his body dying under the onslaught of energy. If this failed to open his dantian, he would die a painful death with no resolution. He would be doomed to wander the world as a ghost!
As the torrent of energy was nearly finished with its revolution, it once more crossed over where his body dantian should be. His shoulders slumped. His meridians were burning and his physique was wasted, and still his body dantian remained sealed. Luo Liwei stood, unmoving, beside him. How can the dantian still not open? With utmost focus he peered at the energy within Fang Jian, peering through the ball of hot energy focused in his hand, swirling through the twisting helix of his meridians, searching for the cause of his failure. The ball of energy was less than a half of a half of a half of the size it was initially, stretched thin around his long and twisting meridians. Fang continued to circulate the rampant qi, resolved to refine the poison rather than perish. It wasn't until the qi was over halfway around it's third revolution that Luo Liwei noticed the energy was slowly coiling between the two other spirals- it was the triple helix spirit array god body!
As a member of the Heavenly Dragon Turtle sect, Luo Liwei could not be one hundred percent sure this was the same special physique that Hidden Shadow sect had lost for millennia, but he was ninety- nine percent sure. He had been told stories of when Hidden Shadow sect was the pinnacle of Wu Gui. He could tell that Fang Jian was on the cusp of either immortality or death, but he could not step in to help- it would only increase the danger. Luo Liwei laughed to himself thinking about how Fang Jian had lived his life as a waste with no cultivation resources or guidance, all the while he possessed the sect's revered physique.
The spirit vapor had finally reached critical mass and began to wash Wu Gui clean with it's downpour. The nine colored serpent grass released a low whistle as it filled with water, slowly extending its flower to the sky. Luo Liwei quickly snatched the vibrant, purple flower and tucked it into his sleeve. It will not reduce the value or efficacy of the nine colored serpent grass, but it would certainly make the trip worth his time.
Luo Liwei could tell that Fang Jian only needed the rampant energy to travel three finger widths before it finally splashed against his dantian, but the energy was moving so slowly as to seem like it was not moving at all. The tense ball of yang energy had been refined and stretched to its limit, the impurities in his meridians had been burned away, but Fang Jian's vitality had been pushed beyond his limit and he would likely die before opening his body dantian.
Between the glistening droplets of pure water qi, lightning struck. Entering Fang Jian's body right between his eyes, this was night heavenly lightning, but a waking mortal practitioner's martial skill! Instantly, the lightning energy zapped around Fang Jian's glassy meridians- reawakening the dying fire that had burned them before completing his cultivation cycle and opening his body dantian. Fang Jian screamed again as the torrential prenatal qi within his body dantian stretched his meridians, merging with and exacerbating the inferno. The withered desiccation of his physique was quickly reversed as his body processed the inheritance his blood offered him.
He rolled on the ground, nearly crushing the nine colored serpent grass in the process- his body was on fire inside and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His long, well kept hair was a tangled mass of dirt and mud, his clothing was so wet and filthy that most would simply treat them as garbage, but the fire within raged. Luo Liwei had long departed, chasing whichever evil practitioner had attacked his young friend during his breakthrough.
The pain of Fang Jian's conflagrated meridians was unceasing, but his vitality had been recharged by the lightning blast. Slowly and painfully he stood and collected the nine colored serpent grass. When he plucked the herb from the ground, three small water qi essence stones tumbled from the tear left by the yang serpent. While he was too weary to celebrate, Fang Jian smiled, it seemed that accepting the constant pain of his burning meridians seemed to reduce its impact.
"Unique experience indeed." Fang Jian, still smiling, turned to Heaven Shattering pavilion, a practitioner of the martial dao. He was exhausted as he stumbled home; his meridians conflagrated and a nine sided star brand on his forehead where the lightning had struck him, but a practitioner nonetheless.