Michael waited until they had finished processing the herbs for the day before approaching Elena. He knew that his suggestion might catch her off guard, so he tried to keep his tone as casual as possible.
"Elena, I was thinking," Michael said, his eyes fixed on hers. "Since we have some free time, I was wondering if I could inspect your meridians?"
Elena looked surprised for a moment, where was this coming from? She thought back to their conversation last night. 'Maybe he's taking pity over me for being crippled'.
"I appreciate your concern Michael but I've already accepted the fact that I won't be able to cultivate" she shook her head dismissively.
Michael was a little taken aback but persisted "If you've given up then there should be no harm with me inspecting them right?"
'Why is he so persistent?' Elena thought briefly. 'I guess there's no harm in letting him try'.
"Okay, but don't you have to be a cultivator to inspect someone else's meridians?"
"Ah, yes let's go to our quarters. I'll make a quick breakthrough and then inspect your meridians." Michael said while giving a 'move-along' gesture.
They quickly arrived at their quarters and Michael prompted Elena to sit down and wait a while. He sat down on his bed and quickly entered a meditative state, within no time he began to glow with a faint orange light.
In the span of 5 minutes, he had already completed 5 full circulations with the Qi he had absorbed. With the movements of an experienced cultivator, he directed his Qi and broke the barrier protecting his Dantian, stepping into the 1st level of Qi condensation.
Elena watched on in disbelief, if anyone were to see the ease in which Michael broke through, they would be shocked. Making it look as easy as breathing, making a breakthrough within 5 minutes, and becoming a cultivator.
'I guess everything he said was true' Elena thought to herself 'This is clearly not his first time becoming a cultivator.
After making his breakthrough Michael let out a breath of turbid air. He wiped his forehead and looked over at Elena who was sitting patiently. "Sorry for making you wait" he said.
'Wait your head! I couldn't have even brewed a decent tea in the time you took to breakthrough' she thought furiously.
"Okay I'm ready" he jumped off the bed and asked, "please sit on the ground in a comfortable position."
Elena did as she was directed, sitting down with her legs crossed and facing her back toward Michael. "Do I need to do anything?" She asked.
Michael shook his head "No it's fine, just sit still for a while."
'Archie, are we all set?' Michael asked.
'Good to go Master, put the pendant in your hand and place your palm on her back. I'll be able to enter her body from there.' Archie replied.
Michael took a seat behind Elena and took the Eternal Pendant into his hand. Seeing her hair splayed lightly on her back he hesitated slightly. He didn't know why, but he was really hoping with all his heart that she would have the Tyrannical Dragon meridians. Despite only knowing Elena for little more than 2 days, he felt as if she were a good friend already.
Perhaps it was because she was the only person beside himself and Archie that knew of his affliction, or perhaps there was another reason. He suddenly felt bad that he had told someone else before telling his sworn brother Jason.
Vowing to himself to tell his brother next time he saw him, he resolutely put his palm containing the pendant against Elena's back causing her to shiver slightly.
As soon as the pendant made contact, Archie separated himself and entered Elena's body. The first thing that struck him by surprise was the sheer thickness of the meridians. They were unlike any he had ever seen before, pulsing with a dark energy that seemed to emanate from deep within her core.
Archie travelled along the meridians, inspecting every nook and cranny. He could feel the power flowing through them, raw and untamed. 'No wonder she couldn't gather Qi' Archie thought. 'The pure thickness of her meridians wouldn't allow her to house any Qi that's not dense enough to penetrate them'.
After what seemed like an eternity, Archie finally reached the end of the meridians. He emerged from Elena's body, making his way back into the Eternal Pendant.
'Well?' Michael asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
Archie took a deep breath and spoke. 'She has them,' he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Michael let out a whoop of joy, jumping up from behind Elena. "Yes! I knew it!" he exclaimed, his face beaming with excitement.
Elena turned around to face him, a look of confusion on her face. "What's going on?" she asked.
Michael couldn't contain his excitement any longer. "You aren't crippled… You have the Tyrannical Dragon meridians!" he exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.
Elena's eyes widened in shock. "What? Tyrannical Dragon meridians? Not crippled?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Michael nodded fervently. "Yes! I'm positive! Your meridians are unlike anything I've ever seen before. They're so thick and powerful. Whoever checked them last time must have thought they were solidified and labelled you a cripple."
Elena couldn't believe it. All her life, she had been told that she was destined to be a cripple, that she would never be able to cultivate. And yet, here was Michael, telling her that she wasn't. Some guy that she met out of coincidence seemed to have the answer to her lifelong dream.
A smile slowly spread across her face, and for the first time in a long time, she felt hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, she could overcome her disability and become a cultivator.
Against her better judgement she decided to trust in Michael, despite not having any concrete reason to do so. "Thank you, Michael," she said, her voice filled with gratitude. "Thank you for giving me hope."
Michael grinned widely, it was almost as if he were the one with the Tyrannical Dragon meridians. "No worries!"
"So how do I cultivate then?" she asked.
"Ah. One moment, let me think" he said awkwardly. He was so excited that the seemingly impossible likelihood of Elena having the Tyrannical Dragon meridians came true that he forgot to ask Archie for a solution.
'Archie how do we get her to cultivate?' he said hurriedly.
Archie had caught his breath and was listening Michael convey the good news. 'It's difficult' he said, contemplating deeply.
Elena watched as Michael went quiet, she started to doubt if he knew what he was doing.
'Hurry up man, she's going to think I'm lying soon' Michael urged.
Archie harrumphed 'I'd like to see you try and come up with a solution out of thin air.' He continued to think before saying 'I think we'll have to inject a pure and dense stream of Qi directly into her meridians.'
'And how do we do that?' Michael asked.
'I know an alchemy recipe for an ancient Qi-Boosting pill. We'll have to get the ingredients, refine the pill and then inject it directly into her meridians.' Archie replied.
'Refine a pill, gather ingredients, AND inject it into her meridians? How the hell are we going to do that? I don't know how to refine pills, and I sure as hell have never injected Qi into another person's meridians before' Michael almost choked after hearing the "solution" Archie came up with.
'Not to mention that we can't involve anyone else without them thinking we're crazy' Michael continued.
"Is it too difficult?" Elena said softly. She was worried that Michael did not have the means to help, even after declaring she had the Tyrannical Dragon meridians.
Michael smiled wryly "Do you know how to refine pills?" he replied.
Taken aback, Elena replied "I have never refined a pill before because I'm not a cultivator, but I have helped Master Shen refine before and know most tier-1 pills." She said confidently.
"Oh, well that makes things easier. I have an ancient pill recipe that requires some not rare, but old ingredients, however it should still class as tier-1 pill." Michael responded happily.
"I'll give you the list tomorrow, it may take a while but we should be able to start you on the road to cultivating" He said with a smile.
"Thank you, Michael, I don't know how to repay you." Elena almost teared up, thinking about fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a cultivator and pursuing alchemy.
"It's fine, what are friends for right?"