Abnormality
After sensing the amount of Spiritual Qi that was flowing throughout his standard meridians, Matthew easily managed to guess that it wouldn't be enough for all eight of the extraordinary vessels. After a quick estimation, he guessed that it would be enough for 5.
Thankfully, since out of the three Spiritual Qi Veins, this one was the smallest, Matthew knew that he would have more than enough Spiritual Qi to complete the Meridian Opening Realm.
The only question was what to do with the extra.
Matthew knew that he couldn't advance to the Qi Refining Realm yet because, in order to advance to the Qi Refining Realm, he would have to open up his dantian. However, if he were to open up a dantian with a simple, neutral strand of Spiritual Qi, Matthew would regret it for his entire life.
In Matthews's previous life, he had been an uneducated bumpkin who relied on his Divine Level talent to bulldoze through the cultivation realms. But as Matthew reached closer and closer to his maximum potential, he realized that he could've been so much more.
His foundation was constantly unstable, his cultivation techniques were low-tier at best, and the combat techniques he learned were worse. If it weren't for the fact that he dual cultivated both Soul and Qi Cultivation and the eight extraordinary vessels he cultivated, he would've been killed long before the Divine Lord Realm.
One of the many things he learned late was that when opening the dantian, the type of strand of Spiritual Qi you used was extremely important, as your dantian would use the first strand as it is used at the foundation. Any other strands of Spiritual Qi you absorb would then be slowly converted into your foundational strand.
For example, since Matthew used a basic neutral strand of Spiritual Qi to open his dantian, other types of Spiritual Qi he absorbed would be turned neutral.
Though it might not seem like much, imagine you came into the fight wielding a neutral Spiritual Qi while your opponent wielded Yang Qi. Even before the fight began, you'd be at a severe disadvantage. Neutral Spiritual Qi didn't give any disadvantages, but at the same time, it didn't give any advantages either, making it horrible.
Even some of the more harmful types, like Death Qi or Poison Qi, harmonized well with cultivation techniques of that nature.
(Note: The different types of Qi can be more than just elements. More complex ones will be introduced later, so don't limit your imagination!)
Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of his previous life, Matthew knew he should suppress his breakthrough until he found a strand of Spiritual Qi that suited him.
'I'll let them cultivate with the excess then. Though it's a little earlier than I planned, it should be fine.' Matthew thought.
Though John and Joann most likely won't be able to unclog all of their meridians and vessels before the Spiritual Qi rejuvenation, they would still be a step ahead of the rest of the Earth's population.
At the same time, inside Matthew's body, he's currently unclogging his first extraordinary vessel. So, though Matthew was in deep thought about his future steps, he was still able to multitask and do both at once.
Conception Vessel
Governing Vessel
Penetrating Vessel
Girdle Vessel
Yin linking vessel
After unclogging his fifth vessel, Matthew soon found that the amount of Spiritual Qi left in his body was minuscule, but instead of dispersing it, he held it in his Conception Vessel.
This was another trait of the eight extraordinary vessels. Not only did they add to and help the 12 standard meridians, but they also served as storage vessels for smaller amounts of Spiritual QI. Even though it wasn't comparable to the dantian, it was still able to hold a decent amount.
Opening his eyes, Matthew found himself covered in even more impurities than last time, but sadly, he couldn't wash them off this time as he still wasn't done with his cultivation session.
"JOHN JOANNE! Come here. I'm going to show you something!" Matthew yelled.
After hearing his shout, the twins didn't take long to arrive. But after seeing him covered in the black gunk again, they didn't dare go near him and stayed at the sliding door.
"Guys, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to sit next to me," Matthew said.
However, the two didn't move an inch and stayed still.
"Mat, what do you need us for?" John asked cautiously.
When Matthew first expelled the gunk from within him, it wasn't nearly as much as this, and it also smelled worse now. Last time, John almost passed out from the stink. If he came close now, he would pass out instantly.
"I'm going to let you both cultivate. If you don't come over, you'll have to wait another week." Matthew threatened.
Hearing the offer, the twins became conflicted, but after some struggle, they gave in.
Pinching her nose as tightly as she could. Joanne walked over to the stench-covered Matthew and sat down cross-legged on his left.
Though pinching her nose didn't block it completely, it was still able to help Joanne bear with the stench better.
John, mimicking her, went over and sat down on the right of Matthew.
"Now what?" Joanne asked in a nasally voice.
"I'm going to let you two start cultivating right now. I originally wasn't going to until I was a little more prepared, but my estimates were off, and now I have a decent amount of Spiritual Qi leftover. So I'm going to help you two start unclogging your meridians." Matthew explained.
"You mean we both have all of that stinky gunk in us as well?" John asked.
Nodding, Matthew explained, "Everyone on Earth has them. Only people in the Inner Region and beyond are born completely pure."
"Alright, no more questions. I hate this stench just as much as you two do. I'll explain how to cultivate first, then after I crush the Spiritual Qi Vein, follow the instructions I tell you."
After saying so, Matthew gave the two a crash course on their meridians, speaking about each of their functions, where they were positioned, and the route they took throughout the body.
In the end, though John and Joanne weren't experts, the amount of Spiritual Qi they would get today would only be enough to unclog three meridians. So Matthew told them to memorize just three instead of all 12.
After he told them which three to unclog, Matthew crushed the Spiritual Qi Vein, releasing the Spiritual Qi into the air. Then, forming some complex hand seals, Matthew managed to separate the Spiritual Qi released into three portions: 60% for him and 20% for each of the twins.
Absorbing his part, Matthew started to unclog his final three extraordinary vessels.
Yang Linking Vessel
Yin Heel Vessel
Yang Heel Vessel
Since it was his second time doing it, the process didn't take long, and after 10 minutes, Matthew was finished.
After unclogging his final extraordinary vessel, Matthew immediately felt pure. Standing up to test the immediate difference, Matthew jumped on the balls of his heels and realized that just with some light jumps, he was going almost 40 centimeters into the air. And his punches could now slash through the air, making almost sonic booms.
Finished gloating at the fact that he was now a peak-stage Meridian Opening Realm cultivator, Mathew looked over to his siblings and saw them visibly struggling.
Going to their sides, he put his hands on their backs and ran his finger along the meridians they needed to unclog.
Even though the two were completely new to the aspect of cultivation, with Matthew guiding them through it, they were able to unclog the first Greater Yin Hand Meridian, the Lesser Yin Hand Meridian, and the Faint Yin Hand Meridian.
At the end of it, all three siblings were covered in impurities that made them all want to puke. Not bothering to thank Matthew or ask questions, Joanne and John ran into the house to clean themselves.
Thankfully, the house had two showers, stopping a fight between the two about who would be about to get into the shower first.
Matthew, currently all alone in the backyard, scratched his head wryly. The two would have to unclog nine more standard meridians and eight even more extraordinary vessels. If John and Joanne couldn't handle the stench of just three, they were going to have a hard time with the rest of this realm.
However, now that he was alone, Matthew wanted to try something that he had just remembered.
Cultivation Talent levels in the Chaotic Universe had six tiers—Mortal, Earth, Heaven, Supreme, Divine, and Origin.
In his previous life, Matthew had two Divine Level talents in both Qi and Soul Cultivation. Because of that, he dual-cultivated them, as they were his most talented cultivation types.
Though his Body Refinement wasn't much worse at a Supreme Level Talent, since Body Refinement was known to be extremely costly, Matthew didn't go down that path.
So now that he had completed the first Realm of Qi Cultivation, Matthew thought he might as well start Soul Cultivation as well.
Soul Cultivation, out of the three, was seen to be the least useful. Even without cultivating it, the strength of a cultivator's soul would increase along with their cultivation path of choice. But it would never be at the same level as your main cultivation path.
If you were in the Palace Formation Realm, your soul would probably have just entered the Soul Embryo Realm. That was an entire three realm difference.
Moreover, even if you did have a decently strong soul because of your Qi or Body Refinement cultivation, it wouldn't gain any special tricks or characteristics. It would only become bigger and stronger without any substance.
Having your soul strength increase naturally alongside your Qi Cultivation was almost like gaining a bigger and bigger hammer.
The big hammer would be able to defeat most foes. But if you were to go against someone with an equally big hammer who also knew how to use the hammer, it would result in a complete defeat 10/10 times.
The first realm of Soul Cultivation was called the Soul Embryo Realm. This realm was to, as its name says, create an embryo-like cocoon around the soul to nourish and prepare it for the next realm.
Though it sounded simple, the first realm of Soul Cultivation had stumped countless prospective Soul Cultivators, forcing them to stop their Soul Cultivation journey before it even began.
The first step was to sense the soul. However, sensing the soul was extremely difficult. Making countless cultivators force themselves to wait until the Palace Formation Realm before they could cultivate their souls.
Thankfully, since Matthew had done it before, it barely took an instant to sense his soul, but just as he was going to form an embryo around it, something amazing happened.
Inside his soul, he could see something that wasn't supposed to be there.
"Isn't that the Nine-Ringed Divine Throne?" Matthew muttered in complete shock.
During his final battle before his death, he was in a fight with a man named the Black Abyss King in a secret realm. There, the two found a treasure that neither of them could identify or scan with their spiritual sense, which was something absurd, as both of them were peak-stage Divine Lords.
Even if they couldn't identify a treasure, they should at least be able to sweep their spiritual senses through it.
The only reason that something like that would happen is if the treasure was of a much higher rank than theirs. So overcome by both greed and the desire to silence their opponent, Matthew and the Black Abyss King fought.
Matthew would go on to lose that fight, but even though he still lost before he died, Matthew managed to refine the treasure. However, now that it was hiding in the depths of his soul, Matthew was beyond confused.
He never thought that the Nine-Ringed Divine Throne would follow him through time and stay within his dantian. But now that it had, Matthew didn't know what to do.
"It followed me all this way without doing anything to me, so it should be safe to inspect." Matthew consoled himself before deciding to investigate and probe it with his soul.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.
There is now a discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.
Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!