Yinuo led Melody to the middle of the room, letting her sit cross-legged on the floor.
"Then, first, let's try and see if you can detect Qi. To make it easier for you, I'll be using my own Qi and passing it through your body. Focus on it and try to feel the flow."
Yinuo quickly explained as she walked behind Melody, kneeling on one knee, before placing both hands right on her shoulders. "I'll start. Focus."
Without even waiting for Melody's input, Yinuo began the drill.
She started to push her Qi into Melody's body, controlling it to go a full circle around all of her meridians, before returning.
"Ugh!" Melody groaned in pain.
It was obviously going to be painful, as her meridians weren't prepared to accept Qi yet, and Yinuo was forcefully passing her Qi through them, expanding the paths and leaving traces of Qi along the veins.
"Endure the pain and focus on feeling the flow of my Qi." Yinuo quickly reminded her.
Of course, Melody wouldn't magically be able to handle the pain just because Yinuo told her to. For the few minutes that followed that, Melody kept on groaning in pain, cold sweat falling down from her forehead, as she continued to undergo the training.
Fortunately, it wasn't in vain.
"So this is... Qi." Melody sighed, looking at both her hands while she was feeling the Qi flowing inside her body. "This feels weird. Like being able to feel your blood flow."
She was sure that it wasn't her blood flow, however, as it followed a complex path that wasn't possible for her blood to achieve. "I could feel several spots around that are tight, like it's blocking my Qi flow, what are those?"
"...!"
Yinuo was surprised by her innocent question. After all, she had just succeeded in feeling her Qi, but she already realized the existence of her meridians! 'It seems like her talent is greater than I thought. She'll definitely be worth teaching, for sure!'
Seeing the promising talent of Melody, Yinuo couldn't help but get excited.
"That blocked path is called the meridians. Once you reach certain stages, you couldn't go above without clearing them first."
This was supposed to be details learned at the Foundation Building Stage, but Melody already had the prerequisites to reach it. "All she needs now is enough Qi to refine her Meridians, and remove the impurities within her body."
Thinking so, they decided to move to the next stage of training immediately. However, just sitting down and not doing anything would be wasteful, so Yinuo suggested something outlandish.
"Come. Attack me from anywhere. While you do, try to be conscious of the flow of Qi inside you."
It was a little Spartan-style training, but Yinuo was convinced Melody could handle it. Although she hesitated at first, recalling how Yinuo's fist could fold solid metal with a casual punch, Melody's fear shifted to her own safety.
"Don't worry, I won't attack." As if reading her mind, Yinuo quickly explained.
Melody's eyes quivered for a short instant before a fire lit in her. She took a casual stance and, with a serious expression, she exclaimed. "Please enlighten me, Master!"
The familiar, and also nostalgic, word echoed inside Meng Yinuo's ears. How long was it when she was last called that way? She couldn't even remember the exact number of days anymore.
While she was lost in thought, a fist appeared before her face, causing her to flinch.
"...!"
*BAM!*
A resounding hit landed.
Melody's punch reached for Yinuo's face, but in the nick of time, managed to catch it with her hand. "That was a good one, but you weren't paying attention to your Qi. It's getting disturbed. Again!"
"Yes, Master!" Melody roared before taking half a step back and rotating, launching a round-house kick aiming for Yinuo's body.
Yinuo lifted her leg and paired it with her arm, absorbing the impact of the strike. It was just the second hit, but Yinuo could already tell that Melody's Qi was added to the attack!
'What frightening talent... Could it be, the legendary Martial God Constitution?'
If that was true, then she could only imagine how frightening the speed of her growth would be after going past the Qi Refinement Stage.
Melody kept on throwing attacks at Yinuo, while Yinuo kept her defense up at all times. With every attack, the Qi that Yinuo left inside Melody's body slowly became refined, flowing as naturally as a veteran cultivator's.
"Haaa.... Haaaaa... Ugh!"
However, it didn't come without a price. Melody's fatigue increased proportionally to the amount of Qi she added to her strikes. In short, after fifteen minutes of continuous attacks, she was already too tired to even stay standing.
"Alright, that should be enough." Yinuo closed her eyes as she finally relaxed. However, she wasn't spotless either.
Her arms, which blocked most of Melody's attacks, were already swollen from her elbow up to her wrist. 'I didn't think she could break through my defense in just ten minutes.'
Once again, she was reminded of how talented Quinlan was with cultivation. And now, seeing Melody's unbelievable talent, she began to think that everyone in in Quinlan's world had the same, if not more, talent in cultivation.
*Sigh*
Yinuo sat down on the spot, cross-legged, while motioning for Melody to do the same. Although she was confused for a moment, she quickly followed Yinuo's instructions and sat down. Rather, she was thankful for the opportunity to sit down, as she couldn't keep herself upright for long anymore.
"Now, you have a basic control over Qi," Yinuo explained. "I didn't expect you to reach this stage this fast, but well, congratulations."
"Uh? T-That... Uhm... Thanks." Melody scratched her blushing cheek, unsure what to say to Yinuo's praise.
"Then, let's go to the last part. Cultivation."
It wasn't only the most time-consuming part, it even required more than simple talent to master. Yinuo began to remind her of the lessons that afternoon, before delving into the more specific parts.
After getting a basic understanding of what to do, Melody closed her eyes and meditated. Yinuo did the same, closing her eyes and feeling the Qi in the surroundings.
The Qi in Quinlan's room was thin, however, so there wasn't much they could feel in the air. It could end up raising the hurdle for Melody, but Yinuo decided that it was within the margin of error.
"...!"
But far from what she expected, Melody's body started to absorb "all" the Qi in the room like a dry sponge absorbing water. The speed of absorption, and the speed of the Qi settling in Melody's lower dantian, was way faster than even the fastest disciple she had in the past.
"This is...!"
While Melody was concentrating, a glowing mark appeared on her forehead. It was a mysterious symbol, in the shape of a droplet of water, that shone with a bright blue color.
"Haha... How many worlds do you have to save in your past life to be this blessed...?"
Yinuo could only laugh as she saw the mark, a rare legendary symbol!