I had thought that the pain from the first stage of my body tempering was bad, but what I was feeling now was a whole new world of pain. I could not even scream in agony as my body had completely locked up. This was all because of the first stage of the new Sol's awakening technique.
Unlike normal Qi gathering techniques, this manual contains ten levels starting from the hardest. This level is basically a continuation of the body tempering stage as it requires you to change your meridians. The change itself involves changing all the meridians in your body to one level higher excluding cores as they are the highest level there is. This also meant that the body needed to replace all the collateral meridians that are no longer there.
If we follow the normal ratio of collateral meridians, than I would end up having over two and a half thousand collateral meridians that are all currently being formed in my body. Thankfully the way I set up the technique makes this process completely automated once started. The only problem is that it can not be stopped.
The speed of the change and formation of meridians is dependent on how fast your body can naturally gather QI. So if I did not practice my body tempering technique, I would not be able to survive the process from the amount of pain I was feeling. I was not even able to fall unconscious as the technique made sure you stayed awake the entire time. This was in case of the technique going awry and you needing to fix it.
Of course, as this happened Lou Xia was able catch on to something being wrong when my body locked up and I did not move at all. Apparently I did not even seem to be breathing. I could tell all of this because Lou Xia started freaking out and trying to get as much help as she could.
Eventually Raina came over and placed her hand on my back. She then sent a tendril of Qi to search around my body and meridians very quickly finding the cause to my problem. Unlike what I expected though, she removed the tendril of Qi and got up to move around in front of me. The look she gave me was filled with both disappointment and a simmering rage to such a degree, I knew that I should never do that again.
She then went to pick up the manual which was still laying on the ground in front of me. Wanting to at least partially make up for my mistake I attempt to pull the first volume, Terras Awakening, out of my inventory right above the second volume. This was something I have never tried before as I was always using my hands to grab something out. Thankfully it worked and the technique appeared in mid air before falling to the ground.
Seeing the second book, Raina lifted an eye brow before picking both books up. Watching as it was the only thing I could do, she opens the first volume and began to read through it. As she was reading I was able to see her expression changed from a mild interest to one of shock and fascination. She kept reading the whole thing for a few minutes flipping faster than I was able to make out the words on the pages. When she was done she seemed to be a little disappointed before she opened the second volume and started reading.
The same situation occurred and she soon finished. This time though, she flipped back to the first page and started to read through the part I was on again.
When she finished reading through that part a few times more, she put the books in her storage bracelet and walked behind me again. Placing her hands on my back she guided some of her Qi into my body checking on every part. Thankfully with the process mostly automated and my body tempering technique guiding the growth, there was nothing that went wrong.
What Raina did do though was help in making the almost non existent compared to earlier. If she was not holding on to my back, I may have fallen to the ground. I then closed my eyes and soon fell asleep as I was not able to hold onto my consciousness anymore.
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(Raina POV)
This little fox did something even more ridiculous than last time. First she breaks the currently known record for how fast some could go through body tempering, and now she is using a technique that can increase the amount of meridians in her body by almost ten times. She also changed the way that the brain and heart meridians are classified making them cores like the dantian. And if that was not enough, she managed to change the sub core meridian for a beast-kin's tail's into a full core.
The only part about this that makes this even a little better is that the only way to cultivate this technique is by cultivating the subsequent body tempering technique. Though to someone of my level that knows certain secrets, that's not much of an issue. It is just that at my level, there needs to be more of an incentive to give up everything we have worked for up until this point. However, this would not stop the random idiots that think the can handle this from trying the technique without using the body tempering technique.
Putting that aside, the pain little Vale was feeling was from her meridians so I used an old wood technique I learned and helped her with relieving the pain. What shocked me again though, was when she fell asleep after having the pain removed and her technique still kept going. Checking over the technique again in my head, I found a part that I over looked before that would make this entire process automated. This meant that as long as I applied this technique, she would sleep through the rest of the process.
Checking my Qi reserves I find that the amount I was using was above what I thought it would have taken. It was even growing every second. Tracking the path to find out why so much Qi is being used, I find that the more meridians someone has, the more Qi it takes to fuel the technique. This was going to become a problem as time went on.
At this moment I remembered about the lesson's on improving cultivation techniques Vale had given everyone, so I tried remembering the exact wording and method of the current technique I was using. Even if it was not a cultivation technique I might be able to apply some of the lessons. Going through it I find that it is fairly hard to apply what I learned here but I still press on. Soon I am modifying some of the structures and Qi patterns before I am presented with a improved version of the technique.
Modifying what I am doing with Vale. I start using less Qi only targeting affected areas where new meridians are forming, and she does not seem to react at all. This works wonders and even seems to help speed up the process a little. About half an hour later Vale is resting on my lap in the shrine and the process is finished.
The effects of this are still plain to see for any cultivator. To a normal person nothing would be different, but for those that have already finished body tempering. The gradual spinning of Qi around Vale like it is a miniature galaxy with her at the center is obvious to all, and this is when she is not cultivating. When she does start, I have a feeling the entire Sect is going to feel it.
The worst part about this, is that unlike everyone else would think, she is not going to be able to shot though the levels. Her technique makes it so that she treats all her cores as a dantian, and they all need to be at the same level. So unlike others she would take four times as long to finish the Qi gathering stage if they had the same amount of meridians. Now if you compared her t a normal person, she would still be almost three times faster.
Thankfully it would still take her a few months of cultivation to reach the peak of Qi gathering, otherwise, I would have to forcefully restrain her.
I am pulled out of my train of thought when she squeezes down on my leg and curls up into a ball. Placing a hand on her head I use an old technique I needed for myself after the war and she relaxed.
Picking her up I take her back to the room so that she can rest on the bed and I can take care of her fluffy tail.
No good Kitsune is complete without a fluffy tail.