Immortals of the End Times

Chapter 24: The Late Emperor's Concubines, the Twelve Meridians

The art of communicating with spirits is extremely powerful, and it is invincible in deterring ghosts and understanding their weaknesses.

Moreover, Zhao Wuji's own soul was also powerful, and he was already familiar with the state of spiritual travel, so he was not afraid of ordinary demons and monsters.

At that moment, he unleashed a sharp shout using his Netherworld Connection Technique.

The spell's effect instantly startled the woman, who appeared to be a ghost in the dream, causing her figure to fade and disappear.

She hadn't expected that this young man was as if he were dreaming while awake, possessing a powerful spirit, and remaining so clear-headed and calm in the face of her dream.

If an ordinary person were to be frightened by her entering their dream like this, they would be so shaken and terrified that their soul would leave their body and they would be at her mercy.

She immediately covered her face and cried, saying, "My lord, I am Zhang Lianmeng, a concubine of Emperor Chengyan."

I was murdered by a villain. After my death, I was further schemed against and used by the treacherous officials of the Imperial Observatory and the vile woman of the Jiaofang Palace. They suppressed me under the Yunyu Pond, accumulating Yin energy.

"I am truly unwilling to accept this! I beg you, my lord, to do me justice!"

"Emperor Chengyan? You were one of the concubines from the previous dynasty?"

Zhao Wuji was secretly alarmed. He secretly used his Netherworld Insight Technique to observe and understand the other party's intentions and weaknesses while communicating with him.

It turns out that the concubine appeared in his dream to ask him to move the water-suppressing beast and jade tablet at the bottom of the pool, so as to help his soul be freed.

Judging from the memories in the other person's soul obtained through the technique of communicating with the spirit, this concubine was indeed drowned in the cold palace in her early years.

Therefore, it harbored a lot of resentment, but was ultimately used as material to refine Yin Sha magical artifacts.

This concubine was very unwilling, but powerless to extricate herself.

For most of the time, she was in a state of resentment and confusion.

Sometimes, on the night of a full moon, they would entice people to fall into the Cloud Jade Pool, hoping to use the power of others to break through the magical artifacts set up by the Imperial Observatory at the bottom of the pool and thus escape.

The incident of Consort Yi falling into the water in the Cold Palace, and the subsequent accidental fall of Protector Xu of the Supreme Sect into the Jade Pool after finding the sacred artifact, where he hid the small bowl of the sacred artifact in the pool, were all orchestrated by his bewitching power.

"This woman is no pushover either. Fortunately, she's only entangled with my resentful spirit, appearing in my dreams while I'm awake, but she hasn't succeeded in bewitching me, so she doesn't know who I am."

"On the contrary, I have already figured out her weaknesses."

Zhao Wuji gradually relaxed.

Human astonishment and fear often stem from the unknown.

But now, he has used the technique of spiritual insight to understand the situation in the other party's memories and thoughts.

They even figured out the opponent's weakness: his true remains, located in the Purple Bamboo Grove west of Jingqing Palace.

In this way, he was in an invincible position.

"Consort Zhang, you should return now. The people who are suppressing you are too powerful. I am but a humble person and have no power to help you."

Zhao Wuji ignored Zhang Lianmeng's pleas and refused outright.

There are no innocent people in the palace; it's not just about who is weak or pitiful.

Seeing that Zhang Lianmeng was still relentless and refused to back down, Zhao Wuji coldly shouted.

With the aid of the Netherworld Technique, the soul fire in his eyes blazed like blinding torches, radiating power and piercing the opponent's soul.

"Get out!"

The powerful magic instantly terrified the opponent, causing the cube to dissipate. With a cry of surprise, it vanished completely.

Zhao Wuji woke up with a start and found that the candle on the table beside him had already gone out, and the sky outside was beginning to lighten, it was almost dawn.

At the same time, the fourth set of tadpole-shaped characters on the first Yin Pearl in the sea of ​​consciousness also became a little brighter.

"Strange. A ghost appearing in a dream, could it be the Dream-Marrying Technique within the Earthly Fiend Arts?"

Zhao Wuji was somewhat surprised, then shook his head with a sigh.

Since he came into contact with the Immortal Path, he has been able to unleash the Earthly Fiend Technique at an increasingly faster pace.

The art of refining the Golden Jade Pill can unlock the secrets of its ingestion;
The sacred bowl can unleash unknown earthly evil techniques.

Now it seems that the art of marriage has been triggered again.

However, some difficulties still need to be overcome before these spells can be fully deciphered.

He never expected that simply absorbing some yin energy would attract this female ghost into his dream.

"Indeed, greed is a fire in the heart that can set you ablaze."

Zhao Wuji reflected on his actions and became more vigilant. He got up, walked to the table, ground ink, picked up a brush, and wrote the "Tianpeng Mantra" on the table to calm his mind and cultivate his character.

After copying it several times, he picked up "A Rough Explanation of the Inscriptions on Bronze Vessels of the Zhou Dynasty" from the bookshelf next to him and began to analyze and interpret it.

As he deciphered more and more words and phrases, he gained even more insights.

His proficiency in the Spirit Communication Technique has improved again, reaching the level of a beginner (91/100).

Before I knew it, it was already broad daylight outside.

Writing, reading, and studying techniques are just like his daily routine of seeing patients, administering acupuncture, and refining elixirs.

Zhao Wuji had completely calmed down. Looking at the words written on the table, he clapped his hands, and his inner strength surged forth.

Suddenly, he shattered all the Xuan paper on the table into powder.

Through interpretation, he discovered that the "Tianpeng Mantra" was also a kind of magic with the effect of suppressing evil.

However, it is clearly not as powerful as the technique of communicating with spirits.

If the skill of communicating with the spirits is advanced to the level of initial understanding, it will become much stronger.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew. I'll focus on cultivating the Earthly Fiend Technique, and use other minor techniques only as a reference."

Zhao Wuji put down his brush, walked out of the house, and called his apprentice Xiaoyue to prepare to start the furnace today and refine the Golden Spear Fiery Pill.

Lately, whether it was the female ghost concubine or Zhi Xia's probing, he felt as if there were more eyes around him.

On the surface, he still had to maintain his status as an imperial physician.

Moreover, alchemy, medical practice, and saving lives are also skills in interpersonal relationships.

Being adept at interpersonal relationships and tempering one's character will strengthen one's resolve on the path.

In the seven days that followed, news came that skirmishes had broken out in the northern border of Xuan Kingdom. Outside Gushan Pass, the north wind whipped up sand, and General Fu Yuntao was reviewing his troops with a spear in hand, exuding a murderous aura.

However, within the imperial city, the pleasure boats on the Zhuque River continued their revelry with singing and dancing, showing no sign of tension.

Besides seeing patients at the Imperial Hospital, Zhao Wuji would go to the inner palace to administer acupuncture treatments to the empresses to treat their menstrual problems.

At the same time, he also completed the last course of treatment for Bu Shangshu, and in total, he gained more than twenty strands of Yin energy.

During this period, he also refined two batches of Golden Spear Fiery Pills.

After the news spread, it attracted a host of powerful and wealthy young men in Jinque City to rush to the door to buy it.

Namo Quancai finally couldn't hold back any longer and came to trade ten jars of Jiazi Sui Qinghualang for a batch of Golden Spear Fiery Pills.

Through subtle probing, Zhao Wuji learned that Mo Quancai possessed even better aged wine from the cave cellar, known as the Four Treasures of Heaven, Earth, Man, and the Golden Goblet, which greatly tempted him.

He wanted to make a deal, but the cunning Mo Quancai politely declined.

Zhao Wuji wasn't in a hurry. Anyone who had used his Golden Spear Fiery Pill and learned about its wonders would come back to him.

He took out one pill from the second batch, attached a letter, and sent it to his mischievous friend Tao Fei, urging him to hurry up and find Li Shaojun's cauldron.

He hasn't received any letters from this rascal lately.

Suspecting that the other party might be wandering the world with that busty female knight-errant, practicing the Kun character technique, the only option was to give him a little something to get this rascal to do something worthwhile.

That day and night.

Zhao Wuji's cultivation was complete, his Qi flowed through the Xuan Guan (mysterious gate), and finally, his Qi surged freely, opening up his twelfth meridian.

A powerful aura surged within the cultivation room as he successfully broke through to the twelfth meridian level, his eyes gleaming with brilliance.

After the twelve meridians are opened, one can achieve the state of Qi flowing throughout the body, the Three Flowers gathering at the top of the head, and the internal Qi taking form to break through to the realm of a martial arts grandmaster.

A message appeared on the surface of the Nine Yin Nine Yang Pearl.

“仙道修为：（31/100）、武道修为：12脉（0/12）”

Normal martial arts masters who cultivate to the level of 12 meridians may face a bottleneck and find it difficult to break through to the realm of Transformation Grandmaster.

However, Zhao Wuji never noticed any bottlenecks; he would naturally break through them once he reached a certain level of proficiency.

Therefore, at most, he will need to refine all twelve meridians of his body once more before he can accumulate enough foundation to break through to the Transformation Grandmaster level.

Now, the 31 strands of spiritual energy condensed from his immortal cultivation are enough to support him to practice his magic once a day, even though they recover very slowly after being used up.

Today, he has successfully cultivated the art of communicating with the spirits to the point of first understanding its basics.

The duration of the dream state has increased to 240 breaths, and it is no longer afraid of sunlight during the day except for midday.

"Even with the 30 strands of yang energy provided by ten jars of Qinghualang during this period of cultivation, my yin and yang energies have still been significantly depleted, especially my yang energy."

Zhao Wuji exhaled a breath of turbid air, looking at the completely unbalanced Yin and Yang state inside the Nine Yin Nine Yang Pearl, and felt a headache coming on.

Thanks to the more than 500 strands of Yin energy obtained from Yunyu Pool, plus the harvest from daily consultations, there are now 1734 strands remaining.

Only 362 strands of yang energy remained, a pitifully small amount.

Fortunately, my practice has been very peaceful lately.

The female ghost concubine did not enter his dreams to disturb him again, and Nan Zhixia did not try to test him again.

Zhao Wuji has read through the entire "A Rough Explanation of Qin Seal Script" in the past few days and feels confident that he has fully understood the secrets contained in the sacred small bowl.

"Tonight we'll go rent that house, use that sacred artifact to decipher the new Earthly Fiend Technique, then get rid of this hot potato and test Zhixia's identity."

(End of this chapter)