Exponential Growth

　　After returning home from the market, Lu Ming could not wait to enter the Supreme Shrine, and opened one of the sandalwood boxes.

　　Thirty Dragon Tiger Pills lay neatly inside it.

　　These were the Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills. Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills were enough to open up the seventh to ninth meridians. As for the Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills, Lu Ming intended to use them to open up the three divine meridians.

　　He took a Dragon Tiger Pill and swallowed it.

　　As he swallowed the Dragon Tiger Pill, a faint red light flashed out. He felt a burning sensation along his spine which swiftly became a vortex, completely absorbing the Dragon Tiger Pil. Then, he felt continuous waves of pure energy coming from his spine.

　　‘What’s with my blood meridians? It can refine pills at such a frightening speed!’

　　Using his mind, Lu Ming controlled the energy pulsing within him, guiding it along his opened up meridians. He formed it into streams of dragon-like Essential Qi and gushed it towards the seventh meridian.

　　The dragon-like Essential Qi were acutely edged and extremely strong. Instantly, a big acupuncture point on the seventh meridian was unlocked.

　　One by one, the unimpeded force unlocked the big acupuncture points.

　　When his Essential Qi ran low, Lu Ming would swallow a Dragon Tiger Pill, convert its energy to Essential Qi, and continue the unlocking.

　　The seventh to the ninth meridians were known as the Sky Meridians, and unlocking them was certainly not as easy as the meridians before them.

　　In the next two days, it took Lu Ming’s continuous refining of twenty-four more Dragon Tiger Pills to finally open up all three Sky Meridians.

　　It immediately brought Lu Ming’s cultivation to the peak of top Novice Realm.

　　At this stage, the gathering and couling of Qi in the dantian was common practice for breaking through the Novice Realm.

　　Lu Ming most certainly would not do so, yet. He aimed to unlock all three divine meridians, then he would break through the Novice Realm.

　　The divine meridians were not easy to unlock after all, it could also be said to be nearly impossible. Lu Ming did not rush the opening up of the divine meridians, but consumed the remaining six Dragon Tiger Pills and converted them into Essential Qi.

　　As the Essential Qi within Lu Ming condensed and thickened after a day, Lu Ming initiated the unlocking of his divine meridians.

　　Lu Ming popped a Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pill into his mouth and in the same manner as the previous pills, it was absorbed and refined by the blood meridians near the spine. A gush of energy a few times stronger than the Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills poured into Lu Ming’s body.

　　The Mediocre First Level pill lived up to its name.

　　Lu Ming set the True War Dragon Technique in motion, stimulating Essential Qi to begin the opening up of the first divine meridian.

　　Boom!

　　Lu Ming felt his entire body rattle, his senses numbed with shock, but the first big acupuncture point in the first divine meridian did not budge at all.

　　Not giving up, Lu Ming gathered his energy to continue his quest.

　　Boom! Boom! …

　　After seven tries, the first acupuncture point in the first divine meridian was finally unlocked, a swell of Essential Qi gushed in.

　　One at a time, light spots began to appear on Lu Ming’s body until there were eighty-one light spots. These were his unlocked acupuncture points. Right after, the eighty-second light spot was illuminated, shining brighter than the rest.

　　“Only one big acupuncture point unlocked, but the Essential Qi within me is significantly more abundant. Let’s continue.”

　　Lu Ming carried on with his unlocking.

　　However, divine meridians were divine meridians. The energy they demanded was extremely high.

　　It took three consecutive days for nine big acupuncture points in the first divine meridian to be unlocked and it used up all thirty-six Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills.

　　“Such enormous strength, the power I possess from using my Essential Qi alone should pack at least seven hundred and fifty kilograms I suppose?”

　　Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled.

　　Formerly, when his cultivation was only at the peak of mid Novice Realm, he merely packed five hundred kilograms in his punch if he included the power that came from the Flame Dragon Fist. Without it, the power he possessed from using Essential Qi alone should only be around three or four hundred kilograms.

　　It had doubled in amount.

　　For an Ordinary Martial Artist who was at the peak of top Novice Realm, the explosive power from their Essential Qi alone should be around five hundred kilograms.

　　If they gathered and coiled their Essential Qi and broke through Novice Realm, the explosive power from their Essential Qi would have increased to a thousand kilograms.

　　A thousand kilograms could be likened to the strength of a bull.

　　The current way to calculate power did not include the martial arts techniques and the blood meridians. Should they be included, it would total up to a larger amount.

　　“I’ve finished up all the Dragon Tiger Pills, but I don’t think I’ll rush to buy more for now. I’ve been leveling up my cultivation too quickly these past few days. I think I need time to strengthen and consolidate it while I practice my martial arts techniques.”

　　The cultivation of martial arts was not to be rushed. If the level up happened too quickly, it would result in a shaky foundation with a tainted Essential Qi base, and that was why Lu Ming decided to first spend some time to reinforce his foundation and all that he had built, instead of getting more Dragon Tiger Pills to continue unlocking the remaining two divine meridians.

　　Lu Ming proceeded to cultivate the Flame Dragon Fist and the Dragon Serpent Steps.

　　In the blink of an eye, seven days have passed.

　　Today, Lu Ming took the chance to cultivate the Flame Dragon Fist in the yard while Li Ping and Qiu Yue were not around.

　　Whoosh! Whoosh! …

　　The force of the punches howled like the wind, Lu Ming’s body writhed like a gigantic dragon, and with every punch, its roars exploded in the air.

　　Ha!

　　To conclude, Lu Ming punched a skull sized rock in the yard as he exhaled and emitted a yell. Bam! The rock burst into several pieces.

　　“The cultivation of the martial art technique’s Fourth Stage – Mastery of Technique.”

　　Lu Ming completed his stance with joy etched on his face.

　　After practicing and cultivating for seven consecutive days, he was finally at the Fourth Stage of the martial arts technique cultivation for the Flame Dragon Fist.

　　“Y-Young Lord, y-you’ve gotten so strong!” a crisp, clear voice rang unannounced from the door in disbelief.

　　“Qiu Yue!”

　　Lu Ming was stunned, he did not expect his rare occasion of cultivating martial arts techniques in his yard to be witnessed by Qiu Yue.

　　At the same time, Qiu Yue looked at the rock splintered by Lu Ming and turned her gaze towards Lu Ming, with tears in her eyes she rushed to Lu Ming’s side, clutched his hand tightly, and exclaimed, “That was amazing, Young Lord, you’ve become so strong, you’re finally a powerhouse in the martial arts! If my Lady knew about this, I can’t imagine how happy she’d be.”

　　Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke.

　　Even though Qiu Yue was frail, she was still a beauty, a weeping beauty at this moment if that was the case. Lu Ming’s heart couldn’t help but soften as he reached out to wipe the tears away from Qiu Yue’s face and said, “Qiu Yue, my cultivation paid off, shouldn’t you be happy? Why are you crying?”

　　“Young Lord, I AM happy for you!”

　　Qiu Yue feigned anger, only to realize how both her hands were still holding tightly onto Lu Ming’s hand. She felt the warmth emitted from the palm of his hand as her heart skipped a beat. She immediately hopped a few steps back with a blush on her face, much like a frightened deer caught in the headlights.

　　Seeing Qiu Yue’s blushing, bashful face with her eyes still sparkling with tears, Lu Ming blurted, “Qiu Yue, you’re so beautiful.”

　　Upon hearing it, the blush on Qiu Yue’s face deepened into a bright, apple-like red. With her head held down, she murmured, ” W-what is this you’re saying, Young Lord?”

　　“HAHAAA, Qiu Yue, you know, I’ve had some supernatural encounters recently, and that’s how I’ve gotten these skills, but I can’t exactly tell you what happened yet,” Lu Ming coughed dryly and changed the topic.

　　Qiu Yue blinked her tearful doe eyes, cast a deep glance towards Lu Ming, and asked, “Young Lord, can we tell my Lady about this then?”

　　“Not for now,” replied Lu Ming.

　　“Alright then, you have my word.”

　　As Qiu Yue finished, she pondered for a while and seemed to have decided on something. “Young Lord, I want to ask you a favor of you,” she said.

　　“What is it?” asked Lu Ming.

　　Qiu Yue bit her lip and uttered, “Young Lord, c-can you teach Qiu Yue how to cultivate martial arts?”

　　Shocked, Lu Ming confirmed, “Qiu Yue, you want to cultivate martial arts?”

　　“Yes, Young Lord. Qiu Yue wants to learn to cultivate martial arts, so I can repay Father and Mother’s kindness, and also, Qiu Yue wishes to assist Young Lord and her Lady however she can,” answered Qiu Yue.

　　Lu Ming nodded. He was quite informed of Qiu Yue’s background. Qiu Yue’s parents adopted her even when they lived poorly on the outskirts of Fiery Wind City.

　　Due to poverty, Qiu Yue was sold to the Lu Family when she was eight and became Li Ping’s maidservant. Qiu Yue, being a year older, grew up together with Lu Ming and they were as close as siblings.

　　“Okay then, Qiu Yue, but your body is too weak, so you will need Health-replenishing Pills to restore your health, then I’ll give awakening your meridians a try,” Lu Ming promised Qiu Yue with a smile.

　　“You’ve agreed, Young Lord? Great!” Qiu Yue was elated, and while she nearly jumped for joy right into Lu Ming’s arms, she held it in with a blush on her face.

　　“Qiu Yue, I was about to head out to buy some things. Let’s head out together so we can get you some Health-replenishing Pills too!” Lu Ming chuckled.