Chương 14: Chapter 14: Breakthrough
The person who announced the sentence in Dai County was Secretary Liu, but the one who carried out the physical punishment was Captain Wang Long from the Martial Department.
As a representative of the government, a fight in the streets was extremely bad for the reputation that Dai County had painstakingly built over the past two years. Therefore, when Captain Wang Long executed the punishment, he did not hold back.
"Bang!"
A sturdy wooden stick, as thick as an arm, whistled through the air, landing squarely on the upper part of Shen Zhui's buttocks, which immediately emitted a dull thud.
Just this one strike, and Shen Zhui felt like he was falling apart. Immediately, he broke out into a cold sweat, his face turning red.
Captain Wang Long, always seeming gentle and kind, now wore a cold face and without hesitation, swung down the second stick.
"Bang!"
Shen Zhui couldn't help but let out a soft groan, but he clenched his teeth and swallowed it back, refusing to let any sound out.
"Bang!"
The third strike came, causing his blood to boil, radiating pain throughout his body. Although he was hit in the buttocks, he felt pain everywhere.
"Bang!"
The fourth hit scattered the energy he had been using to resist and heal his wounds.
The fifth strike tore his flesh open, blood seeping out.
By the sixth strike, Shen Zhui started to roll his eyes in pain.
Then came the seventh, the eighth strike…
By the time the tenth strike was over, Shen Zhui was at his last breath, feeling as though his soul had left his body. His whole body was weak, and even breathing was painful.
This punishment wouldn't knock a man unconscious. Every time a person reached their limit, a gentle spirit would exude from the stick, stimulating the soul, making their consciousness even clearer.
Shen Zhui did not scream from beginning to end, but this made the Martial Department's onlookers more awed.
It wasn't that Shen Zhui could endure the pain, but rather, after the last few strikes, he didn't even have the energy to scream.
If Shen Zhui suffered this much within the first ten strikes, what kind of pain would the people after him endure?
All the officials present felt chills in their hearts, vowing never to break the law so as to avoid this painful punishment.
"Shen Zhui, thank, Captain…" As he was helped up, Shen Zhui's lips moved slightly.
Captain Wang Long's ten strikes may have seemed brutal, without the slightest bit of mercy.
But in reality, each blow was accompanied by a flow of spiritual energy into Shen Zhui's body, circulating within him, helping him clear his meridians, and completely eliminate the side effects from absorbing spiritual energy before.
Of course, he had also deeply experienced the physical pain that tore at his heart.
As for Captain Wang Long's motivations behind this punishment… Shen Zhui didn't have the capacity to contemplate it at the moment.
"Take him away! Next!" Captain Wang Long called out coldly.
"Yes."
Two people supported Shen Zhui and took him to the prison cells.
Shen Zhui in his daze, seemed to hear Yang Wu's screams from behind.
.........
In the county jail, inside a cell.
"Clank Clank~"
Shen Zhui turned his body, listening to the sound of the cell door unlocking.\
The heavy iron door opened, revealing the dark face of Zhao Hu.
"Brother Hu, did you bring the things?" Shen Zhui asked.
"I brought them, and also brought you some food while I was at it." Zhao Hu handed over two boxes to Shen Zhui, one large and one small.
"Thanks, Brother Hu."
"Hm, you did recover quite fast. Today is only the seventh day, and you are already able to get up and move." Zhao Hu looked Shen Zhui up and down, clicking his tongue in admiration.
Shen Zhui smiled slightly: "With Brother Hu delivering the best medicines, naturally I would recover quickly."
In actuality, on the first day, Shen Zhui couldn't even move, he could only lay there. Applying medicine and drinking water required help from others.
If it weren't for Zhao Hu visiting him every day to help, he probably wouldn't have recovered so soon.
"It's no big deal. After all, it's the County Lord and Captain Wang that allowed it. If it were Yang Wu and others, they wouldn't be this lucky. Even now, they can only lie down. No one takes care of them; they have to eat, drink, and relieve themselves by themselves. It's pitiful. But they deserve it!"
Shen Zhui said solemnly: "I dare not forget the kindness of the County Lord and Captain Wang, and I dare not forget Brother Hu's kindness either!"
"Haha, Brother Shen, you are too polite with me!" Zhao Hu laughed heartily, clearly pleased with Shen Zhui's statement.
"Well, rest and recover well, I won't bother you anymore. Even though you are a prisoner, I have already spoken to everyone here. We are all brothers, and no one dares to mistreat you."
"Take care, Brother Hu."
.........
After quickly finishing the food from the bigger box, Shen Zhui carefully opened the smaller box.
"Great Recovery Elixirs." Shen Zhui's eyes narrowed as he caressed the porcelain bottle.
From the ten Great Recovery Elixirs, he had used one when he fought Liu Bin. In the following month, to aid with his cultivation efforts, he had consumed another four progressively.
Now, he had five Great Recovery Elixirs left. These were his assurance in breaking through to the Ninth Rank.
If it weren't for these Great Recovery Elixirs, based solely on hard training, Shen Zhui estimated it would take him at least two to three years to break through this last barrier.
"I wonder if these Great Recovery Elixirs can help me open my ninth meridian, achieving a cyclic flow of Qi."
Shen Zhui was also uncertain. According to common reasoning, the Great Revival Pill... it's effective even for innate martial artists.
Five Great Revival Pills should be more than enough to break through the Ninth Rank of Houtian.
But he was practising the "Blood Ignition" technique, where each small realm broken meant adding two strands of vital energy essence. Thus, the accumulation needed was greater. The closer one got to the Innate realm, the more difficult the breakthrough would be.
He had eaten five Great Revival Pills last month, but still didn't have absolute confidence to shake up the bottleneck.
It was only because he was blessed in disguise, getting the help from four strands of spiritual energy essence of the old man surnamed Cang, that he managed to break a tiny bit through the ninth checkpoint bottleneck, hence gaining some confidence.
"Even if I reach the Eighth Rank of Houtian and master the methods of measurement and somatics, it is still not enough when faced with an Innate martial artist."
Shen Zhui remembered the previous scene when he faced the old man surnamed Cang. His measuring method was shattered with a single move.
The other party didn't show any complicated moves from start to finish, he just came rushing in at his own speed and shattered Shen Zhui's Iron Ruler with a single punch.
The strengths, defenses, speeds, and so on were all too great, Shen Zhui had no room to maneuver. This was the absolute strength.
"Let's begin."
After moving a bit, Shen Zhui seated himself cross-legged, pouring out a Great Revival Pill and swallowing it.
The vital energy in his limbs and bones gradually gathered into a powerful surge, rushing towards the ninth acupoint.
This ninth acupoint, was the Spiritual Platform Acupoint! It was the most difficult part among all Houtian martial artists!
"If the vital energy is a trigger, the meridians are the channels, and the acupoints are the obstructions in the channels, the key nodes."
"Each rank of Houtian corresponds to an acupoint, and each Rank promotion is a process of breaking through the obstructions and opening up the channels."
"But even the most perfect technique cannot completely remove obstructions and sediment from the channels. No matter what, a small portion will slowly accumulate, making each subsequent stage even more challenging."
"Until the last acupoint, the 'sediment' that has accumulated in the meridians will become a gigantic rock. Wanting to break through will be many times more difficult than before! This is why the older the individual, the harder it is to break through. Over time, the body will absorb more foreign substances, forming sediment in the meridians."
Shen Zhui recalled the instructions of the "Blood Ignition" technique internally and began the first attempt to break through.
"Boom~"
There was a faint rumbling sound in his mind, just like waves crashing against a large rock, causing him to feel all the organs and bones of his body shaking with it.
The attempt at a breakthrough failed, and the vital energy flowed back.
But Shen Zhui was not disheartened, he was well aware of the challenges that came with the "Blood Ignition" technique.
Regathering his energy, he drew in his vital energy again and made another attempt at charging the huge rock blocking the channel.
"Boom, boom, boom~"
Attempt after attempt, Shen Zhui had no idea how much time passed. When he felt his body's vital energy weakening, he paused for a moment.
"The second Great Revival Pill!"
After swallowing another pill, his vital energy was slowly replenished. Shen Zhui resumed his assault on the blockage.
"The third one!"
Failure!
"Again!"
Failure!
After taking four successive Great Revival Pills, there was still no sign of the ninth acupoint loosening up. Shen Zhui was feeling a little disheartened.
"Is it this challenging? In the last month, I have taken five Great Revival Pills. Together with the four I've now taken, and after being pierced with Innate spiritual energy essence, I've already attempted a breakthrough once. The stubborn obstruction should've been reduced quite significantly. How come I still can't break through?"
"I don't believe it! The fifth pill!"
Shen Zhui swallowed the last Great Revival Pill. Leading with the sixteen strands of vital energy essence, he sent a surge of vital energy towards that stubborn rock!
His body felt a tad swollen. Shen Zhui felt this was his best shot. If it didn't work this time, he would truly need to find another solution!
"Boom, boom, boom, Crack~"
Finally——
The stubborn obstruction that had already been depleted to its limit was broken, opening a gap!
The ninth acupoint was finally unblocked! The surging vital energy flowed over it slowly, expanding the meridians and nourishing the body.
"Finally made it!" Shen Zhui broke into a smile.
Just like a dam, once a breach is made, the rest will follow naturally.
Of course, if this breach cannot be made, the feeling is one of hopeless rigidity.
But now that he had broken through, everything felt different.
"I'm now a ninth-rank Houtian, one step closer to the Innate realm." While feeling his strength slowly increasing and his body becoming stronger, Shen Zhui also felt somewhat melancholy.
"After breaking through to a new realm, it's time to contemplate the measuring method and somatics. Let's see how many Good Deeds I have archived."
With a thought, data appeared before Shen Zhui's eyes:
Shen Zhui: Ninth Rank Houtian
Cultivation Method: Blood Ignition (Third Layer)
Measuring Method: Iron Ruler Ninefold (Complete)
Somatic Method: Flowing Cloud Step (Complete)
Good Deeds: 38500
"Hmm? Almost forty thousand? Does this mean I can exchange for nearly forty seconds of Enlightenment Time?"
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