[NR] Another Meridian Cleared - Chapter 520

Jason settles in, he doesn’t have much time left before needing to get back to NeoRealm and plans to use as much as possible on clearing his meridians. At the moment, he only has one meridian open and so the speed at which he can clear new ones should still be relatively fast. The only problem is that the false sleep or whatever it is being in the VR pod does seems to have an even bigger negative effect than just sleeping.

It is normal for some extra detritus to end up in the meridian you’re in the middle of clearing whenever you aren’t actively doing so. However, Jason had been keeping track and the amount gathering between sessions was actually a good quarter more than expected. Of course, he also admits that it could also be because of the large variety of energy types present in the world.

Though if it was something like that, Jason equally assumed the problem was the fact the enemy was foreign and introduced relatively recently. Humans are great at adapting to stuff, but for the baseline to adjust, you need a good few generations. Either way, Jason just needed to work harder. Not like the fresh detritus that collected between sessions was hard to remove.

Plus, with opened yang meridians outnumbering the yin, seeing as one is greater than zero, Jason’s power had a slight destructive burn to it. This cleared the detritus faster and it tempted some fools to just open all the yang meridians before moving onto the yin. That, of course, is a mistake.

With a small imbalance, nothing will go wrong. Some even suggest always having a yang meridian or two opened over the yin. However, go too far? Then your power will start burning more than just the detritus. So while it sacrifices speed, Jason is very much in the camp of slow and steady for this part of cultivation.

Sure, if you have some miraculous “Pure Yang” physique or some such, open as many yang meridians as you want. Some of those sorts of things even have certain yin meridians becoming neutral or even yang aligned. Not that yang meridians are better than yin meridians.

Most people like to focus on speed for the early stages of cultivation so that the lifespan extension has more to work with. Yin meridians provide their own benefits when in the majority. Though the main feature is that your power will harden even the unopened meridians.

This makes it much harder to accidentally damage them while opening them. Of course just as too much yang can be bad, too much yin can after a certain point freeze the detritus clogging your remaining meridians. So either direction you go in, too much can end your cultivation journey.

As for what he advised the girls to do? While Jason had laid this all out to them so they could make their own informed decision. In the end, he advised them to try to have yin as the dominant force. Not because of some male/female thing that some cultivators in his last life tried to push.

Rather, since they have no experience with excavating meridians, it is better to protect themselves instead of trying to rush ahead. In fact, in his last life Jason had gone with a yin focused excavation plan as well. The only reason he went with yang this time around is because this wasn’t his first rodeo.

And speaking of it not being his first rodeo, while his time irl wasn’t the longest, he managed to break through on his second meridian with over ten minutes to spare. On the same arm as the first open meridian, the inner vessel was cleared. With the balance restored, Jason could feel a slight tempering settle into that arm. Oh, and his one ear stopped feeling so warm.

It was a minor quibble that he didn’t even feel in game, but the part of the yang meridian that covered the arm had a major flow going into the ear and the imbalance allowed heat to gather there. To Jason the form the meridians took in this world was quite novel, though clearly less refined as his last life. Not that being less refined is a bad thing.

A more primal meridian system wouldn’t block advancement and was honestly better for his friends. While still covering the body like the vascular system, the part you need to clear is larger and tougher. On one hand, it is slower to clear. However, it is also more robust and tougher to damage so those learning to cultivate without the era spanning background he has will have a chance.

Of course, Jason is cheating by introducing the fruits of that era spanning background to his friends. Though he is sure that future humans on this world will quickly develop refined meridians. It is the sort of thing that forms over generations as cultivators pass down a small portion of their cultivation to their children.

Though the fact that meridians can change over generations and between different populations is why Jason’s cultivation technique focuses on being adaptable over specific forms. Not that there weren’t specialized techniques in his last life. In fact, his hero friend had one he found in some tomb that “happened” to match his special physique.

Jason sighs as he remembers his friend. He honestly wouldn’t wish being a “hero” on anyone. While the benefits can be staggering, the pain that follows you is always equal if not greater, in measure.

Then his time is up. Jason hadn’t quite managed to figure out which meridian to start on next, but with two meridians opened, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. His plan is to work on the other arm, starting with the yang meridian.

And this time? He wouldn’t be guessing which meridian was the right one. Having a pair of yin and yang meridians opened allowed him to sense the subtle differences between the unopened. That and with one arm completed, the meridians for the other arm would be slightly stressed because of the imbalance between the arms.