RUDRA'S POV - Two Hours Ago
Sinking onto the snow-covered ground, I did what he told me. My eyes closed, I started the hard job Baghraj had given me: to stop thinking about meridians in my mind. It felt like taking apart something that was part of me, a basic idea about my energy. At first, my thoughts fought back, holding onto the old ways I had worked so hard to learn. It took a huge mental effort, a real fight against years of doing things a certain way and believing they were true.
But as the minutes turned into what seemed like hours, something changed. It got easier. It felt natural, like things were going back to how they should be. More and more of my energy began to leave the old paths I had made and started flowing freely through my body. Maybe the short time I spent without those forced paths, after everything that happened, had already started to quietly change my body, getting my mind ready for this big shift.
After a very long time of trying hard, I felt it. It wasn't a sudden break, but a deep, inner opening up. As most of my energy broke free from the fake paths, the idea of the meridian I had made seemed to shimmer, then disappear. It was like a thought or an idea just vanished from my body and my mind. The feeling after that was hard to put into words: an amazing, never-felt-before sense of freedom. It felt like heavy, unseen chains had been taken off me, freeing me from a burden I didn't even know I had. This made me feel a thrilling belief that nothing, absolutely nothing, was impossible.
Even though that strong feeling of pure freedom faded after a quick moment, a soft glow stayed with me. Even now, my body felt much less tight, more relaxed, and settled into a deep, natural state of calm I hadn't known was possible. But this relaxed feeling didn't make me weaker. Instead, it was like I was given a lot more energy to use. It just made it easier for me to use my body's power, reducing the effort and making me much better at it.
As this new, free lightning-energy moved through my body, I slowly opened my eyes. In front of me, sparkling in the cold mountain air, were countless tiny, silver, almost see-through sparks. They danced and crackled on my skin, showing the energy now moving freely inside me. After a moment, they slowly started to get weaker. For ten full minutes, I just let the lightning be, letting it settle and find its natural rhythm inside my refreshed body. Then, with a gentle touch, I began to guide it, not force it, until it was completely calm, and all the visible sparks disappeared from my body. I did a silent test to confirm the change: when I purposely moved my energy, the glowing sparks showed up again, shimmering into view. But they went back inside me the moment I let the energy rest. It was done. The chains were gone.
"Good, you did it! So, can you feel the difference now?" asked Baghraj, his deep voice rumbling like distant thunder, as I finally opened my eyes.
"Thank you, and yes, I can feel it," I replied, looking up at the colossal tiger, my voice filled with a genuine awe. "It's like an unprecedented sense of freedom, as if some shackles that bound me just disappeared." I clenched and unclenched my fists, testing the sensation. "It seems like every movement, every action became easier, lighter."
"Good that you understand," Baghraj responded, nodding his massive head, a rare hint of approval in his piercing blue eyes. -Though Baghraj inwardly praised Rudra's talent for his quick grasp of such a profound change, a feat he had accomplished in less than four hours under the tiger's watchful, impatient gaze. He maintained his outer demeanour to be stoic as he could.-
"But why is it so?" I asked, examining the new, unfettered state of my body. "I don't feel any significant enhancement, only a very minor increase in overall power. So why is the difference so vast?"
The Tiger paused, considering my question with a thoughtful gaze. "Hmm, how do I explain it?" he mused. "Think of it like this: you are a fighter, but whenever you throw a punch, there's some invisible shackle on your body that stops your punch from reaching its greatest extension."
He continued, elaborating on his metaphor. "It's like something in your body makes your punch stop one centimeter short of its full capability, the true extension of your arm. It didn't affect your strength much, because you've trained and grown used to that subtle restriction your entire life."
"As you lived your whole life with that restriction," he reiterated, his voice a low, resonant purr, "you didn't even realize your true maximum reach. But now, that restriction is gone. And not just from your fists and arms, but from your legs and all the other parts of your body as well."
"So, while your overall capacity might not have increased dramatically, you will be able to perform much, much better without that hindrance," Baghraj concluded. "Now, you are finally able to stretch your hands and feet and not feel any impediment. It makes your movements far smoother, more fluid."
"I see," I murmured, a profound realization dawning on me. "That is why it feels so unrestricted." The pieces clicked into place, solving a nagging puzzle I hadn't even consciously registered. Now that I thought about it deeply, I finally understood why I had always fallen slightly short of achieving a true peak human physique, consistently failing to complete the eighteenth cycle of my intense morning exercise. It made perfect, infuriating sense.
"Then what about others who use this method?" I asked, a new thought sparking in my mind as I recalled the impossible requirements old man Lei Kung had set for me to challenge him. If this method stopped me from reaching peak human potential, then how is that old man so strong!?!?!
"They can use it without any problem," Baghraj answered, his voice firm. "It only hinders those with lightning and wind affinity, as these are elements that were not meant to be restricted, to be caged."
Shit! I cursed silently, a wave of bitter resentment washing over me. I was unknowingly harmed by that old man. If I hadn't found out now, I would be suffering my whole life because of him, forever limited by a false understanding of my own power. The thought left a sour taste in my mouth, a deep betrayal of the old man's all-knowing persona.