Looking around at the environment, which seemed to be inside a wooden house, Xiao Yan silently thought, "I really didn't die!"
When Gui Jianchou had fallen off the cliff that day, it wasn't long before Xiao Yan realized he had somehow traveled through time again.
However, at that moment, his body was extremely exhausted, and he was in a state of foggy consciousness, sleeping most of the time and barely staying awake.
It seemed like more than a month had passed before he finally had the energy to open his eyes.
Glancing at his thin arms, Xiao Yan confirmed that he had indeed crossed over again, and had become a baby.
"No wonder I feel so weak all the time; turns out I've become a child."
Suddenly, a male giant, holding a wooden spoon, reached toward him. The spoon emitted a rich aroma of rice porridge.
Hungry, Xiao Yan opened his mouth and, in sync with the man's movements, drank the porridge.
But as soon as he took a sip, Xiao Yan nearly felt like he was going to die again.
Hot! Extremely hot!
Xiao Yan was burned so badly that tears welled up in his eyes, and he couldn't utter a single word.
However, the man didn't care at all, feeding him the porridge as if he were a walking corpse.
After more than ten minutes, once the porridge was finished, Tang Hao took the empty bowl and left the bedside.
Xiao Yan stared intently at the ceiling, and silently thought, "It seems I've fallen into the hands of my enemy. They want to torture me to death!"
No, I can't just suffer like this! I can't die from this kind of torment!
Only a normal person would think like this. If Tang San from the original timeline had crossed over here, he would have been deeply moved by this "scalding paternal love."
Realizing his situation, Xiao Yan recalled the memories of the Xuantian Gong that were in his mind.
Xuantian Gong was a traditional internal cultivation method from some unknown Taoist sect. After cultivation, it could enhance the body and heal injuries.
The Taoists believed in the unity of heaven and man, so they didn't need to meditate in a lotus position to practice. The effect was just a bit weaker if not sitting, though.
Fortunately, Xiao Yan was currently in a baby state, and the innate energy hadn't dissipated much. This made his training much more efficient compared to an ordinary person.
Therefore, Xiao Yan found that his progress in cultivation wouldn't be slower than someone sitting cross-legged, and it might even be faster.
After reviewing Xuantian Gong three times, and combining the experience of Tang San, who had trained in martial arts for more than twenty years, Xiao Yan now had a clear understanding of the method and was overjoyed.
"A martial artist, if they can circulate their internal energy through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, making the flow of energy smooth without obstruction, will have reached the level of high-grade internal skill. However, for most martial artists, even those with extraordinary talent, by the time they reach a suitable age, their body has already been greatly affected by external influences, causing their meridians to become stiff. It becomes very difficult to pass through them.
But now that I'm in a baby state, almost untouched by external factors, if I focus on my training now and connect the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, my future cultivation will progress exponentially."
Thinking about the benefits of this, Xiao Yan quickly calmed his excited heart, slowly closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state, determined not to waste this precious time.
Under the pressure of pain and the threat of death, Xiao Yan quickly fell into deep meditation. His chest rose and fell gently, forming a perfect cycle with each breath.
After a single day of cultivation, Xiao Yan felt a ball of pure internal energy, about the size of a fist, accumulate in his abdomen.
If he were to wait until adulthood to practice, it would take at least ten to fifteen days to achieve this level.
By the second morning, Xiao Yan didn't rush to circulate his meridians but instead continued to accumulate internal energy.
Circulating the meridians was a very dangerous process, requiring a stable environment. A slight disturbance could cause the internal energy to go astray, leading to severe injuries or even death.
It was rather strange. After a whole day, Xiao Yan only smelled the rich scent of alcohol, but the man never touched him.
This made Xiao Yan even more certain that he had been captured by his enemies, and his life hung by a thread.
Looking out the window at the darkening sky, hearing the loud snoring like thunder, Xiao Yan confirmed that his enemy had fallen asleep. He then began to circulate his meridians.
Before the Qin dynasty, people only knew of the twelve main meridians. It wasn't until the later Qin and Han periods that the great physician Yi Duomu discovered that, in addition to the twelve main meridians, there were another eight "extraordinary meridians."
These eight meridians neither connected nor circulated with each other or the internal organs, nor did they have any relationship with them.
The energy and blood of a person were like flowing water. The twelve meridians were like ditches, while the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were like lakes and seas. When the water in the ditches and rivers overflowed, it naturally flowed into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians for storage. When the water levels in the rivers and ditches were low, the lakes and seas would replenish them.
Martial artists before the Qin and Han dynasties practiced internal martial arts for years, and once the twelve meridians were smooth, the internal energy, when overflowing, would naturally flow into the eight extraordinary meridians.
After the Qin and Han dynasties, with the discovery of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, it was possible to learn what would originally take ten years in just five years.
Lying on the bed, Xiao Yan guided his energy with his mind, sending it along the Hand Taiyin Meridian, gathering at the Huiyin point, slowly moving upwards to the Guanyuan point, and then guiding it to flow through the key points like the Ren Meridian, Dantian, Zigong, and Tiantou.
At first, Xiao Yan only felt a heavy sensation in his arms and a numbness in his legs. His internal energy was obstructed and difficult to circulate, as if it were crawling like a caterpillar. The sounds of small insects chirping outside filled his ears.
But after all, he was a baby, in the best state for cultivation. After two days of training, it was equivalent to the effort of others over a month, and he had already gathered some internal energy.
To guide his own water from the ditches into the rivers was just a matter of initial effort.
Once that effort was exerted, it would flow naturally into the sea; it was just a matter of time.
After an hour or two, Xiao Yan felt his internal energy circulating freely as his mind relaxed. He felt an indescribable sense of pleasure.
The cultivation reached a state where he forgot himself, and his energy circulated smoothly with every breath.
After two days passed, Tang Hao, who had been drinking, suddenly felt a pang of hunger and remembered his son.
Seeing his son lying motionless in the bed, his heart skipped a beat. "He hasn't eaten for three days. Could he have starved to death?"
Tang Hao wiped his face and sobered up. He hurriedly cooked a pot of hot porridge, scooped out a bowl, and nervously walked over to the bed.
At this moment, Xiao Yan had completely opened up all his meridians, and his internal energy was circulating freely. He felt incredibly comfortable, and even the burning sensation in his throat had greatly diminished.
Seeing his son open his eyes, Tang Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly sat by the bed, holding a wooden spoon to feed him.
Seeing the steaming spoon coming toward him, Xiao Yan swallowed, feeling deeply reluctant, but his body was weak, having not eaten in three days. His training state had kept him going, but now that he was awake, the hunger was unbearable.
Xuantian Gong activated, using his internal energy to protect his tongue, throat, and esophagus, and he opened his mouth to receive the food.
Seeing his son still able to eat, Tang Hao was reassured, feeding him spoonful after spoonful.
With his internal energy protecting him, although the porridge was scalding hot, Xiao Yan felt it was just warm, with no pain as before.
Looking at the man before him, Xiao Yan was more convinced than ever that he had fallen into the hands of his enemies, which was why he was being tortured so.
(End of Chapter)