Chapter 17 Diagram Of Meridians And Acupoints

"Hey, kid, wanna eat some roasted chicken?" Felix grabbed the half-eaten roasted chicken he had left over from yesterday and sniffed it. "Nah, Senior, you go ahead and eat your chicken today. I still have half left from yesterday, and it's not spoiled! It's still good!" "Heh, you're quite resourceful, huh? Alright, I won't hold back then." After that, the old man's voice vanished. Once Felix finished off the half chicken and devoured the buns, feeling full and satisfied, he said, "Senior, yesterday you told me all about the history of our Void Sect and the various techniques. Isn't it time for you to teach me the core techniques today?" "Don't rush. I'll teach you the core techniques last. Before you start cultivating, you need to understand the distribution of the meridians and acupoints in your body. If you don't, you might damage your meridians during cultivation, and it could even be life-threatening. Since you don't even remember your master, you probably don't recall the layout of your meridians and acupoints either." Felix immediately nodded. "Yeah, I can only see my meridians and acupoints through introspection right now, but I don't remember their names at all." "Then today, I'll teach you about the meridians and acupoints." "Thank you, Senior!" "Felix, first you need to find something to use. While you introspect, draw the meridians and acupoints on the rock wall. The human body has twelve main meridians and three hundred sixty-two acupoints. Once you've drawn them all, I'll teach you their names. During this time, don't disturb my rest." "Got it! Don't worry, Senior! I'll finish this task quickly!" Felix thought this was going to be an easy task since he could see everything inside his body while meditating. The acupoints and meridians were pretty easy to identify, so drawing them out should be a piece of cake. But it turned out he was overly confident. The first challenge he faced was figuring out what tool to use to draw. In the bare stone prison, the ground was covered with dried and moldy straw—there wasn't even a single twig around. How was he supposed to draw a diagram of the human body on the hard rock wall? Felix rubbed his chin, taking stock of everything in the stone prison. Finally, his gaze landed on an oil lamp on the rock wall. The oil lamp on the stone wall had a strange shape; it looked different from the oil lamps he had seen as a kid. Made of bronze, it resembled a duck swimming in water, with the wick extending from its flat beak. The lamp wasn't very big; it could hold maybe three pounds of oil at most. Alan had lit the lamp when Felix was locked up, and it had been burning for about three days now. The oil inside seemed endless. Felix walked up to the lamp, intending to take it down from the wall. But he soon realized that the lamp was firmly embedded in the rock wall. He could only open the oil lamp's refill cap, which looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. The bronze cover was black as coal. Felix peeked inside. To his surprise, the oil burning inside wasn't the kerosene he had expected but a solid-like substance that had a pale white color. This strange fuel burned for a long time; it seemed like it could last for three to five months without going out. Felix reached in with his finger, gently scooping out a small piece. It was definitely some kind of solidified grease. He brought it to his nose and sniffed; it had a faint, fishy smell. He lightly smeared the oil on the rock wall but felt disappointed—it didn't leave a noticeable mark and couldn't be used as paint. "What else could possibly be used to draw on this rock wall in this damn place?" Giving up on the oil lamp, Felix turned to look for something else. In the stone prison, only two things remained: a toilet in the corner for holding excrement and the small plate Alan had brought him. With a lightbulb moment, Felix decided on an idea. He dumped the salty pickles out of the plate and smashed it on the ground with a loud crack. The white plate shattered into dozens of pieces. Felix picked up one of the shards and started scratching it against the rock wall. To his delight, it left a faint mark. "Turns out I'm a freaking genius!" Felix was overjoyed, dancing around the stone prison and even doing a few steps of the horse dance. Now that he had his drawing tool, he wasted no time. He quickly cleared a flat section of rock wall next to the oil lamp and sketched out a rough human figure, complete with arms and legs, using the shard of porcelain. Finally, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state to introspect. He began drawing the internal human structure he saw during his introspection, bit by bit, on the rock wall. This was a tedious and time-consuming task. Felix kept drifting between meditation and reality. He was highly motivated to learn the immortal techniques as quickly as possible, but his progress didn't match his efforts. The twelve meridians inside his body seemed few, but they twisted and turned like winding rivers; these were just the main meridians. Each main meridian had countless tiny branches, almost all connected to acupoints. The human body resembled a towering tree, with the main meridians acting as the trunk and the densely packed acupoints representing the leaves. After barely completing a third of the drawing, he heard footsteps echoing down the corridor again. The footsteps weren't loud, but in the quiet hallway, they sounded painfully loud. Felix walked to the cell door and saw Alan carrying the food box. Alan only brought one meal each day for Felix and the old man. That meant Felix had spent the entire day working on the diagram of the human structure! Alan's first words were still, "Junior Brother Felix, have you remembered anything today?" Felix shook his head, looking a bit dazed. Seeing his expression, Alan's lips curled up slightly, seemingly satisfied with the result. He nodded, saying, "No worries; we have plenty of time. I believe you'll definitely regain your memory!" Then he squatted down and passed food to Felix. Once again, it was two hard cold steamed buns, a plate of pickles, and a jug of water. Felix gradually snapped back to reality and asked, "Senior Brother Alan, how's the investigation into the stolen herbs going?" "That falls under the Spirit Beast Hall's jurisdiction, so I'm not really sure. Just sit tight here, and once everything's cleared up, they'll let you out," Alan replied. After saying that, he carried the food box over to the opposite cell. The old man's meals were still lavish, with roast chicken and fine wine. After placing the food inside, Alan took some plates and an empty wine jug from the old man's cell and put them in the food box. He didn't say another word to Felix. In his eyes, Felix was getting closer to his death sentence. Would you waste words on someone who was about to die? It was already the fourth day, and the only reason Felix was still alive was that last time, Elder Crane made a fuss at the Discipline Hall. A lot of people knew Felix was locked up there. They just needed to wait a bit longer for the storm to blow over before letting Felix die in the stone prison. A perfect excuse for suicide due to guilt. Once Alan left, the old man's voice echoed in Felix's mind. "Kid, it's been a whole day. How's that meridian and acupoint diagram coming along?" "Senior, I… I've only finished drawing two legs!" "So fast? You didn't spend the whole day drawing without a break, did you?" The old man sounded a bit surprised. There were six meridians and over a hundred acupoints on each of a person's two legs. He had expected that lazy brat Felix would only manage to draw one leg in a day. Chewing on a cold steamed bun, Felix replied irritably, "What do you think? I'm exhausted! At this pace, it'll take at least two more days to finish." The old man communicated back, "Hmm, not bad, not bad. This change has really made a difference for you. Keep it up." "Wait… Senior, about that roast chicken…" "Since you've been working hard all day, I'll split this roast chicken with you." Felix was overjoyed and quickly threw the rope through the hole below. Before long, a withered hand reached out from the hole in the opposite cell and, after some fumbling, grabbed the rope. The old man seemed especially generous; although he said he'd split the chicken, he only left one drumstick for himself and gave the rest to Felix. After that, the old man fell silent. After eating and drinking his fill, Felix didn't continue drawing. He was too tired, so he found a comfortable position and fell asleep. He wasn't sure how long he slept, but when he woke up, most of his fatigue had faded. He finished off the remaining chicken and buns before diving back into his work for the day. Time felt slow when a person was bored, but once something occupied their attention, it sped by. Felix took over three days to draw a complete diagram of the human meridians and acupoints on the rock wall using the porcelain shard. This was now the eighth day since he had entered the stone prison. Looking at the diagram on the wall, Felix felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment rise within him. The twelve meridians, three hundred sixty-two acupoints, and the eight extraordinary vessels were all vividly illustrated on the stone. Next, he needed the old man to teach him the names of these meridians and acupoints. Once he memorized the pathways of all the meridians and the names of all the acupoints, he could officially begin his cultivation.