100: Chapter 100 Spanning Two Realms, Peak of Meridian Opening!

"These people are dead?"

Lin Wan stared at the files in her hand, her brow furrowed.

The two prisoners recorded in these files, although from several months ago, had all been beheaded without exception.

One of them was even someone she had captured and sent to the Celestial Prison not long ago; in less than a month, the government had skipped the usual procedures and executed him by beheading.

Chen Ran immediately added a comment.

"Lord Lin, during their initial interrogations, both of these men exhibited a glazed, treasure-like luster across their bodies, which matches the standard of a Hard Qi expert."

"Alright, you may leave now."

Click.

The door closed again, and the room fell back into silence.

Lin Wan put away the files and rubbed the space between her eyebrows, sensing that the follow-up would be a hassle.

"How did the Demon Suppression Division get involved in this?"

At her level, there were many things that didn't need to be said to be understood.

For instance, why the interrogation process for several people was so short, leading to beheadings in just one month...

Most likely, there was something wrong with these two people.

However, this was also a clue.

"It seems I'll have to make another trip to the Celestial Prison in a while."

Lin Wan muttered to herself as she put on her coat and walked out of the office.

...

...

Chen Ran walked down the street, which was filled with the sounds of street vendors hawking their wares.

He casually bought a stick of candied haws from the roadside and ate as he walked.

Lin Wan assigning him the task of investigating himself was quite beyond his expectations.

After seeing his face that night, this Constable Lin hadn't chosen to make it public; instead, she had been investigating him secretly.

Presumably, she had many factors to consider.

Regarding that Hard Qi Cultivation Technique, Chen Ran didn't deliberately hide it.

On the contrary, he had proactively exposed the existence of the Glazed Golden Body Art.

Because this technique wasn't exclusive to an individual; it was standard equipment for members of the court's Flower Rain Pavilion.

If Lin Wan continued her deep investigation, she would certainly discover that organization.

When the time came, if some more members of the Flower Rain Pavilion could be imprisoned, it would save him even more cultivation time.

Dusk was approaching, and the night gradually settled in.

Chen Ran quickened his pace, turned a few corners, and returned to his own courtyard.

In the following days.

Life stabilized. Aside from increasing his participation level every day and recording new prisoner information...

Chen Ran rarely went out, spending most of his time on cultivation.

His progress in cultivation was as fast as lightning, with a new gain every day.

...

As night fell,

Bright moonlight spilled onto the ground,

In an ordinary courtyard in the capital.

Tree shadows swayed as a light breeze blew.

The weather in the capital was always fickle,

Hot during the day, yet turning bitingly cold at night.

A man and a woman, leading a child, walked along the bluestone street.

"Almost there. Just a bit further and we'll be home."

"Daddy, why do we have to hide?"

The child beside him asked curiously. The woman's expression changed, and she hurriedly covered her son's mouth.

"Shh, Xiao Lin, didn't I tell you? Don't talk about family matters in public."

"Mmph, I know."

Stopped by his mother, the child seemed to realize he had said something wrong.

He didn't dare make another sound.

The middle-aged man with a mustache and wearing a green robe let out a long sigh. He turned his head to look around warily, and after confirming no one was following...

He whispered, "Let's go, let's go."

...

Gurgle, gurgle.

In the quiet night, the sound of bubbles bursting could be heard faintly.

Listening closely, one would find the sound was like boiling water.

In a bathing tub of about five square meters, a dark green medicinal liquid was boiling and churning.

A handsome young man sat bare-chested and still within the medicinal tub.

The skin on his body was slightly flushed, and a layer of glazed luster emanated from his entire being.

Chen Ran opened his eyes, and a panel appeared in his vision.

He was expectant; after more than ten days of hard cultivation, it was time to update his strength.

[Guarded the Celestial Prison for one day, rewarded with one year of cultivation]

[Guarded the Celestial Prison for one day, rewarded with one year of cultivation]

[You have guarded the Celestial Prison for a total of one month; based on your current participation level, you are rewarded with five years of cultivation]

...

Several prompts appeared.

These were the rewards he had accumulated over many days.

Claiming them all at once, a powerful surge of heat rose from his Dantian in the next moment, flowing toward his limbs and bones.

Feeling the cultivation power churning within him, Chen Ran spoke softly:

"heavenly book of prison suppression, add points!"

The next moment,

The panel burst with light, and several spheres of light surged toward him like mist.

Buzz.

Chen Ran's head throbbed as years of cultivation experience continuously overlapped in his mind.

In his memory,

He was proficient in various martial arts, putting his entire heart and soul into cultivation.

Regardless of the season, he cultivated day after day.

The Internal Energy in his body seemed to be drawn along, flowing through the Extraordinary Eight Meridians and gradually forming a cycle within him.

At the same time.

A howling gale inexplicably rose in the courtyard, sounding like the sharp roar of a wild beast.

Suddenly.

Crack, crack.

The sound of something shattering seemed to ring out.

The medicinal liquid in the wooden tub shook violently, its dark green color gradually fading.

Finally, with a splash,

A blurry figure stood up from the tub as the energy around his body suddenly contracted.

The wooden tub exploded, and the medicinal liquid splashed everywhere.

A few light chuckles accompanied the night, startling the surrounding birds and beasts into fleeing in all directions.

"Is this what the Peak of the Meridian Opening Realm feels like?"

Chen Ran spread his arms; his tall, upright physique was like an exquisite ancient Greek sculpture.

Every inch of muscle was just right, like a perfect work of art.

Chen Ran felt the power surging within his body.

At this moment, his Ren and Du meridians were connected; his True Qi and Internal Energy merged, circulating endlessly like a great river flowing without end.

This bout of cultivation,

with the support of hundreds of years of cultivation power, had directly bypassed the Bottleneck of the Late Stage of Pulse Opening, crossing two Realms to enter the Peak level.

"The next Realm is the Aperture Condensation Realm."

Chen Ran clenched one hand, creating a sonic boom in the air.

After Pulse Opening Perfection, internal Qi surged like a mighty river and circulated endlessly, yet it was still confined within the Meridians.

To break into Aperture Condensing, one needed to use internal Qi as a hammer and the Divine Soul as a guide to knock open the hidden apertures of the body, inch by inch.

If the early Realms of martial arts focused more on polishing blood and Qi and tempering the sinews and bones... it was for the improvement of a Martial Artist's external physical qualities.

The middle three Realms focused attention on the interior of the body, refining the five viscera and six bowels to open the cycle of True Qi and Internal Energy.

As for the legendary upper three ranks, they merged the two into one, focusing on the unity of essence, Qi, and spirit.

Internal Energy would liquefy, True Qi would take form, and one's Lifespan would surge to a hundred and fifty years.

Such a person could be called a Great Cultivator of the Return to Truth Realm!

However, for the current him, that Realm was still too far away.

"I've been cultivating for over four months now; I'll strive to reach Perfection in the Aperture Condensation Realm within the remaining two months."

Chen Ran whispered to himself. Reaching the Peak of Pulse Opening in less than half a year—he was fairly satisfied with this cultivation speed.

However, he was not arrogant; in this world, there was always someone better.

In the entire capital, while geniuses who reached this Realm at his age were rare, they were not non-existent.

The current Marquis of Martial Might of the Great Wei Court had already become famous throughout the capital when he was around the same age.

Not to mention those peerless Dao-protecting experts who resided within the Great Wei Imperial Palace.

As he was thinking,

a few sounds faintly drifted on the night wind.

Then, after a few short, sharp screams, all returned to silence.

Chen Ran raised an eyebrow and looked toward the source of the sound.