Brian Carter scratched his head, feeling a bit apologetic and guilty, regretting making such a frightening joke. He hadn’t meant to scare anyone; he just hadn’t thought it through. Having only a head on the floor and blowing cold air at someone’s soles was truly terrifying—anyone timid might have wet themselves on the spot, and fainting would actually be considered brave.

Brian Carter awkwardly shrank his head back, pushed against the ceiling with both hands, and quietly landed in his own room. He paced around a few times, unable to suppress his excitement, and decided to strike while the iron was hot and practice the Nine Mystical Muscle-Easing Technique a bit more!

The twelve principal meridians correspond in pairs: the three yang meridians of the hand correspond to the three yin meridians of the hand, and the three yang meridians of the foot correspond to the three yin meridians of the foot.

The Nine Mystical Muscle-Easing Technique emphasizes the Dao of yin and yang, not taking any unusual paths. After cultivating the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian among the twelve principal meridians, it naturally follows to cultivate the Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian, so as to achieve yin-yang balance.

Unlike some unconventional techniques that not only disregard yin-yang balance but deliberately pursue one extreme—for example, some techniques that focus solely on the three yang meridians and abandon the three yin meridians, causing the true qi to become extremely fierce.

The Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian starts at the tip of the big toe, runs along the inner side of the foot, passes through the Yinbai, Taidu, Taibai, Gongsun, and Neiqiu points, goes past the front of the inner ankle, up the inner side of the lower leg along the back of the tibia, through the Sanyinjiao, Lougu, Dij, and Yinlingquan points, ascends along the front edge of the knee and thigh’s inner side, passes through the Xuehai, Jimen, and Chongmen points into the abdomen, enters the spleen, connects to the stomach, and rises through the diaphragm to the root of the tongue.

The Xuanjin Iron Thread traveled along the way, and nothing could block its path through any gates or acupoints. In an instant, it had penetrated the Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian, even more easily than cultivating the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian. With both the Foot Taiyang and Foot Taiyin meridians opened, the Xuanjin Iron Thread wandered between the two, seeming to grow stronger and even more profound and dark.

The cluster of black light in his lower abdomen, having lost control over two meridians, shrank even further, but within the black light, countless golden sparks faintly flickered—something that hadn’t been there before.

Brian Carter didn’t know whether this change was good or bad. Since it was his first time cultivating, he didn’t dare to be too hasty. After opening up the two meridians, he focused his mind and urged the Xuanjin Iron Thread to repeatedly flush through the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian and the Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian.

Brian Carter could feel that with each pass of the Xuanjin Iron Thread, it grew a little stronger, and his meridians became a bit more stable, bringing him great benefits. The novel sensation of cultivation made the young man forget the passage of time, until his mother knocked on the door to wake him up, and he realized he had been cultivating for four or five hours.

Brian Carter didn’t know when his mother had come home from work, but she seemed to be in a good mood. In the morning, she even specially made him a fried egg, watched him eat with a smile, and only then urged him to go to school.

When Brian Carter passed by Yaohuai Street, as expected, he ran into Lily Smith again. She was still dressed in her usual inconspicuous way.

Although Brian Carter felt a bit strange, he still felt a strong sense of closeness upon seeing this monster girl. After all, the only “acquaintance” in this world who knew he had awakened his monster bloodline was Lily Smith. The two went to school together and parted ways not far from the school. Brian Carter had no idea that their movements had been noticed by someone with ulterior motives.

After Brian Carter entered the school gate, William Grant shook his phone smugly and muttered to himself, “What a pity, you really aren’t worthy to be my opponent. Lily Carter doesn’t even like you. Even with this evidence, there’s no value in blackmailing you. But… next time I see that pretty girl in the light purple dress, I can use these photos to expose his true identity.”

Today, when Brian Carter entered the classroom, he saw Lily Carter, but didn’t have any chance to talk to her. This time, it wasn’t because Lily Carter didn’t want to talk to him, but because he had club activities.

Brian Carter had joined the school basketball team in eighth grade to lose weight, but because of his chubby build, he was always the team’s workhorse—responsible for cleaning the court, tidying up equipment, and guiding newcomers. He didn’t even make it as a substitute and had never represented the team in any match, not even in intramural friendlies.

Brian Carter himself didn’t mind. He just wanted to lose weight, after all. Every time he participated in club activities, he was cheerful and eager to help, so he was quite popular on the team.

On the first class of the school day, Brian Carter asked for leave to go to the basketball club, but there wasn’t much to do all morning.

The reason the coach called everyone in the morning was because something big had happened to the basketball team.

In the second semester of ninth grade, academic pressure was intense, and many students in clubs would choose to quit. The basketball club at Brian Carter’s school was no exception. All four main players in ninth grade had submitted their resignations, leaving the coach with a headache, worrying about how to arrange the lineup for the national league in two months, and having to gather the team to rehearse tactics again.

Last semester, Brian Carter’s school basketball team had a stroke of luck and performed brilliantly in the district, city, and provincial qualifiers, winning one of only two spots in the province for the competition.