If the vital energy absorbed before was like mist, then the vital energy of heaven and earth being absorbed now was as dense as water! Henry Carter found that the true qi, which was once easy to move, now felt like a child trying to push a cart loaded with grain when trying to move this heaven and earth energy.

Every bit of progress the vital energy made through the meridians became extremely difficult. Even with the aid of medicinal energy, it was much harder than usual.

“Blade-Shield Iron Scroll! Ultimate Move! Endless Wild Blades!”

Henry Carter manipulated the true qi within his body to form countless battle blades, slashing at the heaven and earth energy that was as thick as liquid. Instantly, much of the energy was shattered, but even more remained solidified in place.

A thousand true qi battle blades were formed and swung in an instant, and Henry Carter sighed. His current understanding and application of the ultimate move could only unleash a thousand slashes in the state of true qi. If it were a real fight, he would be hard-pressed to unleash even thirty slashes at top speed. Endless Wild Blades... how could he truly master it? He’d heard that in his brother’s prime, he could unleash as many as three thousand three hundred slashes with Endless Wild Blades, the momentum of the blades seemingly endless and unstoppable.

The Blade-Shield Iron Scroll continued to slash at the heaven and earth energy being drawn into his body, while the major acupoints all over his body kept frantically absorbing the energy, blocking up nearly all his meridians and turning them into congested channels.

How could this be? Henry Carter frowned in concentration. Why was the energy here so heavy as well?

The stone gate floating above his dantian trembled once again. Henry Carter was fully immersed in cultivating his true qi and didn’t notice that a shining stone pattern on the gate had disappeared, nor did he notice the gate generating a suction force, pulling him out of the heavenly court and sending him back to the darkness of the confinement room.

Endless Wild Blades! Spear-Sword Battle Art: Rain of Spears!

Henry Carter repeatedly manipulated the true qi within his body, frantically breaking through the heaven and earth energy clogging his meridians.

Time flew by. Morning quickly turned to night. The person delivering food knocked on the iron door, waking Henry Carter from his meditation.

“Henry Carter, you broke a clan member’s arm today and have been punished with half a month of solitary confinement...” The food deliverer tossed out this sentence, then lowered his voice and said with concern, “Be careful after you get out. I heard that Robert Carter has already applied to the clan to challenge you in the arena to settle the deadly grudge. If it comes to it, just apologize to him after you get out! I heard he’s about to reach the Qi Spring stage.”

“A duel in the arena?” Henry Carter frowned. “He’s really in a good mood! He has the energy to deal with his own clan members, but doesn’t care about the situation with the Lu and Tang families outside. Internal strife? Utter foolishness! But thank you anyway, I’ll handle it when I get out.”

No further reply came from the other side of the iron door; the food deliverer had already left.

Henry Carter smiled. Ever since his brother was crippled and Victor Carter began to rise, everything within the clan had been quietly changing. The fact that the other person could give him a warning was already a sign of great loyalty. Fortunately, his father was the clan head. If he weren’t, life would probably be even harder than it is now. He would likely have been sent out to handle clan business and wouldn’t be able to focus on martial arts training.

Henry Carter shook his head to clear his thoughts, stood up, and began practicing his moves in the small confinement room, slowly working through the martial arts of the Blade-Shield Iron Scroll, silently reciting in his heart: “The Iron Scroll Blade Technique is a clever chain, stand firm with both feet and guard the dantian. Primal energy flows through the two meridians, spirit focused and body relaxed. Hold a steel blade in hand, arms trembling with a chill that startles ghosts. The blade’s light pours forward, advancing, cross the blade before the chest to meet the attack...”

In the dim room, Henry Carter slowly waved his arms, and a low, whirring sound of blades cutting through the air gradually filled the space.

After practicing the Blade-Shield Iron Scroll for a full hour, Henry Carter wiped the sweat from his forehead and body, marveling at the heaviness of the heaven and earth energy within him. It felt as if more lead had been injected into his blood, making every movement exhausting, and the true qi was difficult to advance. An hour of training was more tiring than five hours on a normal day.

And! He couldn’t even perform the moves accurately! Henry Carter found that the Blade-Shield Iron Scroll, which he usually executed with ease, was now full of mistakes due to the heaviness of his arms and body, with far more flaws than usual.

“My brother said that when a person is tired, if they can still perform their skills as before, they can make great progress. Looks like he was right.”

Henry Carter gently moved his hands and feet, trying to relax his body, and began to slowly practice the Spear-Sword Battle Art again—one of the two great secret techniques of the Yi family.

Fifteen days of solitary confinement, with almost no sense of the sun rising or setting, and no idea how time passed, actually became the best environment for closed-door cultivation.

During the fifteen days of confinement, Henry Carter did nothing but eat and practice the [Blade-Shield Iron Scroll] and [Spear-Sword Battle Art], gradually breaking down the heaven and earth energy within his body and absorbing it all as true qi.

In these fifteen days, he did not enter the heavenly court again, focusing solely on clearing the blockages in his meridians. According to the clan’s martial arts records, if the heaven and earth energy remained in the meridians for too long, it would make them extremely stiff and brittle, and might even assimilate the true qi, turning it back into vital energy and causing one’s cultivation to regress.