Caleb Carter gathered Ethan Brooks’s stored true yang flame from his four limbs into his left hand’s second white point to stimulate the galloping horse, but he himself could not withstand the extreme pain of both searing heat and freezing cold, and fainted, his life hanging by a thread. The true yin cold of his yin technique surged between the Yin Qiao meridian from the Penque point to the Liangmen point, and the Yin Wei meridian from the Kangquan point to the Lingdao point, with nowhere to be released, and the meridians were on the verge of collapse.

The true yang flame stored by Ethan Brooks in the collateral meridians of his four limbs, however, brought a sliver of hope to this desperate situation. Over several days, the true flame gradually broke through the blockages in his meridians. Though still far from normal, it allowed the true flame to slowly flow through the collateral meridians near the surface of his body. True flame and true cold were two fundamentally different types of qi, naturally attracted to each other. The true flame gradually gathered at the Shaohai point, the closest to the elixir palace, while the true cold also drew closer to the other side of the Shaohai point. Circulating repeatedly, both types of qi gathered at the Shaohai point in Caleb Carter’s body. The two extreme and distinct pains, so close together, gradually merged into an even greater, indescribable agony. Caleb Carter, long accustomed to true cold, had already fainted; otherwise, the pain alone would have killed him. Yet it was this strange pain that triggered his deepest, unconscious survival instinct. The closer the two streams of qi drew to the acupoint, the sharper the sensation became, like two spinning awls, rapidly rotating, trying to break through the Shaohai point in a manner completely different from the Jing Shen Technique.

Just as the breakthrough was about to occur, Andrew Evans thrust his halberd forward. The surge of energy drew the true flame, which had nowhere to go, to rush along the halberd toward his Taiyin Lung meridian. At that moment, the true cold finally broke through the acupoint and surged along the halberd as well. This process was exactly the same as the operation of the Jing Shen Technique, and Andrew Evans felt as if struck by lightning. The true yin cold was still manageable, but the true yang flame, still stored within Ethan Brooks in his body, was not so easily dealt with. Andrew, caught off guard, was unable to defend against the two streams of qi spiraling in at unprecedented speed, and took the full brunt of the attack. This single thrust drew out and absorbed most of the true flame and true cold; otherwise, when the two met after breaking through the Shaohai point, the resulting explosive force would have completely destroyed the Shaohai point. If he knew that his brutal stab had actually saved Caleb Carter’s life, Andrew Evans would surely regret it deeply.

With the true flame and true cold gone, Caleb Carter’s meridians were slightly expanded compared to before, but still not up to normal standards. Moreover, the Yin Qiao meridian between the Penque and Liangmen points, and the Yin Wei meridian between the Kangquan and Lingdao points, were already damaged. Though not immediately fatal, whether he could survive to adulthood remained uncertain. The Shaohai point, newly opened and not yet closed, left the elixir palace empty. As Henry Walker and Andrew fought, he instinctively began to draw in the overflowing qi. The absorbed qi was mostly cold, gathering in the elixir palace. Correspondingly, yang fire gradually arose in the dantian, unlike before when it would dissipate as soon as it appeared; now it grew stronger, eventually forming pure yang qi, which split into the Yang Qiao and Yang Wei meridians, rising to the Baihui point and then dividing into the extraordinary and Ren meridians, flowing downward. The qi drawn into the elixir palace spun rapidly, instantly transforming into pure yin qi, which split into the Yin Qiao and Yin Wei meridians, gathered at the Yongquan point under the feet, and then divided into the extraordinary and Du meridians. The pure yang and pure yin qi merged at the Crane’s Crown point in the extraordinary meridian, forming the purest qi, both yin and yang in nature. This qi then circulated through the Dai and Chong meridians, and from there throughout the four limbs, thus completing a full cycle.

Caleb Carter’s meridians throughout his body were so thin and weak that the flow of qi was barely perceptible. This was, in the truest sense, the Jing Shen Technique. Strangely, as the qi passed through the acupoints and meridians, it spun in a spiral.

However, as soon as the fight between Henry Walker and Andrew ended, the qi in Caleb Carter’s body ceased to flow, lacking any external guidance. His nerves remained locked in the immense pain he had just experienced, and it was precisely this pain that made Caleb Carter unwilling to wake. Whether he would ever regain consciousness was still unknown, but the strange qi just now had preserved a sliver of his life.

The youth who had drawn so much attention turned out to be nothing more than a cripple whose major meridians were blocked. Henry Walker smiled wryly. If not for his extraordinary skill, which allowed him to detect the faintest trace of life moving ever so slowly in the elixir palace, Caleb Carter would have already been discarded as a corpse by the roadside.

Henry Walker tied Caleb Carter to the back of a horse and led the remaining twenty-four halberd riders to slowly skirt around Baishi City toward Jiangjin.

Chapter Four: Jiangjin Crossing

After passing Baishi Prefecture and reaching Cuiping Mountain, the group stopped to rest and reorganize.

Cuiping Mountain was covered with pines and cypresses, some as slender as a child’s arm, others so thick that several people were needed to encircle them. All stood straight as spears, piercing the sky, and even in the harsh winter, they remained lush and green. It was early morning, the sunrise crimson as blood, mountain streams rushing as always, the sound of water even clearer in the cold. Henry Walker’s thoughts drifted far, yet his mind remained focused. A tumbling, surging mountain stream appeared vividly before his eyes, especially captivating.

Suddenly, his mind stirred as a personal guard approached from behind. Unlike before, the image of the guard standing respectfully appeared clearly in his mind. Henry Walker’s heart, once hardened by a will to die, was now stirred by the vibrant scenery of the mountains, finally reaching a state of perfect inner stillness. If he could find a place to cultivate in seclusion for some time and fully transform this insight into martial strength, another grandmaster would emerge in the world.

He knew that years of hatred had clouded his mind, leading to countless killings, and the number of wandering souls he had created in the three prefectures and eight counties was beyond count. The chance to reach such a state of mind was truly slim. A single distraction, and the state of perfect stillness was lost. He thought to himself, “Heaven has already treated me well, letting me glimpse the highest mysteries of martial arts in my lifetime.” With that, he let go of his inner knots.

Henry Walker turned abruptly and said to the guard behind him, “Philip Morgan, let us part ways here. You all take the Dawan horses to Jingyue.”