This body-tempering technique had long since been mastered by Quentin Harper through special means. However, when he had just been reborn into this body, his flesh was too fragile to practice it lightly. Now, after swallowing the Duanxu Elixir and consuming blood beef and body-tempering powder, the medicinal power surged within him. Using this method, he could stimulate the medicine’s effects to the utmost.

In this way, injuries to his meridians that would normally take ten days or half a month to heal could now recover completely in just three or four days.

“Whew!”

An hour later, Quentin Harper was drenched in sweat, his body pushed to its limits. Still, he persevered, continuing until every last trace of medicinal effect was absorbed and merged into his flesh. Only then did that peculiar vibrating frequency in his body slowly subside.

With some difficulty, he took steady but weary steps and slowly entered the bath barrel, which had already been filled with hot water and herbs. He sat down fully, no longer moving.

“Time to try circulating true qi.”

Quentin Harper rested for an hour, eyes closed.

“Whew.”

Like a whale drawing breath!

The true qi within him began to circulate slowly, starting from the lower dantian, passing through the huiyin and dimen points, up the spine along the governor vessel through the tailbone, jiaji, and yuzhen gates, reaching the niwan at the crown of the head. Then, it split down through both ears, converging at the tip of the tongue, connecting with the conception vessel, and descending along the center of the chest and abdomen back to the lower dantian.

Throughout the process, the true qi moved slowly. In half an hour, it completed only one cycle—barely faster than a beginner just sensing true qi. Compared to an early-stage Small Heavenly Cycle practitioner, who could complete twelve cycles in an hour, he was twice as slow.

But Quentin Harper was already satisfied with this.

“The Small Heavenly Cycle and Great Heavenly Cycle correspond to the Realm of Refining Truth, where true qi is condensed. Using one hour as the standard: twelve Small Heavenly Cycles is the first level, twenty-four is the second, thirty-six is the third. The third level, also called Small Heavenly Cycle Perfection, requires breaking through the ren and du meridians, circulating the twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary vessels. When true qi returns from postnatal to prenatal, one steps into the Great Heavenly Cycle. After completing twelve Great Heavenly Cycles, that is the fourth level of Refining Truth.”

Previously, Quentin Harper had been able to complete thirty-six cycles, equivalent to the peak of the third level of Refining Truth. He only needed to break through the ren and du meridians and return his true qi to the prenatal state to reach the fourth level. Now, as he retrained, though his meridians had not fully recovered and his progress was slow, the results were still remarkable.

After circulating his qi for half a day, he should have rested, but with his meridians just beginning to recover, he couldn’t stop for even a moment.

At once, he leapt to the left.

Quentin Harper, the sixty-fourth son of the Snow Sword Manor’s master, born of a maid.

The master of Snow Sword Manor, Clifford Harper, was passionate about sowing his seed and had ninety-three children. All his children were sent to various academies, sects, and noble families to cultivate.

Snow Sword Manor was extremely wealthy. Because Quentin Harper had achieved some success in Qingyuan City and performed outstandingly, he was relatively well-off. Though he couldn’t afford priceless treasures like the Duanxu Elixir, his dormitory was the most luxurious among the students, equipped with a private cultivation room.

“Meteor.”

A sharp light flashed in Quentin Harper’s eyes.

In the next instant, the sword in his hand turned into a dazzling streak of light, piercing through the air.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Quentin Harper thrust his sword twenty times in succession.

After gradually testing the limits of his body, he circulated his true qi. In the next moment, his swordsmanship changed dramatically. All around, it was as if starlight flickered; wherever the sword tip reached, sword light filled the air, like meteors streaking across the sky.

After a while, Quentin Harper exhaled and sheathed his sword, standing still again, a fine sheen of sweat already forming on his brow.

This was because his true qi was too weak and had been consumed too quickly.

“Meteor Piercing Moon Sword Technique.”

Quentin Harper’s eyes were calm and composed.

True qi was indeed incomparable to mere physical strength.

On Earth, in the age of the end of dharma, ordinary people could only temper their blood and refine their physical power. Though they could break wood or shatter bricks, it was a world apart from projecting true qi to injure without contact.

On Earth, relying on physical strength, Quentin Harper could thrust his sword seven times in a second.

But now, with the amplification of true qi, he could unleash eight strikes in a second at full power.

Though it was only one more strike, at this moment Quentin Harper was only at the initial stage of true qi refinement, not even at the first level of Refining Truth, and the effect was already remarkable.

If he could reach Small Heavenly Cycle Perfection, the third level of Refining Truth, then easily, he could strike more than ten times in a second.

“Hm?”

Just as Quentin Harper was feeling quite satisfied with his swordsmanship, his consciousness suddenly sank into his soul.

To be precise...

Into his spiritual world.

Here, a sword floated in midair.

“Qingping.”

Seeing this ancient sword, filled with a sense of age, gave Quentin Harper the feeling of meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

“You’re here too.”

The familiar ancient sword brought back memories in Quentin Harper’s mind of a strange encounter he’d had at age fifteen on Earth.

Penelope.

When he obtained this sword, it transformed into a green light and took residence in his spiritual world.

Ever since, whenever he stared at this sword and focused his mind, his brain would become unprecedentedly calm, clear, and lucid.

In this state of calm, emotions could not affect him in the slightest, and he could perceive his surroundings with extraordinary clarity.

At this moment, his mind would operate at its peak.