Chapter 20: Source Magic

“Stronger than someone with two opened meridians?!” Zhou Yuan and Qin Yu couldn’t help but widen their eyes when they heard Zhou Qing’s words.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes were filled with excitement. “Master Cang Yuan really didn’t lie to me,” he thought. “Although opening my meridians is more difficult, the benefits I gain from it will also be greater.” According to his father’s assessment, his current physical fitness was even stronger than that of a two-meridian cultivator, far surpassing an ordinary one-meridian cultivator.

Furthermore, with the Genesis Runes he had mastered, his combat power was such that even a three-meridian cultivator might not necessarily be able to defeat him.

“If I also master the Tiger Roar Rune, I reckon I’ll be able to win against anyone as long as I don’t encounter a four-meridian cultivator,” Zhou Yuan muttered to himself, feeling a surge of joy. His diligent cultivation during this time had indeed yielded gratifying results.

Most importantly, this gave Zhou Yuan hope—hope that he could continuously climb higher until one day he could change everything.

Zhou Qing gazed at Zhou Yuan with burning eyes. He extended his only remaining arm and heavily patted Zhou Yuan’s shoulder. From his gaze, Zhou Yuan could see an unconcealable mix of excitement and hope.

“Yuan’er, you’ve done very well!”

Zhou Yuan’s deep voice trembled slightly at this moment, and his eyes even turned red. “That King Wu thought that by stripping you of your Saint Dragon destiny, he could cast our Zhou family’s Saint Dragon into an abyss of eternal damnation,” he said, “but now, it seems he underestimated you!”

Observing Zhou Qing’s turbulent emotions, Zhou Yuan’s own feelings also fluctuated. He knew that in the years before he had opened his meridians, his father’s ambition had been gradually eroded by cruel reality, and perhaps despair had already begun to set in.

Because reality offered Zhou Qing no glimmer of hope.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was barely clinging to survival, while the Great Wu was becoming increasingly powerful. He knew that once King Wu’s sworn deadline arrived, their Great Zhou would face destruction.

But now, at the moment Zhou Yuan opened his meridians, the despairing Zhou Qing finally saw a glimmer of dawn.

Although this glimmer of dawn was still extremely faint, Zhou Qing believed that one day, it would transform into a blazing sun, erupting with the flames of vengeance, completely incinerating the Great Wu and reclaiming everything their Great Zhou had lost.

Currently, the Great Wu was at war with two other major dynasties nearby and couldn’t spare the resources to deal with the Great Zhou. Therefore, this was the perfect time for Zhou Yuan to grow.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions. He knew that there was an immeasurable gap between himself and the Great Wu right now, so he needed to pull his gaze back from the distant future.

What he needed to do now was to pass the grand examination to enter the A-Rank Academy and ultimately thwart the Qi King’s Residence’s coveting of the Great Zhou Prefecture Governor position.

“Those in the top ten of the grand examination are basically at the four-meridian level. I’m not afraid of encountering a three-meridian cultivator now, but if it’s a four-meridian cultivator, my chances of winning aren’t high,” Zhou Yuan thought, his eyes flickering. Therefore, to ensure no accidents, he had to make further progress and open his second meridian before the grand examination.

Once his second meridian was opened, Zhou Yuan would have no more reservations. He believed that even if he encountered Lin Feng, who was rumored to be the most likely to win first place in the grand examination, he would be confident.

“It seems I still can’t relax if I want to enter the A-Rank Academy,” Zhou Yuan mused.

“Yuan’er, now that you’ve opened one meridian, you can learn some Genesis Arts to maximize your strength,” Zhou Qing said, having calmed down.

Genesis Arts are techniques that allow one to unleash their Genesis Qi with greater power. In this world, Genesis Arts, like Genesis Weapons, are classified into four grades: Common, Profound, Heaven, and Saint.

However, higher-grade Genesis Arts demand more from the practitioner. Most people in the Meridian Opening stage can only practice some Common-grade Genesis Arts.

“Later, I’ll have someone send over some Imperial Genesis Arts suitable for your cultivation. You can try practicing them.”

Zhou Yuan nodded. Although he had opened his meridians, he could only be said to possess raw strength without being able to unleash it to its full potential. This was ultimately because he had not cultivated any Genesis Arts.

Therefore, his daily cultivation schedule would have to increase.

Zhou Qing’s efficiency was high, so soon, several Genesis Arts were delivered to Zhou Yuan’s hands.

In the stone pavilion, Zhou Yuan flipped through the Genesis Arts. The most formidable among them were the ‘Primordial Chaos Palm’ and the ‘Space-Shattering Clear Fist,’ both mid-grade Genesis Arts.

Zhou Yuan looked at the two Genesis Arts, a contemplative expression on his face. While these two Genesis Arts were certainly not profound, they were stronger than low-grade ones. Of course, at the Meridian Opening stage, one’s Genesis Qi wasn’t abundant, so even practicing profound Genesis Arts wouldn’t fully unleash their power.

As Zhou Yuan immersed himself in these two mid-grade Genesis Arts, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance. His expression shifted slightly, and he looked up to see Yao Yao standing beside him, her delicate face casually glancing at the two Genesis Arts in his hand.

“Very ordinary Genesis Arts,” Yao Yao commented casually, quickly withdrawing her gaze.

“They’re just ordinary mid-grade Genesis Arts. What profoundness can you expect?” Zhou Yuan said with a helpless smile.

“You want to cultivate Genesis Arts?”

Zhou Yuan nodded, his gaze still fixed on the diagram. “Now that I’ve opened one meridian, I can finally use some Genesis Qi. Naturally, I need to learn Genesis Arts to ensure my combat power.”

If he hadn’t cultivated Genesis Arts, would he just rely on brute physical strength when fighting others?

Hearing this, Yao Yao couldn’t help but give Zhou Yuan a strange look. “You possess extraordinary techniques, so why are you looking at these ordinary ones?”

Zhou Yuan’s gaze sharpened. He looked up at Yao Yao and frowned. “What do you mean?”

Seeing his bewildered expression, Yao Yao pursed her rosy lips slightly. “Dull-witted,” she scoffed.

Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth, saying with exasperation, “Did I waste all that good wine on you for nothing?”

Yao Yao rested her delicate hand on her fragrant cheek, saying languidly, “After practicing the Dragon Forging Art for so many days, didn’t you feel anything yourself?”

Zhou Yuan’s face showed a pensive expression. After a moment, he suddenly stood up, walked out of the stone pavilion, and slowly performed a set of ninety-eight forms of the Dragon Forging Art with raised palms.

This time, he didn’t finish quickly, but performed one form after another, quite slowly.

It took him half an incense stick of time to complete one set of the Dragon Forging Art.

He stood rooted to the spot, unmoving, as if savoring something. After a long while, his pupils suddenly constricted, and a look of shock appeared on his youthful face.

Then he looked up at Yao Yao in the stone pavilion, his voice filled with disbelief.

“This… this Dragon Forging Art contains Genesis Arts?”

A faint smile appeared on Yao Yao’s exquisite face, as bright as an autumn moon. “Although a bit slow,” she said, “you’re not beyond hope yet.”

Then she extended two slender, jade-like fingers and said nonchalantly, “To be precise, the ninety-eight forms of the Dragon Forging Art contain two sets of Genesis Arts.”