Chapter 165: Meridians and the Dantian

Dong dong dong! The stone bell in the central spire rang out, its sound echoing across the sky.

Xu Zhi opened his eyes in bed, brushed his teeth with a rinsing cup, and then rose to stand by the window. He put on his black trench coat and hood, and after eating breakfast downstairs, headed to the library.

Murdoch City is one of the three major cities in the Human Kingdom.

A famous ancient city known for its cuisine, it houses the largest ancient library, which contains a remarkably complete collection of ancient wizarding books.

Although alchemical potions are almost entirely lost, there are still some records of alchemical weapons. Books on various wizarding cultivation systems are almost all complete.

However, in this era, these books are considered useless, as no one can cultivate using them.

About ten minutes later, at a corner at the end of the street, stood a library with a round archway entrance. On either side of the entrance were intricately carved black pillars. An old man sat at the counter in front of ancient yellow bookshelves, studying with an antique black microscope.

"Still studying that microscope, Little Green?" Xu Zhi murmured as he stepped inside.

The craftsmanship of the microscope was beyond current capabilities. Its lenses required refined resin, and alchemical instruments demanded extremely high precision. Without the immense and precise mental power of wizards, replication was impossible.

This item was already a rare treasure.

The year he arrived, Gelun was still very young. But day after day passed, and the young boy from back then gradually aged, married, had children, and became the old man Gelun he was now.

Xu Zhi pulled out a thick wizarding book on the Ouroboros school of thought and sat down at a table to read it.

The Ouroboros Wizarding School was a renowned secret transmission during the era of the Alchemist Emperor.

Because in those days, books from the entire wizarding world were gathered here, making it easy to find various secret teachings and rare editions.

Unlike other libraries, this one had no rule against talking. In fact, it had become a gathering place for many to converse and chat.

"In a bit, I'm going to Padonhan, the old street in the north of the city," one man said. "There's a new magic potion shop there that has the second-sequence magic potion for Fighters. I'm going to check it out later."

"No, I can't," another man replied regretfully. "I still have to go to the Vog faction's combat training ground. It's a shame, I wanted to pursue the 'Magic Swordsman' profession, but that requires joining the national patrol guard."

"For years, Emperor Messiah has still been traveling, but I heard that seven years ago, he visited the two great kingdoms and suppressed all discordant voices."

Emperor Messiah, the rumored most mysterious monarch, never ruled over the land but instead traveled freely across it, inspiring awe among the young people.

"I heard that the two great kingdoms are still engaged in small-scale skirmishes on the front lines. They're fighting fiercely. Albert, hailed as the 'Shield Knight of Justice' and humanity's strongest Fighter, had already broken through to a Tier 4 Fighter. But he was severely wounded by Brom, who tore a large hole in his chest and poisoned him. Everyone thought he was dead, but who knew he'd come back to life, becoming a 'Death Knight'?"

The discussion around them grew lively.

This 'Death Knight' was an entirely new profession.

It's worth noting that over the years, many had tried to forge new professions. But with 173 types of magic potions, combining seven in a specific order created virtually infinite possibilities.

Everyone yearned to combine their own powerful hidden profession and reach the pinnacle.

Over the years, 'Potionology' had emerged. Potion masters, exploring truths in this field, had developed several new professions after thousands of failed combinations.

However, without exception, all were more or less flawed, none as mature and powerful as the Fighter profession. Now, a brand-new hidden profession, the 'Death Knight,' had appeared, rumored to be several times stronger than a Fighter. Everyone was astonished.

"I wish I could get the 'Death Knight' potion formula! If I did, I'd definitely skyrocket to success."

"I heard Albert already possessed an even more mysterious profession formula, 'Necromancer,' rumored to involve death. This new profession, and his revival, supposedly emerged from combining the 'Fighter' and 'Necromancer' professions."

"Necromancer? That sounds exciting! Very much like the powerful ancient wizards from the era of ancient Babylon."

"Shh! It's said that Brom, the Orc King, attacked Albert precisely because he wanted the 'Necromancer' profession formula. Rumor has it that even Albert, humanity's strongest Fighter, was targeted not just by orcs, but by some of our own humans as well..."

Xu Zhi's expression remained calm as he quietly pondered the book before him. "More than twenty years have passed," he thought. "I've thoroughly grasped most of the major wizarding systems. My foundation is solid, even reaching the level of a common legendary wizard."

The former wizarding civilization had reached its peak before its demise. He had entered this world to learn their mature systems, absorbing all their millennia of essence. Now, he was almost done.

He had accomplished this in just over twenty years.

His mental power was immense; as a Hero of the Zerg and an ultimate life form, he naturally comprehended things with extreme speed.

Furthermore, while other wizards had to cultivate, he had spent over twenty years solely focused on learning knowledge and practicing wizardry, without any meditation.

He had endured loneliness and settled his mind.

After all, he knew very well that power required an accumulation of endless knowledge. Without a sufficient foundation, one was destined not to go far.

And naturally, time passed quickly when immersed in an ocean of books. Researching truth was indeed addictive, drawing one in with intoxication and fascination, making it feel immensely enjoyable.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

During this period, he noticed that due to excessive mental exertion, much of his abundant body hair had fallen out.

Of course, the primary reason for this was that as he continuously grew stronger, he seemed to be actively evolving, gradually shedding his hair and revealing a form with black hair and black eyes.

As for money, every few years he would visit the palaces of the two great kingdoms, practice some wizardry, and request some operational funds.

Another reason for his rapid progress in wizarding knowledge was that, besides reading in the library, he was constantly practicing spells.

He was essentially a wizarding Gatling gun with infinite energy.

Whenever he ran out of energy, he would go to the edge of the world and have his main body recharge him.

"After more than thirty years of recharging," he mused, "my main body's mental power, equivalent to nearly ten thousand ordinary Tier 4 wizards' reserves in a Giant Wizard, is almost depleted by me. One can only imagine how terrifyingly insane this is."

"My current level of knowledge is that of a Tier 6 Legendary Wizard, even comparable to an ordinary Epic Wizard. However, compared to figures like Medusa, the Alchemist Emperor, and Armin, my foundation is still far inferior."

He turned the pages, silently contemplating. "I've effectively completed my wizarding foundation," he thought. "I can now confidently advance my cultivation without fear of instability before Tier 7. They could already pioneer their own spells and realms, but what about me?"

Not to mention the peak of wizardry, the Tier 7 Epic realm; many Tier 6 Legendary Wizards were already leaders of wizarding schools and academies, their knowledge foundation deep enough to develop new spells.

Xu Zhi thought for a moment. "Then, I shall begin to forge a rudimentary path for this Rubik's Cube Monkey! This will serve as a satisfactory answer for my 'closed-door research' journey."

"It's time to leave."

He went to the top floor of the library, looking out over the entire human city in the distance.

It was the Dark Age, and countless pale yellow resin lamps twinkled like stars, clustered below the streets.

A month later, Xu Zhi relocated to a new reclusive abode.

In the cellar, a population of Rubik's Cube creatures, 'borrowed' from the Human Kingdom's forges, had begun to multiply. They were lined up like a wall of black bricks, their gaping maws looking extremely ferocious.

"I truly am like a wizard hidden away in a high tower," Xu Zhi mused.

Xu Zhi continuously wrote, filling pages with his experimental notes.

"Pioneering a path is not easy. The Three Witches of old endured countless hardships researching the Evil Eye creatures. Now, for me to forge a path for the Rubik's Cube Monkey, I must also thoroughly re-examine the cube's characteristics."

Three more years passed.

Xu Zhi fully embarked on his hardcore research.

During this time, he noticed that even more of his abundant body hair had fallen out.

At this point, Xu Zhi had a humanoid mannequin in front of him, on which various muscles and vascular patterns were meticulously drawn.

"How does the human body cultivate to expand its inner space?" he pondered. "In the past, people tried to integrate the first-gene cube, but it was useless; there was no way to continuously expand the space."

"By extension, the Spatial Cube requires special magic patterns to be replicated and adjusted to expand its internal space. Therefore, humans can only expand their inner space by replicating these magic patterns onto their own bodies, essentially becoming a 'humanoid cube'..."

Xu Zhi's eyes brightened. "Perhaps, by adapting the magic patterns to the human body, forming a unique energy circulation pathway within, one could expand the inner space!"

Five more years passed.

Xu Zhi's knowledge grew ever more profound, reaching the level of an ordinary Epic. He finally managed to adapt the Spatial Cube's patterns to the human body, refining them until they could successfully operate.

"This internal pathway, which can expand inner space, shall be called the Meridian Circulation Method! A complete circulation path, which ultimately converges into a single point within the Sea of Consciousness, expanding it."

Xu Zhi began to continuously circulate the method, discovering that it not only expanded inner space but also strengthened mental power.

"However, while this creature's inner space expansion rate is decent," Xu Zhi quickly noted, "its mental power cultivation speed is far too slow, specializing too heavily. It's miles behind a wizard's mental power speed!"

Evil Eyes have a natural mental talent; your cube simply cannot compare in cultivation speed.

"Since wizards cultivate themselves to generate mental power, why can't this creature cultivate externally? After all, it possesses an inner space and can absorb external spiritual energy from heaven and earth?"

Wizards cultivate themselves; Rubik's Cube Monkeys cultivate from heaven and earth.

One cultivates internally, the other externally.

Xu Zhi pondered, continuously theorizing. "But the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is thin here. Without death, cultivation is impossible. This isn't a high-energy world; there's no spiritual energy from heaven and earth to supply cultivators."

Xu Zhi silently closed his eyes, sensing. "Does this system really require killing people?"

A few more days passed.

One day, Xu Zhi suddenly closed his eyes.

In the darkness, he found that because he himself possessed a space, he was extraordinarily sensitive to the external world. The souls of passing adventurers and fighters on the street were clearly visible to him.

Their souls, surprisingly, were emitting emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. In the darkness, they were like bowls of steaming hot noodles walking around, radiating heat outwards...

Xu Zhi tried to absorb that emotional 'steam.'

"Although very faint, it is indeed a form of spiritual energy, only one-thousandth of the energy of a complete soul. But it can be sustainably regenerated without killing. If accumulated little by little, it might not be slower than a wizard cultivating their own mental power."

He sat cross-legged, circulating the method, his thoughts drifting further and further as he sensed the world.

He continuously absorbed the spiritual energy emanating from people, various creatures, and even mounts on the nearby streets, gradually extending his senses to half the city's inhabitants, feeling their joyful laughter.

Xu Zhi's eyes grew brighter and brighter. "Life is like bowls of hot noodles, constantly emitting steam outwards! And like burning candles, continuously radiating spiritual energy! A prototype of a system is complete."

After nearly five years of painstaking research, he had written a satisfactory 'graduation thesis' for himself as a wizard.

Then, he found a coffin to bury this Messiah body, just in case, and used the method previously developed by the Alchemist Emperor to create an alchemical hibernation pod.

Whoosh!

Meanwhile, Xu Zhi opened his eyes, looking up at the clock on the wall. He had entered in the afternoon; it was now exactly nine o'clock at night.

"It feels like I just spent a hardcore holiday," he thought.

He stood up, feeling his throat dry. He poured himself a glass of water and turned on the lamp in the room.

Since the core issues of the wizarding world had been resolved, and he had also refined the preliminary system for the Rubik's Cube Monkey within it, it was time to shift his attention to the other side: launching the new underground world!

"The deployment of the Rubik's Cube Monkey! And the deployment of even more new species!"

Xu Zhi stood up and looked at the Evolution Sandbox. "It's been a long time since I paid attention," he murmured. "Let me see what potential species these unusual players have come up with recently."