In a basket before him, lay sixteen herbs that radiated an aura of spirituality. In appearance, they differed greatly; they ranged from vibrant flowers to gra.s.ses, leaves and barks. Some were shrivelled or dried, others appeared freshly plucked. In delight, Van ran a careful finger over their carefully preserved edges.

These sixteen herbs were Hans' and Freya's entire personal collection.

If they had not fallen in Van's hands, ten of these herbs would have been distributed to other servants, including Klaus, in order to curry favour. The other six were split between Hans and Freya for personal consumption.

For the sake of maintaining Hans's and Freya's existing networks, Van put aside a few of the highest quality herbs. That left just over six herbs for Van.

Under the moonlight, Van's dark eyes shone. As he picked up and admired a small white flower, his mood dampened. If only Finn could see these! In his mind's eye, he saw Finn's bright, dimpled smile. She loved pretty and cute things above all, and mystical light emitted from flower-herbs heightened their beauty.

Thinking about his sister made Van's expression grow solemn. He remembered his vow to her as he steeled himself and walked out of Mountain Village.

Van pushed all unnecessary thoughts away and focused on the moment before him.

The final meridian was his first real cultivation bottleneck and was what was preventing him from reaching the 2nd level of Qi Distillation. Once he broke through, his cultivation speed would have become four times faster than an ordinary cultivator's.

Though this increase in speed sounded small, if one thought about it, it bordered on being a heavenly advantage.

The difference between cultivating for 1 day vs. 4 days might be small, but the difference between 25 years and 100 years was vast.

[Are you ready?]

"As I'll ever be," Van said as he closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath and picked up a somewhat shrivelled leaf. From its appearance, it might once have been quite fleshy. He bit into it and a fruity taste spread through his mouth. Fiery energy spread outwards from his oesophagus and downwards into his stomach.

[Do not let the energy dissipate,] came the stern reminder.

Concentrating, Van gathered the energy into a rotating ball all the while cramming the rest of the herb in his mouth and chewing it quickly. Soon enough, his forehead was dripping with sweat from the effort.

[Now, the next one.]

Blindly, Van fumbled for another one of herbs laid before him and shoved it in his mouth. This time, the influx of qi held a distinctively cooling sensation. Like ice, the energy melted and dripped slowly into his body. Once more, Van channelled the energy into a constantly rotating core.

This process repeated until Van had chewed and condensed the spiritual power of over almost all the low-level spiritual herbs within himself. The spiritual power was a quickly spinning whirlwind of energy within his centre. It grew large enough that it almost slipped out of his control several times. The moment it did, was the moment that Van would need to start all over again – all the energy he had painstakingly gathered would chaotically tear through his body.

Finally, Van reached for the last herb, a tough piece of bark that tasted faintly of metal. Sharp energy swirled into his body. The boy grimaced as he chewed, feeling the rotating core within him spinning furiously. As the new energy flowed into it, it showed signs of collapsing.

A strand of energy detached from the core.

[No!]

Van's heart leapt into his throat.

[Control it!] Jet shouted.

The core continued to unwind.

[Control it now!]

Van chewed furiously. Gambling, he channelled energy from digesting the bark and threw bolts of it at the collapsing core. The momentum of the energy forced the core to hold together. A shaky equilibrium was reached.

Worried, Van tore off another section of bark with his teeth and quickly chewed it. Soon enough, the herb had been completely consumed. Its energy rotated within the unstable core.

Van's brows finally relaxed from their tense position. Now all that's left was to attack the meridian. Just as he attempted to shape the energy, he was stopped by Jet.

[There is still not enough energy to unblock the 99th meridian.]

"What!?"

Van, face red and sweaty, showed an incredulous expression. The swirling ma.s.s of energy within him was barely within his control and yet Jet said this was not enough? If any more energy was added, Van would possibly implode!

The ring was half-amused, half-scornful.

[If perfection were so easy, half the world would be walking around with the cultivation of a G.o.d. Now buck up and pull out that demon core.]

Ultimately, Van nodded. He pulled out the fingernail sized beast core he had obtained way back on Mount Steady.

[The input of energy from the beast core will be less than from some of the herbs, but its nature far more vicious. However, it is exactly that viciousness that will help you.]

Van nodded again.

[Quickly! Each rotation of that core causes a slight loss in energy. Do not waste this, lest you must wait another month or more to collect such an optimal bunch of resources again!]

Pa!

Van tossed the crystalline core into his mouth.

The moment it touched his tongue, it let off a sizzling noise. Thick spiritual energy dripped down into his gullet like hot gravy. As the qi neared the rotating core, its b.e.s.t.i.a.l nature erupted. Wild and unrestrained, the qi rampaged around his centre. It penetrated the rotating core and started to tear it apart like a hound set upon prey.

Van's veins bulged out. The blood vessels in his eyes burst. His eyes were dyed a scarlet red. It seemed that this attempt would be a failure.

Van gritted his teeth. He refused to accept this outcome! Once more, Van restrained the power from the beast core and tried to force into the swirling ball of energy within him.

[Yield!]

The power from the beast core gave off a rebellious, vicious aura as it struggled against his control.

[We are close to losing energy faster than we can a.s.similate from the beast core,] Jet warned.

Van clenched his teeth. He drew inner strength from deep within himself.

YIELD!

HZZZZZT!

The beast qi was sucked into the rotating energy core! Van saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Fiercely, he condensed the collected spiritual power within himself and forced it into a condensed, needle-like shape.

Biting his lips so hard that they bled, Van pushed the needle towards the final meridian between his brows.

Ommmmm!

The qi needle, vibrating due to the sheer amount of compressed energy within, sped upwards.

It pierced deeply into the blockage. But unlike the other meridians, a fearful pain radiated outwards.

Van nearly screamed. His vision blackened. He clutched his head, groaning.

Nevertheless, he continued to force the needle through.

It moved slowly, as if stuck in mud. Pulses of pain shook Van's body.

Just as Van thought he would lose his mind from the drawn-out, excruciating pain, the needle shook.

A vicious, b.e.s.t.i.a.l air - reminiscent of the qi from the demon beast core – emerged as the dominant force within the mix of energies.

HZZZZZT!

With a buzzing sound, the needle zapped the blockage. The radiating pain abruptly stopped.

The barrier had disintegrated.

The final 99th meridian was opened!

Between Van's brows, a small black vortex appeared.