0027 Calibration

Jiang Mingzhe called out repeatedly but still couldn’t stop A Zi from crying uncontrollably.

He chased her to the door and watched helplessly as A Zi returned to Apartment 36 on the 36th floor. He had intended to follow and persuade her, but after a few moments of contemplation, he stopped in his tracks.

Putting himself in her shoes, if he were the one, after years of relentless effort, countless heavy drinking sessions, endless flattery, and signing numerous contracts, finally securing the position of Client Director—

Suddenly, a newcomer arrives at the company, who neither drinks nor flatters, and signs contracts as easily as tying shoelaces. Surely, he would feel uneasy.

Moreover, A Zi was just a young girl, not very mature in her thinking.

Most importantly, within the Star Sect, A Zi and he had effectively formed an alliance.

Especially since they had secretly kept Little Ginger from Ding Chunqiu, binding them together like comrades-in-arms.

Once such a bond is formed, the sense of boundaries between them becomes even more crucial.

After all, A Zi was still a young woman with limited maturity. If he pampered her without restraint, coaxing her too much, she might come to take his indulgence for granted, which would not be a good thing.

Jiang Mingzhe had witnessed many similar cases—for example, several friends who initially found decent girlfriends but ended up spoiling them into unreasonable creatures, causing their relationships to fall apart.

Not everyone is “used to” such behavior; not everyone knows when to stop and empathize.

Hence, Jiang Mingzhe always believed that the more you care for someone, the less you should indulge them without limits.

Great skill is cultivated through practice; a fine horse is trained; a good subordinate is managed; and a healthy relationship is forged through mutual adjustment.

If you’re as soft as a persimmon and as gentle as water, offering no resistance, where’s the room for growth?

With a light sigh, Jiang Mingzhe returned to his bedroom and, by candlelight, once again began poring over the “Tribulation Crossing Scripture.”

Yesterday, urged by the plump fellow, he hadn’t had time to study the techniques beyond the Qi Nourishing stage.

Now, reading carefully, he realized that the Enlightenment stage techniques provided detailed explanations of each acupuncture point.

His interest piqued, he quickly located the points above the Qu Gu point that he had opened—namely, from bottom to top: Zhong Ji, Guan Yuan, Shi Men, and Qi Hai.

Zhong Ji belongs to the Water element, embodying the interplay of water and earth, serving as a crucial node transmitting strength between the torso and lower limbs. Once opened, power flows through the legs, stabilizing the base.

Guan Yuan is also Water, containing the vital fire of the Life Gate, called the “Dragon Thunder Fire.” It is a key point for storing kidney essence and refining essence into qi. Opening this point brings vigor, strong bones and tendons, and greatly enhances vitality recovery.

Shi Men belongs to Fire, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence of water and fire. It is the node that clears the qi of the Sanjiao (Triple Burner). Opening this point ensures smooth, unobstructed qi flow throughout the Sanjiao, greatly benefiting body and mind.

Qi Hai is Earth, carrying the combined virtues of fire and earth. It is the core for gathering and stirring internal qi. When opened, breath becomes long and deep, responses swift. When Jiang Mingzhe practiced claw techniques during the day, his ability to integrate internal strength into his moves owed much to this point, though at the time he was still unaware.

Having finished the Enlightenment stage, he moved to the Resonance stage and often marveled at Ding Chunqiu’s genius.

The Star Sect’s martial art was truly unlike ordinary internal skills.

Typical internal arts focus on cultivating the eight extraordinary meridians, clearing them one by one until finally breaking through the Ren and Du meridians, completing the Lesser and Greater Circuits, thereby achieving supreme internal power.

But because the Star Sect’s practice involves poison, it disregards this conventional approach and instead centers on the Five Elements attributes of acupuncture points.

For example, first clearing seventy-three Water-element points to serve as vessels, then integrating Fire-element poison energy.

This approach achieves two purposes: first, leveraging the Five Elements’ generating and restraining relationships to control poison and protect the body; second, because these points are scattered across various meridians, poison energy is diffused, making it easier to manage and allowing the body to gradually adapt.

Otherwise, following traditional internal cultivation, once poison energy is integrated, it concentrates along a single meridian. Since the points on that meridian have different elemental properties, controlling the poison becomes extremely difficult and prone to dangerous backlashes.

According to the “Tribulation Crossing Scripture,” this method breaks the whole into parts and progresses step by step. Early on, the power may not be evident, but once reaching the Resonance and Radiance stages, the poison technique reveals its true strength, far surpassing ordinary internal skills in destructive power.

At the Circulation stage, the body’s tolerance is very strong, allowing the poison energy to be transferred again—for instance, redirecting Fire poison to Wood points, Wood poison to Water points—exploiting the generating cycle to unleash even more terrifying power.

To conceive such a technique, Ding Chunqiu truly deserves the title of grandmaster.

Fully grasping the profundity of the Star Constellations’ “Tribulation Crossing Scripture,” Jiang Mingzhe couldn’t help but click his tongue.

Last night, by accident, he had opened five points along the Ren meridian, all among the body’s most vital and powerful points, which brought him much practical benefit—far greater than opening five points of the same elemental property in ordinary cultivation—but it went against the scripture’s original intent.

Therefore, moving forward, he must follow the prescribed order, selecting points of the same element and opening them one by one.

Currently, he had opened five points: three Water, one Fire, and one Earth. Logically, opening Water-element points next would be most efficient, but considering the later poison integration, the Wood-element poison centipede was best suited for the Three Yin Centipede Claw technique.

Although the centipede possessed other elemental attributes—for example, the Fire centipede he fed Little Ginger—such rare variants were hard to find and would only complicate matters for himself.

Of course, another option was to switch to other fist or palm techniques, such as the Red Flame Silent Palm, since most poisonous snakes have Fire-element toxins, which could counter Water points...

Jiang Mingzhe closed the book, pondering deeply, then suddenly slapped his thigh—

Why think so much? Adults want it all! My internal power is as thick as a wine cup, and I made A Zi cry just by opening points—why should I painstakingly choose like an ordinary person?

It’s the centipede, then. According to the scripture’s method, integrating Wood poison and using Metal to restrain Wood means opening Metal-element points. I’ll open those!

He carefully studied the locations of Metal-element points, drank a cup of Five Treasures Wine, then sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and began his cultivation.

As before, he first used the qi-nourishing method to circulate internal power throughout his body, absorbing all the nascent vitality, then began breaking through and opening points. After two hours, he opened three points: Fei Shu, Po Hu, and Tai Bai.

These points benefit lung qi, soothe tendons and muscles, strengthen the waist, and invigorate the spleen. After opening them, his breathing felt noticeably smoother.

By now it was deep into the night, but Jiang Mingzhe felt no sleepiness. He took out brush, ink, and paper, and retrieved the “Star Sect Elder’s Secret Record of Poison Refining,” reading and copying its contents.

He had expected it to be filled with poison recipes, but upon opening, it was quite different. It felt more like Ding Chunqiu’s personal boast journal, detailing when and where he went, whom he clashed with, how he unleashed his might to defeat them, what martial or poison techniques he used, and how utterly miserable his opponents were.

Or it might recount how Ding heard of some poisonous insect or flower, journeyed to seize it, met rivals who tried to snatch it, and how he unleashed his power to crush them, along with descriptions of the poisonous creatures or plants and their uses.

Ding Chunqiu was well-read and had exquisite writing skills, sparing no ink in vividly describing how he humiliated his foes, expertly employing the literary technique of raising expectations only to shatter them.

For example, detailing the opponent’s sect, identity, martial arts, achievements, and how awe-inspiring they were, only to be casually dispatched by the elder with a single move, leaving onlookers stunned...

Jiang Mingzhe found himself increasingly addicted to reading, thinking Ding Chunqiu was truly a genius—a man from the Song Dynasty who had mastered the style of online fantasy novels’ overpowered protagonists, combined with elegant prose and rich elements. If this book were printed and sold, it might become quite popular.

Unconsciously, Jiang Mingzhe not only learned about many strange poisons but also gained a clearer understanding of the current martial world’s landscape.

Only when dawn approached did he remember he had to train tomorrow, reluctantly putting down the boastful record, washing his face with cold water, and slipping into bed to sleep.