“Almost there… but since I am doing this, I might as well go for broke! Cultivation is a path full of pain and hard work!” Even though she had taken a qi pill and probably had enough spiritual qi within her to open her fate meridian, she wanted to see if she could push it past the first meridian and try to open more all at once. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth as she felt her entire body suddenly jolt with excruciating pain that she had never felt before in her entire life!

“Ah!” Yuki cried out as she felt as if every pore on her body was pried open as spiritual qi forced its way in, spreading her pores so wide beyond the extent of what they should be. While painful, Yuki gripped her tiny fists and tried her best to deal with the pain.

*Boom!*

Yuki was circulating the spiritual qi in her body and slamming it against the blockage of her fate meridian. With each circulation, she could feel the blockage weakening. This excited her as she knew it would only be a matter of time before it truly broke. Once the fate meridian was opened, she could begin working on the next one!

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

“Ah!” Yuki let out another pained cry as she felt the blockage suddenly dislodge. But she did not stop there! She had already detected the next meridian and began pushing the spiritual qi toward it! She wanted to go as far as she could!

Standing at the door of the house, Fuka watched her daughter with many complex emotions. She knew how much her daughter had worked these past years, doing her best to progress in her body fortification cultivation. In a sense, she was a genius in how she learned so quickly but also in how much hard work she put into everything. “If only we could….” Fuka really wished she could make her daughter's dream come true and allow her to keep progressing in her cultivation past the body fortification stage. But because of her clan and the blood that flows through her veins, she will be forever trapped as a body fortification cultivator.

“Fuka….” Akihito pulled his wife into his arms.

“Aki, I can’t do it. I can’t let her talents and dreams disappear! If she really does reach the top of the body fortification realm, her dream will cease to be. Even if she were to open every meridian, she would have nothing to strive for after that…. Aki, we have to do something!” Fuka had tears in her eyes as she watched her daughter attack meridian after meridian.

Akihito lowered his head before patting his wife on the hand. “I will talk to Elder Eijiro tomorrow. For now, let’s just watch over Yuki and wait for her to finish.”

At this time, Yuki had no idea what her parents were talking about and was currently trying to smash through her fifth meridian. The amount of spiritual qi she was taking in was slowly increasing with the number of meridians she opened. After an hour of enduring the pain, Yuki smashed through her fifth meridian, unleashing a flood of spiritual qi into her system. Feeling the spiritual qi in her growing even more, Yuki did not dare stop! Even if it was painful, she would keep going!

A day and night passed. Fuka and Akihito were both sitting in front of their daughter, silently protecting her in case anyone dared to disturb her as she tried her best to endure. The aura around their daughter was growing by the second. The amount of spiritual qi gathering around her was like a whirlwind. Yuki’s snow white hair fluttered up and down as she clenched her eyes tightly shut and gritted her teeth. She had long gotten used to the pain, but it was still taking everything to endure.

The more she pushed, the harder it was to open any meridians. At this moment, she was trying to break down the barrier to the eighth meridian! It was only a drop in the ocean from the mythical amount, but to her, this was already a huge progress.

Days began to pass. Each day that passed, she opened a single meridian. She did not feel hungry or thirsty. The spiritual qi that was still flooding into her body was nourishing it at the same time, keeping her satiated and hydrated. Her entire body was growing stronger with each second. She had already been covered in quite a few layers of block goop. The impurities in her body were slowly being pushed out.

---

“Can she go on like this?” Fuka asked as she stared at her daughter. It had already been a week, but her daughter stayed there unmoving this entire time. Only when her brow furrowed every now and then did Fuka let out a sigh of relief.

“Fuka, do not worry.” Elder Eijiro replied with a long sigh. “This girl is amazing… her talent is beyond anyone's in this village. If….”

Elder Eijiro furrowed his brow. He seemed to have come to a decision on something. He flipped his hand, and a tattered old book appeared in it. “Akihito, Fuka…. This village will one day need someone above the body fortification realm. My time is slowly coming to an end, and so is the ancestor’s. Yuki has the potential to become a powerful cultivator. While her path may be slow, even so, at least she will always have her path in front of her. I can not allow Yuki’s dreams to die. Out of all the children I have watched grow up over the years, she is the hardest working. But this must remain a secret. Do not give her this part of the cultivation method until she has reached the peak of the fortification realm and is ready to continue her cultivation path.”

Akihito took the tattered book with shaky hands before kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to Elder Eijiro. “Thank you!”