Chapter 371: Meeting Nero, the Metal Dragon – Part 2
Wei Yuan and many yin slaves had told Miaomiao about the issues of Siren City's unified element spring water, which Mao Xueyan's goblet continued to produce.
The city's reservoir could no longer contain the overflowing spring water and the daily supply of life essence water from the pylon tower. The city also couldn't release the excess water to the blood sea either since it might draw the attention of various super monsters from the Blood Sea.
Thus, Wei Yuan had stored many spring water tanks in her system inventory, hoping to sell them or use them to grow crops that required the special water.
Fortunately, Miaomiao and Wei Yuan could communicate through their systems. He asked his wife to transfer some of the water tanks to his inventory slots.
Wei Yuan was more than happy to transfer all her water tanks, which had been filled to the brim, to Miaomiao. She had enough elixir to fill ten Olympic-size swimming pools at once, and she still had many tanks leftover. She also told Miaomiao that she still had many more in her spatial rings.
With such resources, Miaomiao had no qualm in throwing the precious water away.
After digging one Olympic-size pool for the dragon, Miaomiao filled the hole with the spring water.
"I was planning to give you 1000 cubic meters. I guess 2500 cubic meters is more than enough?"
Miaomiao looked at the water pool and turned to the dragon, "Is this enough for you? Do you need another pool?"
Nero's massive body alone had already occupied half of the enormous room underground. However, there were enough spaces to place ten swimming pools here.
Miaomiao asked Nero for permission, in case this prideful dragon wanted more.
Nero stared blankly at the pool of precious elixir for a moment, after which he looked at Miaomiao, "You… who are you? How did get so much dryad's spring water? Did you rob their entire plane or what?"
"Oh? You know about the dryad realm?" Miaomiao was surprised.
"The dryad queen and Firecracker are friends. I heard about the woman through that guy."
"Firecracker? Who?"
"The owner of your fire dragon bloodline."
"Oh!"
Nero sighed as he confirmed that Miaomiao didn't inherit his friend's legacy directly, "What happened to the original bloodline holder? How did you get that fire dragon bloodline?"
"You keep asking me questions, but you haven't given me the promised reward yet."
Nero's killing intent soared, "Tell me how you get that bloodline and the water first, and I'll fulfill my promise!"
Miaomiao was blown toward the wall again. He coughed several mouthfuls of blood as the killing intent of this sealed immortal dragon was no joke.
Miaomiao drank a mouthful of healing water before he stood up, telling Nero the truth, "An asshole with your friend's bloodline tried to kill me. I killed him and absorbed whatever legacies he had. As for the water, it's from my hometown. That's all."
Nero raised one of his eyebrows and stared into Miaomiao's eyes, checking whether the boy was lying.
Miaomiao's red pupils were as sinister as ever, but they contained light, different from mindless murderers or bloodthirsty demons.
Nero nodded in approval. The light in Miaomiao's eyes was serene and bright, which revealed his honesty side. Even if it hid the bloodlust, greed, and ambition, they were more tamed than other arrogant demons that Nero knew.
"I see that you're honest. Since it's self-defense, it can't be helped."
"Then?"
The dragon coughed as it was ashamed. He glanced at the elixir pool, "Well, I don't mind if you can dig a few more pools for me. I haven't had any clean water for ages."
"Oh, sure. I'll dig more pools for you."
"…"
…
In the end, Miaomiao made the pool bigger and deeper for the dragon. The pool was 50 meters deep while the width and the length were five times bigger. Though, Miaomiao didn't have enough spring water to fill it to the brim.
Since Miaomiao couldn't fill it, he asked Wei Yuan. She immediately transferred more spring water to Miaomiao's system inventory, allowing him to pour the excess water here.
Nero was overjoyed. He sat in the pool and gulped the water in glee. However, he was sad when he realized that he couldn't swim in it.
"Hey, brat. Can you make it bigger?"
Miaomiao rolled his eyes and pointed at the remaining space in the room, "If I make it wider, you won't have any place to sit on land. Are you fine with that?"
"… Maybe not. I'm a dry-land dragon, not one of those water lizards."
"Then, your promise?"
Nero grumbled, frustrated that he had made that oath. Still, dragons never broke promises.
"Fine! I'll fix your meridians after I have my fill! Wait right there!"
…
After the dragon had left the pool, he ordered Miaomiao to sit cross-legged.
Miaomiao closed his eyes and meditated as Nero had said. The dragon started teaching the basics of all basics.
"First off, what do you understand about meridians?"
"Pathways of Qi and Essence?"
"For human cultivators, correct. For us, dragons, you're dead wrong."
"Huh?"
"The constitution of human cultivators are a lot weaker than us, dragons and demons. Most of the time, they mistake their blood vessels and nervous system as their meridians. However, for us, we can use everything as a medium. Bones, nervous system, blood, muscle fibers, skin, and scales!"
The teaching went against the logic and common sense of humans. As the dragon had said, every human cultivation technique, including some of the demon ones, treated their blood vessels and their nervous system as meridians. Meanwhile, this ancient dragon said every organ could be used.
"Won't the essence pathways be more chaotic if we don't use our blood vessels or nervous system?"
"Nope! It's the nervous system that always makes things complicated. How about this? Try channeling your Qi from your dantian to your fingertip by using your blood vessels."
Miaomiao circulated his Qi toward his fingertip easily as he had done it a billion times already. Within less than a second, a strand of Qi gathered at Miaomiao's index fingertip.
Nero nodded, "Now, move it back to your dantian while you circulate a new strand to your fingertip."
The task was basic. Again, Miaomiao circulated his Qi without trouble.
"Okay. I see that you've been using your blood vessels to channel your Qi. That's a stupid and laziest thing to do even though it's the easiest way to use your Qi."
Miaomiao frowned as he was offended, "Then, is there a better way?"
"There is. Now, before I teach you the right way, try moving your Qi with your nervous system."
"…"
Miaomiao had been avoiding using this method. This Qi circulation technique was similar to Moon Meridian Scripture, which his yin slaves had been using. This method allowed the cultivators to enhance their physique and inner organs whenever they circulated their Qi or Essence, but it required a massive amount of Yin Essence or Life Essence to enhance their nervous systems, disabling the pain signals.
Miaomiao used to test the cultivation technique once, and he didn't like it. Every time he circulated his Qi using his nervous system, he thought he might die from the torturous pain.
Still, as requested by Nero, Miaomiao moved one of his life Qi using his nerve.
As expected, as soon as his life Qi moved around his nervous system, it sent an extreme pain signal to his brain. Yet, Miaomiao endured it.
The Qi circulation speed was slower this time. However, the strand of Life Qi seemed purer than the last time as it was untouched by Miaomiao's blood.
The dragon nodded, "Since you haven't opened your nervous system's meridians properly, you experience extreme pain just like that. Also, because your pathways are blocked, your circulation speed is slower than usual. Well, since it's only one strand, you can move it to your fingertip easily. But if you try to use a big technique, I bet you won't be able to use whatever technique you have. I guess letting your body experience it is the best way to show you. Go ahead and try to use your best technique that requires elemental Qi."
"…"
Since he was ordered, Miaomiao had no choice but to try it. He circulated several strands of dragon fire Qi, trying to use Killer Queen's Bomb Transmutation technique.
Unfortunately, he couldn't move his elemental Qi more than an inch. It got stuck and bounced back to his dantian!
"Pfft!"
Because of the sudden blockade and backlash, Miaomiao vomited blood as the blood vessels in his stomach ruptured.
The dragon laughed, "That happens because your nervous system meridians are clogged. You've only opened 12 basic meridians, so you can't use your big techniques without opening your clogged pathways."
Miaomiao wiped his mouth and stared at the dragon, "Then, teach me how to open them, please."
"No, I'll teach you another circulation technique."
"There's more!?"
Nero burst into laughter, "Human cultivators grade my Qi circulation technique as Immortal or Divine Grade! Well, no one but dragons and or dragon bloodline inheritors can use it anyway. First off, try to imagine yourself as a river."
"How?"
"I'll insert my Qi into your body and show you how it moves. Don't resist. Try to feel and remember it with your body."
"Okay…"
The metal dragon's Qi entered Miaomiao's forehead.
In an instant, it rotated within his head as if it tried to destroy his brain. His blood vessels expanded while his brain tissues, nerve, and cells sent unimaginable pain signals to Miaomiao.
Miaomiao had a sudden headache. He widened his eyes and stared at Nero.
Blood dripped from his nostrils, eyes, and ears. Miaomiao could also taste the blood in his throat.
Yet, the dragon simply grinned, "Remember the feeling. I'm moving my Qi in your brain first, so you can get used to the feeling. If you can make it through, the other organs will be a lot simpler."
"…"
Miaomiao ground his teeth and closed his eyes, enduring the pain and the extreme headache.
Nero continued to circulate his Qi within Miaomiao's brain for the entire day. His action seemed pointless since he never moved his Qi to other parts of the latter's body.
However, in reality, this method was the best way to let other dragons or dragon bloodline successors get used to the Qi circulation, which no one normally did.
Miaomiao almost fainted many times during the 24 hours. He felt like the dragon had been playing with him, but he didn't have a choice but to endure the torture.
Another day had passed, the dragon still repeated his action. Miaomiao sweated profusely as he was at his limit.
But after the third day, the pain lessened. Somehow, the Qi circulation within his brain wasn't as painful as before.
The dragon explained as he concentrated on moving his Qi in Miaomiao's brain randomly.
"I circulated my Qi freely within your brain without relying on the nervous system, blood vessels, or physical organ's connection. I treated your soft tissues as if they were non-existence and moved my Qi in every direction."
Miaomiao muttered in a faint voice, "But why?"
"Brain is usually the weakest part of mortals. However, for 8th-stage cultivators, immortals, and gods, we no longer have a physical brain, only the soul physique. If you keep relying on your nervous system, you won't be able to form the soul physique when you try to break through to the 8th-stage."
"What does it have to do with opening meridians? You only toyed with my brain for 3 days."
Nero scoffed and withdrew his Qi from Miaomiao's body, "Haven't you noticed the changes?"
Miaomiao massaged his forehead and temples for a moment. Then, he realized something odd inside his skull.
Curious, he circulated a strand of Life Qi to his brain, attempting to heal whatever injury that Nero had inflicted on him.
Yet, there was no injury. Instead, his brain tissues and nervous system inside his brain seemed to have been reorganized. Miaomiao's memory, precognitive ability, and calculation speed were also improved.
As soon as Miaomiao's life Qi entered his brain, the brain tissues devoured it as if they were a dry sponge, hungry for water.
Sensing how his brain reacted and realized that he hadn't eaten anything for many days, Miaomiao circulated more Life Qi into his brain. He also accidentally sent a liter of life essence to his head by reflect.
Strangely, Miaomiao forgot to move his essence and Qi through his blood vessels. All energy moved directly from his abdomen to his head, shooting right through bones, muscles, and various organs as if they never existed.
Miaomiao was also surprised by the phenomenon. The flow of his energy felt like his entire body was a blank container, and his energy was the flow of water.
Moreover, the purity of his Qi was the same when he used his nervous system as medium.
Nero looked at Miaomiao's expression and smiled in satisfaction, "See? It's smoother, right?"
"W-What the?" Miaomiao dryly laughed, confused.
"Eh, it's simple," Nero turned around to drink the spring water. "I've shown you the correct way to circulate your dragon Qi. Your brain experienced it directly and you subconsciously remember it. Now that the brain has reorganized itself to adapt to the flow, the other organs are also evolved according to the control tower's command. Well, you don't need those 108 meridian shit that you've been taught. Even that spider's meridians are inferior to your "Soul" meridian now."
The black metal dragon looked proud as he had imparted the strongest Qi circulation technique to a dragon bloodline inheritor.
Dragonewts and dragons didn't need a human's cultivation technique! The 108 meridians were for humans and demons. As for fellow dragonkin, they could use something better!
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