DRAGON EMPEROR

CHAPTER 3 Condensation and Purification of Essential Qi

It was almost noon on the second day when all the medicinal properties of the Marrow Cleaning Pills had been thoroughly refined.

Lu Ming did not sleep for a single instant the entire night, but he was not sleepy at all. Instead, he felt refreshed and full of strength.

One marrow cleansing pill completely changed him. Lu Ming's body was stronger than that of an ordinary young man, his meridians were also no longer obstructed and filled with flexibility and vitality.

It was just that there was a thick and sticky layer of dirt on his body due to the dirt being expelled from him, and it was very uncomfortable.

A thought popped into his mind and Lu Ming returned to his room.

He carefully opened the door and walked out and found Li Ping and Qiu Yue had already gone – maybe out to buy food.

Lu Ming went towards the well in the courtyard, stood nearby, and drew water to rinse away the impurities from his body. After changing into clean clothes, he immediately felt refreshed both body and mind.

Soon after, Li Ping and Qiu Yue returned. They looked at Lu Ming and looked at him in surprise.

At that moment, Lu Ming looked steadfast, far from his usually sickly and weak appearance. No wonder they were surprised.

“Ming'er, is your wound better?” Li Ping asked as he examined Lu Ming closely.

“Yes, Young Master, you look a little different than usual,” Qiu Yue said as she blinked her eyes innocently.

“Mother, I don't know why but after being injured this time, I was suddenly able to cultivate a bit of Essential Qi after practicing the Qi Condensation Art last night. I feel a little better as a result.” Lu Ming chuckled.

"What's? You are able to cultivate Essential Qi, Ming’er?” After hearing what Lu Ming said, Li Ping was overjoyed. Her eyes glazed over with happy tears.,.

Lu Ming did not tell Li Ping anything about the Supreme Shrine as there were Divine level martial arts techniques within it and if word got out, the three of them would get into big trouble.

Changes happened to his body after he took the marrow cleansing pill. If there was no explanation, Li Ping and Qiu Yue would definitely realize something was wrong, so he revealed a small portion of – he managed to cultivate the Essential Qi.

“Ming'er, great, great!” Tears of joy flowed in Li Ping eyes.

Even though it was just merely cultivating the Essential Qi and far from competing with the Blood Meridian Martial Artist or even being associated with an Ordinary Martial Artist, he was still very happy for Lu Ming.

“Young Master, next time you have to protect Miss and me.” Qiu Yue chirped while beaming happily.

Li Ping and Qiu Yue started cooking and in a short time, a delicious fragrance filled the air around them. The three of them sat together happily to eat a simple dish of meat with two vegetable dishes.

“Ming'er, you're still not well. Eat more meat to help improve your body,” Li Ping said as he vigorously filled Lu Ming's bowl with meat.

“Mother, Qiu Yue, you two eat too,” replied Lu Ming.

Ever since the news six years ago about Lu Ming's father, Lu Yuntian's murder, Li Ping and Lu Ming's living conditions had deteriorated over the years. As the allowances given by the Lu Tribe decreased with time, there were rarely any meat dishes.

Even so, Li Ping and Qiu Yue would give up their portions for Lu Ming, especially Qiu Yue who was going through puberty without enough nutrition, so she looked weaker than she should.

For a martial artist to train his art, they would require great strength and energy and would therefore be more meticulous in determining what they ate.

The Lu Family martial artists with awakened blood meridians not only ate the flesh of ordinary ferocious beasts, instead, they also ate the flesh of demonic beasts. Moreover, extremely talented people consumed the Dragon Tiger Pill in a daily dose of – a kind of pill that was purified from the addition of blood and bone powder of demonic beasts to countless precious herbs.

The Dragon Tiger Pill contained a large amount of refined Qi which could not only strengthen the muscles, bones, meridians, and organs of martial artists, but also be converted into Essential Qi to help and improve one's cultivation.

The nutrients obtained from the way Lu Ming ate were still far from sufficient.

“Ming'er, you have already processed the Essential Qi, and this dish is still far from enough. I have eight Dragon Tiger Pills here, take them with you, use them for your cultivation.

Li Ping took out the bottle meticulously and handed it to Lu Ming.

Astonished, Lu Ming had not expected Li Ping to possess eight Dragon Tiger Pills. “Mother, Dragon Tiger Pills are each worth a hundred taels of silver, from where did you get so much money?” Lu Ming asked doubtfully.

“Of course I have my own way! Initially, I bought it for you to improve your health and physique. It came at the right time, because you can develop the Essential Qi now.” Li Ping smiled.

“Young Master, Miss sold her Dragon and Phoenix Bracelet for eight of these Dragon Tiger Pills,” added Qiu Yue, as if she could stand it no longer.

“Qiuyue!” Li Ping reprimanded, as if reprimanding Qiu Yue for revealing too much. “Ming'er,” he continued, “don't worry, continue your cultivation. As long as you can cultivate the Essential Qi, and become strong and healthy, what does a pair of Dragon and Phoenix bracelets mean compared to that?”

"Mother…"

Lu Ming felt his throat choking as he clenched the bottle of Dragon Tiger Pill tightly in his hand.

The Dragon and Phoenix Bracelet was a sign of Lu Yuntian's love for Li Ping many years ago. Lu Ming knew how much the bracelet meant to Li Ping, and he sold it for the sake of his health.

'Mother, believe my words, I will become a powerhouse, and I will protect you with my power. I won't let anyone piss you off.' Lu Ming silently swore in his heart, his gaze firm and unshakable.

After eating, Lu Ming returned to his room with the Dragon Tiger Pill in his hand, and headed towards the Supreme Shrine.

Upon entering the Supreme Temple, Lu Ming focused his gaze on the second platform outside the ninety-nine steps and there was a dark bronze box, similar to the one he had seen on the first platform.

If the first black steel box contained the First Stage True War Dragon Technique, Fire Dragon Fist, Dragon Snake Step, and Marrow Cleaning Pill, what was inside the second box?

Fuelled by immense curiosity, Lu Ming walked towards the stairs.

Just as he was about to ascend to the second platform of the ninety-ninth step, he realized that he could not, no matter how hard he tried. There was an invisible force preventing him from doing so.

“Could it be because of my lack of cultivation level?” Lu Ming retreated sadly.

He sat in the Lotus Position, took out the Dragon Tiger Pill, put it into his mouth, and began cultivating.

As he swallowed the Dragon Tiger Pill, he felt a burning sensation along his spine that quickly became a vortex, absorbing the medicinal properties of the Dragon Tiger Pill as a whole. Then, he felt wave after wave of pure energy coming from his spine.

"Very fast?" Lu Ming was initially stunned, but euphoria soon surfaced after.

It usually took a day or two for an ordinary person to fully refine the medicinal properties of the Dragon Tiger Pill, but he refined it almost instantly.

All thanks to the blood meridians growing.

What a phenomenal sight! These flourishing blood meridians not only had spiritual energy absorption rates like the Second Level blood meridians, but they could also purify pills at an extremely fast speed.

“Alright, let's start opening meridian.” Soon, Lu Ming calmed his mind and began operating the True War Dragon Technique to open the first of the three Meridian Man.

The energy waves controlled by Lu Ming struck the first meridian.

The explosion! The explosion!

When he needed more energy, Lu Ming would swallow the Dragon Tiger Pill again.

Just like that, he managed to refine the eight Dragon Tiger Pills completely when night fell, and from there, he opened the three Meridian Man.

The opening of one's meridians is separated into several parts – beginner, middle and upper.

Opening the first three Meridian Man was known as the Beginner Realm; the next three Meridians were in the middle of the Beginner Realm…

The state of open meridians was known as the foundation of martial artists, and was also the easiest.

No doubt, everyone's difficulty level is different. For a normal Blood Meridian Martial Artist, it would take one month to a year for his nine meridians to be able to be opened with certainty.

However, it was not the same for Ordinary Martial Artists. Some take a lifetime to open all nine meridians, some may die knowing that they will never be able to reach them.

For people like Lu Ming who opened three meridians in one afternoon there were very few. If news broke, it would definitely fascinate them.

This, the True War Dragon Technique and the blood meridians that grew with phenomenal characteristics were tightly intertwined.

The True War Dragon Technique, a Divine Level martial arts technique combined with a flourishing blood meridian that could purify pills instantly contributed to the miracle.

Lu Ming felt the True War Dragon Qi flowing in all three meridians, and he was filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

After dinner, Lu Ming immediately entered the Supreme Temple again and began cultivating.

He was currently cultivating the Fire Dragon Fist.

A martial arts technique was an attacking technique that came from a combination of Essential Qi flowing in and through one's muscles and bones.

Different martial arts techniques require different streams of Essential Qi within and through one's muscles and bones, therefore why different martial arts techniques have such an effect, the way of formation, the way of formation, and drastically different uses of power.

All of this required one to have a strong level of control over the use of Essential Qi and one's body that could not be achieved within a short period of time. Without years of practice and honing those techniques, it is almost impossible to perfect any kind of martial arts technique.

As the martial arts techniques and the strength it possessed increased, it demanded higher control over one's body and the Essential Qi within it.

Lu Ming positioned himself and started cultivating.

There was a chant from the palace on it, and it was very clear to his mind. Some insights about the Fire Dragon Fist kept coming to his mind.

He willed the flow of Essential Qi towards his legs, and allowed him to control his muscles and leg bones.

"Hhhh!"

Lu Ming shouted softly and stepped forward. Strength surged from his legs to his lower back and spine, with a twist of the spine, like a giant dragon, waves of even greater power flowed from his waist into his hands.

The explosion!

Lu Ming launched a punch and the amount of exploding energy shook the surrounding air with his roar.

“Windness of the Way!” Excitement flashed before Lu Ming's eyes.

Cultivation of pencak silat techniques, depending on the level of understanding and training, was divided into six stages.

At a Glance of the Path, Simple Achievements, Overwhelming Agility, Technique Mastery, Perfect Use Like a God, and Fusing with Martial Arts.

Six different stages are required to take one step at a time and it is almost impossible to achieve in just one punch. The higher the level of martial arts techniques, the harder it is to move up to the next stage.

Lu Ming had never expected that he could reach the First Stage (First View of the Path) when he first processed the Fire Dragon Fist.

This was an Inferior Yellow Level martial arts technique and for ordinary people, it would take at least several months to grasp the basic concepts and principles.

‘Singing from the palace was very helpful in the development of my martial arts techniques,’ thought Lu Ming while looking at the palace which was outside all those steps.

He concluded that the most important factor of his exponential speed in cultivating was his singing and comprehension power, which he thought was not weak. Now that he had obtained such an incredible result, Lu Ming naturally worked even harder in his cultivation.

The process of opening the meridians slowed down drastically without the Dragon Tiger Pill.

Lu Ming could still open the fourth meridian, entering the mid Realm of Beginners.

He was also able to unlock the Second Stage of comprehension and cultivation of the 'Flame Dragon Fist' technique – Simple Achievements.

However, his blood meridians had not yet fully grown. The country is still in an almost stagnant phase of growth.

Lu Ming retreated from the Supreme Temple and walked out the front door of his house with a smile, only to see the red-eyed Qiu Yue return from the outside.

“Young Master, can you ask Miss to come back? She had already been kneeling at Li's house for several hours now,” pinta Qiu Yue, almost crying.

"What's? What the hell is going on? Let's go."

Lu Ming and Qiu Yue rushed out the door.

On their way, Qiu Yue told Lu Ming about what had happened.

Ever since Li Ping learned that Lu Ming was able to develop his Essential Qi, he was extremely happy.

To cultivate and learn martial arts, required methods and techniques of cultivation, and, so Li Ping was thinking of borrowing some kind of martial arts cultivation technique from the Lu Family Library for Lu Ming but the guard of the Lu Family Library was the First Branch Elder, comrade, and avoid Li Ping just by saying “Lu Ming is trash”.

As there was no other way, Li Ping visited Lu Chuan and the First Branch Elders, and knelt down to plead with them but to no avail. They did not even give Li Ping a Level Without Exclusion martial arts technique.

Out of reason, Li Ping returned to the Li Family, hoping to obtain martial arts techniques from them.

The Li Family, a small tribe in Fire Wind City, was Li Ping's maiden home under the leadership of Li Ping's eldest brother, Lu Ming's uncle.

Uncle Lu Ming refused Li Ping's request on the grounds that Lu Ming was a descendant of the Lu Family, therefore it was inappropriate for the Li Family to lend their martial techniques to outsiders.

Li Ping did not know what to do next, but knelt pleading in the main hall of the Li Family home in hopes of obtaining one martial arts technique alone.

"Suck!"

Lu Ming roared in his heart as flames of fury engulfed him.