Library of Heaven's Path

"Let me take a look at your meridian reconstruction technique!" Zhang Xuan requested.

"Here you go." Yang shi flicked his wrist and passed a jade token over.

Placing his finger lightly on the jade token, the content within it swiftly surfaced in his head. The next moment, Zhang Xuan's eyebrows shot up.

The method used by the other party was indeed able to reconstruct a cultivator's meridians, but there was a fatal flaw in it—it was too violent. Regardless of whether the reconstruction process was a success or not, it would place a great strain on the cultivator's body.

In a sense, this was also similar to the organ transplant process in his previous life. Even if the organ transplanted was a match, the process was still highly dangerous and taxing on the patient.

Furthermore, meridians were pathways linking the various parts of the body together. Just a single mistake in the meridian pathway could lead to unimaginable outcomes.

"Junior, do you have any books regarding meridian reconstruction with you?" Zhang Xuan asked. "I need as many of them as possible!"

After reading through the book that Yang shi had passed to him, Zhang Xuan could tell that given the current limits of his knowledge, it would be difficult for him to find a feasible method to resolve the flaw in the short run.

Given that Yang shi had researched the topic for quite some time, even maintaining correspondence with the head of the Blacksmith Guild headquarters in order to trade insights regarding the issue, he likely had plenty of resources regarding this topic.

"I do have quite a few books on it. Back then, I used my influence in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters to gather everything on the topic that I could find for several years… However, it turns out that most of them are just thoughtless blabber, beautiful in theory but infeasible in practice…" Yang shi shook his head as he flicked his wrist, and a huge pile of ancient books materialized before him.

Back then, in order to reconnect his close friend's meridians, he had spent quite a lot of time browsing through all of the books that he could lay his hands on regarding the topic. To date, he had accumulated around nine thousand of them, but it was a pity that most of them were not of much use.

"It's fine. I'll just take a quick look and get whatever's useful from them," Zhang Xuan said as he swept his eyes across the huge pile of books.

The next moment, all of them materialized in the Library of Heaven's Path.

Compile! Zhang Xuan willed as he merged the nine thousand or so books together with the meridian reconstruction technique manual that Yang shi had made previously.

Soon, a brand-new meridian reconstruction technique manual was formed.

Zhang Xuan anxiously flipped it open to take a look, only to shake his head in disappointment once more.

The compiled meridian reconstruction technique was much simpler than the one that Yang shi had come up with, but there were still plenty of flaws in it. The meridian reconstruction process was still fraught with danger, and the slightest mistake could spell Zhao Ya's death.

The main issue is that Zhao Ya is too weak after losing her cultivation entirely… Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella in distress.

The meridian network of a human was simply too complicated. Had Zhao Ya's cultivation not dissipated, he could still have given it a try. However, after what had happened, she was already no different from an ordinary mortal, and in contrast to that, the vine of the Dongxu Gourd was simply too strong. If some mishap occurred in the reconstruction phase, the devastating power harnessed in the vine would terminate her life in a heartbeat.

To put it simply, Zhao Ya's body was so feeble that fusing the vine of the Dongxu Gourd into her would very likely result in her death, let alone manipulating the vine to form an intricate meridian network in her body.

All of a sudden, a certain thought surfaced in Zhang Xuan's mind, and he froze on the spot.

Wait a moment… Is the meridian network of a human necessarily the most ideal layout?

All of the nine thousand or so books that Yang shi had gathered were all built upon the fundamental layout of the human meridian network, and that made the reconstruction phase exceptionally complex and dangerous. But was the meridian network of a human necessarily the best way to go about doing it?

That was not necessarily the case!

He knew of many formidable battle and cultivation techniques that had exceptionally awkward zhenqi pathways, making them difficult to execute and master.

So, could there be a more efficient meridian network than that of the humans?

If there really existed one, that would significantly increase the chances of success of the meridian reconstruction process, and it would be highly beneficial for Zhao Ya's cultivation in the future.

With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan decided to get right to it. He raised his head to look at Yang shi and asked, "Junior, do you have books on meridian networks? It doesn't necessarily have to be about humans; those of saint beasts will work as well!"

"Meridian networks? I do have quite a few books regarding that with me. I studied that back then as well, so I have books on humans, saint beasts, and even Otherworldly Demons…" Yang shi was not too sure why Zhang Xuan was asking about that, but he still flicked his wrist and took out all of the books that he possessed regarding meridian networks.

Just like how the Otherworldly Demons were researching master teachers, master teachers were researching Otherworldly Demons. Only through understanding how the Otherworldly Demons drove their zhenqi would the master teachers be able to better deduce the might of their cultivation techniques and devise feasible battle plans to better deal with them.

"You have my gratitude…"

Those books were bound to be incredibly valuable, but Yang shi had still shown them to him without any reservation. Zhang Xuan nodded in gratitude before sweeping his gaze across them.

Very soon, a brand-new meridian network book materialized in the Library of Heaven's Path.

It was vastly different from that of a human meridian network. Humans had Eight Mystic Meridians, but the meridian network reflected in the compiled book only consisted of core meridians leading to the four limbs. The previous unnecessary complexity in the network had vanished without a trace.

There are the least flaws in this meridian network, so it's bound to be much stronger than that of a human… Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement.

Through the Library of Heaven's Path, it was apparent that the human meridian network was riddled with flaws, making it highly inconvenient for one to cultivate. On the other hand, the newly compiled meridian network was simple but nearly flawless. It consisted only of the portions that were absolutely required, removing all of the extraneous complexity in the network.

With fewer miscellaneous and secondary meridians, it would be much easier to cultivate, and the chances of one sustaining internal injuries would also be significantly lowered.

Zhang Xuan examined the new meridian network several times to ensure that it was feasible on a human body before heaving a huge sigh of relief. He turned to the young lady before him and said, "I'll help you reconstruct your meridians right now. No matter how much pain you are in, you must grit your teeth and endure it. Otherwise, if any mishap happens, not even the deities will be able to save you!"

"Teacher, rest assured!" Zhao Ya nodded resolutely.

After seeing everything that her teacher had done for her, how could she chicken out right now and disappoint him? She had already gone through death once, so no matter how much pain she would be in later, she was determined to grit her teeth and get through it!

"I have reconstructed meridians before, so I can help you…" Seeing that Zhang Xuan was going to make a move right after reading the books for a moment, Yang shi hurriedly offered his help out of worry.

"There's no need for that. I'm intending to use a different method, so I'm afraid that you won't be of much help." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The new meridian network was different from that of an ordinary human. As talented as Yang shi was, there was still a high chance that the other party would make a mistake given that it would be his first time coming into contact with something like this. On the other hand, the reconstruction of meridians was a delicate process that allowed for no mistakes at all.

Zhang Xuan could not afford to take the risk.

"A new method?" Yang shi's face twitched in shock.

It could not be that his senior had already devised something new after barely researching the topic for a moment, could it?

As expected of a Celestial Master Teacher! His talent was truly something that could not be measured using common sense!

"I'm starting now!"

Zhang Xuan instructed Zhao Ya to sit cross-legged on the floor before flicking his wrist.

Hu la!

The vine of the Dongxu Gourd materialized in his hand. He swiftly infused his zhenqi into it, and under the rapid inflow of his energy, the massive vine swiftly contracted. In less than ten minutes, it was already roughly as thin as a strand of thread.

Cold sweat dripped down Zhang Xuan's forehead.

It was fortunate that he had the ability to eliminate the spirit within the vine, and his Heaven's Path zhenqi was also a powerful suppressant against it. Otherwise, it would have taken much more effort for him to tame it.

"Go!"

Zhang Xuan flicked his finger, and the vine slipped into Zhao Ya's body through her glabella and slowly unfolded itself within her body.

As soon as the narrow vine entered her body, a burst of cold sweat swiftly broke out throughout the young lady's body as a pained frown appeared on her face.

The areas where her meridians used to be had already closed up, so the vine had to pave out new pathways within her body slowly, which was almost equivalent to drilling multiple holes within her body simultaneously. The pain that she would have to suffer as a result of that was imaginable.

"Reconstructing meridians is a very delicate process. You mustn't go too fast, and you mustn't stop halfway," Yang shi advised.

Zhang Xuan nodded in response.

Even if Yang shi had not said it, he knew as much as well. In order to reduce the strain on Zhao Ya's body, he would have to make sure to progress bit by bit, or else she would first collapse under the massive stress piled on her body before the reconstruction process could be completed.

And the same time, the meridian reconstruction process could not be halted halfway through. Otherwise, the reversal of zhenqi would cause all of the meridians that had just barely formed to shatter once more.

She might be able to survive the impact the first time around, but given the feeble state that she was in, if it happened again, not even the Heaven's Path zhenqi would be able to save her.

However, that would not be a problem at all. He had plenty of time on his hands, so all he had to do was take his time.