Chapter 6 Reaching The Second Layer and It’s Meaning

After this several days went by. Yun Tian cultivated diligently hoping to impress his parents with his progress. With each session he absorbed more qi and he felt his meridians enlarge and become sturdier. He also started to sleep less and cultivated well into the night.

As for Shen Yu, she had started to do many chores every day. She cleaned, fetched water, cooked, and other things. She didn’t want to do any of this, but each time she thought of quitting and telling their parents she didn’t want to do it anymore, she would remember the image of Yun Tian sitting alone in the garden cultivating all by himself.

Eventually, it was the eighth day since he started cultivating. Not only that, it was also his sixth birthday. His father had returned the day before so the three, his Mother and Father along with Shen Yu, wished him a happy birthday together and gave him some presents.

His mother got him some new clothes whereas his father got him a new game called go which he immediately liked very much. He played a few rounds of it with each of his family members. It was new to them all, but Yun Tian quickly grasped some good strategies and it ended up with him and his father repeatedly going against each other with his father refusing to give up. His Mother laughed and Shen Yu encouraged Yun Tian.

They had fun for a while before Yun Tian suddenly wore a mysterious smile and said, “Mom, Dad, I also have a surprise for you two!”

The two of them wore confused expressions as his mother asked, “Oh, and what might it be?”

He brightly smiled as he said, “I’m pretty sure I have completed the first layer of Meridian Opening.”

What he said didn’t click with the two of them immediately and it took a few seconds for it to hit them, before they both became absolutely stunned. They were also somewhat suspicious. They thought he had to be wrong.

His father immediately came over and extended out his palm saying: “Throw a punch here.”

After completing the first layer you should have the strength of three men. So he wanted to test Yun Tian’s strength to see if he truly had completed the first layer. He was well above Yun Tian in terms of cultivation level so it was easy for him to judge his strength.

Yun Tian had also realized by now that his father was very strong and well above him in terms of strength so he wasn’t afraid of hurting him. He also wanted to impress him with his strength so he pulled back his arm and focused all his might as he threw a punch at his father’s hand.

There was a muffled, “Thud,” but his father’s arm didn’t even flinch, however his face was filled with surprise as he yelled, "What?! That can't be right! Your punch has strength even slightly above average for completing the first layer. Since you have higher than normal strength this must mean that not only do you have a high affinity for qi but you also have a good body constitution."

His parents were happy and promised to reward him however he wanted for his efforts in cultivating so diligently.

After this, he spent the day with his family including Shen Yu. They celebrated not only his birthday but also his completion of the first layer almost all day.

In the afternoon, his parents had Shen Yu go do some chores as they went with him to his room. 

His Mother said, “Alright Tian, since you have completed the first layer, go ahead and read through the part about the second layer and then try to break through.”

Yun Tian nodded confidently as he started to read through the book they gave him once more, this time looking through the information about the second layer of Meridian Opening.

His parents sat below him on the bed and had expectant gazes as they waited for him to read through the information.

It didn’t take long for him to put the book down as confidence and excitement blazed within his eyes. His parents were about to say something as they saw his excitement, but when they saw him close his eyes and become completely calm with his mind emptying they sighed in relief.

As for Yun Tian, he thought, ‘I’m ready. It’s time to break through.’

After all the practice he had so far while cultivating he was extremely used to handling qi and even had some accumulated in his meridians. This is supposed to happen so that you can open the next meridian easier as each one after the first will get progressively harder and take more time.

He did as the manual said and accumulated strand after strand of qi near his other heel's acupoint preparing to open it. It was not like the first time where it was hard to gather even one strand of qi.

As he thought, ‘Open,’ he started to pour qi into the acupoint. It gave a lot of resistance but after a minute of him trying the force qi into it, he eventually opened the acupoint and had the qi flow along the meridians enlarging them before it entered into his dantian where it was absorbed.

The day before he no longer felt his strength rapidly increasing and neither were his meridians enlarging much which told him had completed the first layer. As he once again felt his strength increase rapidly he was beyond elated.

He opened his eyes and said, “I did it!”

His parents' eyes lit up and they stood up and hugged him as they celebrated.

He was happy that he broke through, but he felt the need to ask the one question that had been bothering him, “Mom, Dad, why can I no longer feel the qi once it enters my dantian?"

His mother was happy that he was so inquisitive and sensitive to stuff about his cultivation as she immediately explained, "The dantian absorbs the qi to strengthen and build itself for when you could completely form it and break through into the next realm called Dantian Building. When that happens you can store Qi in your dantian and use it as you wish. Your strength will also drastically increase."

Yun Tian thought, ‘So it's to prepare for the next realm. This is all preparation for the future. Just like completing the first layer helped me with the second layer now.’

His father then said, “Enough of that for now though. Tomorrow we will go see your grandfather. Once we show the rest of the clan your talent, you will definitely be the one the clan focuses all its resources on in the future.”

Hearing this, Yun Tian asked, “Dad, what is Grandpa like?”

He had seen some other members of the clan, but never his Grandfather.

His father was actually a little stifled by his question and didn’t know what to say for a moment so his mother cut in, “You will see tomorrow. Go to bed now. You should rest.”

After that, the two of them left and Yun Tian went to sleep wondering about his Grandfather.

The very next day he left his courtyard with his parents to go see the clan leader.

Their residence was near the outer walls of the clan’s grounds.

Yun Tian had never really explored the clan’s grounds before so he looked everywhere as they walked through the paths leading to the center of the clan grounds.

They passed many people including those wearing servant attire and the occasional clan member wearing the Yun clan’s signature reddish orange attire.

Along the way his parents reminded him of many things.

“Tian, your grandfather’s name is Yun Chen. You should call him either clan leader or grandfather as he is your father’s father. This will be your second time seeing him, but the first was when you were but a newborn so I don’t expect you to remember. Above all though, treat your grandfather with respect and act like we taught you.”

Yun Tian nodded and became even more curious about this grandfather of his.

His mother suddenly smiled and said, “One more thing, your grandfather is the strongest person in the entire clan and also one of the strongest people in the entire town.”

Yun Tian looked up at his mother as his eyes widened and said, “Woah! So he’s stronger than you mother!?”

She nodded and her face was the picture of solemnity.

His father cut in saying: “Your Grandfather along with the rest of the clan highly values talent. With your cultivation at your age it will surely give them a big surprise. In the future, the clan will devote a lot of resources to you. With your talent and the clan’s resources added together I think you can become even stronger than your grandfather. But remember your hard work is what matters most.”

Yun Tian was excited thinking about his fathers words, but he also took his advice about working hard to heart.

The residences they passed by slowly became higher quality until they spotted a large building in the distance. It was a large hall with two wide doors in the front.

They got closer and his parents reminded, “Remember, be respectful.”

They opened the doors before walking in and Yun Tian got to see several large tables throughout the hall with many people, young and old, occupying chairs around them.

However, his gaze was attracted to the table in the center at the far end. There were several older men and women who just oozed authority, but in the main seat at the end sat a seemingly ordinary looking old man. For some reason though, Yun Tian immediately felt that this man was his Grandfather, the strongest person here.

As he was looking around, so were the people there inspecting him. His grandfather was looking at him the whole time and suddenly a smile bloomed on his face.

Before anyone else in the room could speak, he said, "Grandson Tian'er, come over here so I can see you. The last time I saw you, you were but a baby."

Yun Tian remembered his parents words and walked over before respectfully greeting him like his parents had said to do. He cupped his hands, bowed, and said, “Grandson Yun Tian greets Grandfather.”

He was evidently even happier seeing Yun Tian’s actions as he laughed before saying: "Hahaha! Your parents have taught you well. Your parents said that you're already in the second layer of Meridian Opening and it looks like it's true. Why don't you give a punch and demonstrate how much strength you have to the rest of the clan."

His words surprised the rest of the clan members and they gave doubtful looks even when the clan leader said this. Yun Tian was just too young, only being six years old. It would be a miracle for most to even start cultivating by then.

But Yun Tian said, “Yes Grandfather,” and threw a punch at his Grandfather’s outstretched palm. None of the people there were weak so they could estimate the force behind the punch through its speed and the rushing of the wind. They were stunned to find that Yun Tian’s strength really put him at the second layer of Meridian Opening.

His grandfather continued laughing and said, "Looks like the heavens haven’t forgotten our clan. We now have a genius in the clan. Not only is he so talented at such a young age, but he also has a strong drive and will. We will pour all our resources into him in the future. From now on everyone’s resources will be cut slightly so as to pool them together for when he makes it to the Dantian Building Realm. He will be the future hope of the clan, this grandson of mine."

His words made some, including Yun Tian's parents, happy but others were upset that they were losing their resources and also that their own children wouldn’t be able to get much of the clan’s resources in the future, however none of them acted upset at all and instead the atmosphere became joyous. It was obvious that if nothing went wrong that he would be an absolute genius in the future and stand above all. Who would want to get on the bad side of someone like that? It also helped that he had his Grandfather, Yun Chen, who was also the Clan Leader and strongest of the clan on his side.

Yun Chen was uncaring of the rest as he rubbed Yun Tian's head and said, "Grandson you are the hope of the clan so make me proud and cultivate well. After you open your dantian and break into the next realm, the clan will dedicate all of its resources into nurturing you."

“Thank you Grandfather.”

His parents also greeted him and thanked him before they took their leave with Yun Tian.