Slaying the Divine, Ascending the Path

9

There were many copper bells on Penglai Mountain.

Under the eaves and in the octagonal pavilions,

Even the martial arts training grounds, surrounded by dragon-encircling stone columns, had bells hanging. The external disciples took the elixir here.

Qi Mo, with a sword in his arms, stood above, watching the disciples file in. He raised an eyebrow and smiled,

"Penglai Mountain is unlike other spiritual mountains, most gentle, and our elixirs are merely nourishing – they don't cause one to explode and perish like theirs. 'You're too cautious and careful.'"

I, clutching two gourds of wine, also ascended the platform, tossing one to him, saying, "It's never good to waste the great elder's painstaking efforts."

"Rest assured, this time you will surely build your foundation." Qi Mo, gratified, gulped down some wine, cheerfully waving his hand to the external disciples: "The time is here, take the medicine, draw in the qi, and cleanse the meridians."

I watched like a detached bystander,

Silently observing the external disciples joyfully receiving the elixir and devoutly consuming it.

My gaze was fixed on those pills.

Hundreds of examples unfolded before me. Qi Mo accompanied me the whole day.

So I easily saw how they took root and sprouted. In the first hour, the golden shell melted.

In the second hour, the worms extended their thin tentacles, piercing the stomach lining, descending to the navel - the dantian.

Then, they absorbed nutrients from the stomach acid. Until the sixth hour.

Cultivators would suddenly feel a slight pain in the stomach.

That was because the sticky worms penetrated the stomach, bringing some stomach tissue with them, floating down to the dantian like a dandelion seed taking root.

In the seventh hour, the worms fully adhered to the dantian.

They spread their tendrils and threads, penetrating the meridians, gnawing on flesh, stealing nutrients. Becoming one with their host's body.

After two or three days of gnawing, the cultivator's skin would excrete 'mortal' impurities. This was... the process of meridian cleansing.