At the age of 16

  The meridian is the hurdle that one cannot overcome in cultivating internal strength. From the moment a person starts practicing internal strength, they have to deal with the meridians. Lin Heng is now like this, he has cultivated his internal energy and next is to circulate it through the meridians. However, before circulating the meridians, you must first unblock them.

  A person, from birth onwards, will be invaded by acquired energies, which will slowly diffuse into the meridians of the human body, forming blockages. Tong Mai is to open up the meridians, refine and transform the acquired energies within the meridians, and enhance the inner power. Lin Heng's inability to mobilize his internal energy is because there are blockages in his meridians, and what he needs to do is to refine these blockages.

  Outside the thatched hut, Ping Yizhi made Lin Heng stand up and make a movement with both hands holding up the sky and both legs clamping a horse. Then he pressed down with his right hand, stretched out in front of his chest, and retracted to his abdomen. Next was his left hand, then he stepped forward with his left foot and rotated three times with his right foot as the axis.

  This was the first move, and also the one that Ping Yizhi made Lin Heng practice non-stop until he mastered it. After he became proficient, Ping Yizhi continued to manipulate his body, teaching him three consecutive moves.

  After Lin Heng finished the four movements, Ping Yi pointed his head and said: "Well, Heng Er, these four moves will be your focus for future cultivation. Don't relax, do you understand?"

  Lin Heng nodded and asked: "Master, this move isn't very difficult, what's its purpose?"

  Ping Yizhi smiled and explained, "You silly kid, this move is to help you stretch your meridians. Every time you practice qigong, you should do these moves first, so that your meridians will be stretched a bit, and when the time comes for you to circulate your qi, it will be much easier. These are the ultimate principles summarized by our predecessors, don't underestimate them."

  Lin Heng nodded again, and immediately made four movements again, but his eyes secretly looked at Ping Yizhi. After a while, Ping Yizhi returned to the yard, Lin Heng immediately stopped, and called out the system.

  Ever since the adjustment system was activated, this system screen can be summoned at any time. However, the medical system is still limited to 10 people's learning quota per day, which cannot be exceeded. Fortunately, the adjustment system has no problem, and every time he learns something new, the system will make adjustments. Just as he entered, he saw a rotating simulated human figure.

  Lin Heng looked at the human figure and mimicked its actions, if they could perfectly overlap, the screen would not prompt anything, but as soon as there was a difference, the system would flash red, letting Lin Heng know he was wrong, then immediately adjust. When everything was done to perfection, the system would automatically retract.

  To be honest, this one-to-one comparison is much more difficult than Ping Yizhi's teaching. He emphasizes details and cannot make any mistakes. This is unlike Ping Yizhi's teaching, where slight mistakes are not noticeable. So, Lin Heng will have a lot of trouble practicing this.

  Lin Heng practiced for half a day, coming and going back and forth to practice four movements, but each time there were some problems. There was no way out, he could only practice again and again, and then let his body remember, which was also the method given by the system.

  When Lin Heng was sweating all over, he thought of Ping Yizhi's words and immediately walked to the side, sat down with his knees crossed, and continued to imagine the internal force in his dantian, letting it slowly rise upwards. When the warm sensation produced by the internal force extended to his chest, Lin Heng clearly felt a slight obstruction, but with repeated internal force impacts, he quickly broke through the blockage. After breaking through the first obstacle, the internal force inside Lin Heng's body suddenly rushed to his right shoulder and then stopped.

  "It doesn't seem as hard as I imagined!" Lin Heng felt the flow of his inner energy, slightly surprised. Breaking through one blockage and directly crossing from his chest to his shoulder, this speed was really beyond his expectations.

  Lin Heng should think about it, he's only ten years old now. This is not a big age, and the blockage of the meridians is naturally not serious, especially for Lin Heng. This guy has been growing up in a medicine jar since childhood, and those medicinal powers will delay the blockage in his body to some extent. After entering the meridian, they will also absorb the blockage together, so he only needs to open up some places to unblock the entire meridian.

  Sitting on the ground, Lin Heng touched his shoulder and muttered to himself: "Is it the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian? Chest, shoulders, elbows, Shao Shang acupoint, this should be the key to opening it up. Now it seems that I need a lot of luck!"

  The first day of cultivation gave Lin Heng a good start, and he didn't waste this opportunity, cultivating diligently. In the morning, facing the rising sun, he cultivated for an hour; at noon, facing the scorching sun, he cultivated for another hour; in the evening, he also cultivated for an hour. Six hours a day seemed not many, but they were all spent during the best times. During other times, apart from sleeping for six hours, he was either studying medicine, working shifts at the medical hall, or exercising his body, practicing movements to stretch his meridians and train his internal strength.

  Thus, a week later, Lin Heng successfully opened up the first meridian - Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian! This speed was very fast, so fast that Lin Heng was somewhat astonished. He then asked Ping Yizhi, who didn't show any surprise, but instead said matter-of-factly: "Not bad, this speed is just right, otherwise it would have been a waste of the medicine I gave you!"

  In short, Lin Heng's hard work had all become his efforts, which made Lin Heng cry and laugh at the same time. However, he also knew that his speed was not a bad thing, just as Ping Yi said, "Old man has been soaking you in a medicine jar since childhood, if you don't have anything special, how can you do it?"

  With Ping Yizhi's guidance, Lin Heng was no longer worried and continued to work hard on his cultivation. Meanwhile, Ping Yizhi taught him step by step, allowing him to gain a little more knowledge with each step he took.

  It took a week to open up the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, a month to open up the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, and three months to open up the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian... Time seemed to be growing at an exponential rate. At first, Lin Heng didn't care about these things, but slowly he realized that if he continued like this, how much time would it take him to open up all twelve regular meridians?

  He then asked Master Ping again, but this time Master Ping didn't tell him the reason, instead he beat him up badly and shouted at him: "Have I been teaching you medical skills for nothing all along?"

  Although the sentence did not explain, Lin Heng knew that these reasons existed in medical science. He immediately recalled those medical sciences and soon thought of the reason. The Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian is the starting point of the human body meridians, where the essence of the whole body converges, making it easy to open up. However, the subsequent meridians are different, involving more or less the five internal organs and six hollow organs, which makes their blockage more complicated.

  Look at Duan Yu in Tian Long Ba Bu, this guy didn't even open up his entire body's meridians when he was cultivating the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, how could he cultivate it? The reason is because of the first step of the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian. For some people with good innate abilities, this meridian is almost unobstructed, Lin Huan had obstructions which were both beneficial and detrimental due to medicinal materials. Those medicinal materials gave him a great effect, making his body and blood energy stronger than ordinary people, but on the other hand, the impurities in the medicinal materials would also seep into his meridians, the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian is clear evidence of this.

  Of course, although his blockages are more than those of children of the same age, his blockages are not filthy, but rather the acquired energy formed later, that is, the residual medicinal power. These medicinal powers can enhance his internal strength after he refines them. In this way, every time he opens up a meridian, he can greatly enhance his internal strength, which is absolutely beneficial to him.

  Having thought of these things, Lin Heng's heart balanced a lot, and then he started to work hard again.

  Lin Heng practiced for nearly three years, and in those three years, he completely opened up the twelve regular meridians. This speed was neither fast nor slow. At first, Lin Heng's speed was slower compared to his peers, but later on, his speed picked up. What was the reason? It was internal energy.

  A person, from cultivating internal energy to enhancing it, apart from refining the acquired energy in the meridians, is also through food and medicinal materials supplementing. In this aspect, Lin gained a lot of benefits, so his internal energy was much deeper than that of people of the same age. This deep internal energy made it easier for him to open up his meridians, especially later on. However, after spending nearly three years, he still lagged behind some talented disciples.

  He had opened up the Twelve Regular Meridians and taught Lin Heng a set of internal skill rotation methods. This method was different from the one he used when opening up his meridians, it was much more complicated, with many terms that required Lin Heng to understand well in order to cultivate a unique inner strength. However, Lin Heng did not cultivate this method, but instead cultivated the profound method given by Wang Lan.

  What's the name of this kung fu, Wang Lan didn't know, but she knew that this kung fu was absolutely better than the one Ping Yi gave to Lin Heng. So when Lin Heng asked her for guidance, she explained it word by word to him, and Lin Heng also started practicing this unnamed kung fu based on this.

  The profoundness of the nameless technique is unfathomable, but where exactly it excels, Lin Heng doesn't know. After all, he has only been cultivating for a short time and knows very few techniques, so naturally there are many things that can't be grasped. But what's good is good, to Lin Heng, and to most people, choosing the best technique for cultivation comes naturally.

  After half a year of practicing the nameless technique, Lin Heng's internal energy had completely solidified and that intangible and invisible internal energy began to gather at one point, forming a thin layer of gas. These things Lin Heng couldn't see, but he could feel them. When internal energy was first cultivated, there was a warm feeling. When the internal energy gathered and transformed into gas, this feeling would disappear, but you could still feel that special sensation inside your body.

  Lin Heng was like this, he spent half a year, turning his deep inner strength into true energy.

  Here is the translation:

  Now, let's talk about the difference between internal energy and true qi. Internal energy, put simply, is a force within the human body, belonging to formless things. True qi is different, it is a gas that can be seen, belonging to tangible things. In the understanding of martial artists, true qi is an evolution of internal energy, that is, from formlessness to tangibility, a kind of sublimation.

  The true energy flowed through the meridians, and a cool feeling slowly spread out. Soon, Lin Heng was like falling asleep, entering a state of stillness. This state is the state of cultivation, also known as quietude. However, Lin Heng didn't maintain this state for long, only about an hour, before he woke up again.

  He stood up, Lin Heng stopped the circulation of his true energy, moved his body a bit, and then slowly practiced a set of fist techniques. This fist technique was taught by Ping Yi, it was a simple yet effective way to increase his attacking moves. It wasn't profound, but rather straightforward. Look, a straight punch, a hook punch, followed by a kick, a swing punch, a horizontal punch... back and forth, just these simple movements. But isn't profound martial arts just a combination of these movements?

  It was precisely because of this that Lin Heng trained without daring to relax in the slightest.

  Apart from practicing fist techniques, Lin Heng also practiced sword techniques. The saying "one inch longer, one inch stronger" has some truth to it. Having a weapon and not having a weapon are obviously different. When you use your fists to hit someone, one punch might injure the person, but if it's a sword? As long as it pierces a vital spot, it will take the person's life, even if it's not a vital spot, it's still enough to make them suffer.

  So Lin Heng practiced swordsmanship, but now he only practices the basic movements of using a sword.

  Another half year of cultivation, 14-year-old Lin Heng's internal strength and foundation had reached a certain level, he began to move towards an even higher realm, so he cultivated fist techniques, sword techniques, and lightness skills.

  Quan Fa, Arhat Fist! That's right, it's the Arhat Fist of Shaolin Temple. However, unlike what Lin Heng learned from Ping Yi Zhi, this set of Arhat Fist has eighteen forms, emphasizing both hardness and softness, punching in all eight directions.

  Jianfa, the Infinite Sword Technique! A set of sword techniques that are both simple and complex. This technique has nine initial forms and eighty-one subsequent forms. The first nine forms are basic routines aimed at training the foundation of sword practice. Lin Heng quickly mastered these nine forms due to his prior experience in this area. The subsequent eighty-one forms, however, are combinations and variations of the initial nine forms, making them very intricate.

  Lightness skill, climbing the heavenly ladder! A lightness skill that mainly focuses on aerial movement and displacement. When mastered, it allows for seven consecutive direction changes in mid-air. In terms of speed, it's also extremely formidable.

  These three volumes of secret manuals all came from the Wang family and were selected by Lin Heng from Wang Lan. Of course, it wasn't that he didn't want to choose more, but Wang Lan stopped him, saying in her words, "You're just starting out, how can you handle too much?" So, he only chose three volumes. But even these three volumes were enough for him to practice.

  Starting from the second half of his 14th year, Lin Heng practiced internal strength for three hours a day, fist techniques for two hours, internal strength for another two hours, lightness skills for two hours, slept for six hours and studied medicine for nine hours. Looking closely, it seems that he spent too much time on medicine, which shouldn't be the case for a martial artist. However, you should know that Ping Yi was a doctor, and he also valued medical studies highly, so Lin Heng didn't dare to slack off in the slightest.

  A lot of time spent studying medicine made Lin Heng neglect his cultivation of the law, after all, this thing is not like internal power, it can't be done just by sitting in meditation, but rather needs to be practiced bit by bit. But there's no way around it, he could only endure the addiction of practicing and focus on reading medicine with all his might, fortunately, he had the help of the medical system, which made things quite smooth in this regard.

  After about two years, Lin Heng gained Ping Yi's recognition in the field of medicine. He told Lin Heng that his medical skills were now proficient enough to be considered a master.

  When Lin Heng heard this, he was really overjoyed. He had been buried in books for twelve years, and his studying was even more intense than in his previous life. It had almost suffocated him. Now, he had finally graduated. But before he could even enjoy his joy for long, Ping Yi's words sent him crashing down to hell.

  "Kid, you may have graduated, but that's just for ordinary people. Now I'm giving you a task. For the next year, you'll be traveling around to practice medicine, treating all sorts of illnesses. Each time you treat someone, you must make detailed records. A year from now, I want to see them. If you can't satisfy me in a year, then just wait and see..."

  Ping Yizhi seemed very happy and walked back into the house with a big laugh, while Lin Heng stood in the courtyard with a bitter expression.

  The next day, Lin Heng left the valley under Wang Lan and Ping Yi's reluctant gaze, embarking on his own journey as a traveling doctor. He was exactly sixteen years old that year.