Chapter 388: 388

Two more physicians examined Yan Liqiang’s body after dinner . Shortly after Yan Liqiang consumed his medicinal pills for the night, he announced that he wished to rest . As soon as he returned to his room, he eagerly entered the crystal pagoda’s sixth floor .

The sixth floor was empty as usual . The 108 rare beast core crystals were still resting neatly on the tables in the spacious room, glowing eerily red . They remained unchanged like the last time Yan Liqiang was there .

Yan Liqiang directly walked to a relatively spacious area at the side of the hall, then ripped the hem of his shirt without any hesitation . Folding the strip of fabric into a blindfold, he blindfolded himself on the spot and stood there in silence . He carefully recalled the blindfolded training he had with Ji Xiaoyao a few days ago, then started giving himself mental cues to run his imagination .

Shi Minzhang who wanted to kill him was standing just a hundred steps away from him…

Right now, he was preparing himself for the blindfolded contest…

Shi Minzhang was after his life…

If he failed to dodge in time, it would take only one arrow to kill him…

He had to raise his awareness to the max and keep moving nimbly . Only by doing so could he reduce the chances of getting hit by an arrow…

Yan Liqiang stood still while blindfolded . He saw only pitch black before him, but his mind was repetitively giving himself cues, conjuring up the mental image of him facing off against Shi Minzhang in the real blindfolded contest . His deadly opponent was standing a hundred steps away, smiling sinisterly with his warbow and getting ready to take Yan Liqiang’s insignificant life at any moment .

These mental images and cues were from a famous experiment he had heard in his previous life . By giving yourself mental cues, one could hypnotize oneself in a specific situation and make his physical and mental activities react accordingly . This was a typical case of using the mind to control physiology . Yan Liqiang had read up on such research in his previous life, and it left a deep impression on him .

Since he was currently on the crystal pagoda’s sixth floor where certain conditions were not met, he had to hypnotize himself by using mental cues to lure himself into believing that he was in a blindfolded contest . He was going to completely empty out every ounce of energy in his consciousness, then recover himself with Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing . Only by doing that could he create that little golden vortex in his sea of consciousness .

The constant mental cues and images slowly put Yan Liqiang into his cultivation state . He could feel his heartbeat increasing as his breathing quickened . Although he was blindfolded, he could still feel his pupils dilating . The adrenaline rush even made his skin tingle .

When Yan Liqiang was finally immersed in that state, he suddenly moved . His figure maneuvered in the open space like a lightning bolt . He also dodged, leaped, threw himself down, and performed various difficult moves while shouting .

If someone who didn’t know any better saw this, they would definitely think that Yan Liqiang was crazy . Otherwise, why would he be dodging here and there all alone as though he was battling a ghost, looking totally ridiculous…?

Yan Liqiang kept going at it in the room alone for three hours before he finally let out an abrupt blood-curdling screech and then fell to the ground, holding his leg while panting violently .

At this very moment, he felt extremely exhausted . It was as though his mind had been hollowed out . Yan Liqiang laid on the ground, fully drenched in his own sweat . He took off his blindfold while still panting violently as joy filled his heart . He sat up and checked his thighs, only to find that it was of course completely unscathed .

His perception and reaction slightly slowed down due to his mental exhaustion, so he got shot on his thigh in his mental training . Truth be told, the moment he took an arrow felt so real that even the muscles on his thigh spasmed violently as a sharp pain shot up his leg . The pain slowly subsided only after he broke out of his self-hypnosis .

After catching his breath for another moment, Yan Liqiang got up and then started to perform Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing . As he went through stance after stance, an abundant amount of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth around the crystal pagoda came surging toward Yan Liqiang . When the energy poured into Yan Liqiang’s body from the crown of his head, he once again felt the familiar floating sensation . His body and mind slowly relaxed as he indulged in the sensation…

…

After nearly one night, Yan Liqiang woke up to find himself sleeping on the floor . He opened his eyes, sensed his sea of consciousness, and immediately discovered a small golden vortex in there . The discovery had him leaping up from the floor in excitement while waving his fists .

He was halfway to success now, and the rest would be like sailing in search of new land . Whether he succeeded or not, it would all depend on his luck .

After Yan Liqiang’s excitement died down, he sat cross-legged on the ground again . He calmed himself down, closed his eyes, and focused on his sea of consciousness . This time, it took him almost no effort to gain control of that small golden vortex since he had done it before in reality . Under Yan Liqiang’s control, the small golden vortex rapidly spun a few laps in his sea of consciousness .

—— The pineal gland was located at the intersection point between the bottom of Baihui Acupoint and Yintang Acupoint, which extended from the area between his brows and into his head .

Yan Liqiang tried to feel for that exact location . He then gritted his teeth and sent the small golden vortex flying out of his sea of consciousness right into his brain’s pineal gland .

BOOM…!

At that moment, Yan Liqiang thought he heard roaring thunder . There was a numb and tingly sensation in his brain, a strange feeling as though an ice block had been shattered . His body trembled involuntarily before he felt like he was falling into a kaleidoscope . Although his eyes were closed, colorful lights flashed before his eyes . At the same time, the center of his Yintang Acupoint started heating up right between his brows . It felt like something was going to grow out of there .

Aside from the strange sensation in his brain, the vital Qi in his dantian also started boiling simultaneously . Like a wild python, it rushed upward from Yan Liqiang’s Qihai Acupoint, went through the Ren and Du meridians, and then headed straight toward his Zhongji Acupoint .

His body was trembling like crazy as his Qihai churned . Light flashed before his eyes and his heart was thumping violently . Yan Liqiang was praying fervently for divine protection against falling into Qi deviation, hoping that his head wouldn’t be split open…

About two or three hours later, the strange sensations in his body finally subsided .

Yan Liqiang’s eyes were still tightly shut . Strangely enough, he felt as though there was another eye between his brows, right in the middle of his Yintang Acupoint . That eye could clearly see the entire situation in the room, including every object in there . Through that eye, Yan Liqiang could clearly see everything in finer detail, including the mechanism under the metal table in the middle of the room .

Through that eye, the 108 rare beast core crystals became 108 glowing balls of lights . The silhouettes of the ferocious fish covered in red scales were swimming in the balls of lights .

Every ball of light looked perfectly identical, save for one which glowed blue . Apart from the strange ferocious fish, there were also weird-looking runes floating within the ball of light .

Yan Liqiang immediately opened his eyes…