As unpleasant as opening the meridian was, Nimrod had to admit that the benefits were immediately apparent. His eyesight, hearing and sense of smell were slightly, but indisputably, better. He could feel himself drawing in more air with each breath, and was fairly sure that he’d find his stamina to be slightly improved.

The most obvious change, however, was in his cultivation. More air meant that his core absorbed more essence with each breath. A small, but noticeable benefit. The bigger change, however, was that the cycling of essence helped convert the new essence faster, which resulted in his being able to cultivate for longer periods before losing efficiency.

With his new and faster cultivation, it only took until that evening for his core to fill up again, and his next day started in the same spot next to the stream.

“The Heel meridians run parallel to the governing meridian and link your legs and feet,” Eleanor explained once the fire was ready. “They increase the essence flow to your lungs, but yesterday’s ordeal should have expelled all of the impurities from them, so today will be a lot less unpleasant. You will have essence flowing through your kidneys today, which you are definitely not going to enjoy, but the rest of your internal organs should be clear already.”

Nimrod was trying very hard not to think about the results of expelling the impurities from his internal organs. That ordeal hadn’t actually ended with his icy bath, and had extended into a very unpleasant time in the outhouse.

“You should open the Left Heel meridian today, cultivate back to your capacity, and do the Right Heel meridian tomorrow. Then we just have the Left Linking meridian left.”

“Let’s start then. The sooner I’m done with the meridians the better.”

“Good. Visualize your center, and we can begin. You’ll need to draw the essence the same way you did with the Governing meridian, pulling and twisting at the same time. But this time, start from the new reservoir behind your upper lip. Pull it down and to the left, around your mouth and to your chin. From there, down your neck parallel to the governing meridian and to your pectoral muscle. Keep pulling it down until you reach your thigh, then run it through your inner thigh.”

Nimrod was getting used to the widespread itching sensation of pulling the essence line, but was not quite prepared to the intense need to relieve himself that struck him when he reached the kidney. Gritting his teeth, he managed somehow to ignore the need and keep pulling the essence according to Eleanor’s instructions.

“Down your leg and to the arch of your foot, then below it and up the other side. Straight up the outer part of your leg, and up your left side. Pass behind the shoulder. From the top of your shoulder, run parallel to the clavicle, up the left side of your neck and behind your ear, then run it over your scalp and back down over your left eye, around your nose and back to the reservoir.”

He came out of his center to the now familiar and disgusting smell of expelled impurities. His entire left side, barring only his arm, was covered in an oily black substance, and he didn’t even wait for Eleanor’s prompting before he jumped into the river to clean himself up.

“Meet me back in the shrine,” Eleanor said, leaving without waiting for his acknowledgement.

Saved from embarrassing himself in her presence, Nimrod could finally let go and relieve himself, the results as black and disgusting as the rest of the ordeal.

Walking back to the village was strange. His left leg had been strengthened by the essence, and had changed from being his weaker leg to being slightly stronger than his right, making him feel lopsided. It took him nearly half an hour to get used to walking again, and he was very glad that nobody, and especially Eleanor, was around to see him stumbling around.

He was also glad she had him open the Left Heel meridian first, since that same boost to his dominant leg would have made him completely lopsided if he’d done the Right first.

By the end of the day, his core was full again, and the next morning found him in the same spot in the forest, this time alone. The Right Heel meridian was a mirror image of the Left, and he had little trouble opening it on his own.

“The Linking meridians,” Eleanor said on his fourth, and final, day of meridian opening, “are the longest ones. On the other hand, you’ve purified all of your internal organs by now, so they are also the least painful to open.

“Start from the new reservoir in your left foot, and pull the essence up from the front of your leg. It should run parallel to the Heel meridian, and about five centimeters to its left. Run it up until you reach the nipple, and then curve it left towards your shoulder. Run it down the front of your arm until the palm, through the palm to the back of your hand and back up the arm to your shoulder, and from there down your back parallel to the Governing meridian, down the back of your leg, and back into the reservoir.”

Nimrod was ready to dive into the river and wash off the stinking oily residue, but Eleanor wasn’t done, and her voice caught him before he could leave his center.

“We’re not done yet! The Linking meridian is called that because it links your reservoirs together. Pull a new line of essence from the governing meridian, starting from your sternum and meeting the Linking meridian at the nipple, and another from the Linking meridian at the back of your shoulder and over your clavicle to the Governing meridian at the back of your skull.”

Finally released to scrub himself clean, Nimrod scrubbed away the filthy impurity residue, scratching fiercely at his itching skin at the same time.

“This is the last meridian you’ll be opening for now,” Eleanor said. “Meet me back at the shrine, and I’ll start teaching you a more active cultivation technique, then tomorrow morning I want you to raise your core to tier three, and then I’ll start teaching you to fight like a Disciple.”