Like always, I made sure that all of my family are asleep or at least the inside off their rooms are dark, before I went to the empty lot. But now, instead of popping the balloon in my head, I first looked for an appropriate place to sit. I made sure that, once I sat here, even some people actually walked in--- no one would notice me.

It would be really embarrassing if one of my neighbor saw me sitting here meditating. They might think I entered another phase again. They might actually think I'm crazy this time. If some rumors about me entering another phase, while an adult and jobless at the same time, even though I'm scared, I'll fcking commit suicide!

After sitting down under a small tree, I immediately focused myself in locating the first meridian.

Since I started cultivation, my knowledge about my body and how it works increased. Like how I could move my body perfectly with only a minimal amount of energy and effort while increasing its capabilities to its limits. If I want to, I could probably run for a whole day without even getting tired. That's why finding the hidden meridians is actually quite easy thing to do.

There are fifteen meridians hidden inside of every living beings in the world. And opening all of them are like traversing the sea, conquering the land of blazing inferno, and reaching the highest peak of the coldest mountain, while naked, blindfolded, and all limbs are tied--- impossible. Without a huge amount of resources, cultivation technique of the highest quality, diligent amount of cultivation, talents that exceeds the normal standards, and a proper knowledge about the topic, one would not be able to unlock all fifteen of them.

The fifteen meridians are divided into five stages, and each stage encompasses three meridians. From the lowest to highest; it starts with the Mortal, Alpha, Immortal, Demi-God, and Diety (God). Also, the combination of Mortal and Alpha stages are mostly called, The Mortal Veins. From what the Sexy woman said, unlocking all the Mortal Veins would make one the most talented cultivator in the Mortal Realm. All kinds of sect would value that person and treat him/her like phoenix in flock of chickens. Incidentally, the cultivation Thousand Hardening Body Refinement, can only be use to open the first six meridians (Mortal Veins). So if I want to advance in the future, I would have to change to a new cultivation technique.

Anyway, each meridian has a name.

Unlocking the first meridian will consider one as, a lower human. That's why, for some kingdoms with high status, humans who can't even unlock their first meridians, aren't and won't be considered as humans. They're just slaves, beasts with humans' clothings.

Unlocking the second will be called, Middle human.

Unlocking the third will make one, a High human.

Once one unlocked the fourth, that person would be, a Human Alpha.

Fifth, Alpha lord.

And the last of Mortal Vein, the sixth, would be an Alpha King.

The Sexy lady said that, most of the royal family of a common kingdom are mostly made of Mid to High human. There are times when a talented individual would even unlocked the fourth. Making them the greatest hero. For these people unlocking three to four meridians, and advancing to the Second Stage of cultivation, the Foundation Building Stage, is what they considered as normal. This is one of biggest reason why advancing their cultivation to a higher level is hard.

As for those kingdoms that represents their world, being an Alpha King is normal. Some of the royal family even have Celestial Immortals or Immortal Lords as their pillar. Making their position solid in their respective worlds.

So in conclusion, the more meridians one can unlock during the Refinement Stage, the higher one can go in cultivation. Of course, there are people who managed to reached higher than their unlocked meridians, but thats it. They wont ever reach the highest peak in their lifetime.

"Well, I don't really have to worry about those things for now." I whispered silently. "Unlocking my first meridian should be my top priority."

I had a strange idea.

What would happen if I fill my body full with the most compressed and purified Qi, then pop the balloon and let the ferocious energy mix with my stored Qi, and use that to unlock my first meridian? If I'm correct, the energy should cleanse and tempers the meridian without losing its momentum, making it possible for me to practice Martial arts after, making the newly opened meridian more purer and more stronger.

Without further ado, I focused myself in absorbing, compressing, and purifying the Qi until my whole body doesn't have any space to spare. Since when I started cultivating, my sensitivity and manipulation of Qi is getting better and better. Compared to almost two hours I needed to complete the process when I first started, now I only need forty-five minutes, making my cultivation more smooth and efficient.

Breathing a sigh, I stood up and entered the dark place in my mind and immediately popped the balloon. Like before, it turned to dust of lights and entered my body, transforming itself into a wild energy that rampages inside me! Concentrating myself, I circulated the energy and my stored Qi using the pattern of Thousand Hardening Body Refinement. Compared to before, my tolerance of pain is a lot stronger, but even so, I still couldn't help but groan and perspire cold sweat as it covers all of my insides.

Using the momentum of the combined energy and my stored Qi, I slammed it hard in the wall of my first meridian, forcefully opening it without any problem! Pop! It then started circulating inside of it, removing all the filth and strengthening it at the same time.

While standing, I could see some black and smelly sweat coming out of my skin. At the same time, the energy inside my body reached its limit and is about to explode, so without hesitation, I started moving my body using Thousand Hardening Body Refinement's Martial Arts.

After repeating this Martial arts everyday, my movements became more smoother and natural. Making me complete the cycle with much more ease, compared to before when I just started cultivating. Still, the huge pressure like feeling and the explosion like pain every time I move my body, never changed. They're still there, torturing my entire being.

Finishing the cycle once, I can still feel my body is brimming with energy, so I repeated the cycle again. This is one of the changes I got. Compared to before where I can only finish one cycle before slumping down like a retard, now I can finish two cycle in just one pop of the balloon, making the progress of my cultivation a lot more faster.

Plop! As I was lying on the floor, breathing like a fish out of the water, I decided to look inside of my body. Feeling excited, I couldn't help but smile in anticipation. Inside, I could see my first meridian brimming with life and energy. Its wider, more flexible, tougher because of the tempering of the ferocious like energy and and purified Qi. Using my veins as a comparison, the newly unlocked meridian looks like it was strengthen and nourished nonstop for two days! That's half of my entire cultivation career!

-------

In my house, after I took a bath and ate almost all the food in the kitchen, I went back to my room decided to sleep. As this is the last time I'd be staying here, I wanted to just enjoy the night and rest. The moment morning arrived, I immediately woke up and packed all things that I think I would need. I'm a very simple man, and my needs are quite simple as well. So it only took me a couple of minutes to finish packing.

When I got everything, I wore my bag in my shoulder and looked at myself in the mirror. Since I stopped going to university, and stopped looking for a job, I also stopped caring about what I look like. That's the reason why the person in front of me has a long fcked up hair, and unkempt beard that made him look like a beggar. No matter how one look at it, he looks awkward and ugly.

Good thing is, I look clean. That's the only good thing really.

Shaking my head slightly, I immediately walked towards the door.

I looked at my room one last time and I couldn't help but feel a little bit sad. Sighing, I closed the door and went down. There, I saw my family preparing to leave. When they saw me appear with a bag, my brothers looked at me full of surprise. Did mom not tell them that I'm gonna leave?

Mom looked at me with a slight frown.

"You're gonna leave without even shaving your face?" She asked. But she's actually commanding me.

"Does it matter? Homeless people don't shave." I answered with a calm voice. But I'm actually trying to make her feel guilty.

She snickered,

"I see. Homeless people don't have pocket money as well."

Fck, she's getting good at this!

When she saw that I stayed quiet, she snorted and threw a small envelop. Then she left like a fcking badass she was! Was she pretending like a stupid fool all this time?

I sighed and put the envelop in my pocket.

"You're gonna leave?" asked the Youngest.

I nodded and hugged the youngest. He tried to push me away, but with my strength, he wont be able to do that.

"You should be glad you're onii-chan's hugging you!"

Bullying the youngest brother is always fun. I remember throwing him a couple times as kid. Good times.

Then I looked at the twins. "Oy, don't mess with my things. Actually, just don't enter my room."

Both of them look at me like a retard. "Who'd need your trash?" said the oldest of the twins. Then they left.

"Teenagers and their rebellious phase." I muttered.

Looking at the struggling kid, I couldn't help but warn him.

"Listen here, don't grow up like them. They're quite stupid."

The youngest stopped moving, and looked at me while smiling.

"Its sad that you don't even realize you're actually one of them."

"Huh?"

While my mind was processing the meaning of his words, he actually managed to ran away from me!

I sighed. "I wish I had a younger sister."

Going out, I realized that my neighborhood is a little bit different from what I remember. Actually, except for the nights I use to cultivate outside, I never left my house. From what I can remember, the last time I went outside was when I was looking for a job. That was almost three years ago.

If this was a cliche novel, I would be walking slowly while looking at sky filled with hope. And whispering some encouraging words full of passion.

"With this step, I'll slowly walk to the path that would lead me to-." then I felt something and looked at my shoes. "The f---"

I couldn't even continue what I wanted to say because the smell of this dog shit was way too strong. For some reason looking at it, made me think that my future might not be that bright as I thought. Sighing again, I went back inside and clean the shit. While doing that, I was cursing the owner and the dog in my mind.

Don't ever let me find out who you are, I thought. Because if I do, I'll fckin send that dog to korea and let it be eaten alive.