Sitting there dumbfounded, Herman found it hard to accept the sudden conversion of Spiritual Qi. It did make sense, given that the highest level of the Spiritual Roots was called Superior Spiritual Roots, but it didn’t make his situation any easier. Actually, before ascending to the Immortal World, all the Spiritual Qi in one's body gets refined by simply walking from one plane of existence to the other, therefor turning the Qi which would be called 'Superior' in a primordial world such as Earth to be transformed into just regular Spiritual Qi. The fact that one could actually convert it before ascension though, was quite incredible.

After all, this meant…

“…more grinding!!! Ugh! What’s this superior quality Qi for f*ck’s sake!?”

Answer: Superior Spiritual Qi is absorbed and refined when one’s primary 361 acupoints have all been opened, cleaned, and enlarged by 100%.

Furthermore, for Qi of such quality to be collected and properly circulated by the body, one’s twelve primary meridians must be connected to the eight extraordinary meridians and form the complete circulation path.

“Eh!? The heck!? Why do you answer questions so out of the blue? Do you want me to have a heart attack!?”

Answer: Upon opening all 361 main acupoints, the FAQ option in the system has been unlocked.

The most basic questions shall be answered free of charge.

Listening with a gaping mouth, Herman felt that there were a thousand alpacas with mudded hooves running aimlessly across his mind. To think that he didn’t know about this in his previous life and nobody bothered to tell him about it either. On second thoughts… due to his lack of social skills, he did stray quite far from the social norm. Therefore, he wasn’t a very popular figure in the first two to three thousand years.

“Also, back then, I barely managed to open the acupoints one day before the trials and cast my roots instantly after. I was knocked unconscious for a full day, almost missing the chance to participate in the sixth trial.”

Shaking his head wistfully, he decided to ignore his ignoble past and focus on the present and the future. After all, with the information at hand, there was much work ahead of him to be done.

Further clarifications were needed as well.

“System, what’s the purpose of these extraordinary meridians?”

Answer: Through the twelve primary meridians, one’s body creates a large Qi circulation path after connecting them.

Once the remaining 54 hidden acupoints are opened and connected into the eight extraordinary meridians, the small Qi circulation path is created.

“Hmm!? Interesting… That pretty much means that anyone that opens those extra acupoints also has an extra amount of passive Spiritual Qi income. Even if it’s by an extra 10 - 20%, that extra would make a huge difference once in the Immortal World. Hehe! System, can the two circulation paths be connected?”

Answer: For this question to be answered 10 Spirit Jades must be paid first.

“The heck!? You greedy thing! How much of a miser can you be to charge money for a freaking answer!?”

Prompt: Please confirm if you agree to the payment!

Seeing himself being ignored like such and with his curiosity bubbling on the inside, he gritted his teeth and acquiesced. Losing 10 Spirit Jades out of his huge balance available was not that big of a deal. It was the greed that got on his nerves, as he also made a mental note to be careful of this hateful system in the future. He might just become a pauper if he is not careful enough.

Answer: Once both the small and large Qi circulation paths have been created, one must remain fully awake and aware during the Spiritual Roots casting process, for the two of them to be joined together through the dantian.

Upon hearing the answer, a sweet yet metallic taste was climbing Herman’s throat, making him almost cough a mouthful of blood. That was the answer? To cast his roots and be done with it? Once cast, the two circulation paths would be joined automatically?

“You greedy and hateful swindler!!! To think that I trusted you for an answer. No wonder nobody talked about you before. Who would want to openly admit being scammed out of their Spirit Jades? Nobody is that shameless!”

Feeling light-headed because of the intense anger and scared that he might faint if the conversation with the system continued, Herman hit the sack early.

Knowing about the hidden acupoints and finding them were two different things. In order to find them, he first had to connect his primary meridian paths. To do that, he had to first 'polish' all newly opened acupoints for them to bring in Refined Spiritual Qi. Going a step further, to do even that, he first had to heal the damage done to his spiritual world and mend the cracks in it.

There was no way for him to start doing that now since he over-drafted both his body and his mind in the opening process. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to rest early and give himself time to heal naturally. After all, in the past two weeks and a half, he almost didn’t get sufficient sleep in-between tempering his body into a proper shape and tirelessly mining in the spiritual world.

It wasn’t even night yet, however, he slept like a baby, all the way to the next morning.

…………………………………….

However, even if Herman rested, it didn't mean that the rest of the world had done the same. Instead, everyone was growing more restless by each passing minute due to the rapidly approaching trials, only three months away. With the help of a certain ‘tutorial’ available for only $100, people understood the importance of a sound body, to have a sound mind. That’s how the gym craze began and not only that.

Like Herman, some people inferred that in order to open one’s acupoints, external help would be of great use. Such as, for example, an acupuncture session. The unfortunate sod that had this spark of insight and posted about it online, even went as far as doing a live stream to show the effects of acupuncture while he was ‘mining’ the blockage from within, under the obvious cajoling of internet trolls.

What his viewers assisted to was… well, someone seemingly undergoing a torture session and screaming as if he was about to be violated by four bulky dudes at once. Not even ten minutes in the 'session', the man returned in front of the camera with a pale face and a back full of cold sweat, explaining how the pain felt while in the spiritual world was much, much higher than the one felt in the real world.

This kickstarted a whole debate online and people swiftly came to the conclusion that, while it was certainly possible to undergo acupuncture and unblock the impurities, one had to be in their spiritual world for it to work. They also realized that they had to force some Qi through the rift created by the needle since they needed to keep the impurities from blocking the acupoint again.

The conclusion they reached was that not even a woman who had already undergone the pains of birth, might not be able to withstand such cruel torture.

Of course, while the world was still trying to figure out a way around these pain ‘restrictions', there were four other madmen which, just like Herman, courted death and tried put up with it. As result, these leading figures were half a step behind the ‘progenitor’ of such a crazy method for speeding up the acupoint opening process.

The first among the four who, by the way, already had 301 acupoints opened, was no other than the first ranker in the leading board assessment: LinkWill. Originally, he had only about one hundred cleared through sheer effort, however, two weeks ago when the crazy idea about acupuncture surfaced, he tried it and even took it to the next level.

He first hired a renowned practitioner to which he pointed out the five acupoints he wanted to be unblocked. Then, when the needles were pulled out, he used the Qi Resonance taught in the basic information gained during the first day from the cultivator named Jing, directing all that force through the five channels pierced previously.

The result was… the actual clearing of five acupoints at once. However, even if Herman would’ve thought of this method, he wouldn’t have put it to use. The reason why, besides the loss of Spirit Jade? The pain!

If one were to compare, the pain Herman felt once he opened all 360 acupoints, was probably three times less when compared with what LinkWill went through. What would shock Herman to his core and make him look at this guy as if viewing a monster, were the endurance levels shown. Herman himself needed one entire week in-between his acupuncture sessions, yet this guy was doing once per day.

Not only that, except for the first time when a groan escaped from his throat, there wasn’t a second time when that occurred, even after he increased the number of acupoints opened to ten, then to fifteen and finally to twenty at once.

This abnormal genius was currently walking out of a building while using a pocket tissue to clean the blood off his fingers and sleeves.

Outside the building there were two rows made of over twenty men dressed in black, bowing to him at 90 degrees. All of them were much bulkier than the young man, however, none dared to meet his eyes. Furthermore, they were slightly shaken at the sight of him walking out of the building and wiping blood off his hands. Mind you, these guys are people who underwent rigorous training in the army, special ops, and are also people who had each previously killed at least once in their lifetimes. To see all of them being low-key terrified of a lean guy in his mid-twenties, dressed in a white clean suit was... quite the amusing and intriguing sight.

His calm and indifferent disposition while passing through the people bowing to him with reverence, showed that he was accustomed to it. Not only that but the way he carried himself hinted at a trace of nobility in his every move.

[*Sigh* You guys are my followers... handpicked by yours truly through much effort and big piles of money. Yet, not only are you unable to deal with a mere Triads executive crossing into our territory, you need me to make a move personally as well? I am truly beginning to doubt my discernment capabilities.](LinkWill)

Hearing his slightly reproachful words, all twenty men paled and dropped to their knees in an instant. The Triads indeed trespassed in their young master territory and silently extended their hands to his businesses, dropping their profits by almost 5% each in a mere month. Would have they asked for permission to do so, their young master might’ve actually allowed it as he is not that interested in worldly possessions anymore. However, not only that didn’t happen, but they also disrespected him greatly by targeting businesses that he started, instead of ones that he funded. If that wasn't courting death, they wouldn't be able to point out to others a clearer example.

This morning after having breakfast and doing his routine workout, the young master grabbed an ornamental saber from the living room and asked all of them to follow behind him closely. Upon reaching the yard of the current building they were in front of, he asked them to wait outside, not allowing even his personal guards to follow him in. Knowing what was about to happen, they all silently give their prayers to the ones inside and thought about burning some incense.

The result? Not even a minute after going in, the sound of people inside screaming in fear and pain could be heard all the way to the street. After a quick research, they realized that the building they were in front of, was one belonging to the executive member in the ranks of the Triade, obviously one that didn’t listen to the warning given by his peers. After he decided to extend his fingers into the many pies belonging to their young master despite being advised against it, each of these war-steeled veterans were wondering how many fingers was that stupid sod left with.

[Hmm!? That car is… *Sigh* Is there a need for her to be this hardworking? Which one of you bastards sold me out again? Andrew, are you the Brutus to my Caesar? Was it you? I know you have a soft spot for her, but man… I am your employer! You’re going to make me cry here…](LinkWill)

Hearing his young master complain about it, Andrew, the guard he was previously talking to didn’t know if to laugh or cry. In his mind, if his young master complained to him about this situation, who was he supposed to complain to? After all, he didn’t have 'a soft spot' for that lady. Rather, he was equally scared of her just as he was of his young master. Maybe even more.

There shouldn't be a man out there who wanted even their thoughts and past deeds dug out and publicized in magazines for the world to see, right?

He would rather get beaten the shit out of him by his young master...

[Young master, may I know why you left this morning without notifying me, and even without consulting the schedule I emailed you? Do you know that you are already late for two board meetings!?](?)

The sweet oriole-like voice should’ve been able to send everyone there in a trance during usual times. Now, however, it made even the young master shudder, unable to find his words for a brief moment.

[Ahem! Jennifer, you are my secretary after all... Is there a need for me to let you know what I do and when I decide to do it?](LinkWill)

[Huh!? I’m sorry, ‘young master’, did you just say something? I couldn't quite hear that because of the wind. Might you be kind enough to repeat!?](Jennifer)

[Uh… that… Uhm… no, I was just asking about the meetings. I didn’t have lunch yet and was hoping you could join me. You can inform me about them after we eat.](LinkWill)

Upon hearing the silent chuckles behind him, black lines appeared on his face and turned to glare at the men. They were quickly silenced, forced to swallow their laughter and remarks such as 'What wind?'. It says that everything in this world has its bane. Maybe to their young master, miss Jennifer was his.

[If we leave now, we might have sufficient time for lunch. I also managed to gather intel about ‘that’ person.](Jennifer)

[Really!? Did you find him or her?](LinkWill)

Seeing him suddenly excited and worked up, she couldn't help but shake her head and sigh. This guy was an uncontestable genius in the business world that had single-handedly supported his country through two economic depressions over the course of five years. His lack of interest in this field was understandable since she saw the same thing happen multiple times, with different 'hobbies' he picked up along the way.

[Haah… I am afraid I didn’t. However, some traces couldn't be hidden entirely. They are more like bread crumbs, almost impossible to follow. I have my entire team on it nevertheless. We should have something solid soon enough.](Jennifer)

[Got it! Let’s leave then. Oh, right! I almost forgot... You guys are to clean up this place and send the things I left inside on the table back to the Triads. If they think that I’ve gone soft in the past five years, this should serve as a fair wake up call. Let’s go, Jennifer. A refined lady such as yourself shouldn’t see such a scene.](LinkWill)

[Then how about you don’t create one, to begin with!? Urgh… I am starting to believe that meeting you was the most unfortunate thing that happened in my life.](Jennifer)

With a wry smile on their faces, each for a different reason, they both got back in the car that took them to a nearby five-star restaurant. They didn’t talk about work or the person they were looking for and instead casually chatted while enjoying the delicacies on their plates.

Once the table was cleared of food and coffee or tea was served, the young man raised his head and looked expectantly at his assistant. She was one of the few scary geniuses that even the big organizations such as the CIA had done everything they could in an attempt to poach her. Luckily, the salary he was offering was one zero higher than anything they could bring to the table.

[By following the crumbs, we found out that the person who leaked the documents is the quite famous hacker/businessman, Chase.](Jennifer)

[Oh!? I see… someone employed him.](LinkWill)

[Indeed. Not only that but apparently, the same type of spiritual contract was signed between him and the seller, preventing the exposure of any details about the latter.](Jennifer)

[Tsk, tsk! He’s very careful, that one…](LinkWill)

[Are you that certain that he’s Herman Roy? The previous 5th place? Why would he suddenly drop out of the top 10 then? Also, why hide? There are too many holes in this theory of yours.](Jennifer)

[It’s more of a hunch, really. Something tells me that he’s already ahead of both me and Bian Hua. Others also fell quite behind when compared. Speaking of which, even if we don’t have details about Herman, what’s the status of Harper and others? What have they been up to lately?](LinkWill)

[Bian Hua likes keeps to himself and had steered clear from military or political factions. He should’ve opened somewhere between 280 and 300 acupoints already. For Harper, she already opened around 300 as well. Not only that but her 'associates' like Mental, QiQi and the others are reported to have had great success as well and are each over 250 acupoints.](Jennifer)

[It’s to be expected. They have always been at the peak of this world in their respective fields and as geniuses of a generation, they can easily go toe-to-toe against me. It wouldn’t be fun otherwise though... Hehehe! I am looking forward to this Immortal World…](LinkWill)

As someone who also stood at the absolute summit, looking down on geniuses ever since his birth, he was one to quickly get bored. From school, arts, and later on every business field he stepped foot on, he would always be recognized as an absolute maverick, creating one miracle after another.

Now, not only did he realize that there might be someone at a higher level than him, pushing the second place in his arms, there was also this new world yet to be explored that was certain not to disappoint and rather, keep him entertained for a very long time.

[I’m sorry Jennifer, but after this talk, I’m in no mood to go to a boring board meeting. Cancel all my appointments for the day and re-schedule my appointment with miss Ling for today, as early as possible. I want to break through my remaining acupoints in one go.](LinkWill)

[Huh!? I don’t care if you want to commit suicide by opening 60 at once, however what the heck I’m I supposed to tell those walking corpses that are waiting for you in the office? You are the damned owner of this business you know!?](Jennifer)

[Exactly! What’s the point of being the boss, if you can’t even skip on one lousy day of work! Hahaha…](LinkWill)

With his laughter echoing through the restaurant and a beautiful young lady holding her head with both hands in defeat, the world was quickly shifting towards a new age.

The age of cultivators was here and those failing to make the transition would certainly be buried by the sands of time.