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*****
"And this senior is...?" Zhou Shuiniu asked, his posture deeply respectful.
Seeing the Great Marshal acting with such deference, the guard felt a jolt of panic in his chest. Good heavens, he thought, even the Great Marshal is being so polite. Could this person truly be some legendary senior? He felt a wave of relief wash over him; he had made the right choice by reporting the visitor's arrival immediately. Had there been any friction or misunderstanding, he would have been in serious trouble.
"Su Wen," the visitor replied simply.
"Master Su," Zhou Shuiniu inquired with a humble tone, "I heard from Xiao Wan that you have a method to treat my son's congenital meridian blockage?"
It wasn't that Zhou Shuiniu hadn't tried before. He had invited many powerful Heavenly Jewel Masters to examine Zhou Weiqing's "ailment," but the result was always the same: they were utterly helpless. In truth, Zhou Shuiniu didn't harbor much hope regarding this senior before him. Medicine and healing usually required a logical foundation, and Zhou Weiqing's condition was a congenital blockage—an inability to cultivate from birth. By all rights, it was an incurable disease with no possibility of recovery.
Su Wen smiled faintly and said, "Congenital meridian blockage? One simply needs to clear them."
Cold sweat broke out on Zhou Shuiniu's forehead. So direct. So logical.
However, the meridians within the human body were incredibly complex. Even as a High-Level Heavenly Zong, he didn't dare use his own Heavenly Energy to try and comb through Zhou Weiqing's meridians. In fact, he didn't even dare to inject a sliver of energy into the boy's body to circulate. A blockage meant that energy simply could not pass. To clear the meridians, one would have to use Heavenly Energy to forcibly carve out a path within the body for energy to flow.
Meridians were inherently fragile. If one used force to carve a path, not only might they snap, but even if a passage was successfully created, the hollowed-out meridians would become incredibly brittle. Forget cultivating; even daily exercise could cause them to rupture. It was like tunneling through a mountain—the risk of collapse was immense. Specifically, to allow for the smooth flow of energy, the tunnel would have to be quite large, potentially occupying more than half the volume of the "mountain" itself.
"Senior, please, take a seat."
Even though Su Wen's method sounded highly impractical, Zhou Shuiniu followed the etiquette of not striking a smiling face. The man had come with good intentions, and he could not turn him away. Zhou Shuiniu possessed a decent judge of character; he could sense that Su Wen bore no ill will and truly seemed to have come specifically for his son's condition.
"May I ask the age of the Young Master?" Su Wen asked.
He couldn't be certain of the timeline correlation between the Douluo Continent and this world. The original records weren't explicit, especially regarding how long the Dark Devouring God Tiger's pearl had drifted through the void before reaching the Boundless Mainland.
"Weiqing is ten years old now," Zhou Shuiniu replied, his expression turning dazed. "We discovered the meridian issue two years ago."
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. Beside the Marshal, his wife also wore a look of sorrow. Over these two years, they had tried every possible method, but none offered a glimmer of hope for a cure. They had reached the point of truly giving up on "treatment." Of course, they weren't giving up on their son; they were simply abandoning the pursuit of cultivation for him, choosing instead to focus on developing his other talents.
In the backyard of the Marshal's Mansion.
A ten-year-old boy, looking quite honest and sturdy, was diligently holding a horse stance. Sweat poured down his forehead in a continuous stream, yet he didn't dare move an inch. When Zhou Shuiniu arrived, the boy, Zhou Weiqing, became even more rigid and focused.
"His foundation is very solid," Su Wen remarked.
The horse stance was the best way to gauge a person's basic skills. In a world of transcendent powers, such basics often seemed insignificant, especially when bolstered by energies like Soul Power or Heavenly Energy. Over time, the importance of basic training usually faded into the background. However, it was undeniably crucial.
Unless a cultivator completely disregarded the strength of their own level and relied entirely on skills or... Skill Snatching.
At that thought, Su Wen's pupils contracted. He seemed to realize what the God of Time was thinking.
"Skill Snatching!"
This was a system unique to the world of Heavenly Jewel Change. On the Boundless Mainland, the cultivation system was quite similar to that of the Douluo Continent—both featured unique pathways for advancement. Here, cultivators were divided into three categories: Physical Jewel Masters, Elemental Jewel Masters, and Heavenly Jewel Masters.
Humans possessed Life Jewels. Upon awakening, these became either Elemental Jewels or Physical Jewels, circling the wrists like bracelets. Like human twins, when both Elemental and Physical Jewels appeared on a single person, they were known as Heavenly Jewels. Those who cultivated Physical Jewels were Physical Jewel Masters; those with Elemental Jewels were Elemental Jewel Masters. Naturally, those with both were Heavenly Jewel Masters. The peak of a Heavenly Jewel Master was twelve pairs of jewels, which is why the cultivation process was called the Twelve Changes of the Heavenly Jewel.
Physical Jewel Masters focused on bodily enhancement: power, flexibility, hardness, agility, coordination, and endurance. Elemental Jewel Masters controlled elemental forces: Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness, Space, and Life. Beyond these eight, there were four extra "Saint" attributes.
Common Jewel Masters (Physical or Elemental) could have up to nine jewels, but Heavenly Jewel Masters could reach twelve pairs. Consequently, the true powerhouses of the Boundless Mainland were always Heavenly Jewel Masters. Zhou Shuiniu was one such master—a Lower-Level Heavenly Zong with seven pairs of jewels.
The power of these masters didn't just come from their internal Heavenly Energy, but from their jewels. Physical Jewels used Consolidation, while Elemental Jewels used Skill Snatching! Physical Jewels relied on Consolidated Equipment Scrolls made by Consolidation Masters to create specific "tools" or "weapons" for combat. These were indispensable to a Physical Jewel Master. Elemental Jewels, however, used Skill Snatching to obtain the abilities of Heavenly Beasts of the same level.
For every additional pair of jewels, a Heavenly Jewel Master gained twice the utility of a standard master. This made them incredibly formidable. Even at the same level, a Heavenly Jewel Master would soundly defeat a standard Jewel Master, not to mention that each pair of jewels represented a four-fold increase in Heavenly Energy, providing a much stronger foundation. With a higher ceiling for growth, Heavenly Jewel Masters held a status far above others on the continent.
Skill Snatching was the process of using Elemental Jewels to mirror the skills of Heavenly Beasts. As Su Wen pondered this, he understood the God of Time's intent.
"Skill Snatching... I see. So that's it."
He hadn't been sent here for the so-called "Creation Power." After all, even the Divine Realm likely didn't know that the fusion of the four Saint attributes could produce Creation Power. In truth, the Boundless Mainland only recognized three Saint attributes; the fourth—the original Evil attribute of the Dark Devouring God Tiger—didn't exist here. Thus, no one knew of the "Four Saint Attributes," let alone that their fusion resulted in Creation. This knowledge was a unique treasure from Su Wen's memories of his previous life.
Since the God of Time didn't know this, Su Wen hadn't understood why he'd been sent here. Now, thinking of Skill Snatching, the pieces fit.
"Skill Snatching is indeed extremely similar to the principle of Soul Masters obtaining Soul Skills from Soul Rings."
No! "It's not just similar; it's practically identical!" Both involved using a target as a template to acquire a skill. In some ways, Skill Snatching was even better than Soul Rings, as it didn't seem to require killing the Heavenly Beast, but rather communicating through spiritual power. Su Wen had forgotten the specific details.
"Master Su, Weiqing has a very steady personality," Zhou Shuiniu said. "Even though he cannot cultivate Heavenly Energy due to his physical condition, I have already begun tempering his character."
Listening to Zhou Shuiniu, Su Wen's expression became somewhat strange. Recalling the personality of Zhou Weiqing from the original story, he had serious doubts about the Marshal's assessment. However, looking at the boy before him now, he really did seem to be exactly as Zhou Shuiniu described.
The detail Su Wen had forgotten was that Zhou Weiqing would meet an "old rogue" at the age of twelve. Rumor had it that this old rogue was actually sought out by Zhou Shuiniu, and it was he who turned the boy into a rascal.
Before that, however, Zhou Weiqing truly was quite honest and simple.
(End of Chapter)