After gaining a basic grasp of the Qi Meridian Method, he didn’t rest. He immediately took out a Special-Grade Spiritual Energy Potion he had purchased previously and drank it all in one go.
"Now’s the time!"
With a single thought, Qin Feng began. He endured the stinging pain of his meridians being stretched to their limits and followed the most fundamental technique recorded in the introductory section of the *Great Sun Qi Meridian Method*. He started trying to merge two of the three hundred sixty Great Sun Acupoints within his body—the first two he had ever opened, which were also the most closely connected.
He attempted to forcefully pull those two brilliant "great suns"—the representations of his Acupoints—closer, to fuse them into one!
The process, however, was incredibly difficult.
Those two "great suns" seemed to be within arm’s reach, yet it was as if they were separated by an invisible and incredibly tough barrier.
They attracted and repelled each other simultaneously.
Every time they drew near, they would erupt with a powerful repulsive force, unleashing terrifying Spiritual Energy that scoured Qin Feng’s physical body!
One day, two days...
One month, two months...
Just like that, six more months quietly slipped by.
He had consumed a full ten Special-Grade Spiritual Energy Potions.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the two "great suns" only continued to approach and collide, never showing the slightest sign of truly merging.
On the last day of the sixth month, when the final trace of the Potion’s power in his body was depleted, Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes.
He stopped this futile attempt.
’Not enough resources.’
Qin Feng looked at his empty hands and couldn’t help but let out a low sigh.
’Special-Grade Spiritual Energy Potions might be enough for an ordinary Fifth-level Martial Artist. But for me, both the quality and quantity of the Spiritual Energy they contain are far, far from enough.’
He keenly realized that his terrifying life force index of 3,600, while granting him immense strength, also came with an equally terrifying cultivation consumption rate.
’To successfully merge my Acupoints, I have to buy a higher-grade, enhanced Spiritual Energy Potion.’
After reaching this conclusion, Qin Feng decisively stopped his cultivation of the *Great Sun Qi Meridian Method*.
With insufficient resources, continuing any further would just be a waste of time.
He then turned his attention to another technique—the *Ten-Complete Hand*, a Supreme Nourishing Technique that was equally profound but required no resources to practice.
However, the result that followed was even more frustrating than his attempts at merging his Acupoints.
For six whole months.
He broke down every move demonstrated by Lord Zhou Xiong into thousands of details, repeatedly imitating and practicing them tens of thousands of times.
He tried over a thousand breathing methods one by one, attempting to find the one that was most compatible with his body and easiest to perform.
But... it was no use.
No matter how much he sweat, no matter how many times he repeated the motions, the entry for the *Ten-Complete Hand* on his proficiency panel stubbornly displayed a glaring number.
[*Ten-Complete Hand* (Uninitiated)]
[Proficiency: 0/10]
He was still nowhere near the minimum threshold of 10 proficiency points for initiation.
His proficiency hadn’t increased by a single point.
He couldn’t even find the entrance!
When the third six-month period came to an end, Qin Feng concluded his seclusion.
In total, one year and six months.
He walked out of the Cultivation Room and looked at the long-unseen sunlight outside the window, his face showing no sign of dejection.
From the very beginning, this period of seclusion was never about achieving any particular results.
It was merely a preliminary exploration and study of a new realm.
And now, Qin Feng had reached his conclusions.
’Merging Acupoints is much more difficult than opening them.’
’And it requires more, higher-grade resources.’
’I’ll take it slow. I’ll get there eventually.’
Qin Feng smiled.
-----------------
The heavy door of the Cultivation Room, forged from a high-density alloy, slid open to the sides with a low mechanical hum.
Qin Feng walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of his dormitory, looking down at Cannan Star Martial Arts University below, which was so vast it resembled an independent kingdom.
Countless maglev shuttles zipped back and forth on preset routes, like diligent worker bees.
Nothing had changed since before his seclusion.
However, Qin Feng’s state of mind had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.
Before his seclusion, he was like a peerless Divine Weapon, newly forged with a perfect edge, its sharpness on full display and ready to slash through anything.
Now, after a year and a half of seeking a higher realm and only meeting with failure, he had consciously retracted that incomparably sharp edge deep into its sheath.
He had become calmer, more reserved, and more... pragmatic.
He came to the profound realization that to walk the path to a higher level of existence, a determination to press ever forward and a Will as hard as Divine Iron were far from enough.
He needed something else.
Something fundamental, yet critical.
—Resources.
A massive amount of top-tier cultivation resources, enough to support his terrifying consumption.
And the only way to obtain these resources was to undertake high-difficulty, high-reward missions for the Empire.
At this thought, Master Yu Han’s warning about "staying alive" once again surfaced clearly in his mind.
’To do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools.’
Qin Feng silently recited this ancient proverb in his mind.
He went straight to the Imperial Trading House and opened the—Equipment section.
Since he was going to undertake high-risk missions, a set of equipment that could maximize his survival rate and combat effectiveness was of the utmost importance.