The Hidden Myth of Ji Dara

Dara erupted of the ground leaving about a twelve inch deep crater on the ground with a spider web of cracks spreading about a foot outwards as he leapt up to about 10 meters of the ground before flipping and descending with a magnificent superhero landing…

Bam! Clap! Clap! Clap!

Uncle Min who was watching the entire scenario from the top of the plateau couldn't help but clap in joy and commendation…

The couple hurried over to Dara as Uncle Min ruffled his hair once again;

"You have barely begun cultivating, and you already have the strength of a 1 Star Warrior Stage expert, it would be no surprise if you manage to unlock the legendary Gold Tier Meridians…"

"Gold Tier Meridians!? What are those?" Dara obviously never heard of such a term in his life;

"Well, what you have just opened are your 8 Great Meridians, you still have to unlock the 12 Principal Meridians, and the other peripheral meridians after that…"

"Everyone are always able to unlock the peripheral meridians at some point in their lives, but the highest I have ever seen was the Silver Tier which is a person who has unlocked the 8 Great Meridians, 12 Principal Meridians and finally 10 peripheral Meridians, and that person is our current tribe leader…" Uncle Min explained;

"But there were stories, rumors and myth about an expert who once opened the Gold Tier meridians…"

"What does these Tiers signify?" Dara asked;

Though he understood what meridians were used for, but their classification into tiers was something he had no idea about, after all, even his sister; Dai, who was said to be very talented within the Village of Sang had only unlocked her eight great meridians, and even the strongest expert within their village, their village chief has only unlocked 5 more than she has because of the tragic scarcity of cultivation technique within these lands…

Moreover, people who have been banished into these lands were sent here so that the resources that was supposed to be shared to them can be given to other talented members of whatever family they came out of...

Thus, to these families, it would be a total waste to give someone who was being banished a meridian opening technique, not to even talk about any other type of cultivation resources…

In the entire Village of Sang, there are only two meridian opening techniques, and one of them is in the general library where people who have been given the permission based on their meritorious deeds can go and use it for cultivation...

The second one on the other hand, was always in the possession of the village chief, since it was the only one which gave helped someone unlock their 12 Principal meridians as opposed to the first one that can only help its user open their 8 Great Meridians alone…

But obliviously to Dara, the reason why he and his sister was being plotted against was because the meridian opening technique being passed down through their family could actually help one open the 8 Great Meridians, 12 Principal Meridians, and even 10 Peripheral Meridians...

Though, this technique was currently there in his mind, even completely useless because the meridian opening technique that came with his [Testaments of Asura] cultivation technique was like the sun, compared to the match stick of the one he got from his sister…

"The higher the tier of ones meridians, the faster that person can cultivate, and the farther the person would reach on the path of cultivation…" Uncle Min continued his explanation;

"For instance, the tribe leader of the tribe I was banished from had a Silver Tier meridian network, and as a result, he was able to reach the Qi Sea stage, and it was the same for my father, but others who only have the Bronze or Metal Tier meridian network can only reach the Qi Creation stage in their lifetime…"

Uncle Min looked into Dara's eyes and could sense that he was still a little confused, so he continued;

"The reason why this is the case is because, the amount of natural energy needed for someone to break through the final bottleneck of the Qi Creation stage into Qi Sea stage is so large that even if an expert with a Bronze Tier meridian network cultivate all their lives, it wouldn't still be enough, because the meridians are just too weak, small and few…"

"Then since the maximum lifespan of a Qi Creation stage expert is only 100 years, they usually dies without breaking into the Qi Sea stage…"

"If I were to simplify it, then I would put it this way; Imagine if all you had to do to step into the Qi Sea stage was to finish the pig looking beast we captured back then within the span of five minutes, you know that would be practically impossible right?" Dara nodded his head in affirmation;

"But that is just because you have a single mouth…"

"Now imagine if they were ten of you; though it would still be impossible, but all of you will still consume the beast much faster than if it was only you…"

"Now imagine if there were a thousand of you, it wouldn't even take up to that five minutes before the entire beast would be gone…"

"That is the correlation between cultivation and meridians…"

"The more mouth you have to eat the beast the faster you can cultivate…"

"Meridian Tiers are also graded by the total amount of meridians an expert have unlocked…"

"Thus, let's say it takes an expert with the Bronze Tier about 120 years to move from the start of Qi creation into the QI Sea stage, then he would obviously die before he is able to do so, because he would be three years late…"

"Three years late!? How do you figure?" Dara asked;

"Well for each breakthrough within the Qi Creation stage, three years would be added to that expert's longevity, and as for the Qi Sea stage, it is five years each…."

"Thus, when you factor the fact that, the maximum longevity for any mortal on the Planet Jok is 100 years, then that means an expert at the Peak of the Qi Creation stage can only live up to 127 years max…"

"Then if you then include the fact that meridians only appear from any age of 10 and above, then that means such an expert has only 127 years to enter into the Qi Sea stage, and the energy required to cultivate into the Qi Sea stage would take about 150 years at least for anyone with a meridian network below the Silver Tier…"

"All these are subjected to environments on the level of the Land of Light, and there are other exceptions which are only based on luck…"

"The luck that one finds a meridian opening technique that was high tier enough to open meridians of the Silver Tier level and above, or if that person was lucky enough to find an extremely pure source of Qi like the one in these lands which only you can know about and access..."

"But the last method is a closely guarded secret of the family that rules the entire Shangri La…"

Uncle Min looked towards Dara and realized he had already grasped his explanation;

"But what Tier of meridians do you guys have?" Dara asked out of curiosity;

"Your Aunt Lin has a SiIver Tier meridian network whilst I have a Bronze Tier network…" Uncle Min revealed;

"So, you are saying you only have a 127 year lifespan at best whilst she has a maximum lifespan of 172 years?" Dara was shocked and for some strange reasons, he was also worried and sad;

"Give or take… If luck is on our side then I might be able to reach 130 and she might live to clock 175, but sadly that is only if we can cultivate to the peak of the cultivations stages…" Uncle Min sighed and shook his head;

"But sadly, we both do not have any cultivation technique which means we might only get to live up to 100 years if luck is on our side…" Uncle Min added as his wife grabbed his arm in consolation…

"How old are you both at the moment?"

Though they look only a little over thirty, but Dara knew looks might be deceiving;

"I am 56, and she is 52… Why do you ask?" Uncle Min replied;

"Nothing much… But there is no way you both are dying on my watch…"

Dara responded with a level of conviction that stunned both Uncle Min and Aunt Lin;

"Which meridian opening is the strongest on the planet?"

Dara asked further stunning Uncle Min and Aunt Lin once again;

"Um… My father once made mention of the Shangri La Family possessing a Gold Tier meridian opening technique, and he said the other part of the planet ruled by the Jok Family also had one of theirs…" Uncle Min answered;

"Jok family?" Dara reacted to the latter part of Uncle Min's statement;

"Yeah… But I also don't know much about the story, but my father told me that the Shangri La Family were initially not from this planet, but how, why and when that happened, no one knows, and I think it would be one of the closest guarded secrets on the planet…"

"Except if one managed to travel long enough to cross the borders of Shangri La into Jok, but should one do so, then they would be killed on sight because of the bloody war that had been ongoing between both families for about 500 years now…" Uncle Min answered;

"That recent!?" Dara was stunned;

"Like I said, I have no idea…" Uncle Min responded before asking;

"So what do you want to do now that you have opened your 8 Great Meridians?"

"I initially thought of going out to hunt and develop fighting techniques since we don't have one, but at this moment, I think it that would be a total waste of time…"

Dara spoke whist looking in the direction of the village of sang;

"I will continue cultivating, and when the time is ripe, you guys would stay in here and activate all defenses whilst I go to somewhere to get some answers…"

Uncle Min and Aunt Lin obviously knew what Dara was thinking but couldn't object to it…