As it struck midnight, even though Li Yundong had barely closed his eyes for nearly a day and a night since moving into the new place, he didn't feel the slightest hint of fatigue or drowsiness.

On the contrary, he felt an indescribable, surging power churning within him, as if he possessed inexhaustible strength. Standing on the balcony, looking down upon the darkened city of Tiannan, he was filled with soaring ambition.

He felt a need to conquer something, yet he had no idea what that might be.

Li Yundong was like a newborn infant, facing this vast and intricate world, unaware of the earth-shattering achievements he might attain, or perhaps like a silkworm, struggling inside its cocoon, silently awaiting the moment of its emergence.

"Su Chan..." Li Yundong gazed at the dazzling cityscape before him, and suddenly sighed with emotion, "What do you think I will be able to do in the future?"

Su Chan sat hugging her knees, her head leaning against Li Yundong's shoulder, watching the stars with him. She replied, "In the future? You can do anything, you know. You're going to be amazing!"

Li Yundong laughed, "How do you know? When the landlord kicked me out that day, I secretly swore that I would make something of myself, to show those snobbish people! But now that I've calmed down, I realize I've studied for so many years, and I can’t actually do anything! This university education has truly been the biggest failure of failures!"

Su Chan looked up at him, blinking, and thought to herself: Every move you make now carries immense power. Without any specialized training, the abundance of Zhen Yuan within you already surpasses most cultivators in this mortal realm. Yet, possessing such a great treasure, you worry about mere survival in the future—what a colossal joke!

In this world, is there anything more remarkable than cultivating the Dao, transcending mortality, and becoming an immortal being who lives forever?

Seeing Su Chan remain silent, Li Yundong didn't press her. He smiled and said, "I was just venting, don't take it to heart. I will strive hard, if only for you!"

Hearing these words warmed Su Chan’s heart. She gave Li Yundong a radiant smile, glanced at the time, stood up, moved behind him, and asked, "Yundong, shall I give you a massage?"

By now, Li Yundong could more or less guess that Su Chan was definitely not an ordinary person. If nothing else, her almost supernatural massage skills set her apart from common folk.

Furthermore, ever since Su Chan entered his life, Li Yundong had clearly felt changes in his life and body. Yet, he didn't resist these changes; rather, he enjoyed them, and therefore, he didn't want to dig too deep into the reasons why.

Whatever Su Chan asked him to do, he would do it, because Li Yundong deeply trusted that Su Chan would never harm him.

The young girl had Li Yundong sit cross-legged, facing the east-facing balcony, and then opened all the doors and windows of the room except the main entrance, pulling the curtains wide open as well.

Watching Su Chan busy herself, Li Yundong asked, rather confused, "Su Chan, let me ask you, why do I always have to sit cross-legged during the massage? It makes me feel like some Qigong master meditating to circulate Qi!"

Su Chan replied, "What you are doing is precisely meditation and Qi circulation! Where else do you think the Qi inside you comes from? Why did you suffer a cultivation deviation in your classroom last time? Wasn't it because your internal Qi went awry when you were disturbed during your practice?"

Li Yundong shook his head and laughed, "I really can't imagine such a beautiful young woman as you also being a Qi Gong practitioner! But, speaking of which, why must people sit cross-legged when circulating Qi? Can't they practice standing up?"

After finishing her preparations, Su Chan stood before Li Yundong, gestured towards his feet with her hand, and said, "A person’s legs often account for half of their height, sometimes more. The longer the legs, the harder it is for the internal energy to reach the Yongquan point on the sole of the foot. The Yongquan point is a crucial nexus on the Kidney Meridian (Zushao Yin) and the Bladder Meridian (Zutai Yang*). If the energy cannot reach this point, one cannot undertake the Great Heavenly Cycle cultivation."

"When a person sits cross-legged, the posture stretches the meridians, stimulating the blood and Qi within them. Moreover, this posture minimizes the distance between the legs, the Lower Dantian in the abdomen, the Middle Dantian near the heart, and the Upper Dantian in the brain. Furthermore, the cross-legged posture inherently conveys a sense of guarding the Qi, maintaining focus, and keeping the mind centered, enabling the internal energy to spontaneously retract and not escape easily."

Li Yundong suddenly understood and couldn't help but exclaim, "When I saw people meditating cross-legged before, I always thought it was just a comfortable posture or a habit. I tried it once, and my thighs went numb, my calves ached, so I never tried again. Hearing you explain it today, I finally grasp the reason behind sitting cross-legged meditation. Su Chan, I think you are the truly remarkable one—so beautiful and knowing so much. You are truly extraordinary!"

Su Chan beamed, her eyes shimmering with affection under the moonlight, making her look even more alluring. Li Yundong stared, feeling a stirring deep in his lower abdomen.

Su Chan quickly pressed a hand on top of Li Yundong’s head and instructed him, "Close your eyes, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth, empty your mind, and think of nothing!"

Li Yundong obeyed. Soon, he felt a warmth spreading through his lower back, the same strange sensation he had experienced in the school hotel reappearing.

After gently kneading and pressing key acupoints on Li Yundong's body for a while, Su Chan moved both hands to the kidney area on his lower back, using the heat generated in her palms to catalyze the pure Jindan Yuan Qi within Li Yundong.

Li Yundong had now entered a state bordering on unconsciousness. Muzzily, he felt as if he were submerged in a hot spring, enveloped by hot, comfortable water flowing and washing over him.

The advantage of dual cultivation is that one partner can enter a semi-conscious state, relying purely on the body’s intrinsic responses to adapt to the flow of internal Zhen Yuan.

The human body is the most marvelous and subtle thing in existence; even the most advanced scientific instruments in the world cannot explore all its mysteries, and no sophisticated machine can rival the body's coordination and inherent reactions.

Only when the body cultivates under its purest, most natural reactive state will the Zhen Qi cultivated be the purest and truest, comparable to the innate Zhen Qi one carried from the mother's womb.

However, cultivating independently in such a state carries a high risk of cultivation deviation (Zou Huo Ru Mo). Having a Dao companion present eliminates this worry, achieving a synergy where one plus one equals more than two.

Su Chan keenly sensed a vast quantity of pure Jindan Yuan Qi slowly accumulating in Li Yundong’s Upper Dantian, and the Baihui point on the crown of his head gradually opened, releasing a faint, almost invisible white mist rising upwards.

Su Chan knew then that Li Yundong had completed the accumulation of Yuan Qi. All she needed to do was strike the top of his head with her palm, and this accumulated Zhen Yuan would surge into his other meridians like a floodbreak, forcibly propelling him into the Great Heavenly Cycle cultivation!

Su Chan took a deep breath, exhaling a sharp, arrow-like plume of white breath from her ruby lips. A faint stream of cyan energy swirled in her palm. Then, aiming for the Baihui point on Li Yundong's crown, she struck!

"Rumble!"

Li Yundong’s body jerked violently, feeling as if a torrential downpour of warm water had cascaded from his head to his toes. The sensation was one of absolute physical and spiritual ecstasy, leaving his skin tingling with pleasure.

Li Yundong’s face flushed crimson, his meridians bulged visibly beneath his skin from head to toe. The energy rising from his crown suddenly thickened; what was once almost invisible to the naked eye was now clearly visible, as thick as an infant's little finger, rising upward, concentrated and unbroken.

Su Chan watched Li Yundong nervously. She knew this surging energy was what ancient cultivators described as the "Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex," the boiling vitality escaping the head. If he could pass this threshold, Li Yundong would enter the Great Heavenly Cycle.

This steam persisted for about a minute before Li Yundong suddenly trembled throughout his body, his limbs shaking as if he were about to leap up and move wildly.

Su Chan inwardly noted: This is the Jindan True Qi finishing its work opening the six Extraordinary Vessels besides the Ren and Du Meridians, and now it’s assaulting the Twelve Primary Meridians. I wonder if he will succeed tonight.

Just as she worried, Li Yundong suddenly shot up and threw his head back, letting out a long, piercing cry! The speed was so great that even she couldn't stop it.

This shout was clear and resonant, spreading far into the distance like rolling thunder or the roar of a tiger in the deep mountains.

Hong Ling, also residing in Hongsheng Garden, was abruptly awakened from her meditation. She opened her eyes with surprise, scoffing contemptuously, and mused: Which cultivator has achieved such skill to emit such a long howl? Are they afraid the world won't know? What’s the point of showing off?

But after a moment, Hong Ling was startled to realize the sound hadn't diminished; instead, it grew louder and higher, like a surging torrent, rising and falling, with each crest reaching a new peak.

"Which distinguished lineage does this disciple belong to! So powerful?" In Hong Ling’s view as an inner disciple of a prestigious orthodox sect, this must be the cry of a naturally gifted cultivator guided by a renowned master.

Hong Ling noticed the howl continued for a full five minutes without pause, growing even stronger. Her expression changed, and she quickly hurried to the balcony to look toward the source of the sound.

But soon, Hong Ling's face filled with increasing shock and amazement, because the howl persisted for a full ten minutes, continuous and unbroken, like the vastness of the mountains and the surging might of the ocean, an imposing, immense aura showing no sign of ceasing!

Hong Ling was so stunned her scalp tingled: "Even the great Sage Wang Yangming’s late-night shout lasted only about the time it takes to smoke half an incense stick—five minutes. This fellow's howl has lasted as long as a full stick of incense—ten minutes!! What kind of cultivator is this whose internal energy is so formidable!! Could it be some reclusive grand master, or perhaps the Sect Master of some school, resting and cultivating here?"