Xue Xianxian

Shen Xiang sat cross-legged on the ground, concentrating his mental energy as he waited for the divine meridians to transfer into his body.

Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao placed their delicate hands on Shen Xiang's abdomen. From their jade-like hands emerged wisps of black and white mist—black for Bai Youyou's Extreme Yin divine meridian, and white for Su Meiyao's Extreme Yang divine meridian. It looked incredibly mystical.

Inside Shen Xiang's body, streams of black and white energy flowed like air currents, circulating through his muscles, bones, and meridians. His meridians gradually expanded, his bones and muscles strengthened. After countless cycles, the black and white currents finally converged in his dantian, forming a Taiji Yin-Yang symbol—this was the Yin-Yang Divine Meridians!

Seeing Shen Xiang successfully fuse both the Extreme Yin and Extreme Yang meridians, Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou were visibly moved and excited. They had initially thought that these two opposing meridians would be extremely difficult to fuse and were only testing them on Shen Xiang, but unexpectedly, it worked.

They slowly stepped back, watching Shen Xiang's body emit black and white mist. The two of them exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with complex emotions and astonishment. In their understanding, no one had ever possessed both Yin and Yang divine meridians before. They now knew that, with proper cultivation, this young man might become a peerless powerhouse.

Shen Xiang opened his eyes, feeling an unprecedented sense of comfort, as though he had become slightly stronger.

"So this is a divine meridian! It feels amazing. Can I reach the True Martial Realm in the future?" Shen Xiang asked excitedly, a wicked smile flashing across his face, no longer the simple and honest look he had before. This made the two beauties a bit worried.

In this martial world, the Mortal Martial Realm was the starting level, divided into ten stages: Qi Refining, Body Tempering, Martial Body, Meridian Opening, True Qi, Divine Sense, True Gang, Divine Power, True Form, and Great Perfection.

Above the Mortal Martial Realm was the True Martial Realm, a level many martial artists dreamed of reaching. At that level, one could command the forces of nature and possess a lifespan of a thousand years.

Shen Xiang had been stuck in the third stage, the Martial Body stage, unable to advance to the fourth stage, Meridian Opening.

"True Martial Realm? That's an insult to the divine meridians," Bai Youyou scoffed.

Su Meiyao's expression turned serious. "Now that you have the Yin-Yang divine meridians, your vision must broaden! The power in this world is limitless, and there are many different realms. The Chenwu Continent you're currently on is just a small part of the mortal world."

"Don't forget our contract—you must help us regain our peak strength! That's no easy task!"

Shen Xiang nodded firmly. "As long as I'm alive, I will fulfill the contract and help both of you regain your peak strength."

Bai Youyou said with satisfaction, "The fastest way to help us recover is through the use of elixirs, and I mean extremely high-grade ones! Once we regain our strength, our contract will be fulfilled, and we'll go seek revenge on our enemies."

Shen Xiang felt a little disappointed. If these two stunning women could stay by his side forever, that would be the ultimate bliss.

Su Meiyao pulled a ring from her beautiful hair and tossed it to Shen Xiang. "Drop your blood on it to claim ownership, like using a storage pouch. Put me and my senior sister inside. Then climb up! We can't stay here long—this is a place where giant beasts often roam."

After dripping blood onto it, Shen Xiang instantly formed a bond with the ring. Its internal space was only the size of a room. In his understanding, legendary storage rings should contain vast seas of space.

A storage treasure that could hold living beings! This astonished Shen Xiang. Ordinary storage pouches were already rare, often passed down from sects in celestial mountains, let alone ones that could hold life.

Following Su Meiyao's instructions, he stored the two women into the ring. Once he wore the ring, it even turned invisible on his finger, surprising Shen Xiang even more.

Then he took an elixir his father had given him, regained strength, and began climbing the cliff wall to escape the dead, suffocating abyss—an enormous challenge for him.

The climbing process frustrated Shen Xiang; the pitch-black death mist made it impossible to see, increasing the difficulty.

After an arduous day and night of climbing, he finally made it to the top. He had thought it impossible, but thanks to the divine meridians, he absorbed spiritual energy during the climb, clearing his fatigue and keeping his energy levels high.

Upon reaching the top, Shen Xiang began his journey home.

Although he couldn't see Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao inside the ring, he could still sense them.

"Sisters, when will you teach me divine and demonic techniques?" Shen Xiang asked eagerly. He was deeply curious about these arts.

"Your body is too weak to practice my demonic techniques," came Bai Youyou's icy reply.

"My divine techniques can be practiced anytime," said Su Meiyao. "Wait until you're back at your place. I'll also teach you alchemy."

Shen Xiang was overjoyed and started running excitedly.

In the southern region of the Southern Martial Nation was a massive and prosperous city with a population of one million—Crouching Tiger City. Within it resided one of the nation's most renowned martial clans: the Shen family!

The Shen family had a history spanning thousands of years and remained immensely powerful and wealthy. Its sprawling estate covered thousands of acres, with countless courtyards, gardens, mountains, and rivers. Anyone trying to sneak in would likely get lost.

Tiger Heaven Garden—by its name alone, one could tell it belonged to Shen Tianhu. As a prestigious figure in the Shen family, it was natural for him to own such a grand residence.

"Dad, I'm back!" Shen Xiang ran straight for the study, knowing his father would be there.

Shen Tianhu laughed. "You rascal, you're finally back. Do you know there's a lovely young lady waiting for you? Remember the little girl from the Xue family? Your fiancée."

Shen Xiang frowned slightly as the image of a delicate and beautiful young girl popped into his mind—it was from when he was five or six.

"Dad... you mean Xue Xianxian?" he asked. Xue Xianxian was a proud daughter of the Xue family who had once stayed with the Shen family. Back then, they played together constantly and eventually became betrothed.

Shen Tianhu nodded. "That's right. She arrived just after you left and insisted on seeing you."

As he finished speaking, he smiled and looked out the window. Shen Xiang followed his gaze and saw a graceful young girl walking toward them in the courtyard.

The girl had long, flowing hair and was dressed in pure white, with golden ornaments on her head. Her ethereal appearance made Shen Xiang momentarily dazed. She was only about fourteen or fifteen years old, with snowy skin and exquisite features, radiant like a fairy.

When the girl saw Shen Xiang through the window, her face lit up with joy. She called out sweetly, "Brother Xiang!"

Her voice was soft and melodious, stirring Shen Xiang's heart. He had to admit—although she was still young, her beauty and temperament rivaled that of the two women in his ring. And she hadn't even fully matured yet.

Swallowing hard, Shen Xiang chuckled. "She's really changed! That little girl has become a little fairy."

This girl was the Xue family's proud daughter, Xue Xianxian.

"She's my fiancée!" Shen Xiang shouted in his heart.

In the past, he would've felt inferior due to having no spiritual meridians. But now, with the Yin-Yang divine meridians and two powerful women guiding his cultivation, becoming a martial legend was no longer a dream.

Xue Xianxian smiled sweetly, a cute dimple appearing with a blush on her cheeks, once again stunning Shen Xiang.

Shen Tianhu laughed loudly and patted his son's shoulder. "You two catch up."

Shen Xiang grinned and quickly ran out of the study.

He grabbed Xue Xianxian's soft, boneless hand and quickly left his father's sight, just like when they were kids sneaking around to cause mischief.

Taking the young fairy to his courtyard, Shen Xiang attracted many envious glances from Shen family disciples.

"Xianxian, how long will you stay?" Shen Xiang playfully touched her dimple.

Xue Xianxian blushed and whispered, "Brother Xiang, my father and I just passed through Crouching Tiger City. We came to visit, so we won't stay long."

Years ago, Xue Xianxian had come to seek treatment for a strange illness. Back then, she was frail and small, often bullied by others, but Shen Xiang always stood by her side, playing and encouraging her, even giving her precious pills.

Those moments left a deep impression on her heart. Even after learning he had no meridians and no future, she still chose to marry him.

Shen Xiang felt a bit down. He really liked Xue Xianxian, and after losing his spiritual meridians, she was his only playmate, making those times precious to him.

"Brother Xiang, my family originally wanted me to break off the engagement, but I refused. So they asked me and my father to meet a genius alchemist from the Yao family," said Xue Xianxian with a gentle laugh. "Don't worry—I'll never marry that guy. I heard he's a jerk."

At fourteen or fifteen, she had already reached the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm—a rare talent in the Southern Martial Nation. And the Yao family's genius alchemist, who could already refine pills at sixteen, was seen as her most suitable match.

Shen Xiang remained calm. With his divine meridians and two mysterious mentors, he was confident he could soon surpass that so-called genius.

He smiled and stroked her elegant, fairy-like face. "Xianxian, when you see him, just say you already have a fiancé. If he's not happy, he can challenge me."

Seeing Shen Xiang so confident, Xue Xianxian was delighted. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the lips, then blushed and whispered, "Brother Xiang, do your best. I'm worried my family will try everything to separate us."

With that, she leapt away like a swallow, leaving the courtyard with graceful movement, while Shen Xiang stood frozen, his mind replaying the moment her lips touched his.

He licked his lips and smiled. "That little girl really has grown up."