Harmony Earth Veins.
A standard yet occasionally rare specialized meridians, especially for middle-class sects and many other major worlds that weren't at the pinnacle of their tao dimension.
It was highly sought after.
However, the Dragon Blossom Sect could easily bestow it upon their favored disciples, mostly women who excelled in cultivation. Others had to strive for it in the special region owned by the sect in the Sacred Immortal Lands.
Now, Yang Wei and Sun Yuying were planning a breakthrough without the "direct" support of the sect.
They sat in lotus positions near the Grand Oak, surrounded by Grand Oak Totems amplifying their communion with the Earth during their deep cultivation. They were filled with spiritual Qi, obvious from the way their hair and robes were being pushed upwards by the dense energy coursing through their bodies.
At birth, a person has 20 meridians in their body, and more need to be added to achieve true completeness.
Having 10 specialized meridians indicated completeness, often determining who was stronger and more versatile between cultivators of the same specialized meridian-type.
Someone with 10 complete specialized meridians would be far superior to one with only 5.
They'd been at it for nine straight hours, and by now, Sun Yuying had seven visible silver strings of raw energy from the Grand Oak attached to her back, fused with her dantian. All three of her dantians, lined up in her center, had merged with six of the seven strings.
These strings were actually Harmony Earth Veins she successfully cultivated from the tree.
I can't stop now, I know this isn't my limit...!
She was sweating buckets and utterly drained.
Meanwhile, Yang Wei hadn't managed to cultivate a single meridian from the Grand Oak, but he kept at it without faltering.
Sun Yuying coughed up some blood, panting hard as her eighth string shot out and fused with her, pushing her to her limits.
I can do this... I need to get even stronger, for my sisters! This isn't my limit!
Despite the struggle, she pushed herself for one more, grunting heavily and pouring out every last bit of Qi left.
She drew out one more string, knowing it was her limit.
"I... I can't go any *cough!* further..."
Pushing further meant a severe backlash or even death.
With a breakthrough, the spiritual Qi around her vanished, leaving her gasping for air.
Sun Yuying was now at the 1st level of Spirit Gathering realm!
But the explanation was simple. Yang Wei had delayed his breakthrough so much because he hadn't acquired any of the specialized meridian types. So, when he finally acquired it, it was like all the pent-up spiritual energy in his cultivation base was waiting to ascend. When he finally achieved his breakthrough, he was slingshotted to the peak of the first stage of the Spirit Gathering realm.
In simple terms, it was like a container of water. If it got too full, it needed to pour some of its excess energy somewhere else. Thus, the excess spiritual energy he had from staying in quasi-Spirit Gathering realm played a huge factor in his cultivation gains.
He looked at his entire body and then said, "I feel so different, so much more powerful in this state alone, like I could destroy everything in the blink of an eye."
Still, I felt this way when I was just born...
Sun Yuying nodded solemnly. "Yes, of course you'd feel that way. After all, you cultivated the Harmony Earth Veins to true completeness..." She lowered her head, looking sad and disappointed. "I couldn't even cultivate all ten meridians." She squeezed her fists in frustration, angry at herself for being unable to do what Yang Wei had easily done.
To her, the way he cultivated it was like he had prepared himself for this even before he ever heard of special meridians.
Yang Wei raised an eyebrow and then told her, "Don't tell me you're angry."
"Eh?" Sun Yuying said, confused.
Yang Wei folded his arms, looking like his usual proud self as he said, "If anything, you should be glad for me that I was able to cultivate true completeness."
Sun Yuying got offended by his words immediately and didn't waste time defending herself. "Of course I'm glad that you cultivated all ten meridians. I'm not jealous; I'm just angry that I wasn't able to cultivate all ten too!"
Yang Wei chuckled and told her, "I know, I know." Then, he leaned in close to her face and said, "Just because you didn't cultivate just one more meridian doesn't mean you're weak. You shouldn't be disappointed in yourself for something so insignificant."
Sun Yuying felt her cheeks heating up as his face came close to hers.
He's doing that thing again when he tries to get so up close...
Her breath hitched, but to regain control, she turned away abruptly and said, "Whatever. It doesn't matter now." She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating heavily.
Why do I... feel this way!
Yang Wei stretched his arms and said, "Now that we've cultivated this, we should get going." He then stored something in his storage pouch, and Sun Yuying saw him do it but wasn't sure what it was. She asked, "What was that?"
Yang Wei told her, "Oh, nothing too important..."
She eyed him suspiciously but sighed and said, "Sure, whatever..."
Just as they were about to leave, something fell from the sky. It barrelled down like a meteor but moved like a streak of golden light across the sky. However, they hadn't noticed it until a small viscous mass of what could only be called plasma landed and glued itself to Yang Wei's face.
"Yang Wei!" Sun Yuying shouted.
Yang Wei tried to remove the slime-like organism from his face, clawing at it with his fingers, but it was too resilient. It was already firmly attached, and there was no hope of getting it off.
"Get off me!" Yang Wei shouted as he struggled to remove it.
"Piidi! Piidi!" The slime uttered in a high-pitched voice as it continued to suck onto Yang Wei's face.