Mu Jin continued massaging Min Ji's butts with one hand and moved the other below, his middle finger gently brushing along the thin line of her wet lower lips.
"Aahnn~" A suppressed moan leaked from her mouth, and her body shivered from Mu Jin's gentle touch.
The more he touched her, the faster her love juices poured out, wetting his finger.
He spread the thin line with the thumb of one hand, revealing the pink rose hidden underneath, glistening like morning dew. The middle finger of Mu Jin's other hand was about to enter her unexplored cave when she suddenly grabbed his hand and muttered, her voice husky,
"You may stop here."
"Sister Min Ji, we are just about to move to the best pa—"
"No, I don't need the massage anymore," Min Ji's voice was firm, her grip around Mu Jin's wrist tightening.
Releasing a sigh, Mu Jin said, "Alright."
He moved aside from her knees, where he had been sitting to massage her, and handed her the underwear. Min Ji silently wore her clothes, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Have I offended you somehow?" Mu Jin asked, unable to understand the reason behind her sudden change in demeanor.
"No, it's not you. I have my own reasons," Min Ji murmured. "Thank you for the massage. It was truly relaxing."
She grabbed the wooden boxes and left the garden. Mu Jin wanted to stop her, but he let her go. He did not know much about her, nor did he want to pry into her personal reasons.
"It's a good thing I absorbed all the Yin energy she released," Mu Jin sighed in relief, sitting cross-legged.
Just as veins and arteries carry blood to every part of the body, Qi flows in and out of the body through meridians.
Meridians are delicate pathways. If Qi overflows through them, they might burst, causing serious internal injuries, and in the worst case, permanently crippling the martial artist.
They are strengthened as martial artists ascend to higher realms, allowing a greater flow of Qi through them. This is also one of the primary reasons why a martial artist cannot defeat someone of a higher realm, as their reserves and outflow of Qi are significantly lower.
However, it was not the same for Mu Jin, who possessed the forbidden art of Meridian Morphosis of the Emei Sect, which he had stolen in his previous life.
The art allowed martial artists possessing a Refined Body Constitution of Yin nature to strengthen and expand their meridians using Yin energy. The method carried a high risk of crippling the practitioner due to the delicacy of meridians, the extreme control required for energy flow, and the excruciating pain that came with it, which was the reason the technique was forbidden.
"I only infiltrated the Emei Sect to take a peek at its Sect Master, but ended up stealing this technique along with the pills and secret arts," Mu Jin chuckled, reminiscing about the old days.
Recalling the methods he had learned from the secret art, he guided the Yin energy to every meridian in his body, letting it absorb into the walls.
The moment the energy was absorbed, countless veins began glowing with a dark black energy throughout his body. An excruciating pain erupted, and he felt his whole body being torn apart from within. His cornea turned black, numerous cracks appeared across the walls of his meridians, and the energy slowly began leaking from them.
"Agh! Now I understand why this technique is forbidden," Mu Jin groaned, barely keeping himself conscious. Blood vomited from his mouth. If it were not for his familiarity with intense agony, he would have already fainted by now.
"Th-this is nothing!" Mu Jin muttered, clenching his fists.
The Yin energy absorbed into the meridians, and the cracks slowly disappeared. The passages widened, and the walls grew thicker.
"Hah... I definitely do not recommend this method to anyone," Mu Jin gasped, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips.
The Yin energy Mu Jin absorbed from Min Ji was obviously sparse, however, it was undeniably pure. Mu Jin could have used this Yin energy to form the balanced Yin-Yang Taiji in his dantian and become a third-rate martial artist. Still, he decided to use it to expand his meridians for one sole reason. The art of Meridian Morphosis could only be used by practitioners who had yet to become a martial artist, and the benefit that came with using it was something Mu Jin could obviously not overlook.
"Hehe, now once I become a martial artist, none will be able to challenge me in the same realm," Mu Jin snickered, rising to his feet.
"I was planning to make her release her essence and absorb it to both complete the Meridian Morphosis and become a third-rate martial artist. Well, it's a shame things ended this way."
Mu Jin was in no haste. He had observed most of the third-generation disciples while they were trained by Dong Hwan. He could easily defeat any of them in a duel thanks to his vast experience. However, it was not possible for him to fight in continuous matches or face multiple third-rate martial artists. Still, he wasn't worried.
He stretched his arms and declared with a smirk,
"I'll make sure she won't be able to reject me tomorrow night. Hehe, I haven't looked forward to a dinner like this before."
Well, things do not always go the way you wish. After that night, Min Ji did not come to visit Mu Jin.