Hearing that, Slughorn almost fell down on the ground. Was this boy saying he had performed an impossible feat, while not even understanding why he was doing it?

Since when could cultivators achieve Perfect Opening so casually?

"It's like this," the Exalted Cat explained. "You open a meridian, you advance a level in the Body Tempering Realm. Once you open all nine, you'll be at the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm. Then when you reach Perfect Opening in all nine, you'll enter the Qi Absorption Realm."

Slughorn nodded, then added some explanation of his own.

"There are four states that each meridian can be in – unopened, opening, opened, and Perfect Opening. All meridians start unopened, and once you start pushing Qi through, it begins opening. When you push enough Qi through, the meridian will open, and you advance a level."

"The Fetal Crippling Poison acts up when you are in the opening phase, specifically, when you are opening the meridian for the first time. For most people, the opening and opened phases are pretty much the same, since just one or two pills are enough to open their meridians. But for you, since you require so much Qi to advance, there is a clear distinction between the two."

"Reaching Perfect Opening requires practice and getting accustomed to the flow of Qi. By far, this is the longest phase. It is not uncommon to have nine meridians opened, but only have six meridians at Perfect Opening, for example. Or to have three opened, and not have any meridians at Perfect Opening."

"You really are an anomaly," Slughorn remarked. "For everyone else, the opening phase is the shortest, while cultivating to Perfect Opening takes longest. But for you, it's the opposite."

"Oh," Harry shrugged. "I just followed the instructions in the book and it happened."

"Hmm, maybe you have a natural affinity towards the technique. What other techniques - oh," Slughorn abruptly stopped talking when he remembered Harry's upbringing.

The mood immediately became awkward.

"Well, my first two meridians have been open for a long time," Harry said humbly, trying to change the mood. "So maybe that helped."

"Yes, of course that would play a big role. Your Lung and Heart Meridians were likely very close to Perfect Opening, if not there already. But your Heart Protector Meridian only opened two days ago… amazing, truly amazing."

Slughorn was lost in thought, his eyes staring far off into the distance.

"Anyways," he snapped back to attention. "Seeing that you're done, here are 10 high-quality Body Nourishing Pills. Hopefully these will be enough."

10 high-quality Body Nourishing Pills! This was an unimaginable amount of wealth!

Feeling some regret, Harry opened the vial and took out a pill. Immediately the medicinal fragrance filled his nose. Indeed, like all of Slughorn's other pills, this one was also high-quality.

Harry tossed the pill in his mouth, and guided it through the Lung Meridian, then the Heart Meridian, and through the Heart Protector Meridian. Thanks to his diligent practice over the last few days, his third meridian had no problem handling the rushing Qi. Harry gritted his teeth and guided it towards the fourth meridian, the Triple Burner Meridian.

The moment the Qi entered, there was a flash of pain along his chest. The Triple Burner Meridian ran from the heart to the intestines, so the pain was spread through his body.

One infected with the Fetal Crippling Poison will experience pain as each of the body's meridians are opened. When opening the first three meridians, there is a slight pain, easily bearable. When opening the next three, there is a much sharper and long-lasting pain. When opening the final three, the pain becomes extremely intense, enough to make the cultivator lose conscious, and can even cause cultivation deviation."

At least, that was written in one of Slughorn's books on poisons. Just as the book said, the pain of opening the first three meridians had been very slight. It was so slight that Harry didn't even realize it was unnatural. But for the 4th, it intensified greatly. Nonetheless, Harry was determined to open all of his meridians, and expel the poison from his body.

It started as a dull throb, like something about to burst out of his body. He could feel his meridian aching and cramping, yet Harry continued pushing Qi through. All of a sudden, there was a horribly painful feeling, like something in his body being torn apart, and Harry let out a groan.

'Ignore it, ignore it,' he chanted to himself.

He continued guiding Qi into the meridian, resolutely ignoring the pain. After all, compared to the beating he received at Dudley's hands, this was like a spring breeze.

The pain lasted for a few minutes, and when enough of his Triple Burner Meridian was open, the pain disappeared. Along with that, it felt like a barrier had been removed, allowing Qi to flow through more of his body.

"I'm alright," Harry assured Slughorn and the Exalted Cat.

Taking a few deep breaths, he adjusted his state of mind. Maintaining a proper mental state was extremely important when cultivating – one had to focus and not let themselves be distracted. That was the reason the Fetal Crippling Poison was so devious. To get rid of it, one had to cultivate. But to cultivate, one had to suffer through torturous pain.

Now that his 4th meridian was in the opening phase, he would no longer feel any pain as he cultivated. He could refine pills normally until he full opened the meridian, at which point he would be in the 4th level of the Body Tempering Realm. But after that, when he started opening his 5th meridian, the pain would return, and be even worse.

After Harry recovered, he popped the second pill in his mouth, then the third, until all 10 were finished. Yet, he sensed that his meridian was only two-thirds of the way open. It seemed Slughorn was right about his consumption – it was enormous.

"I can't believe it," Slughorn muttered. "I can't believe anyone can refine pills so quickly."

"You are simply a bottomless pit," the Exalted Cat added. "You really don't feel anything wrong?"

"No," Harry shrugged.

"Are you sure? Horace, check the boy's body. There has to be some backlash in his meridians. Boy, it wouldn't surprise me if your body exploded."

For the next hour, Slughorn poked, prodded, and examined Harry's body, using a variety of medical equipment and techniques. Even after reporting there was nothing out of the ordinary, the cat forced him to examine Harry again. After the third examination, Slughorn just sat back down and helplessly shrugged.

"I found nothing wrong. If you're determined to find a problem, then you'll have to take him to someone else."

"Fine," the cat grumbled. "I know your skills. I just don't believe it."

"I don't believe it either, but it's happening before our eyes. Not only are his refining speed and consumption extraordinarily high, so is his comprehension speed when it comes to learning cultivation techniques. These are the textbook characteristics of a high rank Magic Spirit!"

"More like a fat pig Magic Spirit," the cat snorted.

"Well, since there are no problems, here are five more pills. I have only a couple more, so we'll have to figure out something else for the future."

"Alright," Harry said. Opening his mouth, he swallowed the 11th pill. A few minutes later, the 12th pill went down his throat, followed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th.

Once the last section of his Triple Burner Meridian was full, his meridian opened and Qi began naturally flowing through it. His body was stronger, and felt more complete.

He had stepped into the 4th level of the Body Tempering Realm.

The 4th level!

With that, he had pretty much caught up to the other children at the Crystal Mine City!

'Will my Magic Spirit appear?' he wondered.

He hopefully waited for another consciousness to awaken in his body.

And waited.

And waited.

He waited a few minutes, but still didn't feel anything. Sighing, he shook his head.

"It still didn't appear," Slughorn frowned in disappointment.

Not just Slughorn, but Harry was also very disappointed. Was he truly a Spiritless cultivator?

"1 in a thousand have Rank 3 spirits, 1 in a million have Rank 4 spirits, and even considering the billions of people in the whole world, only a handful have Rank 5 spirits. A Rank 6 Magic Spirit would be unimaginably rare, occurring only once every hundreds of billions of people, or even rarer than that. Anything above Rank 6 must be impossible," Slughorn concluded.

"Right," the cat said. "Don't even think about Rank 10, even Rank 7 is impossible. Boy, the sooner you accept that you're Spiritless, the better it will be for your mentality. Don't cling onto something hopeless."

"Well," Slughorn said uncertainly, "there are cases where the Magic Spirit does not immediately appear. It's very rare, but has been documented. It can take a few minutes, or even a few hours."

Although he said that, it was clear he didn't believe his own words.

"I suspect it's a side-effect of the poison. As I've mentioned, this poison does not exist in our empire. I have never seen it, nor have I treated any cases. I know very little about it, and cannot make any guarantees about what its side-effects may be. There's no way for me to know."

"Perhaps your Magic Spirit is Rank 1 or 2, and your impossibly fast refining speed is due to something else in your body. Or perhaps your Magic Spirit has higher rank, but cannot manifest due to the poison. Or perhaps you are a Spiritless Cultivator. With my limited understanding of the poison, I don't dare to suggest anything."

Harry sighed. Why was nothing in his life simple?

"But no matter what it is, remember this," Slughorn sternly said. "If rumors spread that you have a high rank Magic Spirit, even if that is false, you will be targeted. In this world, there is no shortage of talented cultivators who were killed in their youth."

Harry easily agreed. That was one of the first lessons he had ever learned. If he didn't want Dudley stealing his Qi Crystals, it was best to act like he had none. It was the same principle, just on a grander scale. A high rank Magic Spirit was something coveted by all. Even rumors of possessing one would put his life in danger.

"If there is ever a situation where you are asked to show your Magic Spirit, just say you are a Spiritless Cultivator. It's better to deal with mockery than with suspicion. Your pride comes secondary to your life."

Harry sighed again, but had no choice to agree. Slughorn was right. This matter was simply too important, and carried too much risk.

"Anyways, enough of that. Let's talk about your future. You need to enter the 9th level of the Body Tempering Realm to expel the poison, but the few pills I have left are certainly not enough. We could buy them, but the pills are always in high demand. I doubt they have enough for you."

"Is there another option?"

"Of course. With my skills, creating some of these pills is no trouble at all. However, I am missing some of the ingredients. That's where you come in."

"The old cat and I have been in deep discussion, and this is our decision. Outside of Ox Ford City are the Wyvern Woods – the forest that the old cat found you in. It is the largest forest in our empire, home to many Magic Beasts. As it happens, to refine a batch of Body Nourishing Pills, I require the Beast Cores of beasts at the Body Tempering Realm, along with a few Magic Plants."

"This is a good chance for you to gain fighting experience, and also to build your foundation. The old cat will accompany you into the Wyvern Woods. Your task is to kill Magic Beasts, and collect Beast Cores. The old cat will give you pointers, and gather the plants. Once you two have collected enough, return and I'll concoct the pills for you."

Harry immediately agreed. That was a very reasonable exchange – in fact, it was far more than reasonable!

In the entirety of the empire, alchemists were rare existences. It was common for people to wait months before they could request one to refine pills for them. Further, when they did so, they had to provide their own ingredients, and pay a high fee.

Of course, this was only for those who lived in wealthy areas. People from Crystal Mine City didn't even have the qualifications to visit an Alchemist and request a pill, not that they could afford one anyways. Yet Slughorn only asked Harry to provide one of the ingredients. How could he disagree?

"What's a Beast Core?"

"It is a bead found in the body of a Magic Beast. For beasts at the Body Tempering Realm, they are not very big, maybe the size of a walnut. It contains their energy and essence, but is impure and unsuited for human refinement. However, they can be refined into Body Nourishing Pills."

"Think of it like the seed of a fruit," the cat spoke up.

"I see. Just one more thing. I don't have a weapon."

Surely Slughorn didn't want him to use his fists to kill Magic Beasts, right? And if not, where was he going to find a weapon?

"I'll give you one," the Exalted Cat said. "It's just an Ordinary Grade sword, no need to act like it's precious."

"Thank you," Harry said hesitantly, wondering why the cat would own a sword. It seemed like there were great secrets surrounding Slughorn and the cat, but he squashed his curiosity.

"Great. You and the cat can set off whenever you're ready. But before that, there's something else I'd like to give you."

"You've already given me plenty, Dr. Slughorn," Harry quickly refused.

"Well, this doesn't really belong to me. Rather, it was left to me by your mother. I think it is fitting that you have it."

"My mother?"

"As I told you, two days before she died, she visited and left me something. This is that something, and I've held onto it all this time."

Slughorn walked over to a closet and opened it, pointing at a small rock laying on the ground. It was the size of a human head, but rounder and perfectly smooth. In fact, it looked a lot like an egg.

"A rock?" Harry asked. His mother's last act was to gift Slughorn a rock?

Sure, the rock was polished very nicely, but it was just a rock.

"It appears to be one. Lily said she obtained it outside the empire, yet it had something to do with you. How that could be, I have no idea, as you weren't born until after your parents returned. Lily refused to elaborate."

"I didn't think much of it at first, since I thought she would return to pick it up in a few days. And then… well, you know. After that night, I examined this rock more closely, and it is not as simple as you think."

"How so?"

"First, the rock is extremely hard. It is harder than any other object that I have seen, and as an Alchemist, I have seen many materials. Further, I dare say that it is unbreakable – I can't even leave a scratch on it, no matter what methods I try. I can only speculate it is made of a very precious material, something that can't be found in the Scarlet Phoenix Empire. At the very least, it isn't a material that I recognize."

"Second, the rock is far heavier than you would believe. Just try lifting it," Slughorn offered. "If you can lift it, well, hah, I'll give you a million Qi Crystals."

Harry walked towards the rock, intrigued. With his new 4th level Body Tempering Realm cultivation, he had far more physical strength now than last week. He could lift nearly 50 kilograms, so a small rock would be no problem at all. He grabbed onto it and prepared to exert all his strength.

The moment his hands came in contact with the rock, it started to hum and glow. Startled, he tried to let go, but his hands were stuck, restrained by a mysterious force. He felt Slughorn rush forwards and try to pull him away, but his body didn't budge.

The humming grew louder until it deafened his ears, the glow grew brighter until it blinded his eyes, and then he lost consciousness.