Indeed, I Am Him

"A substitute for meridians?" The guild leader contemplated deeply for a moment before saying, "Meridians are pathways within a cultivator's body that allows for the movement of spiritual energy and zhenqi. As a cultivator advances their cultivation, they will be able to strengthen and widen their meridians, allowing energy to flow even smoothly through them… I'm afraid that I can't think of any material in our Blacksmith Guild that has such properties!"

The meridians of a cultivator were not lifeless objects; they could evolve along with a cultivator's advancing cultivation as well. A stronger cultivator would be able to expand their meridians so as to allow them to harness more power, and vice-versa… While there was a huge range of artifacts and materials in the Blacksmith Guild, none of them had the properties suited for substituting the role of meridians.