In the dark room, Xiang Yang sat with his eyes tightly shut, his abdomen rising and falling in a steady rhythm. His entire bearing had gained a different sort of aura, and his complexion looked much rosier.
Abruptly, Xiang Yang opened his eyes. A faint glimmer flashed through the pitch-black room, so slight as to be nearly invisible. At the same time, he let out a deep breath and, as the Breathing Technique instructed, sank the first thread of internal force he had cultivated into his dantian, guarding and nourishing it there.
Once he had finished his cultivation, a hint of joy finally appeared on his face. He touched his lower abdomen, where a tiny, clear current, as thin as a strand of hair, seemed to flow. That was the inner breath he had initially cultivated.
"The foundation of martial arts begins here. Whether it is the Iron Crotch Technique, the Hu Family Saber, or even the most exquisite Divine Steps Shifting Form, they are merely external arts. Only this Breathing Technique can allow me to cultivate internal force and become one of the Houtian Martial Artists."
He sprang up from the earthen kang bed and carefully examined his right hand. Then he swept his gaze around the room and found it pitch-black, with no changes at all. He had not seen even a hair of that supposed ability to see at night as clearly as in daylight once internal cultivation succeeded.
"Heh, I really got carried away. How far have I even gotten? It is only a thread of inner breath. That Jia Kui fellow might even be stronger than me. I still need to work harder and strive to open the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian as soon as possible."
Xiang Yang was extremely confident now, not because his