Ye Fan naturally had no objections to Zhou Mei's proposal and nodded in agreement.
The next day, refreshed and full of energy, Li Zhi arrived at the shop early to wait for Ye Fan.
Just after nine, Ye Fan appeared in his shop with a backpack slung over his shoulders.
It was obvious that he had come straight from the station.
The moment he saw Li Zhi, Ye Fan said, "Boss Li, you really struck gold. The Daoist I consulted said that any Breathing Technique recorded in Oracle Bone Script had been passed down from the Ancient Era. Every one of them had special effects."
Li Zhi handed Ye Fan the article he had copied long ago and said, "Sorry for the trouble, Brother Ye. I suppose I owe you a huge favor now."
Ye Fan said, "I only benefited from Boss Li's good fortune. I was lucky enough to glimpse the true form of an ancient cultivation method."
Afterward, Li Zhi wanted to treat Ye Fan to a meal, but Ye Fan was eager to see the true form of the Breathing Method as well. He declined Li Zhi's invitation and hurried away with the article.
Three days later, an annotated version of the article returned to Li Zhi's hands.
According to Ye Fan, cultivating this Breathing Method for many years could strengthen the body and promote good health.
As for whether it could produce supernatural abilities, even the Daoist who translated the Breathing Method for them did not know.
What could be confirmed was that this was a Breathing Method that could be cultivated, but its effects would be difficult to see in a short time.
Li Zhi understood that the reason its effects could not be seen clearly in a short time was the lack of vital essence between heaven and earth.
The earth at this time was in the Age of Dharma Decline.
The Great Dao was lofty and distant, while vital essence was so thin that it was almost nonexistent.
If one did not embark on the Path of Cultivation within a Blessed Grotto-Heaven, probably no cultivation method would produce any effect.
One might not even be able to complete the first step of initiation—activating the Bitter Sea and sensing the Wheel of Life.
This Breathing Method was not complicated. It emphasized absorbing the essence of heaven and earth to make up for one's own deficiencies.
It contained something of the meaning behind, "The Way of Heaven takes from what has excess and replenishes what is lacking."
Combined with the title Stealing Heavenly Secrets, Li Zhi named this Breathing Method the "Heaven-Stealing Breathing Technique."
However, after repeating the name twice, he always felt that something was not quite right.
"Heaven-Stealing Breathing Technique."
"Heaven-Stealing Breathing Technique?"
"Heaven-Guiding Breathing Technique."
The name that slipped out almost instinctively left Li Zhi completely stunned.
Could this Breathing Method be the precursor to the Heaven-Guiding Breathing Technique of the later Sacred Ruins Era? The thought inexplicably arose in Li Zhi's mind.
"Stealing Heavenly Secrets."
The opening chapter.
It was actually a Breathing Method.
However, Li Zhi had no intention of rashly attempting to cultivate it.
Every cultivation method had prerequisites. If one forced oneself to cultivate without meeting those conditions, one would only harm oneself and others.
It was not that Li Zhi was timid. It was simply a true sense of responsibility toward his own life.
Only someone who had lived another life would know just how precious life truly was.
Therefore, after organizing the translated manuscript Ye Fan had brought into a booklet, Li Zhi did not immediately cultivate it. Instead, he planned to seek the advice of an expert from the Daoist Sect.
Thanks to the advanced internet age, the traces of experts from the Daoist Sect were no longer as elusive as they had been several centuries ago.
Li Zhi had even posted online searching for places where immortals were suspected to have appeared.
He really did find several reports. At Mount Longhu, Mount Zao Pavilion, and Zhongnan Mountain, people claimed to have seen "immortals" there.
Looking at those place names, Li Zhi tried to recall the inheritances said to exist on Earth in the original novel.
He really did remember a few things. There were the Shangqing School, Lingbao School, Taiyi Dao, Shenxiao School, Quanzhen School, and other Daoist sects.
There were also the Shushan Sword Cultivators and Kunlun Qi Practitioners.
There were also such Demon God clans as the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow, Heavenly Qilin, and Vermilion Phoenix, as well as other nonhuman forces like Ten Thousand Demons Valley and the Western Church.
After carefully counting them, there were indeed quite a few forces that could help him verify the authenticity of the Breathing Method.
Unfortunately, as an ordinary person, Li Zhi had no connections in that regard.
After seeing those reports, he realized that if he kept guarding the shop, he might never be able to uncover the true nature of Stealing Heavenly Secrets.
Only by taking the initiative would he have even the slightest chance of finding where his opportunity lay.
After thinking the matter through, Li Zhi immediately changed his daily routine.
Every morning, he ran for half an hour, then practiced martial arts weapons for another half hour, mainly the use of long sabers, short sabers, spears, and short clubs.
In the afternoon, he went to a rock-climbing gym and practiced climbing for an hour.
To do good work, one first had to sharpen one's tools.
Searching for opportunities outside was no exception.
Without a strong physique, hoping to find genuine experts among those famous mountains and great rivers was pure fantasy.
With only ordinary physical fitness, he might not even make it up the mountain before collapsing from exhaustion halfway there.
The places where those experts lived had no ready-made elevators or cableways, nor any specially built roads or steps.
He could only rely on his own strength to cross mountains and valleys and reach his destination.
Seeing Li Zhi change his formerly lazy ways, Zhou Mei was extremely happy.
She thought Li Zhi had changed because of her.
Thus, every day she prepared different kinds of supplements for Li Zhi to eat.
This life continued for a full six months, and Li Zhi trained himself into a sturdy, muscular man.
The weather also changed from the sweltering summer days to a winter of howling northern winds.
That day, after finishing the old hen, goji berry, and ginseng soup Zhou Mei had brought, Li Zhi should have lain down in his recliner for a brief rest. Instead, he suddenly said to Zhou Mei, "Mei'er, I'm planning to go away for a while."
"How long will you be gone?" Zhou Mei asked as she cleared away the soup bowls.
"Maybe a month, maybe three to five months. I'm not sure how this trip will go, so I can't say exactly." Li Zhi replied.
"Then I'll go with you." Zhou Mei immediately raised her head and looked at Li Zhi.
"Be good and stay home. Once I leave, someone has to look after the shop for me, right?" Li Zhi said with a smile.
"All right, then. I'll watch the shop for you," Zhou Mei said.
Wrapping his arms around Zhou Mei's waist from behind, Li Zhi said beside her ear, "Don't worry. I'm not going to disappear on you. It's just that the person I need to find this time won't be easy to locate."
"Hmph! Who's afraid you'll disappear?" Zhou Mei said, twisting her waist.
Then she turned around and looked into Li Zhi's eyes. "Darling Li, let me tell you some good news. I'm single again."
"He agreed to divorce you?" Li Zhi asked.
Zhou Mei nodded. "I didn't ask for the house, so he agreed very readily."
Li Zhi released Zhou Mei, then rummaged through his bag and took out a string of keys. He handed them to her and said, "You can stay at my place for now. When I return, I'll arrange a new place for you."
After taking the keys, Zhou Mei immediately revealed a blissful smile. "I knew I hadn't chosen the wrong man."
Li Zhi also said, "And I knew I hadn't chosen the wrong woman."
With the atmosphere already at this point, what followed was naturally a beautiful scene of Heavenly Thunder and raging flames.
Before long, Zhou Mei, her eyes shimmering with desire, wrapped her arms around Li Zhi's neck and said, "I want to have a child with you."
"Now isn't the time yet," Li Zhi said.
"Mhm!"
Li Zhi left.
He left with the determination to seek immortality and pursue the Dao.
His first stop was the Qinling Mountains, known as the Ancestral Veins of China.
At Zhongnan Mountain, he visited many reclusive cultivators.
But he encountered very few genuine cultivators. Fake ones came one after another.
Not only did they know nothing about cultivation-related Breathing Methods, they did not even understand proper health-strengthening guidance exercises.
Each of them simply held a Daoist classic and began pretending to be a hermit.
This left Li Zhi extremely disappointed.
For his second stop, he went to Jiangxi.
Although he knew there were experts there, he did not encounter a single one.
Before you continue