The Reverse Application of the "Breathing Method"

Goose Lake.

Railings encircled willow trees, and spiritual energy pressed in from all around.

Xu Xiaoshou had not wandered here blindly this time. Sword in hand, he carefully surveyed his surroundings, hoping to see that straw-hatted old man with the dark circles under his eyes again.

If he saw him, he would make good on the vow from last time right then and there.

But unfortunately, even when the full moon hung high in the sky, he still did not see the old man.

Goose Lake was indeed a tranquil place well suited for cultivation. While he waited, Xu Xiaoshou quickly integrated the insights into the sword he had gained that afternoon.

After Sword Mastery appeared, his talent for sensing the Sword Path seemed to have been forcibly raised several levels. And at such a high level, his aptitude for the Sword Path seemed to keep improving along with the level of that passive skill.

Once he calmed his mind, he swiftly understood many things.

For example, during his battle with Di Xin'er that day, her swordplay had seemed riddled with flaws to him. At the time, he had thought Di Xin'er simply lacked skill in the Sword Path. Now that he thought about it, it seemed his own level had already surpassed that of ordinary people.

Only that single-minded fellow who had likewise comprehended the Acquired Blade Path... uh, Zhou Tianshen, was the only one who could pressure him within these realms of artistic conception.

Xu Xiaoshou had no guide. He could only keep pondering and studying his own sword intent. Yet the more he studied it, the more he felt that fighting purely with sword intent seemed more reasonable and natural than fighting with spiritual techniques.

He scratched his head and sank into deep thought.

"Mm... it must be an illusion. After all, I only know one move of the White Cloud Sword Technique. What right do I have to discuss which of the two is stronger?"

He quickly gave up on this highly promising line of thought. If some great Sword Path expert came to resolve his doubts, perhaps he would continue researching in that direction.

But clearly, he did not have such fortune.

Above his dantian, the Emberlight Fire Seed hung like a blazing sun in the sky, roasting his sea of energy crimson. In just one day, Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual energy had been ravaged beyond recognition.

Every time he circulated it, that scorching spiritual energy tore through his meridians once.

Even his Innate physique suffered like this. If this thing were placed inside an ordinary person, their body would likely perish outright within seconds.

Correspondingly, his attack power had naturally increased greatly. But it was like killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of his own.

"I have to completely refine this thing. Otherwise, even with Endless Vitality, in a few days my physical body might be fine, but my cultivation will be crippled."

He glanced into his mind.

Passive Value: 27899

Originally, after his fight with Zhou Tianshen that afternoon, he had spent five thousand Passive Value to upgrade Sword Mastery, leaving him with only a little over five thousand.

Yet after being roasted for more than three hours, his Passive Value had surged by over twenty thousand again. Of course, some of it had been gifted by enthusiastic spectators.

An increase in Passive Value was certainly a good thing, but this roasting from the inside out hurt like hell. Xu Xiaoshou would rather be beaten on the arena stage by a hundred people for half a day than keep forcing himself to endure it.

Besides, he still did not know what hidden dangers there might be from this thing sitting above his sea of energy.

"Damn old man..."

He made up his mind to completely refine this thing tonight.

Xu Xiaoshou took out two Red-Gold Pills and held them in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he directly exchanged for five skill points and threw them into the Breathing Method.

Breathing Method (Acquired Lv.6)

After rising five levels in a row, Xu Xiaoshou did not feel any changes.

This was perhaps the only passive skill that gave not a fart of a reaction after being upgraded.

Yet when he saw this information, his body still twitched instinctively. If it came down to how terrifying it was, the Breathing Method was what he feared most.

He had originally planned not to upgrade this method until he reached the Innate realm, but he had no choice now. If, when refining the Emberlight Fire Seed later, the Red-Gold Pills could not replenish him in time, he would be thoroughly done for.

Moreover, after frantically inhaling pills recently, his body's drug resistance had increased considerably, and the pleasure was clearly much weaker. That was also why he dared to raise it five levels at once.

With these preparations made, Xu Xiaoshou tried for the first time to mobilize his spiritual energy and actively make contact with the Emberlight Fire Seed.

Sizzle—

Spiritual energy surged over, but the instant it encountered the Emberlight Fire Seed, it was fiercely scorched away, leaving behind only a thread. Xu Xiaoshou seized the moment and used that sliver of spiritual energy to draw out the energy within the fire seed.

A wave of searing heat rushed through him. Xu Xiaoshou shook as if struck by lightning. Merely drawing out this fraction of the fire seed's power instantly destroyed his meridians beyond recognition.

Endless Vitality displayed its divine might once more, repairing everything to normal in an instant. The Red-Gold Pills he had prepared in advance unexpectedly went unused.

Blood streamed from Xu Xiaoshou's seven orifices, and agony wracked him.

At the cost of his body being ravaged and instantly repaired, he refined the fire seed's drawn-out power and completely integrated it into his sea of energy. He could feel that his spiritual energy had undergone a qualitative transformation.

His once ordinary spiritual energy suddenly seemed to contain a trace of fire attribute.

He had actually grasped a trace of attribute power unique to Innate experts while still in the Acquired realm. If he refined it all, would he not be able to directly contend with Innate cultivators using Acquired cultivation? Xu Xiaoshou fell into thought.

Looking at it this way, that damned old man had truly meant well by making him swallow this thing. If he could really refine the Emberlight Fire Seed, his strength would indeed soar.

Xu Xiaoshou settled his mind. He felt that this refining speed was far too slow! Refining it thread by thread, it would likely take no less than half a month to wear down this fire seed.

Just half a day ago, this thing had tormented him until he wished he were dead. Yet now that he discovered he truly had the qualifications to refine it, though it was painful, Xu Xiaoshou had begun to find the refining speed too slow.

It had to be said, this fellow truly had tremendous guts.

The pain in this refinement was unbearable to ordinary people, yet he could endure it in silence, gritting his teeth and holding on for dear life.

"How can I increase the speed..."

Xu Xiaoshou wiped the blood from his face and watched the fat geese playing in the water, pondering for quite a while.

At present, he had only one method of refining the Emberlight Fire Seed: using an ordinary cultivation method. The pain remained, and the speed was painfully slow.

Yet in his daily cultivation, he used the Breathing Method, treating it entirely as a cultivation method.

Since that was the case, could he refine it through the Breathing Method?

"Breathing Method..."

Xu Xiaoshou murmured softly. Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind.

In the past, he had indeed only used this basic passive skill as a cultivation method for training and healing. But the skill's description had never said it was a cultivation method. It was simply a most basic passive skill.

Perhaps it had other uses? "Breathing Method..."

"Exhale, inhale..."

"Exhale..."

Xu Xiaoshou slapped his forehead. If he interpreted it literally, then in his previous cultivation and healing, at most he had only used the "inhale" in the Breathing Method. As for "exhale," he had never used it in the slightest.

"Since I can use the 'power of inhalation' from smelling pills to draw energy into my sea of energy, can I use the 'power of exhalation' to expel the energy inside the Emberlight Fire Seed from my body?"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled by his own idea, yet he felt it had a high chance of working.

No time like the present!

He immediately regulated his breathing and fiercely inhaled a mouthful of air. Then he focused all his attention on the Emberlight Fire Seed, imagined ordinary breathing while carrying the intent to expel the Emberlight Fire Seed, and gently breathed out.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! A surging mass of scorching energy was drawn from the Emberlight Fire Seed and expelled directly toward his mouth through his windpipe. Everywhere it passed was like flowing magma, scorching and melting his flesh.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly coughed up blood. The searing energy instantly burst from his mouth and nose. In that moment, he felt as if half his throat had melted away, and he nearly died on the spot.

Yet Endless Vitality forcibly kept a breath in him. He hurriedly picked up the Red-Gold Pill in his hand and fiercely inhaled.

"Fuck!"

The very next second after inhaling the pill, Xu Xiaoshou panicked.

He watched helplessly as the Red-Gold Pill between his fingers instantly dissolved into gas, while the large mass of pure, scorching energy he had just expelled rushed back into his mouth and nose with that inhale.

Beneath the clear moonlight, on the opposite shore of Goose Lake, the straw-hatted old man sitting atop a willow branch suddenly shuddered, nearly falling from the branch.

"Is this kid trying to kill himself?"

PS: Let me confirm the update schedule: two chapters a day, released at 12:00 noon and 19:00 in the evening. This will generally be the schedule from now on.

Mm... and while I'm at it, please vote with recommendation tickets.