Breathing Method

After three uninterrupted months of training, Zhao Ping'an had not only cultivated Blade Draw Technique to perfection, but had also deduced it into the Second-rate Cultivation Method Blade Draw Slash and trained it to the proficient level.

Moreover, when his Turtle Shell Art reached the second level, a new attribute appeared on the panel:

[Body Cultivation: Warrior Second Level]

A window had popped up at the time to explain it, roughly stating that with his body alone, he could rival a Warrior Second Level cultivator.

Of course, that was on the premise that the opponent was merely an ordinary Warrior Realm cultivator, not someone like him who cultivated both paths.

One had to know that the strongest techniques in the entire Blazing Blade Sect were only two first-rate cultivation methods, and even those could only be fully cultivated by the elders and the sect master.

As for stewards and personal disciples like Zhao Ping'an, any direct-line member who had not broken through to the Innate Realm could only cultivate incomplete first-rate cultivation methods.

Inner sect disciples could not even practice the incomplete ones.

As for the outer sect, they could forget about it entirely.

"Begin deduction!"

As Zhao Ping'an tapped the glowing words [Can Be Deduced] behind Turtle Shell Art, the panel immediately popped up a window, just as before.

[Turtle Shell Art has begun deduction!

Deducing... 1%]

The deduction progressed by roughly 1% every two seconds, taking fully twice as long as it had for an unranked technique.

But Zhao Ping'an had expected this already.

After all, it had been the same when he deduced Blade Draw Slash.

Less than four minutes later...

[Ding! Turtle Shell Art deduction complete. It has advanced into the Second-rate Cultivation Method Ironclad Art!]

At this point, Turtle Shell Art on the panel had become:

[Ironclad Art (Second-rate Cultivation Method): 0/300 (Not Yet Initiated, Simplified) Continuously use your body to ram a wooden post 100 times to gain 1 point of Training Progress]

And, as expected, [Deduction Points] had once again dropped to zero.

"Ironclad Art? That name really is pretty casual..."

Zhao Ping'an muttered as he looked at the transformed cultivation method. As for the difficulty of training it, that was no issue at all.

After being strengthened by Turtle Shell Art, not only had his physical defense increased dramatically—his skin tough as an old ox's hide, his bones hard as iron—but his strength, speed, endurance, and more had all improved by leaps and bounds.

The most obvious example was that he could now easily wield the more than ten-jin Hundred Refinement Blade.

The downside, however, was that his appetite had grown, more than doubling from before.

But he was currently at the age of fastest growth, and his body and height were steadily becoming sturdier and taller. Mistress Zhao Xiuyun had not grown suspicious; she simply cooked more food every day.

"I need to find a way to get a Breathing Method. It won't do for my own realm to remain stagnant forever!"

Watching the sun sink behind the western hills, Zhao Ping'an muttered to himself as he walked back.

What ordinary Warrior Realm cultivators practiced was precisely the Breathing Method, using its peculiar breathing patterns to continually temper their internal organs.

They would undergo nine successive enhancements to their internal organ functions—nine being the ultimate number.

After the ninth enhancement, they would draw Heavenly Qi into their bodies. If successful, they would open up the Dantian sea of qi and break through into the realm of a Houtian Martial Artist.

Because he had been concealing his abilities, although Zhao Ping'an's strength had already reached the peak of the Warrior Realm, what he showed others was merely the first level of the Martial Disciple Realm.

This made it impossible for him to ask his master to teach him the Breathing Method.

"Maybe I can get it from the three Senior Brother Sisters!"

Zhao Ping'an, walking through the woods, suddenly stopped and immediately quickened his pace.

The Breathing Method needed to be taught hand in hand. In the beginning, someone even had to watch over the practitioner. Unless one was extraordinarily gifted, it could be fatal.

Since it was meant to strengthen the internal organs, the Breathing Method was extremely difficult. When first practicing it, one could easily lose their breath, or even suffer blocked breathing and suffocate to death.

But Zhao Ping'an, who possessed the Game Panel, did not need to go through all that trouble. He only needed someone to explain the Breathing Method to him once, and the panel would record and simplify it on its own.

Then, he would only need to cultivate according to the simplified method.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

After dinner, Zhao Ping'an knocked on the door of Second Senior Disciple Brother Cui Kang'an's room.

Second Senior Disciple Brother's voice immediately came from within:

"Who is it?!"

"It's me, Ping'an!"

Upon hearing Zhao Ping'an's voice, Second Senior Disciple Brother Cui Kang'an told him to come in himself:

"Oh, it's Ping'an. The door's open, come in yourself!"

"What brings you here today?"

Cui Kang'an glanced up at Zhao Ping'an, then lowered his head again and asked softly.

The brush in his hand danced up and down.

The walls of the room were covered with all manner of paintings and calligraphy—landscapes, birds and beasts, flowers and plants, calligraphic works, and more. They were everywhere.

"Second Senior Disciple Brother, now that I've gotten started with the Body Tempering Art, my training has more or less gotten on track. I'm just curious about how one cultivates in the Warrior Realm, so... hehe!"

Zhao Ping'an scratched his head sheepishly.

"The Warrior Realm? What, you haven't even learned to walk properly, yet you already want to run?"

Cui Kang'an teased without lifting his head.

"I'm just curious. I want to experience in advance whether cultivation in the Warrior Realm is difficult. Second Senior Disciple Brother, you know my aptitude. I'm afraid that even by the end of this life, I'll only be a Warrior at best—perhaps a Martial Artist at most. So I want to get a feel for it ahead of time. Please grant my request, Second Senior Disciple Brother!"

Hearing Zhao Ping'an's words, Cui Kang'an froze for a moment. He set down his brush, walked to Zhao Ping'an's side, and patted his shoulder helplessly.

"You... forget it. I'll let you experience it ahead of time, then. Come, I'll demonstrate it for you myself!"

"The Breathing Method cultivated by our Blazing Blade Sect is called the Qi Gathering Art. Its meaning is that, once cultivated to the utmost limit, it can gather Heavenly Qi into one's body, open up the Dantian, and break through into the Martial Artist Realm!"

"The Qi Gathering Art contains six Breathing Methods: the [He Breathing Style], which corresponds to the heart; the [Hu Breathing Style], which corresponds to the spleen; the [Xi Breathing Style], which corresponds to the lungs; the [Chui Breathing Style], which corresponds to the kidneys; the [Xu Breathing Style], which corresponds to the liver; and the [Xi Breathing Style], which corresponds to the six bowels—the digestive and absorption system."

"And remember the proper order. Follow the principles of the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint, proceeding step by step. Do not act recklessly!"

"Next are the specific breathing methods corresponding to each style. Watch carefully! This is the first style, the [He Breathing Style]..."

Time slowly passed. Second Senior Disciple Brother Cui Kang'an explained everything in meticulous detail, and when he demonstrated, he slowed his movements as much as possible so Zhao Ping'an could see and hear, as directly as possible, the specific cultivation method for each style.

Only after teaching for a full half hour did Cui Kang'an present the complete set of Qi Gathering Art before Zhao Ping'an.

"Thank you, Second Senior Disciple Brother. I won't disturb your painting any longer. Goodbye!"

Seeing the Qi Gathering Art appear on the panel, Zhao Ping'an thanked him, then took off at a run.

"Ah... that brat didn't even close the door."

After returning to his room, Zhao Ping'an immediately looked at the introduction to the Qi Gathering Art that had appeared on the panel:

[Qi Gathering Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 0/200 (Not Yet Initiated, Simplified) Continuously shout for one minute to increase Training Progress by 1 point]