Rustle...
A breeze swept by, and the trees rustled.
The night air was a little cold.
Lin Zheyu took medicinal herbs from inside and boiled them to replenish his qi and nourish his blood.
Over these past days, he had saved nearly two hundred taels of silver, and his Source Power had accumulated to seven units.
The only problem was that he didn't dare increase his strength recklessly.
Liang Song was planning to leave, though Lin Zheyu didn't know where he was going.
Until then, Lin Zheyu had to visit him every day for pointers and combat training. If he increased his strength carelessly, it would be easy to expose himself.
By then, there would be no way to explain it.
Fortunately, he now had the Turtle Breathing Technique. Lin Zheyu planned to improve it first, so he could raise his other martial arts without worrying that people would notice his strength had inexplicably surged.
While the medicine simmered, he took out the paper containing the Turtle Breathing Technique and began to study it.
"Though the ox has ears, it breathes through its nose; though the turtle has a nose, it breathes through its ears. When speaking of turtle breathing, one must speak of the ears."
"The turtle's breathing exercises must be practiced by listening to the breath..."
"..."
"When sleeping, the breath leaves through the ears. This is called turtle breathing, and the great turtle lives long."
As he read the abstruse manual and recalled Liang Song's explanations, Lin Zheyu began to understand.
The Turtle Breathing Technique was a form of mimicry-based martial arts. It imitated the breathing of long-lived turtles, controlling the vital essence and circulating qi and blood to achieve longevity.
Its primary purpose was to prolong life. Concealing one's aura and hiding one's strength were merely added benefits.
"What a wondrous martial art. The expert who created it must have been truly remarkable!"
Lin Zheyu exclaimed.
He remembered that Daoism in his previous life had a similar technique, though he didn't know how effective it was.
Unfortunately, Lin Zheyu had never been exposed to such things in his previous life. Otherwise, he could have tried to see whether martial arts from his old world would work here.
Following the instructions in the manual, he sat cross-legged.
He kept his upper body straight and his whole body naturally relaxed, clasped his hands in the midnight clasp, and held them together in front of his lower abdomen.
He vibrated his nasal cavity and breathed according to the requirements of the Turtle Breathing Technique. His chest and abdomen rose and fell as his breathing grew extremely long and slow.
More than an hour passed. Lin Zheyu gradually entered the proper state. His heartbeat began to slow, and his body temperature dropped a few degrees.
Another thirty-odd minutes passed before he opened his eyes, unable to maintain the state any longer.
The Turtle Breathing Technique required a martial artist to have exceptional control over his body before he could regulate the flow of qi and blood and his heart rate, thereby slowing his metabolism.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Source Power: 7 Skills: Bull Fist (Proficient 4%) Golden Goose Technique (First Layer 39%) Turtle Breathing Technique (Uninitiated 2%)
"I've practiced for so long, and made so little progress. Even reaching the first layer is incredibly difficult."
Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
He wanted to sit cross-legged again and continue practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique, but his heart and lungs felt terribly uncomfortable. It was a sign that his internal organs weren't strong enough to withstand the technique.
After several hours of boiling, the courtyard was filled with the rich fragrance of medicinal herbs.
Lin Zheyu took a deep breath and felt his spirits recover a little.
This time, he had used a total of fifteen bundles of herbs to replenish his qi and nourish his blood, divided among five pots.
"I should ask Master Liang if he has a prescription with stronger medicinal effects. As my strength increases, I need more and more herbs.
"I can't keep boiling a hundred bundles at a time in the future."
Lin Zheyu mused.
He poured out the boiled medicine, let it cool, and drank it.
Sitting cross-legged, he assumed the Turtle Breathing Technique's posture and sent out a thought.
"Use two units of Source Power to improve the Turtle Breathing Technique."
The Turtle Breathing Technique mainly trained control over the muscles, skin, and membranes, the internal organs, and qi and blood. It did little to strengthen or transform the body, and contributed very little to combat strength.
As a result, it didn't require much energy to transform the body.
His Source Power decreased by two units, and Lin Zheyu's mind entered a special state.
He forgot everything and concentrated wholeheartedly on practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique.
In this special state of mind, he seemed to have spent several years practicing, and his comprehension of the Turtle Breathing Technique grew deeper and deeper.
Its progress rose rapidly, instantly advancing from Uninitiated to the First Layer, then reaching the Second Layer moments later.
It stopped at 26%.
At the same time, mysterious energy surged into his body, drawing out the medicinal power and strengthening and transforming him.
Unlike when he improved the Bull Fist, the Turtle Breathing Technique did almost nothing to increase his strength or physical toughness. Its main benefit was improving his control over his body.
The mysterious energy drew the medicine's power into his muscles, bones, cells, and blood, nourishing and transforming them deeply and meticulously.
The improvements were all in minute areas that were difficult to train through martial arts practice.
As his strength increased, Lin Zheyu's aura didn't grow stronger in the slightest. Instead, it became weaker.
The sharpness developed through practicing the Bull Fist also gradually diminished as the Turtle Breathing Technique improved, until it even disappeared.
After a few breaths,
Lin Zheyu opened his eyes, a trace of amazement flashing through them. "The Turtle Breathing Technique really is wondrous."
It was a truly remarkable technique.
The Turtle Breathing Technique wasn't meant to increase one's martial strength, but to prolong one's life.
To control one's metabolism and qi and blood, reduce the activity of one's cells, and thereby prolong one's life required an astonishing understanding of the body.
And the technique was incredibly difficult to practice.
One had to strengthen, little by little, the minutest parts of the muscles and internal organs through training, improving control over the body.
After reaching the Second Layer of the Turtle Breathing Technique, Lin Zheyu felt that his control over his body had improved another level.
Although he was still far from the Blood Energy Realm, the technique had given him a much better understanding of qi and blood.
"Whoosh..."
Lin Zheyu used the Turtle Breathing Technique's breathing method, and his aura quickly diminished as he circulated the technique.
As he changed breaths, his aura rapidly weakened until it was no different from that of an ordinary person who had never practiced martial arts, save for being a little stronger.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Source Power: 5 Skills: Bull Fist (Proficient 4%) Golden Goose Technique (First Layer 39%) Turtle Breathing Technique (Second Layer 13%)
"The Second Layer. All the medicinal power I drank has been used up, and it even consumed a little of my body's energy. Fortunately, not much."
Lin Zheyu sensed it and thought to himself.
He had used two units of Source Power at once, so the consumption was a little high. Roughly seventeen bundles of medicine should be enough.
"Unfortunately, I'm out of herbs. Otherwise, I could improve it straight to the Third Layer."
Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
The Second Layer of the Turtle Breathing Technique wasn't very useful to him.
The Turtle Breathing Technique had three layers in total.
After reaching perfection in the First Layer, one could conceal one's strength from others at the same realm.
After reaching perfection in the Second Layer, even martial artists two realms above couldn't see through one's strength.
After reaching perfection in the Third Layer, the body became flawless and returned to its original state, while one's control over qi and blood, vital essence, and spirit reached an unprecedented level.
At that point, even a martial Grandmaster might not be able to see through one's strength.
"Tomorrow, I'll ask Master Liang if he has a prescription with stronger medicinal effects. Otherwise, boiling so many herbs every time will be a huge hassle."
Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
Based on the progress he had just made, reaching the Third Layer would require about three more units of Source Power, along with nearly twenty-five bundles of the medicine for replenishing qi and nourishing blood.
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