Whispered Into the Ear

Rustle...

A gentle breeze blew, causing the trees to rustle.

The night air was somewhat chilly.

Lin Zheyu took out medicinal herbs for nourishing Blood Energy and replenishing Qi from inside the house to decoct.

Over these past few days, he had saved up nearly two hundred taels of silver, and his Source Power had accumulated to 7 units.

It was just a pity that he dared not improve his strength recklessly.

Liang Song planned to leave, though he did not know where he was going.

During the days before his departure, he had to go to him every day to receive guidance and learn practical combat. If he were to improve his strength wantonly, it would be very easy to expose himself.

At that point, there would be no way to explain it at all.

Fortunately, now that he had the Turtle Breathing Technique, Lin Zheyu planned to improve the Turtle Breathing Technique first. This way, he could safely improve his other martial arts without worrying about others discovering that his strength had surged inexplicably.

Taking advantage of the time while decocting the medicinal soup, 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. All who speak of turtle breathing must speak of it through the ears."

"The guidance of turtle breathing must be practiced by listening to the breath..."

"..."

"When sleeping, the breath exits through the ears; this is called turtle breathing, which surely leads to the longevity of a great turtle."

Looking at the profound and mysterious manual, combined with Liang Song's explanations, Lin Zheyu began to understand a little.

The Turtle Breathing Technique was a biomimetic martial art that imitated the breathing, essence-Qi control, and Blood Energy circulation of the long-lived turtle, thereby achieving the goal of prolonging life.

The primary purpose of this technique was longevity; hiding one's breath and concealing one's strength were merely incidental effects.

"What a miraculous martial art. The expert who created this technique back then was truly formidable!"

Lin Zheyu exclaimed in admiration.

He remembered that there was a similar technique in the Taoism of his past life, though he did not know how effective it was.

It was a pity that Lin Zheyu had never come into contact with such things in his past life; otherwise, he could have tested whether the martial arts of his past life would work in this world.

According to the technique's instructions, he sat cross-legged.

His upper body was straight, his whole body relaxed and natural, his hands formed the midnight-noon seal, and his hands were held together in front of his lower abdomen.

He vibrated his nasal cavity, breathing according to the requirements of the Turtle Breathing Technique, his chest and abdomen rising and falling, his breathing becoming extremely long and steady.

More than an hour passed, and Lin Zheyu gradually entered the state; his heartbeat began to slow, and his body temperature even dropped by a few degrees.

After another thirty-some minutes, he opened his eyes, unable to maintain the state any longer.

The Turtle Breathing Technique required the martial artist to have an extremely high degree of control over their body to be able to regulate the flow of Blood Energy and heart rate, thereby achieving the goal of lowering their metabolism.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 7

Skills:

Bull Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Technique (First Layer 39%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Not Yet Initiated 2%)

"I've practiced for so long and only made this much progress; even reaching the entry level is extremely difficult."

Lin Zheyu said to himself.

He wanted to sit cross-legged again to continue practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique, but he felt a severe discomfort in his heart and lungs; this was a sign that his internal organs were not strong enough to withstand the Turtle Breathing Technique.

After several hours of decocting, a rich fragrance of medicinal herbs drifted through the courtyard.

Lin Zheyu took a deep breath, feeling his spirit recover somewhat.

This time, he had put in a total of fifteen sets of herbs for nourishing Blood Energy and replenishing Qi, divided into five medicinal pots to decoct together.

"I must ask Master Liang if he has a formula with stronger medicinal power; as my strength increases, the amount of herbs I need grows larger."

"I can't keep decocting over a hundred sets of herbs at once in the future."

Lin Zheyu pondered.

He poured out the decocted medicinal soup, let it cool, and drank it into his belly.

He sat cross-legged, assumed the posture of the Turtle Breathing Technique, and sent out a thought.

"Use two units of Source Power to improve the Turtle Breathing Technique."

The Turtle Breathing Technique primarily cultivated one's control over the body's muscles, membranes, internal organs, and Blood Energy; it did not do much to enhance or transform the body, and it provided very little improvement to one's actual strength.

Therefore, the energy required to transform the body was not very much.

Source Power decreased by two units, and the mind of Lin Zheyu entered a special state.

He forgot everything, forgot all else, and devoted himself to practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique.

In this special mental state, it felt as if he had spent several years, his insights into the Turtle Breathing Technique deepening with every passing moment.

The progress of the Turtle Breathing Technique rose rapidly, instantly jumping from uninitiated to the first level, and a moment later, it reached the second level.

It stopped at 26%.

At the same time, mysterious energy surged into his body, drawing upon the medicinal power to strengthen and transform his physique.

Unlike the feeling when upgrading the Bull Fist, the Turtle Breathing Technique offered negligible improvements to strength and hardness; its primary focus was enhancing his ability to control his body.

The mysterious energy guided the medicinal power from the decoction, soaking into his muscles, bones, cells, and blood to perform deep, meticulous nourishment and transformation.

Everything being improved were subtle areas, parts that were difficult to train through martial arts exercises alone.

As his strength improved, the aura on Lin Zheyu did not increase in the slightest; instead, it became even weaker.

The sharpness honed by practicing the Bull Fist also gradually diminished and even disappeared as the Turtle Breathing Technique improved.

A few breaths later.

Lin Zheyu opened his eyes, a trace of amazement flashing through them: "The Turtle Breathing Technique is truly miraculous."

This was a wondrous cultivation method.

The purpose of practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique was not to increase martial prowess, but to prolong life.

To achieve the goal of controlling metabolism and blood energy, and slowing down cellular activity to extend one's lifespan, one's understanding of the body must reach an astonishing level.

Moreover, it was incredibly difficult to practice.

One had to strengthen the subtle parts of the muscles and the internal organs step by step through training, reinforcing control over the body.

After the Turtle Breathing Technique entered the second level, Lin Zheyu felt his control over his body had reached a new height.

Although he was still far from the Blood Energy Realm, he had gained a much greater understanding of blood energy through the Turtle Breathing Technique.

"Hoo~~"

Lin Zheyu utilized the Breathing Method of the Turtle Breathing Technique, and the aura on his body dropped rapidly as he circulated the technique.

Between breaths, his aura plummeted, dropping to the level of an ordinary person who had never practiced martial arts but was simply physically robust.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 5

Skills:

Bull Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Technique (Level 1 39%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Level 2 13%)

"It's at the second level now. The medicinal power I drank has been completely consumed, and it even used up a sliver of my body's energy, though fortunately, not much."

Lin Zheyu felt his body and said to himself.

He had just used two units of Source Power at once, which was a bit more consumption; the medicinal power of about 17 decoctions would be enough to satisfy it.

"It's a pity there aren't enough medicinal herbs in the room, otherwise I could have upgraded directly to the third level."

Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

The second level of the Turtle Breathing Technique was not of much use to him.

The Turtle Breathing Technique consisted of three levels in total.

Cultivating to the first level of perfection allowed one to hide their strength from those at the same realm.

Cultivating to the second level of perfection meant that even martial artists two realms higher would be unable to see through his strength.

If one cultivated to the third level of perfection, the body would become flawless and return to its origin, with control over blood energy and spirit reaching an unprecedented realm.

At that point, even a Grandmaster might not be able to see through his strength.

"I'll ask Master Liang tomorrow if there are any formulas with stronger medicinal effects; otherwise, it's extremely troublesome to have to decoct so many herbs every time."

Lin Zheyu said to himself.

According to the progress calculated just now, reaching the third level would require about three more units of Source Power, combined with nearly twenty-five doses of blood-nourishing decoctions.