Six Harmonies Breathing Method

"The Six Harmonies Method?" Jiang Yue turned the words over in his mind, his eyes flickering.

"That's right. Last night in the ring, you saw through Scar's weakness and pulled off a brilliant display of Inch Power. But you need to understand that in the true Ancient Martial Arts system, that's only one part of it."

Shen Qing corrected Jiang Yue's misconception with utter seriousness. "True Ancient Martial Arts is a complete system built on three inseparable pillars: nurturing, application, and training!"

"Use breathing methods to nourish the organs and Blood Energy, combat techniques to defeat your enemies, and Stake Stance to temper your sinews, bones, and Skin Membrane!"

"You can't leave any one of them out."

"If you chase destructive power and practice only application without building a solid foundation through nurturing and training, every use of Inch Power will take a greater toll on your body. Sooner or later, you'll shatter your own organs from the inside!"

Jiang Yue nodded slightly.

This confirmed his earlier suspicion about why a heavily armored brute like Scar, who relied on raw strength alone, couldn't handle refined techniques of force.

Shen Qing sighed, deep helplessness in his voice. "The reason Ancient Martial Arts never caught on in the military and was displaced by the evolutionary system of Gene Ascension is that the barrier to entry is simply too high."

"You must never start the Six Harmonies Method with combat techniques."

"You have to begin with the most tedious parts: the [Breathing Method] and [Stake Stance]."

"An ordinary person often has to sit for three to five months before Breath Regulation lets him sense that elusive 'feeling of qi' inside his body! How could the military wait for a recruit to find it?"

A breathing method?

The instant he heard those words, a fierce light flared in Jiang Yue's eyes, usually as still as an ancient well.

Other people feared that breathing methods were too obscure and would take years of painstaking practice to master. But he didn't!

An entry on his retinal panel flashed through his mind: [Smooth Breath (White)]!

Wasn't that entry's core ability precisely what gave him perfect control over his breathing rhythm, internal energy flow, and the strain on his organs?!

Jiang Yue's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

He clearly remembered how, when he consumed that Gene Potion, its immense energy had forcibly stimulated his [Food Digestion] entry, transforming it into the green entry [Gluttony].

Then if he practiced this Ancient Martial Arts breathing method, which relied on resonance with Blood Energy, could it stimulate [Smooth Breath] and trigger another transformation?!

Suppressing his elation, Jiang Yue asked without betraying anything, "How is the Six Harmonies Method divided?"

"Into three levels."

Shen Qing explained gravely, "The three harmonies are three successive stages: Form Harmony, Power Harmony, and Spirit Harmony!"

"The first, [Form Harmony], is about gaining initial command of your flesh, sinews, and bones, with breath and movement perfectly aligned."

"The second, [Power Harmony], lets force pass through the body, connecting inside and out. Even a tossed flower or plucked leaf can injure someone."

"As for the third, [Spirit Harmony]... that's the realm of Martial Arts Grandmasters, where will and Blood Energy resonate completely. I've only read about it in fragmentary records passed down by my family."

Shen Qing gave a rueful smile. "Laugh if you want. I've been taught since childhood, but I've only brought the breathing method and Stake Stance to a proficient level. I'm barely at the threshold of the first stage, Form Harmony."

"But even so..."

His tone shifted, pride showing in his eyes. "That small taste of the first stage alone has let me temper my body and Blood Energy far faster than ordinary people!"

"That's why I, a commoner recruit, managed to fight my way into the top fifty out of thirty thousand!"

In that moment, the value of Ancient Martial Arts was plain to see.

A mere beginner's grasp had made Shen Qing a terror among his peers!

"Enough. Time is short, and the Monthly Grand Exam is less than twenty days away. We start now."

Shen Qing cleared his mind, his expression turning as stern as an instructor's. "Remember, there are no shortcuts in Ancient Martial Arts."

"You must master the breathing method before you practice Stake Stance. Only when your stance is solid and your Blood Energy stable will I teach you combat techniques! Rush ahead, and your Blood Energy will surge through your meridians and kill you!"

"Now sit cross-legged. Listen carefully to the Breath Regulation formula I'm about to teach you!"

Jiang Yue sat cross-legged on the alloy floor as instructed and closed his eyes.

"Three short breaths, one long. Let the breath sink to the hidden gate. Use the diaphragm to sense the faint vibrations of your organs..."

Shen Qing recited the extraordinarily complex rhythm of the [Six Harmonies Breathing Method] line by line, holding nothing back. It alternated long and short breaths and even required the practitioner to match the vibration of his organs.

In his view, no matter how extraordinary Jiang Yue's talent was, mastering a breathing rhythm so contrary to normal human physiology would take at least three to five days of grueling practice. Even that would be the pace of a once-in-a-generation genius.

Three to five days to get started, another three months to make modest progress, and three years before he could call it mastery.

That was how long it had taken Shen Qing.

Yet under the entry's forceful intervention, the breathing rhythm Shen Qing called obscure and difficult—the one that supposedly took ages to sense—was adjusted to absolute, error-free precision without even a second of trial and error!

Exhale... inhale...

Jiang Yue's chest rose and fell at an exceedingly strange frequency, one that seemed to hold some profound truth of the world.

With every breath, his organs truly began to tremble in faint resonance. A warm "feeling of qi" seemed to spring from nowhere and rose from his lower abdomen in an instant!

"How... how is that possible?!"

Shen Qing, standing beside him to guard his practice, nearly stared his eyes out.

He fixed his gaze on Jiang Yue's rising and falling chest. The rhythm within him had steadied in an instant and matched the [Six Harmonies Breathing Method] perfectly. Shen Qing felt as though he'd been struck by lightning, his mind blank.

"One minute... less than a minute? He didn't even need to try again. He found the feeling of qi on his first attempt and started Breath Regulation?!"

Everything Shen Qing thought he knew fell apart.

But Jiang Yue, eyes closed, paid no attention to Shen Qing's shock.

His attention was fixed entirely on the panel before his eyes.

[Entry: Smooth Breath]

[Status: +++]

As the breathing method guided his Blood Energy into perfect harmony with the vast energy stored in his body, an almost feverish smile slowly spread across Jiang Yue's face.

That should count as getting started. And it proves something else: this breathing method really can speed up Smooth Breath's advancement...

If I practice it day and night from now on, the gains will be considerable!