First-Turn Breath Furnace

The aged voice echoed through Lu Li's mind. He had no idea how she intended to take his lungs, or how she planned to replace them with this so-called First-Turn Breath Furnace.

Suddenly, Lu Li felt his breathing stop. It was as though a piece had abruptly been hollowed out of his chest; no matter how hard he tried, air would only leave, never enter.

"What First-Turn Breath Furnace? I..."

"Done. The Breath Furnace has been installed. Focus your thoughts and use your spiritual sense to control it. A mortal's spiritual sense may be weak, but the Breath Furnace has a low threshold for operation. You are merely controlling a construct artifact within your body. As long as you concentrate, you should be able to manage it."

"W-What?"

It had happened so suddenly that Lu Li had yet to react. He only felt that his voice sounded strange now—somewhat younger and sharper than before.

What baffled him even more was that his breathing had... had become manual!

Breathing was no longer an automatic action. Only when the thought of breathing arose in his mind would air flow into his chest.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

The two Azure Sun Hall disciples could not hear the old woman's voice. In their eyes, Lu Li was completely talking to himself.

"Senior Brother, this kid hasn't been scared stupid, has he? What did he just say—a First-Turn Breath Furnace? What kind of thing is that?"

"Probably some kind of construct artifact. Ridiculous. It is nothing more than his final delusion before death. Let me take out his organs first."

"Right away, Senior Brother."

The junior brother pinned Lu Li down while the senior brother held a spirit sword. He effortlessly sliced open flesh and thrust the blade three inches diagonally into Lu Li's chest cavity. Then, with a crisp clang, the spirit sword seemed to strike something hard and could not advance another inch.

"What was that?"

"I heard it too. Could it be a stone?"

"Idiot. What kind of stone grows in someone's chest?"

"Then it's a golden core?"

"If he had formed a golden core, we would have been dead long ago."

Both disciples were astonished. The spirit sword in the senior brother's hand was a First-Turn construct artifact. Through the spiritual energy compression device at its guard, it compressed the wielder's spiritual energy into the blade's edge, allowing it to cut iron like mud. Mortal weapons could hardly contend with it.

They could not fathom what exactly was inside this boy's body that could halt the blade's advance.

Puzzled, the senior brother gripped the sword hilt with both hands and gave it a sharp pull. He easily pried apart one of Lu Li's ribs, then cut open a gash in his chest.

In an instant, blood gushed forth like a flood. Through the wound, the two saw the scene within his chest cavity. There were no lungs at its center. Instead, what entered their sight were two silvery-white vessels?

These two containers resembled lung lobes in shape, their surfaces attached to countless intricate blood vessels. Like some exquisitely precise machine, their obscure, cryptic formation patterns made one's scalp tingle.

Lu Li could not move at all. He seemed to have entered a mysterious state, forgetting the wound on his chest as the old woman's voice echoed through his mind.

"Child, remember this well. The Breath Furnace has three states—[Origin Return], [Heavenly Cycle], and [Liberation by Violence].

"Origin Return: embrace the origin and return to one, hold your breath and conceal your aura.

"Heavenly Cycle: draw qi into the body, take in the new and cast out the old.

"Liberation by Violence: baleful qi pierces the heavens, shattering mountains and severing gold."

Origin Return, Heavenly Cycle, Liberation by Violence...

Lu Li silently recited the three terms. They reminded him of laptops from a certain manufacturer in his previous life, which had Quiet, Balanced, and Beast modes—coincidentally corresponding to the three states of this Breath Furnace.

Looking at it that way, the three states were not difficult to understand. Lu Li quietly translated the terms into plain language.

The Origin Return state corresponded to Quiet mode. It was for concealing one's aura, preventing the fan from whirring loudly and alerting enemies.

The Heavenly Cycle state corresponded to Balanced mode. It was for the everyday intake and exhalation of heaven and earth's spiritual qi, accelerating cultivation and recovery.

The Liberation by Violence state corresponded to Beast mode—full release, used for killing enemies. He just did not know its exact effect, or why it was called the Liberation by Violence state.

Could it mean the release of a divine weapon?

At that thought, Lu Li suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his chest, and his awareness returned to reality. The two disciples were staring greedily at his chest.

Lu Li focused his mind and controlled the Breath Furnace in his chest.

[Breath Furnace · Liberation by Violence State]—Activate!

Buzz!

The next instant, Lu Li felt a hum in his chest, as if a tiny fan were running at full power within him. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would have suspected that he had swallowed a high-powered radiator.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Immediately afterward, the kitchen knife and woodcutter's knife on the ground began to shake violently as if drawn by some force. Then they rose into the air, flew to Lu Li's side, and exploded with a thunderous boom.

Bang!

The rusty blades shattered into countless specks of iron filings. Lu Li expelled a stream of white breath from his mouth and nose. Wrapped in the stream, the iron filings swept over his body and effortlessly severed the ropes binding him.

At this sudden turn of events, the two Azure Sun Hall disciples' faces changed drastically. They raised their swords and knives before themselves and backed away to widen the distance, staring at Lu Li with utmost vigilance.

"Who exactly are you?"

Lu Li said nothing. He merely stared fixedly at the two men, trying to control the iron filings through the breath he exhaled.

Moments ago, he had been fish on the chopping block. Now, he was no more than a desperate man with nowhere to run.

Trying to fight cultivators with a kitchen knife and a woodcutter's knife had been nothing but a commoner's reckless courage. Now, those two mortal weapons had also turned into iron filings, which surged toward the two disciples under the sweep of his breath.

"Not good, retreat!"

The senior brother sprang backward, but the junior brother reacted half a beat too slowly. He swung his blade up to block, slashing at the gale with tremendous force. Yet he did not know that wind was formless. The blade tore through the air, splitting it into two currents, but the gale still carried the iron filings onward.

"Ah!"

The junior brother let out a miserable scream as the iron filings shot into his eyes, mouth, and nose, entering his body. A thick taste of rust spread through his mouth; he could not tell whether it was truly rust or his own blood.

The man lost his sight and wildly hacked in every direction with his spirit blade. Lu Li propped up his heavily wounded body and barely dodged, while continuing to manipulate the iron filings to attack him.

Though the iron filings were tiny, born of ordinary iron, not only rusted but exceedingly brittle, under the gale's enhancement they became like flying blades, erupting with terrifying power—enough to slice open skin.

It was Lu Li's first time controlling this Qi-Combining Cauldron, and with his divine sense so weak, he was somewhat overwhelmed. Still, he did his utmost to direct the iron filings toward the man's vital points.

Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!

The other man was battered by the iron filings until he was covered in wounds, blood gushing like a fountain. His roars grew weaker and weaker until, finally unable to hold on, he fell straight backward onto the ground.

The entire process had been swift, taking only a few breaths. As for his senior brother, he had long since been scared out of his wits. He rushed out of the ruined temple, turned, and fled.

This bully who feared the strong and preyed on the weak!

Lu Li cursed inwardly and desperately gave chase. If the man returned to Azure Sun Hall, he would surely spread the word and bring stronger cultivators after him. This man had to die!

With that thought, Lu Li suddenly drew in a breath and exhaled, spitting out a white streak that blasted toward the man once more.