Han Yu nodded, but...
She clenched her fists. With her current strength, there was nothing she could do.
I have to train harder!
"..."
Soon, the sky went completely dark.
The neighbors watching outside the door and the three second-realm immortal cultivators gradually dispersed after night fell.
Deathly silence returned to the alleys of the outer city.
Moonlight spilled through the damaged window lattice onto the mottled floor.
Su Yueli looked at Han Yu. "Sit down."
Knowing they were about to begin training, Han Yu let out a long breath and immediately sat cross-legged on the floor, her hands resting on her knees and her back perfectly straight.
"The root of mortal martial artists' short lifespans lies in their brutally crude training methods."
Su Yueli spoke evenly. "Ordinary martial artists ravage their muscles and forcibly squeeze out their qi and blood in exchange for explosive power. Every exertion drains the vitality from their internal organs. Their qi and blood leak out instead of remaining within their bodies, so naturally, they don't live long."
Han Yu listened attentively, engraving every word into her mind.
The low-level martial artists she had encountered in the past had indeed begun aging after thirty. By fifty or sixty, they were plagued by illness and pain, and few lived past a hundred.
She had once thought this was a martial artist's fate. Only after hearing her master's explanation did she understand that it was the consequence of flawed cultivation methods.
"I'll teach you a basic breathing method now."
Su Yueli raised her right hand and touched the tip of her index finger to the point between Han Yu's eyebrows.
There was not a trace of spiritual energy in that touch. Through faint muscular vibrations alone, she transmitted a unique breathing rhythm into Han Yu's sensory nerves.