Breathing Technique (Seeking Follow-Up)

"What?"

Ding Chen couldn't help but be stunned. "A Surging Origin Realm cultivation technique? You want me to steal it for you!?"

Chen Xian frowned. "Is it hard to get?"

He was thinking that if Ding Chen could help him get the follow-up cultivation technique for the Blood Flame Ox Demon Technique, he wouldn't have to spend experience points on deduction.

He just needed to take a look, and the panel would record it.

After that, he would only need to use experience points to improve his realm.

Ding Chen said, "It is indeed difficult, unless I'm in the Blood Moving Realm! Actually, you...!"

He turned to look at Chen Xian. In fact, Chen Xian could apply for it himself, but if he did, Zhao Tong would send Chen Xian to the front lines to fight demons.

Once on the front lines, as long as he performed outstandingly and earned merit, applying for a cultivation technique would be a small matter.

But who could guarantee they would live to see tomorrow when fighting demons on the battlefield?

Every battle was a transformation in life.

Ding Chen also knew that sooner or later, they would all have to go to the battlefield to fight demons.

But being able to delay it by one day meant one more day of training in the rear, and one more shred of life-saving power on the battlefield.

"Have you heard of the Cooks' Camp?"

Chen Xian recalled for a moment and nodded. "I've heard of it."

Among the million-strong Demon-Slaying Army at Demon-Slaying Pass, every military camp had three thousand men in the Cooks' Camp.

They were actually one of the reserve forces.

When a military camp suffered heavy casualties, the Cooks' Camp would be sent to the battlefield to fight demons, buying the camp time to regroup.

But in normal times, the Cooks' Camp did not go to the battlefield, nor did they even clean up the battlefield.

It was considered the most comfortable military camp at Demon-Slaying Pass.

Many sons of noble families from the imperial court came to Demon-Slaying Pass for training, and most of them were sent to the Cooks' Camp to enjoy themselves.

Who would actually go to the battlefield to risk their lives against demons?

By the time demons were strong enough to require the Cooks' Camp to fight, Demon-Slaying Pass would surely be gone.

And the imperial court would also be in peril.

Therefore, the Cooks' Camp was almost never needed to fight demons.

After a year or so, when those noble sons had had their fill of fun.

They would find someone with good merit, have their merits replaced, and then return to the capital city to receive rewards from the Emperor.

The person whose merits were replaced would either collude with them or swallow their anger.

"Brother Ding, why are you mentioning the Cooks' Camp?" Chen Xian frowned.

"If you really don't want to go to the front lines, you can join the Cooks' Camp, but...!" Ding Chen hesitated to speak.

Chen Xian finished his sentence. "But it requires money, right?"

Ding Chen nodded awkwardly.

It was difficult to get into the Cooks' Camp without pulling some strings.

Chen Xian shook his head. Not to mention he had no money, even if he did, he wouldn't go to the Cooks' Camp.

Although not all members of the Cooks' Camp were from noble families, to stand out in the Cooks' Camp, unless the million-strong Demon-Slaying Army couldn't stop the demon army and Demon-Slaying Pass fell.

Only then would the Cooks' Camp have a chance to fight.

If such an opportunity arose, going onto the battlefield to fight demons would undoubtedly be a suicide mission.

Ding Chen seemed to see through Chen Xian's thoughts and said, "Although the Cooks' Camp is useless, by joining it, you can obtain cultivation techniques. Once you have cultivated successfully, you can then apply to go to the battlefield to earn merit and establish yourself."

Chen Xian's eyes flickered. What Ding Chen said was indeed a viable method.

But he didn't have the money to grease the wheels.

"Brother Ding, do you have money?" he asked.

Ding Chen was taken aback. "Not much."

Chen Xian said, "Then that settles it, I don't have money either."

Ding Chen hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me see, I'll think of a way for you!"

Chen Xian thanked Ding Chen for this, but he didn't take it to heart.

If Ding Chen had a way, he wouldn't be suffering in the Cooks' Camp.

Back in the tent.

They both rested.

Chen Xian closed his eyes and summoned the panel, intending to deduce the Blood Flame Ox Demon Technique.

Although deduction consumed a lot of experience points, there was no better way at the moment.

If he could deduce the follow-up cultivation method for the Blood Flame Ox Demon Technique, he could continue to improve his strength and realm, and even rejuvenate his lifespan.

In a moment of danger, having an extra means of survival would be beneficial.

[After twelve months of day and night deduction, you have no clue about the follow-up cultivation method for the Blood Flame Ox Demon Technique.]

[After eighteen months of neglecting food and sleep to study, you finally learned the locations of the three hundred and sixty acupoints in the Surging Origin Realm, but gained nothing regarding the cultivation route.]

"...!!"

Chen Xian couldn't help but feel speechless. After spending two and a half years, he had only figured out the locations of the three hundred and sixty acupoints in the Surging Origin Realm, with no progress on the cultivation method itself.

As his frustration grew, a light flashed in his mind, and a transparent, three-dimensional human figure rotated, displaying the positions of the three hundred and sixty acupoints.

Chen Xian sighed inwardly. While his progress was minimal, he had at least grasped that the Surging Origin Realm required opening meridians and condensing acupoints.

This was why the realm was called Surging Origin.

It likely meant surging open the acupoints and condensing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

However, without a cultivation technique, attempting to cultivate blindly would not only fail to open the acupoints but could also damage his internal organs.

[After twenty-four months of diligent deduction, you have devised thirty-seven cultivation techniques but dared not make a decision.]

[Experience: 167 points]

Watching the experience points rapidly decrease, Chen Xian felt a bitter pang in his heart.

Subsequently, fleeting images appeared in his mind. As for the thirty-seven cultivation techniques he had deduced, they were merely theoretical exercises, with no practical application. In other words, he hadn't attempted to cultivate them.

Mere speculation?

The words "mere speculation" popped into Chen Xian's mind, leaving him utterly speechless.

After spending four and a half years, the final outcome was four and a half years of speculation.

[After twenty-four months of continuous attempts, you meditated for half a year, sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for half a year, and practiced breathing for one year, only to discover your understanding of Surging Origin was flawed. You began to study from scratch again.]

[Experience: 143 points]

... Pfft!

After clearly seeing the panel's notification, Chen Xian almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Having spent six and a half years, only to be told to start all over again?

This damn talent...!

Six and a half years, and it was as if he had been treading water.

Come to think of it, it made sense. The last time he deduced the Blood Flame Ox Demon Technique, it also took over four years.

The further he deduced into the later stages, the higher the difficulty coefficient and the more experience points required.

Chen Xian gritted his teeth and directly added 36 points of experience.

[After thirty-six months of day and night deduction, you understood that Surging Origin also requires combining one's own vital blood, breathing in and out the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, condensing it into one's own vital energy, and then surging open fifteen meridians. You have comprehended a breathing technique, renaming it the Ox Demon Breathing Technique, and condensed one acupoint.]

[Martial Art: Ox Demon Breathing Technique (Beginner)]

[Experience: 107 points]

Buzz!

Before Chen Xian could finish reading the panel's notification, his body suddenly trembled. He felt a spot on his chest burning intensely, as if it had been seared by a hot iron.

He was slightly stunned and noticed that the three-dimensional human figure in his mind reappeared, with a position on the body emitting a flickering light.

Chen Xian compared it and realized it was the spot where he felt the burn.

"That's... the Danzhong Acupoint!"

Chen Xian matched it with the three-dimensional diagram in his mind and touched his chest. He felt a powerful airflow trying to surge outwards.

"So that's how it is!"

Chen Xian finally understood. He had been preoccupied with finding the cultivation route, not realizing there was a step before Surging Origin: the breathing technique.

Only after condensing all three hundred and sixty acupoints using the breathing technique could one proceed to the Surging Origin stage.