When Lin Yan returned, he found that most of the people in the dormitory had already gone to sleep.
Xiao Wu in particular was sprawled out on her back, tossing and turning restlessly. She had even draped one leg over Tang San and looked to be sound asleep. Tang San lay perfectly straight and still, but his breathing was noticeably quick. Whether he was asleep was anyone's guess.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Xiao Wu had taken human form and begun cultivating anew in order to cultivate faster, then avenge her mother. A Soul Beast cultivating anew and entering human society risked being exposed at any moment. Shouldn't she have worked all the harder to reach maturity quickly? Yet looking at Xiao Wu, she showed no sign of cultivating seriously at all. No wonder her strength had proved inadequate later, leaving her with no choice but to sacrifice herself and become Tang San's Soul Ring.
Lin Yan guessed that without Tang San, that chosen son of destiny, beside her, constantly reminding her that there was always someone better and urging her to cultivate, Xiao Wu might have faded into the crowd.
Lin Yan could only shake his head helplessly at Xiao Wu's behavior. He would not interfere with another person's fate. His principle in life was to respect other people's destinies and enjoy a happy life.
Lin Yan went to his bed, but instead of lying down to sleep, he sat cross-legged in meditation. Recalling the meditation method he had read in the library, he wanted to compare it with his Supreme Purity Breathing Technique and see which worked better. He would never have known without trying, but once he did, he got a shock.
Cultivating with the basic meditation method not only felt pitifully slow at absorbing Soul Power, but also produced a sense of sluggishness as the Soul Power circulated through his body. After a little longer, his meridians even began to feel slightly swollen and sore.
Using the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique, however, produced none of those sensations. When Soul Power entered his body through the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique, he felt as though his whole body were soaking in a hot spring. Not only was there no discomfort, it was downright enjoyable.
The difference in speed between the two was also like heaven and earth.
If cultivating with the meditation method was like walking, then cultivating with the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique was like riding a high-speed train. They were not on the same level at all.
"This..." Lin Yan was utterly shaken. He had long known that the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique was extraordinary, but he had never expected its effects to be so remarkable in the world of the Douluo Continent. It completely crushed this world's elementary meditation method! Presumably, even an advanced meditation method could not achieve results as outrageous as the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique's.
"This trash meditation method isn't fit for a dog!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yan decisively abandoned the basic meditation method and devoted himself wholeheartedly to circulating the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique. Pure energy poured in endlessly, nourishing his meridians and dantian, while his Soul Power rose at a clearly perceptible rate.
Combining the descriptions of Soul Power Levels he had read in the library that day with his own sensations, he judged that his Soul Power was now around level three. In the nearly three months since his awakening, he had gained two and a half levels-an average of almost one level a month!
This speed undoubtedly filled Lin Yan with delighted surprise. The disadvantage of having only half a level of Innate Soul Power had actually been forcibly made up for by the powerful Supreme Purity Breathing Technique.
Although his Innate Soul Power was lacking, Lin Yan believed that, relying on a powerful cultivation method, he would not fall far behind his peers.
"Still, I can't celebrate too soon." Lin Yan quickly calmed down.
Because of the constraints of his Innate Soul Power, Lin Yan suspected that his cultivation would encounter a bottleneck, just like Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang. With resources supplied by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Xiaogang had quickly raised his Soul Power to level twenty-nine despite having only half a level of Innate Soul Power. Yet, limited by his talent, he had been unable to break through his shackles despite so many years of effort, remaining stuck at the threshold of level thirty for decades. Only after taking the Immortal Herb Tang San gave him had he broken through to level thirty.
It was like a barrel with one short stave. How much water it could hold was not determined by its tallest stave, but by its shortest. Although Lin Yan cultivated quickly, unless he broke through his innate constraints, he might end up like Yu Xiaogang, unable to break through to level thirty for his entire life. Thus, Lin Yan's goal was clear: improve his Martial Soul's grade and make up for his shortcomings.
Deep into the quiet night, after an unknown amount of time, Wang Sheng groggily climbed out of the neighboring bed to relieve himself. Rubbing his eyes as he passed Lin Yan's bedside, he vaguely made out Lin Yan's cross-legged figure and could not help mumbling, "Lin Yan, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Lin Yan did not fully withdraw from his cultivation, merely diverting a sliver of his attention to reply quietly, "I read a meditation cultivation method today and wanted to try cultivating."
"Oh..." Wang Sheng was clearly still terribly sleepy and not quite clearheaded. He merely answered instinctively, muttered something along the lines of "You really work hard," and staggered out. After returning, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, his snores gradually rising.
Silence returned to the dormitory. Only Lin Yan remained like an old monk deep in meditation, his presence harmonious and complete as he silently drew in the energy of heaven and earth.
The next day, just as the sky began to brighten, while most people were still dreaming, Lin Yan had already withdrawn from cultivation. Cultivating the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique was for raising his Soul Power Level, and improving his physical fitness was also an indispensable part of his daily routine.
By then, Tang San was awake as well. Normally, he should have been going to cultivate his Purple Demon Eye at this hour, but Lin Yan knew that Yu Xiaogang was taking Tang San to hunt for his first Soul Ring today.
Seeing that Lin Yan was up too, Tang San gave him a brief greeting and headed out. Lin Yan paid it no mind and soon went out himself, running for exercise as usual.
Over the past three months, Lin Yan had run with weights every day until he was exhausted, constantly pushing his limits. The weights he carried had increased from the original fifty jin to a hundred jin. Yet this was not Lin Yan's limit. It was simply about as much ordinary refined iron as he could fit on his body; adding any more would hinder his movements.
Lin Yan had not forgotten to practice his combat techniques either.
Aside from medical skills, the Lin family had two other hereditary arts: the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique and Lin Clan Taijiquan.
Lin Yan had heard his elders say that Lin Clan Taijiquan came from the Wudang Sect and was an authentic inheritance of Zhang Sanfeng's lineage. Unlike the health-preserving tai chi that circulated among ordinary people, what the Lin family had passed down consisted of genuine killing techniques.
In the past, an ancestor of the Lin family had often traveled the martial world, treating illnesses and saving lives, and had frequently encountered danger. Once, this ancestor had happened to save a Daoist priest, an orthodox member of the Wudang Sect. In gratitude for saving his life, the priest had given him a Taijiquan manual. The manual had subsequently been passed down through the Lin family for generations, and, as it happened, Lin Yan had learned it.
Back on Blue Star, Lin Yan had only regarded the boxing manual as a means of strengthening his body. Yet after arriving on the Douluo Continent, he had discovered while practicing that its movements could actually stir the air currents around him. It was truly wondrous. After realizing this, Lin Yan had continued practicing this martial art.
During his match with Wang Sheng, Lin Yan had used some of Taijiquan's profound principles. That was why Wang Sheng had found him so slippery.
After exercising, Lin Yan quickly washed up, then buried himself in the library again.