Outrageous Golden Breathing Method

Ji Xun possessed photographic memory, and suspecting he might be sought out, he had meticulously observed the environment around his dormitory.

This staircase was usually only used by a few Corpse Collectors from Team Five, and he remembered almost every detail.

But now, there was an unfamiliar footprint on the dust covering the ground.

No.

He had noticed it since he was in the yard earlier.

The sole was a threaded dark star anti-slip pattern, looking like Monk shoes produced by the "Mole Leather Factory" in East District Five. It was a style favored by middle-aged men around 40, and the price was beyond what ordinary people could afford, suggesting the owner of the footprint likely had a respectable job.

And these high-end shoes weren't work shoes for Corpse Collectors; the entire branch didn't have any.

Size 42, with wear on the left heel, and a medium stride. Using the formula for normal height = 6.876 × (shoe size + 10) / 2, he deduced the owner's height should be between 173-178 cm, and they walked with their left foot slightly turned outward.

Judging by the depth of the footprints in the soft mud in the yard, their weight was 60-65 kg.

Overall, not imposing.

This almost immediately ruled out close-combat type Spell Card Masters.

Because muscle strength and mass were directly proportional, a close-combat type Spell Card Master of this height would definitely weigh over 80 kg.

A magic-user or Mystic Type?

So, it was unlikely to be an assassin from the Cao Family.

Ji Xun immediately thought of something: the incident at the cellar on Tailor Street had happened.

It made sense.

They were looking for something, not trying to kill him.

A Mystic Type Spell Card Master with special abilities would be more suitable, rather than a brute who only knew how to fight.

And as he walked to his dormitory, Ji Xun became even more certain that someone had entered his room.

Hmm.

Perhaps the person was still inside.

Waiting for him, Ji Xun, to return.

After all, only he and Little Fatty had gone into the cellar, so their rooms would retain stronger scents.

The moment Ji Xun detected the anomaly, he had already made a decision in his heart.

If it was a master, escaping now would be useless; unnecessary actions would only draw suspicion.

If it wasn't a master, Ji Xun didn't think the other party would necessarily have the advantage.

He had been prepared for the risks when daring to take such a hot potato of a treasure.

But now that the stolen goods had been consumed, he wasn't afraid of being caught red-handed.

It was a gamble that required boldness and carefulness.

Before being exposed, Ji Xun's identity was just that of an ordinary Corpse Collector.

He shouldn't show any alertness beyond what was expected of that profession.

With a shift in his thoughts, he showed no hesitation, opening the door while feigning drunkenness.

At the same time, his hand in his pocket activated the Clown Mask card.

From what he understood so far, Spell Card Masters weren't omnipotent.

Except for the extraordinary abilities they specialized in, they might not know much about other aspects.

At least, the person who came didn't conceal their footprints, making them a very clumsy investigator.

Perhaps they were sent temporarily to find something after discovering it was missing.

Or maybe that half-baked evil organization simply didn't have personnel skilled in tracking.

Ji Xun had formed a relatively accurate psychological profile of the person.

The moment he opened the door, Insight appeared: "You have resisted a mental hypnosis."

As expected.

Ji Xun's gaze was vacant as he looked at the gleaming silver pocket watch before him.

He had been hypnotized many times in his previous life, successfully and unsuccessfully. Due to his unusual mental state, he had proactively studied and learned a lot of related knowledge, so he was very clear about what a hypnotized person would be like.

Inside the room was someone wearing a black cloak, their face obscured.

Ji Xun pretended not to see them, his pupils unfocused, his expression blank.

The strong smell of alcohol on his person wasn't from excessive drinking, but because the pungent gas greatly interfered with olfactory Spell Card Masters. The wine stains on his clothes were also intentional. This way, even if there were any lingering spiritual medium scents on him, they would be difficult to track now.

And it wasn't illogical for Corpse Collectors to get drunk on their days off.

The cloaked figure frowned as they looked at the "drunk" Corpse Collector before them.

Thinking their hypnosis had succeeded, they spoke directly.

"Were you the one who went to collect corpses at cellar number 17 on Tailor Street yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Did you find anything unusual?"

"I collected a lot of bodies."

"Anything else?"

"I... I can't seem to remember clearly. I just remember there were a lot of bodies."

Hearing this vague answer, the cloaked figure didn't press further. Instead, he felt it was as expected and muttered to himself, "So his memory was indeed wiped."

This was also why Ji Xun dared to go upstairs and face the danger directly.

Normally, if something was lost, the person behind the scenes would first look for the two external agents from the Golden Oak Security Company.

But since they had found their way here, it meant they had already searched those two agents.

This meant that they definitely knew the Golden Oak Security Company had a "memory clearing" procedure.

They came here simply because they were still unwilling to give up and wanted to confirm.

Killing was meaningless.

Killing a mere Corpse Collector was even more meaningless.

He was here to find something.

The cloaked figure had no interest in wasting time here. After asking a few questions, he left the dormitory directly.

As soon as the stranger left, Ji Xun's unfocused eyes slowly regained clarity, sharp and spirited.

At the same time, he loosened the pull ring hidden in his sleeve.

With this hurdle overcome, the hidden danger in the Tailor Street cellar was finally completely eliminated.

Ji Xun closed the door, his heart undisturbed.

As for changing his residence because someone had come looking for him?

There was no need.

After all, for him, nowhere in the city was truly safe right now.

On the contrary, because someone had visited his dormitory, he could feel more at ease.

Now that the Fourth Young Master Cao was most likely searching for him all over the city, the Corpse Collector's dormitory building was remote enough and thus safer.

With that thought, Ji Xun took out the nameless Golden breathing method from his storage ring and began to study it carefully.

What he needed to do now was to improve his strength as quickly as possible. Once he was truly strong in the future, he wouldn't have to live in constant fear.

With the Demon Feast, becoming stronger was only a matter of time.

He also had a compatible breathing method now.

Everything was in place.

Ji Xun felt as if the "Brute Force Path" was already beckoning to him.

Just like the King Kong Demonic Ape he encountered on the train before, if anyone dared to provoke and hypnotize him again, he'd smash them with one punch!

The thin booklet seemed to possess infinite magic. Ji Xun flipped through it, quickly becoming immersed.

His extremely high Insight allowed him to gradually understand the descriptions of breathing's mysteries line by line.

The more he savored it, the more a sense of shock washed over him.

"This gap is too exaggerated. The difference between the Great Dark Breathing Method and this fragment of a breathing method is this huge? No wonder the shop owner said this was a fragment related to ancient demon gods."

The more Ji Xun read, the more unbelievable it seemed.

He had attended classes before and knew some common knowledge.

Breathing methods primarily had two functions: first, to condense free-floating elements from the void into one's own Curse Power; second, to create a "water tank" within the body to hold the Curse Power.

Generally, the better the quality of a breathing method, the higher the condensation efficiency and the larger the water tank it forged.

The rank of each Card Master Apprentice was not the same as their Curse Power value.

And according to the rank descriptions of ordinary breathing methods like the Great Dark Breathing Method, Card Master Apprentice Curse Power stages one to nine had approximate values of 100, 150, 230, 360, 540, 810, 1200, 1800, 2700, and 4000 (max).

Each stage increased by about 1.5 times.

The gap widened significantly in the later stages.

As for the Black Iron Breathing Method and Silver Breathing Method, they usually had a tiered increase of 20-70% in their values. This was also often influenced by other factors such as the Demon Mark, professional sequence, environment, medicine, etc., so even with the same breathing method, the value would vary from person to person.

But according to the descriptions in the booklet in front of him, this incomplete Golden breathing method, upon reaching the sixth stage, would already exceed 4000 Curse Power!

If one were to cultivate it to the ninth stage, wouldn't that be many times that of an ordinary Card Master Apprentice?

It would even be comparable to a formal Spell Card Master.

However, this was for ordinary people learning it.

Ji Xun's situation was different from how ordinary people learned this breathing method!

The demon contract he fused with was the very special JOKER.

Another hidden threshold for breathing methods is individual tolerance.

Simply put, it's the body's tolerance to Curse Power brought about by elemental affinity.

The higher the affinity, the more Curse Power the body can contain.

Elemental affinity can be improved through later cultivation and certain materials, and it's usually directly related to the Demon Mark.

This is also why older spell-casting Spell Card Masters have more profound Curse Power.

Although Ji Xun's affinity in all elements isn't high currently, he can devour from corpses!

By fusing with [JOKER], he gained growth in all elemental affinities. As long as there are enough high-quality corpses, he can even bring each elemental affinity to an extremely high level.

What does that mean?

In other words, if he were to cultivate it under his conditions, his Curse Power value could even far exceed the theoretical data on the booklet.

"What is the origin of this secret technique?"

Ji Xun hadn't even encountered the Black Iron Breathing Method, nor did he know how powerful the breathing method in his hand was for the time being.

But the value he estimated in his heart was already outrageous.

With [JOKER] as a pairing, the effect was not something the Silver Breathing Method, which was just one level lower, could compare to.

It wasn't just one tier higher, but many tiers!

And this was still a fragment.

Judging by the shop owner's words, it seemed this breathing method had a significant background?

This meant that there might be others in the city cultivating the subsequent incantations?

Ji Xun had already begun to look forward to what the complete breathing method would look like.

However, the six stages of incantations were enough for now.

For a long time in the future, Ji Xun wouldn't need to worry about breathing methods.

Moreover, if he were to cultivate to Curse Power Stage Six, it felt like his Curse Power value would already be at the peak for a Card Master Apprentice.

Ji Xun had known that the [JOKER] Mark he fused with was very powerful before, but at this moment, he once again experienced its exaggerated hidden amplification!

Soon, Ji Xun finished his first read-through of this incomplete breathing method.

He had memorized all the incantations in his mind.

And his extremely high Insight allowed his brain to function like a computer. After inputting those code-like incantations, it felt as if he could operate them instantly.

Analysis, enlightenment, understanding, mastery...

After pondering for a few hours, Ji Xun felt that he had gained some mastery.

At least he knew the incantations for the first stage.

The exaggerated Curse Power value calculated made him somewhat doubt it.

The first stage of the incantation cultivated a Curse Power value exceeding 1000?

[Golden Fragment] Stage One ≈ [Great Dark Breathing Method] Stage Six?

This outrageous difference made him feel like he had overlooked something or miscalculated.

Without overthinking, Ji Xun began the practical application.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state.

Following the breathing incantations on the booklet, he began to try to absorb the various elemental particles in the air.

He closed his eyes for nearly an hour.

At a certain moment, the feeling of a complete circulation of energy caused Ji Xun to withdraw from the state of complete concentration on elemental breathing.

He opened his eyes.

In an hour, his Curse Power had only completed one cycle, which was twice as slow as the [Great Dark Breathing Method].

But Ji Xun's eyes shone brightly.

Because the increase in Curse Power value was more than tenfold!

Ji Xun knew very well that his Curse Power value before meditation was 115.

Now it was 119.

An increase of a full 4 points.

What did that mean?

With his previous breathing method, it would have increased by 0.3 at most!

And according to the calculation of the previous Dark Breathing Method, his value of 100 already represented Curse Power Stage One.

Upon reaching this value, there would be a sense of saturation in breathing, and the efficiency of absorbing elements with this stage of incantations would greatly decrease, even stagnating.

This would require the second stage of breathing incantations to increase the "water tank wall," increasing its capacity before further practice.

However.

This incomplete Golden Breathing Method was different.

Just the first level of incantations made him feel completely free of the "full water tank" sensation.

This single level of incantations established an incredibly exaggerated "water tank base" for him. Even at the same first stage, his Curse Power capacity was ten times greater than before!

After Ji Xun actually tried it, he realized this breathing method was indeed far stronger than he had anticipated.

The reason for such exaggerated efficiency was the abundance of elements involved in the breathing.

Previously, he could only absorb dark elements.

Now, he could inhale, exhale, absorb, and convert all sorts of elements into Curse Power.

The Great Dark Breathing Method was like drawing silk, extracting a single black thread from a spectrum of colors.

Now, this incomplete Golden secret technique was like a whale's gulp, swallowing all the surrounding free elemental particles in one go.

Feeling the change brought about by switching breathing methods, Ji Xun felt his previous adventure in Dark Rain Street was entirely worth it.

This could save him more than ten times the meditation time.

"Hiss, this breathing method is incredibly powerful."

After experiencing the benefits, Ji Xun was stunned for a moment before closing his eyes to meditate again.

As long as he had enough time, the path of a Spell Card Master would be smooth sailing.

The minor accident he encountered in Dark Rain Street before now felt instantly worthwhile!