Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Songyi City lay in the south, cradled by mountains and hills that provided perfect cover for bandits. Along the main trade routes, soldiers were stationed at regular intervals to safeguard the flow of goods. Yet despite their presence, lawlessness persisted. Bands of brigands roamed freely, striking with guile—using feints, diversions, and cunning tactics to outwit their foes.

”Kill!”

Han Mo led his soldiers in pursuit of the fleeing bandits. Their bloodthirsty shouts echoed through the forest.

”Move, faster! Once we reach that valley, we’ll be safe!” the man at the front shouted loudly. He was a burly man in his forties with several scars on his face that gave him a vicious look.

Han Mo swung his saber as he charged forward. Unleashing the Sixfold Saber, he was about to cut down another bandit.

”Damn it, out of my way!” the scarred man roared and swung his spiked club as he charged at Han Mo.

The massive club whistled through the air with ferocious force. His strength was formidable, having reached the peak of the Organ Forging Realm. Gifted with natural brute strength, he was far stronger than Han Mo in both power and ability.

Against the City Guard’s elite formations, the bandits were nothing more than a rabble, unable to withstand them at all. But in a one-on-one fight, the man felt no fear.

Whoosh.

A violent gust of wind accompanied the spiked club as it came crashing down toward Han Mo’s head.

”Ha!”

Han Mo screamed, reversing his blade to meet the man’s powerful strike head-on. A crisp clash of metal rang out, and the terrifying force transmitted through the blade numbed Han Mo’s grip.

What incredible strength!

Han Mo was secretly shocked.

This strike carried far more power than any he had faced earlier in the fight, but he was no pushover either. With a twist of his wrist, he guided the spiked club downward and to the right, diverting its force with his blade.

At the same time, he stepped back several paces and shouted, ”Form the formation!”

The ten elite soldiers behind him responded instantly, moving in perfect coordination to shift positions and form a special battle formation. It was a miniature military formation made up of ten men. The moment the formation took shape, their auras merged into one, and a terrifying killing intent spread outward.

”Kill!” the soldiers roared, unleashing a wave of thick killing intent. That killing intent fused with their essence, qi, and spirit, condensing into a unique energy. Through the formation, this energy was channeled into Han Mo, the commander.

A vast surge of baleful qi gathered around him. His aura skyrocketed, his strength surged, and his body brimmed with explosive power. In that instant, his strength surpassed the peak of the Organ Forging Realm and reached the level of the Blood Qi Realm. Yet Han Mo’s body showed no trace of genuine blood qi fluctuations.

The soldiers’ combined essence, qi, and spirit, fused with killing intent, created a special energy that replaced the use of blood qi, allowing him to temporarily wield the strength of the Blood Qi Realm.

”Fall back! Damn it, all of you! I bought you time to escape, so what the hell are you standing around for?” the scarred man shouted furiously.

Faced with Han Mo’s ever-rising aura, which had broken into the Blood Qi Realm, he knew he was no match.

Swish!

Han Mo gripped his saber tightly as his killing intent soared. In the forest, a sharp flash of blade light swept through the air, carrying terrifying killing intent as it slashed at the man.

Clang!

The man hastily raised his spiked club to block, but his innate brute strength was nothing before Han Mo, empowered by the battle formation. A monstrous force coursed through the blade. The man was sent flying backward by the overwhelming impact.

Bang, bang, bang.

The burly man crashed through two tree trunks before finally coming to a stop, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

”Fuck, forget it. Charge! Once we reach Lion Valley, we’ll survive!” shouted the man as he turned and fled, abandoning the brothers who lagged behind.

”Kill!” The soldiers’ furious roars rang out once more. They swiftly shifted formations. Han Mo’s aura receded slightly while the aura of each soldier gradually rose.

Maintaining their formation, they continued the chase. The bandits who lagged behind were helpless before the fully armed elite soldiers. They fell like weeds beneath the soldiers’ blades, more than twenty cut down in moments. After pursuing for several hundred meters, the forest around them grew denser.

Han Mo halted and yelled, ”Stop! Do not pursue any further.”

”My lord, I scouted ahead earlier. There is a swamp ahead. If we keep pressing, we can wipe out this entire band!” a soldier stepped forward to say.

”I know there is a swamp ahead, but do you think the bandits don’t know as well? They know this terrain better than we do. They had plenty of chances to flee elsewhere, yet they chose this path. Clearly, they want to lure us in! Withdraw!

”There will be plenty of chances to kill them in the future. No need to take risks.” Han Mo ordered loudly, ”Return to the main road and continue the watch. Scouts, keep tracking the bandits’ movements!”

”Yes, my lord!” replied one of the scouts.

***

”Damn, that guy is really cautious,” the burly man who had just suffered a setback cursed under his breath as he hid in the forest, watching Han Mo withdraw.

”I told you Han Mo is a cautious man who wouldn’t fall for tricks, but you wouldn’t believe me. Now you’ve suffered for nothing, haven’t you?” said the man beside him.

If Han Mo had been there, he would have recognized this man. It was none other than Xing Penghai, a fellow Centurion of the City Guard.

”Pang Yuanfeng, if you had listened to me earlier, you could have wiped out most of his troops already,” said Xing Penghai with a cold sneer.

”Hmph. You’re both City Guards. Who’s to say this isn’t some kind of ruse?” snorted Pang Yuanfeng.

He flexed his wrists, feeling a numbness in his arms. He had taken Han Mo’s strike head-on just moments ago, and the terrifying force had split the skin between his thumb and forefinger.

”You’ve already seen the sincerity of my Xing Family. If we truly meant you harm, we would have acted long ago. If you had just followed the plan I gave you earlier, you’d have succeeded by now,” said Xing Penghai flatly.

Ignoring Xing Penghai, Pang Yuanfeng shouted into the forest, ”Brothers, come out. We’re heading back. Damn it, I took that strike for nothing.”

As soon as his words fell, more than a hundred burly men armed with weapons burst out of the woods, following Pang Yuanfeng into Lion Valley.

”Greedy fools. Do you really think you’re worthy of meddling with the secrets of military formations?” sneered Xing Penghai as he watched Pang Yuanfeng’s figure disappear.

With a flicker of movement, he too stepped into Lion Valley. Lion Valley was filled with bandit gangs. If one man refused to cooperate, Xing Penghai could always find another who would.

***

No. 33 Jindong Street.

The courtyard resounded with the sharp swish of air being split. Lin Zheyu gripped a sharp, treasured saber as he practiced the Sixfold Saber technique in the courtyard. The blade was three feet and nine inches long, etched with a python pattern, and its edge was razor sharp.

In Songyi City, blades were restricted items that ordinary people could not buy. This saber had been gifted to him by Han Mo, properly registered and thus legal. It merely meant it would not be confiscated when leaving or entering the city, though it still could not be used within the city walls.

The Sixfold Saber technique was Han Mo’s primary cultivation art, which he had taught to Lin Zheyu not long ago. After some time of diligent practice, Lin Zheyu had improved greatly, already reaching Competence.