Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

The next day, when dawn had yet to break, Lin Zheyu was suddenly jolted from his sleep. From the encampment came the roars of soldiers, and their killing intent spread through the entire camp.

Up training before dawn, with such terrifying killing intent... I thought an enemy had attacked!

These soldiers were elite, battle-hardened troops. After so many clashes, the killing intent upon their bodies had grown increasingly dense.

Outside, the cold wind howled. The sky was shrouded in gray and was heavy with gloom. Fully armed, the soldiers began their morning training under Han Mo’s command. In the wilderness, their training was not overly strenuous and was instead focused mainly on formation drills. Only through constant practice and adjustment could the soldiers’ essence, qi, and spirit merge seamlessly as one.

Not far from the training soldiers, Lin Zheyu lit a campfire, slicing off a large piece of meat to roast while watching his senior brother and the others train. Eighty men trained, while another ten patrolled on guard duty, and ten more acted as scouts who watched along the official road.

A formation of eighty soldiers was far beyond comparison with the miniature formations of just ten. The greater the number of soldiers, the more complete the formation. The soldiers’ essence, qi, and spirit linked together as one, vast waves of energy surging within the formation.

The energy flowed between them, not only available for the commander to direct; the soldiers could also call upon it, though their priority ranked lower than that of their leader.

Lin Zheyu took a bite of roasted meat and praised aloud, ”This military formation is incredible!”

To break such a formation simply by killing soldiers was extremely difficult. When attacked, the soldiers near the impact point would jointly channel the formation’s energy to increase their strength. Within the formation, soldiers were grouped in tens. Whenever they were attacked, a group would call upon the formation’s energy, causing their auras to surge rapidly.

At that moment, Lin Zheyu finally understood why his senior brother had once said that with a hundred elite soldiers, he could even challenge a warrior of the Marrow Refining Realm. The energy surging within the eighty-man formation was so immense that even Lin Zheyu felt a trace of fear.

It was infused with the killing intent tempered through years of battle, fierce and overwhelmingly domineering.

”Here, senior brother!”

When the training ended, Lin Zheyu handed over a piece of roasted meat.

”That formation is fascinating. Could I experience it for myself?” asked Lin Zheyu tentatively.

He had previously asked Han Mo about the formations, but since it was a military secret, Han Mo had not explained much.

”I’m afraid that isn’t possible. Every soldier who joins a formation must first swear allegiance to Great Wei and drip their blood upon a talisman token. Only then can their essence, qi, and spirit be linked through the formation. These tokens are bound to the soldier. Even if taken by others, they cannot be used.

”Even if an outsider knew the structure of the formation, without a token, they could never form one,” said Han Mo with a shake of his head.

The talisman tokens were carried by soldiers as proof of identity, and only elite troops were qualified to possess them.

Tokens? Blood?

Lin Zheyu froze for a moment. This strange sense of familiarity made him think of the magical artifacts often found in cultivation tales.

”Could these talisman tokens actually be immortal Dharma artifacts?” asked Lin Zheyu.

”Immortal Dharma artifacts? No, they are national treasures, forged through the efforts of the entire realm. They are the foundation that safeguards the peace and stability of Great Wei,” said Han Mo.

The talisman tokens were widely used within Great Wei’s officialdom and military system, serving vital functions. In the army, the tokens differed according to rank; the higher the officer’s rank, the greater the authority carried by their token.

”May I take a look?” asked Lin Zheyu.

Han Mo thought for a moment, then nodded. The talisman token could not be stolen for use, and since Lin Zheyu was his junior brother and someone he trusted, there was no harm in letting him see it.

Han Mo took out a token about the size of a baby’s palm, inscribed with his name, birthplace, and date of birth. The token was made of some unknown metal that felt smooth and warm to the touch, as if one were handling fine jade.

Lin Zheyu examined it carefully but found nothing unusual. Apart from its jade-like texture, the token appeared quite ordinary. If Han Mo had not told him that the token was linked to the military formations, he would never have thought it anything special and would have dismissed it as an ordinary item.

He had found similar tokens earlier, when he killed Xing Jinglong and the soldiers who followed him. The soldiers’ tokens had been crudely made, lacking the smoothness of jade and resembling nothing more than ordinary iron tags. At the time, he had assumed they were just soldier identification tokens, so he hadn’t dared collect them and simply tossed them into a ditch.

After returning the token, Lin Zheyu realized that Han Mo either could not say more or did not know the details himself.

Crackle.

The campfire crackled as Lin Zheyu absentmindedly roasted meat, his thoughts occupied with the tokens and the military formations. Such things seemed to involve immortal methods and were not something martial warriors could achieve.

Yet both Master Liang and his senior brother had said that those who pursued immortal cultivation ended up becoming demons, and in Han Mo’s words, immortal cultivation itself was a forbidden technique.

Something in this world must have gone wrong, thought Lin Zheyu.

The sky brightened, and the golden sun rose over the distant mountains. Once morning came, Lin Zheyu bid farewell to his senior brother. He planned to continue roaming the forests, familiarizing himself with the terrain while hunting the bandits that lurked within. These bandits were wicked men; with fewer of them, the people’s lives would be more peaceful.

From Han Mo, Lin Zheyu obtained one of their hand-drawn maps, which was more detailed in certain areas than the one he already had.

***

Rustle, rustle.

The trees in the forest rustled in the wind. A youth in tight-fitting garb held a map as he darted swiftly through the forest, his figure flashing past in the blink of an eye.

There were many forests outside Songyi City, covering vast lands. Though bandits were plentiful, the wide expanse made it difficult to encounter them. Even after actively searching all day, Lin Zheyu only came across four bands of bandits, though he encountered many hunters and herbalists. The hunters and herbalists were all very cautious. Upon spotting him, they immediately avoided him from afar, doing their best not to make contact.

By the time he returned to Songyi City, it was already the Shen hour[1].

After he entered through the city gates, Lin Zheyu sensed a familiar gaze upon him.

”Lin Zheyu?”

At the city gate, a Wuding Gang member tasked with keeping watch froze when he spotted Lin Zheyu. He then quickly rose and ran toward the Xing Family estate. He had been ordered to report at once if Lin Zheyu was sighted.

Lin Zheyu watched the man run off but did not stop him. His return would reach the Xing Family sooner or later anyway.

I wonder if Xing Jinglong’s corpse has been discovered yet, he mused inwardly.

In the desolate wilderness, their bodies had likely already been devoured by beasts. Still, he believed that with the Xing Family’s resources, they would eventually trace the matter. Without dwelling on it, he returned directly home. He then set down his bulging pack, satisfied with the plentiful gains of his trip.

Originally, he had thought the most he could obtain from bandits were healing medicines, poison powders, or hidden weapons. He had not expected that when visiting his Senior Brother Han, he would encounter bandits who had just looted a caravan, yielding even greater spoils.

1. Hours between 3pm to 5pm. ☜