Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

To reach perfection in the eighth stage and advance to the fourth transformation of blood qi, Lin Zheyu would need roughly 13 units of Origin Force. As the Golden Goose Technique merged further with the Ten Thousand Troop Steps, the latter advanced passively to the fifth stage, now close to perfection.

However, the further he progressed, the harder improvement became. After relentless training, the two techniques had reached about 80% fusion, but as the harmony deepened, their inherent conflicts grew stronger. Further integration would demand extended study and rigorous practice.

Lin Zheyu estimated that when the Golden Goose Technique reached full perfection in the eighth stage, the fusion could rise to about 95%. The remaining 5%, however, would likely remain irreconcilable due to the techniques’ deep-rooted contradictions.

Just merging two techniques is already this difficult. To create a truly powerful one from scratch must be unimaginably hard.

Lin Zheyu couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. Without Origin Force, an ordinary person would need at least ten or twenty years of painstaking effort to merge two martial techniques. Yet how many decades did a person have to spare? Usually, only when a martial artist’s strength reached its limits, when no further progress could be made, would they begin to study and ponder such matters.

***

As he walked through the streets of Songyi City, he noticed there were far fewer pedestrians than before. When he arrived at the Jade Pill Teahouse, Jia Yanyong and the others were nowhere to be seen. He had no idea where they had gone.

He ordered a few side dishes and a pot of General’s Tears. Under Master Liang’s influence, Lin Zheyu had grown fond of this particular wine. General’s Tears had a rich aroma and a smooth, mellow taste, but its aftereffect was intense, leaving a strangely invigorating sensation.

After about half an hour, Jia Yanyong and his companions came in grinning broadly, their faces glowing with excitement. Lin Zheyu had never seen them this cheerful, not even when visiting the pleasure houses.

”What has you all in such high spirits?” asked Lin Zheyu curiously.

”Haha, the Xing Family’s in trouble! It’s so satisfying!” one of them burst out.

”Last night, a master infiltrated the Xing residence and killed one of their Blood Qi Realm experts. Xing Zhicheng and his son are both dead, and Xing Penghai’s body was found just this afternoon on the outskirts,” said Xie Jiang with a grin.

”You should’ve seen the scene! It was something else. As they dug, more and more bodies turned up, and among them were Xing Zhiyuan and Xing Jing’an. The Xing Family members looked utterly ashen. Haha! I nearly died laughing,” said Jia Yanyong with laughter.

The Wuding Gang had been stirring up trouble and acting arrogantly of late. Seeing the Xing Family suffer brought them more joy than a night at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

They found the bodies this quickly?

Lin Zheyu was somewhat surprised. He had buried them in a random secluded spot. He hadn’t expected the bodies to be discovered so soon.

”Have they found the killer yet?” asked Lin Zheyu curiously, wanting to know how the Xing Family had responded to the incident.

”How could they possibly find him? Xing Zhicheng was a Blood Qi Realm expert. Anyone capable of sneaking in and killing him must be at least of the same level. Maybe it was someone from our Feihong Gang or the Nine Stars Gang. If they’d found out who it was, the fighting would’ve already started,” said Xie Jiang with a grin.

”So how are they reacting now? Aren’t they continuing the investigation?” asked Lin Zheyu.

”The authorities and City Guard are out searching, but it’s just for show. There aren’t any clues, and there’s no way they’ll catch anyone,” said Xie Jiang, shaking his head.

Lin Zheyu sat quietly to the side, listening to their account. Only then did he finally feel at ease.

***

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. Conflicts between the three major gangs had flared up again. Jia Yanyong got slightly injured, but it was nothing serious. For two days straight, Lin Zheyu stayed indoors.

With Zhen Bin handling matters as his deputy, he rarely needed to step in personally. Each day, he split his time between martial training, studying the Toxicology Codex, and eating voraciously. As his physique grew stronger, his digestion improved as well. With multiple large meals a day, his blood qi recovered at a remarkable pace.

Within just two days, his blood qi had recovered to nearly 80%. On the morning of the third day, Lin Zheyu rose early. He practiced martial arts for half an hour, then took up his saber and left the city.

Outside the city, the land was desolate. Ordinary residents who had the means to flee had already done so. When the rebel army attacked, those who suffered most were the commoners outside the city walls, with no protection to rely on. Most of the refugees were made up of such people; less than 30% were townsfolk who had fled with the crowd only to fall victim to misfortune.

Lin Zheyu’s former self had been one of those unlucky souls. As he passed by Ma Family Village, he found it deserted; it became a ghost village with no one left behind. Along the road, he spotted a force of about three thousand soldiers marching toward Guanning City. Their killing intent was fierce, far beyond anything the city guard under Senior Brother Han could compare to.

Upon entering the mountain forest, Lin Zheyu did not linger and headed straight toward Lion Valley. Along the way, he noticed that the number of bandits in the forest had dropped significantly. He couldn’t tell if they had fled upon hearing that the rebel army was approaching, or for some other reason.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

A gentle breeze passed through, stirring the mist that blanketed the woods. Outside Lion Valley, the air was shrouded in a poisonous haze that lingered all year round. Lin Zheyu stopped outside the valley and looked toward the entrance, spotting several figures stationed there.

There were more lookouts than before. Lion Valley was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with only a few hidden entryways leading inside. The only one Lin Zheyu knew of was the one he had discovered while following the bandits last time.

”With the lesson from last time, sneaking in again will be much harder,” Lin Zheyu muttered to himself.

This time, he did not plan to use sedative powder to sneak inside as before. There were too many hidden guards guarding the entrance. If he used the drug, they would notice almost immediately.

Tapping the tip of his feet lightly, Lin Zheyu leapt onto a treetop and waited outside, first observing the guards’ patrol frequency and shift rotations. He did not allow his newfound strength to make him careless.

The Nine Nether Sect was likely allied with the rebel army, so there was no telling if the valley housed only a dozen or so Blood Qi Realm martial artists. He had only seen 17 red-and-black-robed figures, but there could very well be other experts hidden within the shrine as well. He had come today merely to scout the area. If an opportunity arose, he would act; if not, he would continue to wait patiently and look for one.

Members of the Nine Nether Sect were all fat prey that were well worth his attention. The last black-and-red-robed man he had killed had brought him thousands of taels in profit. Aside from a martial technique and Blood Pills, there had also been a bottle of unidentified medicinal pills that were likely of great value.

The bottle contained four pills, each exuding a rich, enticing fragrance. Lin Zheyu suspected that the pills were a potent tonic similar to the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction, used for cultivation and enhancing strength.

From their scent, he detected several familiar herbs that were all powerful tonic ingredients. However, that was only his guess, and he dared not consume them recklessly. Even if they truly were meant to enhance cultivation, he had no intention of using them. Pills that boosted strength could fetch a high price, so selling them might be more profitable than taking them himself.