Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

After a few breaths, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes. With a flicker of motion, the courtyard filled with afterimages as his figure drifted like a phantom.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 0]

[Skills: Raging Wind Slash (Perfection), Boiling Blood Secret Art (Competent: 78%), Golden Goose Technique (Tenth Stage: 38%), Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual (Third Stage: 100%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 100%)]

”Not bad. Just 3 units of Origin Force should be enough to bring the tenth stage of the Golden Goose Technique to Perfection.”

After testing his improved lightness technique, Lin Zheyu glanced at the data in his consciousness. This time, a single unit of Origin Force had raised his progress by 38%. For anyone else, merging the Phantom Shadow Step into the Golden Goose Technique alone, let alone adapting it to sixfold blood qi bursts, would have taken more than ten years.

It was only because Lin Zheyu had undergone multiple enhancements and his movement mastery had reached an extraordinary level, allowing his control over body and blood qi to become astonishing, that his cultivation now yielded results many times more efficiently than ordinary effort.

After training for another two hours, Lin Zheyu fully adapted to his newfound strength. Only then did he take out the Toxicology Codex and begin his research.

***

Night fell.

Lin Zheyu strolled around Xingluan District, thinking that one should not overtrain.

It was a traditional festival that day, and the street was bustling with life. Performers juggled, sang opera, and danced with dragons. Many of the women wandering the streets wore traditional attire, each exuding a unique charm.

He even spotted Xu Yuxiang and Ren Qingying among the crowd, but chose not to greet them. With his current appearance as a middle-aged man, approaching them would have been inappropriate. As he made his way through the throng, a man suddenly stumbled toward him, apparently pushed by the crush of people.

”Ah! Spare me, brother! Please spare me!” the man cried in pain, instantly begging for mercy. His arm was caught in Lin Zheyu’s grip, completely immobilized.

”Hmph.” Lin Zheyu gave a low snort. This fool really had no sense, trying to pickpocket him of all people.

He applied a bit of pressure, and cracking sounds echoed out. The man screamed in agony as his right wrist was crushed to pieces. The commotion drew attention, and several enforcers came over. But upon sensing the overwhelming aura rising from Lin Zheyu, they immediately adopted a tone of deep respect.

It was nothing more than a minor incident. After wandering the streets and sampling some local snacks, Lin Zheyu made his way, as if by habit, to the Spring-Filled Pavilion.

***

The sun rose slowly over the horizon.

When leaving the city, the gates were still under tight control. Members of the Abyss Sect were inspecting every passerby, holding up a portrait of Liang Song for comparison. Not only the gates, but even the streets within the city had been searched several times. Any outsiders were questioned or visited directly. Even Lin Zheyu’s newly rented residence had been searched twice. But Liang Song had long since departed, making it impossible for them to find him this way.

Deep in the forest, a sharp bamboo whistle pierced the air. Not long after, a plump figure bounded out from the distance.

”Let’s go. Today we’ll find that powerful beast,” Lin Zheyu said to Little Black.

Little Black blinked, not quite understanding what he meant. Over time, it had learned to comprehend many words, but this time it wasn’t sure which beast Lin Zheyu was referring to. After a few gestures and explanations, it finally understood.

Chirp, chirp?

Little Black gave two chirps, its tone tinged with doubt and its eyes full of suspicion, as if asking, ”Are you sure about this?”

It still remembered vividly how the two of them had fled in panic the last time they encountered that beast. Seeing Little Black’s expression, Lin Zheyu couldn’t help but feel speechless.

”Lead the way. Have some confidence in my strength,” Lin Zheyu said, patting Little Black on the head.

Although still skeptical, Little Black obeyed and led the way. Most beasts had their own territories, though they rarely stayed in one place for long. After searching for quite some time, man and beast finally located their target.

Roar!

A thunderous roar shook the air.

A familiar pitch-black, muscular form burst from the forest. The beast was massive, resembling an oversized rhinoceros, but with a tail nearly two meters long. Its neck was slightly elongated, two curved horns grew from its head, and its entire body was covered in coarse black fur and thick hide. Each of its heavy steps made the ground tremble violently.

Hiss.

Little Black misstepped and was sent flying by a single swipe of the beast’s claw, crying out in pain.

Bang!

At that moment, Lin Zheyu’s figure flickered into motion. His speed was astonishing, and within a blink, he appeared in front of Little Black. Blood qi surged through his body as a sixfold burst erupted, and at the same time, powerful fist momentum surged forth. Combining that momentum with his fist technique, he threw a punch that instantly exploded with more than twice his normal power.

Roaaar!

The beast’s massive body was sent flying by Lin Zheyu’s punch as it let out an earth-shaking roar. Though the Barbaric Ox Fist, combined with his fist momentum, hadn’t yet reached threefold power, it was close. That single blow carried a terrifying force of fourteen to fifteen times his base power.

Chirp, chirp!

Little Black’s eyes lit up at once. It flipped over and stood upright, baring its teeth as it waved its claws furiously at the opponent.

Pff.

Lin Zheyu pushed off the ground in a burst and charged toward the beast.

Bang, bang, bang.

A series of thuds echoed as man and beast clashed fiercely.

Lin Zheyu refrained from using his blood qi burst technique, wanting to see how he would fare without it. Using the bursts would drain his endurance too quickly, making it impossible to properly temper his Barbaric Ox Fist. Still, with his current physique, even in a normal state, he could draw upon roughly 2.2 times his former blood qi strength.

Thud, thud, thud.

The battle was fierce. Without the blood qi burst technique, Lin Zheyu was at a constant disadvantage. Each of the beast’s blows struck his body with heavy, muffled impacts. Fortunately, his physique was immensely strong, and by using his refined movement techniques to twist and deflect the force, he managed to reduce the damage to only minor injuries.

Boom.

Suddenly, the beast slammed into Lin Zheyu with tremendous force, sending him flying. He lightly tapped his toes against a nearby tree trunk to regain balance, then launched himself forward again, swinging his Barbaric Ox Fist as he charged.

Bang, bang, bang!

Another round of fierce collisions resounded. Even with his lightness technique honed to near perfection, without the burst technique, his strength couldn’t match the beast’s. Thankfully, after partially integrating the Phantom Shadow Step, his agility had risen to a new level, allowing him to move far more nimbly than before.

Moving like a phantom, Lin Zheyu darted around the beast, relying on his fluid movement techniques to stay out of reach while his fists struck repeatedly, landing blow after blow with resounding thuds.

Bang!

Suddenly, a moment’s lapse left Lin Zheyu struck by one of the beast’s massive claws, sending him flying once more. But by using his extraordinary movement skill to deflect much of the impact, and with his powerful body, he easily withstood the hit.

Roar!

The beast roared but didn’t immediately pursue. Its eyes gleamed with a mocking light, as if it were toying with some amusing prey.

What a pity. My blood qi strength is too low. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be forced into such a passive fight.

Lin Zheyu sighed helplessly. Without the burst technique, his attacks were like mere scratches, unable to harm the beast at all.

Swoosh.

Lin Zheyu’s body flashed as he charged forward again. His purpose now was not to defeat the beast, but to temper his Barbaric Ox Fist and fist momentum. Once he confirmed that the creature couldn’t truly endanger his life even without his burst technique, his heart completely settled. Such a powerful beast that couldn’t threaten him was the perfect training partner.

Bang, bang, bang.

The fierce battle resumed. Lin Zheyu moved like a ghost, relying on his agile movement techniques to evade the beast’s strikes. Though he was still occasionally hit and sent flying, the injuries were minor, and a brief circulation of blood qi quickly healed them. As the fight went on, his control over momentum became increasingly refined.

Nearly ten minutes later.

Time to retreat. My blood qi is nearly depleted, so I’ll come back once I’ve recovered.

Feeling that less than 20% of his blood remained, Lin Zheyu decided to withdraw. He quickly retreated, took out a pouch of tracking powder, poured some onto his hand, and lunged forward to smear it onto the beast’s body. Then he activated his blood qi burst technique; sixfold power erupted as his speed skyrocketed.

He grabbed the excited Little Black, who was hopping about nearby, and dashed into the forest, disappearing from sight. The beast stared blankly for a moment at the sudden turn of events, then unleashed a deafening roar and swung its massive claw, shattering a tree trunk into splinters.