Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

The moonlight was like silver, washing the world in pale glow. Under it, Lin Zheyu’s face twisted in pain, much like when he had once advanced the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual. Perhaps it was even worse this time.

Within his consciousness, as the power of blood qi flowed through his acupoints, the latent potential in Lin Zheyu’s body was drawn forth. The human acupoints held wondrous mysteries that were nearly impossible for ordinary people to explore. Even martial artists at the Marrow Refining Realm could barely touch them.

Only after condensing true strength could one use it to open the meridians and pierce the acupoints, fully unlocking the hidden treasures of the body. The power of blood qi was formed from the fusion of essence, qi, and blood, condensing under the mingling of spirit. Because of its nature, it was unrestricted by the meridians and could circulate freely through the body’s vast network of veins.

Without opening the meridians or breaking through the acupoints, one could still guide blood qi through the veins. Yet compared to using true strength to open the acupoints, this was a crude method of utilizing them, one that carried severe side effects. Without the aid of a mental method or special medicine, an ordinary martial artist would suffer grave injuries to the body with every training session.

The Boiling Blood Secret Art and the Forbidden Reversal Method were techniques used only in life-and-death struggles. They relied on the burning of essence, qi, and spirit to generate energy that protected the acupoints from severe harm, but the price was the total exhaustion of essence, qi, and spirit.

This time, however, Lin Zheyu borrowed the method of stimulating bodily potential from the Boiling Blood Secret Art and the Forbidden Reversal Method. Having removed the part that required burning essence, qi, and spirit, he roughly merged the techniques into an awkward hybrid. Though crude and fraught with problems, after many setbacks, it could still function. The price, however, was that the pain of cultivation rose another stage, nearly equal to what he had endured when training the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual.

After a few breaths, Lin Zheyu opened his eyes, the whites of them laced with veins of red.

Hiss... Since advancing the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual to Perfection, I haven’t felt such terrifying pain.

Lin Zheyu drew in a sharp breath. The lingering echo of pain still coiled around his spirit, refusing to fade. After a few minutes, he finally felt a little better. Fortunately, this agony was confined to the body. Though it drained his mind heavily, it was still within what he could endure.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 60]

[Skills: Boiling Blood Secret Art (Perfection), Forbidden Reversal Method (Perfection), Primordial Origin Technique {Modified} (Perfection), Golden Goose Technique (Tenth Stage: 100%), Spirit-Wondrous Movement Technique (Fifth Stage: 100%)]

Lin Zheyu looked at the data within his consciousness. As expected, the Primordial Origin Technique {Modified} had advanced to Perfection. Though full of setbacks and severe side effects that brought excruciating pain, he could still cultivate it thanks to the unique nature of his Origin Force. It could now truly be considered a proper technique.

”The improvement method is too simple and crude. With my current martial cultivation realm, experience, and knowledge, this is all I can manage,” Lin Zheyu muttered to himself.

He closed his eyes, sensing the flow of blood qi within his body. Compared to moments ago, it had grown noticeably stronger. It was only a hair’s breadth away from undergoing a qualitative change.

”Just a bit more, and I can break through to the fifth transformation of blood qi. It’s practically within reach. That means 1 unit of Origin Force completed about a third of the remaining process. If I had used Origin Force from the start to enhance the Primordial Origin Technique {Modified}, 3 units would have been enough. The effect is twice as strong as the Boiling Blood Secret Art and nearly three times as efficient as before,” muttered Lin Zheyu as he gauged the strength of his blood qi.

He felt the blood qi within him surging with immense power, its flow echoing like thunder in his veins. Lin Zheyu had a faint premonition that with just a bit more strength, quantitative growth would bring about a qualitative change, and it would usher him into the fifth transformation of blood qi.

”I can’t keep pushing. I need to rest,” Lin Zheyu murmured.

Though his mind still had strength to spare, the pain was simply unbearable. Endless cultivation came with endless agony; he couldn’t stop, couldn’t quit, and could only keep training and silently endure. It was as if he were enduring the tortures of an infernal hell without reprieve.

Lin Zheyu felt that his mind might break as he was using too much Origin Force in a short span, and it was drowning his spirit repeatedly in unending pain. He turned toward the water basin, gleaming with moonlight; it still exuded a thick medicinal fragrance. The blood qi within his body had already recovered to its peak.

”The medicinal effect of this Blazing Flame Blood-Burning Powder is far stronger than what the Jishi Hall shopkeeper claimed. To advance from the fourth to the fifth transformation, the required Origin Force must exceed what ten sets of Absolute Dust Blood Coagulating Powder could provide. There’s still quite a bit of medicinal potency left in the basin.”

Inhaling the fragrance wafting from the basin, Lin Zheyu was deeply satisfied with the Blazing Flame Blood-Burning Powder. Each set of herbs cost 500 taels of silver, an amount most Marrow Refining Realm martial artists would never spend, but its effect was absolutely worth it.

I’ll go out for a walk, clear my head, and resume in an hour. It’s painful, but if I space out the sessions between morning, noon, and night, using 3 units of Origin Force a day should be fine.

***

The next morning.

Having cultivated the Tortoise Breath Grand Method all night, Lin Zheyu felt mentally refreshed. Rising early, he practiced a full set of Barbaric Ox Fist. The immense blood qi within him roared to life, and each punch unleashed a gust of fierce, whirling wind.

After returning from the Red Pavilion Pleasure Barge late last night, a bit of release had greatly eased his mind. He then used another unit of Origin Force to enhance himself, advancing to the fifth transformation of blood qi.

”No wonder they say martial artists above the fifth transformation are considered geniuses. From the fourth to the fifth transformation, each unit of blood qi now bursts forth with at least 50% more power. If I reach the sixth transformation, I could probably crush that Pei Family expert from before with ease, even without using the Boiling Blood Secret Art. I could probably just use the Barbaric Ox Fist and blood qi burst techniques,” Lin Zheyu mused.

After four qualitative changes, pushing blood qi further became extremely difficult, but the resulting power increase was astonishing. If one could reach the ninth transformation and step into the Dragon Transformation, even a casual strike could probably kill a weaker Marrow Refining Realm martial artist.

Let’s keep improving. Afterward, I’ll need to buy more Blazing Flame Blood-Burning Powder. Funds are running low, though; what’s left will only allow me to buy four more sets. I should also check on Little Black after leaving it free for so long.

The martial cultivation path truly devoured money like water. Over 10,000 taels of silver were already gone. Taking out the leftover herbs from last night, Lin Zheyu estimated he would need about one and a half more sets to reach the sixth transformation.

Use 1 unit of Origin Force to enhance the Primordial Origin Technique {Modified}.

A vast amount of mysterious energy surged from deep within his cells, drawing out the medicinal essence of the Blazing Flame Blood-Burning Powder herbs in the basin to replenish his inner energy. Under the influence of this mysterious energy, his blood qi became even purer.

In his inner world, Lin Zheyu once again plunged into endless cultivation. Each cycle of the technique sent his blood qi crashing violently through the Shanzhong, Shenshu, Shenting, and Baihui acupoints. The brutal surges of blood qi forced out his body’s latent potential as his blood boiled, his skin flushed crimson, and an unceasing flow of life energy transformed into blood qi circulating through his acupoints. With every rotation, the blood qi grew ever more refined.

After several breaths, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his scarlet eyes and gasped for air.

”I can’t imagine how the complete technique feels to cultivate. Damn it, this broken one is enough to kill a man,” Lin Zheyu cursed under his breath.

Through constant limit-breaking, Lin Zheyu’s mind had long been tempered to iron, and after enduring the trials of the Hundred Refinements Treasure Manual, his pain tolerance was extraordinary, yet even he was driven to swearing by the agony.

The main issue was that Lin Zheyu’s modified technique was simply too crude to cultivate. With his current martial cultivation level and understanding, this was the best he could manage. Training the original, incomplete technique was less painful, but compared to the improved version, its efficiency was far too low.

Originally, it had taken 3 units of Origin Force to achieve the same effect as the current single unit. If he had still been cultivating with the unmodified, incomplete manual, he estimated that even after exhausting all his accumulated Origin Force, he still wouldn’t be able to ascend to the Dragon Transformation.

”I’ve used 2 units of Origin Force, and my blood qi has indeed become far more refined, but the next qualitative change still feels distant. Looks like breaking through to the sixth transformation of blood qi will require 5 or 6 units of Origin Force,” Lin Zheyu murmured to himself.