Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Woo Yixuan slammed his palm onto the table, his face twisted with fury.

”Useless! You’re all useless!” Woo Yixuan cursed angrily with a dark and ugly expression.

The last time he received news that Lin Zheyu might have died in the demon realm, Woo Yixuan had felt genuinely pleased. After suffering a brutal beating at Lin Zheyu’s hands, he had finally come to understand the importance of strength. A powerful background meant little when it was not your own. If you ran into a ruthless madman with nothing to lose, you could still end up dead. Because of that realization, he had forced himself to settle down and devote himself to cultivation.

Under his elder brother’s arrangements, he had entered the Woo Family’s Martial Legacy Secret Ground to cultivate in seclusion, hoping to break through into the Shackles realm as soon as possible. In the cultivation world, the Divine Repository realm was merely a lower-middle level of power. Only after reaching the Shackles realm would one possess a meaningful ability to protect oneself.

He spent more than three months cultivating behind closed doors within the secret ground, yet when he finally emerged, he received not only the news that Lin Zheyu was still alive, but also word that the two False Core realm experts he had secretly stationed as a precaution had both died within the demon cave. Although Lin Zheyu had covered his tracks well, Woo Yixuan suspected that their deaths were highly likely connected to Xiao Yu.

”Xiao Yu!” Woo Yixuan spat through clenched teeth.

His eyes were savage, like those of a beast ready to devour its prey. The joy he had once felt upon hearing that Lin Zheyu might be dead had long since vanished. In its place, dark inner demons had begun to take root and grow. Lin Zheyu had become a persistent obsession, a heart demon that refused to leave his mind.

”I want you dead! I swear I’ll kill you!” Woo Yixuan growled, his voice sounding as though it had risen from the depths of hell.

Just as his mind raced with plans to eliminate Lin Zheyu as quickly as possible, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended from above.

Slow footsteps echoed from outside. Each step struck like a drumbeat against Woo Yixuan’s heart, causing it to tighten involuntarily. A handsome and imposing man strode through the doorway with his head held high. The moment Woo Yixuan saw who it was, his pupils contracted sharply. He immediately straightened his posture, suppressing the hostility radiating from him and assuming a serious, disciplined appearance.

The man before him was none other than his eldest brother, Woo Yiyan. Walking calmly into the room, Woo Yiyan stopped in front of him and looked down at him with indifferent eyes. A powerful pressure radiated from his body. Sitting rigidly upright, Woo Yixuan could not stop himself from trembling beneath that overwhelming aura.

”B-Big Brother!” Woo Yixuan called out, his voice shaking.

The pressure around Woo Yiyan vanished instantly as he said calmly, ”You were showing signs of a heart demon just now.”

A vicious glint flashed through Woo Yixuan’s eyes as he said, ”Big Brother, I’ll be careful. I promise I’ll focus on cultivation from now on and break through to the Shackles realm as soon as possible. But before that, I have to kill that bastard Xiao Yu. If I don’t kill him, I’ll never be able to calm my mind.”

Xiao Yu had already become his heart demon. Unless he got rid of him, Woo Yixuan would never be able to cultivate in peace.

”Leave Xiao Yu alone. Rest for a few days, then return to the Martial Legacy Secret Ground and continue cultivating. By the time you emerge from seclusion a few months from now, everything will have been resolved,” Woo Yiyan said lightly, as though discussing something entirely insignificant.

Woo Yixuan’s eyes lit up at once.

”Big Brother, are you saying you’re going to help me?” Woo Yixuan asked in delight.

”Mm.” Woo Yiyan nodded faintly and said, ”I’ll be heading to the Eastern Sea soon. I just received word that Xiao Yu has gone there as well. I’ll take care of this matter while I’m there. You just focus on your cultivation.”

”Thank you, Big Brother!” Woo Yixuan exclaimed happily.

He had absolute confidence in Woo Yiyan’s strength. As long as his elder brother made a move, Xiao Yu would never be able to stir up any trouble. Seeing his younger brother’s excitement, Woo Yiyan could not help but smile faintly. The two brothers had grown up together. Though their personalities were completely different, they had always been close.

Over the past few months, his younger brother had finally settled down and taken the initiative to enter the Martial Legacy Secret Ground for cultivation. Woo Yixuan’s talent was excellent, only a fraction inferior to his own. If he could truly focus on cultivation, the Woo Family might reach even greater heights with the efforts of both brothers. Woo Yiyan had no intention of letting Xiao Yu’s affairs disrupt that progress.

”Enough. Don’t let temporary setbacks trap your heart. No matter what difficulties a member of the Woo Family faces, they must possess the will to rise again after every defeat. Take some time to adjust your state of mind and relax, then begin your next round of training. When I return, I hope to see that you’ve already stepped halfway into the Shackles realm.” Woo Yiyan patted his brother’s shoulder as he spoke. Then he turned and took a step forward. His figure blurred and vanished from the spot.

Woo Yixuan watched the direction in which his brother had disappeared and slowly let out a long breath. A look of determination flashed across his eyes.

***

In the Martial realm, at the Ning Family’s household. Inside the main hall, Ning Ji’an strode in and respectfully bowed to his father.

”Father, Xiao Yu has left the Martial realm,” Ning Ji’an reported.

The middle-aged man replied coldly, ”I know.”

This man was Ning Wenyuan, Ning Ji’an’s father. Without warning, a terrifying aura erupted from his body and slammed toward Ning Ji’an.

A dull boom echoed through the hall. Ning Ji’an’s eyes widened as he was sent flying out of the hall before he could react.

His authoritative voice brooked no argument. ”Go back and cultivate. Leave Xiao Yu’s matter alone. I’ll handle it myself. A great age is about to begin, and you’re far too weak. Until you’ve broken free of your shackles, you are not to take a single step outside the Ning Family.”

Ning Ji’an quickly got to his feet and lowered his head respectfully. ”Yes, Father.”

His father had always been a strict parent, demanding much of him since childhood. As long as his strength remained inferior to his father’s, Ning Ji’an did not dare disobey him.

”Ning Shiyi,” Ning Wenyuan called out calmly. As soon as the words left his mouth, a sturdy man dressed in gray martial attire appeared respectfully within the hall. His appearance was utterly ordinary.

”Please give your orders, my lord,” Ning Shiyi said respectfully.

The middle-aged man said as though discussing a trivial matter, ”Bring Xiao Yu to me. As long as he’s still breathing, that’s enough.”

”Yes, my lord.” Ning Shiyi acknowledged the command and vanished instantly.

After issuing his orders, Ning Wenyuan leisurely took a sip of spirit wine. A strange glimmer flickered through his eyes.

Ning Wenyuan mused inwardly, Every age of chaos gives rise to countless geniuses. This Xiao Yu is rather unusual. He seems to be hiding quite a few secrets. It’s possible he’s one of those favored by destiny...

’To defy is to become immortal; to submit is to remain mortal.’ It was a saying widely known throughout the Immortal Dao, and it applied equally to martial artists. Cultivators walked a path that defied the heavens, and martial artists were no different. If one dared challenge Heaven itself, then seizing the fortune of a child of destiny and taking their place was hardly worth mentioning. Only a genius who survived and rose to greatness could truly be called one favored by destiny. Those who died before reaching that point were not.

Ning Wenyuan murmured softly, ”Woo Yiyan of the Woo Family, Kong Tiange of the Kong Family, Ning Yuanjie of the Ning Family, and Xiao Yu of the Martial Alliance... Though Xiao Yu is not quite on the same level as the others, he seems to be hiding considerable secrets.

”Moreover, he managed to survive in the demon realm for over five months and return safely. That alone speaks of extraordinary fortune. Among the younger generation of the martial cultivation world, these few stand above the rest. Yet my son, Ning Ji’an, is no less gifted. What he lacks is simply sufficient opportunity.”

A grand ambition burned within him. Ning Wenyuan intended to seize the fortunes of those heaven-favored geniuses and transfer them to his son, Ning Ji’an. To that end, he had laid countless schemes in secret. Lin Zheyu was only one of his targets. He had also set his sights on many other cultivators who had risen to prominence with unusual speed, plotting in the shadows to claim the opportunities that rightfully belonged to them.

Having reached Ning Wenyuan’s level of power, he possessed a faint but undeniable intuition regarding the future. More and more often, he found himself seized by an inexplicable sense of dread. The approaching great age would be unimaginably perilous, bearing dangers unlike anything seen before. Yet danger and opportunity were inseparable. Such unprecedented threats also signaled the birth of opportunities beyond imagination. Countless gifted prodigies would emerge in response to the times, surging ahead of their peers and rising to prominence in this turbulent era.

The balance of the world itself might soon undergo a complete reshuffling. Any expert with a measure of strength refused to sit idle and wait for the coming chaos. Ambitious figures like Ning Wenyuan all sought a share of the opportunities hidden within the approaching calamity. They wanted to seize heaven-defying fortunes for themselves. In the cultivation world, people like him were far from rare.

Fan Hongwei of Soaring Cloud Pavilion could be counted among them as well. Not everyone, however, chose the same path as Ning Wenyuan. Their methods differed according to their strength, cultivation, and understanding of the world. Some would succeed, seize another’s destiny, and rise to greatness. Others would fail, falling just short of success and plunging into irreversible ruin.