Chapter 31: Turtle Breathing Technique

The battle ended, and Lin Zheyu chatted with Senior Brother Han for a while longer before departing.

Senior Brother Han held the position of a Centurion within the Songyi City Guard, commanding a hundred elite soldiers under his leadership.

The entire city guard consisted of only about a thousand men; for Han Mo to hold the rank of Centurion was considered quite an achievement.

Through Han Mo's words, Lin Zheyu's understanding of the military deepened.

A martial artist held little advantage when facing an army.

With a hundred elite soldiers working in coordination with military formations, even a Blood Qi Realm martial artist could be easily slaughtered by Han Mo, and even a Marrow Refining martial artist would dare to take a stand and fight.

Of course, this was in the event that a martial artist chose to fight them head-on.

If a Blood Qi Realm martial artist chose to flee with all their might, Han Mo would have no way to catch them.

...

After joining the Flying Rainbow Gang, Lin Zheyu's days returned to their former tranquility.

Every morning, he went to Master Liang to practice the Golden Goose Technique; whenever he had time, he hurried to write his two stories; and in the evenings, he sparred with Senior Brother Han.

Having just returned from a bandit suppression mission, Han Mo could stay in the city for half a month, so he had plenty of time.

They rotated every half month, heading out to guard key passes and clear out bandit threats.

In the blink of an eye, four days had passed.

"Mr. Lin, I wonder if the stories are finished?"

Lu Zhenfang looked at Lin Zheyu expectantly; they were set to depart early tomorrow morning.

"They are finished."

Lin Zheyu nodded and produced two thick, bound volumes.

These were the results of his frantic writing over the past four days, and his handwriting was somewhat cursive.

"May I take a look first?" Lu Qihui inquired.

"Of course."

Lin Zheyu handed the books over, and the two began to skim through them quickly.

They flipped through them briefly; although the handwriting was a bit messy, it did not hinder reading.

Soon, expressions of pleasant surprise appeared on both their faces.

"Mr. Lin's stories are indeed wonderful!"

"Here is fifteen pieces of gold. At current market rates, that is exactly one hundred and fifty taels of silver." Lu Qihui handed over a small bundle.

Lin Zheyu took the bundle and opened it to check; inside were fifteen gold ingots, each weighing one tael.

This was his first time receiving gold; usually, the primary circulating mediums in the market were silver and official minted coins.

However, compared to silver, gold was much more convenient to store.

"If Young Master Lu desires more wonderful stories in the future, you may come find me," Lin Zheyu said with a smile as he put away the money.

"It's a deal."

"If Mr. Lin ever reaches Bafang City and has nowhere to go, you may come to our Lu family."

"Our Lu family also owns restaurants and teahouses. Mr. Lin could come to our teahouse to tell stories; the pay would definitely be higher than it is now," Lu Qihui said with a smile.

...

Early morning.

No. 33 Jindong Street.

Lin Zheyu was working hard at his training.

After several days of strenuous exercise, Lin Zheyu's strength was increasing rapidly. The sounds of bones and muscles resonating echoed from his body from time to time, and his bones were becoming increasingly hard.

But he was still far from the level of "Bone Refined Like Iron."

He had not used precious medicinal herbs to temper his bones and muscles since childhood to build a foundation, making it extremely difficult to train his physique to the level of Bone Refined Like Iron.

Fortunately, Lin Zheyu possessed a "cheat." As long as he reached the level of Bone Refined Like Iron while in that special mental state, it would feed back into his physical body.

Liang Song leisurely watered the plants with a watering can.

After watering, he used small shears to meticulously prune the flowers and plants, focusing all his attention on them.

After practicing the Golden Goose Technique for two hours, Lin Zheyu stopped, panting heavily.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 7

Skills

Bull Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Technique (First Layer 39%)

Looking at the data in his consciousness, the progress of the Golden Goose Technique had reached 39%. He estimated that in about half a month, he would reach the perfection of the first layer and break through to the second.

The first layer of the Golden Goose Technique was equivalent to the Flesh Refining stage of a martial artist. Since Lin Zheyu had already reached the Bone Forging stage, his progress would be much faster.

If it weren't for the fact that the Bull Fist focused on fist techniques while the Golden Goose Technique focused on leg techniques—meaning they trained different parts of the body—his progress would have been even faster.

After training for over two hours, Lin Zheyu and his master sat by the stone table, chatting casually.

"By the way, Master, do you have any techniques that can hide one's aura or conceal one's strength?"

Lin Zheyu asked curiously.

After the transaction with the Lu siblings, he had suddenly become extremely wealthy.

With so much silver in his pocket and 7 units of Source Power accumulated, he felt an itch to use them if he didn't.

But he didn't dare to increase his strength recklessly.

Liang Song's strength had reached the level of the Third Transformation of Blood Qi; once he improved, he wouldn't be able to hide it from him at all.

If he had a technique to conceal his strength, he could increase his power without restraint, without worrying about others seeing through him and coveting the treasures he might possess.

"A technique to hide your aura?"

"What do you want that for?"

"Such techniques are extremely difficult to learn. They require a vast amount of time and hard practice. No matter how high your comprehension is, you cannot master it without seven or eight years of dedicated training."

"If your aptitude and comprehension are insufficient, you might spend ten or twenty years and still not make any headway."

Liang Song lectured, "You are currently in a period of rapid strength growth. Your primary task is to quickly improve your main cultivation technique, not to waste time on other things."

"Master is right."

"It's just that the world is chaotic right now. I was thinking that if I could learn to hide my aura and strength, enemies would let their guard down."

"If something truly happens, it would be like having an extra trump card," Lin Zheyu explained. "Don't worry, Master, I won't spend too much energy on it. I'll just use my spare time after daily training to contemplate and study it."

Hearing this, Liang Song pondered for a moment and felt that Lin Zheyu had a point.

"Fine, but remember, do not waste too much time on it."

"The best way to deal with danger and protect yourself is to become stronger, not to pretend to be weak," Liang Song cautioned, warning Lin Zheyu not to lose sight of the fundamentals.

Lin Zheyu nodded in agreement.

His main concern was hiding the sudden surge in strength brought about by using Source Power to level up.

"I have a 'Turtle Breath Great Method' that can be used to hide one's aura and conceal strength."

"This technique was created by a Grandmaster-level expert. At the time, that expert was elderly and his condition was no longer at its peak."

"Thus, he devoted himself to research, seeking to create a technique to lock in his Blood Qi and delay aging, which led to the creation of the Turtle Breath Great Method."

"The primary function of this technique is to lock in essence and Blood Qi to prevent strength from declining too rapidly due to advancing age."

"Its ability to mask aura and hide strength is merely a secondary effect," Liang Song explained, beginning to lecture Lin Zheyu on the technique.

The technique was incredibly profound, involving knowledge of Blood Qi, acupoints, meridians, and various other aspects.

"Copy this technique down and take it back to study slowly."

"The Turtle Breath Great Method involves Blood Qi. It is extremely difficult to master below the Blood Qi Realm. You can wait until you reach the Blood Qi Realm in the future to begin practicing it; there is no need to rush," Liang Song said. After explaining some related knowledge regarding Organ Refining and the Blood Qi Realm, he continued to sip his tea in silence.

*This technique is much harder to cultivate than I imagined,* Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

The sheer amount of knowledge involved—Blood Qi, Organ Refining, internal organs, meridians, etc.—meant that it would take a long time of contemplation and practice to fully understand and memorize it all.

...

(End of Chapter)