Chapter 32: Rest the Mind by Listening

Rustle...

A gentle breeze brushed past, making the trees rustle.

The night air was somewhat chilly.

Lin Zheyu took out medicinal herbs used for replenishing Qi and blood from inside the house to decoct them.

Over these past few days, he had accumulated nearly two hundred taels of silver, and his Source Power had reached 7 units.

Unfortunately, he did not dare to increase his strength recklessly.

Liang Song intended to leave, though it was unknown where he was going.

During this period before his departure, Lin Zheyu had to go to him every day to receive guidance and learn practical combat. If he increased his strength indiscriminately, it would be very easy to expose himself.

At that point, there would be no way to explain it.

Fortunately, now that he had the Turtle Breathing Technique, Lin Zheyu planned to prioritize upgrading it. This way, he could focus on improving his other martial arts without worrying about people discovering his strength had mysteriously surged.

Taking advantage of the time while the medicinal soup was decocting, he took out the papers recording the Turtle Breathing Technique and began to study them.

"Though the ox has ears, it breathes through its nose; though the turtle has a nose, it breathes through its ears. Whenever one speaks of turtle breathing, it should be spoken of in terms of the ears."

"The guidance of turtle breathing relies on listening to the breath..."

"..."

"When sleeping, the Qi exits through the ears; this is called turtle breathing, and it surely grants the longevity of a great turtle."

Looking at the profound and mysterious manual, combined with Liang Song's explanations, Lin Zheyu began to understand.

The Turtle Breathing Technique was a biomimetic martial art, imitating the breathing, essence-Qi control, and blood circulation of long-lived turtles to achieve the goal of longevity.

The primary purpose of this technique was longevity; hiding one's breath and concealing strength were merely incidental effects.

"What a miraculous martial art. The master who created this technique back then was truly formidable!" Lin Zheyu marveled.

He remembered that in his previous life, Taoists had a similar technique, though he didn't know how effective it was.

Unfortunately, Lin Zheyu had not come into contact with such things in his previous life; otherwise, he could have tested whether the martial arts of his past life would work in this world.

Following the instructions of the technique, he sat cross-legged.

His upper body was upright, his whole body relaxed and natural, and his hands were interlaced in the Zi-Wu knot, held together in front of his lower abdomen.

He vibrated his nasal cavity and breathed according to the requirements of the Turtle Breathing Technique. His chest and abdomen rose and fell, and his breathing became extremely long and drawn out.

After more than an hour, Lin Zheyu gradually entered the state. His heartbeat began to slow, and his body temperature dropped slightly.

Another thirty minutes passed before he opened his eyes, unable to maintain the state.

The Turtle Breathing Technique required a martial artist to have an extremely high degree of body control to manage the flow of blood and Qi and heart rate, thereby achieving the goal of lowering metabolism.

【Heaven Rewards the Diligent】

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 7

Skills

Bull Strength Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Skill (First Layer 39%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Not Yet Entered 2%)

"To think it took so long to achieve such little progress; even entering the threshold is extremely difficult," Lin Zheyu muttered to himself.

He wanted to sit cross-legged again to continue practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique, but he felt a severe discomfort in his heart and lungs. This was a sign that his internal organs were not strong enough to withstand the technique.

After several hours of decocting, a thick medicinal fragrance drifted through the courtyard.

Lin Zheyu took a deep breath, feeling his spirit recover slightly.

This time, he had put in a total of fifteen sets of Qi and blood-replenishing herbs, divided into five medicinal pots to decoct together.

"I must ask Master Liang if there are prescriptions with stronger medicinal potency. As my strength increases, I will need more and more herbs. I can't keep decocting hundreds of sets of herbs at once in the future," Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

He poured out the decocted medicinal soup, let it cool, and drank it.

Sitting cross-legged, he assumed the posture of the Turtle Breathing Technique and sent out a thought.

'Use two units of Source Power to upgrade the Turtle Breathing Technique.'

The Turtle Breathing Technique primarily focused on training the control over muscles, membranes, internal organs, and blood/Qi. It did not provide much physical enhancement or direct strength increase.

Therefore, the energy required to transform the body was not much.

With his Source Power reduced by two units, Lin Zheyu's spirit entered a special state.

He forgot everything, forgot all, and devoted himself to practicing the Turtle Breathing Technique.

In this special mental state, it felt as though years had passed, and his comprehension of the technique grew deeper and deeper.

The progress of the Turtle Breathing Technique rose rapidly, jumping from "Not Yet Entered" to the First Layer in an instant, and then reaching the Second Layer a moment later.

It stopped at 26%.

Simultaneously, a mysterious energy surged into his body, pulling on the medicinal potency to strengthen and transform his body.

Unlike the feeling when upgrading the Bull Strength Fist, the Turtle Breathing Technique provided negligible increases in power or intensity; its main purpose was to enhance body control.

The mysterious energy guided the medicinal potency from the soup, soaking into every muscle, bone, cell, and drop of blood, performing deep and meticulous nourishment and transformation.

It improved the minute details—the parts that are difficult to cultivate through standard martial arts training.

As his strength increased, the aura on Lin Zheyu's body did not strengthen at all; instead, it became even weaker.

The sharpness cultivated through the Bull Strength Fist also gradually diminished and even vanished as the Turtle Breathing Technique improved.

A few breaths later.

Lin Zheyu opened his eyes, a flash of wonder in his gaze: "The Turtle Breathing Technique is indeed miraculous."

This was a wondrous technique.

The purpose of the Turtle Breathing Technique was not to increase martial prowess, but to extend life.

To achieve the goal of controlling metabolism, blood, and reducing cellular activity to prolong life, one's understanding of the body had to reach an astonishing level.

Furthermore, it was incredibly difficult to practice.

One had to strengthen the minute details of the muscles and internal organs through training, step by step, to enhance control over the body.

After entering the Second Layer, Lin Zheyu felt his control over his body had reached a new level.

Although he was still far from the Blood-Qi Realm, through the Turtle Breathing Technique, he had gained much more understanding of blood and Qi.

"Whew~~"

Lin Zheyu utilized the breathing method of the Turtle Breathing Technique, circulating its aura to rapidly lower his presence.

In the span of a few breaths, his aura dropped quickly, reaching a level comparable to an ordinary person who had never practiced martial arts but was simply physically strong.

【Heaven Rewards the Diligent】

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 5

Skills

Bull Strength Fist (Proficient 4%)

Golden Goose Skill (First Layer 39%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Second Layer 13%)

"I've reached the second layer. All the medicinal potency I drank was consumed, and I even used a sliver of my body's energy. Fortunately, it wasn't much," Lin Zheyu said to himself as he assessed his condition.

Using two units of Source Power at once was a bit heavy on consumption; about the potency of 17 sets of medicinal soup would be enough to satisfy the requirement.

"It's a pity I don't have enough herbs in the house, otherwise I could have upgraded directly to the third layer," Lin Zheyu thought.

The second layer of the Turtle Breathing Technique was not of great use to him yet.

The Turtle Breathing Technique had a total of three layers.

Reaching the perfection of the First Layer allowed one to hide their strength among those of the same realm.

Reaching the perfection of the Second Layer meant that even a martial artist two realms higher could not see through one's true strength.

If one reached the perfection of the Third Layer, the body would be without leaks, returning to its primordial state, and the control over blood, Qi, essence, and spirit would reach an unprecedented level.

At that point, even a Martial Arts Grandmaster might not necessarily be able to see through one's strength.

"I'll ask Master Liang tomorrow if there are prescriptions with stronger medicinal potency. Otherwise, decocting so many herbs every time is extremely troublesome," Lin Zheyu said to himself.

Based on the progress of the recent upgrade, he estimated that reaching the third layer would require approximately three more units of Source Power, combined with the use of nearly twenty-five sets of Qi and blood-replenishing medicinal soup.

...

(End of Chapter)