Chapter 145: Chapter 127: Comprehension (3)

Chu Lingguang knew there was always someone better. He wouldn’t be surprised if someone surpassed him in the Heart Guarding Skill, or in any other area for that matter, even leaving him completely in the dust.

He had dull aptitude, and in an academy teeming with talent, trying to come out on top was little more than a pipe dream. The only thing he could do was guard his heart when others surpassed him, not letting their glory disrupt his mind or affect his cultivation.

So, when that glimmer of hope re-emerged within him, Chu Lingguang immediately returned to his cultivation, searching for the key to the Connection. He hoped to use the Day and Night Breathing Technique to create a current inside his body that could run a full Circulation.

Although he couldn’t find that subtle feeling and no current was generated within him, Chu Lingguang, his mind now clear, remained focused on his search.

That evening.

After everyone ate dinner and replenished their Qi Blood, they returned to their respective courtyards.

Lin Longde had a lump on his head. When his mind had fallen into chaos, he had started slamming his head against the ground, forming a small bump. To stop him from hurting himself, one of the men in black had chopped him on the neck, knocking him unconscious. In the process, his head had hit the ground again. By the time he woke up, the bump on his forehead had swollen to the size of a child’s fist.

Realizing just how poorly he had done in the first lesson, he was in low spirits and extremely frustrated.

Yan Chengdu was also sighing in frustration. He hadn’t harmed himself, but he had been kicked unconscious by one of the men in black. When he woke up and saw Chu Lingguang sitting peacefully on the ground, cultivating, he felt as if he had been defeated by him all over again.

「Inside a room in the Inner Courtyard.」

Chen Jin and the others claimed their spots on the large sleeping platform. After briefly practicing the Day and Night Breathing Technique, they fell fast asleep.

Chu Lingguang leaned against a corner. After a few more failed attempts to find that feeling of the Connection, he too fell fast asleep.

He was capable of training arduously day and night, but he still needed sufficient Qi Power to sustain himself. Otherwise, forcing it would not only prevent him from grasping the essentials but also cause physical injury—a thankless and harmful endeavor.

The next morning, Chu Lingguang couldn’t help but glance at his information panel.

Under the “Favors” section, there was only a single line: *Chang Chun Pile Skill*. He knew that getting the *Day and Night Breathing Technique* recorded on the panel wouldn’t be that easy, so he didn’t feel discouraged.

But practicing a Breathing Technique upon waking was a habit he maintained.

Since he wasn’t making progress with the Day and Night Breathing Technique, Chu Lingguang instinctively began practicing the Tidal Breathing Technique. He had long ago mastered this technique to the level of Perfection and found its knack. As he practiced, his chest rose and fell to the sound of rumbling thunder.

Chu Lingguang recalled the state Liu Wan was in when he practiced his Breathing Technique.

He tried to calm the rising and falling of his chest and suppress the thunderous roar, but his face just turned beet red. He felt a pocket of air trapped inside him that he couldn’t release.

If he kept forcing it, he felt like he might suffocate.

But he refused to give up.

He tried to guide that trapped breath. If only he could get it flowing, he wouldn’t be stuck merely holding his breath.

Gradually, the trapped air expanded until Chu Lingguang’s chest swelled to its absolute limit.

A wave of dizziness washed over him.

Chu Lingguang finally couldn’t hold on any longer. With a great WHOOSH, he expelled the breath and collapsed limply to the ground like a deflated balloon.

“Mr. Liu said that forcing an exhalation can make you pass out from exhaustion. Why can’t that guy listen?”

One of the students who saw the commotion shook his head.

Chu Lingguang felt sore and weak all over. Hearing the student’s mockery, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. But then, he realized something was off. ’A moment ago, I was clearly trying to make that breath circulate inside me, not spit it out like Liu Wan does to practice his breath attacks.’

Chu Lingguang slowly sat up, his mind a complete blank. He felt as if he had found the crucial point for the Connection, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

A while later, after eating breakfast and replenishing their Qi Blood, Chu Lingguang and the other students once again gathered in the main courtyard’s hall.

Today, Liu Wan would continue teaching them how to activate the Day and Night Breathing Technique.

As the students began their practice, Li Dayao entered again, sat on a stool, and began to rotate his two handballs.

CREAK.

The sound of the rotating handballs filled the air once more.

Just like the day before, the sound grew gradually louder.

The handsome youth in the corner took a sharp breath. His chest heaved once, then settled. He seemed undisturbed, though his brow furrowed slightly.

Chu Lingguang was completely focused, trying his best to ignore the creaking sound. He began practicing the Tidal Breathing Technique, hoping to generate a current inside his body. He wanted to capture that breath and, under his own control, successfully guide it through a full Circulation.

He ignored the Day and Night Breathing Technique and focused solely on the Tidal Breathing Technique. Li Dayao saw Chu Lingguang in the crowd, his chest heaving more and more violently. Then, as if his heart had suddenly seized, his chest abruptly went still. A moment later, Chu Lingguang’s face turned so red it looked as if it might start bleeding.

The dizziness returned.

Chu Lingguang roared inwardly, ’I have to keep this breath inside me!’

’No, I haven’t even opened my Dantian. How can I possibly hold it?’

’Connection?’

’I understand.’

Chu Lingguang’s eyes snapped open.

His flushed cheeks grew even redder, but just as they reached their peak, the color began to slowly recede. At that moment, every pore on Chu Lingguang’s body was exhaling.

A subtle wisp of air appeared above Chu Lingguang’s head.

Li Dayao, still rotating his handballs, and Liu Wan, who was observing the students, both noticed this. The two of them looked utterly astonished.

This was the so-called “Connection.”

In truth, it meant finding the body’s apertures, filtering the inhaled breath within, and then exhaling it through those same apertures.

Ordinary people believe the human body has only seven apertures.

In reality, the body’s meridians and vessels run everywhere, connecting to every single pore. Each pore, each acupoint, is an aperture.

“Connection” was about using these apertures—holding a breath within the body and then exhaling through them, rather than simply breathing through the nose and mouth.

While breathing through the nose and mouth is a form of Breathing and Exhaling, the breath circulates for only a short time, offering little increase in power. Only by circulating the breath through the meridians and exhaling through the apertures at their ends could one absorb its power to the fullest.

However, what allowed Chu Lingguang to achieve this universal connection and find the knack for it was not the Day and Night Breathing Technique, but the Tidal Breathing Technique.

With their sharp eyes, Li Dayao and Liu Wan had both noticed this discrepancy. They were now contemplating whether Chu Lingguang should be punished or rewarded.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep