Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

Leaving one of the shops, Lin Zheyu headed toward Jihe Hall. He often visited this shop as well. The doctor’s skills were good, and he was kind and easy to talk to.

”Brother Yu, you’ve come. Please, this way. Are you here to purchase the same herbs as before?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up at the sight of Lin Zheyu, and he personally came forward to greet him.

”No, I just bought them yesterday. How could I have used them so quickly? Sheesh. I just came to see Doctor Wu about something,” said Lin Zheyu.

”Doctor Wu is currently seeing a patient. I’ll have someone notify him. Please sit here and wait a moment. I’ll bring you some tea,” said the shopkeeper with a cheerful smile.

This young master was one of his biggest customers, having spent a considerable amount of silver at Jihe Hall. Jihe Hall’s business was thriving, so Lin Zheyu had to wait nearly an hour before Doctor Wu finally arrived.

An elderly man with white hair and beard, his expression benevolent, entered through the side door.

”Forgive me for keeping you waiting, Young Master Lin,” said Doctor Wu.

”Not at all, I was the one being presumptuous by disturbing you.” Lin Zheyu went straight to the point and said, ”I came to ask, Doctor Wu, if you know of anyone in Songyi City proficient in toxicology and willing to teach?”

”You wish to study toxicology?” asked Doctor Wu.

”Yes. A few days ago, when I went out of the city on some errands, I encountered many bandits. Their methods were vicious and cruel, their weapons all coated with poison as they scattered poison powder recklessly. Learning a bit of toxicology would help me guard against such dangers,” replied Lin Zheyu.

Doctor Wu said after a brief pause for thought, ”This old man specializes in curing difficult ailments. My studies have all been on healing and saving lives. Toxicology is not my area of competence, otherwise I could have taught you. However, I do know a friend who is well-versed in toxicology. But he has a rather eccentric temperament, doing things entirely by his mood, so he may not be willing to teach.”

”I must ask you to kindly make the introduction. Whether it succeeds or not, I will surely give you a generous reward,” said Lin Zheyu with his eyes lit up. He drew out a tael of silver from his robe and offered it forward.

After visiting so many shops, he had finally heard something useful.

”Young Master Lin, you speak too heavily. It is only a small matter. I have some acquaintance with that old eccentric. I will write you a letter of introduction, and he should give me at least a little face,” said Doctor Wu with a smile as he accepted the silver.

He particularly liked young men who knew how to conduct themselves properly. Doctor Wu had someone bring a paper and brush, and wrote Lin Zheyu a letter of introduction.

”Many thanks, Doctor Wu.”

Lin Zheyu put away the letter of introduction, clasped his fists in salute to doctor Wu, and turned to leave. The morning had not been wasted. At the very least, he had gained a lead.

***

By noon, after leaving Jihe Hall, he went home to change his clothes and then headed straight to Funing Garden. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, so the festive atmosphere today was even stronger than usual. Many people had already gathered in Funing Garden.

The young men and women there were all dressed in silk and brocade, looking exceedingly splendid. Wearing a plain blue robe, he looked somewhat out of place among them.

Lin Zheyu glanced around but did not recognize anyone. Among the young nobles, most did not practice martial arts, and fewer than one-third did. Of those who practiced, fewer than half had truly achieved anything, such as reaching the Bone Forging Realm or higher.

For the sons and daughters of esteemed families, even if they did not practice martial arts, many paths still lay open to them. They could go into business, live idle lives, take the civil service exams, or rely on family connections to secure official posts in the yamen[1].

The Great Wei Dynasty had enjoyed peace and stability for centuries, and rebel armies had only begun appearing in recent years. To the young scions of esteemed families, whether one practiced martial arts or not made little difference.

Martial training was arduous and exhausting, consuming vast amounts of time, vitality, and money. These pampered young masters rarely had the will to endure it. Fortunately, esteemed families were wealthy and particularly prolific. Although the proportion of martial practitioners was small, the sheer numbers still produced some martial cultivation talents.

At a spot near the front of Funing Garden sat Xu Qinyi, Chen Xihong, and Ren Qingfeng, along with two women and another young man.

A beautiful young woman sitting beside Xu Qinyi said with a pained expression, ”Cousin, I truly don’t want to marry. Can you speak to second uncle and ask him to find someone else instead?”

She was strikingly beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes like glistening apricots, lips naturally red without rouge, brows green without paint, skin like snow, and a graceful figure. Behind her head cascaded hair as dark as clouds.

”Yuxiang, it isn’t as if you are getting married off right this moment. We only want you to spend some time with Brother Lin. He may not even take a liking to you,” said Xu Qinyi.

”But with me being so beautiful, he is bound to fall for me,” said Xu Yuxiang helplessly. At times, being beautiful was also a burden.

”Brother Lin is not bad-looking, he is both learned and skilled in martial arts, and his natural talent in cultivation is strong. In the future, he might even become a powerful figure like my father. How would being with him ever wrong you?” said Xu Qinyi.

”You said it yourself—in the future. Right now, he is just a poor boy with no background. In this chaotic world, who knows if he will ever get the chance to grow?” muttered Xu Yuxiang.

”If you marry him, then the Xu Family becomes his background. Heroes are born in troubled times. Perhaps Brother Lin will carve out a great future for himself in this chaos,” said Chen Xihong with a smile.

I think dying early is more likely, Xu Yuxiang thought to herself but did not dare to say aloud.

Born into an esteemed family and raised in luxury, she looked down on someone like Lin Zheyu, a poor boy who had fled from the outer city with nothing to his name. To put it nicely, he had strong talent and limitless potential for the future. But in reality, he had nothing now. All he possessed was talent and untapped potential. At present, he was merely a poor youth at the Bone Forging Realm. Whether he could truly grow in these chaotic times was still uncertain.

Xu Yuxiang did not want to be with such a person, with no guarantee of the future. She wanted to marry a esteemed family’s son and live a life of silk and riches.

”All right, stop throwing a tantrum. My father has a sharp eye for people. Those he values always achieve great things in the future,” said Xu Qinyi with a smile.

”Hmph!”

Xu Yuxiang gave a light snort and fell silent. She had no way to refuse a decision made by Xu Jingwu. And he truly was accurate in judging people. Those who survived did indeed achieve great success. But what about those who died? How should they be counted?

Her third uncle who had died, and her cousin’s fiancé who perished before they could wed—were they not all once the promising young men her uncle had favored? But did they not all die?

”Rest assured, Yuxiang, I will keep him in check for you. This Lin Zheyu is a fine-looking man, skilled in both letters and martial arts. He is indeed quite good. If you don’t want him, I might just ask my father to take him into the Ren household as a son-in-law,” said Ren Qingfeng with a laugh.

He had a good relationship with Chen Xihong and Xu Qinyi, and the three of them had even gone together to meet Lin Zheyu once. The day before yesterday, they had planned to invite him out to test his skills, but unfortunately, he was not around, having gone out of the city.

Xu Yuxiang did not wish to say anything more. She rested her head on her hand and stared at the food on the table.

***

As soon as Lin Zheyu entered Funing Garden, a maid came forward to receive him.

”Young Master Lin, your seat is here. Please follow me,” said the maid.

When he arrived and sat down, several Organ Forging Realm martial artists from the Feihong Gang were already there.

”Greetings, gentlemen.”

Lin Zheyu cupped his hands and greeted them.

Aside from Qiu Gaoxuan, he had only met the other Organ Forging Realm martial artists once or twice, so they were not very familiar. There were also a few young men of Bone Forging Realm, likely possessing decent talent and favored by Xu Jingwu.

”So you were invited to Funing Garden as well. Leader Xu truly values you,” said Qiu Gaoxuan expressionlessly.

This fellow always looked stiff, speaking without a hint of expression.

”I heard you back when you first started storytelling. At the time, you were as skinny as a monkey. Who would have thought that in just a few months, you’d reach the Bone Forging Realm? Such talent truly inspires envy!” said a middle-aged man seated to his left.

His name was Xu Yezhou. His ancestors were also from the Xu Family, but by now they were five degrees[2] removed from the main line.

”Indeed. Back then, I labored bitterly for 4 or 5 years just to reach the Bone Forging Realm. Yet Brother Lin achieved it in a few short months. Such talent truly makes one envious,” said a young man about the same age as Lin Zheyu with admiration.

He too had been favored by Xu Jingwu for his above-average talent, but compared to Lin Zheyu, he could not help feeling inferior.

”You flatter me. At the beginning, I relied on many qi-tonifying and blood-nourishing medicines, so my progress was faster. Later on, it slowed down,” said Lin Zheyu with modesty.

Sitting with these people felt somewhat unfamiliar to him, so he spoke little and quietly listened to Qiu Gaoxuan and the others converse. As time passed, more and more people arrived.

1. The office or residence of a public official in imperial China. ☜

2. In the raw, 五服之外(wǔ fú zhī wài) literally means ”outside the five mourning grades.” In traditional Chinese kinship law, mourning clothes and rituals extended up to five degrees of relation. Beyond this limit, the ties were considered too distant to maintain formal obligations, implying a collateral branch with only nominal connection to the main family. ☜