Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing

”So strong. Back then, Young Miss failing to successfully draw him in was a tremendous loss.” Li Yanming looked at Lin Zheyu on the arena, whose momentum qi was astonishing, and could not help but sigh with emotion.

When they were heading to Wuji Manor, he knew Lin Zheyu was strong, but he had never imagined he would be strong to this extent. Back then, he had only heard that Zhao Hao had condensed a Dominance true intent seed at Heavenly Blade Peak, and that if Tang Zhentao had not intervened in time, Zhao Hao would have successfully killed Tang Weizhong. After hearing this, Li Yanming had not taken it seriously.

Although Tang Weizhong was powerful, he had not yet condensed true intent. The oppressive force of saber intent pressure weighed heavily on him, leaving him unable to display much of his strength at Heavenly Blade Peak. Li Yanming did not think Lin Zheyu was particularly formidable. Yet he never expected that just over two months later, Zhao Hao would become so powerful. It was simply unbelievable.

The strength he has displayed can rival the genius disciples of powerful, esteemed families and sects. Even if he does not achieve a record of one hundred consecutive victories, he will still catch the eye of other esteemed families or sects. That expert from the Wuji Sect likely came here for him, thought Li Yanming as he looked toward Huang Baizhong not far away, a trace of envy surfacing in his eyes.

He recognized that middle-aged man. He was a renowned Grandmaster realm expert within the Wuji Sect, someone of considerable strength. What Li Yanming had not expected was that the man would appear here, and that he seemed to have come specifically for Lin Zheyu.

”A Grandmaster realm expert. Within the Li Residence, only the Li Family ancestor is a Grandmaster realm martial artist. If only I could also take a Grandmaster realm martial artist as my master,” Li Yanming murmured to himself.

Suddenly, he felt a twinge of regret for not having befriended Zhao Hao and maintaining a good relationship with him. In order to obtain more martial cultivation resources, he had betrayed Li Mengqi and sided with Li Shuqin. In doing so, he had offended Zhao Hao.

”Sigh.” Li Yanming let out a sigh and turned to leave.

There was no turning back for him now. If Zhao Hao truly became a disciple under a Grandmaster realm expert, his status would rise accordingly. With Zhao Hao as a connection, the treatment of the siblings Li Mengqi and Li Mengxi within the family would also improve greatly. Li Yanming had effectively abandoned the bright path for the dark one. A perfectly good hand of cards, played into complete ruin.

Whoosh.

A gentle breeze swept past. A sense of calm formed within Lin Zheyu. Listening to the screams, cheers, and exclamations around him, his mind sank fully into the Dominance true intent seed.

A true intent seed, to be precise, was an initiator of true intent. It could influence a martial artist’s spiritual will, guiding it to develop in a direction that aligned with the true intent.

Lin Zheyu felt his spirit undergoing subtle, imperceptible changes. A powerful and domineering momentum qi enveloped his entire body, growing increasingly solid and substantial.

”Who else wants to come up and give it a try?” Lin Zheyu opened his eyes and swept his gaze across the arena. His calm voice carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.

”I will!” The commotion Lin Zheyu had stirred up drew the attention of many powerful martial artists.

As the voice fell, a woman with short hair and slightly androgynous features, carrying a hint of masculine handsomeness and refined charm, lightly leapt up and landed in the arena.

”This humble one is Li[1] Yin, here to seek guidance from you.”

Li Yin looked at Lin Zheyu, her fighting intent soaring.

”Alright. You may make the first move.” Lin Zheyu nodded and spoke calmly.

The sword technique Li Yin used allowed the flexible sword in her hand to be both hard and soft, moving with her body as freely as an extension of her arm.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

She stepped forward and launched the attack first. In an instant, the longsword thrust out and strangely transformed into more than a dozen sword rays that shot toward Lin Zheyu.

”Huh?”

Seeing this strange attacking move, Lin Zheyu could not help but let out a surprised sound. He retreated swiftly and focused his mind. The dozen sword rays quickly merged back into one and shot toward his brow. The sword edge tore through the air with a sharp hiss.

Clang!

Lin Zheyu threw a punch, and his fist collided with the longsword, producing a crisp sound. He felt as if his immense force had struck a spring. The longsword, which had been incomparably hard and fierce just moments ago, suddenly became supple like a whip. Under Li Yin’s control, it coiled along Lin Zheyu’s arm.

Interesting. What a powerful sword technique. The sword technique carries an effect that confuses the mind. Is this a true intent with a disorienting effect, Lin Zheyu pondered inwardly.

He quickly retreated as the longsword scraped across his tungsten metal glove with a faint sizzling sound.

Clang, clang, clang!

Whoosh, whoosh.

The two exchanged blows back and forth, and the battle was extremely fierce. However, martial artists with sharp eyes could tell that Li Yin was at a disadvantage.

Lin Zheyu did not use his full strength from the start. He was adapting to different martial techniques and combat styles to enhance his battle experience. His experience against enemies was simply too limited, and he knew very little about many powerful and strange techniques.

”Li Yin is going to lose. She was too impulsive. If she had stayed in her own arena, relying on her Thousand Threads Sword Technique, she might have had a slim chance of achieving a hundred consecutive victories,” below the arena, a martial artist said with regret. He was lamenting for Li Yin.

”It is useless. In a few days, when those genius disciples arrive, very few of the people currently in the arenas will be able to hold their ground. Only Zhao Hao has a slight possibility.

”Even if Li Yin did not take the initiative to challenge, she would not be able to succeed. Still, she is young. At only forty three years old, she already possesses such strength. In a few more years, she will be among the very top martial artists of the Marrow Refining realm.” Someone beside him spoke up.

They did not have confidence in Li Yin at present, but they were optimistic about her future. Li Yin was also quite well known within the martial circles of Wuling City. She was one of the two most prominent genius disciples of Xifeng Palace. Although her appearance was slightly androgynous, her delicate features and alluring figure still attracted plenty of admirers.

”Is she not a core disciple of Xifeng Palace? Why did she not attend those core exchange gatherings and instead come so early to participate in the arena challenge?” someone asked in confusion, clearly a newcomer.

”Plenty of people did not participate. Didn’t the ones who just went on stage, Luo Manghan and Yue Qinghong, also skip them?”

”Many of them have reached bottlenecks in their training and plan to look for opportunities to break through battle after battle.”

”Some come here to comprehend true intent, while others are simply fond of fighting.”

The people nearby explained.

As they spoke, the battle in the arena had already entered a feverish stage.

After gradually adapting to Li Yin’s methods of attack, Lin Zheyu became increasingly at ease. Her Thousand Threads Sword Technique was indeed formidable. With a single strike, it instantly transformed into more than a dozen swords that attacked him at once. If this sword technique could be cultivated to its peak, it was said that one strike could instantly manifest thousands of longswords. Moreover, no matter which longsword you attacked, that one would be real, while all the others would be illusions.

This technique was powerful and strange. Even with Lin Zheyu’s formidable mental will, he could not immediately discern which blade was the real longsword. As he became more familiar with it, however, he gradually began to grasp some of its underlying principles.

What an impressive technique. If this method of turning one into ten could be integrated into lightness and movement techniques, combined with a true intent that carries a disorienting effect, such movement techniques would be practically invincible.

Lin Zheyu had found a direction for improving his lightness and movement techniques. If he could simultaneously comprehend the Wind true intent and an Illusion true intent, then after advancing to the Force Transformation realm and condensing true intent, his movement techniques would reach an unbelievable level.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Li Yin’s expression remained calm as the longsword in her hand transformed into more than a dozen blades that continuously thrust toward Lin Zheyu.

Faster. Even faster.

Li Yin kept chanting inwardly as the speed of her hands increased without pause.

While Lin Zheyu was probing and studying her sword technique, she was also using the pressure he provided to continuously squeeze out her latent potential. Faced with Lin Zheyu’s astonishing lightness and movement techniques, no matter how strange her sword technique was, it would be useless if she could not strike him. She needed to be faster, even faster, until she could keep up with Lin Zheyu’s speed.

Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of longswords colliding with fists rang out continuously. The weaker spectators below the arena could not see the battle clearly at all. They could only see countless sword shadows and Lin Zheyu’s ghostlike figure filling the entire platform.

”It is time to end this.” After becoming familiar with Li Yin’s sword technique, Lin Zheyu had no intention of continuing. Dragging it out further would not significantly improve his combat experience in the short term.

Boom!

Powerful blood qi surged into his legs, condensing into a vortex-like mass of blood qi energy. With the amplification of the blood qi burst technique, his speed skyrocketed in an instant. To avoid arousing suspicion, Lin Zheyu did not dare to maintain the blood qi burst technique for long. Each time he used it, it was only an explosion at a critical moment, creating the impression that he was using some powerful burst-type martial skill.

With a burst of tremendous power, Lin Zheyu reached Li Yin in the blink of an eye. Li Yin was startled despite having been mentally prepared and knowing that Zhao Hao possessed some powerful burst-type martial technique. Even so, experiencing it firsthand was vastly different from watching from below the arena. However, Li Yin’s mental fortitude was strong, and she reacted almost instantly.

She exerted force with her right arm, and the longsword instantly transformed into more than a dozen blades that twisted like serpents as they stabbed toward him, covering all of his attack paths. Faced with the dozen attacking longswords, Lin Zheyu remained unmoved. His fists struck out rapidly, seeming to turn into afterimages as they slammed toward the two blades blocking his front.

Clang!

His right fist struck the edge of the blade. Lin Zheyu immediately turned his fist into a palm and seized the flexible sword that was trying to coil along his arm and stab toward his chest. The palm wearing a tungsten glove instantly clamped down on the sword. He jerked his right hand back, unleashing terrifying strength that dragged Li Yin forward in a stumbling rush.

Seeing that the situation was bad, Li Yin hurriedly released the sword hilt. She reached toward her waist, intending to draw another longsword. However, a fierce gust of wind struck. A cold sensation spread across her neck as she felt a powerful hand clamp firmly around it. If she made any sudden move, an immense force would surge from that hand and snap her cervical bone.

”You have lost,” Lin Zheyu’s voice sounded calmly.

The tension in Li Yin’s mind dissipated in an instant, and she released the hand gripping the hilt of the soft sword at her waist.

”Arena Six, Zhao Hao achieves five consecutive victories,” the referee’s voice rang out.

1. The Li (黎) here is Li of ”Dawn”. It is different from the surname of the Li (李) Family ☜