Immortality Begins With Internal Breathing-Chapter 281: Limit (I)

Within Wuji Manor, Li Yanming left the courtyard and made a circuit outside. He observed for a while and, seeing no one around, slipped into an alley and vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in the courtyard where the Tang Family resided.

"Zhao Hao has already decided to participate in the arena challenge, starting this afternoon. If you plan to act, make arrangements as soon as possible. Zhao Hao is very strong, but his temperament is overly steady. If he senses the situation turning unfavorable, he is very likely to withdraw. Arrange your manpower and aim for a single decisive kill. Do not give him a chance to withdraw," Li Yanming said calmly.

From his recent observations of Zhao Hao, Li Yanming realized that he was an extremely cautious fellow. He could not understand how someone who had condensed a Dominance true intent seed could possess such a cautious disposition.

Later, through indirect probing of Li Mengqi and Li Mengxi and listening to their conversations, Li Yanming learned that he practiced the Tortoise Breath True Technique. Moreover, his cultivation progress seemed extremely fast, and he showed considerable comprehension in Tortoise Breath true intent. It directly suppressed the influence of the Dominance true intent seed on his temperament.

"Good. Many thanks for the information, my friend. As for what we promised your young lady, once Zhao Hao is killed, we will send someone to deliver it to your residence the next day," Tang Weizhong said as he cupped his hands.

Li Yanming gave him a contemptuous smile and paid no attention to the hidden implications in his words.

"This is Calamity Wood Vine Incense. It is non-toxic by itself and has no color or scent. When combined with Crimson Dream Orchid, however, it produces another kind of deadly poison. It will not kill Marrow Refining realm martial artists, but it can obstruct the circulation of blood qi within their bodies. These past days, Crimson Dream Orchid has been added to the food that Zhao Hao eats every day. As long as you carry the Calamity Wood Vine Incense with you, the medicinal effect will be triggered. It takes about fifteen minutes to take effect, so you need to prepare in advance."

Li Yanming tossed out a packet of medicinal powder sealed in a leather poison pouch and spoke indifferently. After that, he turned around and left.

"Calamity Wood Vine Incense. This is rare stuff. That woman is really willing to part with it, huh?" Tang Weizhong said, holding the poison pouch as a smile crept onto his lips.

With this in hand, things would be much easier.

***

Golden light poured down, illuminating Lin Zheyu's excited face. If an ordinary person used the Ninefold Origin Lock Art twice in succession, their martial cultivation foundation would likely be destroyed outright. Only Lin Zheyu could continue cultivating by relying on the powerful effects of Origin Force.

After entering the consciousness space, the damage inflicted on his martial cultivation foundation by using the Ninefold Origin Lock Art would be instantly restored, granting him the chance to continue cultivating.

After using the Ninefold Origin Lock Art twice, most of the life essence within Lin Zheyu's body was locked away. The total amount of blood qi in one’s body was closely tied to life essence and latent potential. Once they were locked, the total volume of his aura dropped again and again. The blood qi he could cultivate now was less than one-tenth of his peak state.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 32]

[Skills: Ninefold Origin Lock Art (Perfection), Tortoise Breath True Technique (Sixth Stage: 0%), Golden Goose Technique (Tenth Stage: 100%), Violet Thunder Dominance Fist (Seventh Stage: 100%), Spirit Wondrous Movement Technique (Fifth Stage: 100%), Violet Thunder Blood Condensing Technique (First Stage: 48%)]

"When I used Origin Force to improve before, each unit of Origin Force increased progress by about 5% on average. After stacking the Ninefold Origin Lock Art twice, the progress jumped to around 9%, almost doubling," Lin Zheyu could not help but exclaim in amazement.

If using the Ninefold Origin Lock Art twice had not already been extremely taxing and prevented him from using it a third time, he would have wanted to stack it once more. The Ninefold Origin Lock Art was a very wondrous secret art. When fully activated, it locked away large amounts of life essence and qi, origin qi, latent potential, and blood qi for storage, to be unleashed later when the body aged or when facing a powerful enemy. It was equivalent to sacrificing current combat strength for future use.

When this secret art was circulated, it damaged the latent potential of the martial cultivation foundation, causing the total amount of blood qi cultivated to be greatly reduced even after retraining.

However, this also brought an advantage. Causing a small amount of blood qi to undergo qualitative change was far easier than having all of the blood qi in the body undergo qualitative change. Once a small portion of blood qi completed the qualitative change, its essence was elevated and would not degenerate due to mixing with lower-stage blood qi that had been locked away by the Ninefold Origin Lock Art.

Otherwise, every time a martial artist exhausted the blood qi in their body and recovered it, they would need to cultivate it all over again. It was called a qualitative change because once it occurred, blood qi underwent a fundamental transformation. Even if the blood qi energy was thin, it was still blood qi that had undergone nine qualitative changes.

No. There is no way to stack the Ninefold Origin Lock Art a third time.

Lin Zheyu tried for a while and completely abandoned the idea of stacking it a third time. Two times was already his limit. On the third attempt, he felt his body would collapse outright and suffer unpredictable damage.

"I will undo it and take a look. After stacking the Ninefold Origin Lock Art twice, what effect will it have once released, and how much will it increase the total amount of blood qi in my body?" Lin Zheyu said to himself.

He let out a light breath as his hands rapidly formed seals and tapped various acupoints across his body. As the technique circulated and vast amounts of blood qi and life energy surged through the acupoints in his body, Lin Zheyu's complexion became exceptionally rosy.

Again!

After releasing the first stage of the Ninefold Origin Lock Art, he did not stop the seals in his hands. His hands moved rapidly as he drew the essence and qi energy throughout his body to strike at the major acupoints. Once the Ninefold Origin Lock Art was released, the energy that had been locked away surged out in an instant, but this was only fleeting. Because the martial cultivation foundation had been damaged, if it was not repaired quickly, all of this energy would eventually dissipate completely. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Boom!

When the final stage was released, an even more massive surge of life energy mixed with blood qi energy burst forth wildly. As the blood qi surged, it emitted faint rumbling sounds. Lin Zheyu felt his body grow stronger than ever before. He clenched his fists, muscles bulging along his arms. With a light swing of his fist, the air trembled, and a soft popping sound rang out.

After briefly testing his strength, Lin Zheyu stopped. These energies were cultivated through painstaking effort, and he could not allow them to dissipate in vain. He immersed his right hand in the water basin, closed his eyes, and sent out a thought.

Use 1 unit of Origin Force to cultivate the Violet Thunder Blood Condensing Technique.

In an instant, his mind blurred, and he entered the consciousness space. The life energy and blood qi energy that had been continuously leaking away came to an abrupt halt the moment he entered. The damage inflicted on his martial cultivation foundation by the Ninefold Origin Lock Art was instantly restored, and the life energy rapidly merged into his body. Lin Zheyu began an unending cycle of cultivation.

A few breaths later, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes. He immediately circulated the Tortoise Breath True Technique, suppressing the massive fluctuations of blood qi energy and returning to an unremarkable appearance. However, this was only superficial. Any powerful martial artist with keen perception could easily sense the terrifying blood qi energy hidden within his body.

After undergoing nine qualitative changes and entering the Dragon Transformation, the highly condensed blood qi energy was no longer something the Tortoise Breath True Technique could fully conceal on its own.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 31]

[Skills: Ninefold Origin Lock Art (Perfection), Tortoise Breath True Technique (Sixth Stage: 0%), Golden Goose Technique (Tenth Stage: 100%), Violet Thunder Dominance Fist (Seventh Stage: 100%), Spirit Wondrous Movement Technique (Fifth Stage: 100%), Violet Thunder Blood Condensing Technique (First Stage: 52%)]

"As expected! Without using the Ninefold Origin Lock Art, 1 unit of Origin Force only increases progress by about 3%. That is far too great a difference compared to 9%."

Lin Zheyu looked at the data within his consciousness. The changes confirmed his earlier hypothesis. He calmed his mind and carefully sensed the powerful blood qi energy flowing through his body. The total amount of blood qi had increased again. This time, the increase was slightly greater than before, though the difference was not significant.

Is there a limit to the Blood Qi realm? If it could be raised endlessly, then even without comprehending true intent, my strength would far surpass that of Force Transformation realm martial artists. No, perhaps it could even surpass Grandmaster realm martial artists.

Feeling his own powerful strength, a tremendous ambition could not help but rise within Lin Zheyu's heart.

The stronger the blood qi, the more terrifying its enhancement to the physique. When Lin Zheyu had broken through to the sixth transformation of blood qi, his physique defense, already comparable to a Marrow Refining realm ferocious beast, had improved dramatically. It reached the level of that incredibly defensive Marrow Refining realm beast from before. His pure physical strength alone was comparable to that of a martial artist at the fourth transformation of blood qi.

Now, after advancing to the ninth transformation and entering the Dragon Transformation, Lin Zheyu's physique became even more terrifying. Relying on physique strength alone, weaker Marrow Refining realm martial artists might not even be his match. If this continued, his physical strength alone might reach a terrifying level capable of matching Force Transformation realm martial artists.

I am thinking too far ahead. The total amount of blood qi the body can handle has a limit, and the quality of blood qi should also have a limit.

Lin Zheyu smiled faintly and dispelled the stray thoughts in his mind.

Just like the total amount of blood qi, the number of qualitative changes also had a limit and could not increase endlessly. There was no need to even reach that limit.

One day, when a single qualitative change required hundreds or even thousands of units of Origin Force, Lin Zheyu would simply give up. Using that much Origin Force elsewhere would be enough to bring about earth-shaking changes to his strength.

Lin Zheyu circulated the Ninefold Origin Lock Art and once again locked away his life essence and blood qi. When he reached the sixth turn, his blood qi strength returned to around the eighth transformation.

More precisely, the strength had not changed, but the total amount had decreased. With the total reduced and spread throughout the same bodily vessel, the blood qi became much thinner. With such a thin concentration, the Tortoise Breath True Technique could perfectly conceal the blood qi fluctuations.

Rumble, rumble.

Lin Zheyu walked out of the courtyard. He unleashed the Violet Thunder Dominance Fist, his fist wind surging. As his chest rose and fell, a deep and powerful thunderous rumble echoed. This sound grew louder as his physique became stronger. Although most of his blood qi and life energy were locked away by the Ninefold Origin Lock Art, his strength was still far greater than before.

The nature of his blood qi did not change. What changed was only the total amount. With the total reduced, the concentration of blood qi spread throughout the body became thinner. However, when condensed together, a single unit of blood qi energy still possessed the strength of blood qi that had undergone nine qualitative changes.

As expected of the Dragon Transformation. When fully unleashed, my power is no weaker than when I use blood qi burst techniques at the eighth transformation. However, after locking away most of my life essence and blood qi with the Ninefold Origin Lock Art, it is essentially crippling my strength. My endurance still falls short. I need to obtain a truly effective concealment technique. And the Golden Goose Technique also needs to be strengthened again.

After advancing to the Dragon Transformation, the strength of his blood qi reached an astonishing level. If blood qi burst techniques were stacked on top of that, even he would be unable to fully control such terrifying, explosive power. He needed to retrain and adapt. Otherwise, he would be unable to execute refined lightness techniques and movement techniques.

He could not continue using Origin Force to improve today. Having used too much Origin Force in a short period, his mental energy was already somewhat overtaxed.

After tidying up the room and leaving the courtyard, Lin Zheyu did not rush to the place where the martial artists were competing. Instead, he went to the marketplace again. There was still time, so he planned to stroll around. He wanted to see if he could find any interesting techniques. If he could find a powerful concealment technique, that would be ideal.

After making a round through the market, he found several techniques that looked decent, but unfortunately, the prices were far too high.