143: Chapter 143 Turtle Breathing Technique! Ghostly Steps! The Might of the Thunder God!

Lin Qi's pupils reflected the brief message from Elder Mo.

The second Realm of [Yu Step].

Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded to Instructor Su Qing and Zhang Wei.

“I have some business to attend to. I'll take my leave first.”

Before his voice could fade, his figure had already transformed into a blurred black line, hurtling toward the library.

Zhang Wei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to find that Lin Qi's shadow was already gone.

“Brother Qi, this...”

He scratched his head and looked at Instructor Su Qing beside him.

Instructor Su Qing's expression remained cold, but in those beautiful eyes, an indescribable wave was surging.

Just now, she hadn't even fully captured the trajectory of Lin Qi's movement as he departed.

This man was becoming more inscrutable every day, at a speed that left her heart racing.

...

Longya Academy, Library, Underground Research Lab.

When Lin Qi pushed open the heavy iron door, a scent mixed with old books, metallic machine oil, and pungent herbs wafted toward him.

The research lab was a mess.

All sorts of precious ancient texts were piled haphazardly in corners, and the experiment table was covered with strangely shaped parts and bubbling test tubes.

And Elder Mo was sprawled on the open floor.

Holding a specialized charcoal pen, he was sketching something on the smooth floor with an almost frenzied intensity.

It was an incredibly complex pattern.

It looked like some kind of Formation, yet also like the trajectories of stars; the dense lines and symbols were dizzying to behold.

“You're here?”

Elder Mo didn't look up, his voice carrying an irrepressible excitement.

Lin Qi walked to his side and looked down at the pattern on the floor.

“What is this?”

“The trajectory map for [Yu Step]!”

Elder Mo snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot, but his gaze was terrifyingly bright, like two stars burning in the dark night.

“Kid, I've watched all your match recordings, especially your duel with that space-element brat.”

He stood up and pointed at Lin Qi.

“There's a problem with your [Yu Step]!”

“What problem?”

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow.

“Only brute force, no soul!”

Elder Mo pointed it out incisively.

“The [Yu Step] you're performing now is essentially compressing and detonating True Qi at ultra-high frequencies under your feet, using the reaction force to propel your body at high speeds. To put it bluntly, you're a ‘human cannonball’!”

“This method has enough power and speed, but it makes too much noise, leaks too much energy, and lacks variation—it can only go in a straight line!”

Elder... Mo grew more agitated as he spoke, spit flying everywhere.

“The true [Yu Step] is not such a superficial thing!”

He pointed at the pattern on the floor.

“Look at these positions: Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun... these aren't just landing points for your feet; they are nodes that trigger the magnetic field of heaven and earth!”

“The human body itself is a small magnetic field. When you step on these nodes with a specific rhythm and pace, you can resonate with or even repel the earth's magnetic field!”

Elder Mo's voice rose an octave, filled with a demonic fervor.

“At that Realm, with one step, Ground Shrinking is just the beginning! A true master can even use the repulsion of the geomagnetic field to achieve brief ‘Void Treading’! That is the true method of immortals!”

Lin Qi's heart shook violently as he listened.

Void Treading?

This had already exceeded the scope of pure martial arts.

He recalled the stagnation and stinging pain in his Meridians when he forcibly erupted his True Qi in the Earth Fiend Cave.

“Back in the Earth Fiend Cave, I felt my True Qi wasn't flowing smoothly and my Meridians felt like they were tearing. Was that also because of this?”

“Exactly!”

Elder Mo slapped his thigh.

“It's because your breathing and footwork were completely out of sync! Your body was moving at high speed, but your breathing rhythm couldn't keep up, causing the internal Qi to become chaotic. True Qi was rampaging through your Meridians, so naturally, they would be damaged!”

“You treated your body like a bucket, only thinking about pouring more water in, without considering that if the flow is too fast, it will burst the bucket itself!”

Elder Mo walked to a bookshelf, rummaged through a pile of clutter for a long time, and pulled out an ancient, yellowed scroll made of beast skin.

With a “thwack,” he threw the scroll to Lin Qi.

“This is something I derived for you overnight based on fragments of ancient texts, combined with your physical characteristics.”

“[Turtle Breathing Technique]!”

Lin Qi unfurled the scroll, and four simple seal-script characters met his eyes.

This wasn't an Internal Skill Mind-Cultivation Technique, but an extremely specialized breathing method.

“This Cultivation Technique has only one purpose.”

Elder Mo's voice became serious.

“It allows you to instantly lock all the pores of your body during high-speed movement, internalizing all blood, Qi, and True Qi within yourself to minimize energy leakage.”

“At the same time, it can change your breathing frequency, allowing every breath to perfectly synchronize with the rhythm of your steps. Gather strength while inhaling, and erupt while exhaling!”

“This way, your True Qi consumption will drop by at least seventy percent! Yet your explosive power will increase by more than thirty percent!”

Lin Qi's eyes lit up.

This was practically a god-tier support skill tailor-made for [Yu Step]!

“Give it a try.”

Elder Mo pointed to the open space in the center of the room.

Lin Qi didn't waste words; he firmly memorized the breathing method and Qi Circulation route on the scroll.

He closed his eyes and began to adjust his breathing.

Following the method of the [Turtle Breathing Technique], he drew out the inhalation process to an extreme length, while the exhalation was completed in an instant.

One breath in, one breath out.

At first, he felt as if a giant boulder were pressing on his chest; it was incredibly stifling, and he almost failed to catch his breath.

The True Qi inside him also became sluggish, as if it had solidified.

Elder Mo watched from the side, offering no verbal reminders.

He knew that this kind of thing could only be grasped through one's own realization.

Lin Qi did not give up; he constantly fine-tuned his breathing rhythm, searching for that subtle frequency that synchronized with his body's pulse and the flow of True Qi.

Once, twice, ten times...

He didn't know how much time had passed.

When he took another deep breath, an unprecedented sensation appeared.

He felt his body become as light as a balloon, becoming incredibly weightless.

The liquid True Qi within his Dantian was highly compressed with this inhalation, ready to be unleashed.

Now!

Lin Qi's eyes snapped open.

He shifted his footing and stepped forward.

There was no loud bang of True Qi detonating.

There was no gale of wind tearing through the air.

His figure simply appeared from one end of the room at the other, silently.

The entire process was as quiet as a ghost.

Not a single mark was left on the floor.

Not a single ripple was stirred in the air.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Elder Mo might have thought it was just a hallucination.

“This...”

Elder Mo's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

Lin Qi stood in place, feeling the changes within his body.

The consumption of True Qi was negligible.

Yet his speed was even a bit faster than before when he used pure, violent eruptions!

This was a true movement technique!

The ultimate nightmare for the assassin class—silent, breathless, shadowless, and traceless!

“Though I haven't reached the Realm of ‘Void Treading’ yet, it's enough for the ground.”

Lin Qi clenched his fist, feeling that sense of mastery where he could retract and release at will.

He looked at this improved footwork of his, and a thought struck him.

“From now on, I'll call you [Ghost Shadow Yu Step].”

This would be a grand gift he prepared specifically for those high-and-mighty long-range mages and archers at the Federal Prodigy Tournament!

“Prodigy... you kid are simply a monster!”

Elder Mo finally snapped out of his shock; he looked at Lin Qi as if he were looking at a monster.

“I've studied theories for a lifetime, and in your hands, they became reality in less than an hour!”

He shook his head, both sighing in admiration and buzzing with excitement.

Lin Qi restrained his aura and gave Elder Mo a solemn bow.

“Thank you, Elder Mo.”

This bow came from his heart.

Elder Mo waved his hand, the fervor on his face gradually fading, replaced by a touch of gravity.

“Kid, don't celebrate too early.”

“There's only one day left until the registration deadline.”

“Tomorrow is that public test broadcasted live across the entire network.”

“Are you ready?”

The corner of Lin Qi's mouth curled into a cold arc.

“I'm always ready.”

...

By the time Lin Qi returned to his dorm, the night was already deep.

He didn't rest; instead, he sat cross-legged on the bed, bit by bit digesting and consolidating tonight's gains.

The combination of the [Turtle Breathing Technique] and [Ghost Shadow Yu Step] allowed his strength to undergo another small leap forward.

He adjusted his condition to an unprecedented Peak.

Outside the window, the sky was full of stars.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through the dormitory walls to see the distant Kyoto, seeing those so-called "Prodigies" who were sharpening their blades, ready to trample him underfoot.

In his heart, there was no tension, no fear.

Only a raging Battle Intent that was about to burst forth.

Just then.

Buzz.

The communicator on his wrist vibrated gently.

It was a message from Zhang Wei.

Lin Qi tapped it open.

The content of the message was short, yet it was like a heavy bomb.

“Brother Qi! Something huge happened! That ‘Thunder God’ Li Pojun from Kyoto University just soloed a Lv.40 nightmare-level dungeon, [Thunderclap Swamp]!”

“And... he broke the fastest clear record held by the Federal Military special forces for three years!”