152: Chapter 152 The Method of Abyss Meditation

Chapter 152: Method of Abyss Meditation

As the ship sailed across the ocean surface, it dragged behind it a long trail of churning waves.

Foraging seagulls fluttered their wings, following closely behind to easily catch fish and shrimp tossed up by the wake.

Splash—

Suddenly, a head wearing a diving mask emerged from the waves, immediately scaring the flock of seagulls into scattering in all directions.

"Phew—"

Fang Cheng let out a long breath, his face pale and green, his lips purple.

Pressing a hand tightly against his chest, he tried to stop the painful, suffocating feeling from continuing to surge up.

Seemingly because he had held his breath underwater for too long, returning to the surface to breathe fresh air still felt extremely uncomfortable.

Only after half a minute did he pant softly and gradually recover.

Looking at the passing fishing boat, he turned his head up toward the sun veiled behind clouds.

It should be right around noon at 12 o'clock now.

On the distant beach, dotted human figures could be seen, with occasional cries of excitement echoing over.

It seemed a few tourists were trying to swim in the shallow waters.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze and refocused on his own internal sensation and realization.

During this underwater weighted workout, he had only done two sets of Push-ups and Squats as a warmup.

He spent the rest of his time attempting to combine Meditation and the Breathing Technique, practicing both skills together.

His sole purpose was to effectively Cultivate a sense of Qi and guide the warm current through his body.

He practiced until his breathing fell completely chaotic and he suffered severe oxygen deprivation, forcing him to float back up to the surface.

"Relying purely on holding my breath to push toward the limit doesn't seem to work."

Fang Cheng sighed softly, looking down at the seabed that resembled an abyss.

Although he had failed again, through this limit-testing training, he had still vaguely caught a hint of an unusual feeling.

However, this feeling was far too ethereal and impossible to grasp, making him unsure if it was even feasible.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's eyes instantly grew resolute, and he muttered quietly to himself:

"Let's try going deeper."

After breathing on the surface for a few minutes, his body had stored enough oxygen.

With a deep dive, Fang Cheng plunged swiftly downwards, sinking into the ocean like a whale.

He rapidly cut through the sunlit shallow waters into the increasingly dim deep-sea zone, finally arriving above the seabed trench.

Fang Cheng didn't stop, continuing his dive down into the dark, freezing bottomless chasm until he landed on the rocky platform he used for training.

Standing here, he looked down into the deeper reaches of the undersea trench.

Aside from the Chaos of churning currents and vaguely visible jagged rocks, there was nothing else.

The sunlight penetrating from the surface was almost completely depleted by the time it reached this depth.

Even through Eagle Eye Vision gathering weak particles of light, he could barely discern the surroundings within a dozen meters.

Fang Cheng scanned slowly with his eyes, then leaped forward, throwing himself into the surging undercurrent.

Kicking and stroking with power, he swam down into the deeper, darker depths.

A few seconds later, he successfully landed on a rock barely wide enough to afford a foothold.

Feeling the even heavier water pressure, Fang Cheng used Stance Training to steady himself first, then sat cross-legged and began practicing Meditation.

The environment of the abyss carried an indescribable loneliness and indifference.

Apart from the occasional sound of flowing water, almost no sound reached his ears.

Moreover, since sunlight never reached here all year round, the water temperature was extremely low, piercing him with a bone-chilling cold.

Every meter downward deepened this chill by another degree.

The spot where Fang Cheng currently sat was about 70-plus meters deep.

The pressure of eight standard atmospheres made the water feel as heavy as a mountain, while the cold felt as if it were about to freeze solid.

Freezing, pitch-black ocean water surrounded him on all sides, silent as if it were a dead and silent tomb.

Fang Cheng closed his eyes slightly, his nasal breathing coming to a halt.

Effortlessly, he closed off his five senses and entered the realm of "absolute tranquility."

This time, he didn't force the Breathing Technique into motion. Instead, he took a step back, focusing on searching for that elusive, mystical feeling to make a new attempt.

Extreme silence, extreme oppression, extreme depth of cold.

They would inevitably give rise to uncontrollable fear and anxiety in one's heart.

At the same time, it compressed sensory perception to its absolute limit, making it hard for anyone capable of entering a meditative state to maintain unwavering resolve.

An unknown amount of time passed.

As if he had completely forgotten how to breathe, Fang Cheng's heart beat slower and slower, and his body temperature gradually dropped.

His cross-legged form turned almost completely frozen, his muscles growing entirely rigid.

If not for the occasional bubble rising from his nostrils, he looked just like an eminent monk passing away in Meditation in this dead, desolate abyssal dead-end.

Yet at this moment, Fang Cheng felt as if he had entered an indescribable state of emptying himself; his mind was hyperactive, and his Soul floated through the Void Realm of the Universe.

He could even ignore his Physical Body entirely, letting his body's instinctual consciousness take control.

He only needed to feel with his heart.

Feel how billions of cells inside his body divided, regenerated, and annihilated, seeing dim glows bursting forth during the process.

Feel how the bright red plasma accelerated and decelerated inside countless capillaries, hearing the perpetual, river-like rushing of blood.

Just when it seemed this marvelous sensation would last forever—

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck his mind.

It was like a spark blossoming in endless darkness, fleeting in a flash.

At the same time, as if echoing it, the strand of warm current hidden in his abdomen actually twitched slightly.

A trace of warmth immediately swept through his muscle-stiffened body, and his breathing and heartbeat rapidly picked up pace.

His sealed senses of hearing, smell, and touch surged back instantly, allowing him to clearly sense even the subtle movements of the surrounding water.

"This feeling?!"

Fang Cheng opened his eyes abruptly, withdrawing completely from his meditative state.

Then pushing off with his feet, he shot upward like a straight arrow.

In the blink of an eye, he broke free from the pitch-black abyss, traversing dozens of meters through the deep waters.

With a splash, he broke through to the ocean surface again.

Fang Cheng bobbed up and down with the waves, taking several deep breaths.

Once his condition stabilized, he carefully reflected on the insights gained during Meditation.

That wondrous feeling of observing himself from a third-person perspective...

It was likely a special experience triggered after entering his deep consciousness.

The subtle physiological phenomena he had seen inside the human body were what Daoist practitioners called the "Internal Landscape."

As for the final moment, where a spark of inspiration ignited the warm current in his abdomen...

That was probably an instinctual protective mechanism triggered by his consciousness when his body approached its limit.

In other words, it was the method of "Stealing Heavenly Secrets" that Fang Cheng had vaguely pieced together.

If he wanted Meditation and the Breathing Technique to operate simultaneously and take effect,

the key was to achieve complete Fusion between his consciousness and Qi, rather than letting them act independently.

However, Meditation and Breathing Technique were one static and one active, one Yin and one Yang.

Running them simultaneously was like forcing water and fire to blend—one would always end up extinguishing the other first.

But...

What if he shifted his perspective and mindset?

The consciousness in Meditation could actually become lively and agile, while the breath of the Breathing Technique could be stilled completely.

The two embraced like Yin and Yang, transforming into each other until water and fire blended, indistinct from one another.

If he could reach such a level, it would become like a natural human reflex, occurring seamlessly with a thought without requiring immense mental energy to intentionally guide it.

At this thought, Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the notification prompts displayed on his panel.

[You have comprehended the Profound Truth of Meditation, successfully attaining internal vision of your body. Skill EXP +25.]

[Meditation Lv.0 (31/100)]

His attempt at extreme Meditation training akin to an ascetic had boosted this skill by over twenty EXP in a short time.

It also proved even more conclusively to Fang Cheng that this path was workable.

At the very least, when his Meditation skill leveled up, a qualitative change would inevitably take place.

The wind blew continuously against his wet hair as ocean waves rolled in one after another.

At this moment, the horizon was gradually darkening, as if a storm was bearing down from the other side of the ocean, weighing down the low sky as the setting sun sank fast.

"It's still not quite enough..."

Looking at the gathering storm, Fang Cheng floated on the ocean surface, his body swaying gently with the waves.

"Not enough" didn't refer to his willpower.

Rather, the environmental pressure was still far from sufficient.

Having found a clear sense of direction, Fang Cheng instantly felt his spirits lifted and his fighting spirit surging.

After finishing his rest, he dived back into the sea and swam toward the undersea trench.

This time, he would go deeper...

Above the sea, light-streaked clouds tumbled rapidly, while the gloomy sky flickered between light and dark.

Down in the ocean abyss, Fang Cheng sat cross-legged on volcanic rock, quietly meditating with closed eyes.

Read every word cleanly without a single miss!

Only when the breath inside his body was about to be exhausted would he float to the surface for air.

Thus, he repeatedly tested his limits, gradually increasing his depth.

From 60-plus meters to 70-plus meters, then to over 90 meters...

The duration he could endure each time grew shorter and shorter, from 3 hours to 2 hours, then to 1 hour...

Until he reached below 100 meters.

By this point, his surroundings were plunged into complete darkness and silence.

Even the floating light particles in the water were devoured completely by the abyss.

Floating in this vast expanse of water that perhaps no human had ever reached before, Fang Cheng felt as if he had fallen into the Void Realm of the Universe.

Suddenly, a feeling of losing all his strength and becoming small and helpless again welled up.

The heavy water pressure squeezed his chest; he could tangibly feel countless dark things surging around.

It seemed that right beneath his feet, in the deepest dark world, lay an everlasting resting place.

Unable to see his surroundings clearly, Fang Cheng chose not to sit cross-legged, opting instead to lie flat on his back.

Utilizing the water's buoyancy along with the balance gained from Stance Training, he tried his best to maintain a suspended posture amidst the surging undercurrents.

Once he felt he was no longer sinking, he attempted to quiet his mind and begin practicing Meditation.

Meditation was not limited to sitting cross-legged; lying down or standing were also valid ways to practice.

However, maintaining a focused, tranquil state free of stray thoughts in such an extreme environment was a hundred times harder than on land.

It severely tested a practitioner's willpower, let alone achieving the elusive state of deep trance.

Besides his body needing to maintain instinctual vigilance to resist the impact of undercurrents,

his mind also had to overcome the oppression and fear stemming from the depths of his Soul.

Fang Cheng spent a full half-hour before barely managing to adjust his state, letting his body and mind gradually calm down into Meditation.

By now, the oxygen stored in his body was mostly spent, unable to last much longer.

Unknowingly, time trickled away.

The sun slowly sank beneath the turbulent ocean horizon.

Dark clouds hung like a massive curtain, casting a shroud of mystery over the sunset.

In the abyss a hundred meters deep, Fang Cheng lay suspended with closed eyes, motionless and completely silent.

From time to time, undercurrents surged past, pushing his body downward.

But soon after, his muscles reacted instinctually, his limbs making micro-adjustments to counteract part of the force.

He then returned to his motionless stance, like a sea turtle sleeping deep within the abyss.

His breath was faint to the extreme, his heartbeat barely audible.

Looking closely, a tiny trail of bubbles occasionally bubbled out from Fang Cheng's nostrils—exhaust expelled from his lungs.

This indicated his oxygen supply was nearing total depletion.

Just as the pores across his entire body opened to absorb whatever sparse oxygen molecules remained in the deep sea through the instinct of Water Breathing—

Suddenly, a cloud of grayish-white mist slowly seeped up from the bottom of the unfathomably deep trench.

This mist seemed attracted to Fang Cheng in his Meditative state, encircling the surrounding seawater.

As his pores opened and closed, strands and wisps of the mist were drawn into his body.

This instantly filled Fang Cheng with a comforting ease, recovering a bit of his energy and enabling him to maintain his Meditation.

Notification prompts drifted across his view outside his awareness.

[Meditation EXP +1]

[Meditation EXP +1]

...

Meanwhile, an endless stream of mist continued to surge up from the depths of the abyss.

Moreover, it wasn't just at Fang Cheng's location.

The entire undersea trench spanning tens of thousands of meters was spewing grayish-white smoke, like steam rising continuously from a volcanic crater.

It caused the freezing ocean water's temperature to rise gradually, bringing a touch of vitality to this dead undersea forbidden zone.

The mist crept upward along the seawater, gathering at the surface.

It then rode the tide onto the shore, diffusing into the mountain forests.

Slowly, it enveloped almost the entire Yongan Island.

The night deepened, and the mist grew thick.

The pitch-black ocean surface was whipped by fierce winds and high waves, with bean-sized raindrops occasionally pelting down.

A small steamship had its lights turned off and motor cut, drifting in the middle of the ocean.

Its hull bobbed up and down with the waves, rocking incessantly.

Inside the cabin sat numerous operatives clad in waterproof combat uniforms, performing pre-battle checks as firearms and weapons clattered softly.

Li Chengjun stood on the deck holding infrared binoculars in both hands, observing the precipitous headland two kilometers away.

In his line of sight, a group of shadowy figures vaguely appeared on the cliff edge, seemingly preparing for some sort of sacrificial ritual.

Lowering the binoculars, Li Chengjun glanced at his fluorescent diving watch.

It was still early—not even 11 o'clock yet.

"Lord Envoy, do I have to go down as well later?"

Tang Dayuan cowered as he stepped out of the cabin. Looking at the raging sea, he couldn't help but look distressed: "I'm a bit afraid of water..."

Before he could finish, he slumped over the gunwale and began dry-heaving uncontrollably.

Li Chengjun glanced at him with slight disgust.

An empowered person seasick and afraid of water was nothing short of a burden.

Impatiently, he snapped, "Stay up here and guard the equipment on board. If anything goes wrong, you'll be held responsible!"

Tang Dayuan was overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly promised compliance.

Li Chengjun didn't bother with him further and resumed using his binoculars to inspect the base of the headland.

Several speedboats were hidden over there, where his other three empowered subordinates would lead the surprise assault teams.

He then looked toward the hillside where the Zhenxiang Society base was located.

Minister Luo Lie should also be lurking at his designated position by now.

They were just waiting for him to signal before making their move on this side.

As he was pondering, an exclamation suddenly rang out from the bridge:

"Sir! The radar shows something happening underwater—looks like a massive swarm of fish swimming this way!"

Hearing this, Li Chengjun's eyes brightened, and he swiftly turned to look toward the stern of the vessel.

Right then, he also heard the rustling sound of water being churned.

Beneath the sea surface, a dark shadow emerged indistinctly, like black mist spreading through the water.

Looking closer, one could see what that so-called "swarm of fish" actually was.

They were neither fully human nor fully fish, drawing trails in the water as their bodies moved like surging abyssal currents.

As they closed in on the ship, dark green scales could be seen glinting with an eerie luster.

Li Chengjun's pupils contracted slightly.

Fortunately, the monsters did not attack the steamship, continuing instead toward the headland and swimming deeper toward that mysterious, unfathomable abyss.