17: Chapter 17, the breathing technique, is complete!

The Marathon ended, and he was on his way back.

Su Ye's phone vibrated; it was a WeChat message from Zhang Yuanping.

"I heard you guys saved a contestant who suffered cardiac arrest at the Marathon?"

Another message followed immediately.

"The Marathon organizers over there have already notified us and specially commended you, saying your first-aid response was very professional and made an outstanding contribution to the event's safety."

Then came a thumbs-up emoji.

"Well done, Su Ye."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name.]

Just a few words, but Su Ye could feel the weight in Zhang Yuanping's tone. This attending physician in his fifties was usually stingy with praise, so this was already a very high evaluation. In truth, it was just a small matter, but it was clear that Zhang Yuanping valued Su Ye highly and had come specifically to praise him.

Su Ye replied: "Thank you, Teacher Zhang. It was just basic skills; it's what I should have done."

After sending the message, Su Ye put away his phone, but his pace unconsciously quickened.

His mind wasn't on these matters at all.

Only one thing was churning in his mind.

Breathing.

Rhythm.

When his palm was pressed against Ye Tong's chest, injecting water-elemental energy to stabilize the Fire Embryo, his perception had also seeped in. In those dozens of seconds, he had "seen" so many things: spiritual energy contracting and expanding with the heartbeat, circulating with each breath—that instinctive, primal rhythm from the deepest depths of life.

Now, those images were etched into his mind, making his heart burn with urgency.

He was desperate to find a place to give it a try.

Su Ye glanced at his surroundings. The latter half of the Marathon route passed through a green belt by the river. Further in was a small forest that few people visited.

He quickened his pace and walked into the woods.

...

The forest was very quiet. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground. The air carried the scent of earth and grass, with occasional birdsong drifting from afar.

Su Ye found a flat clearing and stood still.

He closed his eyes.

His perception spread out, confirming there was no one within fifty meters.

Then, he withdrew all his attention and focused it inside his own body.

With his Mental Energy growing daily, he could now clearly feel every beat of his heart—blood pumping from the ventricles into the aorta, branching out to capillaries throughout his body, then returning through the veins in a mysterious, profound cycle.

He began to try.

Mimicking.

The instinctive breathing rhythm Ye Tong had while unconscious, the pattern of spiritual energy contracting and expanding driven by the heartbeat—he replayed those images in his mind over and over, then tried to replicate them with his own body.

To be honest, Su Ye still hadn't fully understood what the function of the Water-elemental Golden Core Embryo was, but at this moment, his mind was crystal clear, his thoughts leaping and agile. He felt as if he could control his body to perform feats impossible for ordinary people.

Using his Mental Energy to delve deep into himself, he sensed the frequency of his heartbeat. Then, holding his breath, he slowly, bit by bit, began to adjust its rhythm.

Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump!

Like a drumbeat: first a heavy strike, then two rapid hits, repeating in a cycle.

Then, he coordinated it with his breathing.

Exhale—

Inhale!

One long and one short, one slow and one fast; it locked perfectly with the rhythm of his heartbeat, forming a strange resonance.

Su Ye's body began to change.

He could feel the spiritual energy channel within him suddenly "come alive." It was no longer a passive pipe but like a river that had found its bed, beginning to flow actively.

All around him, everything seemed to start flowing with Su Ye. Treetops swayed gently, and leaves rustled as if pulled by some invisible force.

The threads of spiritual energy between heaven and earth moved.

Strand by strand, wisp by wisp, they surged toward Su Ye from all directions, drawn by his breath and heartbeat like iron filings to a magnet—natural and irresistible.

One strand, two, three, four, five!

Five strands of spiritual energy surged toward Su Ye simultaneously. The moment they neared his body, they seemed to melt from a wave of heat, turning into a sky full of tiny spiritual energy specks before pouring into his body through his brow.

Su Ye's body jolted, and he suddenly took a deep breath.

Five strands entering at once!

Previously, he could only draw in one strand at a time, and it had been agonizingly painful. Now, with five strands rushing in at once, he subconsciously braced himself for excruciating pain.

However, the pain did not come.

Gentle?

The previous burning pain, like red-hot needles scraping across his nerves, had turned into a warm, tingling sensation. The spiritual energy flowed along the internal channels, no longer a rampaging brute force, but orderly and steadily seeping into every cell following the rhythm of his heartbeat and breath.

Countless cells in Su Ye's body greedily absorbed the spiritual energy like they were crazed. An overwhelming sense of physical strengthening flooded him; muscle fibers tightened, bones vibrated slightly, a fine luster appeared on the surface of his skin, and even his blood flow quickened.

Utterly refreshing!

This is how cultivation should be!

With every breath, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would naturally be drawn to Su Ye!

Su Ye didn't know how long this state lasted—maybe five minutes, maybe ten. He lost track of time until a slight sense of fullness came from his spiritual energy channels, like a pipe filled to capacity. Only then did he slowly stop the breathing rhythm and let his heartbeat return to normal.

He opened his eyes.

The light and shadows in the forest remained mottled, and the birdsong was still crisp; it was as if nothing had happened.

Su Ye showed a look of pleasant surprise; his entire being felt exceptionally refreshed.

"I feel frighteningly strong right now."

He looked down at his arm. The skin on his forearm gave off a warm, jade-like luster under the sunlight, more pronounced than before. He scratched it hard with a fingernail of his other hand; the nail slid across the surface without leaving even a white mark.

But what he felt most distinctly was the increase in strength. Su Ye clenched his fist, feeling a sense of power from his knuckles that was another level higher than it had been this morning.

Su Ye's eyes flickered with anticipation. He looked at a tree in front of him, about the thickness of a bowl, and his gaze instantly became sharp. At this moment, his breath was long, and the spiritual energy in his Dantian circulated naturally.

Without hesitation, he unified his waist and stance and threw a right punch.

Boom!

With a dull, heavy bang, the tree trunk snapped right where his fist made contact. The upper half, along with its branches and leaves, crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust and fallen leaves. The break was jagged, the wood fibers violently torn apart.

Su Ye withdrew his fist and glanced at his knuckles.

There was no damage, not even a scratch. Only the peaks of his knuckles were slightly red, and even that faded after a few seconds.

He let out a long breath, a slow smile spreading across his face.

It's a success!