The Art of Breathing (2)

With the guidance of both the Heavenly Demon and the Sword Master, I had somehow managed to grasp the sensation of mana. Simply recreating the strange phenomenon I had experienced that very first day turned out to work surprisingly well.

The real trouble started immediately after. Every single time the mana completed a full circuit, having set off from my lower abdomen, a sharp, twisting cramp wracked my gut.

If it had happened once or twice, I might have brushed it off. But without fail, the very second the mana finished a complete loop, my intestines clenched so violently that I could barely hold it in. It was bad enough that I began wondering whether I needed to dig a dedicated outhouse. Trudging all the way outside every few minutes was exhausting.

Why the hell am I sweating so much, anyway?

I hadn't even exerted myself, yet sweat poured from every pore of my body—and it wasn't ordinary sweat. It was thick, pitch-black grime, looking exactly like the legendary bodily scum martial artists were said to shed. It looked utterly revolting.

"Blegh!"

The stench was vile beyond belief. I nearly gagged and threw up right then and there. It smelled as if every foul piece of biological waste known to man had been compressed into a single slurry.

"Kyuuu-eek! Kyuuu-eeeeek!"

Wonmo, whose sense of smell was leagues sharper than mine, went into full-blown hysterics. The moment the foul odor hit his nostrils, he scrambled as far away from me as physically possible, wedging himself into the deepest corner of the cave and letting out agitated growls. It must have been truly unbearable.

I definitely needed to wash up again. At this rate, Wonmo might actually kick me out of the cave. Even though the sun had already set, going to sleep caked in this filth felt like an open invitation to some horrific disease.

What on earth is happening to me?

I hauled water into the large wooden tub and lit a fire beneath it. Waiting for it to come to a rolling boil wasn't really an option, so I climbed straight in. The crisp chill unique to mountain stream water washed over my skin, drawing an involuntary groan of relief from my throat. Once the initial shock faded, I opened the interface to seek help from the Gallery.

It was a thoroughly unpleasant topic, but I was dead serious. Had it been loose stool, I could have rationalized it as falling ill from something bad. But that wasn't the case at all, which left me utterly baffled. All I had consumed lately were Inedia Pills.

To be frank, my physique leaned closer to slightly overweight. I wasn't rail-thin, nor was I glaringly obese. But living off instant ramen back on Earth to pinch pennies had undoubtedly left me packed with visceral fat.

Apparently, learning breathing techniques didn't magically reshape one's physique. Physical transformation belonged to external martial arts, whereas breathing methods cultivated internal arts—or so the explanation went. Still, they noted that the two existed in a complementary relationship, meaning maintaining one's physical conditioning was always beneficial.

In the end, my breathing lessons paused right at foundational circulation. She promised to teach me the Mnemonic Oral Formula another time. Having no desire to push my luck, I accepted without protest. When every single circulation sent sharp spasms through my gut, there wasn't much else I could do.

It's definitely impurities and not all my nutrients draining out, right?

The lingering anxiety made me want to pop another Inedia Pill. But doing that risked making my junk erupt from excess Yang energy all over again, so prudence won out.

"Whew."

Why couldn't a single thing go according to plan? Then again, getting dumped into this godforsaken forest had already thrown any sense of normal planning out the window.

Cutting my self-pity short, I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky. A sea of brilliant stars was embroidered across the velvety darkness, stunning in its quiet majesty.

...Right. There's no need to rush.

The water around me was steadily growing pleasantly warm. I lathered up with soap, thoroughly scrubbing every inch of my skin until it was squeaky clean. Disposing of the dirty water would have to wait until morning; wandering out into the pitch-black woods tonight was far too hazardous.

After toweling off completely, I browsed the Gallery while waiting for my hair to dry. Even late into the night, the forum remained lively, as overflowing with frivolous posts as ever.

It was always like this. Far beyond familiar, it had reached the point where it felt oddly comforting. After scrolling through the board for a while, I penned a brief post marking the end of my day, just as I always did. A flurry of comments rolled in almost immediately, but my eyelids were growing heavy, so I closed the window after skimming a few.

Perhaps because of the breathing exercises, exhaustion weighed heavily on me.

Where should I focus tomorrow? Repairs? Breathing? Exploration?

No matter which I chose, it was guaranteed to be grueling labor. Before shutting my eyes, I checked on Wonmo. Curled up right beside my bed, the little fella was already fast asleep. Having him around certainly made this place feel a whole lot less lonely.

Even if only for the money, I need to put serious work into chopping wood.

My eyes drifted shut. As the heavy tide of slumber washed over me, coherent thought slipped away. I had fought through another rough day, so I owed it to myself to rest well for tomorrow.

I'll get out of here... eventually, right?

Clinging to that faint, flickering spark of hope, I let sleep take me.

Sleep is essential for any living creature. Humans are no exception; when stripped to primal instincts, the urge to sleep easily overpowers both hunger and lust. If you miss out on proper rest, you might as well write off the entire next day. Conversely, a full night of deep, restorative sleep means greeting the morning more refreshed than ever.

The Heavenly Demon and Sword Master were bickering right out of the gate as usual, while Starlight Princess left warm, encouraging messages now that she was back on her feet. Thinking back, I tried to recall how many daily recovery prayer posts I had written for her. If memory served, it had been somewhere around one hundred and ten days. That was roughly three to four months. Would I even manage to escape this place within that kind of timeframe?

By then, I won't just be adapting—I'll have set up permanent residence.

After closing the Gallery, I glanced down at Wonmo. Still being a baby, he was deeply lost in dreamland despite the morning light. Fearing that moving around might wake him, I opened the auction house interface first.

Let's see... what happened to the listings from yesterday...

The items I had posted the previous day were the Owlbear carcass and wood from the forest, both listed in auction format. The vicious platform fee meant auction listings usually resulted in a net loss for the seller. But with survival on the line, fees were the least of my concerns; I was just curious what they were fetching.

"Oh?"

The bids were staggering. The timber was impressive enough, but the price on the Owlbear carcass blew my expectations out of the water. Silver taels were the currency of the Central Plains, and I recalled hearing that one tael of silver roughly equated to ten gold coins. That placed the Owlbear's value somewhere around two thousand gold.

Why is it fetching so much? Is it because of the bear gall bladder?

An Owlbear was still fundamentally a bear, so its gall bladder had to hold exceptional value. Either way, being able to sell it for a fortune was all that mattered to me.

The wood is going for a pretty penny, too.

Earning ten gold coins for every single tree I felled? At that rate, I was ready to become the forest's number one environmental vandal. Of course, my body would break down long before I could clear-cut a forest. Until I developed the strength to fell an ancient tree with a single swing of an axe, logging purely for profit was out of the question.

Still, I need the timber to build my defensive barricades anyway.

Having mentally organized my itinerary for the day, I assumed the lotus position. Following the advice of the Heavenly Demon and the Sword Master, I prepared to begin my morning breathing exercise.

Morning, noon, evening, and right before bed—doing it four times a day was the orthodox standard, though exceptions existed. Specifically, consuming an elixir required immediate cultivation to guide and refine its raw potency. Since Inedia Pills were considered on par with spiritual elixirs, doing this every time I ate was an absolute necessity.

So that means I need to meditate after every meal, huh?

Closing my eyes, I drew upon yesterday's lessons and began circulating my breath. Start from the lower abdomen and let it flow smoothly through the entire body in a single, unbroken circle...

Controlling it had been difficult at first, but repeating the path felt remarkably natural now. The only issue was the crippling stomach pain that accompanied every completed circuit. I held my breath, anxious over whether that agonizing ache would return.

Through the heart, up into the head, and back down to the lower abdomen.

The Heavenly Demon had warned that guiding energy through the heart and brain was exceedingly perilous for a beginner. Those pathways were supposed to open only after achieving a high realm of cultivation, yet mine had unsealed on the very first try. Though it had caused a nosebleed yesterday, I hadn't encountered any genuine catastrophe.

Back to the dantian.

The mana that had traversed my entire body returned safely to my lower abdomen. Unlike yesterday, there was no stabbing pain or sudden urge to empty my bowels. Perhaps all the built-up impurities had already been flushed out the night before.

I guided the energy through a few more gentle loops before slowly tapering off my breath.

"Phew."

Letting out a long exhale, I opened my eyes. The moment my vision cleared, I was met with a pair of round, sparkling golden eyes. As I stared into them, the little furball tilted his head quizzically.

"Kyuu?"

It was Wonmo. He had apparently been sitting there the whole time, quietly watching over me while I practiced. Seeing how he hadn't made a sound to disrupt my focus proved he had plenty of tact.

A soft chuckle escaped me as I looked at him. "Hungry?"

"Kyu!"

"Wait, can you actually understand everything I'm saying?"

"Kyuu?"

"Guess not."

Either way, it didn't matter. I bought a decent cut of meat from the auction house and tossed it over. Wonmo dug in immediately, wolfing it down with obvious delight. Figuring he would need water after that, I turned toward the intake line to fill a bowl.

Trickle, trickle...

"Huh?"

The water barely dribbled from the hose. It was flowing, but the water pressure was ridiculously feeble. Something had clearly gone wrong with the line overnight, or something strange was happening up at the river.

"What a pain."

I didn't rush to check on it immediately. Since water was at least trickling through, I managed to fill a bowl for Wonmo before turning to my own breakfast: an Inedia Pill. Instead of cramming three down at once, I had switched to eating a single pill per meal. Even taken one at a time, the bitter taste remained just as repulsive, but at least it went down easier.

Might as well test it out right away.

The moment I circulated the Mind Cultivation Method, my body reacted differently than before. A dense knot of energy inside me dissolved smoothly, blending directly into the circulating mana. That dissolved essence had to be the latent potency of the Inedia Pill. Guiding that enriched mana, I pushed it through my meridians in a full circuit. There were no dramatic anomalies—no stomach cramps, no nausea, just clean, steady warmth.

Did my body finally adapt because of how many I shoved down earlier?

That seemed the most likely explanation.

With breakfast out of the way, it was time to fix the water line. I strapped on my sword and buckler, then glanced down at Wonmo. As if sensing that I was about to head out, he stared up at me intently with wide, unblinking eyes.

"You stay right here, got it?"

"Kyu."

"Oh, and if your belly starts hurting, go outside to do your business. Do not poop in the cave."

"Kyuu."

Wonmo let out a cute little trill, nodding his head in a manner that looked remarkably like he had understood every word. Well, even if he hadn't, housebreaking him could wait; there was no rush. Giving him a few affectionate pats on the head, I stepped out into the morning air.

Did the sword and shield get lighter? Or am I imagining things?

Maybe it was the deep, uninterrupted sleep, but the weight of my gear felt noticeably less burdensome. Not only that, but my entire body felt brimming with energy. The shift was so pronounced that I couldn't help but credit yesterday's internal cultivation art. Still, it could have just been a temporary high, so I cautioned myself against getting too cocky.

Sure would be nice if I felt this great every single day, though.

Musing to myself, I marched up toward the riverbank. When I finally reached the spot where I had submerged the intake hose, a bizarre sight greeted me.

Slap! Slap!

"...What the hell is that?"

A gigantic, bright red fish was flopping violently on the shallow bank, its massive bulk completely wedged over the hose intake and choking off the water flow. With its gaping mouth, blank stare, and oversized crimson scales, it looked dead-on like a Magikarp.

Yeah, that was pretty much the only way to describe it.