Chapter 13: The True Stillness of Turtle Breathing!_1
This made all three of them pause, exchanging glances in bewilderment—the person before them... clearly had no grasp of the situation!
The man on the right wearing a child's mask said impatiently, "We'll take the manual, and we want the money on you too! Don't waste words with this kid, kill him! The manual and the money will be ours!"
It was obviously more cost-effective to rob Su Changkong than to buy the Turtle Breath Technique from him—without spending a penny, both the manual and the silver would be theirs!
"No! No! You can have the manual! And the money! Just don't kill me!"
Seeing that the three men were about to make a move, Su Changkong yelled in 'panic,' simultaneously pulling out a manual and a cloth bag filled with silver, and threw them towards the man with the child's mask.
"Be careful!"
The man with the child's mask instinctively reached out to catch them, and in the moment he was bewildered by Su Changkong's compliance, he heard the alarm from his companion.
"Clang!"
The moment the man with the child's mask caught the manual and money bag, the previously cowering Su Changkong vanished—like a ferocious tiger, he pounced forward, the Iron-Cutting Sword at his waist unsheathed. The blade and scabbard scraped together, emitting a piercing metallic sound.
Whoosh!
A frigid flash of the blade, like a silver waterfall, swept out. The Iron Cutting Blade Technique, practiced a million times, was unleashed without any fancy flourishes—just a straightforward, vertical chop from above!
"Thud!"
The man with the child's mask realized something was amiss, but he had no chance to react to the fatal strike. The blade struck the top of his head, the hardest part of the human body, which—under Su Changkong's cut capable of cleaving iron and stone—was split with the same ease as cutting through decay!
As the blade continued downward, without losing momentum, a bloody line appeared down the center of the man with the child's mask. The mask cracked, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but as the blood line widened, his body split in two, falling to the ground as blood and viscera spilled out, spreading a pungent odor.
"Third brother!"
This gory, brutal scene sent a chill down the spines of the remaining two men, who cried out in shock. They had seen their share of corpses and had killed people with their own hands, but they had never before witnessed someone being cleaved in half by a single, clean stroke like Su Changkong's—it was undeniably heart-stopping and made their scalps tingle!
The Su Changkong they saw as an easy target was in fact a ferocious beast hunting its prey!
"You're far too greedy! With just this little ability, you dare to coerce me?"
A trace of viciousness flickered in Su Changkong's eyes. Initially, he couldn't tell the three men's strength, but as soon as they clashed, he realized they were just ordinary thieves, not formidable foes.
There was no reasoning with robbers; once the fight began, it was a fight to the death. He was determined to make them pay the ultimate price!
"Kill him!"
After a brief stupor, the man with the wolf mask shouted fiercely, the curved sabre in his hand chopping viciously towards Su Changkong from the side.
Iron Cutting Blade Technique, Horizontal Chop!
Without needing to look, Su Changkong could hear the sound of the blade tearing through the air. Holding the Iron-Cutting Sword in one hand, one meter and twenty centimeters long, he concentrated the strength in his arm and swung the sword out with a backhand stroke.
Practicing the Five Animal Frolics and blacksmithing for many years, Su Changkong's hands were very steady!
"Crack!"
The swords collided, and amidst the crisp sound of shattering, the curved sabre of the man with the wolf mask released a strained groan before breaking like porcelain. The heavy Iron-Cutting Sword split the curved sabre without pausing and continued in a wide horizontal slash.
"Thud!"
The man with the wolf-head mask staggered backward, his chest torn open, the part above his chest separating from his body, splitting into two halves!
A fatal strike!
Su Changkong's practiced Blade Technique was simple and brutal, combining strength with speed, focusing on the skill of 'chopping,' instantly slaying enemies with a single strike without fancy variations!
The remaining man wearing a sheep-head mask felt a chill in his heart, fear spreading throughout his entire body, realizing that the person wearing the ape-head mask was not the easy target they had imagined, but a monster who killed without batting an eyelid!
"Run! Run!"
The terrified man with the sheep-head mask didn't even have the courage to fight desperately against Su Changkong. Turning around, he fled. The way his two brothers had been slaughtered by Su Changkong, like pigs and dogs, made him want nothing more than to escape from this place.
"Pfft!"
But the moment the man with the sheep-head mask turned, he felt a cold sensation on the back of his neck, and his head became heavy. His head flew up high, falling to the ground and rolling a few times, as his consciousness gradually faded.
"You didn't dare to rob the Red Fire Skill, opting instead to pick on the soft persimmons. This shows that you're not such impressive figures after all!"
Su Changkong wiped the blood off his sword on the clothing of a corpse, sighing as he looked at the mutilated bodies of the three men on the ground.
These three were indeed weak, just the standard of ordinary bandits, not even in the Strength Refinement Realm. In front of Su Changkong, they were as easy to slay cleanly as chopping vegetables.
Killing was not new to Su Changkong, and his mood was somewhat complex. He did not want to invite trouble, but it always found him. In this chaotic world where human life was as cheap as grass, people drew their swords at the slightest disagreement, and if you did not kill, you would be killed!
"So poor... These three joined the Zhao Family auction, planning from the beginning to pick a fat sheep and make a fortune!"
Upon searching the three bodies, Su Changkong eventually found a total of 20 taels of silver, which was better than nothing.
"Let's go back."
Paying no further attention to the corpses on the ground, Su Changkong quickly disappeared from the scene and made his way back to Black Iron Manor.
By the time he returned to Black Iron Manor, it was already evening. Everything inside the manor was business as usual, with everyone busy with their daily routine of eating and resting.
Though his trip to Dongling Town had some hiccups, Su Changkong successfully achieved his goal and obtained a manual of Inner Strength!
"Finally got a manual of Inner Strength, let's see what this Turtle Breath Technique is all about!"
After dinner and a bath, Su Changkong couldn't wait to study the Turtle Breath Technique.
Opening the manual, Su Changkong carefully examined the contents.
"Turtle Breath Technique, a Biomimetic Qi Skill modeled after the breathing of a turtle. By imitating the turtle's breath, one stores air for extended periods, aiming to achieve longevity like that of a turtle."
The Turtle Breath Technique is a cultivation technique that can cultivate True Qi. However, the difficulty is so high that few people can reach this step!
"The cultivation of the Turtle Breath Technique consists of four parts: quiescence, latent breathing, true tranquility, and exiting tranquility..."
Su Changkong leafed through the "Turtle Breath Technique," took note of the key points of the technique, and then set about practicing.
Sitting cross-legged, Su Changkong focused his mind, with his eyes on his nose, his nose on his mouth, and his mouth on his heart, entering a state of profound tranquility.
His breathing became smooth, each breath drawn out for an extended duration.
Half an hour passed, and Su Changkong felt as if everything around him became silent. He felt as though he was floating in water, like a turtle that occasionally sticks its head out of the water to breathe!