Chapter 17 Breathing Skills, Good Aptitude

(I've made some changes to the protagonist's family background and character settings, as well as fixed the pacing issues of the previous chapter. Readers who have read it may revisit it, especially chapters 15 and 16. Sorry for the trouble, and thank you for your understanding.)

(Thank you all for your rewards, monthly tickets, and recommendations. As a newcomer, I'm flattered and will strive to repay you by writing more!)

...

Qingcheng has four major districts: east, south, west, and north. There's a saying that goes, 'The east is rich, the west is poor, the north is noble, and the south is lowly,' which roughly describes the residential division within Qingcheng.

Residents of the East City District are mostly wealthy, with major companies and corporate headquarters primarily located there—it can be said that every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. The North City District, on the other hand, is home to officials and dignitaries, with extremely high security. The issue here is not the cost of the land, but rather that money can't buy it.

The West City District is where the majority of common folks reside, which is also where Xue Jing's home is located.

Of course, this is not an absolute, and living in the East City District doesn't guarantee wealth, nor does living in the West City District guarantee poverty—it's after all just a loose division.

But there is no debate about the 'lowly' reputation of the South City District.

It's a true slum, the ultimate destination of all crime in a city, governed not by law but by gangsters. Even the Public Security Bureau has no control over it. Many criminals simply vanish into its depths, impossible to find, with only the security companies behind the gangs having any say there.

However, Xue Jing had never been to the South City District. Since childhood, his parents and other elders had warned him countless times to never go near it, so he didn't know much about it except for what he heard from others.

He never imagined that Pei Youguang, who his classmates said had a 'strong background,' actually lived within the South City District.

Although it was just on the periphery of the South City, close to the West City, it still touched a bit of the 'slums' edge.'

"Jing, come in," said Pei Youguang, taking out his keys to open the gate of a rather large house and speaking to Xue Jing.

The house's exterior looked quite old, with a square shape and a front yard that covered a fairly large area. The white brick walls were full of mottled signs of age, severely oxidized and yellowed.

The surrounding environment of the house was also a picture of backwardness and decay, with many areas on the street cluttered with bottles and cans, which appeared to have not been cleaned for a long time.

Xue Jing shook his head and followed Pei Youguang inside.

Contrary to the antiquated exterior of the house, the interior decoration was surprisingly nice, with grey faux wood flooring, a large fluffy carpet in the middle of the living room, and all kinds of furniture that, while not exuding great taste, at least seemed quite harmonious.

Xue Jing took off his shoes, walked into the living room, hung his backpack on a hook at the entrance, chose an armchair to sit on, and said:

"Are you living here alone?"

Pei Youguang, who was retrieving a beverage from the fridge, paused for a moment and nodded, "Yes."

With a casual tone, Xue Jing said, "Why are you living here? Isn't your dad working for a councilman? Even if he can't get into the North City District, he should at least be able to live in the East City District, right?"

Pei Youguang tossed a bottle of soda to Xue Jing, opened one for himself, took a big gulp, sighed with satisfaction, and then said, "My relationship with my dad isn't that great... This house belonged to my mom. After she passed away, she left it to me. I moved in here after a fight with my dad two years ago."

"There's a Golden Wind Dojo nearby, supposedly the Arena Master is from the Inner Ring City and is a descendant of the 'Golden Wind White Rainbow Sword.' After I moved here, I joined the Golden Wind Dojo out of admiration and trained martial arts with the masters for a few months... Later, some things happened, and I left the dojo."

Xue Jing nodded, "I see."

It seemed that Pei Youguang also had his share of difficulties.

However, everyone has a story to some extent, and Xue Jing was not interested in digging deeper. So he stood up and said, "We should not delay any further. Let's begin teaching me 'Power' now."

That was his sole purpose for coming here.

Upon hearing this, Pei Youguang also got up, threw the empty bottle he had finished drinking into the trash bin, and said, "Alright, Jing, follow me. Let's go to the training room."

...

This was a large room of about seventy square meters, covered with a thick layer of matting and filled with various types of fitness equipment, as well as some machines that Xue Jing didn't understand the use of.

In the center of the room, several punching posts and sandbags were placed, all of different materials, looking worn, evidently in frequent use.

"If you want to develop power, the key lies in breathing,"

In the training room, Pei Youguang began to explain like the old masters in the dojo.

"Power is the kinetic energy produced by the movement of internal organs in the human body, but our control over our bodies is very limited; we can't control the flow of blood, nor the functions of the internal organs, and even our control over muscles is merely 'tense' and 'relax'. Therefore, we must first learn how to affect these parts of the body that we can't usually control. That's where 'breathing skills' come into play,"

"Next, I'll teach you a set of 'breathing skills.' This set of basic breathing skills is something every dojo disciple learns. With it, you can exert influence over your body's internal functions."

After finishing his explanation, Pei Youguang sat down cross-legged on the cushion.

"Come, Jing, follow my lead," he said.

Xue Jing did as instructed, sitting down cross-legged like Pei Youguang.

Pei Youguang then proceeded to detail the specific steps of the breathing skills, demonstrating and instructing Xue Jing to follow along.

The breathing skills weren't too complicated, but they were extremely challenging. Some steps involved very long intervals between inhaling and exhaling, requiring one to take in a large amount of oxygen at once. With such a volume of oxygen rushing into the lungs, those with insufficient lung capacity didn't even qualify to practice.

Pei Youguang had thought that Xue Jing would surely be unable to keep up with the breathing skills on his first try. It had taken him a whole month before he barely managed to complete a full practice of the breathing skills when he first trained.

So, he expected with a hint of mockery to see Jing's embarrassing coughing fit, but he was shocked by the end of the full set of breathing skills.

Xue Jing had actually followed through the whole sequence, succeeding in completing the full basic breathing skills on his first attempt!

"Is it over?"

Xue Jing, after inhaling a large amount of oxygen and feeling unaccustomed to it, felt very dizzy, his heart racing, with a nauseous urge to vomit, and his vision blurred, as if flames were burning throughout his body.

This was due to the large amount of oxygen entering the bloodstream through the alveoli, causing the blood to circulate at an excessive speed and raising the body's temperature.

It was a rough experience, but he had completed it.

"Jing, awesome," said Pei Youguang, truly impressed, giving a thumbs up.

Only someone like him, who had practiced it, knew how difficult it was to practice breathing skills, yet Xue Jing did it outright on his first attempt.

Perhaps this was what the old master referred to as 'good aptitude'!

Pei Youguang couldn't help but feel envious.

"Once you get used to the breathing skills and practice them often, even turning them into your instinct and using them constantly, you can continually improve your physical condition. However, I haven't managed to do this myself yet. Currently, I can't perform the breathing skills too many times each day, or my body won't be able to take it."

"Once you're accustomed to it, you'll start to feel the rhythm inside your body while breathing. When you learn how to use different breathing patterns to influence and even control them, you will naturally develop power," explained Pei Youguang.

Xue Jing, with his eyes closed, was calming the various strains caused by his first time performing the breathing skills.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said, "Teach me again."

Pei Youguang, concerned, replied, "You've just been introduced to the breathing skills, so it's best to practice just once for today and continue tomorrow. Otherwise, I'm worried your body won't handle it."

Xue Jing shook his head: "It's fine, continue."

He had already memorized most of the steps of the breathing skills but needed another go to solidify his memory and ensure he made no mistakes.

...