First Lesson: Breathing Technique

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TLDR warning: there will be a lot of exposition in this EP, but you can skip it if you are already familiar with the concept of inner power. It mainly shows how dedicated Hou Yi is as a master to our Ning Yue.

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"Ning Yue, are you sure to join the Moon Sword Sect? It means you will be in those brat territories!"

"Don't worry, Big sis Qiao, I know I'm stronger than them; if they ever want a fight, I will give them a fight!"

Ning Yue reassure Qiao.

She almost fainted on the spot after seeing how badly the wound around Ning Yue's body was.

"Then I wish you luck on your journey. I know you can win the tournament; those brats cultivators got nothing on someone as diligent as you!"

"Haha, big sis, I am now a cultivator too, don't forget."

"Oh! You're right; I'm sorry. But remember, big sis Qiao will always support you as much as I can! So, when you want to rest, you can always come here!"

Qiao hugs Ning Yue before he leaves.

At the front gate of Moon Sword Sect.

"Hello, big man! Are you here to deliver food again?"

The same guard greets him with a big smile.

"No, I came here as a disciple now!"

Ning Yue proudly answers the guard's question.

"Oh! How so?! Wait, you a cultivator now?! WOW!!"

The guard is very surprised; the last time he saw Ning Yue as a commoner was only yesterday, which means in 1 night, Ning Yue became a cultivator!

"YEAH! I still can't believe it myself!"

"Sure, bud, Good luck with your new power! But you still can't pass the gate. You may say you are a disciple now, but who approves of joining?"

The guard questions how legitimate this claim is.

Now is an abnormal time for a new disciple to join the sect.

Usually, the recruitment schedule is around the beginning of a year, directly after the talent test.

"Third Elder, Master Yi!"

"Third Elder?! THAT THIRD ELDER IS YOUR MASTER?!"

The guard seems shocked.

"Yeah… you don't have to overreact, you know?"

"No, no, no. You have no idea how big of a deal this is! I must go to him now. You wait here AND DON'T GO ANYWHERE!"

The guard commands him before running at full speed to find Hou Yi.

"… Do you know why?"

Ning Yue asks another guard who is female.

"Yes, Elder Yi is famously known to be the best master in our sect, but these past 10 years, he never accepted any pupil, many questioning his worth now a day, but if he accepts you, then this might change soon."

She happily explains the situation to Ning Yue because she respects Hou Yi.

Hou Yi may not accept any direct pupil for a decade, but his advice helps many breaks through their problems.

"I have to admit; I am quite envious of yours."

She smiles.

"Oh…"

Ning Yue doesn't know how to feel about this new information.

"You late."

After a while, Hou Yi walks off with the male guard completely in shock behind him.

"Sorry, master."

Ning Yue bows; he slept a lot yesterday because he feels so tired from all the running, fighting, and recovering.

"Don't be sorry; I understand your situation. Just remember to sleep faster so you won't be late again."

Hou Yi calmly speaks.

"Thank you! I will do as you are told!"

Ning Yue happily accepts his master's scolding.

"Then let's go; we don't have much time. You have a lot to learn."

Hou Yi talks and then walks back inside the Moon sword sect.

*pat*

"Good luck!"

The guard pats his shoulder before giving him a big thumb up.

"You too!"

Ning Yue smiles before running after his fast master.

At this time of day, most disciples are walking around doing their things; some training, some practicing, some just sleeping or meditating.

"isn't that Third Elder, and who is that guy?"

"Is he a new master? He's so big!"

"Aren't his face a little bit too young to be a master?"

When you combine how big Ning Yue is and how rare to see the third elder, The two walking together make quite a screen in the sect.

"Tsk. That kid has joined our sect."

Yao Fan, the grandson of the sixth elder, watched in displeasure.

"You should finish him when you get the chance, you mud!"

He angrily throws an orange at Liao Liwei, sitting on the ground; this sitting is now a training but a punishment for his crime.

"There's still time, big brother."

Liao Liwei quietly speaks.

Yao Fan also got punished by cutting his annual pills in half.

"No, you can't even kill that guy when he was a commoner; how would you know?"

Yao Fan isn't the one who got punched, but he felt the embarrassment of the consequence, so he wanted someone to blame it for, that someone was Ning Yue.

"I got a plan, but not now."

Liao Liwei still feels the punisher keeping an eye on him so he can't move.

But his mind didn't stop for a moment to formulate a plan to get revenge.

"It better be a good plan, or I will do it myself!"

--

"Here is our personal training ground."

After walking past most of the sect buildings, they arrive at the third elder's area.

This training ground looked abandoned, leaves were everywhere, and the floor was unclean.

Good thing there was no crack to be seen.

'Is my first task will be cleaning the training ground, which is some sort of secret training method?!'

But before Ning Yue's fantasy can go far, Hou Yi throws a broom and bucket at him and gets one set of cleaning tools on himself.

"Let's clean the floor together."

"Yes…"

And the two started cleaning.

Three hours have passed, and the floor is as clean as new.

"You're good, are you clean often?"

"Yeah, my family only got him and me, so we split jobs; my father takes care of the farm and food, and I take care of the house."

Ning Yue explains where his cleaning skill came from.

"Ha! Now I want to meet your father. Most people today forget basic life skills and throw it all to their parents or servants when they know they got a chance to become cultivators."

Hou Yi seems pissed with the new generation's way of thinking.

One life is not always to cultivate; how will someone survive if they don't even know how to wash their clothes properly!

"And the result is lack of responsibility, good thing you are different."

Hou Yi pats Ning Yue on his shoulder as a proud master before snatching back the broom and bucket to store it.

"Is it that bad?"

Ning Yue doesn't have a friend, so he doesn't know how other kids live their lives.

"Yeah, teaching is a delicate process, something that looks like it wasn't important or directly had an effect may be potent when used properly or show weakness when not used."

Teaching kids to do chores is not about the chores but about them having responsibility.

Like him cleaning the training ground with Ning Yue, it is not about the floor but the bonding.

Hou Yi only gets to know Ning Yue for one night, but after this, he knows that Ning Yue's father lays a good groundwork to build on.

"So, let us start from the bottom; how much do you know about the cultivation world?"

"I knew they fought a lot. Also, they can fly! And they train to get stronger?"

Ning Yue didn't know in-depth information about cultivation; he learned most of them by listening to their tales while following his father around town.

"Hoo boy… Then let's start with a training method; first is breathing training."

Hou Yi reached into his pocket, took out a scroll, and gave it to Ning Yue.

[Basic Breathing Technique]

Ning Yue starts reading the scroll and has no idea what it is trying to say.

"Don't worry; I will teach you, step by step. First, you must learn to control your breath. Breath is the main source of life force and one of the few things we can control, and others are things such as nutrition."

Hou Yi begins explaining to Ning Yue with a calm expression.

"Oh! Is my breath that important?"

"Have you ever stopped breathing?"

"No?"

"Try it."

Hou Yi suspiciously smirks.

Ning Yue started to hold his breath, but only after a few seconds did he feel uncomfortable.

"Pah! Wow."

This is the first time he ever holds his breath, so he never knows it feels so bad.

Lesson learned, holding others' breath is a viable form of attack.

"Yeah, amazing, isn't it? Something so mundane holds such power. But for a commoner, it isn't very interesting, but for us cultivators, the breath also brings in our power. If we can't breathe, we can't restore our power; remember this."

"Yes, Master Yi."

"Good, then try to control your breath and follow it closely, do as I say. In and then out, in and then out."

Hou Yi presses his hand on Ning Yue's chest and feels his body expand and shrink.

"In and out, in and out. Good, control it, don't let it go freely. You may notice that your breath is faster in a fight because you need more power, which can easily make your breath out of control."

"Why is it bad? If I follow your logic, breathing faster means recovering more power."

Ning Yue is confused. Doesn't this mean what Hou Yi is saying contradicts itself?

"Breathing fast has two downsides, first is your body is worn out more quickly, don't forget when you get the energy, the body is one spending it. In a fight, you must calculate your plan, and one factor is pacing; outlasting your opponent is a viable option or making your opponent fatigue to create an opening."

"Oh! Just like I did to Liwei!"

Ning Yue can understand this; just the method is different.

Back then, he outlasted Liao Liwei because his body was familiar with working hard for long hours, contradicting Liwei; even if Liwei was a cultivator, his training fight was usually short of his anger, and he wasted too much energy in attack.

"You seem to have a concept of outlasting your opponent, good start."

Hou Yi complements Ning Yue's experience and remembers a lesson from it.

"And another bad reason is out of control, but let's start by learning what good control will benefit you; punch me."

Hou Yi raises his hand and softly speaks.

"What?"

Ning Yue surprised

"Just punch me and stop when I tell you to."

"Ok then, here goes nothing!"

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Ning Yue starts punching at Hou Yi's palm with full power.

'Damn, the kid got hands!'

Hou Yi is a cultivator at the 4th of Earth realm; Ning Yue's punch dealt no damage to him, but the fact that he can feel it is a feat in itself.

And Ning Yue achieved this without basic training or technique!

"Stop, remember the feeling."

After four punches, Hou Yi makes Ning Yue stop.

"Yes, master."

Ning Yue doesn't know why his master commands him to stop; he doesn't even start feeling tired.

"After this, follow my command. When you are breathing in, pull your punch. When breathing out, throw your punch."

"Yes, master."

"Start! In out."

*BOOM!*

The punch suddenly became heavier and smoother, and Ning Yue could feel it.

"You have good sense!"

Hou Yi is impressed to see Ning Yue's surprised face just after a single punch; learning a different basic training can make it a rookie's hardest test.

"When you are breathing in, you are storing power. But when are you breathing out? You unleash it. if you can control the flow of your attack and breath, it will make your attack stronger and smoother because the force stops contradicting your energy flow."

"If you are still confused, try punching while breathing in; it feels weird, right?"

"Yeah! It is so amazing, master! Do all cultivators know this?"

Ning Yue didn't know before that breathing was this important!

"No, sadly."

He is sadly speaking because not everyone wants to sit down and learn the basics of fighting.

"Most people will go to the flashy and strong move first; not many find this thing impressive enough to spend their precious time learning."

One of the main reasons he stops teaching is that all the kids want to learn [Azure style] immediately, and when he doesn't teach them, they start whining, which is very obnoxious.

"They only learned to accumulate martial power with breathing to try to push for a higher stage, never truly "cultivate" their power."

Hou Yi exhales; it had been long since someone so eagerly and patiently listened to him.

"Sit down, Ning Yue. Next, I will teach you how to accumulate and polish your breathing. Now, close your eyes and focus on it. Take a deep breath."

"Ok!"

Ning Yue whole heartily follows everything Hou Yi says.

As Hou Yi said, Ning Yue closed his eyes and started focusing on his breathing.

He can feel the power flowing in and out like a stream of water; when it is in, it flows inside him and then goes out to his whole body.

'This feeling, it is the same!'

The feeling he gets is vividly similar to when he awakens his power.

"Every time you breathe, try breathing in bigger and hold it longer. This expands your capacity and makes you more resilient. And when you reach a certain point, your body will awaken your inner power!"