Breathing Technique

"The key to a good cultivation is breathing!" my father began with his lessons.

"Breathing?" I repeated, sounding confused. My eyebrows had gone each in a different direction upon his initiating statement.

Well I had yet to know what cultivation was so…even the notion of breathing was kind of weird to be mentioned. Although, perhaps a good breathing system would allow me to properly maintain my body's heat when I was to exert physical workout. I used to do that even during my trainings back then.

Who knows? I'll just listen for now.

"There are many breathing techniques. They are used to circulate the flow of qi into your body so you can temper it."

Qi, according to him, was apparently some type of invisible energy found in all things. It was everywhere, even in the air, and was absorbed by cultivators for different reasons.

My main concern as per my father's instructions, was to circulate this energy into my body with the use of the breathing technique. Once I was able to do so with ease, I could then infuse my body parts with this so called qi and enforce them. This was the purpose of the first realm of the path of cultivation.

"What are realms father?" I of course was curious. There was no need to hold back with my questions since it was not suspicious for a 6 year old.

"A good question Lei Ba. Let's go outside for a moment" he took me outside apparently for a clearer explanation.

Once outside, he crouched down and took out his finger to draw in the dirt. I guess he didn't want to waste paper on a simple lesson such as this. He drew a few circles and connected them with smaller circles each. He added writings inside of them and asked me to approach so that I could read the words clearly.

I read the first circle. I was now well capable of doing so with ease.

(Witness the power…of language.)

"Read the first one out loud, son."

"Corporeal Altering?" I made a hesitant tone in the form of a question for more credibility and it definitely worked in my favour.

"That's right. The first realm of the Dao is the Corporeal Altering…" his finger veered towards nine smaller circles, connected to the one in which was written the first realm. "In each realm, there are different layers or stages. In the Corporeal Altering realm, there are nine layers in total. The first seven are fundamental to your growth while the last three are independent."

While he drew, he told me about them. Realms, as he described them, were simply a way to measure the martial or mystical power of a cultivator.

I was following his finger's strokes upon the dirt. My father wrote all the layers' names in the small circles under the 1st realm. I read them after his movements in order.

"Body Strengthening, Flesh Refinement, Vitals Refinement, Amending Thew, Osseous Forging, Meridian Awakening, Tempering Marrow—"

He stopped me here.

"These are the seven essential stages. Once you breakthrough the seventh, you can then enter the second realm of cultivation without the need of the independent three" with his foot, he erased the last three before I could read their names. It was annoying, but I'm sure he had his reasons. "Any questions up until now?"

"Yes, father. Why erase the last three stages? And why aren't they necessary to breakthrough to the second realm?"

He had one nasty grin. I guess he was somewhat proud of the meticulous and well placed questions? Bear in mind that I should be 6 years old…it must be a wonder to him to see such an intelligent one too.

I interrupted his sniggering when I leaned to gain his attention.

"The last three are stages you will carry with you through your whole path. The reason why I did not include them was because I am not qualified to explain them thoroughly to someone your age" his face looked quite glum. "Even though I'm at the 3rd realm, I myself have never delved in any of them."

I thought it was better not to ask much about them any more than necessary. I always had the option of asking other cultivators or even my mother at this point.

But I listened first to the rest of his teachings which included everything I needed to know about the seven stages of the Corporeal Altering realm and the breathing technique he was going to give me.

After a while, my father handed me a manual. It had a blue cover, it was simple looking and had a massive title written vertically near its margin. The words in bold said "Qi Sweeping Breath".

Before my father gave it away, he was adamant to warn me.

"Although this technique is not of the highest grade, it is still a mid-grade one. With that being said, you must handle the manual carefully and make sure not to wrinkle the pages or anything…this is one of the few handouts given to us by the main branch of the family and we can't make another copy. Understood?"

I understood very well and I nodded. I of all people would treat a book better than fellow human beings so he had nothing to worry about regarding that matter.

I spent the rest of the day reading through the pages. Although it said "Breath" in the name, it was actually more of the opposite. But that didn't change that it was hard nonetheless too as my first read through was absolutely nerve-wracking.

I didn't expect that a simple breathing technique was this much hard to corporate into action. I had to harmonize myself with my surroundings and allow the qi energy to enter through my mouth and nose along with the air in a regular and constant flow. If the quantity I absorbed was any less than normal, my chest would feel a slight contraction and hinder the flow, whereas if I took too much, then I would choke and interrupt the process to spit out the excess. A restart was necessary in both cases.

Over the span of two weeks, I did not leave my room and strived towards the success of my breathing technique. I barely ate during that time and demanded not to be disturbed during my training. My parents were fortunately well versed with these processes and adhered to my demands gladly.

Upon the 16th day, I could finally keep a constant breathing rate for about an hour at most without messing up. It was a slow process but proficient however little it was. I heard all children learned breathing techniques when older and struggled with them for months to properly maintain their flow. My father also told me that one usually makes his first breakthrough between the age of ten or fourteen so I didn't have to worry about my slow progress.

My only concern was to never make it past my sevens should I die during the first encounter thrown at me.

"No! I will definitely survive and continue growing stronger" I gave myself some morale every time such thoughts troubled me. I couldn't let my mind wear me over and have me end up swallowed before I even got a chance at survival.

With that being said, what I first needed to do was to complete the Body Strengthening layer. With it, my foundation for the mortal body of a cultivator would have been achieved…or that is what father said in his explanation. Before I could complete this layer, I had to refrain from learning any kind of art and do no physical training whatsoever.

I was quite thin and tall compared to others and it was explained to me that I had an abnormal early delivery, which was the cause of the former.

"I had you run around the field, use a one-handed rake and hit withering trees the past year simply because your constitution is too weak compared to other kids your age. If you diligently cultivate the first layer, you can remould your body into something more adequate for learning proper martial arts."

Those were the words that changed my perspective and that had me seeking this first goal.

Boy am I glad to have someone like my father to guide me.

I did the same routine for the next few months. I meditated and used the breathing technique as often and as long as I could. Each meditation session felt like I was adding weight to my body and straining every part of me, like carrying a boulder up a mountain and then chasing it back down the hill to stop it.

In the times when I took breaks, I immersed myself with the small book collection my mother had. There were probably a few dozens and all contained theories and philosophies. Some spoke about history while others were simply stories or fictions.

I particularly enjoyed the works of one called "Chen Bei Ming*". His works always involved marvellous depictions of the wild life and the magical spirits taming with it. Bei Ming's books contained drawings and illustrations as well as detailed analysis about each entity he ever encountered.

I spent most my time reading and memorizing the bestiary he had written just in case any of the mentioned beasts happened to be what I would encounter in due time.

"That's odd" I strained my eyebrows, flipping through the last book of his collection. "I see nothing like that thing in Demonic's mosaic…"

I turned back on the first page and went through the work one page at a time as I did all the previous ones before it. I didn't find the creature I was looking for.

"Odd. Could it be something that lives in a different world from here? Or maybe it has become extinct?" I slid the book back into the shelf among the others. "I wonder if it even exists…"

Pondering suspiciously in front of the bookshelf, I failed to notice that two individuals had snuck up on me while I was in deep thought. They moved without making any sound and stationed themselves behind me, waiting for the right moment to…

"LEI BA!" one of them was kind enough to numb my ear as I shot straight up in a scare, my hands locking into a defensive position.

My heart raced like never before. I was always on edge when I was on my own simply due to the fact that I could be jumped on at any moment. Fortunately it was nothing of note.

"Hello, Lei Ba!" the one beside the first said gently.

"Brother Yun? Sister Ling? You gave me quite a scare" I released a sigh of relief.

I should sharpen my auditory senses so that such circumstances do not repeat themselves.

"Who did you think was it? A demon?" Yun laughed while Ling gave a light giggle at my reaction.

You have no idea how right you could be…

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*Check the very first chapters at the very beginning for the Index*