Chapter 19: Breathing Exercises for Spiritual Energy

At the stroke of midnight.

"Phew——"

Bai Chuan, shirtless and seated on the bed, slowly exhaled a long breath, marking the end of today's routine practice.

For an ambitious Spirit Binder, daily tasks include 'spirit cultivation', 'Talisman Skill studying', and 'Spiritual Energy training'.

Before successfully initiating the spirit, the yet-to-be-transformed Spiritual Energy can only rely on natural growth.

However, after initiating the spirit, 'breathing exercises' can be used to constantly enhance and condense Spiritual Energy, increasing its upper limit.

The reason it is referred to as 'breathing exercise' is because the training of Spiritual Energy is akin to improving lung capacity, requiring one to breathe in and out vigorously so as to hold more 'air' in the 'lung sacs' at once.

It must be noted though, this 'air' does not come from nowhere...

Most Spirit Binders' 'breathing exercise' training does not directly draw Spiritual Energy from the world, because that can only be achieved after being promoted to the 'Junior Officer' level.

'Private', 'Trooper', 'Corporal' ranked Spirit Binders, mainly rely on using medicinal diets, medicinal baths, and medicinal plasters for supplementing their Spiritual Energy.

Among these, medicinal diets have the best effect, followed by medicinal baths, and then medicinal plasters.

Corresponding to their effect, are their prices.

"Doggo, help me tear off the 'Replenishing plaster'..."

A tired Bai Chuan, collapsed on his bed, spoke wearily.

Having worked as a part-time security guard during the day, he was already quite worn out, after getting off work he can't rest immediately but instead has to move on to the training hall for spirit and Talisman Skill practice.

After returning home and quickly finishing his dinner and washing up, he had to immediately begin his 'Spiritual Energy breathing exercise' without rest.

Usually, by the time the exercise ends, it's already midnight. He must quickly hit the hay, because at half-past six the next morning, he has to get up and commute to work.

Even though he hasn't had a moment of free time throughout these past couple of days.

And it's no exaggeration to say that even though he lived under the same roof with Chen Xuan, their schedule difference caused them to rarely cross paths these past few days.

However...

Bai Chuan is quite satisfied with his part-time job.

Because he works for a subsidiary of the 'Yuanbao Group'.

He received his 'Golden Scale Trouble-free Card' the day before yesterday, and then yesterday he encountered the corporation's Boss Jin, who noticed him.

With a wave of his hand, he was transferred from the outdoor patrolling post, braving cold winds, to an indoor job with heating.

His original 200 Yuan daily wage was elevated by having a zero added at the end, raising it to 2,000 Yuan exactly.

And when payday comes, the wages for his earlier days of work will also have a zero added!

Unfortunately, such a great job couldn't be sustained for long, because once the National Day holiday ends, he has to go back to school for classes.

But of course...

The biggest gain from this, wasn't actually how much money he earned, but the verification of the authenticity of the 'Golden Scale Trouble-free Card'.

After all, rumors circulate that this Boss Jin was very close childhood friends with the Jinlin King.

Before the Jinlin King became a King-level Spirit Binder, he was a renowned genius pharmacist.

Thus, a lot of 'Yuanbao Group's' early businesses were even provided with the core technology by the Jinlin King.

But as for why he abandoned medicine to become a Spirit Binder, that's another story...

"Woof~"

The Faithful Hua Dog, who was taking a short nap nearby, opened its eyes upon hearing Bai Chuan's words.

Immediately, it jumped onto the bed with deftness, carefully tearing a small corner of the medicinal plaster on Bai Chuan's back off with its paw, then carefully tearing it off using its teeth.

As the medicinal plaster was removed, his entire back exposed a shocking mass of bruises.

The medicinal plaster, unlike the medicinal bath, does not allow Spiritual Energy to seep uniformly through the pores all over the body, rather it is focused on the area where the plaster was applied.

The consequence of such concentrated Spiritual Energy input results in a large number of capillaries bursting, causing the skin to bruise.

Hence, not only do the medicinal plasters have the least effect, they also give the worst experience.

(˘•ω•˘) I thought you've been making money recently? Why not change to a medicinal bath...

Looking at the extensive bruising, even after having seen so much of it over the years, a few hints of heartache could still be seen in the Faithful Hua Dog's eyes.

"Sure, I'm earning money now, but that money is still not enough..."

Bai Chuan heaved a sigh, burying his face deep into the pillow, and his voice became muffled: "besides, I realized Chen Xuan has actually been secretly using medicinal plasters too..."

Even though he was using 'medicinal plaster', what he bought for Chen Xuan was 'medicinal bath'.

After all, to experience how painful 'medicinal plaster' is, one has to experience it firsthand.

If conditions permit, he would not let Chen Xuan undergo this unnecessary hardship.

However...

Even when every night the bathroom looked as if 'medicinal bath' had been used, with remaining liquid left behind.

But, the droplets and the scent produced by the medicinal bath did not uniformly fill the entire bathroom, they were only concentrated around the remaining liquid.

Such clumsy set-up couldn't fool him, a graduate from the First Police School, nor could it trick the nose of the Faithful Hua Dog.

ฅ(´･ω･｀)ฅ I've been finding the meat a little greasy lately, how about we switch to a vegetarian diet?

The Faithful Hua Dog lowered its body, gently laying its head next to the pillow.

"Huh?"

Bai Chuan suddenly lifted his head. He didn't say anything but just stared at it straight.

Feeling a bit creeped out from being stared at, the somewhat guilty-looking Faithful Hua Dog tilted its head away:

(¬ω¬.) We'll save a bit of money too, in case I get the job, and you don't, what are we going to do then?

"Pfft~"

Seeing its guilty embarrassment, Bai Chuan couldn't help but laugh. He hugged the Faithful Hua Dog's head and started ruffling it with force: "What vegetarian are you talking about? Even my own meals are a mix of meat and vegetables. Is it your turn to eat vegetables?"

The Faithful Hua Dog, now feeling extremely comfortable, couldn't help but whimper, also wildly wagging its tail against the mattress...

'thump, thump, thump, thump! thump, thump, thump!'

Accompanied by rhythmic whipping sounds, the Stone Monkey was awkwardly dancing the tap dance in a flustered manner, trying hard to evade the tail of a red copper snake.

The penalty for not fulfilling the third agreement is experiencing a nightmarish scene when falling asleep.

Usually, it wouldn't last very long and would only occur once per night. Once it's over, there will be no more disturbances for the night.

However...

The third agreement signed with the 'Golden Scale Trouble-free Card' presents a nightmare of this red copper snake.

Besides, the nightmare had lasted for quite a while now, and there was still no sign of it ending...

Seeing that the red copper snake was still puffing up balloons while relentlessly attacking.

The Stone Monkey, whose legs were so numb they could no longer be lifted, had no choice but to curl itself up in resigned defeat, activating its racial skill 'Stone Mane':

(ó﹏ò｀) You just attack then, anyway, the Master said, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven is tough, even if he's burned in the Supreme Lord's alchemy furnace, he wouldn't die, let's see who dies of exhaustion first...