Chapter 158: Legendary Grade Breathing Technique Improvement, As Long As We Enter The Sengoku Period, Everything Will Be Fine!
Shangshan Che was stunned upon hearing this.
No Breathing Technique?
He heard Lili Zi slightly furrow her brows and say, “I previously asked the Special Affairs Office and Sister Nanjo about this matter as well.”
“Unless one has established merits equivalent to personally exorcising a Ghost God level Great Demon single-handedly, it is impossible to obtain a Breathing Technique that is more complete or advanced than the Corona Breathing Technique.”
“—It seems that there are many Breathing Techniques available for selection that have a completeness similar to the Corona Breathing Technique, but anything beyond that is extremely hard to find.”
This was actually quite normal.
Originally, his and Lili Zi’s Corona Breathing Technique had been obtained through backdoor channels under the dual guarantees of Kondo Yuya and Nanjo Emi.
Now wanting to just ask and get an even more complete and advanced Breathing Technique was wishful thinking.
Although as long as Shangshan Che spoke up, Nanjo Emi would definitely find a way, even running around seeking help from many people to obtain it for him.
But things had not reached such a dire state yet.
Shangshan Che thought.
—Breathing Techniques, there were plenty in the Sengoku Period five hundred years ago.
—Although cultivation was relatively difficult in the Sengoku Period, it was an undisputed era of absolute spiritual dearth where Onmyoji hid from the world, powerful and complete Breathing Techniques absolutely existed.
With his relationship with Imagawa Yoshimoto, obtaining such a Breathing Technique would not be very difficult.
Moreover, Tokugawa Ieyasu was still a hostage under Imagawa Yoshimoto at that time.
If he could also build a good relationship with this Old Turtle, it might even be possible to obtain a youthful version of the Four Extremes Breathing Technique.
As long as he used the second ring of the Key of History to enter the Sengoku Period again, all current cultivation problems would be effortlessly resolved.
Everything would get better!
Shangshan Che’s thoughts turned in his mind, then he recalled what Lili Zi had just said.
He blinked, somewhat astonished as he said, “Lili Zi, you’ve already completed Skin Tempering?”
For ordinary people, it required at least over two thousand proficiency points, yet Lili Zi had grinded it out in just these few days?
Moreover, using Qi Barrier to temper the body and cast the Palace of Flesh was completely different from the initial method of cultivating Internal Qi…
The girl nodded calmly, neither sad nor happy: “Mm, just a short while ago.”
Shangshan Che pinched the jade-like, warm, smooth, and white tender skin of Lili Zi’s arm with his fingers, which was far more flexible than any leather he had ever touched.
This was the effect after completing the minor checkpoint of “Skin Tempering”?
Shangshan Che suddenly became curious about how powerful the effects of Skin Tempering were.
His fingertip flicked out a solid Qi Barrier, first easily slicing open the dojo floor with it, then hovering it above Lili Zi’s arm as he asked,
“Is this okay?”
“Please go ahead.”
Shangshan Che did not hold back upon hearing this and gently lowered his finger.
Immediately, a strange sensation transmitted from the tip of the Qi Barrier to his finger, like falling into a mass of water-soft, formless cotton.
And in reality, the Qi Barrier decomposed upon touching Lili Zi’s skin, with part of it absorbed to replenish itself, and part dissipating into the air.
So a small amount of Qi Barrier is ineffective against Skin Tempering-completed skin.
Immediately after, Shangshan Che took out the long-unused rusty Cleaver and, under Lili Zi’s calm gaze, heavily chopped down, producing a crisp clang of metal striking metal.
And even after Shangshan Che exerted force and broke the Cleaver, it only left a shallow white mark on Lili Zi’s skin.
He stared at the Cleaver broken into two pieces on the ground, his eyebrow twitching slightly.
He hadn’t expected the Cleaver to retire in such a place.
—Skin that has undergone complete Tempering can both resolve incoming Qi Barrier and Internal Qi, and defend against slashes and thrusts from ordinary weapons.
Shangshan Che released the warm, soft arm in his palm and sighed,
“Skin Tempering is amazing.”
He couldn’t help but recall Nanjo Emi from earlier in the forging room.
Since Sister Nanjo’s attainment in Breathing Technique was similarly profound, what Breathing Technique was she cultivating herself?
Would the methods of casting the Palace of Flesh differ greatly between different Breathing Techniques?
Shangshan Che curiously asked on Line, then received an unexpected reply.
【Nanjo Emi: Don’t ask too much, I can’t teach you the Breathing Technique I cultivate either.】
【Nanjo Emi: Of course, if you’re confident you can kill me in the future, I can teach you to practice this one.】
【Moon Sand Sauce: Huh?】
【Nanjo Emi: The Breathing Technique I cultivate has special restrictions, and the intermediate conditions are very complex so I won’t go into them. In short, in the end, only one person in the whole world can cultivate it.】
So there were so many intricacies to Breathing Technique cultivation.
Shangshan Che silently stared at the screen.
Therefore, Tokugawa Hoshi not secretly teaching the Tokugawa family’s Four Extremes Breathing Technique to Lili Zi definitely had reasons of “absolutely cannot give.”
If it could be given, based on Shangshan Che’s understanding of this Third Sister Lili Zi from their few encounters, she would have taught it without hesitation.
There would be no need to use a roundabout method like giving a notebook recording cultivation insights to help Lili Zi.
“—In contrast, the cultivation difficulty would be much, much higher.”
Lili Zi responded, withdrawing her gaze from his phone screen.
Even she couldn’t help but show a trace of fatigue at this moment,
“Before completing the Tempering of the entire body’s skin, if even for an instant one is not Tempering, the unfinished cultivation progress will start to regress, until it reaches zero.”
This was also one of the reasons why the “Palace of Flesh” was considered the first great mountain obstructing the path of Breathing Technique cultivation.
Lili Zi, who had been held by Two-Foot Adult for a while, had rebuilt her Qi Circulation. She flipped the unexpectedly somewhat obedient girl over in her arms and held her, then continued,
“Since Shangshan Jun has already felt the huge advantages that merely completing the small stage of Skin Tempering can bring, I’ll continue explaining.”
As Lili Zi’s words fell, a prompt suddenly popped up before Shangshan Che’s eyes—
【Tokugawa Lili Zi is imparting knowledge to you·Complete Palace of Flesh.】
Shangshan Che did not dare to be negligent and straightened his back to listen.
“Generally speaking, our Palace of Flesh consists of three stages: Skin Tempering, Bone Forging, and Muscle Refining. The Corona Breathing Technique says the same.”
Lili Zi extended her palm, condensing a delicate human body model with Qi Barrier, then marked out skin, bone, and flesh,
“But Third Sister’s notebook says that after these three stages, there is the most important stage of ‘Muscle Casting.'”
“This makes sense. I thought the same after a little experimentation.”
Lili Zi said: “Rather, if this part is missing, the Palace of Flesh would be incomplete, like lacking load-bearing pillars.”
“—But it’s still the previous problem: Palace of Flesh cultivation is extremely delicate work, and even a half-point error will lead to serious consequences.”
Lili Zi raised her other hand and casually input a strand of Qi Barrier into the human body model, immediately causing large-scale ulceration on the model,
“So even knowing about Muscle Casting, without a ‘reference book,’ attempting to temper and cultivate it is very difficult.
Fortunately, Muscle Casting is the final stage of the Palace of Flesh, so there’s no need to worry about being unable to cultivate before completing the arduous Muscle Refining.”
With that said, Lili Zi waved her hand to disperse the human body model, a rare smug smile appearing on her face,
“In addition, I made some improvements to this hellish Palace of Flesh cultivation method.”
Shangshan Che’s vision flickered, and surprisingly, a golden prompt popped up—
【Attention! Tokugawa Lili Zi is imparting improved Technique to you·Palace of Flesh Casting Method!】
Golden?
Shangshan Che was slightly stunned. Golden seemed to be the color of Legendary quality?
She crossed her arms, coincidentally pressing down on the dissatisfied Two-Foot Adult’s head: “The original Skin Tempering divides the body’s skin into pieces, tempering each from un-tempered ‘0’ to complete one by one.”
“—But this is not only extremely inefficient, but also leaves vulnerabilities easily exploitable by enemies before completion.”
“So!”
As Lili Zi began explaining her own cultivation method, she subconsciously revealed a cat mouth,
“I improved it—further subdividing the Skin Tempering stage into several sub-stages, making it possible to temper the entire body’s skin at once.”
“This way, completing the first sub-stage of Tempering becomes much easier. And the subsequent stages, with the foundation from the previous ones, will have faster Tempering speed and lower difficulty.”
“But these are just my mental simulations; I haven’t practiced them yet.”
She earnestly stared into Shangshan Che’s eyes: “So, Shangshan Jun, are you willing to be the first test subject for my improved Breathing Technique?”
The gleaming golden prompt appeared before his eyes, atop Lili Zi’s head.
【Do you wish to improve your “Corona Breathing Technique” based on “Tokugawa Lili Zi”‘s suggestion?】
Faced with a prompt nearly blinding his eyes, did it even need thinking?
Shangshan Che couldn’t help but sigh: “Lili Zi, you are truly a genius.”
【You have chosen to accept the suggestion!】
【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique, has been successfully improved! Please check it!】
【Corona Breathing Technique（Tough Skin272/600）】
【Effect: Cultivate to Perfection, skin like tough membrane.】
【—Tough Skin, Copper Skin, Skin Tempering.】
Lili Zi shook her head: “This inspiration came from something mentioned in Third Sister’s notebook, aided by my Clear Sword Heart… I can only say I’m standing on the shoulders of giants.”
She paused and lowered her gaze, musing: “I feel that completing Skin Tempering still isn’t the pinnacle of skin cultivation—because the Corona Breathing Technique has far more content on Muscle Refining than on Skin Tempering and Bone Forging.”
“But whatever!” The girl clapped her hands. “Unlike previous Internal Qi and Qi Barrier cultivation, the Palace of Flesh can be established first, then repeatedly repaired.”
Shangshan Che stared at his panel, which was only 328 proficiency points away from breakthrough, already getting restless: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll start cultivating now…”
“—Shangshan Jun, you haven’t done Skin Tempering yet, have you.”
Lili Zi suddenly reached out with five fingers and, under Two-Foot Adult’s gaze with eyes narrowed to slits, firmly grasped his wrist.
Qi Barrier made contact, then merged.
“I’ll teach you, hand in hand.”
Shangshan Che opened a gap in his own Qi Circulation surface, immediately feeling Lili Zi’s Qi Barrier like silken mist lightly settling on his skin, bringing a tingling, numb sensation.
The girl closed her eyes: “If there’s no problem, I’ll start.”
“Wait a moment.”
Shangshan Che opened his Storage Bag and used one portion of Soul Incense Ash（Small）.
—Soul Incense Ash（Small） only had one portion left. It seemed the plan to harvest Soul Ash by chopping more demons for gacha pulls needed to be put on the agenda.
He also closed his eyes: “Begin.”
As the words fell, Qi Barrier seeped into the skin, and the intense pain like thousands of silver needles piercing simultaneously surged like a tidal wave, spreading throughout his body in an instant!
Like the pain of a thousand cuts!
Shangshan Che’s scalp went numb… no, now even the scalp only held indescribable agony.
In just this instant, Shangshan Che understood why cultivators with notable achievements in Breathing Techniques would not be weak in State of Mind Cultivation.
Because if one’s State of Mind and Willpower were insufficient, one couldn’t endure the torment of Palace of Flesh cultivation, let alone perform error-free cultivation under such pain.
Lili Zi shouted: “Shangshan Jun, steady your mind!”
Even as she said this, her hands showed no mercy, using her own Qi Barrier to guide Shangshan Che’s Qi Barrier deeper into his skin, bringing wave after wave of burning and intense pain.
Under the effect of Soul Incense Ash, the pain not only did not diminish but was clearly amplified several times, down to every fiber of muscle.
But Shangshan Che remained like an old monk in meditation, unmoving, allowing blood and sweat to seep out from his pores together.
This Qi Barrier torment, enough to drive any ordinary person to mental collapse, lasted over half an hour.
In this half hour of extremely intense cultivation, not only was Shangshan Che wrapped in sticky blood and sweat, but even Lili Zi was sweating profusely, her face deathly pale.
—Because she didn’t dare make a mistake, not one bit!
—Since Shangshan Che chose to trust her, she naturally had to deliver results that met his expectations.
For now, the effect…
Seemed quite good!
Lili Zi spread her sticky five fingers, looking at Shangshan Che who was exhaling scorching Qi Barrier with full anticipation.
【After Tokugawa Lili Zi’s first Qi Barrier-guided cultivation, your skill Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +328!】
【You have completed Palace of Flesh Cultivation·Tough Skin stage!】
【Your skin strength has slightly increased!】
【Your Physique +2!】
Shangshan Che slowly opened his eyes and looked at the now brand-new panel before him.
【Corona Breathing Technique（Copper Skin0/400）】
【Effect: Cultivate to Perfection, skin like refined copper.】
【—Tough Skin, Copper Skin, Skin Tempering.】
He clenched his palm wrapped in sticky blood and sweat, yet could clearly feel the massive change in his skin.
It became softer, yet tougher!
Almost like a thick Skin Membrane wrapped over the original skin.
Although not yet as good-looking or exaggerated in strength as Lili Zi’s skin, it was completely fine for blocking sudden, weaker sneak attacks.
Just like Akatsuki Ran’s final poisoned strike in the previous True Sword Match—if it hit him now, it wouldn’t even pierce the skin’s surface.
Naturally, those deadly toxins wouldn’t enter the bloodstream.
Moreover, the original Skin Tempering required a full 1500 proficiency points to complete.
Now it was like installment payments, enjoying part of the full Skin Tempering effect with just a mere 600 proficiency points.
And the overall proficiency requirement was lower than 1500—Copper Skin only needed 400 proficiency points to complete, so what about Skin Tempering?
300 points? Or even lower?
Great, very great!
Shangshan Che moved his shoulders and neck, producing a rustling sound like skin breathing.
This scene made Lili Zi slightly open her small mouth,
“Shangshan Jun.”
She asked somewhat dazedly: “You… have already broken through Tough Skin and reached the Copper Skin cultivation stage?”
Shangshan Che smiled, though it looked particularly terrifying under the blood and sweat: “This is thanks to Lili Zi’s careful guidance.”
“G-Good… Good! Shangshan Jun!”
Ignoring the stickiness on him, Lili Zi pounced and pinned him to the ground, gazing down into his eyes from above, cupping Shangshan Che’s cheeks with both hands earnestly as she said,
“—As expected, the compatibility between you and me is the most perfect.”
Two-Foot Adult, who had sensibly sat aside when the two began cultivating, had puffed cheeks like two little balloons about to explode.
—If not for this flat-chested Demon King truly helping Che Adult quite a bit just now, and Che Adult looking so tired, she would have kicked the Demon King out of the house long ago!
Shangshan Che blinked: “So, can I go take a bath now? My body feels all sticky and uncomfortable.”
Hearing this, Lili Zi released her hands, sat up on his lap: “Then I’ll prepare a Medicinal Bath for you. Remember to come over after washing up, Shangshan Jun.”
Shangshan Che gazed at the girl’s departing figure, recalling her earlier scorching, fervent gaze.
He thought that he probably somewhat understood how to transform the Clear Mirror in his heart into the foundation for Hundred Refinements·【Heart Embryo】.
There were too many things today… sorry meow
Definitely gonna burst update hard in a few days!!!
