Chapter 27: Internal Breathing

  After Lin Huan was swallowed into the snake's belly, he fell into a piece of darkness and couldn't move. He could clearly feel the wet and slippery stomach wall of the giant python wriggling and the sound of its huge heartbeat. According to reason, an animal's stomach is like a huge solvent furnace, with the function of dissolving and digesting food. After Lin Huan was swallowed, he would naturally be digested bit by bit.

  The forest was dense and didn't feel like it was going to dissipate at all. The only thing that felt a bit uncomfortable was the lack of air, making breathing difficult.

  Fortunately, he had previously practiced the basic internal entry "Xin Fa" left by his father, slowly merging his pulse and heartbeat into the sea of consciousness, entering a state of fetal breathing. Dammit, I'm really unlucky. Nothing happened when I was being a hero, but now that I've gotten hot-headed and tried to rescue someone without thinking, I ended up putting myself in harm's way. From middle school onwards, I didn't have much interaction with Lei Feng, but unexpectedly, in one impulsive moment, I even managed to surpass his great feat of sacrificing himself for others. How embarrassing!

  At the moment, he was tightly wrapped around by the snake's abdominal strength and couldn't use any force. Moreover, there were no hard objects on his body; otherwise, he could have cut open this beast from the inside out. Damn it, he had to get out of here quickly, or else he would suffocate or starve to death.

  Inside the black lacquer like ink, he could only feel that the crown scales python was rushing through the mountains at high speed. The severe injury carried by the crown scales python seemed to put it in a state of declining strength, emitting dull and urgent coarse gasps. Looking at the evil creature's hasty appearance, it should be hurrying back to its old nest to lick and heal its wounds.

  I must get rid of it before it returns to its lair; otherwise, if I wait for it to return to its lair and rest for a few decades, I'll be waiting until I'm old and dead.

  He went through a life-and-death experience, seeing through and understanding many attachments of his past lives, but at the same time cherished his life even more.

  Halfway through, the Crowned Scaled Serpent encountered several ambushes, intense battles and large-scale turbulence, causing Lin to feel like he was in a spacecraft, tumbling around. He couldn't know about the fierce battle outside, but from the serpent's body shaking violently several times, and the rapid breathing behind him, he judged that the Crowned Scaled Serpent was getting more and more seriously injured.

  Because of the beast's naturally strong physique, several close ambushes allowed the Crowned Scaled Python to easily break through.

  Also, after a few days, Lin Huan was starving and dizzy, suddenly feeling that the crown scales python seemed extremely panicked, speeding up at an alarming rate, with its route zigzagging wildly. After this period of time, although he had already gotten used to the taste of his head and feet spinning like a windmill, he still couldn't take it.

  "The old evil thing has met a powerful opponent." Lin Heng thought.

  He felt warmth between his nostrils and licked his lips: "Damn it, I've got a nosebleed again!" What the hell is going on? You'd think you'd stop bleeding for once!

  About the strange disease of unprovoked nosebleeds, he didn't dare to let his family know. He really couldn't understand why every time he entered a daze and his brain was blank, when he woke up there would always be "blood all over his face"! According to human physiology, nosebleeds are only connected to the nose, could it be that I'm born different from ordinary people and also have a connection with my brain?

  His body was restricted, and he couldn't even wipe his hands clean, so he had to let it be.

  Lin Hengqiang pulled himself together and silently practiced the "Qigong Heart Method" once. In a moment, a fine warm current surged up in his abdomen, and his hunger pangs receded slightly. For the past few days, without any food entering his stomach, whenever he couldn't bear the hunger, he would practice the "Qigong Heart Method" silently like this. Although it only treated the symptoms and not the root cause, after practicing, the time he could withstand hunger was not long, but it was also a lifesaving straw in desperation.

  "Qigong Heart Method" is one of the five basic "Heart Methods" left by his father for him to verify through martial arts, and it is a fundamental internal classic that martial artists must practice.

  Compared with other four books like "Practicing Tendon", "Practicing Flesh", "Practicing Spirit" and so on, "Practicing Qi Heart Method" is the one he secretly pondered over and practiced earliest. Qi can be divided into inner qi and outer qi. Outer qi refers to some special gases outside the body like heavenly spirit and earthly spirit. From birth, human being has been interacting with external qi and absorbing it along with food and water for nourishment through steaming and fermentation, which is what people usually call "breathing". However, "breathing" is just a simple way that human being utilizes outer qi.

  For a martial artist, practicing Qi is to absorb the external worldly energy into the body for refinement, transforming the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth into internal energy.

  This part of energy is called internal energy.

  After years of cultivation by martial artists, the inner energy undergoes a mysterious refinement through the 'Divine Core Seed', eventually condensing into the unique energy of the martial artist: Potential.

  That is to say, before a martial artist can condense their inner energy, they must first possess internal energy.

  This is also one of the reasons why baptism is required after certification. A large amount of special and precious medicinal materials, the efficacy of dan medicine is fumigated through a unique method, and the spiritual essence of heaven and earth is infused into the medicinal water. The certified person will instinctively absorb the medicinal power in the medicinal water during baptism, convert it into internal energy, and store it in the body. The more absorbed, the greater the space for promotion, and the more resources for storing power.

  Of course, there are also some secret methods that can be cultivated without internal energy, but rather through other mysterious and unorthodox means, such as certain ancient monsters that cultivate divine consciousness or soul, or the inheritance of certain secret tribes, or the swallowing of divine core seeds. However, first, these secret methods are all ancient methods, almost all of which have been lost, with few remaining; second, these methods either harm oneself or are cruel and vicious; third, these secret methods are mysterious and unpredictable, generally requiring a certain condition to be reached in the later stages of cultivation, and only then can one cultivate them after reaching a certain terrifying realm.

  Apart from this, there is another situation: it is said that when cultivating to the peak of 9th rank martial artist, one can directly convert internal energy and accumulated power without going through the steps of internal energy cultivation, rapidly increasing accumulated power, with infinite wonders. However, in the hundreds of billions of square kilometers of the Vast Continent, such freaks are only legends from hundreds of years ago.

  Lin Heng temporarily gave up listening to the outside and entered a state of meditation. Generally, when one reaches the third rank of martial artist, they can go for several months without eating and not feel hungry, which is also known as "bigu". For someone like Lin Heng who has just stepped into the threshold of martial arts, when he feels hungry, he can only practice the "Xiu Qi Xin Fa" to slightly delay his hunger.

  If he doesn't eat anything for another three or four days, I'm afraid it's useless no matter what he practices, and he can only starve to death.

  The internal energy of a martial artist has two storage methods. One part is cultivated by the martial artist and transformed into potential energy stored in the sea of consciousness; while the remaining unrefined part, except for being stored in the deep parts of the body's limbs, is mostly accumulated in the dantian.

  The Dan Tian is divided into the Upper, Middle and Lower Dan Tian. These are three small divisions of the Sea of Qi that governs the Ren and Du meridians. They relate to the Sea of Qi like a lake relates to smaller pools that flow outward from it. However, instead of storing lake water or potential energy, they store internal Qi. This stored Qi in the Dan Tian nourishes the body and can also be transformed into potential energy during practice.

  The closed snake abdomen makes breathing difficult, Lin Huan is now silently cultivating the "Heart Cultivation Method" of the pivotal chapter, mainly through the internal energy in the body to stimulate the subtle energy to supplement the weak physical function.

  "The Cultivation of Qi" may be a basic manual, but in the past few days, Lin Heng has made rapid progress. His dantian is full and his internal energy is transforming into a powerful force. The cavity of the yuanqi sphere is now only the size of a thumb, ready to be fully opened at any moment, allowing him to advance to the rank of a first-class warrior.

  This was also the only thing that made Lin Heng, who was in a state of uncertainty about his fate, feel invigorated. If he could enter the first rank, no matter how dangerous the cost, he felt it was worth it: even if these dangers had nothing to do with his promotion.

  Lin Heng's "Universal Heavy Fist" can be performed up to six consecutive punches at its most extreme, and if it progresses in this way, it will enter the first grade. As the quality of his internal energy improves, he can perform twelve punches, from the middle stage of Universal Heavy Fist to the great completion stage.

  This is the difference in rank, a stark disparity. Before and after advancing in rank, it's like heaven and earth apart. Why do all warriors risk everything to advance in rank? This is the reason. It's too enticing, enticing to the point of losing one's rationality. Just like a greedy rich man facing a mountain of gold, what can he not think of to get his hands on it?

  Taking Lin Feng as an example, his previous martial arts skills were at the peak of ordinary warriors, and the "Universal Heavy Fist" he displayed was enough to compete with a first-class warrior in the early stages. Once he advanced to the early stages of being a first-class warrior, he could display the power of the "Universal Heavy Fist" in its mature stage, and his actual lethality increased by tenfold.

  Tenfold increase in lethal attribute, what a stunning leap.

  If Lin had used all his strength to punch Xianxian without using the "Universal Crushing Fist", he would have been able to knock her back seven or eight steps. If he were to use the "Universal Crushing Fist" after advancing to the first rank, it would be enough to directly explode her internal organs and turn her into a pile of minced meat, not giving her any chance to retreat or survive! A first-rate warrior and a first-rate martial skill, once combined, possess a destructive power that is beyond imagination. Once used to its limits, it can almost rival the top masters of the late stage of the first rank, which is also one of the rarest aspects of a first-rate martial skill.

  His brother-in-law, Zhou Ze, wouldn't lend Lin Huan this precious "Pu Xie Heavy Fist" unless he saw him facing a critical moment of verification. After all, it took him so many years of struggle and the merit he gained last month at the risk of his life to get the Cao family to reward him with this "Pu Xie Heavy Fist" in the Treasure Pavilion.

  For a martial artist, the greatest wish is to obtain a high-level martial skill, allowing their strength to reach its peak.

  Zhou Ze had already been the best among his peers in Qili Gou with his mid-first-class cultivation, to the point where he was highly valued by the wealthy Cao family of Qingniu Town and hired as a guardian at a high salary. With this set of "Pu Gan Heavy Fist", he was confident that he could triple his strength. However, first-class martial skills were complex and difficult to practice, with great power came great difficulty in cultivation.

  After more than a month of arduous training, Zhou Ze finally managed to reach the middle stage with great difficulty. His maximum limit was to consecutively cast seven punches, one more punch than Lin Heng's current ability.

  That is to say, if Lin Huan Jin advanced to the first rank and unleashed his "Universal Heavy Fist", it would be enough to defeat him in a mid-first rank battle. Even against someone like Niu Da Shu who was in the late stages of the first rank, as long as he didn't use high-level martial skills, Lin Huan still had a chance at victory!

  According to reason, "Pu Lian Heavy Fist" can only let ordinary martial artists practice a little bit of skin and flesh, at most they can only practice two or three punches. Unexpectedly, Lin Heng's careful consideration and comprehension allowed him to cultivate to a realm similar to that of a mid-first-class martial artist during the ordinary martial artist stage, which is an unexpected miracle that no one could have anticipated.