The withered plum tree had likely once been beautiful.
Now, its bark flaked in long grey strips, and its crooked limbs clawed at the sky like the hands of a starving man. It stood alone at the edge of the outer court, its roots bulging from dry soil, starved of water and sunlight alike.
Lu Shen sat beneath it every day now.
In the mornings, after training sword forms until his arms refused to lift. In the afternoons, when the sun dipped behind the mountain and shadows stretched long across the stone. Sometimes, he wasn't even reading. Just thinking. Listening.
It's quiet here.
That mattered. In a sect brimming with false politeness, subtle cruelty, and a rigid hierarchy where strength ruled above all, quiet was precious.
Even more than Qi.
A battered manual lay open on his knees: Basic Theory of Qi Channels, its pages fragile and half-faded from sun exposure. He had read the first ten pages three times already.
And still, he read it again.
"The meridians are spiritual veins that carry internal Qi through the cultivator's body. There are 12 main channels and 8 extraordinary ones. A healthy meridian system is necessary for circulating energy between the Dantian, limbs, and organs..."
He traced the diagram with his finger. A simple sketch of a human silhouette with faint lines crossing it like a spiderweb.
But his body—this new body—was like a sealed flask. The dantian was cracked. Qi gathered slowly, then leaked away like water through broken clay.
Incomplete foundation...
His thoughts drifted to the system panel.
[Dantian Status: Fractured]
Qi retention 12%
Cultivation techniques are inefficient until repaired or compensated.
Compensated.
That word had stuck with him.
If I can't build the house on stone, then I'll build it brick by brick, and reinforce every wall.
...
That evening, Xiao Fan brought him a bundle wrapped in cloth.
Lu Shen looked up from his place under the plum tree, surprised. The servant boy's eyes darted around nervously.
"I... I found this behind the storeroom," Xiao Fan said in a low whisper. "No one claimed it. Probably belonged to a dismissed outer disciple. Maybe you can use it?"
He placed the bundle down and ran off before Lu Shen could thank him.
Lu Shen unwrapped it carefully.
Inside were several scrolls—some brittle with age, others slightly better preserved. One had a name inked in bold, faded characters:
"Breath of the Hollow Wind – A Foundation Breathing Art"
A Foundation technique.
His breath caught.
These arts weren't true cultivation methods. They didn't manipulate external elements or absorb spiritual Qi in large amounts. But they taught breath control, posture, internal focus.
And maybe, just maybe... they can help me hold onto Qi just a little longer.
He opened the scroll.
The first line read like poetry:
"Stillness is the gate. Silence is the key.
In the breathless gap between heartbeats, the wind passes through the body without resistance."
Lu Shen smiled.
...
The next few days passed in repetition.
Sword forms in the early light. The ghostly system panel tracking each swing, each movement, each slip in balance or moment of flow.
Then breathwork under the withered tree. Practicing the Hollow Wind technique one verse at a time. Inhale for four counts. Hold. Exhale for six. Still the thoughts. Empty the chest. Let the breath become wind—quiet, weightless.
It was harder than the sword.
Sometimes he coughed. Other times he grew lightheaded, vision swimming. His heart would race when it should slow, and his breath would hitch when it should flow.
But the system didn't stay silent.
[New Technique Recorded: Breath of the Hollow Wind – Rank: Mortal Tier, Low Grade]
Progress: 9/100 EXP
Observation: Form inconsistent. Heart rate spiking. Breathing too shallow. Recommendation: Focus on diaphragm expansion.
He adjusted.
Day after day.
Slowly, something shifted.
Not in his dantian, not yet. But in his awareness.
He began to feel the flow of his own breath—not just as air, but as a gentle presence. A rhythm. A bridge between flesh and spirit.
...
One morning, after practicing both sword and breath, Lu Shen sat quietly with his back against the tree. A strange warmth pooled at the base of his spine. Not hot. Not urgent. Just... present.
He focused inward.
The system flickered softly.
[Qi Sense: Awakened (Minor)]
Your understanding of internal flow has reached a threshold. You may now sense the presence of your own Qi for brief moments during stillness or focused breathwork.
His breath caught.
He exhaled slowly, carefully, eyes closed.
There it was.
A trickle. A flicker of light in a sea of darkness.
Tiny. Fragile. But real.
I can feel it.
I can work with this.
He didn't speak aloud.
But inside, something swelled.
Not pride. Not yet.
But hope.
...
By the seventh day, the withered plum tree had begun to bloom.
Only three flowers. Pale, nearly translucent. But unmistakable against the skeletal branches.
Lu Shen noticed them after finishing his practice. He stared at them in silence for a long time.
You're still alive, he thought. Even after everything.
So am I.
He raised his system panel and opened the log.
Entry #004 – Breath of the Hollow Wind (First Comprehension)
Notes: Focus must remain on the lower abdomen. Qi trickles during full exhale when body is still. Most success occurs during early morning. Feeling is like soft warmth beneath the navel—do not force it. Let it come.
Estimated EXP Bonus from Log Entry: +4%
He closed the panel.
Then turned back to the tree.
And smiled.