Chapter 620: What Else Can You Do?

The rock was quite large, with plenty of room even with Shen Yibin sprawled on top. He watched the Turtle Immortal perched at the very edge, its head facing the rising sun. It craned its neck, inhaling and exhaling. Each gulp was like swallowing a whole glutinous rice ball, which then seemed to roll down its neck with a GULP and settle in its belly. It somehow managed to make the air seem as solid as food.

‘Tsk, that looks magical, but isn’t this pose just a little too humiliating?’ Shen Yibin was in a bind. The method was undeniably tempting, but the posture made him hesitate. All fours on the ground, back slightly arched, neck stretched out as far as it could go to face the rising sun… it was just too awkward. ‘It would be so mortifying if anyone saw me.’

Shen Yibin glanced left and right. The estate’s maintenance staff were cleaning the courtyard, but they weren’t paying any attention to him. There was no one else nearby. Only then did he steel his resolve. ‘I’ll give it a try. No one’s watching, anyway. And could it possibly be more humiliating than when I was training my voice with Cheeky, panting like a dog in front of all those aunties in the park?’

So he copied the Turtle Immortal, placing his forearms on the rock and kneeling towards the east. He strained to stretch his neck out as far as it would go and, matching the Turtle Immortal’s rhythm, began swallowing the morning air.

The Turtle Immortal made the movements look simple, but they were incredibly difficult for Shen Yibin to imitate. The pain from his arms and knees pressing against the hard rock was one thing—he could barely endure that. But the seemingly simple act of swallowing air was something he just couldn’t get the hang of. The Turtle Immortal’s every gulp was like swallowing a glutinous rice ball, producing a resonant sound as it settled in its chest. Shen Yibin, on the other hand, was just swallowing puffs of air. He couldn’t form it into a ball at all, let alone make a sound like that.

‘This is harder than it looks,’ Shen Yibin thought, starting to feel discouraged. ‘I guess cultivation really isn’t for everyone. My arms and legs are already getting sore, so why haven’t I made any progress at all?’

Just then, the Turtle Immortal finished its morning cultivation and slowly turned its head. Its two tiny, pea-like eyes met Shen Yibin’s, and it watched his movements with great interest.

“Hey, what am I doing wrong? Why am I not getting the same effect as you at all?” Shen Yibin couldn’t help but ask. ‘Master, please, give me some pointers!’

The Turtle Immortal slowly crawled in front of Shen Yibin. It lifted its front claws and placed them on the rock, demonstrating a pose. Shen Yibin peered at it and realized it was slightly different from how he had positioned his own forearms. He quickly adjusted to match the turtle. The same went for his knees; his current posture was still a ways off from the Turtle Immortal’s proper form.

‘Oh, man! This is way harder than before,’ he thought. ‘This one slight adjustment makes my whole body ache. I don’t think I can hold on.’ After just a minute, Shen Yibin’s face was beet red. From his arms and knees to his very spine, there wasn’t a single spot that didn’t feel uncomfortable! This pose truly tested a person’s endurance.

The Turtle Immortal, however, gave a slight nod, seemingly satisfied with Shen Yibin’s progress. Seeing this, Shen Yibin forced himself to persevere. He figured that if he couldn’t even handle this much, the Turtle Immortal probably wouldn’t teach him the next step.

Sure enough, after he had held the pose for five minutes, the Turtle Immortal moved again. It crawled directly in front of Shen Yibin and opened its mouth wide, startling him so much he instinctively flinched. Turtles have a nasty bite; they latch on and won’t let go for anything. ‘You have to slowly pour water on them to get them to release their grip, and that can take a good ten minutes.’

Fortunately, the Turtle Immortal had no intention of attacking. Instead, it stuck out its tender pink tongue, extending the tip before curling it back into its mouth. The middle of its tongue looked as if it were enveloping a solid object. This “object” then slid down its throat and into its chest with a GULP. It was demonstrating the correct way to swallow the purple qi of the dawn.

‘So that’s how it’s done!’ Shen Yibin had a flash of insight. ‘You don’t inhale with your throat or nose; you use your tongue to roll the air into your stomach!’ If the Turtle Immortal hadn’t demonstrated it right in front of his face, how could he ever have figured out the secret?

‘I’ll try it, too!’ Emulating the Turtle Immortal, Shen Yibin once again craned his neck toward the eastern sun. He stuck his tongue out as far as he could, then curled the tip up slightly. Imagining his tongue was also cradling a solid object, he slowly drew it back into his mouth. He carefully guided the “object” back, and with a slight bob of his Adam’s apple, it fell into his chest, making a faint sound.

Even though Shen Yibin was countless times larger than the Turtle Immortal, with a much wider throat, the sound he produced was nowhere near as impressive. If the Turtle Immortal’s swallowing of the purple qi was like a clap of thunder, then Shen Yibin’s sound was, at best, a cough. The difference in their levels was simply too vast.

‘That’s not very impressive!’ Shen Yibin sighed but quickly recovered. ‘Then again, the Turtle Immortal has been practicing for over two hundred years. This is just my first day. The fact that I can make any sound at all is pretty good. How could I expect to reach its level from the get-go?’

So, Shen Yibin pressed on, renewing his efforts. He craned his neck toward the rising sun, sticking his tongue out again and again to swallow the dawn’s purple qi.

After some time had passed, the Turtle Immortal moved again. It stood up, turned around, crawled a couple of steps, then looked back at Shen Yibin, as if telling him to stop his training and follow.

By this point, Shen Yibin’s arms were sore, his legs were numb, and he was dizzy with blurred vision. The moment he saw the turtle’s gesture, he collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. Don’t be fooled by it being just “swallowing air”—the technique was difficult and surprisingly draining.

After climbing down from the large rock, Shen Yibin plopped onto the ground, gasping for air. He took his half-empty bottle of mineral water and chugged the rest of it down. GLUG, GLUG, GLUG.

‘Ugh, why do I feel so nauseous?’ After downing the water, Shen Yibin didn’t feel refreshed at all. Instead, a wave of nausea surged up from his chest. He quickly bent over, hands on his knees, and dry-heaved a few times, spitting out several globs of thick, sticky phlegm.

“What kind of training is this? How did it wreck me so completely?” he complained to the turtle. ‘I don’t think I felt this miserable even when I was training endurance with Shi Gaofei or practicing Swordsmanship with Xiaoliu.’

‘Huh? Wait a second…’ After spitting out the thick phlegm, Shen Yibin suddenly felt a refreshing lightness in his chest. Even breathing felt much easier. ‘Could it be… that this breathing method actually works?’