Chapter 343 - 343 223 Breathing Technique

Words : 1258 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

343: Chapter 223: Breathing Technique 343: Chapter 223: Breathing Technique It was a land of despair, with no exits or entrances, no food or water sources, not even an option to end one’s existence. A group of creatures, grey and shadowy, were struggling to survive. Compared to other survivors, they had no sharp claws or teeth, no special abnormal abilities. They feared the scorching sun, for they would weaken and die due to the evaporation of water. Moreover, they had a natural lifespan limitation. But they were the masters of this ruined world. The reason? Their vast numbers. In a dystopian future where only powerful individuals could survive by luck, their population was nearly limitless. They swarmed, devouring surviving demons, organic remnants, inorganic substances as solid as stones, and then forcefully converted them into “themselves.” They… or “he,” no matter how many selves he replicated, no matter how shredded he got or charred he was, he remained himself. He was struggling, surviving. His “undying” nature was enviable; no matter the attack, he needed only to regenerate more parts to recover. His “self” characteristics were hard to understand; even when the whole world was filled with “them,” they still perceived there was only one “me”. And within the dreams, a kid’s soul was trying to communicate with this peculiar life form, or rather, to contaminate… “… since a normal life can’t survive, should I just stop being a human…” Lu Ping’an woke up from his recurring nightmare again, his sweat soaked the thin quilt. This was the third day since returning from the third-tier Secret Realm ‘Ironman Triathlon’, he had been having the same nightmare again and again. At this moment, he was finally showing signs of a normal person who couldn’t bear the overload of contamination. It was information, intelligence, but also taboo knowledge, contamination. It was the life form of a particular creature, a gift from the chasers, but if one could not withstand it, it could likely be a curse that hastens death. An ordinary person might hover in pain ceaselessly, have nightmares for months or even half a year, waiting for the curse to wane slightly until they finally understand what the “gift” means. But Lu Ping’an had Life Bank. [The host has gained a small amount of experience in an unnamed breathing technique, gained a few tips on the unnamed breathing technique.] Opening the system panel, the notification was the same as last night. Life Bank had successfully materialized his “harvest,” which was certainly a good thing, but the problem was… “… why is it a breathing technique?” Lu Ping’an couldn’t understand it, and felt an instinctive unease. This wasn’t a result of rational thinking, but an innate fear of survival within him. He seemed to sense that this point was exceedingly important. Since sleep eluded him, he decided not to try anymore. Lu Ping’an got up and went to his gym to exercise. As expected, he saw Meow starting her morning exercise. The changes in this cat were too obvious. After greeting her, he didn’t have any idle chatter. They saw each other every day, there wasn’t much to talk about anyway. Lu Ping’an just jogged around in circles, relaxing his mind, using the breathing technique that he had learned to slowly adjust his body’s condition. As he jogged, he was breaking into sweat yet his mind calmed down quite a bit. During his run, he could also feel the changes in his body, the slight but definite modifications with every breath. “… why is it a breathing technique.” The same words, but this time his tone was affirmative. He was aware now that the idea of “breathing technique” enhancing physical strength and special abilities was rather “unscientific”. Initially, it might be explained by the “decrees of the deities” or the “rules of the world,” but as Lu Ping’an understood more about this supernatural world, he noticed the irregularities. “Just by adjusting the rhythm of breathing or the qi of the entire body, it seems incredible to be able to cause physical changes.” Yet, this ability is widespread and extremely common, almost all battle-professions have a set of breathing techniques to enhance their basic ability. “… the battle-professions of our world don’t have these breathing techniques; many worlds don’t. That’s why Shuiyun’s Professional Skill does not include a breathing technique; she needs to find another one…” The casual words of Meow now seem to hold a lot of secrets in retrospect. “Other races don’t need breathing techniques, or they have similar abilities but not ‘breathing techniques’. Humans need them while the Exotic Races don’t. What’s the difference between the two…” Perhaps, the answer isn’t hard to find, the only difficulty is in facing it. “… Humans are low-contamination creatures, while many Exotic Races are high-contamination creatures. Meow once said humans are not special in the food chain. On the contrary, they need supplementation and evolution…” The Breathing Technique, or so-called civilization habit, but to be frank, changing the name might be simpler — “Self-Transformation”. “Why is it a breathing technique” It’s still the same question, but the answer this time is quite evident. Humans can’t control their blood flow or internal organs, the only thing they can actively control is their “breath”. So, is it feasible to introduce contamination through specific breathing techniques and modify the body? “It’s not that simple. The rhythm itself can be meaningless, but Morse code is nothing more than a rhythm, yet as long as the rhythm carries information, it is a type of language. Language represents information, and within the information lies taboo knowledge.” Meow brutally exposed the truth. Perhaps, the moment people start using breathing techniques, they are no longer humans. “The process of using the breathing technique is like chanting the names of deities. Constructing specific patterns with ‘information,’ then repeatedly drawing external contamination into the body, followed by specified modifications, and naturally, the result will no longer be human.” Lu Ping’an rubbed his temples, many confusing bits finally made sense all at once. Why do training and killing make the professionals stronger? They were “transformed” by ‘Breathing Techniques’ into specific enhancements and mutations, pushing professionals further down a certain path. Why do other professionals have so strong basic attributes? Lu Ping’an’s basic attributes at the highest level of Black Iron were built up over many promotions and job appointments. Yet other 2-tier and 3-tier professionals only have two or three professions and their basic attributes are not much different from his. This had always puzzled him. Looking back now, other battle-profession practitioners have long been transforming their bodies using breathing techniques, naturally, their basic abilities would ramp up. But Lu Ping’an has far less practice with the breathing technique, so his improvement was scarcely noticeable. If existence of this ability could be categorized, “Transformation System” would probably be the most appropriate. Meow was born a mutant so the breathing technique didn’t help much; Beastmen also didn’t rely much on breathing techniques as their improvement rates were always low. At this moment, Lu Ping’an had understood the true meaning of the “gift”. It was a form of existence of a life, a mutation module recorded by the “breathing technique”, and the content it contained was…. [Unnamed Breathing Skill contains concepts of ‘Undead’, ‘Regeneration’, and ‘Perpetual Motion’. We recommend the host to perfect it as soon as possible. Its current status is not recommended for use, with a high probability of unknown mutations occurring…]

Chapter 343 - 343 223 Breathing Technique

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