After walking down the corridor to his room, Yuan opened the wooden door, the Royal Dragon Breath Discipline cultivation technique book in hand.
Entering, he closed the door behind him and sealed it. Alone at last, he lifted the book slightly and smiled at it.
He then walked to his bed and sat down. Once seated, he opened the book and began to read its contents more thoroughly.
The Royal Dragon Breath Discipline was simple in name, just a breathing technique that applied pressure to all the meridians and internal organs. The longer it was practiced, the more benefits it would bring, though all those early benefits were merely side effects.
The true purpose of the technique came later.
From his past experiences, specifically his advancement up to the sixth grade of the Meridian Awakening Stage, Yuan could remember both the process and the sensations involved.
Although those memories were unpleasant, they now provided insight. That time gave him a partial understanding of the elusive fourteen main ethereal meridians.
Based on that knowledge, Yuan could reasonably deduce that the Royal Dragon Breath Discipline was designed to awaken one of those main meridians.
Judging from the name alone, he speculated it was most likely intended to stimulate the Conception Meridian, the Penetrating Meridian, or perhaps the Solar Meridian.
If he had to place a bet, the most logical choice seemed to be the Solar Meridian, the same one Truth had chosen to cultivate in Yuan's previous body. Still, Yuan wasn't entirely certain.
For now, he could only say that one of those three meridians was most likely the target of this breathing method.
That said, the cultivation technique was clearly incomplete. Yuan had noticed it after a single quick read, and with a more in depth review, the flaws became obvious. Many of the inconsistencies could have easily been corrected by a cultivator at the sixth grade of the Meridian Awakening Stage.
Unfortunately, the Loose Tail Family didn't even have someone at the peak of the Blood Purification Stage, let alone a Meridian Awakening expert. If someone at that level had taken the time to study the manual, they would have seen the flaws too.
Still, even in its incomplete form, the technique would be useful to Yuan up to the first grade of the Meridian Awakening Stage.
Beyond that point, he might form a minor connection to one of the main meridians and if he could successfully awaken one, it would offer a tremendous advantage to his cultivation. At least, based on his limited understanding of the main meridians.
With these thoughts, Yuan closed the book and set it beside him. He had already memorized its entire contents. Now, all he needed was time, to analyze and correct the flaws.
Then, he could begin practicing the technique.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, settling into a lotus position. Entering a deep meditative state, his thoughts turned entirely toward the Royal Dragon Breath Discipline.
His mind remained calm as countless ideas flowed through it, how to fix the flaws, how to direct the spiritual essence properly, how to optimize the technique for himself.
Time passed quietly. A servant had come by to deliver food, but that soon stopped after Yuan requested fasting pills, a request Old Man Longwei Feng approved. Freed from external distractions, Yuan delved deeper into meditation until his entire consciousness was focused on refining the breathing technique.
Eventually, he succeeded. At least, he fixed every flaw he was capable of noticing and correcting.
"Haah…" Yuan exhaled, finally allowing his thoughts to drift elsewhere. Thinking about the same thing nonstop for days had been exhausting.
"I need some fresh air," he muttered to himself.
Rising to his feet, he picked up the Royal Dragon Breath Discipline manual and returned it to the bookshelf alongside the other texts.
Then he walked to the door, unsealed it with a light gesture, and opened it.
The corridor outside awaited him.
Nothing had changed in the past month. Everything looked exactly the same, no surprises, no shifts, no signs of progress. With that thought, Yuan quietly descended the wooden pavilion.
He chose not to visit Old Man Feng today. Instead, he wanted to take a walk through the town, perhaps, in clearing his mind, he might discover a solution to the flaw in the technique that still eluded him.
As he made his way down, he noticed that the guards stationed at the pavilion entrance were different from the ones he had first encountered upon arrival.
Stepping out, the guards looked at him with slight confusion. They had never seen Yuan before. To them, he was just a child, no more than 1.4 meters tall, appearing out of a place reserved for the clan's inner circles.
They exchanged uncertain glances, recalling a conversation from earlier that day.
"Someone from the Inner Family will be visiting the Longwei Management Pavilion…"
With that in mind, they assumed Yuan must be a child from the Inner Family. Their demeanor immediately shifted to cautious respect.
"Young master, please wait!" one of them called out, mustering the courage to address him.
Yuan stopped and turned, meeting the guard's gaze with calm eyes. "Yes? Is there a problem?"
The guard swallowed nervously before replying, "Young master, you're not permitted to leave the pavilion without a guard escort. Please allow me to accompany you."
Yuan raised an eyebrow, confused. Why would he need a guard just to take a walk? Still, he didn't really mind, he wasn't planning anything important, and having a guide might even be helpful.
After a brief pause, he nodded in agreement.
Seeing his approval, the guard let out a silent sigh of relief. If anything happened to this "young master" while on their watch, it would be their heads on the line.
"Brother Bai, fetch another guard. I'll accompany the young master," he said quickly.
The other guard, Brother Bai, simply nodded and walked off without a word.
Yuan, meanwhile, didn't pay any of that much attention. He glanced at the guard now assigned to him and said, "Show me the town."
With a respectful nod, the guard began leading Yuan through the streets.
The town wasn't all that large, at least, not compared to the entire territory of the Howling Wind Sect. The town, along with the Loose Tail Family's mountain, could at best be compared to the outer sect region of the Howling Wind Sect.
Even so, it was considered spacious for mortals. But to a cultivator, this town barely qualified as a village.
After they had walked through everything worth seeing, Yuan felt satisfied. He had relaxed a little. Along the way, he watched mortals working hard to sell their goods, witnessed a few petty criminals taking lives unnoticed by the town's guards, and observed how mortals still found joy in their fleeting lives.
"Let's go back," Yuan finally said. The guard had only heard him speak once before, when Yuan had first asked to be shown the town. Now that he had spoken again, the guard saluted respectfully, and they began the return journey.
Nothing happened during the walk back, which lasted around five hours. When they arrived at the Longwei Management Pavilion, the wooden pavilion that Yuan now called home, he made his way toward Old Man Longwei Feng's office.
After receiving permission to enter, they began talking.
Old Man Longwei Feng was clearly pleased to see him. He immediately took on the tone of a concerned grandfather, scolding Yuan in a half joking, half worried manner.
How could he stay shut in his room for an entire month without coming to visit? And how could a child his age survive on nothing but fasting pills?
He was clearly overreacting in his concern, but Yuan calmly interrupted with a question.
"Old Man Feng, may I ask… when will I receive my cultivation resources? I've already waited an entire month. I didn't want to come earlier because I didn't want it to seem like I only cared about benefits."
"Haha! It's good that you ask now!" Old Man Feng laughed heartily. "Little Yuan, I've been pulling some strings and calling in favors to get you a small gift. I was actually planning to visit you tomorrow with it, but since you're already here, why wait? I'll give it to you now!"
"A gift?" Yuan echoed in surprise. He was genuinely caught off guard by Old Man Longwei Feng's generosity. He hadn't expected the old man to take such good care of him.
Longwei Feng chuckled and reached into the wide sleeve of his robe, pulling out a small pouch. He handed it to Yuan with a warm smile.
"Open it!" he said, his wrinkled face lit up with grandfatherly delight.
Yuan carefully untied the pouch and peered inside.
It contained several brown pills, a few yellow ones, and a single green pill. Nestled among the pills were four small, nail-sized dark green stones, likely the low grade spiritual essence stones he'd been promised.
But Yuan's attention wasn't on the stones. It was the pills that intrigued him, and so he looked to Old Man Feng for an explanation.
The old man chuckled knowingly. "Hehe. The brown pills are called Skin Pore Opening Pills. They'll help your body absorb a bit more spiritual essence. The effect is small, but helpful."
He gestured to the yellow pills next. "These are Spiritual Essence Gathering Pills. They assist in concentrating the ambient essence around you, and make it easier for your body to endure long sessions of absorption."
Then, his expression grew even prouder as he pointed at the green pill.
"And that one? That's a Sense Skipping Pill! It's extremely rare. I had to call in a favor for it from an elder of the Longshou Faction and let me tell you, they didn't wanted to part with it so easily."
His eyes twinkled with pride. "Swollow it inside the Dragon Turning Cultivation Room, and it should allow you to awaken your second sense directly, pushing you to the Second Sense stage. And if you're lucky, you might even touch the threshold of the third!"
"Incredible..." Yuan whispered, genuinely stunned. He had never heard of such a pill. Or had he?
He frowned slightly. Come to think of it, all the knowledge he had about pills came not from books, but from the memories of Basilisk...
His thoughts darkened for a moment. "Too dangerous", he realized. Truth's influence had run deeper than he'd ever acknowledged. He'd assumed he understood pill refinement, but in truth, he had never read a single book about it. He had only trusted what he was made to remember.
Suppressing that uneasy feeling, Yuan quickly collected himself. He saluted respectfully and thanked the old man.
Old Man Feng waved his hand, chuckling warmly. "No need to thank me, not from my own grandson."
With that, Yuan smiled faintly. "Then I'll go begin my cultivation now."
He turned and left the office, leaving the old man alone with a pleased, satisfied smile on his face.