Only I Am A Reader
chapter-172

As miraculous as Internal Energy Breathing seemed to be, it was still a road that had a lot of hurdles. The most basic one was that it required time, even more so than Sword Breathing, but this was an obstacle that could be easily solved through the use of resources.

However, only one obstacle weighed on Leo's mind at the moment. The very first step to learning and utilizing Breathing Techniques was to clear the body's Energy Channels, which was also the first task that he had to achieve in this training phase.

In comparison to simple Sword Breathing, Internal Energy Breathing wasn't just about gathering. In fact, the core that differentiated one technique from another was the step that followed that, Energy Circulation!

Almost every technique followed the same principle when it came to gathering Energy, but circulating this Energy through the Energy Channels was the method of transforming the natural energy into the user's personal Internal Energy. The attributes and properties of Internal Energy were unique to each technique according to the chant and circulation method it contained.

'It's unlikely.'

Since clearing Energy Channels was merely the first step and not the goal of the technique, condensing Internal Energy, Leo believed that he couldn't rely on the help of 'Reality Reading', he was on his own when it came to completing this task.

Calming himself down, Leo sat down in a cross-legged position, closing his eyes as he tried to remember what Instructor Han had shown him, layering it on the body map illustrated in the book. He might have to rely on himself, but it wasn't like he didn't receive any form of help!

In most Martial Families and famous sects, a senior would personally assist those who had a promising future, forcefully clearing their Energy Channels using his own Internal Energy. On the other hand, the normal students would have to rely on the most basic form of the Breathing Technique, slowly accumulating natural energy before attempting to clear the blockage in their channels.

However, whether it was the Heavenly Demon Cult of the past or the Heavenly Strength Society of today, they had never adopted that method of training. Even if the senior and the junior were to practice the same Breathing Technique, being invaded by another person's Internal Energy would leave some influence and impurity on the recipient's body, something intolerable for the 'students' chosen for the Heavenly Furnace!

Most importantly, providing someone with an easy way out that didn't require any effort from them violated the most basic principle practiced in the Heavenly Furnace! Things could be made easier, but the beneficiary still had to exert the minimized effort himself!

"Huuu…"

After the background noise in his mind had been filtered away, Leo stretched his hand and opened the small ceramic bottle, taking out a small ball-shaped object before throwing it into his mouth!

'Focus.'

This was a Blood Rose Initiation Pill, both its name and use were clearly recorded in the book that he had just finished. While Leo was trying to reach a higher state of clarity to prepare himself for the next step, the pill had directly dissolved in his throat, dispersing throughout his body. Clearly, its destination wasn't the stomach.

As an item that had Initiation as part of its name, the pill was naturally a resource used in the initial step of clearing Energy Channel, Leo still lacked the 'inner sight' that he used to have, but he could at least feel the foreign energy in his body, seemingly flowing around without order.

'Slowly…'

However, Leo knew that this was just an illusion. Blood rose was a low-level Elixir that could help increase Internal Energy by a few days at best, but its defining feature was its extreme malleability, even the weakest mental energy could guide it to slowly clear away the Energy Channels without relying on natural energy!

Although mental energy was a concept that didn't have any appliance, Leo was thoroughly experiencing its importance at this exact moment. He couldn't influence anything with his mind, but the sanguine energy in his body effectively reacted to his thoughts!

'Was that also mental energy?'

Leo was trying his best not to be distracted, but he couldn't help but recall his experience with controlling Sword Breath. Was the way he controlled it also related to this intangible mental energy?

Even as someone who had absorbed some of the experience in the book, Leo noticed that he was getting better at guiding the energy that flowed out of the pill too quickly. Was his superior 'Mind' statistic the reason behind that or…?

This was obviously not the time to think too deeply about it, but Baekho's situation flashed in Leo's mind. If Energy Channel Clearing and Energy Circulation were really reliant on mental ability as he guessed, Leo could only imagine how much extra effort he had to push out in order to reach the level of ability he had before his death…

'Here we go.'

Since the time of gathering energy was cut short, Leo only had to spend a couple of hours getting used to guiding the stray energy in his body. Unfortunately, the energy had already dispersed by the time he was done as he focused on 'handling' instead of 'clearing'.

Even then, Leo didn't feel like it was a waste. He still wasn't sure how it worked, but he at least understood the characteristics of 'guidance'. It was like having an extra but awkward hand or wearing a cumbersome glove to interact with something that you usually couldn't.

He didn't have someone clearing his Energy Channels for him nor did he have help from 'Ability Reading'. However, Leo had both Instructor Han's guidance as an outline for these invisible channels and his 'inner sight' experience that came with handling Sword Breath. In any case, he definitely had it much better than most beginners out there.

'Again.'

After spending a few minutes consolidating his vision of the energy channels that he needed to clear, Leo immediately popped another pill into his mouth. Just like he handled the first one he had over the last year, every task was a work in progress!