On the sixth day of his secluded cultivation, Natsunishi changed his approach.
Since all breathing styles originated from a single starting point, and he just so happened to have witnessed the technique used by the Ancestor of Breathing—which resembled a blazing sun—in a cutscene, why not try to trace it back to its source?
He would no longer use any existing breathing style as a template to piece together and modify. Instead, he would use their commonalities as clues, reverse-engineering them to restore that "Primordial Breathing." After all, while things on the scientific side grew stronger the newer they were, the mystical side operated in reverse: the older it was, the more powerful it became.
However, this path was far more difficult than making adjustments with a single breathing style as the main trunk. For three consecutive days, he could not even find the threshold to implement it.
It wasn't until the tenth day of his cultivation that Natsunishi finally caught a glimpse of the feeling.
He needed to forget the fixed rhythm and form of each individual breath and feel the most primitive, natural way the breathing style flowed within his body. In a sense, Natsunishi was attempting to lightly operate the five foundational breathing styles simultaneously.
Balancing and allocating five completely different breaths was harder than Natsunishi had imagined. Even though he had already mastered "Total Concentration: Constant" and his breathing had undergone a qualitative transformation, managing them simultaneously with such precision still left him feeling inadequate.
The Breath of Water was fluid and gentle, yet at this moment, it battered his body like crashing waves. The Breath of Wind was a natural, unrestrained breath, yet it transformed into a bone-chilling gale, seemingly threatening to tear his muscles and meridians apart.
The same held true for the other breathing styles.
The distinct energies clashed violently within his body, refusing to yield to one another. Natsunishi felt like he was simultaneously driving five wild horses charging in different directions. Every time he attempted to operate that vague prototype, a manic, burning sensation akin to a spasm flared in his lungs.
This was different from the scorching heat of the Breath of Flame. It was more primitive, more overbearing, as if forcibly igniting life itself. Even continuously executing sword forms failed to vent that pent-up breath. Within just a few breaths, he was coughing and wheezing, with prominent veins bulging across his forehead.
Yet, the evaluation rating popped up by the system made him forcibly suppress the urge to give up.
[Detection complete—]
[Potential: Excellent]
[Compatibility: 63% (Can be continuously improved subsequently)]
A single, crude attempt had pulled an SR! The drop rate for this method's gacha pool was incredibly high!
Natsunishi wiped away a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his eyes shining with terrifying brightness.
"The path is correct."
That sensation, akin to being scorched by a blazing sun, was not a derivative of the five main breaths. It was much closer to the pristine, grand solar breathing style displayed by the Ancestor of Breathing.
This burning sensation was highly likely caused by his insufficient physical strength or a lack of precise control. Without absolute mastery, one simply could not control it!
Natsunishi reflected that if the Breath of Thunder hadn't reached Level 5, completely unlocking the state of Constant, he probably wouldn't even have the qualifications to comprehend this "Primordial" form. Once the direction was found, the rest became simple. It was nothing more than frantic iteration and optimization.
Natsunishi's goal was to preserve the source characteristics of the Primordial breath while drastically lowering its activation threshold and the exaggerated burden it placed on the body, domesticating these five wild horses into a "derivative form" that human swordsmen could manage and utilize. Perhaps by lowering the frequency, or perhaps by tuning it to fit his own body.
Another seven days passed in this manner.
Even though he could skip the process of steadily building up progress bars with a stable breathing style, Natsunishi still began to look somewhat haggard. High-intensity testing of various breaths on his own body was truly detrimental to his health. Yet, as he adjusted the depth, rhythm, and distribution ratio of his breath within his limbs and bones over and over again, his gaze grew increasingly brilliant.
This gacha pool was truly excellent! [Excellent], [Excellent], [Ordinary], [Inferior], [Excellent]—
There were versions that achieved a solid balance between burden and reinforcement. There were versions that emphasized instantaneous overload bursts but suffered from poor endurance and self-inflicted damage. There were also versions that compromised too much, resulting in an effect so far removed from the original that it was inferior to the five foundational breathing styles.
It wasn't until the dusk of the seventeenth day, during a meditation session deeply focused on operation and balance, that the breathing pattern he adjusted finally caused the system to chime with a different prompt.
[Detected a breathing style prototype under revision.]
[Potential: Extraordinary]
[Compatibility: 79% (Can be continuously improved moving forward)]
Extraordinary! An SSR! It finally dropped!
Natsunishi worked hard to maintain this new breath. It successfully preserved a massive amount of the essence from the Primordial breath, while utilizing the unique characteristics of the five foundational breaths to restrain and guide one another, barely constructing a relatively stable circulatory system.
It was like making five wild horses pull each other, running continuously along a perfect circle, achieving a delicate balance within dynamic motion.
Between breaths, that terrifying, scorching sensation decreased drastically, yet the physical reinforcement it provided was faintly a cut above the same level of the five foundational breathing styles. And this was merely the initial stage of the technique's creation, before the compatibility had been maxed out.
Looking at it this way, the completion rate achieved by the creators of the five foundational breathing styles back in the day was probably somewhere between [Excellent] and [Extraordinary]? An SR+ perhaps?
Exhausted but thrilled, Natsunishi felt the newborn rhythm of breath within his body. It was long, warm, and deep. Vaguely, faint green flames, similar to the Breath of Flame, began to flicker around his body, as if prompting the young man's subtle aura to become active along with it.
But would Natsunishi settle for just this? Of course not.
"System—"
I have already walked the hardest 99% of the path myself. As for this final 1% of sublimation—I will give you a little sense of participation.
Natsunishi opened the system panel and searched for the special item he had obtained after that initial cutscene.
"Primordial Breathing Style: Essentials" Introduction: This item cannot be used directly. It can be invested as a material during the comprehension of a breathing style to drastically increase the quality and completion rate of the created style.
Let me see your absolute limit.
"Now is the time!" Natsunishi decisively used it.
In the next instant, a massive influx of fragmented imagery and insights flooded his mind. It was not a specific cultivation method, but rather countless brilliant fragments of thoughts and sparks of inspiration regarding fields like the structure of the human body, breathing techniques, and the flow of force.
To be precise, rather than calling it "brilliant thoughts," it was better described as a comprehension and understanding of the essence of breathing that had reached the level of a "monster."
At that moment, with the blessing of Natsunishi's astounding intellect, the concept of a breathing style was no longer some profound and obscure skill. It became an instinct, as natural as eating or drinking water.
Looking back at the [Extraordinary] grade breathing style framework he had just created, numerous hidden flaws, uncoordinated nodes, and areas that failed to fully unleash their potential were highlighted by the system.
He only needed to follow the flow of this enlightenment.
Natsunishi's mind cleared, and his breathing rhythm naturally began to shift, initiating his final and most exquisite adjustment.
Many of the modifications were incredibly subtle, perhaps just the timing of a breath transition or a minute shift in the exertion of his lung muscles. Without a peak-level comprehension of breathing styles and absolute control over one's body, completing such an exaggerated operation would be entirely impossible.
But at this moment, Natsunishi achieved it.
The Extraordinary breathing style began to slowly evolve and perfect itself toward a higher, more flawless state. When the final adjustment was complete, the radiance on the system prompt reached an unprecedented peak.
[Fused 'Primordial Breathing Style: Essentials']
[Breathing style potential has risen drastically]
[Potential Rating: Peerless]
[Compatibility: 100%]
The corners of Natsunishi's mouth turned up, unable to suppress his smile.
It was done!
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