Chapter 21: The Secret of Regulating One's Breath

  "Hey Monitor Yu, you're back! Hurry up and change your clothes, the big team meeting is at 6 o'clock, all monitors and above are required to attend." I came down from the mountain and just walked to the entrance of the camp when I met a little soldier from my class.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "It seems like learning about the Three Represents." The new recruit replied.

  "Ah," I responded. My goodness, what I hate the most is theoretical learning. The empty and spacious auditorium, a few people on the stage reading from their scripts, a group of people sitting below, obviously all impatient, yet pretending to listen attentively, making it so quiet that even birds and animals wouldn't make a sound. Just thinking about it makes me annoyed.

  "What about Class Vice President?" I wanted to find a scapegoat.

  "The deputy squad leader went to pump gas," said the new recruit.

  "What a bootlicker." I cursed silently. No chance, I'll just go myself, I hastily ran back to the dormitory, changed into formal attire, and strolled with several other class leaders from our team to the grand auditorium of the whole school.

  We chatted and laughed as we arrived at the auditorium, halfway there we met comrades from the reconnaissance platoon and artillery platoon who were on duty for the third year in a row, still lining up and shouting slogans. It felt really awkward.

  It's better for me to be carefree. I couldn't help but feel lucky that I had chosen the right squad, even though those new recruits from other teams looked at me with disdain in their eyes. I didn't care, and hummed to myself "If we really fought one on one, none of you would scare me, hmm."

  Learning is as dull and tedious as ever. Anyway, I couldn't focus on listening, so I closed my eyes and recalled the content of the ancient book I had gained insight into during the day.

  As the name suggests, "Yin Yang Observation of Qi Method" mainly records how to observe various types of qi. Compared to "Wu Xing Observation of Qi Technique", this book is more comprehensive, more objective and takes a shortcut. Although the method of observing qi has not changed much, because a pointer and a true statement are added at each level of observation, the consumption of one's own true yuan to make the observation clearer and more comprehensive is like killing a chicken to get an egg, and the side effects that come with it are naturally more obvious. This is because the massive loss of true qi causes greater harm to oneself. Simply put, it's about getting a bigger return by paying a bigger price. It gives people the feeling that this wind-riding Taoist must have a very extreme personality, otherwise he wouldn't have created such an extreme technique.

  The "Qian Kun Yu Qi Fa Jue" contains a detailed record of the thirteen techniques for controlling the air. The oral formula is obscure and difficult to understand, and the method is strange and unusual. It's all about guiding, using, modifying, and even reversing the energy of oneself and external living things, yin and yang, heaven and earth. In simple terms, "controlling the air" means using one's own energy to resonate with external energy, thereby acquiring corresponding abilities. Of course, this requires careful consideration, and if you deliberately try to force it when you know it can't be done, you'll suffer from illness or disease at best, or damage your yang and shorten your lifespan at worst. Overall, neither the "Guan Qi Jue" nor the "Yu Qi Jue" is a bright and upright Taoist technique. Because everything in the world has its own predetermined energy number to maintain the balance of yin and yang and the longevity of heaven and earth. If you insist on going against the natural order and breaking this balance, even if it's just a small disturbance that doesn't have a huge impact, it's still not worth it. And those big actions that have a profound impact will naturally be punished by heaven. At that time, you'll just have to wait for your bad luck.

  In addition, the two ancient books also recorded the origin of Guanqi and Yuqi techniques. It turned out that these techniques were not orthodox Taoist techniques, but were created by the predecessors of Juejiao (a branch of Taoism) who had occasional inspirations during their practice. Perhaps many people are unfamiliar with Juejiao, but in fact, from ancient times to the present, Taoists do not necessarily belong to the Taoist school, and may also be part of Yanjiao or Juejiao. In a long period of time in the past, Taoism, Yanjiao, and Juejiao coexisted. However, in later periods, Taoism became mainstream because its practices were relatively easy, while Yanjiao and Juejiao gradually faded out of people's sight due to their extremely difficult techniques.

  The practice of the Jie Jiao sect emphasizes treating everything with one's true heart, and acting naturally according to emotions. Once this is understood, it becomes easier to explain why the Qi Gong practitioners of the Feng Shou Dao are so overbearing and unorthodox in their sword techniques. Upon further reflection on the relevant records in the Supplement, it can be proven that the Feng Shou Dao belongs to the Jie Jiao sect, as the Supplement mentions "blindness for three days" (san ri mang mu) and "lying down for half a year" (ni yin yang, wo ban zai). It seems that these are not defects in the Qi Gong techniques themselves, but rather the result of this Jie Jiao practitioner acting naturally and going against heaven, bringing about his own misfortune.

  However, I didn't expect that the Wind Rider would also mention Buddhism in these two ancient books. The original text is a bit wordy, but the general idea is to show humility and deference to Buddhism. Because Daoist cultivation mainly focuses on techniques, the early stages of practice are relatively easy. In contrast, Buddhism emphasizes the concept of "no self" and the natural radiance of one's true nature. Supernatural powers arise naturally without intention. However, Buddhist practice is extremely difficult, and its principles are boundless, fundamentally incomparable to Daoist techniques. At the time, I had some reservations about the Wind Rider's statement, thinking that he was boosting others' morale while undermining his own prestige. I didn't think much of it in my heart. This mistaken idea wasn't corrected until five years later, when I thought I had reached the pinnacle of my qigong skills and challenged Master Minghui, only to be defeated and return with my tail between my legs.

  Whenever Buddhism is mentioned, I subconsciously think of reincarnation. Logically speaking, only a few high-ranking monks have the possibility of their spirit not extinguishing after death and being reborn as humans. However, the cultivation of the Wind Riding Sect is based on magic techniques, not divine powers. Even with the highest level of magic, it's impossible to be reborn as human! Moreover, people who are reincarnated usually retain some memories from their past life, so why have I never had any strange feelings or even a single weird dream since childhood? Is it possible that the Wind Riding Sect's cultivation has really reached the realm of "reversing yin and yang" and "controlling the air for thousands of years"? It's incomprehensible... Let me take a break and clear my head.

  "What are you doing? Don't push me." I said drowsily.

  "Get up, don't sleep anymore, wake up quickly." A volunteer soldier, Old Squad Leader, pushed me awake.

  "Ah~" I suddenly woke up, I was sleeping in the meeting room. After waking up, I moved my butt to confirm, fortunately, I was sitting. Looking at my hands again, this time I didn't hold anything either. I felt a bit relieved.

  I looked around and wondered why everyone was staring at me. "Zhang Class Monitor, did I just talk in my sleep?" I turned to ask him.

  "There isn't," replied Zhang Bansheng with a smile.

  "That's good." I casually picked up the pen, who knew Zhang Class Leader still had a second half "But you grind your teeth."