Where's my golden core? Did you think I removed a kidney stone?

Chapter 17, the breathing technique, is complete!

The marathon is over, and I'm on my way back.

Su Ye's phone vibrated; it was a WeChat message from Zhang Yuanping.

"I heard you saved a runner who suffered cardiac arrest at the marathon?"

Then another one came in.

"The marathon organizers there have already notified us and even specifically praised us, saying that your emergency response was very professional and made an outstanding contribution to the safety of the event."

Then came a thumbs-up emoji.

"Well done, Su Ye."

In just a few words, Su Ye could feel the weight in Zhang Yuanping's tone. This over-fifty-year-old chief physician was usually very sparing with his praises, so this was already a very high compliment. Actually, it was just a small matter, but it was clear that Zhang Yuanping valued Su Ye highly and was now specifically praising him.

Su Ye replied: "Thank you, Teacher Zhang. It's all basic knowledge; it's what I should do."

After sending the message, Su Ye put away his phone, but his pace quickened unconsciously.

His mind wasn't on any of those things.

Only one thing kept running through my mind.

Breathe.

Rhythm.

At that moment, his palm was pressed against Ye Tong's chest, injecting water-based energy to stabilize the fire embryo. At the same time, his senses also penetrated into it. In those few dozen seconds, he "saw" too many things. The spiritual energy contracted and expanded with the heartbeat, and flowed with the breath. It was an instinctive, primal rhythm from the deepest part of life.

These images are now etched into his mind, making him feel restless and anxious.

He was very eager to find a place to try it out.

Su Ye glanced at the surrounding environment. The latter half of the marathon course passed through a green belt along the river, and further in was a small grove of trees, which was rarely visited.

He quickened his pace and entered the woods.

……

The woods were quiet. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The air was filled with the scent of earth and grass, and occasionally birdsong could be heard from afar.

Su Ye found a flat, open space and stood still.

Close your eyes.

My senses expanded, confirming that there was no one within fifty meters.

Then he drew all his attention back to his internal body.

His mental strength was growing day by day. At this moment, he could clearly feel every beat of his heart. Blood was pumped out of the ventricle, rushed into the aorta, flowed into the capillaries throughout the body, and then returned through the veins, in a mysterious and profound cycle.

He started to try.

simulation.

Ye Tong's instinctive breathing rhythm while he was unconscious, the pattern of his heartbeat causing the spiritual energy to contract and spread—he replayed that scene in his mind over and over again, and then tried to reproduce it with his own body.

To be honest, Su Ye still doesn't fully understand the effects of the water-based golden core prototype. But at this moment, his mind is clear, his thoughts are jumping around, and he feels that he can control his body and do things that ordinary people cannot do.

He used his mental energy to delve into himself, to sense the frequency of his heartbeat, and then held his breath, slowly, little by little, to adjust the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump!

Like drumbeats, first a heavy strike, then two strikes in quick succession, repeating in a cycle.

Then coordinate with your breathing.

call--

suck!

One long, one short; one slow, one fast; they perfectly synchronize with the rhythm of the heartbeat, creating a strange resonance.

Su Ye's body began to change.

He could feel that the spiritual energy channel in his body had suddenly "come alive," no longer a passive conduit, but like a river that had found its own riverbed and began to flow actively.

Everything around seemed to flow with Su Ye; the treetops began to sway gently, and the branches and leaves trembled as if being pulled by some invisible force.

The threads of spiritual energy between heaven and earth stirred.

Strands and strands of energy surged toward Su Ye from all directions, as if drawn by his breath and heartbeat, like iron filings attracted by a magnet—natural, irresistible.

One strand, two strands, three strands, four strands, five strands!

Five strands of spiritual energy surged toward Su Ye at the same time. The moment they approached his body, they seemed to be melted by a burst of heat, turning into countless tiny specks of spiritual energy, which then flowed into his body from between his eyebrows.

Su Ye's body jolted violently, and he suddenly gasped for breath.

Five strands entered the body simultaneously!

Previously, he could only draw one strand at a time, and it would be excruciatingly painful. Now, with five strands flowing in at the same time, he subconsciously prepared himself to endure excruciating pain.

However, the pain did not come.

mild?

The burning pain of a red-hot needle piercing a nerve has turned into a warm, tingling sensation. The spiritual energy flows along the channels in the body, no longer a brute force rushing in, but rather seeps into every cell in an orderly and steady manner, following the rhythm of the heartbeat and breathing.

Countless cells in Su Ye's body greedily absorbed spiritual energy as if they were going crazy. The feeling of becoming stronger was overwhelming. His muscle fibers tightened, his bones trembled slightly, his skin surface shone with a fine luster, and even his blood flowed faster.

So exhilarating!

This is what cultivation should be like!

With each breath, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would be drawn to Su Ye!

Su Ye didn't know how long this state lasted; it could have been five minutes or ten minutes. He ignored the concept of time until he felt a slight swelling in the spiritual energy channels within his body, as if a water pipe had been filled. Only then did he slowly stop breathing and allow his heartbeat to return to normal.

Open your eyes.

The light and shadow in the forest were still dappled, and the birdsong was still crisp; it was as if nothing had happened.

Su Ye showed a look of surprise, and his whole demeanor was exceptionally cheerful.

"I feel incredibly strong right now."

He glanced down at his arm; the skin on his forearm shimmered with a warm, jade-like luster in the sunlight, even more pronounced than before. He scratched it hard with the fingernail of his other hand, but the nail slid across the skin without leaving a single white mark.

What he felt most clearly was the increase in strength. Su Ye clenched his fist and could feel the power between his knuckles had increased to a new level compared to this morning.

Su Ye's eyes darted around, eager to try. He looked at a tree in front of him that was as thick as a bowl, and his gaze sharpened. At this moment, his breath was deep and his spiritual energy flowed naturally in his dantian.

Without hesitation, he swayed his waist and stance, and unleashed a powerful right punch.

boom!

With a dull thud, the tree trunk snapped at the point of contact with the fist, the upper half of it, along with branches and leaves, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust and fallen leaves. The broken surface was jagged, the wood fibers violently torn apart.

Su Ye withdrew his fist and glanced at his knuckles.

There was no damage whatsoever, not even a broken skin, just a slight redness at the knuckles, which faded after a few seconds.

He let out a long breath, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

Become!