Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 227: Constant Breathing

Thanks to Grandpa Jin’s wisdom, Anji managed to harmonise three different energy types. From that moment on, it was only a matter of time before she understood the underlying trick of ’acceptance’ to adapt accordingly.

At long last, Anji understood the concept of harmony. It was rather different from those written in books. Harmony was not about getting along with others. It was also not dominating them. It was about understanding what they were and mirroring them in a way that would redirect their focus.

In other words, it was manipulation.

"To know yourself and to know the enemy would give you flawless victory every single time," Grandpa Jin mused. "I told you it would be easy once you understood how every energy signature was different yet the same. It’s predictable after a while."

Begrudgingly, Anji agreed. However, she still disliked how the golden dragon claimed that energy was the same as that of humans and ants. Maybe to such a mythical creature, lives were the same no matter what. The golden dragon had lived for a very long time, watching countless souls pass and reincarnate or ascend. Energy was no different to him.

It was only after several rounds of debriefs that Anji finally understood what Grandpa Jin meant by predictable behaviours. Initially, Anji followed the rules of the Five Elements. However, it was overly time-consuming and difficult to purify and harmonise more than two different energies fully. The amount of effort required was ineffective.

During a moment of frustration, Anji pitted two violent energy signatures and sliced them with a third to defuse the tension because containing them and waiting for them to simmer took too long. It was at this juncture that she learned how effective cutting away at the tension was. The third energy was able to absorb both energy clashes fully and became a higher purity within her golden core. The incident prompted a significant overhaul in Anji’s refinement and harmonisation process.

For weeks, Grandpa Jin watched as Anji redeveloped complex theories revolving around the basic Five Elements. Although different, the golden dragon noted how closely it resembled many sages who formulated their unique paths of cultivation. Anji started synthesising medical knowledge with the Seven Sound Mantra using the Five Elements as a basis for her methodology. The calculations were raw and not very precise, but the concept was a solid foundation for the next step of her refinement.

Without interfering with Anji’s training, the golden dragon observed as the seed took firm root in Anji’s inner world. Her depth of understanding of the Heart Sutra had to be on par with monks who understood the flow of energy in the world. These clairvoyant individuals were sometimes called half-sages. Apart from experience and raw physical power, Anji’s wisdom could be said to be on par with her shifu’s in the golden dragon’s eyes.

A few more weeks passed, and Anji finally perfected the method of refinement by reassigning different meridians and artificial cores specific jobs. Most people would refine the energy in their golden core by removing and adding internal energy to the absorbed qi from the environment, but not Anji. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Combining her medical knowledge about the body’s natural five elements, Anji borrowed the strength of her meridians to refine qi as she circulated it in her body to remove energy impurities. The purified energy was distilled and collected in her golden core as concentrated qi instead.

Such an advanced method required precise control. Without Yan Ping’s previous training, Anji might not be able to find this workaround for harmonisation.

As Anji stripped away layers of different energy ’noises’ from the environment, she found herself effortlessly adapting to all five different energy signatures. Highly attuned to all Five Elements now, Anji wonder where the sixth and seventh energy types were and if she would be at risk trying to integrate everything.

"The energy of life is present in everything," Grandpa Jin answered. "Technically, the one in your golden core coming from you is the sixth. It’s not naturally found in the environment. However, the seventh is even rarer. It occurs when a strong resentment lingers in the afterlife, preventing the deceased from passing on. Evil energy is what demonic cultivators use. It’s the opposite of the golden core, and even non-cultivators can mimic pure energy by manipulating that."

Talking about demonic cultivation was a taboo even in the Mystical Qilin Sect. Hearing it for the first time, Anji could finally understand why some people would rather choose to side with the demonic cult. It was not a wrong method. However, killing and torturing innocent people to achieve more resentment energy was evil. The method of cultivation was unorthodox, but it was not inherently evil. Where there was life, there was also death. Ancient shamans often borrowed the knowledge of the dead to save the living.

With nothing more to learn in here, Anji decided to take a short nap before she left the isolation chamber. Now, even in complete darkness without the help of her Heavenly Eyes, Anji was able to sense the flow of natural energy easily. She mastered the art of constant breathing, which involved harmonising with natural energy, even when she was sleeping.

Grandpa Jin did not comment on her achievement. The art of constant breathing and harmonisation was rare even among half-sages. The state of energy that Anji lived in could only be achieved by those who were no longer living in their physical forms. In this state, souls who had attained the constant breathing cultivation technique were like chrysalis ready to turn into butterflies at any time to step into sagehood as soon as they were willing to discard the shell of their previous self.

By now, Anji’s golden core was buzzing at the peak of the Refind Core stage. Her meridians were overflowing with different energy signatures and worked tirelessly. Yet, due to the frail body she had since birth, most of the energy was consumed to strengthen Anji’s cells and repair the years of damage.

Humming thoughtfully, the golden dragon yawned. It would not be long before Anji reached the Solid Core stage now. Once she was strong enough, her cultivation level would increase until she reached the Supreme Core if nobody stopped her. It would take less than ten years for this child to become a sage now that she had overcome her karma.