The training grounds fell completely silent. Leon slowed his breathing until even the sound of the wind seemed distant. His attention turned inward, allowing him to hear the rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat and feel the faint pulse of his Spirit Blood as it interacted with the surrounding Qi. Within his soul plane, the Universal Vessel quietly observed, simply revealing the intricate energetic mechanics of his new anatomy.
There was a distinct pattern. His breathing naturally followed one cadence, while his Spirit Blood pulsed with another, the two forces moving concurrently. Leon experimentally shifted his breathing half a beat, but nothing happened. He made another deliberate adjustment, and still, the energy remained unchanged. Then, with a third subtle correction, the two rhythms aligned perfectly in opposition.
The thin layer of Qi that normally drifted away from his pores suddenly stopped moving. Instead, it settled densely across his skin like an invisible veil. The change was subtle and almost imperceptible, yet its systemic impact was immediate. The green glow of Self-Reliance Mode became slightly steadier, the purple current of Boost Mode pulsed with greater stability, and even Bitter Strength Mode's faint orange traces became calmer. His techniques hadn't grown stronger, but they had become significantly more stable. Leon opened his eyes, noting that exactly twenty seconds had passed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Nobody else across the training grounds had moved. Near the edge of the field, one veteran yawned lazily. "They'll probably be here all morning."
Another stretched his shoulders, leaning against a weapon rack. "Wanna finish that chess match?"
"You mean the one you lost?" the first countered.
"I was distracted."
"You were losing while distracted."
A third veteran laughed, waving them off. "Go settle it. They'll be statues for hours."
General Kaelen gestured for them to cede the area without looking back. "Don't leave the outpost."
The three veterans nodded and began walking toward the barracks, their heavy boots crunching against the gravel.
"...Excuse me."
The calm voice speaking from behind them made every veteran stop simultaneously. They slowly turned around to see Leon standing perfectly upright, his gaze fixed on the commander.
Kaelen blinked in surprise. "Yes?"
"I think I got it," Leon said flatly.
A sudden silence fell over the checkpoint. Lyra stepped forward, her brow furrowing. "...What do you mean?"
"I think I'm maintaining Sage Breathing."
She immediately focused her spiritual perception on his frame, analyzing his synchronized breathing and the perfectly anchored, invisible layer of Qi surrounding him without a single fluctuation. Her jaw tightened.
Kaelen stared blankly, completely thrown off. "You're still maintaining it."
"Yes."
"And you walked over here."
"Yes."
"And you're talking."
Leon tilted his head, entirely genuine. "...Should I not be?"
Lyra looked at him as though he had grown a second head. "It took me almost three days before I could hold Sage Breathing while speaking."
One veteran scratched his cheek, looking completely baffled. "I managed it after about two days."
Another chuckled awkwardly. "It was close to a week for me."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on NovelPhoenix. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The first scout cast a skeptical glance at Leon's unbothered posture. "Do you think he already knew it and was just playing along to make fun of us?"
"No, I'm sure he didn't," Lyra countered, shaking her head in utter disbelief. "He didn't have his Spirit Blood just yesterday; he couldn't have possibly practiced it before."
Leon blinked, looking between the shocked faces of his instructors. "...Really?"
Somehow, that innocent question made the silence even heavier. Kaelen pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, exhausted breath. "How? That doesn't even make sense! What even are you? The Soul Observer wasn't exaggerating..." He sighed, gesturing deeper into the camp. "Come with us. I think it's time we explained the rest before you accidentally discover that too."
✦ ✦ ✦
The veterans gathered beneath the shade of a large oak tree overlooking the training grounds. Down on the field, the other recruits remained exactly where they had been left, completely absorbed in sensing their own internal rhythms. Kaelen crouched down, picking up a loose twig to trace another diagram in the dirt.
"What you've just accomplished places you at the Early Stage of Bloodline Awakening," the general explained.
Leon nodded, categorizing the data. "So maintaining Sage Breathing is enough?"
"It is," Lyra answered, stepping beside the diagram. "If you're patient enough. As in... several decades patient."
Leon's eyebrow twitched slightly. "I see."
"The bloodline will continue feeding from the layer of Qi surrounding your body until it fully awakens," Kaelen continued, mapping out a new path in the soil. "But no cultivator with ambition is willing to wait that long, so we cultivate actively. Filling your meridians with Qi and then emptying them is considered one cycle. Nine cycles permanently increase your capacity and constitute one stage, and completing nine stages immediately awakens your bloodline fully to allow a breakthrough beyond the Foundation Realm."
He drew another intersecting figure. "The Mid Stage of the Bloodline Awakening Foundation Realm is learning Sage Guidance."
Leon listened carefully, his analytical mind parsing the mechanics.
"Once Sage Breathing becomes second nature—so natural that you maintain it while fighting, sleeping, eating, or speaking—you can begin synchronizing not only your lungs, but your body itself," Kaelen explained, tapping the center of the diagram. "Your Spirit Blood doesn't merely breathe; it can also guide. The thin film of Qi surrounding your skin can be gently drawn inward."
He traced another arrow pointing through the outline of a body. "As that layer is drawn into your skin, it creates a tiny vacuum where it used to be. Nature dislikes imbalance, so fresh ambient Qi immediately rushes in to replace it. The stronger your Guidance, the faster you fill your meridians."
Leon's understanding immediately locked into place. "So Sage Guidance doesn't create Qi; it manipulates pressure."
Kaelen smiled approvingly. "Exactly. When your meridians are full, you stop and let the Qi dissipate naturally."
Leon frowned slightly at the workflow. "Naturally?"
"At Mid Stage, you still can't release Qi deliberately," Lyra clarified. "You simply wait. The discharge phase is painfully slow, and it can take years to complete all eighty-one cycles."
Leon looked thoughtful, his mind tracking the progression bottleneck. "So there must be another speedup method at the Late Stage of Bloodline Awakening."
"There is," Kaelen nodded. "Sage Eyes. They aren't merely physical eyes; they are perception. Until then, you are simply imitating the rhythm. After awakening the Sage Eyes, you perceive Qi directly, and once you can perceive it, you can release it." He closed his hand into a tight fist. "Fill, release, repeat. There is no more waiting hours or days for natural dissipation. Nine complete cycles form one stage, and nine stages fully awaken the bloodline, allowing most successful cultivators to complete the Foundation Realm here."
Leon slowly nodded, processing the framework. "And Peak Stage?"
A faint smile crossed Lyra's face. "Divine Arts. For the first time, Qi stops being used solely in its natural state, beginning to interact with the world in various applied forms." She pointed toward the distant fortress infrastructure. "Storage artifacts, energy reservoirs, enchanted weapons, protective formations, communication devices, and cultivation chambers. Every civilization built upon Body Tempering eventually develops Divine Arts. They don't make the internal cultivation any easier, but they make the civilization stronger."
Leon looked toward the bustling outpost with newfound structural understanding. Every enchanted gate, every reinforced weapon, and every functional artifact he had seen since arriving had been engineered by someone utilizing this exact step.
Kaelen noticed the spark of recognition in his eyes and chuckled. "Thinking beyond the Foundation Realm already?"
Leon smiled faintly. "I like understanding where the road leads."
"Good," Kaelen laughed, standing up and brushing the loose dirt from his palms. "Because after Divine Arts, you're no longer asking about the Foundation Realm. That being said, you shouldn't take the next step right away. Let your body get used to Sage Breathing and adjust at a natural pace. For your own good—no matter how special your body is—do not do anything for the rest of the day. Wander around, relax, and get a good night's sleep, then try the next step tomorrow. Your body needs time to rest and adjust. Rapid growth places immense stress on the soul, and your soul of all people really shouldn't endure any more. From what I heard, it looks like it could collapse if you so much as sneeze."
"Understood," Leon replied.
He could clearly see the road was long, and he was filled with intense anticipation to see what this new world held. He had successfully taken his first step, even if the mountain itself still lay far beyond the horizon.