CHAPTER 1076: CHAPTER 1073: INNATE BREATHING, EMBRYONIC BREATH

"Miss, Second Miss, Senior Sister, farewell... I’m going to travel through..." Lin Tian shouted exaggeratedly, his voice buzzing in his ears, seeming to echo in some space.

"Lin Tian, what the hell are you yelling about? It’s so noisy." Ning Luoxi, who was in another world, spoke up.

Huh, that’s not right, how can I talk? And I can still hear Ning Luoxi’s voice. After shouting, Lin Tian felt something was off, suddenly came to his senses, and felt a bit embarrassed realizing his surroundings.

This was not another world at all. Lin Tian found that he had burst out of the water, and due to the great force, he soared high, with splashes of water flying everywhere. Light from an unknown source shone on the water, creating a crystal-clear and illusionary scene.

Lin Tian also noticed his awkward situation - there was an unknown rock above him that he was rapidly about to crash into.

Damn, do I really have to look so embarrassing? Lin Tian thought very gloomily. Although he wouldn’t get hurt, it would still look bad, right?

Suddenly, he felt a tightness on his foot, as if something had grabbed him. Lin Tian looked down in surprise to see that it was Ning Luoxi from below who had timely grabbed his foot.

Ning Luoxi gave a strong tug and pulled Lin Tian back, and he finally landed solidly on his feet.

Seeing Ning Luoxi alive and standing before him, Lin Tian suddenly felt the world was truly beautiful. He tore off the equipment on his head at once and couldn’t help but reach out to embrace Ning Luoxi tightly, as if afraid she would suddenly disappear again.

"Seeing you alive is really great," Lin Tian said sincerely. Ning Luoxi, who originally wanted to break free, heard Lin Tian’s words and seemed to feel the childlike joy in Lin Tian’s heart, so she lowered her raised hand.

The Lin Tian Ning Luoxi knew was usually carefree and unrestrained, arrogant and domineering, strong and invincible, but at this moment, she seemed to touch the soft side of his heart, clearly feeling the sincere emotion in his words "really great", so she subconsciously didn’t move and let Lin Tian hold her.

A minute passed, two minutes passed, and Ning Luoxi found that Lin Tian hadn’t let go yet. There seemed to be a tender atmosphere in the air, and her face felt a little warm as she softly said, "Lin Tian, you can let go now."

Lin Tian regrettably let go of Ning Luoxi, feeling reluctant. At first, he hugged Ning Luoxi on impulse, but after half a minute, Lin Tian realized what he was holding, a beauty, a beauty wearing a close-fitting ultra-thin diving suit.

And this beauty, with a figure enviable to women and nosebleed-inducing for men, had a softness in her chest that seemed like a gentle harbor for men. The string in Lin Tian’s heart was teased to the point of eager anticipation.

Lin Tian pretended to cough twice, then pretended to look around at the environment. He hadn’t expected to find himself in an underground cave. The sight prompted him to put aside his fantasies for a moment.

He also understood why the surroundings were lit up, because on the cave walls there was a strange crystalline stone emitting a faint glow. Although the light was weak, there were so many of these crystalline stones that their gathered light made the cave bright.

The light he had seen before came from these strange crystal stones.

A huge underground river flowed out from the depths of the cave, converging into a deep pool at his feet. After swirling in a whirlpool, the water continued to flow towards the other side of the cave, disappearing into the distant darkness.

When Lin Tian looked down, he was standing on a huge rock near the deep pool, resembling a rock platform extending over the deep pool. He finally realized he had leaped out of the deep pool.

Earlier, Ning Luoxi had sprung out of the deep pool suddenly, jumping onto this rock by the shore, so when Lin Tian leapt out behind, not seeing the rock platform, he overshot and was caught by Ning Luoxi.

"So the Dragon-locking Well connects to the deep pool, connecting to the underground river." Lin Tian realized in an epiphany.

But the more he understood, the more Lin Tian admired those who had built the Dragon-locking Well in the past. The engineering was immense, and as for the iron chain, its total length was over two kilometers, because after it extended into the pool, much of it still stretched into the underground river.

How did they forge such an iron chain with ancient techniques? And how did they place it into the Dragon-locking Well, the deep pool, and the underground river?

There were no detailed records of the Dragon-locking Well’s construction, let alone any blueprints. Perhaps only if the builders were brought back to life could it be detailed.

"When I first came in, I was also deeply shocked by the wisdom of the ancients," Ning Luoxi said.

"Modern people build grand projects using computers, heavy machinery, and all kinds of modern equipment, but the ancients had none of these and could still create such astonishing works. We always say ancient civilization and technology were backward; I wonder who’s really lagging," Lin Tian lamented.

Ning Luoxi stayed silent and didn’t refute Lin Tian’s view.

"By the way, how long did we stay underwater in total?" Lin Tian suddenly remembered something and asked, as Ning Luoxi had held her breath the whole time during the process.

"28 minutes and 39 seconds," Ning Luoxi said effortlessly.

Lin Tian was speechless; only an Ancient Martial Artist could speak so casually. What did nearly half an hour of holding breath mean? Most people could only hold their breath underwater for one or two minutes, and those with better lung capacity and physique could do it for three to four minutes. With long-term training and mastering techniques, it could exceed five minutes, but it wouldn’t surpass ten minutes.

It’s rare for ordinary people to hold their breath for more than ten minutes underwater; the world record is reportedly 22 minutes. But this 22 minutes was achieved in a still state. If one moves underwater, the oxygen consumption would increase significantly to supply the energy needed for muscles. At that time, being able to dive for five minutes would already be astounding.

Ning Luoxi’s underwater rapid march consumed a terrifying amount of energy, yet she held her breath for 28 minutes with ease. That is the difference between an Ancient Martial Artist and an ordinary person.

Seeing Lin Tian’s amazement, Ning Luoxi said lightly, "It’s said that those Ancient Martial Artists who have trained in the Turtle Breath Technique can develop Innate Breathing, remaining unaffected even when holding their breath for a day."

"What is Innate Breathing?" Lin Tian asked curiously.

Ning Luoxi shook her head and said, "I’m not quite sure either, never seen it. It’s said to be surface breathing, breathing through acupoints, skin pores, and textures. Further advancement leads to fetal breathing, where neither mouth and nose nor surface breathing is needed; it directly exchanges energy inside and outside the body."

"Can people at the Innate Realm achieve fetal breathing?" Lin Tian curiously asked.

"Not necessarily. Fetal breathing and Sword Control are not things that higher realms can automatically grasp. Only Ancient Martial Artists with great insight and fortunate encounters can achieve it," Ning Luoxi shook her head and said.

She glanced at Lin Tian and continued, "I’m more curious about what you’ve trained, as you seemed even more at ease than me underwater."