"I didn't expect the Chip's analysis function to be useful for this world's Knight Breathing Technique as well!"
Leilin sighed in amazement. "Optimize immediately!"
"Optimization initiated. Estimated time: 125 minutes."
"Hmm, 125 minutes — just over two hours. I can wait!" Leilin seemed to relax.
After some restless waiting, the two hours finally passed, and the Chip's voice rang out right on schedule: "Breathing Technique optimization complete. Runtime reduced by 5 minutes and 23 seconds. All effects improved by 5%! Physical damage and aftereffects eliminated!"
"Excellent!" The result was very satisfying to Leilin.
A 5% improvement from a single optimization — after dozens or even hundreds of optimizations, the gap would become enormous.
"It's said that this Cross Sword technique and its accompanying Breathing Technique were obtained by the founding patriarch from a Knight's corpse after dozens of bloody battles. Among the many Knight families, it could be considered above average!"
"And after optimization by the Chip, this Breathing Technique is probably comparable to the secret manuals hidden away in minor kingdoms!"
Leilin pondered this, then said with barely concealed eagerness: "Chip, transmit the optimized Breathing Technique to my memory area!"
The Chip faithfully executed the command, flooding Leilin's mind with scenes of Breathing Technique cultivation.
The transmission ended after several minutes. Leilin rubbed his head. "A bit dizzy, but that's normal!"
His mind was now filled with extensive memories of Breathing Technique practice, along with all manner of accompanying cultivation experience. Compared to an ordinary person, he would avoid a great many detours.
"I didn't feel it before, but here, with the Chip, my advantage over ordinary people is truly enormous!"
Leilin muttered to himself: "With the Chip, I can instantly obtain through simulation and analysis the experience that others would have to bleed and fight for ten years to gain. All I need to do is follow the Chip's instructions, and I can proceed along the most correct path the entire way!"
The cultivation of the Breathing Technique carried many taboos, some of which could never be conveyed through verbal description alone.
One had to cultivate personally, take some wrong turns, and only then would understanding come.
But all of these pitfalls were avoided through the Chip's modeling and analysis.
"Let's give it a try!" Leilin thought, lying on the ground spread-eagle.
According to the Breathing Technique's description and the Chip's suggestions, cultivating the Cross Sword's accompanying Breathing Technique required no special physical movements — one simply needed to find the most comfortable position possible.
"First, hold your breath for 65 seconds, then perform three long breaths and one short one. The length and frequency are..."
Leilin followed the Breathing Technique's instructions and gradually entered a state of cultivation.
His entire body seemed to have drifted off to sleep, though his face turned flushed and his temples throbbed, as though some kind of exercise was underway.
As time passed, Leilin's face grew increasingly red, until finally, dark sweat began to seep from his skin.
This process lasted about twenty-odd minutes before Leilin opened his eyes and exhaled with an open mouth.
Whoosh!!
A long breath laden with dark gas was expelled.
Crackling sounds rang out from various parts of his body.
Leilin stood up, stretched his limbs, and felt a warmth throughout his body, as though he had just undergone an intense workout.
"Chip, display my body data!" Leilin ordered.
"Leilin Farell. Strength: 0.4. Agility: 0.5. Constitution: 0.4. Condition: Minor injury."
Leilin's expression didn't change. "Switch data display mode. Precision to ten decimal places. Pull up pre-cultivation data for comparison."
At Leilin's command, the display in front of him flickered. The body attribute figures now had nine additional decimal digits, with the last three still fluctuating.
"Beep! Comparison complete. After Knight training, subject's Strength increased by 0.005, Agility increased by 0.006, Constitution increased by 0.004." The Chip reported back faithfully.
"Mm! Since this is the first session, the data is still fluctuating upward!" Leilin analyzed.
"Just over twenty minutes of cultivation, and the increase is already considerable. As long as I keep at it, reaching the Black Robed figure's body stats is only a matter of time!"
"So those dozen or so Black Robed were Knights, then!"
Leilin thought calmly. "A pity, though — based on memory and the Chip's analysis, the Breathing Technique has cultivation limits. The Breathing Technique passed down through the Farell family can only be practiced once per day. Doing more not only yields no benefit, it actually damages the body!"
"Chip, is there any way for me to practice the Breathing Technique more than once a day?" Leilin asked.
"Pharmaceutical assistance is required," the Chip replied evenly.
"List the required substances!"
"Quinoline, Mact-21, Dimagnesium Dioxide..." The Chip rattled off a dense list of drug names, all from Leilin's previous life.
"Can any of these be substituted with other medications or plant and animal compounds?" This was obviously impossible, but Leilin frowned and asked anyway.
"Samples required for pharmaceutical analysis. Insufficient data at present," the Chip indicated.
"As long as there's a way!" Leilin breathed a sigh of relief.
He glanced at himself again — his body was covered in filth that had seeped out during the Breathing Technique cultivation, sticky and deeply unpleasant to the touch.
Leilin frowned. "Looks like I need to take a bath!"