In an instant, numerous scenes flooded Hu Qi's mind.
Compared to the memory fragments he saw when he first occupied this body, these scenes were undoubtedly more real.
The scenes didn't contain much—only him, practicing the Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique day after day, persistently and without rest.
From his initial awkwardness, he slowly became proficient, until it became a physical instinct.
Every detail about the technique, its skills, and the mnemonic formulas appeared in his mind.
After a moment, Hu Qi opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them for an instant before vanishing.
"Inhale… Exhale…"
His mouth was slightly open, his abdomen swelling gently like an expanding bellows as he drew in the surrounding air.
After reaching a certain limit, he exhaled softly.
The air emerged in a fine, exceptionally focused stream, causing the curtain beside his hospital bed to tremble slightly.
This was the very technique of "inhaling broadly and exhaling a fine stream."
Hu Qi repeated this process nine times before his breathing returned to normal.
However, a closer look would reveal that the rhythm of his breathing had already integrated the techniques of the Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique, requiring no conscious effort to control.
Nine breaths constituted one cycle.
Upon completing this respiratory cycle, Hu Qi immediately felt his mind clear.
As he continued to breathe, the drowsiness from his sleepless night began to fade.
The sensation was quite peculiar.
If he had to make a comparison, it was like going from a city choked with smog to a primeval forest for the first time. The feeling of clarity and comfort was so profound it was as if all his previous ways of breathing had been wrong.
He glanced at the panel.
————
Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique (Perfection)
Modification Points: 3
The Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique had gone directly from Entry-Level to Perfection.
The cost, however, was a direct consumption of three Modification Points.
'These points get used up so fast.'
Hu Qi felt a pang in his heart.
It was his inner miser acting up.
Beyond that, not much else had changed. His Lifespan was still the same, showing no increase. Everything was as before.
He wasn't surprised by this.
After all, a Breathing Method was something that required years of persistent practice to show any physical effects.
The reason he was experiencing such a distinct sensation was likely because he had used the Crimson Modifier to jump from Entry-Level to Perfection in an instant.
...
「Over a week later.」
At the gates of the City's No. 2 Hospital.
The scorching sun hung high in the sky. A breeze rustled through the treetops, making a soft whooshing sound.
The weather was a bit muggy.
People coming and going wore sunglasses, sun-protective clothing, or sun hats.
Hu Qi and Li Yi, who had come to pick him up, finished the discharge procedures and walked out.
The cast on his leg had already been removed.
Li Yi had wanted to rent a wheelchair for him, but Hu Qi had refused.
Just as the two were walking toward the hospital exit…
WEE-WOO WEE-WOO!!!
Suddenly, the urgent wail of an ambulance siren blared from the entrance.
An ambulance then sped in from the side of the gate, stopping in front of the emergency building.
A group of white-coated doctors quickly got out, opened the back, and swiftly carried out a stretcher.
"Ah! It hurts… It hurts so much…"
On the stretcher lay a young woman covered in blood. She reeked of alcohol, and her blood soaked the gurney.
She was crying out weakly, her voice hoarse.
But she wasn't moving much; she had likely been given a local anesthetic or something similar in the ambulance.
Just then, a gust of wind blew past, lifting a corner of the blue cloth covering the woman's lower body.
The woman was wearing denim shorts that went up to the top of her thighs. As the cloth lifted, her smooth, shapely thighs were revealed.
His gaze traveled down.
But what he saw was a gory mess. Where her calf should have been, there was now nothing but a bare stump.
The wound was jagged, as if it had been brutally torn off.
Then, the blue cloth fell back into place.
At the same time, the stretcher was carried into the emergency building.
It disappeared from Hu Qi's line of sight.
"Hiss… that's brutal! Must've been hit by a car."
Li Yi, beside him, had clearly seen it too.
He couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
"Maybe," Hu Qi agreed.
But his expression shifted slightly.
With the enhancement of his Perfection Level Nourishing Essence Breathing Technique, although the panel didn't show any specific data, he could feel that his senses of hearing and sight had become much sharper than before.
He had faintly heard the woman murmur blurry words, something like "monster… biting…"
Of course, this couldn't be taken as fact.
After suffering a car accident or other severe trauma, it was quite normal for people to have traumatic hallucinations.
Hu Qi and Li Yi didn't pay it any more mind.
They reached the outside gate.
Because it was a hospital, the flow of people at the entrance was heavy.
The traffic kicked up hot air, and the cacophony of noise was grating.
Pedestrians hurried by; many carried sun umbrellas or wore sunglasses.
The leaves of the trees in the green spaces drooped.
Even the slight breeze felt like a heatwave.
Further away, street vendors listlessly watched over their stalls.
For a moment, Hu Qi's expression grew distant.
'This world… it's so much like Blue Star.'
'But no matter how similar, it's not the same.'
Among the passersby, most were of East Asian descent, with some Caucasians, Black people, and a few other ethnicities mixed in.
Although Qirong City was originally a city predominantly of people of East Asian descent, with the emergence of the Xia Federation, the old borders between nations had begun to blur.
It was now common for different ethnic groups to live together.
Hu Qi didn't mind this.
The dappled sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves made him squint involuntarily.
Hu Qi let out a soft breath.
'A new world… here I come!'
After leaving the hospital, the two took a bus.
They soon arrived back at the district where the original owner of his body had lived.
Hu Lemei had originally wanted Hu Qi to come straight to the shop for a meal.
But he had refused, using the excuse that he wanted to rest and recuperate at home.
Afterward, Hu Qi treated Li Yi to a meal at a random noodle shop downstairs.
It was a way of thanking him for bringing him food over the past few days.
Of course, the reason he didn't take him out for a big meal at a proper restaurant wasn't because Hu Qi was being cheap.
It was simply that the original owner's wallet was far too empty.
If he had splurged, he'd probably be starving for his next meal.
"Bro, remember to come hang out when you have time. I always get yelled at for just playing on my phone at the shop. If you come, you can share some of the heat, haha."
Li Yi said as he was about to leave.
"Alright, I'll definitely come when I'm free."
Hu Qi smiled and nodded.
...
A dark cloud drifted from somewhere unknown, blocking the sun.
It cast a huge shadow on the ground below.
Hanlin Garden District
The brass-colored paint on the arched nameplate above the entrance was mostly peeled off, leaving it mottled and rusty.
On both sides of the gate, elderly men and women squatted with shoulder poles, selling vegetables and fruit.
Hu Qi stopped in front of a large cart and spent eight yuan on a watermelon. He had the vendor cut it up and put it in a plastic bag before heading toward the district gate.