He began to gradually lose himself in thought, his eyes growing somewhat distant, his breathing slowing to the rhythm of the waves.
Immersed in his surroundings, Bai Mo was oblivious to a rather terrifying phenomenon occurring around him. Centered on him, within a radius of one to two meters, the temperature plummeted. If not for the constant replenishment of sunlight, the temperature would have surely dropped below freezing.
The reason for this strange event was that Bai Mo's energy-absorbing skin, while he was without thought or emotion, began to operate at full capacity, even exceeding its limits, controlled by his biological subconscious.
The vast amount of absorbed energy was used for the transformation of his respiratory system, to adapt to his gradually slowing breathing. Otherwise, the significant decrease in his breathing rate would have caused his body to suffer from oxygen deprivation, forcing him to withdraw from this rare state of "Heaven-Human Unity" and squander such a valuable opportunity.
It was precisely this self-evolution of his body that inadvertently and significantly strengthened another of his abilities.
"Is this what they call 'Emulating Nature'?" It was a full hour later, past five in the afternoon, with the sun already setting in the west, when Bai Mo finally awoke from the rhythm of the tides. He gazed at the sea, still unsatisfied, savoring everything he had just experienced.
At this moment, he hadn't yet discovered that his respiratory system had been significantly transformed, making great strides toward the legendary "Internal Breathing".
He first used his All-knowing Eye to meticulously scan his entire body, discovering that after the autonomous bodily evolution brought about by today's "Heaven-Human Unity" baptism, his entire respiratory system had undergone earth-shattering changes. His respiratory system had begun to evolve into a larger system — gradually integrating with his existing energy-absorbing skin tissue, allowing the energy-absorbing skin to also breathe while absorbing free energy from the air, thereby achieving an "Internal Breathing" state independent of his mouth and nose.
However, this evolutionary process would still take some time. Evolution, unlike mutation, is not something achieved overnight.
He was always particularly curious about the new things appearing within his body. The gradually dimming sky did not temper his curiosity. To test his breath-holding ability, Bai Mo walked directly into the shallows, took a deep breath, and then lay down on the shallow water, allowing the rising tide to submerge him.
By this time, the people on the beach had mostly left as the sun gradually set. The beach after nightfall was a bit too cool; wearing only swimwear from sunbathing would easily lead to a cold.
It was fortunate that almost everyone had already left the beach, otherwise, if Bai Mo had appeared floating in the shallows like a corpse, someone would surely have called the police for help.
He closed his eyes underwater, perceiving the world through sound, feeling the pulse of the sea... Yet, he discovered nothing. In reality, he was merely holding his breath.
Once fully submerged, Bai Mo began to use oxygen deprivation to force his body to absorb oxygen from the water via his newly evolved energy-absorbing skin.
Or perhaps, after this evolution, it could no longer be called "energy-absorbing skin." But Bai Mo hadn't yet thought of a better name for skin that could simultaneously absorb oxygen and energy. In truth, he didn't much care what it was called.
A name was, after all, just a code. For now, he was the only Ability User in the entire world, so what did a name matter?
A secret that didn't need to be shared naturally didn't need a name convenient for communication.
An hour later, after the sky had completely darkened, he slowly surfaced from the water. Twenty-odd years of instinct still made him habitually take a deep breath through his mouth and nose, even though his skin already possessed the rudimentary function of absorbing oxygen.
The evolution of his respiratory system and the change in his breathing method clearly couldn't be completed in a day or two. The former was a structural change, while the latter was an ingrained habit. He was already prepared for a long-term endeavor to change himself.
After completing a truly imaginative training session, Bai Mo began to walk towards the hotel.
Lying on the large bed in his hotel room, he once again used his All-knowing Eye to conduct a meticulous scan of his body, excitedly discovering that the fusion of his respiratory system and energy-absorbing skin had deepened even further compared to before his shallow-water training.
He roughly estimated that if he persisted with such training daily, both systems would fully merge before he returned from Hawaii, officially achieving the so-called "Embryonic Breathing".
Although the principle seemed somewhat different from what he'd read in novels—where it was always some profound, esoteric "returning to innate state from acquired state"—he had always been a pragmatist, seeking only the end goal, not dwelling on the process.
At least for now, what he truly enjoyed was the pleasure of exploration. Verifying the similarities and differences between cultivation as imagined in fiction and cultivation in the real world was far more interesting than dealing with interpersonal relationships.
After lying on the bed for a while, he checked the clock in the room. It pointed to 8:15 PM, quite a bit later than normal dinner time. He quickly retrieved his heating equipment and began his Qi cultivation.
Previously, Bai Mo could only inhale the pale green Spirit Qi into his body through his nose, like inhaling marijuana. Even with the energy-absorbing skin, it seemed completely unable to perceive or absorb Spirit Qi, as if Spirit Qi wasn't energy at all.
He had once put forth the conjecture that the so-called Spirit Qi absorbed daily was not a form of energy at all, nor was it some higher-level energy, but rather a special substance. However, he had never been able to refine his conjecture because he couldn't explain what Spirit Qi would be if it wasn't energy.
Although this somewhat violated his worldview as someone who had studied physics for many years, Bai Mo could only assume that Spirit Qi was a high-level energy that humanity was temporarily unable to analyze, and it was simply because his energy-absorbing skin's tier was insufficient that he couldn't perceive it.
In countless fantasy novels, Spirit Qi was believed to be a higher-level energy of heaven and earth. But his physics textbooks also told him that in the real world, there was no such thing as higher or lower levels of energy, only different forms like thermal energy or mechanical energy.
Therefore, after his energy-absorbing skin gained the ability to absorb Spirit Qi, Bai Mo began testing the relevant capabilities.
Although he had exerted his utmost effort, due to the low integration between systems and his severe lack of experience using his skin to breathe, only a very small amount of Spirit Qi was absorbed into his body through his skin.
Under the observation of his All-knowing Eye, these few wisps of absorbed Spirit Qi were completely consumed upon reaching the special tissue of the energy-absorbing skin, much like a few drops of water in a desert.
What excited him once again was that this small patch of tissue, after absorbing the Spirit Qi, had become slightly more active.
Under perception precise to the cellular level, Bai Mo roughly estimated that the working efficiency of this small patch of tissue was potentially 3 to 5 percent higher than the surrounding tissues.
This was a good start; at least the direction was right...