The Breath-Collecting Technique

Jiangcheng Martial Arts Library.

This place gathered all publicly available martial arts classics in Jiangcheng, and it was also the only place where ordinary civilians could access advanced martial arts.

Su Yu swiped his student card and passed through security inspection.

He headed straight for the martial arts sales section on the second floor.

That's right, the sales section.

Martial arts in the Daxia Empire had never been free of charge.

Apart from the basic Body Forging Technique and Five Elements Fist taught in high school, any martial art genuinely useful for actual combat came with a clear price tag.

Su Yu walked up to a self-service query terminal and entered the keyword "Martial Art Grades."

The screen immediately popped up with detailed categories.

Heaven, Earth, Xuan, Yellow.

Four major tiers.

Each major tier was further divided into Lower Grade, Middle Grade, Upper Grade, and Supreme Grade.

Su Yu looked up his own Five Elements Fist.

[Five Elements Fist: Yellow Grade, Lower Grade.]

Su Yu curled his lips and continued scrolling down to see the prices.

A Yellow Grade Lower Grade martial art cost one thousand Dragon Coins per copy.

A Yellow Grade Middle Grade martial art cost five thousand.

A Yellow Grade Upper Grade martial art cost twenty thousand!

A Yellow Grade Supreme Grade martial art cost one hundred thousand!

Su Yu's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.

This price range was simply ridiculous!

He took a deep breath, slid his finger across the screen, and opened the directory for Xuan Grade martial arts.

[Xuan Grade Lower Grade Martial Art: Starting at five hundred thousand Dragon Coins!]

"Hiss—"

Su Yu inhaled sharply.

Five hundred thousand!

For just one Xuan Grade Lower Grade martial art, it cost five hundred thousand!

And that was only the starting price!

If he wanted something slightly better, a Xuan Grade Middle Grade would probably cost over a million!

As for Earth Grade and Heaven Grade?

The screen didn't even display prices. There was only a cold prompt: [Insufficient permissions. Please inquire at the provincial martial arts association.]

"This is nothing short of a money devouring beast!"

Su Yu cursed inwardly.

He had originally thought that carrying two hundred and forty thousand in his card made him somewhat of a small wealthy man.

Now it seemed.

In the face of real martial arts resources, his money couldn't even splash a ripple.

At most, he could buy two Yellow Grade Supreme Grade martial arts.

But was that meaningful?

Su Yu shook his head.

Yellow Grade martial arts, even if Supreme Grade, would be quickly eliminated when he reached university.

He aspired to be admitted to the top Martial Arts University in the capital, Jingdu First Martial Arts University.

Rumor had it that in those elite martial arts universities, as long as you had enough credits, Xuan Grade or even Earth Grade martial arts were completely free for students!

Spending hundreds of thousands now on a bunch of Yellow Grade martial arts that would soon be obsolete was nothing short of foolish.

Good steel must be used on the blade's edge.

This two hundred and forty thousand was best saved for the most cost-effective uses during practical assessment.

Having made up his mind.

Su Yu decisively exited the query interface and turned to leave.

Just as he reached the entrance hall of the library.

His peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a massive holographic projection billboard.

[Jiangcheng Martial Arts Library Centennial Celebration!]

[Major Benefit: Xuan Grade Techniques, Free Trial!]

Su Yu's footsteps abruptly halted.

Xuan Grade technique?

Free trial?

He turned his head and looked at the booth below the billboard, which was packed with people.

In this world of monopolized resources, would the authorities really be so kind as to offer Xuan Grade techniques, which started at five hundred thousand, for people to learn for free?

Where there's something suspicious, something's definitely off.

But that was a Xuan Grade technique.

A glint of curiosity flashed in Su Yu's eyes. With his hands in his pockets, he strolled over casually.

In front of the booth were more than a dozen devices that looked like virtual pods.

One device had just become available.

The previous young martial artist who had used it climbed out drenched in sweat, his face pale, muttering curses.

"What a lousy piece of junk! The meridian circulation route is as complicated as a maze! It's impossible to train through!"

Su Yu ignored the man's complaints.

He stepped forward and looked at the technique introduction displayed above the device.

[Breath Concealment Art.]

Xuan Grade Middle Grade auxiliary technique!

Function: Perfectly conceal one's own blood and qi fluctuations. It can disguise external manifestation as any level lower than one's true realm. Unless someone is three major realms above, they absolutely cannot see through it!

Su Yu's heart suddenly pounded violently.

Breath Concealment Art!

This was practically a divine skill tailor-made for him!

If in the future his blood and qi value became too conspicuous, this Breath Concealment Art would let him avoid being seen through!

Without any hesitation.

Su Yu directly lay down into that virtual pod and put on the neural connection helmet.

[Identity verification successful.]

[Xuan Grade Middle Grade Breath Concealment Art Trial Version, now loading...]

Buzz—

A slight dizziness swept through his brain.

Immediately after, a profound and obscure technique route diagram was directly imprinted into Su Yu's mind.

"Let's begin."

Su Yu immediately mobilized the vast, ocean-like blood and qi of a Martial Master within his body.

Following the path of the Breath Concealment Art, he began forcibly circulating it through his meridians.

Pain!

Extremely intense stabbing pain!

The circulation route of a Xuan Grade technique was more than a hundred times more complex than the Five Elements Fist!

The blood and qi power had to thread through several extremely thin, ordinarily unused minor meridians.

It was like forcing a surging great river into a tiny water pipe.

But Su Yu gritted his teeth and didn't even let out a grunt.

He could feel that as the technique operated, the faint, intimidating pressure on the surface of his body was rapidly receding.

1000 points...

800 points...

500 points...

It was working!

Su Yu rejoiced inwardly.

He continued to push his blood and qi, assaulting the final barrier of the technique's first layer.

Breaking through this point would completely close the blood and qi lock, completing the disguise!

Charge!

The blood and qi power, like a sharp blade, viciously stabbed toward that barrier.

At the very moment just before he was about to break through—the most critical, most thrilling, most adrenaline-pumping instant!

[Drip—]

An extremely piercing electronic sound exploded in his mind.

[Trial study progress has reached the limit.]

[To obtain the complete technique, please pay the purchase fee: 800,000 Dragon Coins.]

Boom!

The rapidly circulating blood and qi power, having lost its subsequent guiding route, instantly went out of control in his meridians!

Backlash!

Su Yu let out a muffled groan. He felt as if a large iron hammer had fiercely smashed his chest.

A sweetness rose in his throat, and he barely managed to stop himself from coughing up blood.

He abruptly opened his eyes, tore off the helmet, and sat up from the virtual pod.

He panted heavily, his chest heaving.

His gaze was filled with barely contained rage.

"This goddamn..."

Su Yu gritted his teeth and cursed fiercely in his heart.

"It's a trap!"

How disgusting!

This was no benefit at all. It was nothing but a blatant marketing scam!

They deliberately released the easiest and most impressive early part of the technique for free trials.

Then, at the most critical moment when the technique was about to form a closed loop, when the practitioner was completely immersed, and their meridians had already adapted to this circulation method—

They cut it off!

The feeling was like being desperate to relieve yourself after holding it in for three days and three nights, only to have someone forcibly pinch the hose when you were halfway done!

Stuck, unable to go up or down.

The tearing sensation and emptiness in the meridians caused by the interrupted technique were maddening.

It was so uncomfortable that you'd want to spend anything to get the missing part of the technique!

Damn it all!

But Su Yu still wanted it!

Because he had experienced the power of the Breath Concealment Art.

This technique was the perfect piece to conceal the secret of his system!

However, eight hundred thousand.

He glanced at the 240,000 yuan balance on his phone.

He couldn’t afford it.

Su Yu sat by the virtual pod, took a few deep breaths, and forcibly steadied the surging energy within him.

Stay calm.

He couldn’t afford the full version for 800,000.

But he had already memorized the opening part of this technique—the most crucial introductory path—storing it in his mind.

He didn’t need to buy that crummy book.

He had a more ruthless, more domineering way!

“System.”

Su Yu’s voice rang out in the depths of his consciousness, carrying an unyielding resolve.

“Cash out!!!”