190 Self Torture 2

Qin Feng sighed and quickly ran his zhenqi through his body again, starting his Jade Tree Breathing Exercises at once. This was not the time to start feeling sorry for himself. Or crying about how his plans had not worked out.

He had hoped to get by with the least amount of work that he had to put in, until he could make his way back ... No. It would be more accurate to say that he was making his way to Old Man Snow Mountain's old haunt. After all, he had never been there, for all that he had memories of that place in his head already.

However, to get all the way there, he would need to be able to live through all the tribulations that Fate seemed to be hurling into his path. Running into Li Changhai and getting involved with the Second Ducal Prince's problems seemed to be something that the Heavens had arranged for him. So perhaps he should take the hint, and just accept the machinations of whatever Greater Power that was making things difficult for him.

In any case, he was short of money again. So relying on the Second Ducal Prince to deal with that aspect of his life shouldn't be too onerous, hmmm?

And he should start working on his martial arts practice again. Or, at the least, running through his Breathing Exercises as they should be practiced, rather than just stopping the moment that he started feeling the burning pain in his meridians.

Well, he would have to change that!

True enough. It was halfway through his third cycling of zhenqi in his meridians that he started to feel the burning in the same. It was as though he was pushing a sphere covered with abrasive gravel down a circular channel of his own flesh! One that scraped along the sides as it travelled along!

Which felt as though he was grinding his channels with coarse stone! Or, as some practitioners liked to call it, putting his meridians to a whetstone, and polishing his qi like a sword!

Well, it certainly felt like that! It hurt!! Terribly!!!

Qin Feng gritted his teeth, and forced himself to quickly run through the rest of the cycle. That was where he usually stopped. Or rather, he usually stopped when he started feeling the pain. This was the first time that he had persisted in spite of the same.

To be honest, it was already a bit of an improvement from when he had first began; back when he first began, the prickling had begun almost immediately, the moment that he started on the third cycle. Now, it did not start until he was halfway through the cycle itself.

Perhaps the channels in the earlier half had all been ground smooth? So that his qi 'flowed' along them like water through pipes, rather than in a pebble-strewn stream? That would explain a lot, wouldn't it?

Well, regardless of whether he was imagining things, or if his hypothesis was correct, Qin Feng knew that the only way that he would get better was with more practice. He could sense the improvements to his body and to his qi after putting himself through that agony. Besides, hadn't he already promised himself that he would work harder at his cultivation from hereon?

So he sighed and took another Breath. And tried to bear with the pin-pricks that greeted him immediately, as he started his fourth cycle.

And almost screamed out loud as soon as he was little more than a third of the way through! It was as though his channels were on fire! It was as though he was ramming a scrubbing rod down through a far too narrow pipe!

But Qin Feng managed to keep himself from letting the pain out, and concentrated on continuing to push his qi through his meridians. And focused on Breathing and absorbing the qi from the air around him, to try to cool himself down. Too bad it was already starting to get warm, so that wasn't really helping at all! Had he known how terrible it would be, he would have done it in the middle of the night, when it was cooler!

Still, he persisted. And promptly collapsed onto the bed once again, the moment he was done with his fourth cycle. His body was aching all over, and his underclothes - which was all that he had on! They were all soaked with his perspiration by the time that he threw himself back down onto the bedcovers.

Then he simply lay there, and tried to Breathe once again. This time, there was less pain. Perhaps because he had not pushed himself to continue past the fourth cycle, and so gave his body a chance to rest? That was good to know, although he was aware that it wouldn't help his cultivation if he did that, taking breaks between the cycles.

The whole point was to keep going, and letting his qi clear away the obstructions in his meridians. In fact, that was the whole point of the exercise. To ensure that his meridians were able to support the smooth flow of his qi, so that he further refine it later. Any obstructions in his body could lead to him losing his whole cultivation, if he was not careful.

Which was the whole point of running his zhenqi through his channels over and over again, to make certain that the flow was smooth and uninterrupted, so as to support the refinement of the same, later on.

That was when it suddenly struck him. Didn't that mean that his little attempt to push himself earlier ... Could that be considered a sort of shortcut? It certainly felt like he was forcibly ramming a ball of qi through his channels, rather than just slipping a narrow stream through the same. That was what was causing all that pain, wasn't it?

So, if he used a smaller ball of qi instead ... That should help with the pain, wouldn't it?

He didn't waste any time, and worked on compressing his qi into a smaller, tighter sphere, before sending it out through his meridians. Hopefully, it would allow him to ...

A sharp cry burst from his lips immediately! Agony twisted his face as he groaned and clutched at his chest, as he broke off the exercise at once, falling back down onto the sodden bedsheets once more!

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What the hell?! Why was it hurting worse than before?

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