Chapter 17: Chapter 17

What the actual truth was, Ron didn’t speculate on for now. But he had indeed discovered a Breathing Technique that was closer to the essence of the wondrous ice.

Based on his deductions, this Breathing Technique, being closer to the wondrous ice’s essence, would be more efficient than what Foss had taught. Simply put, it would have a higher conversion rate for transforming food or the body into Life Energy.

To use an analogy, eating a pound of meat might originally only yield a small amount of Life Energy, with the surplus energy wasted during the conversion process. But now, with the new Breathing Technique, that same pound of meat might yield two or even more units of Life Energy.

And Life Energy was the key to strengthening the body.

One session of practice with the new Breathing Technique would be equivalent to two or even more sessions by someone else!

However, Ron still felt that this was not the limit of the Ice Breathing Technique. After all, he had only perceived the wondrous ice once in its proximity.

If he could perceive it a few more times, or even make direct contact with the wondrous ice, he might find an even more efficient Breathing Technique than the one he had currently discovered.

According to Jason, Ron could still use the inheritance chamber three more times during his apprenticeship. If each session brought him closer to the wondrous ice’s essence, then after three sessions, the effectiveness of the Ice Breathing Technique he possessed might far exceed his imagination.

As for the actual performance of the version he had discovered now, he had no plans to test it for the time being. After all, trying to run before even learning to walk would be entirely too overconfident.

Tonight, he only intended to perform one regular session of the Ice Breathing.

…

After preparing a few extra flatbreads and toasting them as a precaution, Ron fully immersed himself back into the body and found a comfortable position on the minimalist bed.

Then he reached into the small pouch at his chest and pulled out one vial of Ignition Potion. Looking at the faint yet remarkably resolute glow of the potion before his eyes, Ron understood that it was precisely this vial that illuminated his path to transcendence.

He yanked out the stopper, tilted his head slightly, and drank the burning firelight down in one gulp. Immediately, he felt as though molten lava were flowing from his mouth down through his throat and into his chest and abdomen.

And that extreme heat was rapidly spreading throughout his entire body, as though he would be consumed by flames and perish in the very next moment.

“If there were no Ice Breathing Technique, would drinking this alone actually burn me alive from the inside?”

In the final moment, this thought flashed through Ron’s mind before he entered a thought-free, desire-free state of Ice Breathing. In that instant, the interweaving sensations of extreme cold and extreme heat nearly made him cry out in agony.

But remembering that if he failed to maintain the Ice Breathing, he could be incinerated from within by the Ignition Potion’s extreme heat, Ron didn’t dare slack off for even a fraction of a second. Through the pain, he struggled to sustain this state.

He didn’t know how much time passed before the extreme heat from the Ignition Potion began to recede. Following Jason’s instructions, Ron immediately ceased the Ice Breathing, then rolled off the bed, dashed to the door in one stride, threw it open, and plunged into the snow to burn off the potion’s residual heat.

While dissipating the residual heat, Ron also monitored his own condition.

Unlike the Life Energy produced by the 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】, which was consumed almost as soon as it was generated by the body’s life processes, the Life Energy produced by the Ice Breathing Technique seemed remarkably enduring.

Since Life Energy was not real in essence, but merely a hypothetical virtual energy, this persistence was certainly not a characteristic of Life Energy itself. Rather, it was a difference brought about by the Breathing Technique.

This also meant that Ron had surplus Life Energy available to strengthen himself beyond what was needed to sustain basic life processes.

As for how to strengthen, there were two main approaches.

One was to do nothing and let the Life Energy naturally affect the body during the course of life processes. Such effects were typically positive, which was what was known as strengthening.

The other was targeted strengthening through specific forms of exercise.

The 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】 was also a form of strengthening, but it had already reached its upper limit. Even executing the 【Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique】 would produce results no better than doing nothing at all.

As for targeted exercise, Ron learned from Jason that the territory possessed a training skill called the 【Ice Sword Art】, which focused on strengthening the practitioner’s power.

“Too bad without authorization from the territory, Jason can’t teach me the Ice Sword Art either!”

Of course, this thought only flickered briefly through Ron’s mind. Based on his confidence in his existing understanding, he still leaned toward overall strengthening, which was to say, doing nothing and letting Life Energy circulate naturally.

Compared to strengthening only power, doing so might allow him to become a well-rounded warrior with no weaknesses.

Naturally, this approach might generate more waste, and correspondingly, would require him to pay a greater price: more Ignition Potion and more meat.

But all of this was built upon his current understanding. If the so-called strength enhancement of the 【Ice Sword Art】 was actually achieved through holistic strengthening to gain power, then it was already the well-rounded approach.

“I’ll just have to see whether they teach the Ice Sword Art tomorrow! I’d love to see exactly how it enables practitioners to surpass the limits of the human body!”

With these thoughts, Ron continued walking around outside to disperse the heat, and only returned inside to rest once the residual heat from the Ignition Potion had completely dissipated.

Of course, it was only “Ron’s” body that needed rest. His Light Orb true form didn’t need to rest. At the very least, this much exertion was nowhere near enough to require it.

…

After a full night of organizing Secret Patterns, Ron fully immersed himself back into the body without feeling any fatigue whatsoever. Opening the door, he found it was already broad daylight outside.

A new day had arrived.

Today, Ron didn’t go to Liya’s house first. Instead, he headed straight to the training ground. Just past Bell Tower Square, he caught the aroma of roasted meat wafting from the training ground in the distance, and he quickened his pace once more.

“Good morning, Ron, you look much better today.”

“Good morning, Justin, thanks for your concern. You’re looking good too.”

Ron ran into Justin at the entrance. They exchanged a few words of small talk, then headed straight to the area between the three training grounds, which was also the source of the meaty fragrance.

Once anyone joined the territory guard, even if they didn’t become a Knight, they could enjoy nearly unlimited meat. However, meat alone was useless. Strengthening oneself required Life Energy.

And Life Energy could only be obtained through Ice Breathing. And Ice Breathing required Ignition Potion to use. It was one link chained to the next.

Ron had no doubt whatsoever that the territory used this very method to control, constrain, and entice its Knights. As long as one still wished to improve, they were inseparably bound to Ignition Potion.

This was the starting point for everything!

“Oh, Justin, you’re here too! And this is?”

“His name is Ron. His father was a casualty of the battle five years ago.”

Justin briefly introduced Ron, then turned to introduce the boy who had just spoken. “His name is Karel. His father was also a casualty of the battle five years ago.”

“Hello, Karel!”

“Hello, Ron. Come on, let’s get some food in your stomach first.”

Having arrived early, Karel had been assigned by the instructor to distribute food. Now, facing Ron as a new friend, he didn’t hold back in the slightest.

He speared a massive chunk of lean meat straight from the still-boiling cauldron with a fork, placed it on a wooden plate, and held it out to Ron. Facing this boiled meat with barely any seasoning, Ron accepted it without the slightest hesitation.

Of course, what he received was not just food, but also Karel’s acceptance.