Demon Slayer: Can I add points to my Breathing Technique?

Thus, the training of Rock Breathing entered its third stage.

That is, Xia Xi is currently cultivating.

He swung the hammer and began to forge iron.

(Matsuyama Gate)

Chapter 28 Stronger Than the Mountains

That's right, it's not the kind of swordsmanship training like the one at Kazami's place.

It's not like Urokodaki doing physical training at high altitudes in the mountains.

This time, he faced a simple forge and a heavy iron hammer in his hand.

Just keep hammering the iron.

It sounds simple.

In reality, it proved to be much more difficult than Xia Xi had anticipated.

Matsuyama's requirement is that you must go all out with every swing of the hammer and maintain the rhythm of rock breathing throughout.

Imitating the breathing of rock was already a struggle, and then when the hammer hit, my arm would only go numb from the recoil, and the rhythm of the breathing of rock would naturally break down.

He turned to look at Songshan beside him.

The cultivators operating in front of the furnace were completely different from him.

He stood firmly on one leg, gripping the iron block tightly with pliers, the old hammer in his hand much larger and more broken than Xia Xi's.

when!

Calm and focused, the sparks flew like a waterfall.

when!

His breathing, heartbeat, and the force of his hammering seemed to create a subtle resonance.

when!

Xia Xi could even faintly hear the subtle sounds of impurities being squeezed out of the iron and the metal becoming denser under heavy pressure.

"Your breathing is erratic again."

Songshan didn't even look up, his voice mingling with the whooshing of the bellows.

"Grip the hammer as if you were holding your breath. Remember, it's not you swinging the hammer, it's your breath that's swinging the hammer, it's the earth that's swinging the hammer through your arm."

That sounds very mysterious.

Xia Xi had no choice but to grit his teeth and grit his teeth to continue swinging the hammer with the retired swordsman.

Ding! Ding! Ding~

His hammering was crisper and looser than Songshan's.

Sure enough, after a few taps, the breathing technique that had been maintained collapsed again.

"continue."

Matsuyama still didn't look at him, but silently continued to struggle with the iron ingot in front of him.

It was as if it wasn't Xia Xi practicing the breathing technique, but him himself.

"To turn a piece of iron into excellent steel, you can't rely on brute force alone, nor can you rush it."

"Calm down."

Xia Xi nodded.

Putting aside his fatigue, he secretly thought that the game designer's training program was quite interesting.

Among the many games that chase fast-paced combat, there are very few that allow players to calmly experience the "core of cultivation."

Of course, the main reason is that he currently has no way to trigger the cultivation acceleration animation.

Assisted acceleration can only be used for highly repetitive behaviors that have already been mastered.

When learning new skills or fighting ghosts, he has to experience every single second firsthand.

After the raven brought news of the promotion.

The sound of the hammer lasted for several days.

On the third day, Xia Xi found the "feeling" that Song Shan had mentioned.

The breathing technique was interrupted significantly less often when the iron ingot was struck.

On the fifth day, when his mind was completely immersed in that state of resonance between breathing and hammering.

Familiar system functions have finally been unlocked: blacksmithing training has entered "fast forward" mode.

Xia Xi naturally chose to devote herself wholeheartedly, making every drop of sweat and effort into her current practice with maximum efficiency.

Time, like visible quicksand, slipped away swiftly beyond his senses.

Heating, forging, cooling, then heating again...

Sweat had already soaked through my clothes, forming salt crystals on my skin. My arm went from aching and tingling to numb, and then to a strange feeling, as if it had become one with the hammer handle.

The subtle resistance and stretching of iron under the hammer blows.

The progress of the Rock Breathing skill, which was not yet halfway complete, began to increase slowly and steadily in the system panel, like a heartbeat.

On the other side, Matsuyama Daimon silently watched Natsumi, who was immersed in a state of flow.

This child is more talented than I expected.

Practicing breathing techniques is not an easy task, after all, a person only has one lung and one brain.

Mastering one breathing technique is already a rigorous test of both body and will; practicing two or three means memorizing several times more distinct breathing rhythms and sword stances.

This is an extremely heavy burden.

Not only will it not improve your strength much, but you also need to switch to the breathing mode you need at the right time.

In his view, it had almost no significance other than broadening one's horizons.

It would take a long time to be able to smoothly switch between two or even more breathing techniques and use them freely in life-or-death battles to deal with different situations.

Its difficulty is far greater than drawing a circle with the left hand and a square with the right.

The breath of water, with its gentle and inclusive nature, may enable even the most talented individuals to cultivate a well-rounded and multifaceted character.

But what about the Breath of Rock?

It is heavier and more difficult, and it places extremely high demands on the user's mental and physical strength.

however……

Matsuyama never doubted whether the child in front of him could master the Breath of Rock.

He was simply curious about what the other person could glean from these rocks.

And what new path can be forged by drawing upon the will of rocks, water, and wind?

The will of mountains and rocks lies in bearing.

What Fudo Hino learned from me was resilience and strength. Just like that kid's personality, he was a silent volcano on the outside, but inside, scorching lava surged.

It has refined its own breath from the mountain rocks.

He eventually became the team's "pillar".

But Xingming is completely different.

When I first arrived...

He carried a sorrow heavier than a mountain.

He is compassionate, sensitive, and empathetic. He appears gentle, but deep within him lies a strength and vigilance that is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

It's as if Xingming actually lacks trust in many people deep down.

But that doesn't mean the child lacks talent.

From his shallow perspective.

Xingming will definitely become even stronger in the future, perhaps even surpassing his predecessor, Shanzhu.

He had so hoped that Fudo and Gyomei could stand shoulder to shoulder and support the future of the Demon Slayer Corps.

but……

Matsuyama still feels an overwhelming sadness when he thinks about the recent obituary for the death of Fudohiro.

That child is only twenty-six years old, and clearly has a bright future ahead of him.

He died quietly in the wild.

According to "Hidden's" report, when they found Huoye, only half of the body remained in the wilderness.

It was covered in battle wounds and stained with a highly potent poison.

Clearly, he perished in the battle against the Upper Moon demons.

Even with all their might, they couldn't defeat their opponent.

At the moment of death, one must be filled with regret and pain.

More than once, Songshan wondered: if he had been by his disciple's side at that time, would he have been able to save his life?

As long as we work together to fight that Upper Moon...

Perhaps even with my own abilities, I still cannot change the outcome.

Even if we can't win, perhaps... at least we can give that child a better chance of survival.

The Demon Slayer Corps needs more resolute and powerful swordsmen.

This is also why he became a mentor and accepted Kazami Kōki's request.

And Xia Xi is right in front of me.