Otherworldly Desert Dust

...

Work at sunrise, rest at sunset.

The Scroll Realm had no sun, the Earth Light beneath their feet was like a breath in and a breath out, reminding the Ancient Clan of how to maintain a regular and disciplined life.

The group hunt had ended.

Wu Hen had finally witnessed the true grandeur and divine beauty of the Scroll Realm. Following Chongli Mountain uncle's advice, he woke up earlier than the others every day, only doing the simplest thing—running!

After running, Wu Hen would join the village's young men for hunting. Though he mostly did odd jobs, walking with them through the various mountains and rivers of the Scroll Realm brought daily rewards.

Early that morning, Wu Hen was running and passed by Qingcao Creek Ancient Village again.

Perhaps feeling guilty, he did not dare lower his head to look at the Qingcao stream but instead, raised his head to look at the sky.

As he ran, he maintained an even breath, and when Wu Hen subconsciously lengthened his breathing rhythm, he found that running in this way suited his state of motion better.

"Every time I use Holy Power, I'm always gasping for air."

"It's like someone who can't swim jumping into a deep pool, flailing with all their might but instead of moving forward, they just keep sinking."

Wu Hen had noticed this problem earlier when fighting the Holy Sect disciples.

After using his Holy Power, he would be out of breath as if it would take an eternity before he could use it again.

Before, Wu Hen didn't quite understand what was going on, but now he was slowly getting it.

Breathing!

He previously didn't know how to breathe properly!

It's like being in the water.

Someone who doesn't know how to breathe will quickly be out of breath and powerless after a few strokes, and if they stay in the water too long, they could drown.

Using Totem Holy Power is like being underwater; if you don't know how to regulate your breathing, you'll run out of strength and sink to the bottom in just a few minutes.

Chongli Mountain uncle had Wu Hen run to grasp the essence of this breathing technique.

How does one breathe underwater?

It's not about taking huge gulps of air whenever your nose and mouth are above water, trying to fill your lungs in one go before submerging again.

In fact, no matter how much air you inhale in one breath, it will only last for ten or twenty seconds. If you can't take the next breath, you'll choke and drown!

So how do swimmers stay underwater for so long?

Because they've mastered a breathing rhythm.

Human breathing involves two steps: inhaling and exhaling.

It's true that you can't inhale underwater, but you can exhale.

Inhale with your head above water.

Exhale underwater. The exhale takes longer; during this long exhale, you can stroke your limbs, bring your head above water, take another breath, and then submerge to complete another long exhale...

Wu Hen had learned to swim and knew clearly how to breathe in water to maintain long periods of swimming.

This theory perfectly matched the use of Totem Holy Power.

Gathering the Holy Breath within was akin to an inhalation; expecting to form a huge energy with one breath required an immense lung capacity.

But if you interspersed short exhales while gathering the Holy Breath, though the Holy Power gathered would weaken slightly, the next inhale would reconstitute the energy, making it stronger!

This also aligned with the principle of inflating a balloon.

Instead of inflating a big balloon in one breath, you could do it in many breaths, as long as the balloon got inflated enough.

"No wonder uncle said, mastering these principles here would make learning any technique outside twice as effective!"

Wu Hen's running became more effortless.

He even felt an immediate sense of energy filling him as he inhaled the Scroll Realm's Spiritual Breath. Not to mention running at an even pace, even accelerating continuously wouldn't strain his stamina.

The same applied to Holy Breath. Wu Hen wouldn't have to worry about exhausting himself after using a few Holy Powers in future battles. As long as he controlled the rhythm, he could continuously ignite the Holy Power in battle!

"Why does it feel like my sense of taste has changed?"

Inhaling and exhaling became very natural for Wu Hen; he could even taste the various spiritual charms mixed in the air, the spirit powder from blooming exotic flowers, the Qinghe Spirit Dew evaporating into the air, and mountain and rapids exuding natural mist, all greatly benefiting Wu Hen's weak body.

"So nature's mountains and rivers also have their own flavor..." Wu Hen learned more about his surroundings with each breath.

Through breathing in the natural breath and spiritual dews, Wu Hen realized his perceptions had qualitatively changed. Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly map the surrounding terrain.

Mountains, rivers, soil, grass, snow, dewdrops, wind, cloud, thunder...

They all had scents that could be perfectly sensed through breathing.

Wu Hen lifted his gaze towards a distant mountain forest. As he inhaled the air wafting from over there, Wu Hen suddenly found his vision had changed. After detecting greenworms and feathered birds in the forest, Wu Hen realized he could actually see their figures!

Because his other senses had acquired accurate information, his brain started to imagine the formerly unclear images in detail??

No wonder, after days of running, Wu Hen's vision had significantly improved. The distant landscapes suddenly became high-definition, no longer the blurred outlines he used to see!

"Perception is an interconnection, ultimately forming the true image of this world in our minds. In the past, humans only had five senses, and they were relatively weak, so their view of the world was always hazy and very limited..."

Just like looking down at a city from an airplane, all you see are small grids and buildings, unable to discern the specific conditions on the ground.

But as various senses enhanced and interwoven information was captured, the near and far information would become increasingly clear and three-dimensional!

"Has my sense of taste reached Second Rank?"

Wu Hen had been so immersed in the natural insights that he only realized his changes afterwards.

It must have been Second Rank.

The world he saw had already changed, becoming more detailed. If he utilized his hearing to perceive together, the world would become intricately dynamic.

"Perception is the hardest to enhance; I didn't expect uncle's hint would allow me to raise a perception realm. Amazing!"

Wu Hen felt even more joyous internally.

After transforming from Holy Embryo to Holy Infant, Wu Hen was already very satisfied; he didn't expect an even bigger surprise awaited him.

Reaching Second Rank in taste was vastly different. He used to think it was useless in combat, but it solved his biggest endurance issue!

Faster evolution speed.

Improved endurance.

Detailed surroundings.

The gap between First Rank and Second Rank in taste was significant!

"Tsk tsk~"

Wu Hen smacked his lips, preparing to have a good meal during today's hunt. This time, he wouldn't suffer from indigestion.

Suddenly, a whiff of sulfurous air entered his nostrils, bringing a sense of familiarity.

He quickly raised his head, seeing a very dark meteor streak across the sky, heading straight towards the upper reaches of Qingcao Creek.

"Another prodigy has fallen here, seems like it landed at Qingcao Creek Ancient Village." Wu Hen remarked in surprise.

Unfortunately, he still had to join the village men for the hunt; otherwise, he'd love to see which extraordinary person had fallen.

According to incomplete statistics, those who fell into the Scroll Realm were certainly extremely powerful existences...

These sky-fallen individuals were collectively known by the Ancient Clan as "prodigies."

Frankly, Wu Hen and Du Mao were both wary of the village people mentioning these two words, feeling they were a great humiliation and mockery.

Which prodigies have to help with shoeing donkeys and picking up horse manure?

...

"Hey, Wu Hen, that Tai Peng is half dead, go fetch it, so we don't delay our entry into the mountain." Ancient Clan youth Xiao Jiang shouted.

"Are you sure it's half dead?" Wu Hen asked solemnly.

The Tai Peng they hunted earlier had no feathers that weren't sparking golden Desolate Thunder. If placed in the cultivation world, probably the heavenly tribulation those cultivators faced would be released by this guy!

"Absolutely, go slaughter it and bring back the roc meat. We'll give you a big chunk!" Ancient Clan youth Xiao Jiang said.

"Alright, I am in a growth phase." Wu Hen nodded.

Because of doing odd jobs, Wu Hen received less meat during the labor distribution. His physique was still weak and needed meat for nourishment.

The Ancient Clan encouraged these prodigies to be self-reliant, so after the initial care period, they gradually stopped giving out food easily.

Wu Hen knew the Ancient Clan was testing him, to see the results of his recent cultivation.

This was good; Little Yi hadn't had meat in a long time.

Hunting down the Thunder Crossing Tai Peng would mark his first mythical creature kill. Little Yi could then take its mythical soul breath!

"Be careful, if you really can't handle it, just run. After all, you've been practicing running for days. We don't need that one prey, but losing a prodigy would make the village grieve and have a feast." Chongli Mountain uncle reminded him again.

Wu Hen's face darkened, and he left without looking back.

The Ancient Clan loved feasting the most. On rest days, they had to find an excuse for a feast.

Once, running out of ideas, they even held a full moon feast... To celebrate prodigy Wu Hen's one-month residence in the village!

...

A strong smell of thunder fire filled the mountains. Wu Hen chased this scent through the air.

The Thunder Crossing Tai Peng seemed to have flown into the mountain peak ahead. The peak was its nest, and its blood had dripped onto the ground, creating terrible thunder fires in the forest.

A mythical species indeed.

Even half dead, it was extremely difficult to handle.

But Wu Hen couldn't hesitate. Such a mythical species healed quickly, and any delay might make even a hundred Wu Hens too weak to even make a dent in it!

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(The special episode of Full-time Mage - Mysterious Commission is now airing! You can watch it on Tencent Video. Six episodes are released at once, based on the Red Demon arc story~~ Go watch if you're interested!)