From Beggar to Emperor: My Profession Has Its Own Characteristics

Zhao Tiezhu, who had been summoned by Zhu Yuan, walked up to Zhou Ping, scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, and spoke first.

"Senior Brother Zhou, I... I haven't even mastered walking yet."

"You're not far behind, so learning together is the same." Zhou Ping looked at him and gave him a suggestion, "Later, when you want to practice basic stance training and horse stance, you can start to practice with basic breathing techniques. However, I still suggest that you first practice walking to a certain level of proficiency before you start practicing."

"Okay, Senior Brother Zhou."

Zhu Yuan and Zhao Tiezhu responded almost simultaneously, looking at Zhou Ping with serious expressions.

"Okay, let's get started."

Zhou Ping nodded, his gaze sweeping over the two men's faces. Seeing that Zhu Yuan and Zhao Tiezhu's attention was focused on him, he patted his chest, signaling them to pay attention.

"You breathe normally with your lungs. When you take a breath, your chest expands."

This is called "floating breath," and martial arts practitioners cannot use it.

If you breathe with your lungs, all the air will be trapped in your chest. When you exert force, the air will rush upwards, causing you to stiffen and your strength to dissipate.

"True breathing is done using the dantian." Zhou Ping moved his palm down and pressed it against his lower abdomen. "When you take a breath, your lower abdomen should expand, while your chest should remain as still as possible."

This is what is commonly referred to as "qi sinking to the dantian," and the most basic breathing technique is to achieve this.

Zhu Yuan listened very attentively to Zhou Ping's teaching, his eyes never blinking, afraid of missing any details.

Zhao Tiezhu, standing next to him, also tried to keep a straight face and keep up with the understanding.

Soon, Zhou Ping had them stand in the correct positions and place their hands on their lower abdomens.

"When you inhale, use your mind to push your lower abdomen outward. Remember, don't use your abdominal muscles to forcefully expand it, but use the inhaled air to naturally push it open."

Zhu Yuan did as instructed and took a deep breath.

As a result, my breath hit me hard and my chest swelled up noticeably, but the hand pressing on my lower abdomen couldn't feel anything; my lower abdomen didn't move.

"That's not right." Seeing this, Zhou Ping walked over and stood beside Zhu Yuan. "You're focusing too much on your chest. Focus your attention on your lower abdomen and ignore your chest."

As he spoke, he reached out and gently placed his palm on Zhu Yuan's lower abdomen.

"Come on, take another breath, and try to push the air you inhale into my palm."

Zhu Yuan steadied himself, closed his eyes, focused all his attention on his lower abdomen, and then slowly inhaled.

This time, he deliberately guided the breath downwards, his lower abdomen bulging slightly outwards with each inhale, pressing against Zhou Ping's palm, while his chest remained relatively stable.

Zhou Ping could clearly feel a slight outward pressure in his palm.

"Yes, that's the feeling." Zhou Ping's face showed a hint of approval, and his voice became gentler. "You must remember this feeling. Every time you inhale, you must find this feeling of the breath sinking to the dantian and the lower abdomen naturally pushing outward."

After saying that, he slowly released his grip and took a step back.

"When you exhale, you don't need to consciously contract your abdomen. It will naturally sink down as you exhale. You don't need to force it down."

Zhu Yuan opened his eyes and, following Zhou Ping's instructions, tried a few more times.

As he inhaled and exhaled, and then... after a while, Zhu Yuan felt a little dizzy.

"It's like this at the beginning." Zhou Ping had been observing his reaction and spoke up at the right time. "You're used to breathing with your lungs, and now you suddenly have to switch to breathing with your diaphragm. Your body and blood circulation are not used to it for a while, so you will feel dizzy and short of breath."

"This is normal, don't panic. Just keep practicing every day, and your body will get used to it after a few days."

Then, Zhou Ping instructed him to combine this basic breathing method with the basic stance training he was practicing.

Zhu Yuan stood in the stance and began to try regulating his breathing, focusing his attention on his breathing and the rise and fall of his lower abdomen.

Meanwhile, Zhao Tiezhu was also practicing hard on the side, but his breathing was heavy, with obvious nasal sounds and friction sounds in his chest, sounding like he was working a bellows.

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Ping frowned slightly and walked over.

"Tiezhu, don't strain. Breathing is about relaxing, not straining. The more you try to force your breath in and out, the easier it is for you to hold your breath and the more tense your body will become."

Zhao Tiezhu felt a little embarrassed after Zhou Ping's comment. He tried to slow down his breathing and the intensity of his breathing. His breathing did become lighter and no longer sounded like a bellows, but it still sounded somewhat heavy and not smooth and natural.

"You're too hasty." Zhou Ping shook his head, looking at his strained expression, and softened his tone. "You've only just started learning basic breathing techniques; there's no need to rush to master them all at once."

What I just said to Zhu Yuan is also what I'm saying to you.

After finishing his teaching, Zhou Ping left.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuan quickly thanked him, and Zhao Tiezhu followed suit, expressing his gratitude as well.

"Tiezhu, take your time, there's no rush. Senior Brother Zhou said this requires us to practice and adjust day after day."

"Yes." Zhao Tiezhu nodded vigorously.

Zhu Yuan then began practicing again.

There's still plenty of time before lunch.

If nothing unexpected happens in the next few days, he will focus on practicing basic breathing techniques. Once he achieves true qi sinking to the dantian, he can then advance his basic stance training, horse stance, and walking techniques to a higher level.

After lunch.

As usual, Zhu Yuan went to the dock immediately.

When they were still far from the dock, Old Ma's son, Ma Qiushen, walked towards him.

At this moment, Ma Qiushen came alone, without anyone following behind him, and his expression was more serious than when they last met.

Looking at him like this, it wasn't hard to guess why Ma Qiushen had come to see him.

"Brother Ma," Zhu Yuan greeted, stopping in his tracks.

"Zhu Yuan, I've dragged you into this because of my situation," Ma Qiushen said apologetically, a hint of guilt on his face.

If he hadn't specifically gone to see Zhu Yuan, Zhu Yuan might not have encountered that alleyway attack two days ago.

"Brother Ma, this Li Yinghu knows a lot about you," Zhu Yuan reminded Ma Qiushen.

"To be honest, one of my henchmen is Li Yinghu's man, and I exposed him yesterday." Ma Qiushen nodded, a cold glint in his eyes.

"That's good."

Zhu Yuan nodded, realizing that his own experience had indirectly helped Ma Qiushen.

If Li Yinghu's underlings continue to infiltrate Ma Qiushen's inner circle, they could do something detrimental to him at any time.

Ma Qiushen was actually quite puzzled about this.

Did Zhu Yuan and Li Yinghu have a major conflict at that time?

To confirm this, he will ask Zhu Yuan about the specific circumstances that occurred at that time.

"Zhu Yuan, can you tell me exactly what happened that day?" Ma Qiushen asked directly, his eyes fixed on Zhu Yuan.