"OI, BRAT!"
The thunderous roar shook the entire cave.
"STOP!"
My eyes snapped open. "Huh...?" Before I could react, a terrifying pressure crashed down on me. The chaotic Qi filling the cave trembled as the blue flames inside the old skull's eye sockets flared violently.
"Don't take another breath!"
My heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, I immediately stopped.
...What just happened? Did I do something wrong?
The cave fell silent. The old skull remained motionless, his blue flames fixed on me as though they were peering deep inside my body. I didn't dare make another sound.A few moments later, the strange disturbance within me gradually faded, and only then did the suffocating pressure disappear.
"...Hmph."
His voice echoed throughout the cave.
"You reckless little brat."
I couldn't hold back anymore.
"...What did I do?"
The old skull ignored my question. He continued staring at me for another moment before letting out a cold snort.
"...Looks like I stopped it in time."
My brows knitted together.
"Stopped... what?"
The blue flames flickered.
"Qi deviation."
The words struck me like a bolt of lightning.
"...Qi deviation?"
"W-What's that?"
The old skull finally looked directly at me.
"You don't know?" A cold laugh escaped him. "Of course you don't. If you did... you wouldn't have been foolish enough to force your breathing in a place saturated with chaotic Qi."
"...What."
I frowned, still trying to make sense of his words.
The old skull's blue flames burned fiercely.
"Then tell me..."
"What the hell were you trying to do, huh?"
I hesitated before answering.
"...I... I was trying to find a way to control this body... just like you told me."
"Then... I started thinking about that Qi Assimilation State again. The last time... everything started happening after I got close to my core."
I hesitated for a moment.
I can't tell him about the Trait...
"You also said my core was abnormal... so I thought... maybe everything was happening because of it."
"I didn't dare get close to it again."
"So... I thought if I stayed away from it for now and learned to control this body first... maybe I could figure something out."
The blue flames inside the old skull's eye sockets burned fiercely.
"So that's why you've been doing all those strange things... forcing your posture and forcing your breathing, huh?"
I gave a small nod.
"...Y-Yes."
"Have you completely lost your mind?!"
His roar exploded through the cave, making the surrounding chaotic Qi tremble violently.
"If I had been even a moment later, you wouldn't have entered Qi Assimilation..." His voice became frighteningly calm. "...You would've fallen into Qi Deviation."
"You fool."
The anger in his tone gradually faded, replaced by disappointment.
"Your mistake wasn't trying to control your body, nor was it trying to avoid Qi Assimilation. Your mistake was forcing something that should never be forced."
"You tried to command your breathing instead of observing it. You tried to change your body's natural rhythm without understanding it."
The blue flames flickered.
"This cave is filled with chaotic Qi. Every forced breath you took drew that Qi into your body in an unnatural way."
I frowned.
"...And that became Qi Deviation?"
"It was the beginning."
He continued without taking his eyes off me.
"Qi Assimilation and Qi Deviation are completely different."
"A beast enters Qi Assimilation after absorbing more Qi than its body can refine.
The body willingly seals itself and tries to purify that Qi. If it succeeds, the beast grows stronger. If it fails..." He paused briefly. "...its body explodes."
"But Qi Deviation is different. It isn't a breakthrough. It begins the moment you disrupt the natural flow of Qi within your body.
Once that balance is broken, the Qi no longer follows its proper path. It turns violent, tears through your meridians, damages your core and spreads chaos throughout your body." His voice grew colder. "If nobody stops it... your cultivation is crippled... or you die."
A chill ran through my body, and my breathing instinctively hitched.
So... I almost walked straight into something even worse than Qi Assimilation...?
...Then why didn't he tell me something this dangerous before?
The thought lasted only a moment.
No...
He was the one who stopped me.
I swallowed hard.
"...Then what was I supposed to do?"
The old skull remained silent.
"You told me to control this body. You told me to prove my worth." I clenched my jaw. "If I approached my core the same way again... what if I entered Qi Assimilation one more time? I'd lose years all over again. Maybe I'd wake up... maybe I'd explode... I don't know."
For a brief moment, I stopped.
I can't tell him about the Trait...
"...But you wouldn't let me stay in this cave forever... would you?"
I looked straight into the blue flames.
"So I had to find another way."
"Tell me."
"What was I supposed to do?"
The old skull remained silent for a long moment. His blue flames flickered quietly before he let out a slow breath.
"Before I answer that..."
"Do you remember the moment you finally found a posture that felt right?"
I frowned, searching my memories.
"...Yes."
"Nothing felt forced. My body finally relaxed... even my breathing became easier."
The blue flames burned quietly.
"...And what did you do after that?"
I blinked in confusion.
"...I started adjusting my breathing."
The old skull slowly closed his eyes before letting out a cold snort.
"...Exactly. The moment your body finally settled on its own, you stopped observing it. Instead of understanding what had changed, you immediately tried to make it follow your own ideas."
His gaze remained fixed on me.
"Brat... you keep saying you want to understand this body, yet the first time it tried to show you something... you ignored it."
The cave fell silent.
My lips parted slightly.
...So that's why...
That posture felt so comfortable.
I...
I really made a mistake.
The old skull let out a cold snort.
"Now that tiny brain of yours is finally starting to work."
His blue flames burned steadily.
"Go back.
Go back to that posture."
I didn't answer.
Slowly, I lowered myself into the same position I had found earlier. My front legs settled beneath me, my hind legs rested naturally against the ground, and my neck remained slightly extended. This time, I didn't adjust anything or search for another method.
I simply settled into the posture and waited.
As the tension beneath my shell slowly melted away, my body relaxed on its own. My breathing gradually became calm and steady.
My attention shifted inward.
I could feel the weight of my shell, the looseness in my muscles, and the quiet rhythm of each breath.
My eyes widened ever so slightly.
So this... was what he wanted me to understand.
For a brief moment, everything became completely still.
Ding.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed inside my mind.
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[Stillwater Longevity Method: Synchronization Established.]
My eyes snapped open.
"...What?"
Before I could even process the words, the old skull's blue flames suddenly narrowed.
His gaze remained fixed on me, as though he had noticed something I couldn't. "...Brat..."
His voice was quieter than before, carrying neither anger nor disappointment, only curiosity... and the faintest trace of suspicion.
"...What did you just do?"
My brows furrowed. "...What?"
The old skull didn't answer immediately. He continued staring at me before speaking again, his tone noticeably more serious.
"Your presence..." The blue flames flickered. "It's becoming faint."
My heart skipped a beat. Did the skill do that? No... stay calm. He can't know about the system. I forced my expression to remain unchanged and shook my head.
"...I don't know." I hesitated briefly before adding, "...I just did what you told me. I went back to the posture, stopped forcing my breathing, and stayed still."
The old skull remained silent, his gaze never leaving me. The blue flames within his eye sockets burned a little brighter.
"...Hmph..." A quiet murmur escaped him.