Druid Fairy

Chapter 26 The King of Involution
With the crisp autumn air and the busy farming season over, it's a rare moment of leisure.

Li Rongzhou carried two fresh, large fish and walked briskly home.

"Miss!"

As soon as he got home, he lifted the big fish high and happily showed off his catch, "Look, I caught two big silver carp weighing twenty or thirty pounds each!"

On the left and right, two silver carp, each over a meter long, stood with their mouths open, their gills glistening with blood, and their fingernail-sized round scales shimmering in the water.

"So big?" Madam Qin exclaimed in surprise, covering her mouth and laughing, "My husband is really capable; he can catch such a big fish."

"Of course! Let me tell you, there's a lot to it when it comes to fishing. The fishing line needs to be strong, the hook needs to be stiff, and there's also the baiting..."

Li Rongzhou began to speak eloquently, while Qin looked at her husband with a smile, occasionally agreeing with phrases like "I see" and "That's really impressive."

The afternoon breeze gently lifted the two people's close-knit hair, causing it to swirl and coil into a love knot.

"While it's still fresh, I'll kill the fish first."

Li Rongzhou stopped talking, still wanting to continue. His wife liked cleanliness, so he was always the one who did the dirty and strenuous work of killing fish; otherwise, they wouldn't have stopped raising chickens and ducks at home.

Qin Shi planned, "I'll salt one fish, give half of it away, and use the other half to make pickled vegetables with the head, steam the tail, and stew the fish meat in mushroom soup."

The half-fish was intended as a gift for Li Fang, to be used for nominations in gratitude for the Tree Ancestor's blessing. Kindness is kindness, and affection is affection; just because someone else repaid a kindness doesn't mean their family shouldn't reciprocate.

Friendships and relationships need to be nurtured and maintained to remain close.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you want."

Li Rongzhou readily agreed, picked up a wide-backed cleaver, first scraped off the scales against the grain, removed the fins, gutted the fish, and finally "crack" forcefully split open the fish's head.

His movements were clean and efficient; he finished processing them in no time. He rubbed a little salt on one piece, sent another to the kitchen, and delivered half of the other to Li Fang's house.

When I returned home, I opened the door and saw my youngest son sitting cross-legged on a small stool, looking serious and precocious.

"Can'er, we're having a whole fish feast today. Your dad caught this fish."

Li Pingcan ignored him, looking serious and absorbed in his breathing.

Li Rongzhou was not angry at this. His youngest son had always had strange behavior since he was a child, and he had gotten used to it over the years.

He looked at Li Pingcan with great interest, wondering what his son was thinking about this time.

Upon seeing this, his expression gradually turned serious, and his heart was filled with turmoil.

"What a strange breathing technique."

The infant was clearly right in front of me, but with the rhythm of his breathing, his presence gradually diminished.

This is clearly a high-level concealment technique!
Li Pingcan quietly opened his eyes and saw his father's surprised expression, a slight smile curving his lips.

Instead of eagerly trying to get his father to learn Tree Breathing, it would be wiser to demonstrate it and pique his interest.

"This is a breathing method given to me by my grandfather, the Tree Ancestor. It can help me cultivate my body and mind, and prolong my life."

He raised his chin, feigning profundity, "Dad, do you want to learn? I'll teach you."

Li Rongzhou was immersed in the wonders of the breathing technique when he heard his youngest son's words. He laughed and scolded, "What kind of son teaches his father how to do things!"

He then said with a hint of covetousness, "This is a one-time exception, and there will be no next time."

Even setting aside the possibility of prolonging life, this art of breath control has great potential.

In martial arts battles, open and dramatic life-or-death struggles are rare; the mainstream is more about surprise attacks and stealth—it's all about risking your life, so who cares about morality?
As for the youngest son saying that the breathing technique came from the Tree Ancestor, Li Rongzhou had no doubts whatsoever. They had long had an unspoken understanding: what they couldn't say, they wouldn't say; what they could say, they would naturally say the truth.

'You talk so confidently, but you still want to learn, don't you?' Li Pingcan thought to himself, but said aloud, 'Then you'd better watch my moves!'

The nine breathing techniques simulate the process of a tree growing by replacing its own body's impure or pure energy, from its roots and stems to its leaves, veins, flowers, and fruits.

In the past two days, he has made thorough preparations to teach his father, practicing repeatedly and memorizing every detail, determined to teach his father completely.

This is equivalent to chewing food up and feeding it to someone; even a fool could learn it by simply reading from the book, let alone Li Rongzhou.

In just one afternoon, he learned two of the breathing techniques.

"The breath of a tree begins with the seed, originates from the root, is born from the fruit, and ends with the seed, in a continuous cycle, endlessly."

Li Rongzhou felt increasingly enlightened as he learned. Just these two breathing techniques alone made him clearly feel that his energy had become more abundant and full, his blood and qi were strong and long, and his breathing had become long and silent.

It was already late, and his wife had urged him to eat twice, so he could only say reluctantly, "Let's continue after dinner!"

…………

For several days.

As the wild silver carp meat gradually decreased, Li Rongzhou finally mastered all of the Tree Breath techniques.

In a short time, he fully experienced the benefits of tree breathing. Impurities were expelled and cleansed; after practicing the breathing method, sometimes his clearly clean body could even rub off impurities.

With prolonged practice, one's energy and blood flow smoothly without becoming agitated, and even one's state of mind becomes peaceful.

"Perhaps it's true, just as Can'er said, that this method can prolong life."

Li Rongzhou's first thought was of his wife. Years ago, Qin gave birth to their young son in the wild. Although she had elixirs to take, she hadn't eaten or slept well during the years of fleeing famine, which weakened her body. It was difficult to replenish her health with medicine, which was a way of shortening her lifespan.

This breathing technique is also very suitable for my wife.

"Dad, you want to teach Mom? But she refuses to learn." Li Pingcan was curious about how his father would teach his mother, since his attempts had ended in failure.

"Look at me."

Full of confidence, Li Rongzhou walked into the house and said to Qin Shi, who was doing needlework, "Wife, stop embroidering, I'll teach you martial arts."

Qin frowned and waved her hand away from her husband, saying, "I don't want to learn, I don't want to get all sweaty and tired."

"This method can preserve youth forever, making the skin as smooth as cream and as white as snow."

Qin put down her needlework, smiled, and took her husband's arm, saying sweetly, "Husband, when shall we begin?"

Li Pingcan was dumbfounded.

Mother, you've changed so fast!

It seems that women of all eras are powerless against "skin whitening," "anti-aging," and "eternal youth"!
…………

The next few days.

The whole family has learned Tree Breathing.

Li Pingfu was full of interest in all the "martial arts secrets and techniques" and there was no reason for him not to want to learn them. Li Ping'an, on the other hand, was busy with his heavy schoolwork and wanted to refuse, but was ruthlessly suppressed by his father.

'Why would a teenager like me learn methods to prolong life? That's for old men in their sixties or seventies.'

Li Ping'an inwardly complained, but when he fully mastered Tree Breathing a month later, his reluctance vanished instantly.

When you feel dizzy and your eyes are strained from reading, taking a deep breath can relieve the fatigue and allow you to continue reading!
'With this breathing technique, I can study during the day and secretly do my homework at night. Who can outdo me?'

When Li Pingcan learned that Li Pingan was using Tree Breathing to double his reading, he looked at his second brother and felt that the other man was radiating a terrifying aura of "King of Involution"!
(End of this chapter)