Chapter 167: Breathe In, Breathe Out
As Ming and Yan approach me from behind, I turn in their direction.
Before they can even say anything, I already draw two cups for them. They looked shocked, as it is clear they were expecting to ask as well.
I look them both meaningfully in the eyes before giving them an explanation.
You two and I are already part of the same group, so theres no need for such words between us. Simply let me know when youre tired and we can go from there.
I can see the emotion in their eyes as they speak out their thanks, bowing their heads, and moving back to our group. Once back with the group, they quickly take the concoction, just as that young man had. Luckily, they dont choke on it.
I let everyone in my group know they can move ahead of me to get moving while I take care of everyone over here.
While they initially looked concerned, they remember my smashing performance earlier, with the tree, and then move up the stairs with the hero group.
Ive already talked with Chen and Ju, and they will only use the concoction when they are feeling tired. Because of their former professions on the streets, they are used to long periods of moving up elevated areas. If they get tired and Im not there, they will get on one of the hero group members. Mei Lin and the hero group are totally fine.
All that leaves is everyone else.
With me basically giving this away, they all are hungry for this pill-like solution to their problems. The only thing that gives pause is the conditions, which many realize are actually favorable to them.
I soon have to deal with a large crowd of people trying to get a cup of this. Especially on an elevated surface, I have to quickly gain control of the situation, to make sure no one gets trampled.
With my speed and scan, I can move extremely quickly while not spilling a drop of the concoction, even when its in a cup.
With this in mind, I just have everyone who wants one agree to be in a coalition with me by raising one hand. Those who want to have a deeper relationship with me and give me their everything will raise two.
Using this as a baseline, I separate them into two groups.
I quickly realized I could have just started with that instead, but it seems to also have calmed people down, too.
For those who just want to be in a coalition, I introduce myself briefly to each person, getting their name and a quick introduction from them, before giving them a cup and moving on. Some, after my introductions and getting closer to me, immediately moved into the deeper relation group.
Many of them were women.
My guess is because they got a hint of the pheromones that were coming off my body, besides my conversation scan making a good impression.
Most of the rich and powerful group only join the coalition, seeing no downside to having better relations with each other. This includes Huang Kaida and his group, who have stayed behind to check out the situation. In fact, many of the strong individuals have done so for information collection purposes.
Making connections with more people and leverage that in discussions is a powerful tool, even if not taken in the groups spirit.
The key to both groups will be in enforcement. But thats a thought for another time.
By the time I actually reached the deeper relationship group, 40% of the people who were here joined it. This is no small amount of people, as the total amount if people who took either of those choices came to around 1000. Which means around 600 went for the coalition and 400 for the personal group. Around 300 others decided not to go either way, and either moved ahead or are watching to see what happens.
One thing of note is that the woman who yelled out in Shi Jis group has stayed on the coalition side, while the red-headed woman has joined my personal one. Shi Ji seems to give her worried looks, as it appears this wasnt at her prompting.
On the personal side, there is also the woman with the Daddy Dom kink, who is the agent for a noblewoman. She seems simultaneously excited and worried that I wont accept her because of her earlier actions.
Ill definit probably accept her, as well.
For this group, I give a much more personal greeting and introduction, while also giving them a cup as well. Since this is still many people, I keep it short but impactful.
Remembering this many people, this quickly, would be extremely difficult for non-cultivator. But I have the scan to help with this. Im able to use it as a backup inquiry machine, that has hints on what to look for in the question.
Thank God for the scan.
Though, with my increased abilities, its honestly just a backup. My memory has become incomparably sharp, in contrast to my Earth selfs fuzzy memory.
I give a side note to each person, letting them know to keep me updated, if they need anything in the future and that Ill let them know what I require from them later on.
Theres 400 people who are now relying on me to support them.
This is an unprecedented amount for a person who doesnt have a very major group backing. In fact, no other group has come into an application with this many people. Even if the vast majority becomes sect servants, which is likely the case, it would be a powerful force. However, many of the people who could get a group of this size wouldnt care about anyone who would become a sect servant, thus never reaching these numbers.
Moving back to the group, many seem concerned about how much benefits I could spread between each of them.
I assuage their fears with some tips from a combination of my scan, personal experience, and body cultivation knowledge from the Nascent Soul evil guy.
Before they take the cup of the concoction, I have all the personal group stand in rows like an instructor for a yoga class.
I then teach them a little about how to breathe.
Specifically, I teach them part of a breathing technique which my body naturally adapted to as the most efficient and best way to grow.
If they live long enough, this technique should naturally open up their meridians and promote all movement related activities.
However, I dont teach them all of it. I only go with only a tiny part, to show them immediate benefits and specifically a technique to help them when theyre running to go farther.
Regarding my team that is already left with the hero group, already showed them this last night during one of my breaks. Of course, they have a slightly deeper version taught to them.
Body cultivation techniques are one of the sweet spots that technically any genius could come up with. As an example, myself. You can figure out through practice what works best for your body.
For those that are especially astute, you might figure out the universal benefits that could apply to someone else and communicate it to them.
Any expert that looks to check my work can look at myself as the template and see that Ive been doing this for a very long time.
To be specific, my body will look like its been doing it for a very long time.
While some of these types of techniques are secret, I used the Nascent Soul experts knowledge and my scan as a cross-examination of whether this fell into that category.
It doesnt.
Almost in response to my thoughts, I can see the cultivation expert that was watching before using a very low level spiritual sense on my body. It looks like they only confirmed how Im breathing and the parts of what Im teaching to others. They can also see that Im using it myself and have been for my whole life.
Normally, an invasive scan would be taboo, but for circumstances like this, they would be well within their rights to investigate to this point.
I mean, I am teaching around 400 people a breathing technique that may or may not be good for them. If they didnt check into this, it would be negligent.
I can feel a slight impression of being shocked before it turns off. Theyve shifted away to do something.
That probably isnt good, so I probably need to wrap this up.
I quickly work through the group and correct everyones forms and actions, so they do it correctly. Almost immediately, their breathing comes easier and some feel twice as invigorated.
While that may sound exaggerated, the more oxygen you get to your brain and body, the better it operates. Breathing techniques are excellent at optimizing that process. Even for normal people.
As I didnt really chase anyone off, everyone in the Coalition group is also listening and sometimes trying to replicate what Im teaching. Huang Kaida once again seems surprised by the instant effects, and I can feel his burning gaze on my back. I try to ignore this.
Because of my scan showing me the best way to convey this individually to each person, this whole process only takes an hour and a half in total.
Once everyone in the personal group understands how to do this on an operational level, I let them drink the concoction and take off.
With this many people moving at once, it reminds me of the marathons on Earth. A different atmosphere erupts, as everyone is full of energy, even the normally weak people.
This forms a competitive, but cooperative, spirit between many people here, including Kaida. Everyone is pushing each other forward.
What is unfortunate is that some people who took neither choice fell behind. Some even collapsed from the new pace being set by the different groups.
Thats where I came in.
Like the sweep bus that has the minimum speed needed to pass in a marathon, I went the minimum speed to make it to the four-day time limit.
Anyone that fell back to my position, either through exhaustion or a slow pace, I talked to and re-offered them a chance to join either group again. I also let them know I was going at the speed necessary to make this the four-day time limit.
In most of these situations, they accepted the concoction.
For those that didnt out of concern for being beholden to someone, I still gave it to them, but told them to keep it quiet.
Anyone who rejected both the concoction and the offer, I left alone and wished them luck.
In this way, I progressed up the stairs and collected many of the originally glowing people who would be useful and trustworthy to have in my group.
I noticed some people who could make it up without the concoction had bottled it for later study. I dont worry about this, as it is something that would be difficult to reproduce for a non-cultivator, but is a plausible variation for an alchemical genius to come up with.
Funny enough, the concoction works so well that even the weakest people only lose steam about 60% of the way through the 160km journey.
It still leaves them with a little energy and somewhat nourishes their muscles, so they dont have an overexerted body at the end.
It takes me into the night to reach their final position, as everyone seems to have once again camped together. A strange action for the second night.
Once again, the hero group has created another setup with the ingredients there.
The only difference is that there is no fort to separate peoples wandering eyes and hands.
The only good thing is that it isnt needed as everyone wants the result, not the ingredients. Many want to see the process, though.
They wait impatiently for their next hit, as I travel up the stairs to the area.
I do hear loud voices yelling as I approach.
What could be happening now?
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