The gentle rustling of leaves filled the air, mingling with the distant trickle of a river and the crag of a bcksmith’s fe at the far end of the vilge. Feiyin sat cross-legged on the wooden training ptform behind his home, his breaths steady, his hands resting on his p.The warmth of the afternoon sun kissed his skin, and he exhaled slowly, trying to feel everything around him—the way the wind moved through the trees, the way the earth remaieady beh him, the way the water flowed unceasingly in the distance.He had always been able to perceive the osciltions of the world, but now, with the newfound knowledge from his father’s lesson, he had a different goal.‘Dad had said that breathing teiques guided internal strength into the ans’. But what if he could do more than just guide it?What if he could perfectly replicate the essence of the elements through his own internal strength?His fiapped absentmindedly against his knee in a slow, steady rhythm. Music was the purest form of osciltion—something he had always known instinctively.Eaote carried its own resos own vibration that could influehe body, the mind, and the soul.And now, he could feel it. The breathing teiques he had been practig each had their own frequency.They weren’t just teiques. They were melodies.Feiyin’s eyes flickered with excitement as he sat up straighter, his focus sharpenih… Wood… Metal… Water… Fire.He began to hum softly, letting his mind wahrough each teique, matg eae with a musiote in his mih Breathing—deep, slow, and grounding. Like the low, steady hum of a deep drum, resonating with unwavering stability.Wood Breathing—flexible, ever-moving. Like the long, flowing note of a flute, stretg and adapting as it pyed.Metal Breathing—sharp, cutting, strong. A crisp, clear chime, precise and decisive.Water Breathing—fluid, adaptive, eternal. The smooth, rolling notes of a string instrument, flowing seamlessly.Fire Breathing—wild, untamed, yet trolled. The passionate, fierce strike of a zither string, full of iy and power.He opened his eyes, excitement c through him.If these breathing teiques already carried the essence of the elements, then internal strength could follow the same principle.His father had told him that most cultivators only saw breathing teiques as a means of strengthening their bodies. But Feiyin had always seen beyond what was in front of him.If each element had a musical frequency, then perhaps he could learn to replicate it using his own internal strength.He straightened his back, his curiosity alight with a new purpose.Slowly, Feiyin ihrough his nose, drawing his internal strength toward his spleen—the way he had done so many times before with the Tree Breathing Teique. He focused on the vibration it produced, that faint hum that stretched and swayed, simir to the sound of wood bending in the wiried to match it—to let his internal strength reso the exact same frequency.For a moment, it felt like it was w. His body hummed in response, his internal strength shifting slightly.Then—suddeance.His internal strength wavered, uo fully stabilize. A sharp jolt spread through his stomach, and he immediately stopped, breathing deeply to calm the imbahat was harder than I expected.’He had mao get close, but not quite there. His trol over internal strength was still too crude—too unrefio match the precise osciltions of the elements.His father had always told him that cultivation was about banot f things. A, as Feiyin sat there, he couldn't help but feel the gap between what he could perceive and what he could achieve.But he wasn’t disced.He had always learned best through observation. If he wao truly uand the elements, he o study them—not just in theory, but in their natural state.

  The m, after his usual training, Feiyin walked into the forest he vilge. The air was refreshing against his skin, aook slow, deep breaths, allowing himself to feel everything around him.He stopped beside a massive oak tree, pg his palm gently against its rough bark.The osciltions were ge firm, like a slow, rhythmic beat that pulsed with life. Wood was ever-growing, ever-adapting—it swayed with the wind but never broke.He tried again, pulling his internal strength toward his liver, which was ected to the Wood Element.This time, he didn’t force it. He listened.‘Breathe ihe flow… Breathe out… Adjust.’His internal strength shifted more smoothly this time, but still cked the full depth of resoill, it rogress.

  His stop was the river.He crouched by the water’s edge, watg how it moved—how it opped, stantly shifting, yet never chaotic.Water was gentle, yet unyielding. It could erode mountains over time but could also slip through fingers like mist.He dipped his hand into the cool stream, letting the sensation wash over him.Again, he focused on his internal strength, guiding it toward his kidneys, where Water energy was most trated.He tried to match it, to let his internal strength flow like the river itself.This time, it almost worked—but then it became too fluid, slipping beyond his trol, dispersing too easily.Frustration flickered in his chest, but he took another breath.‘This will take time.’

  , he waoward a rge boulder, pg his palm against its cool, firm surface.Earth. Unmoving, stable, unshakable.He tapped the stone lightly, listening to the deep, low reverberation that spread through it.He closed his eyes, letting his internal strength sink down to his spleen, where Earth energy gathered.This one was the easiest to match—he had traiability and resiliehe lohe deep hum of his internal strength was closer this time, almost identical.But not perfect.Still, he was learning.

  For the few days, Feiyied the process, fire in the vilge fe, metal tools in a bcksmith’s shop, and listening to the wind as it carried the echoes of nature.Each attempt brought him closer to the perfect resonance, but none were fwless.A, he wasn’t disced.Every failure taught him something new, refined his senses further, helped him uand his own limits and how to surpass them.He khat perfect trol would take time.But he also khat he had taken the first step toward something greater.Not just uanding the elements.Being oh them.