Since Zhao Luo knew that he would be the sole disciple here for the moment so he decided to go all out with his questions.
"Uncle Wang, what will be the lecture about?"
Zhao Luo looked at Xin Wang who was reminiscing the long-gone past of the Xin Sect.
"You will know that soon. But first, take off your robe."
Xin Wang looked serious as he instructed Zhao Luo while using a carefree tone.
Zhao Luo gulped as he heard Xin Wang's words which were obviously like an order to him since he had to do it.
'I shouldn't have asked that question.'
Zhao Luo regretted his decision of going all out with his questioning.
Zhao Luo slowly loosened the upper half of his robe before dropping it down towards his waist.
Both Xin Wang and Zhao Luo were sitting while facing each other.
As an instructor, Xin Wang was on the platform while Zhao Luo was on the ground.
Xin Wang slowly loosened his golden robe too before taking it down from the upper half of his body.
Xin Wang looked buffed even when he had his robe covered his body but looking at Zhao Luo, Xin Wang couldn't help but marvel at Zhao Luo's muscles that seemed like they were carved separately by master craftsmen.
'Is it even possible to shred your body that much?'
Xin Wang thought while staring at Zhao Luo's upper body.
Zhao Luo felt a little uncomfortable as Xin Wang stared at his chest and his abs which were the result of the first tasks his apparitions had done before he had assimilated them into his body.
"Thank god, there are no female disciples in this lecture hall."
Zhao Luo mumbled as he feared that the female disciples won't be able to take the envious stare of Xin Wang without fainting.
"Ahem."
Zhao Luo made a sound while Xin Wang looked up at him right at that moment.
"You already know the color of your core but you have yet to feel it."
Xin Wang told Zhao Luo while touching his palm on the lower side of his abdomen.
Zhao Luo focused and let go of his irrelevant thoughts regarding Xin Wang checking out his sharp body features.
"This is where the core of your body is. Once you can feel it, you will be able to proceed further."
Xin Wang looked down and slowly as if they were in a dream, a small projection of a black box floated in front of Xin Wang.
'Wow.'
Zhao Luo was in awe as he looked at the box which had a black outline but the inner contents of the box were clearly visible to him.
"Swooosh, Fwoosh."
Waves after waves of something that looked like water crashed into the walls of the box with black corners and the scene was mesmerizing that Zhao Luo couldn't take his eyes off it. Even the sound was so loud that Zhao Luo felt like that the little box which floated in front of Xin Wang's abdomen contained a river inside it.
"What is this?"
Zhao Luo questioned unconsciously.
"This is my core. That's my internal energy. Well not all, since this is just a very small portion of my internal energy."
Xin Wang told Zhao Luo.
Zhao Luo looked at Xin Wang with widened eyes.
The reason behind his shock was simply because the words of Xin Wang were something that the current Zhao Luo couldn't believe.
'How could just a small portion of his energy make such a loud sound of waves?'
This was the second time Zhao Luo realized the difference between him and the being who was sitting in front of him, The Sect Leader.
Soon, the projection of the box was slowly pulled back inside Xin Wang's abdomen and it disappeared from Zhao Luo's sight.
"You will get to see it again soon, once you can feel your core."
Xin Wang smile at Zhao Luo who looked a little disappointed over the disappearance of his core.
'Nod.'
Zhao Luo nodded his head as he looked down and touched his abdomen but what Xin Wang had brought out, Zhao Luo couldn't;t even feel it.
'Where is my core?'
Zhao Luo wondered and then Xin Wang's voice got his attention.
"If it was that easy to feel the core, then wouldn't anyone become an internal energy cultivator?"
Xin Wang laughed as he found the innocent look on Zhao Luo's face too much for someone who had won first place among all the disciples of the outer hall.
"Then what should I do?"
Zhao Luo questioned with a helpless look while his palm was still on his abdomen.
"Just breathe."
Xin Wang told Zhao Luo with a smile as he looked around before taking a deep breath inside of him and holding it for a while with his eyes closed.
Zhao Luo stared at Xin Wang for a moment while thinking that he may have heard him wrong.
'Did he say "breathe" now?'
Zhao Luo's initial thought slowly changed as a minute passed and Xin Wang still had his eyes closed and he was still holding his breath.
Five minutes later, Xin Wang was still sitting like a statue.
'Did he fall asleep?'
Zhao Luo wondered as there was not even a slight change in his expression nor any movements in his body.
Ten minutes later.
Zhao Luo looked confused as the man in front of him looked like a dead body that was glued on the platform.
Zhao Luo stayed calm as he waited for a response from Xin Wang.
"I should just breathe too."
Zhao Luo realized that the last words of Xin Wang must be an instruction along with it being a part of this lecture.
'Huff.'
Zhao Luo inhaled until he couldn't anymore.
He copied the method of Xin Wang and Zhao Luo could feel the pressure building up inside his body.
Zhao Luo closed his eyes and kept his breath inside his body.
'How long will I be able to hold it in?'
Zhao Luo wondered while in one part of his mind, he was focused on keeping track of the passing time.
Two minutes passed and Zhao Luo felt uncomfortable while withholding the air inside his body.
"Not yet."
Zhao Luo thought to himself as he continued and slowly four more minutes passed.
Time had slowed down for him as the feeling of pressure was hurting him.
For the first time in life, Zhao Luo felt how a balloon would have felt when it was close to bursting when more air is blown in it while it's already at its limit.
"I can still hold on."
Zhao Luo tested his limit while keeping the air inside him.
His face was redder than a baboon's butt while his hands were tightly clenched into a fist.
After a total of eight minutes and twenty-three seconds, he let go of his breath.
"Fhooo."
Zhao Luo opened his eyes while breathing out heavily while veins could be seen around his neck.
"That was my limit."
Zhao Luo mumbled before looking at Xin Wang who still had his eyes closed.
Because of the sound that Zhao Luo had made while releasing his breath, Xin Wang was disturbed and he opened his eyes and shook his head before slowly releasing it.
"Ah, did you try it too?"
Xin Wang asked as though Zhao Luo wasn't supposed to do it.
"I did."
Zhao Luo replied proudly like a model student who was following the instruction of his teacher without being told to.
"It's okay. But even though you just have to breathe, there is something that you have to do too."
Xin Wang told him while shaking his head once again since he was at fault here for not telling Zhao Luo about it earlier.
'What?'
Zhao Luo's face darkened.
'Then what was the reason behind my suffering?'
Zhao Luo wondered with disappointment filling his heart.
Even though his face looked the back of a baboon for a moment, it still had no worth.
"But Uncle, you didn't do anything else either."
Zhao Luo who was thinking about how he had wasted his time remembered that Xin Wang had done nothing else except sit there while holding his breath and keeping his eyes closed.
"It's actually something that you have to do here."
Xin Wang looked serious as he pointed his finger towards his forehead and soon placed it between his glabella.
"Here?"
Zhao Luo also pointed at his glabella.
"You need to focus on finding something. The air you hold inside of you will help you by pressuring it to surface to at least such a level that you can feel it in your abdomen."
Xin Wang explained to Zhao Luo while touching his abdomen with the other hand.
The thing Xin Wang was talking about was nothing other than the black core that Zhao Luo had but couldn't feel it.
"Now try again."
Xin Wang said as he looked at Zhao Luo with great expectations that he had for Zhao Luo.
'Tsk. So, if I wasn't counting last time and instead had this mindset, I could've already discovered my core.'
Zhao Luo wanted to beat himself since before he was only testing about how long he could hold his breath for.
Without waiting any further, Zhao Luo took a deep breath.
'So that's why he had closed his eyes.'
Zhao Luo realized that if he would keep his open then he wouldn't be able to focus on keeping himself from exhaling while finding the core.
While such realization, Zhao Luo closed his eyes and his mouth.
His whole mind was focused on finding his core.
'How would I even know?'
Zhao Luo wondered as the pressure inside him kept on increasing as the time passed slowly.
Obviously, he had such thoughts since he would be doing something that he had never done before. It would be a new experience for him unlike the physical training that he had done no matter how complex it was, Zhao Luo was able to do it since he just had to train a part of his body or use it to train his technique.
But now, he had the core and yet didn't know where it was or how it felt like to know that it was 'there'.
While Zhao Luo waited patiently while doing what Xin Wang had called 'finding' the core, Xin Wang start at Zhao Luo.
'It will take time.'
Xin Wang knew how hard this ordeal was.
"Was my time thirteen days?"
He thought back to his time when he was probably even younger than Zhao Luo.
"But even after thirteen days, I was only able to feel my core faintly."
Xin Wang scoffed at himself since he wasn't able to pinpoint his core even in thirteen days.
Five minutes had passed since Zhao Luo had closed his eyes while following Xin Wang's instruction.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and his eyes trembled.
'He must have failed.'
Xin Wang looked at Zhao Luo's trembling eyes and hurriedly encouraged Zhao Luo.
"It's okay. You will be able to feel it in a few days."
Xin Wang told Zaho Luo with a smile on his face as he tried not to pressure Zhao Luo with the task of finding the core.
"NO!"
Zhao Luo hurriedly rejected Xin Wang's words.
'Is he that eager to find his core?'
Xin Wang didn't mind Zhao Luo being so desperate but,
"You should listen to me. Being over greedy for something can cause harm."
Xin Wang said profound words as he told Zhao Luo calmly.
"Uncle Wang, it's not like that. I actually-"
"You feel lost, right? I was like that too. But, don't worry."
Xin Wang shook his hand while encouraging Zhao Luo once again without letting him complete his word.
"I actually felt something."
"What?"
Xin Wang was shocked.
'But he only held his breath for five minutes and this was his first try.'
Xin Wang stared at Zhao Luo as though he was looking at a monster.
