The Martial Arts training I did with Old Man Yupow was completely different from what I did with Kemoro.

The Art that Yupow taught me was called the Art of the Inner Breath.

A simple and unassuming Art, but one that would bring me a boundless harvest according to him.

He told me that his Art could be considered one of the many Arts that make up a subset of Martial Arts called Inner Martial Arts.

All Inner Martial Arts involve gaining the ability to access a Natural Energy we have within our bodies called Inner Energy.

He told me the Mysteries of Inner Energy were many, but that for the moment all I needed to know was that all Inner Energy originates at the breath.

All who breathe to stay alive, at the same time are producing Inner Energy that resides within their body, all life contains Inner Energy, and yet most people don’t even know they have it inside them.

His Art was his Method of taking one of the primary and most fundamental actions all Martial Artists and Practitioners learn to do properly, the act of breathing, to a whole new level.

In his opinion he thought his Art was something anybody who had a good amount of patience could Master with time, so he assured me to not worry on whether I thought my skill level or aptitude was good enough.

Kemoro had taught me the importance of proper breathing as one of his training methods, used to achieve the proper Martial Body.

But he never mentioned to me anything about Inner Energy or even about Inner Martial Arts.

But upon thinking about it seemed he often alluded to it by mentioning normal martial arts, and normal moves in his lessons.

Yupow made me adopt a prolonged slow way of breathing as the way I breathed 24/7.

At first it was difficult getting the hang of it, as I often ran out of breath, or would get anxious and would start breathing short fast breaths, but eventually I got the hang of it, and immediately noticed a difference in my mood and mental state, feeling more relaxed and at ease.

After mastering that he abruptly made me change breathing styles, and for several days had me breathe in a fast, short, and strong manner for two days straight.

The task was actually quite difficult and brought quite a bit of strain on my body, but in the end I made it past the 2 days.

After that he made me go back to the prolonged and slow way of breathing, except this time he told me to minimize the amount of breaths I took as much as possible.

Eventually I managed to achieve an extremely slow breath as my normal everyday breathing action, making me feel like there was absolutely no care in the world.

I felt alert and sound in so many ways.

Yupow finally told me the purpose of his training method, he wanted me to gain control of the different types of ways I could breathe, as well as to fully become aware of the breath that goes in and out my lungs and body, as much as possible.

I realized I had become more sensitive to the amount of air that would come in and out of my body, and how great it felt when I committed to the long extended breathing.

Yupow told me the Inner Energy that was inside of me, and circulating within my body, was called Physical Inner Energy, as it was the main byproduct of my breathing body, others called it Physical Chi or Common Inner Energy; he also mentioned some people called snobby Cultivators calling it Impure Energy.

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At the end of the day, he told me the better I was at breathing and controlling my breathing in coordination with my actions, the better I would be at controlling Inner Energy.

This was the basis of all Inner Energy training, and perhaps the most important thing to constantly practice no matter how many years I do it.

He also warned me that right now I wasn't at a level that it mattered, but that eventually I would find out that Physical Inner Energy was extremely volatile and dangerous, and that once that happened, that usually meant I had hit the peak amount of Inner Energy I was able to handle.

He said without knowing or having innate understanding of the secrets of Inner Energy; for most Martial Art Type Practitioners this was the end of the road on their journey in mastering Inner Energy.

They could hone their skills in mastering their Inner Energy to the highest Ability and Skill, but they could no longer handle an increase in the amount of Inner Energy power they could use.

Because of this, most of the other Experts in Potestera view Inner Energy wielders, called Practitioners, specifically Inner Fighters, as participants in a flawed Art that gave you a formidable power boost, but that had an unfortunately low power cap.

This was the reason not all Martial Artists took on the path of Inner Energy, because of its dangers, its flaws, and difficulty of learning.

He told me not to worry about this problem though, as his Art completely bypassed the issues and headaches that the Inner Martial Art Practitioners suffered.

He explained to me that by becoming aware of Inner Energy, all Martial Artists no matter how they used it, as long as it was used progressively, increased the amount of Inner Energy their body produced and could hold.

So Practitioners we’re constantly accumulating and increasing their Inner Energy whether they wanted to or not.

The problem arised that because of different factors, both biological, and physical, there was a peak to the amount of Inner Energy one could produce, as well as hold.

This was the source of the power cap everyone was hitting; it was a limit the mortal body had.

His Art also naturally allowed for an increase and accumulation of Inner Energy if one wanted to, but it's true essence was in allowing the constant motion, circulation, and release or exhaustion of Inner Energy from the body.

The bigger the stream of Inner Energy one could release at a given time the better.

As although one was handling large amounts of energy, one was constantly emptying his body of it as well, therefore never truly filling his body’s Inner Energy limit.

After getting a good grasp of detecting Inner Energy through my breath, and learning how to empty my body of it in a constant stream, I would pair this up with some of his Martial Techniques to improve my strength and constitution.

After learning so much about Inner Energy, and Inner Martial Arts from Yupow, I suddenly felt dum for ignoring and not buying the Inner Energy weapons I saw at the store.

I suddenly saw the Martial Warriors Way store in a new light.

It was more valuable than I thought.

And so that's how the rest of my days in the Citadel went by, training in the Art of the Inner Breath with Yupow.