Chapter 575: Learning

I have no idea what's going on, but someone actually crawled into the coffin to study—originally they were supposed to get out before the coffin made strange noises at night, but when they came out they tripped, fell back in hard, and the big fellow didn't have time to lift them out.

If this person falls that hard, they're dead dead, and the two who went up couldn't handle it, and the gurgling sound began to appear. "There's no other way, we have to move the live‑person‑into‑coffin test to this moment, quickly attach the body‑monitoring patch!"

It can only be done this way; although that person isn't a candidate for future test projects, for now they have to fill in—of course the men are ready, the medical equipment is ready, and if something goes wrong everyone will go up to rescue, so the relic left by that peerless demon‑slaying general shouldn't be a vital target.

The gurgling sound immediately went off‑key; the coffin lid that had been set aside suddenly flew up out of nowhere, slammed shut with a bang, then emitted a tiger‑like roar. "Bad! Lao Ma is in trouble!" more than one person shouted, and the men rushed to pry open the lid and pull the person out.

"Don't move! Stop the damn shouting! Lao Ma isn't dead; all his body indicators are normal, just a faster heartbeat and slightly high blood pressure!" the boss watching the monitor barked. This time the coffin only roared like a tiger for less than ten minutes before stopping, and, just like during the day, there were no abnormalities.

The coffin lid was opened, and the doctor hurried forward to examine Lao Ma. "All normal, lift him out!" Although Lao Ma's eyes were closed, he looked fairly normal, but why was he twitching? When they pulled him out, the big fellow thought Lao Ma looked off. "Doctor Wang, this is what you call all normal? I feel like Lao Ma's twitching means he's about to die."

"All indicators being normal means it's normal; if he's twitching, just ask him why he's twitching." Old Wang the doctor said irritably. Everyone immediately gathered around Lao Ma, and the guy started shouting, "Southern! Southern Dipper!" then fell silent and fell asleep.

"What's up with Lao Ma? Slap him and see if he wakes! Old Wang, should we send him to a hospital?" people chattered, but the infirmary was right next door; after stuffing him in and checking, they found that aside from being in a deep sleep, Lao Ma was otherwise normal.

After eight hours, to everyone's anticipation, Lao Ma woke up—full of vigor, his face flushed. "Almost eight hours of deep sleep!" everyone envied—few present suffered insomnia or light sleep; it seemed Lao Ma's dark‑sweet sleep was what they most coveted.

Now that he's awake, they should ask what happened—what occurred inside the coffin? Why did you shout Southern Dipper? Lao Ma had no idea; he could only say that while in the coffin he heard the words "Southern Dipper" and felt a force pressing on his breathing, forcing him to breathe to a certain rhythm…

This is Bai Lang's fist theory, also the Southern Dipper Breathing Method derived by Bai Lang, and it also contains a portion of the baboon‑colored ripple swift‑run breathing technique that his unscrupulous military advisor, though never explicitly, actually passed down through manuals like the Southern Dipper Sacred Fist. Bai Lang had been in this coffin for months pretending to be dead; when the lid was lifted, the lingering aura of his peerless divine skill remained, so whether it was the Long Spear or the coffin itself, they were already "spiritual".

Divine and spiritual—at Bai Lang's level of a great master whose inner realm radiates outward, he's not far from a terrestrial immortal, and the next step would be a celestial Buddha. It's not surprising that his lingering aura can persist for a thousand years, and that gathered Qi remains spiritual without dissipating—anyway it's also Bai Lang's personal weapon, and the seal on it will never fade.

But the coffin also needs to be matched; a lone coffin is like Lao Ma—pressing on the breath without teaching anything, even the Southern Dipper Sacred Fist only yields the words "Southern Dipper", though a night of good sleep is real. Afterwards several more tests were conducted, not only the coffin but also the coffin‑chamber were tried; after the subjects reported being pressed in their breathing and hearing a string of unwritten words, all that followed was a good sleep—remarkably effective for treating insomnia.

Finally someone suggested maybe the three‑piece set should be combined; perhaps that would complete it? Everyone agreed it made sense and immediately chose a robust man—indeed, the tests had shown that the healthier the participant, the clearer the things they could hear, and of course they slept better, waking up full of vigor.

The result was a three‑in‑one coffin chamber; a burly man crawled in and sealed it—this thing also tests the mind, since the sensation easily triggers claustrophobia, similar to being buried alive, and you can't bring a phone in to play. This time the effect was indeed good, and everyone could accept this odd sight; after all, it's just the legacy of a peerless demon‑slaying general passed down through generations…

Ghosts were already present, so this was naturally acceptable. After the man emerged there was no drowsiness, but unfortunately he still only heard the words "Southern Dipper", though the breathing method was complete—apparently complete, because now there is not only inhalation pressure but also an exhalation rhythm that wasn't there before. Effect? It seems the effect, aside from increased vigor, no dizziness, clear vision, and a major improvement in his cervical spondylosis, showed little else.

After all, it's still early; the concentration isn't enough yet.

Fortunately, someone devised a crooked method using the Long Spear—a Powered Exoskeleton. With modern tech, a mere 37‑kilogram main weapon is trivial. 137 kilograms might be unmanageable, but 37 kilograms? The Powered Exoskeleton is no joke. The problem lies in the exoskeleton's response speed, because foot‑combat with this Long Spear involves many technical moves, and nowadays few people even use a foot‑combat Long Spear.

This style of martial skill has been lost for years; even back in the Great Meng era, foot‑combat with the Long Spear was almost extinct, and actually even earlier, during the Great Song era, few used it on the battlefield—cavalry still did, but infantry hardly did. Yet this is precisely a weapon for foot‑combat generals, making it an especially rare art.

We can only back‑track from the great spear, since historical military texts do note some characteristics, and foreign counterparts exist, so we can draw knowledge from overseas research; after all, the weapon's use is just stabbing and slashing, and computer analysis could produce a full modern fighting system.

The exoskeleton spear‑spear method is decent, very fitting for the era, but the issue is it can only unleash the Long Spear's own power, without any user bonuses......