3
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Golden Finger was a mutation of The Ant Forest, and Lin Yao did not have to worry about someone manipulating it behind the scenes. However, his greatest and foremost problem was his inability to activate it.
“The deserts… All the deserts in this world have already become designated restricted areas, and I can’t get near them given my current ability.”
A bitter feeling welled in Lin Yao’s heart. Knock, knock, knock. Just as he was feeling upset, someone knocked on the door. It was Lin Yao’s younger brother in this world, who was bringing him food.
“Mom and dad are still angry. Don’t run out again. It’s really dangerous outside the city.”
“I know. That was just an accident. I won’t go out in the future. Don’t follow me and leave the city either.”
After responding, Lin Yao took the food and started eating quickly. The food tasted fairly good. There was a lot of meat—a big pot of it.
There was not a lot of meat because his family in this world had saved all the resources for him, neither were they very rich.
This was the norm for ordinary people in this world. Unlike other worlds, which had been facing food shortages and mankind territory reduction after the Spirit Energy Revival, this world did not face any food shortage despite the territory reduction.
This was mainly because, both plants and animals grew at a fast and amazing speed after getting spirit energy.
It was no longer a fallacy that a sow would fight with an elephant, carrots could not be pulled from the ground, and one could yield 30,000 kilograms per mu. Lin Yao had also heard about a kind of tree that could grow something like bread. More importantly, this kind of tree bore fruits every month. Therefore, there was never a shortage of food and there was always enough meat. Instead, humans worried about the threat of monsters and some terrifying presence.
After consuming a large plate of meat and washing the cutlery, Lin Yao rested in his bedroom. Afterward, he settled into a stance and began practicing boxing—13th Military Boxing, which was prevalent throughout the entire country.
The first posture was the horse stance. Following that, Lin Yao’s breathing slowly changed and he breathed in a special way. During the nine short breaths and one long breath, Lin Yao could sense his body warming up gradually after inhaling. Simultaneously, along with his coordinated breathing, the intestines in his abdomen churned rapidly, digesting food and supplying his body with energy.
While he was maintaining the horse stance, Lin Yao’s breathing lasted for three full minutes. Afterward, Lin Yao suddenly punched the air with his fist, kicked, and bent over, displaying a series of movements.
As he performed all this, his breathing did not become the slightest bit chaotic. He still maintained the rhythm of nine short breaths and one long breath.
Phew. Phew. Phew.
Lin Yao’s room was not big, and the 13th Military Boxing did not require a lot of space either. Lin Yao was only unhappy that the moves were too strenuous for a human. He also needed to employ a unique set of breathing techniques and coordinate his breathing with the forceful body movements. After performing a series of movements, Lin Yao was already panting.
He had been practicing martial arts for 10 years, ever since he was a child. Although he was still unable to absorb the spirit energy directly and enter the martial arts phase, his physique had already surpassed that of the top athletes and boxing champions in the world he had previously come from. However, given his current physique, he felt tired after just 10 minutes of strenuous activity. This went to show how unusual military boxing was.
As he coordinated the breathing technique of nine short breaths and one long breath, he practiced military boxing, which required 15 minutes for an entire set of movements, thrice.
Lin Yao perspired all over from the strenuous movements of the martial arts training. His body was also flushed due to the adrenaline rush.
During the training, his stomach and intestines were constantly churning and digesting the swallowed food rapidly, turning the food into heat currents that flowed through Lin Yao’s body and nourishing it.
Although he was exhausted after doing this thrice, he felt his body gradually becoming stronger. This made Lin Yao forget his fatigue.
He washed up after practicing martial arts. He was tired out and could not perform any more vigorous physical activity. He thus took out the books that he wanted to study and began reading in the room.
‘I need to have a back-up plan. If the sapling in my mind cannot be activated and I don’t have enough financial resources and talent to practice martial arts, I will need to rely on clerical work to elevate my social standing.’
The Spirit Energy Revival in that world mainly revolved around martial artists. Nevertheless, this was the beginning of the recovery of the 21st world, and people would not feel any repulsion toward the educated and knowledgeable. Therefore, in terms of treatment and status, some of the great scientists were not inferior to expert martial artists. As a result, Lin Yao did not give up on learning.
He studied until late at night. When he felt that he had learned enough, Lin Yao put down his books and performed another round of military boxing before going to bed.
‘I can’t stay up late. I have to get up early tomorrow morning to exercise.’
Martial arts training was not easy, and there was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Meditation alone could not improve one’s physique and internal strength. Training during the coldest and hottest parts of the year was a must for martial artists who wanted to improve their strength.
Although the military boxing passed down by ancient China could be completed in only 15 minutes, this set of boxing moves involved a large number of movements and coordinated breathing. Every move would consume a huge amount of physical strength. He had already done this thrice earlier. Although he had rested for several hours while studying, he was still drained of energy. Therefore, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
This was Lin Yao’s daily routine in this world.
The next day, at five o’clock in the morning, Lin Yao’s eyes opened before the alarm clock went off.
Despite feeling drowsy, he quickly got dressed and washed up. By the time he had done all this, his younger brother, Lin Ye, and his younger sister, Lin Xiaodie, were both up.
“Uh… Good morning, Elder Brother.”
The little girl, whose hair was in a side ponytail, looked sleepy but endured her sleepiness and followed Lin Yao.
“Hmm, good morning, everyone. Let’s go.”
Lin Yao took the lead and stepped out of the door. Lin Ye and Lin Xiaodie followed him closely. The trio then went for a morning jog.
This was the daily life of the three siblings of the Lin Family, as well as that of most people in this world.
After leaving the house and walking for a while, Lin Yao discovered a large group of morning joggers. It was not just a group of a dozen or hundred sports enthusiasts, but a huge army of people.
When he glanced over, Lin Yao could see no end to them in sight. The entire road was filled with morning joggers. It was estimated that at least tens of thousands of people had gathered, and all of them lived nearby.
Be it young or old, everyone went out for a morning jog.
The scene of 100,000 people jogging together might seem exaggerated, but it was normal when one thought about it.
Even though the Blue Planet of the 21st world did not have spirit energy, many people exercised to strengthen their bodies.
Due to the presence of spirit energy in this world, exercising could really extend one’s lifespan.
Who wouldn’t want to have a long life, especially if they were healthy? The longer one lived, the better.
Moreover, a higher frequency of exercising would strengthen the body and ensure a higher probability of survival in a time of crisis. Therefore, many people exercised daily. Wrong. It would only be right to say that exercising was akin to eating and drinking in this world: It was a must for everyone.
Older people wanted to be physically healthy and active for a longer period of time. Children also had to lay the foundation for martial arts, and middle-aged people exercised even more. Many jobs, especially manual jobs, required strong bodies. Naturally, countless people exercised.
Because of the massive crowd, even soldiers were following them to protect the joggers during their morning run.
Of course, the soldiers were also training at the same time.
During the morning run, Lin Yao discovered that some of the soldiers were carrying various loads.
‘Martial arts… The foundation of this world is martial arts. Even for a clerical job, a certain degree of martial arts foundation is necessary. At the very least, the physique of a martial artist will come in useful when working overtime. I’ll be able to work for three days and three nights without rest.’ He cried internally at this thought.