Energy Cultivation Manual

Qin Baobao's flower-like face was gloomy. When she walked up to Qin Ze, she pouted, looking as if she were about to cry.

Qin Ze rolled his eyes. "Stop pretending. You passed the interview, didn't you?"

Qin Baobao immediately changed her expression. "How did you know?"

"We've known each other since we were running around in split-crotch pants. I know you better than the worms in your stomach," Qin Ze said disdainfully.

In the conference room, Director Zhang finished discussing matters with the others and said loudly, "This Qin Baobao is quite good. The company needs talent like her. I propose giving her this D-Rank Contract. What do you all think?"

The interviewers all said they had no objections.

"Wait!" Mei Changhong said loudly.

Director Zhang frowned. "Manager Mei, go ahead."

Mei Changhong did not answer. She merely lowered her head and fiddled with her phone, her fingers flying.

She couldn't find the song title. Maybe the title was fake. She needed to search the lyrics.

Nothing?

Impossible!

Mei Changhong had no choice but to say, "That song just now sounded familiar to me. Maybe it was a remake of another song. How could someone who never studied music write and compose songs? Aren't you curious?"

"Some geniuses are exceptionally gifted in certain areas. Not studying music doesn't mean she can't write good songs," Director Zhang said. "It sounded familiar? Are any of you familiar with it? Why haven't I heard that melody before?"

The others shook their heads, saying they had never heard it.

Mei Changhong was unwilling to accept it, but Director Zhang waved his hand and said calmly, "Discovering talent for the company is the duty of our Personnel Department. If she were merely a pretty face, I could do you a favor and give the contract to your niece. But she obviously has great potential. Everyone here has seen that. The workplace has always been about the capable rising and the incapable falling. Put your niece's matter aside for now."

In the hallway, Qin Ze received a notification. "Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission. Reward: 300 points!"

It worked!

He was delighted. Just as he was about to speak, the conference room door opened and the assistant stepped out. "Qin Baobao, come in for a moment!"

What happened afterward was exactly as Qin Ze expected. Qin Baobao successfully signed the contract, then went through the onboarding procedures, following the female assistant around to complete the process. Qin Ze sent her a message saying he was heading downstairs for some fresh air.

Qin Ze had heard online that entertainment company contracts were full of traps and oppressive clauses, but he was not worried at all. Qin Baobao had graduated from a prestigious university, and her IQ was no lower than his. She had also spent a year gaining experience at a foreign company, so she knew all the tricks of the workplace.

He walked out of Xingyi Building and smoked a cigarette by the roadside amid the endless stream of traffic. Only then did he feel alive again, the exhaustion in his body easing slightly. His legs had been shaking when he entered the elevator.

Qin Ze opened the system interface. As expected, the Points Shop icon had lit up. He casually tapped it.

The interface changed, revealing a dazzling array of categories: entertainment, art, life, machinery, finance, languages, industry, literature, computers, fighting, sports...

"What is all this stuff?" Qin Ze was dumbfounded, feeling as though he had opened some kind of lifestyle app.

"The Host may use points to exchange for any item within," the system said. "Please check the details yourself."

Qin Ze entered the entertainment category, which was further divided into many sections: film and television, music, variety shows, crosstalk... There was a rich variety of content.

He then tapped "Music." The interface changed again, and a long list of songs appeared—Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Russian, and more. Every song was grayed out, with its point cost listed at the end. He found the song called "Invisible Wings." Exchange cost: 30 points!

The system's words suddenly echoed in Qin Ze's mind: "I can change your life, change your destiny..."

After today, the course of his life would change. His future would be completely different.

No, it would not be just his life.

Qin Ze was suddenly filled with soaring ambition. I'm a man who's going to change the world.

Half an hour later, Qin Baobao emerged from the building with joy written all over her face.

Qin Ze waved at her. Once she came close, she put on a stern little face. "What demon are you? Reveal your true form before this immortal maiden."

As she spoke, she lunged for Qin Ze's neck.

Qin Ze pressed a hand against her smooth forehead and shoved her away. "An immortal maiden? More like an old witch."

"Tell me already. Where did that song come from? Since when could you write songs? Why didn't I know?" Qin Baobao puffed out her cheeks.

"There's plenty you don't know," Qin Ze said with a grin. "Do I have to report everything to you? If I got a girlfriend, would I have to report that too? You're my sister, not my mom."

Qin Baobao immediately became alert. "You got a girlfriend? What vixen dared seduce my little brother?"

"Can't be bothered talking to you." Qin Ze pulled a cigarette from his pocket, put it between his lips, and headed for the parking lot.

Qin Baobao, in high heels and carrying her handbag, jogged after him.

Inside Little Red Horse, Qin Baobao started the car, beaming. "Big sister is happy today. I'll take you out for a feast."

Qin Ze was not interested. "Let's order takeout. I don't feel like going out to eat. I want to go home and rest."

His legs were still weak.

"So boring!" Qin Baobao wrinkled her nose, then her eyes turned as she shyly lowered her head. "Good little brother, you made a huge contribution today. When we get home, big sister will reward you with that..."

Qin Ze's body trembled. "You said it. No taking it back!"

Qin Baobao nodded bashfully. "Mm!"

Little Red Horse shot out of the parking space at top speed.

It was eleven in the morning. Traffic was not as heavy as during the morning rush hour, and after a little over forty minutes, the siblings returned home.

Qin Ze took Qin Baobao's hand and rushed into the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly. The elevator slowly rose and stopped on the sixth floor.

Qin Ze took out his key and opened the door. With the key in the lock, he first took a deep breath and looked at his charming, beautiful sister. "Sis, we're home."

Qin Baobao lowered her head. "Mm!"

"I'm so excited, so nervous. I feel like my heart is about to leap out of my chest," Qin Ze said.

"You little rascal!" Qin Baobao shot him a flirtatious glare.

"The last time we... seems like it was half a month ago." Qin Ze said excitedly, "I've held back for half a month. You finally agreed today."

"Hurry up and open the door," Qin Baobao urged.

Qin Ze twisted the key and pushed the door open.

A few minutes later, the room rang with rousing music and Qin Ze's loud shouts. "Sis, heal me! Heal me!"

"Come on, pay attention! Their Chui Shi hooked me, and you still went to ward the river..."

"What kind of support are you? Fight ADC with me! Destroy him..."

"It's over, it's over. They got a double kill. Our bot lane is doomed."

Qin Baobao said, "Shut up. I know how to play."

"Why are you jumping around? Get over here so I can heal you."

"Ah, I got caught in a trap! Save me!"

"Use your ultimate from the bushes, damn it. See? Their ADC flashed away."

"You're useless. I'm not playing with you next time. I just got to Silver, waah..."

At three thirty in the afternoon, after five straight losses, the siblings threw down their mice in unspoken agreement. Qin Ze stood by the desk while Qin Baobao stood on the bed, blaming and mocking each other. Qin Baobao could not match her brother's verbal firepower, so she grabbed a pillow and smashed it into his head. Qin Ze retaliated furiously, snatching up another pillow and striking back.

The pillow fight ended with Qin Baobao's unexpected victory. She chased Qin Ze around and beat him all the way from the room to the living room, then from the living room to the kitchen. In the end, Qin Ze fled back into his room and locked the door.

Qin Ze threw himself onto the bed, gasping for breath. His body felt limp and weak. The system had drained his energy that morning; otherwise, he would be the one sitting atop Qin Baobao and flaunting his might while his sister cried and begged for mercy.

A wave of drowsiness hit him, and he fell asleep. At seven o'clock that evening, Qin Baobao knocked on his door and called him out for dinner.

They had takeout for dinner, since Qin Baobao could not cook. After eating, he went back to his room to sleep.

At four in the morning, he woke up. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, yet strangely full of energy.

"System, I can't sleep."

"Host, I do not possess a hypnosis function."

"No, no, no. I want to learn that Energy Cultivation Manual. You screwed me over badly today. I don't want to try that again."

"I will formulate an exercise plan for the Host immediately. Please wait!"

A few seconds later, a system interface appeared before Qin Ze, displaying his cultivation schedule.

"1: Wake up at six every day and run for one hour.

2: Practice the Twelve-Section Brocade!"

"I've only heard of the Taoist School Eight-Section Brocade," Qin Ze said.

"The Twelve-Section Brocade is a method of Qi Cultivation compiled by the system. If you do not like the name, you may call it Tai Chi."

"Fine, the name isn't important. But what if I don't know how to do it?"

"Please pay 100 points. The system will automatically impart it into your brain."

So expensive!

Qin Ze grumbled inwardly, then chose to pay.

His mind shook with a boom, as if something had been forcibly crammed into it. Then he lost consciousness. Who knew how long passed before his thoughts gradually returned. Qin Ze opened his eyes and realized he had somehow learned the Twelve-Section Brocade.

"Damn, is this the Enlightenment Empowerment Technique?" Qin Ze was shocked. "What principle is this based on?"

"Humans record and store information through the brain..." The system rattled on at length.

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds impressive." Qin Ze still did not understand, but he did not dwell on it. He got dressed and quietly slipped out of his room. The living room was pitch-black, and Qin Baobao's door was closed. He put his key in his pocket, left the apartment, then used it to lock the door from outside.

It was four thirty in the morning. The residential complex was silent, streetlamps standing alone while the security guard in the lobby dozed with his head on the desk.

He zipped up his jacket, lowered his head, and ran out of the apartment building.

Turning left outside the complex, there was a park two kilometers away. The area where Qin Ze lived used to have many old houses and an elementary school. When he was young, the park had been lively. Elderly people exercised and strolled there at dawn and dusk, while elementary school students came to play after class. Now the park had been taken over by middle-aged women dancing in the square, morning and evening, twisting their plump bodies to energetic music like blooming fat peonies.