Seeing the price of the product, Lin Tuo's slightly overheated mind instantly cooled down.
Although the Aether in his body had surpassed five hundred points for the first time, it was still nothing compared to that exorbitant price.
"Then should I wait a while longer? Once the Aether in the Sandbox recovers, I can absorb it again and scrape together a thousand points?"
Lin Tuo turned to look at the Sandbox continent, where light and shadow shifted.
The Cyan-White Qi had already begun to recover slowly, and he immediately started calculating.
Through his observations over this period, he had realized that stockpiling too much Aether in his body was not worthwhile.
First of all, although Aether could temper the body, the process was slow. Even practicing martial arts every day and honing his physique could only speed it up by a small margin.
In other words, tempering the body and evolving life were things that could not be rushed.
Besides, he had also discovered that using the Martial Ancestor Manifestation Fist consumed Aether to a certain extent.
For example, when he tried to gather Cyan-White Qi and condense illusory weapons before releasing them, it depleted the Aether within his body.
He had lost one point on that rooftop in the city center before, but in these peaceful times, there was simply no opportunity to spend it. He could not deliberately waste it, could he?
Under such circumstances, spending the absorbed points as soon as possible and investing them was the wise choice.
At present, there was only this one product in the Store. It seemed he had no other choice.
"No, I can release this Aether and increase the Aether concentration in a specific area!" A flash of insight suddenly crossed Lin Tuo's mind.
As a form of energy, Aether could be absorbed, so naturally it could also be released.
In fact, the Qi-Eating Method contained related techniques.
Normally, after absorbing it with such difficulty, there was no reason to spit it back out. But things were different now.
Lin Tuo happened to need this!
The cultivation method had already been distributed. Presumably, people in Yangcheng City would start trying to cultivate next. The problem was that, due to Lin Tuo's previous harvesting, the Aether concentration above Yang City still had not recovered.
It remained at a "meager" level.
In other words, the Aether in the Yang City region was dried up and depleted.
That was clearly unfavorable for people's cultivation.
Taking a step back, even if the ambient Aether in Yang City were normal, ordinary people's progress would still be extremely slow if they tried cultivating.
According to the information provided by the Evolution Sandbox, Lin Tuo knew that under normal circumstances, sitting in meditation and breathing in and out, absorbing Aether from heaven and earth through long periods of cultivation, was terribly inefficient.
Aside from the rare few blessed with extraordinary talent, most people could forget about any improvement unless they persisted for one or two months.
For most people, merely sensing the existence of "Aether" was already no small threshold.
Not to mention that Yang City's Aether was currently below normal levels to begin with.
All the more so.
Therefore, if he left things alone, most people would probably try once or twice out of curiosity, persist for a few days, see no effect whatsoever, and give up.
If that happened, Lin Tuo's plan to establish a pilot program and promote the evolution of all humanity would fall through.
"At the very least, during the early stages, I need to find a way to make people realize as quickly as possible that the Azure Spirit Breath Technique is real and effective."
Lin Tuo muttered to himself.
And the simplest, crudest way to achieve that was to forcibly raise the Aether concentration in the Yang City region!
"If I pour Aether into Yang City through the Sandbox, will there be any loss?"
Lin Tuo asked softly.
The next second, a stream of information automatically flooded into his mind.
Its general meaning was that reverse infusion would still result in a certain degree of loss, but the loss would be far smaller than harvesting.
Having received this answer, Lin Tuo's heart settled, and he felt more and more that this was a good idea.
"Feed these five hundred points back into Yang City, forcibly raise the local concentration, then rapidly catalyze things and let people recognize the value of the Breath Technique. That way, even if I stop catalyzing it later, it won't be much of a problem."
As for the other option—saving up a thousand points to purchase the observation range... Lin Tuo considered it and felt there was no need for it yet.
A thousand points could only be exchanged for ten thousand square kilometers.
That meant he could bring the urban district next to Yang City into the Sandbox.
But in his plan to "promote cultivation for all humanity," Lin Tuo would not harvest Aether outside the Sandbox for quite a long time to come.
Under those circumstances, simply expanding the observation range had little value.
"Mm, the only benefit is probably that after expanding it, I can teleport directly when I go have fun in the neighboring city, without having to take a car..."
At that thought, even he laughed.
Having made up his mind.
Lin Tuo closed the Store page and switched the Sandbox back to "Observation Mode."
Then, gazing at the modern city operating like some enormous machine, he reversed the Qi-Eating Method, puffed out his cheeks, and slowly exhaled strands of Azure White Qi toward the Sandbox.
Evening.
As the sun slowly sank westward and strands of warm light spread from the western horizon, more and more cars and pedestrians gradually appeared on Yang City's streets.
In the department of the company Lin Tuo had quit not long ago.
It was also time to get off work.
"Brother Li, heading out together?"
"No, I still have a bit left to finish. You guys go on home first."
"...All right, then. Have a good weekend."
"Have a good weekend."
After exchanging greetings, Li Tai let out a breath and watched his colleagues leave.
Once the office was empty, he slowly rose to his feet. After confirming once more that there was truly no one around, he returned to his workstation like a thief and opened an image saved in his computer bookmarks.
As the department manager, Li Tai had a fairly mild temperament.
The atmosphere in the company was relaxed as well, so he had never put on airs and got along well with his colleagues. Otherwise, the Company Group Chat would not have been so active.
It was just that after several years of high-intensity work, he had inevitably accumulated a whole body full of ailments.
His cervical vertebrae alone were somewhat misaligned, and he could usually only endure it with medicine.
That morning, a group of young people at the company had talked about what happened earlier and discussed trying cultivation. He had not joined in, but he had silently taken note and grown a little curious.
After all, the notion that practicing martial arts strengthened the body was deeply ingrained in people's hearts.
If that cultivation method really worked, perhaps practicing it would benefit his body too.
"I'll just give it a try. It's not like anything could go wrong..."
Muttering softly, Li Tai adjusted his glasses, then carefully read the image displayed on the computer:
"Azure Spirit Breath Technique"
"First step... adjust your sitting posture to..."
To make it easier for people to learn, Lin Tuo had written it as concisely as possible. The cultivation method itself was not complicated either, so Li Tai had memorized it after reading it twice.
He casually spread the cushion from his chair on the floor. Facing the window, Li Tai awkwardly assumed a meditative posture.
Then he closed his eyes and began visualizing his mind according to the Breath Technique, slowly adjusting the rhythm of his breathing.
"Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out..."
At first, he had difficulty adapting.
After all, adjusting the rhythm of human breathing was not easy, but gradually, he got used to it.
The sunset's radiance gradually dimmed.
The office was silent.
A breeze stirred the green plants, making them sway. Li Tai's breathing gradually fell into a certain rhythm, and his entire being sank into an indescribable state.
At the same time.
In a room within a residential complex somewhere in Yangcheng City.
Zhou Mo's best friend, the girl named Jiang Yishan, pulled open the bathroom door.
Wiping her hair with a towel as she walked into the bedroom, she picked up her phone and set her gaze on the cultivation method that was spreading like wildfire.
Try it?
With a thought, Jiang Yishan tied up her hair, sniffed, glanced over the contents a few times, then casually plopped herself down on the yoga mat on the floor.
Adjusting her breathing, she quickly succeeded in calming her mind.
Then, strands of Cyan-White Qi that ordinary people could not perceive slowly descended from the sky, like a long, unbroken silken thread pouring into her mouth and nose.
"Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out..."
The red sun sank in the west, and the sky gradually darkened. The entirety of Yang City shone with brilliant lights as night fell.
At first glance, it seemed no different from usual.
Yet in many corners of the city, and even in villages along its outskirts.
Some people avoided the eyes of the crowd, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began practicing the "Azure Spirit Breath Technique" without prior agreement.
Lishan Martial Arts School, study.
Lin Tuo quietly overlooked the city within the Sandbox. With the power of the "Evolution Sandbox," he could clearly see the drifting Aether.
At this moment, under his deliberate replenishment, the Aether above the entire city had nearly converged into a cloud.
Upon closer inspection, one would discover even finer strands of Azure White Qi slowly descending, crossing space and connecting to point after point throughout the city.
Like countless silken threads.
At one end was the Aether Cloud; at the other were ordinary people immersed in cultivation.
"Eh?"
After examining it for a while, Lin Tuo suddenly noticed that among the countless silken threads, a small number were especially thick and sturdy.
"Could this be the difference in talent? Different talents cultivate at different efficiencies. The thicker the silken thread, the higher the talent of the individual connected to it."
Understanding dawned on Lin Tuo. After hesitating briefly, he reached out and stirred the "Aether Cloud," intervening in its concentration distribution and forcibly increasing the concentration in the districts surrounding those talented individuals.
Since he wanted people to recognize the value of the Breath Technique as quickly as possible and attract more people to cultivate, the most practical method was to swiftly establish several "role models."
And these more talented people were clearly the best suited for it.
"The Way of Heaven is like drawing a bow: it lowers what is high and raises what is low; it diminishes what has surplus and gives to what lacks. The Way of Heaven robs the rich to aid the poor.
"But the Way of Man is not so. It robs the poor to serve the rich. Who can have surplus enough to serve all under heaven? Only one who possesses the Way."
Lin Tuo sighed softly, reciting a classic passage from the Tao Te Ching, then mocked himself:
"The ancients truly did not deceive me."
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