When the Sick Tree Passes, Ten Thousand Trees Bloom

Night, Huangpu River.

The moonlight was faintly intoxicating. There were no clouds, only a breeze carrying a slight chill.

Lin Yuan sat on a stone bollard, gazing at the prosperity lining both banks of the Huangpu River as he picked up a bottle of beer and drank.

Feeling the breeze blowing off the Huangpu River, he let out a sigh.

He suddenly recalled a line from Preface to the Poems Composed at Lanting: "Looking up, one beholds the vastness of the universe; looking down, one observes the abundance of all things."

Yet though heaven and earth were vast, he felt there was nowhere for him to belong.

It had been two and a half years since graduation. His relatives all thought he was living grandly in a big city.

But what did the dazzling lights and indulgent nightlife outside have to do with him?

At the end of the day, he was just a lousy wage slave, a slightly more presentable Kong Yiji.

He worked himself to death every day, with endless tasks, endless overtime, and the occasional tirade from his boss.

He had once dreamed of roaming the world with a sword at his side. Now, his sword was nearly rusted through, the wide world was nowhere in sight, and all that remained was a cliff edge, where he treaded on thin ice every day.

Worst of all, everyone was grinding themselves to the bone. There was no such thing as the hardest worker—only someone working even harder.

When he had first graduated, he too had dreamed of making a name for himself through his own efforts.

As a small-town test-taking prodigy, "Heaven rewards the diligent" had been his creed for many years.

But after starting work, he discovered that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many nights he stayed up working overtime to rush projects, what he got in the end was not praise or promotion from his superiors.

Instead, his bosses saw him as easy to control, someone they could use like an ox or a horse.

Meanwhile, those who usually slacked off but knew how to flatter people were promoted and given raises one after another.

In truth, he had gradually come to understand these things later on and had tried to change. But that was simply not in his nature—he could not bring himself to suck up to others.

Honestly, he had had enough of this life. He was tired!

He did not regret slapping that idiot today.

What nonsense about enduring humiliation being the mark of a man? A man should strike when it was time to strike—that was the true nature of people like him.

If a man standing seven feet tall had his spine broken at this age, he would probably spend the rest of his life timid and submissive.

He hated the thought of becoming that kind of person.

He had already made up his mind. At worst, he would take off this scholar's robe and go lift steel and carry bricks at a construction site.

Society today might be pretty damned awful, but at least the world was at peace.

He could not hope to soar with the wind like a great roc, but earning enough to feed and clothe himself should not be a problem. After all, he was not lazy.

Since that was the case, he had nothing to fear.

After finishing his self-inflicted psychological manipulation,

Lin Yuan stood up, drained the beer in his hand in one gulp, and exhaled heavily. He felt much more at peace inside.

Just then, a mechanical voice sounded beside his ear.

"Ding. Intelligent life-form detected. Beginning matching."

"Ding. Potential intelligent life-form detected. Beginning binding."

"Ding. Binding successful. System initializing."

"3, 2, 1. System loaded. Interface generated."

[Name: Lin Yuan]

[Lifespan: 25/60]

[Strength: 6]

[Speed: 8]

[Agility: 7]

[Endurance: 7]

[Flexibility: 6]

[Martial Arts: None]

[Attribute Points: 0]

(Tip 1: The average physical attributes of a healthy adult male are 10)

(Tip 2: Attribute Points can only be used to improve [Martial Arts])

(Tip 3: Source of Attribute Points: Deep exercise)

Lin Yuan fiercely pinched his thigh, staring at the scene before him in disbelief.

"What the hell is this, a system?"

After confirming again and again that this was not an illusion, Lin Yuan was overcome with wild joy.

It was truly a case of "when mountains and rivers leave one doubting there is no road, willows and flowers reveal another village." Something this good had actually fallen into his lap.

Suppressing his excitement, Lin Yuan began studying the system's functions.

His gaze first fell on the [Lifespan] section: 25/60.

Twenty-five was his age, and sixty was presumably his lifespan.

Lin Yuan gave a bitter smile. "So I'll croak the moment I reach retirement age?"

Further down were the five basic physical attributes: strength, speed, agility, endurance, and flexibility.

Not one of them had reached the standard score of 10. He really was a Weak Chicken.

But it made sense. He sat in front of a computer all day, stuffing all sorts of processed junk into his stomach. How good could his physique possibly be?

After gaining a preliminary understanding of the system, Lin Yuan vaguely found a new course for his life.

Judging from the interface, its purpose was clearly to strengthen himself.

Since ancient times, humans, as carbon-based life-forms, had never lacked people seeking to explore the mysteries of the body in an attempt to break through the limits of life.

The most primal instinct of living things was survival, and to survive better, one had to become stronger.

In terms of physical strength, humans were far inferior to many species. Thus, they learned to use tools and embarked upon the path of developing intelligence.

But could humans really not develop their own bodies and forge a path of life evolution?

He did not know the answer, but this system seemed to give him a little hope of finding it.

He just did not know whether the various attributes on the interface had upper limits.

"Whatever. I'll take it one step at a time."

Lin Yuan looked again at the method of obtaining Attribute Points: deep exercise.

Easy enough to understand. Wasn't that Saitama's secret to training?

"Then from this moment on, let's start burning my youth."

Lin Yuan somewhat chuunibyouishly imitated Kaiser's signature pose, flashing a mouthful of pearly white teeth.

"Charge! I'm running home."

It was about fifteen kilometers, running all the way from Yangpu District to Baoshan District.

By the time he returned to his apartment, it was nearly midnight.

Lin Yuan opened the door, panting heavily.

It had been a long time since he had run at such intensity. His leg muscles trembled, and the clothes beneath his outerwear were already soaked through.

Though he was exhausted like a dog, he felt fantastic. What delighted him even more was that the [Attribute Points] section now displayed a conspicuous 1.

Sure enough, exercise could make him stronger. He just did not know whether it would make him lose hair.

Lin Yuan rested briefly until he caught his breath, then rushed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

The hair dryer whirred. Standing naked, he dried his hair while looking at himself in the mirror.

Sure enough, he was as handsome as ever!

After drying his hair, Lin Yuan emerged wearing only a pair of briefs, sat on the couch, and began considering how to get started with [Martial Arts].

Very quickly, he thought of "National Martial Arts."

So-called "National Martial Arts" were also known as Chinese Martial Arts.

Their origins could be traced back to ancient times, when mankind fought fierce beasts and gradually developed skills for unarmed and armed offense, defense, and combat.

China's earliest collection of poetry, the Book of Songs, contained records of people fighting tigers barehanded.

Then there was the legend in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that "Xingtian wielded spear and shield as he danced."

The Yellow Emperor used spear and shield for training, while Chiyou created the Five Weapons for warfare.

Chinese Martial Arts had a long and storied history, originating in ancient times and flourishing during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

There was the Yue Maiden who could scatter a thousand troops, and Hua Tuo, who created the Five Animal Frolics.

Later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Bodhidharma created the "Eighteen Arhat Fists," cultivating Chan and martial arts together and beginning Shaolin martial arts' golden age.

By the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang had used Shaolin martial arts as a foundation and combined them with Daoist cultivation theory, pioneering Internal martial arts.

By the Qing and Republican eras, China's National Martial Arts could be said to have blossomed in full, with countless schools contending.

There was Tai Chi grandmaster Yang Luchan, undefeated under heaven; Dong Haichuan, whose Bagua Zhang astonished the martial world; and Tianjin's hero Huo Yuanjia, who developed Mizong Fist into "Mizong Yi" and brought his ancestral ultimate art to new heights...

China's National Martial Arts were broad and profound.

Setting aside weaponry, even fist techniques alone—where "fist" referred not to the physical fist, but to unarmed combat, also called bare-handed fighting—were divided into Internal and External schools. Internal martial arts revered Wudang, while External martial arts were dominated by Shaolin.

Thus, China's martial arts world had the saying, "In the north, Shaolin is revered; in the south, Wudang is honored."

"What should my first martial art be?"

Lin Yuan lay on the couch, his hands behind his head and one leg crossed over the other as he pondered.

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

"Right! Didn't I learn Tai Chi in college?"

Lin Yuan immediately recalled those days at school, when his counselor had chased him out to the field early in the morning to practice Tai Chi.

Ban Lan Chui, Ye Ma Fen Zong, a big watermelon, split down the middle, half for you, half for me...

"Tai Chi it is!" Lin Yuan made up his mind at once.

As the most widely spread and renowned National Martial Art in China, Tai Chi surely had something unique about it.

Though it had now been reduced to a health exercise practiced by many old men in the streets, that absolutely did not mean the art itself was mediocre.

He did not know much about the history of National Martial Arts, but he still remembered some formidable figures.

As for the great names tied to Tai Chi, setting aside an immortal-like figure such as Zhang Sanfeng, could Tai Chi grandmaster Yang Luchan's title of "Invincible Yang" possibly be undeserved?

The reason Tai Chi was now mockingly called a health exercise by so many people was probably that they had never grasped the proper method and merely performed empty, flashy forms.