Where the Hell Had I Been Sent? Was This Still China?

"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"

The demonic sound of Apple's alarm ringtone flooded his mind, waking Lin Li.

It was 4:30 in the morning.

The sky was like a painting washed in pale ink, faint light showing through the haze. The eastern horizon was gradually turning fish-belly white, the darkness shifting into blue, while unknown birds sang sweetly in the distance.

Lin Li had never imagined that Xi Ling Town at four in the morning could be this beautiful.

Bro, I finally understood you. I had finally become a real man.

No one could resist such beautiful scenery. In a moment like this, how could he not do something meaningful?—Sleep another five fucking minutes. What idiot gets up this damn early?

As everyone knew, thirty plus five equaled fifty.

At 4:50, Lin Li finally dragged himself out of bed.

He had actually wanted to get up at 4:59, but he was worried that this idiotic system might count the start of his exercise as the time checkpoint. By the time he washed up and went downstairs, it would probably already be five.

Yawning, Lin Li walked out from the first floor.

Five in the morning was not exactly deserted in the residential complex. In fact, by the time Lin Li reached the community park, there were already quite a few people there.

Most were elderly men and women, chatting or exercising in the park. There were also middle-aged people jogging around it.

But there was only one young person like Lin Li, so the elderly people around him gave him a few extra looks.

Lin Li was seeing a side of this residential complex he had never known before, and it was honestly rather shocking.

"Brr-brr-brr, pfft pfft, brr-brr-brr—"

Right in front of him, an old lady who had to be over sixty was performing B-BOX!

Another equally elderly old man was actually doing the Moonwalk. Sliding, sliding—it was the devil's pace!

Where the hell had he been sent? Was this still China? Were the hours before and after six in the morning really the dividing line between two worlds?

Could this world have an inner world and an outer world?

Or were this old lady and old man trendy old geezers with Shanghai permits?

Still, Lin Li had never been stingy with praise for masters like these. "Grandma, your B-BOX is amazing!"

"What B thing did you say?" If not for her questioning tone, Lin Li would have thought she was cursing him.

"The thing you were performing just now..."

"A dandelion flew into my mouth just now. Damn unlucky." The old lady got angry just mentioning it and spat out a few more times.

Lin Li: "..."

He looked at the grandpa doing the Moonwalk, now somewhat lacking confidence. "Grandpa, what were you just—"

"I stepped in dog shit." The old man kept rubbing the sole of his shoe as he spoke without looking up.

It was all back. Everything was back. He really was still in China. Everyone suddenly felt so familiar and friendly. Of course, that did not stop Lin Li from moving slightly farther away from the old geezer with dog shit on his shoes while paying closer attention to where he stepped.

Lin Li had not forgotten his task and headed to the park square.

A large group of elderly ladies were practicing square dancing in neat formation. They were quite considerate, though, and had not played any music to disturb the residents. In a way, was this not silent dance at the forefront of trends?

And they looked incredibly relaxed doing it.

Lin Li did not join them. Instead, he found an open space near a pavilion, where there was only an elderly man in a martial arts uniform practicing tai chi.

Yeah, this had a real body-tempering, martial arts-training atmosphere.

Lin Li used the phone stand he had brought to secure his phone, then opened an Eight Section Brocade tutorial on the website where the Mongolian Top Laner had once appeared. After taking a deep breath, he began learning and exercising.

Come to think of it, Bilibili had plenty of hot girls too. Why had that not triggered some kind of task?

He had chosen to practice Eight Section Brocade because the task description required body-tempering martial practice. He had tested it earlier while running over here, and the progress bar had not changed. Running did not count.

In other words, practicing martial arts was also a necessary condition. Fortunately, with five thousand years of heritage, there was certainly no shortage of cultivation methods.

Once he confirmed that the progress bar had started moving, Lin Li let out a sigh of relief. His idea had been correct. Even though he was still in the learning stage, as long as his body seriously followed along, it counted as earnestly tempering his body and practicing martial arts.

All he had to do next was train seriously for an hour.

The old man practicing tai chi nearby had initially assumed Lin Li was only acting on a whim. His movements were extremely unpracticed, so the old man had not paid him much attention at first. Yet he had not expected Lin Li to practice so seriously.

Every time, he stretched his arms and legs straight and put all his strength into it. That was not difficult, but this was without anyone supervising him. This child's self-discipline and perseverance were terrifyingly strong. The old man nodded approvingly.

A pillar of the nation! Inspired by this emotion, the old man, who had originally been doing health-preserving tai chi, began using combat techniques. His clothes snapped with each punch. He could not lose to this child! This old man's hot blood was burning too!

Youth!

Though old, I am still as wild as in my youth! Cures kidney deficiency, no sugar added! Lin Li had no idea an elderly hot-blooded anime was unfolding beside him. If he had known what the old man was thinking, he would definitely have complained.

No one supervising him? Your ass, old man. He had an idiotic system monitoring him from every angle without a single blind spot!

If he so much as slacked off or held back, the progress bar would smack Lin Li right over the head.

All he could say was that the gap in difficulty between seriously studying theory and seriously tempering his body through martial practice far exceeded Lin Li's expectations.

Lin Li's physique...

Put it this way: Lin Li thought Bolt was nothing special. He ran one hundred meters in 9.58 seconds, but Lin Li could run 9.58 seconds without even needing one hundred meters.

—In reality, Lin Li was a weakling who needed four and a half minutes to run one thousand meters during fitness tests. His only daily exercise was cycling to and from school.

And since it was a summer morning, the temperature kept rising as time passed. Before the progress bar had even reached halfway, Lin Li was already drenched in sweat, with obvious color differences on his clothes from the sweat stains.

At times like this, Lin Li's movements were no longer standard. But the good news was that the progress bar was still rising normally. The system knew whether he was practicing seriously. It was not that he did not want to perform the movements properly—he simply could not anymore.

Lin Li had started practicing at five, but it was not until 6:30 that he finally sat down on the ground with a long sigh of relief. He was finally free.

Task One completed!

You have obtained the martial arts method: Body Tempering Eight Section Exercise.

Learning is not accomplished in a day, nor is martial arts! You have taken a crucial step onto the immortal path of bodily transformation. Though you have gained initial success, the road ahead is long and difficult. Should you stop here, you will regret everything!

Task triggered!

Task One: For one consecutive week, rise before Mao Hour and seriously practice the Body Tempering Eight Section Exercise. Before Chen Hour, accumulate at least half a shichen.

Reward: Physique Improvement: Qi and Blood increased by 50%; System Currency ×100

Without real combat experience, one can never become truly great, only an embroidered pillow. The importance of tempering oneself cannot be overlooked.

And now, there happens to be a Martial Arts Youngster nearby, and you have developed a desire to compare yourselves. Why not invite him for a spar right away?

Limited-time task triggered!

Task Four: Within one shichen, have a friendly spar with the nearby Martial Arts Youngster until one side falls and admits defeat.

Task reward: Martial arts-related Random Ability ×1.

"Eh?"