General Experience

[Five Animal Frolics]

Level: Not Initiated

By imitating the movements of five animals—the tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird—it strengthened the body and improved one's health.

Effects:

1. When the skill reached the Basic level, it raised the character's Strength (Tiger), Agility (Deer), Constitution (Bear), Intelligence (Ape), and Perception (Bird) attributes to 10 points.

2. When all five frolics leveled up simultaneously, it granted a temperament boost (Charisma +1).

Skills were divided into five ranks: Basic, Advanced, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster.

Each rank required the character to train on their own or use General Experience to improve.

Once a skill reached the Grandmaster rank, filling its experience bar to completion could raise the character's attributes to a maximum of 15 points.

Moreover, based on the characteristics of the Five Animal Frolics, one could choose to level up a single frolic separately.

When all five frolics leveled up at the same time, one could also gain the Charisma +1 trait, likewise with a maximum increase of 15 points.

"Looking at it this way, the Five Animal Frolics are quite effective.

Although my Perception can only increase by one point at most, as long as I can fill the experience bar and raise all my attributes to 15, it'll be enough to transform my physique into one comparable to a special forces soldier."

Ling Qing thought for a moment, then stood up and began training step by step according to the requirements.

The Five Animal Frolics were an internal training art that combined inner and outer cultivation, movement and stillness.

The set he knew had twenty-six movements: four movements for each frolic, plus a finishing movement called Crane Shakes Feathers and the Five Animal Dash Technique.

Among them, the Bird Frolic primarily imitated the Immortal Crane.

These movements were also paired with different artistic conceptions, seeking to embody the spirit of the five animals.

The tiger's majesty, the deer's ease, the bear's steadiness, the ape's agility, and the bird's lightness.

Ling Qing followed the skill's requirements and performed the various movements one by one.

The skill recorded in the panel had been entirely based on Ling Qing's own memories, then optimized before being transmitted back into his brain.

This allowed him to understand the contents of this technique like the back of his hand.

He merely lacked a true understanding of its principles, and his physical movements had yet to keep up.

Nor had he trained for long enough to develop the corresponding behavioral and mental habits.

After barely completing one full set of movements, a message appeared before Ling Qing's eyes:

"Character has completed relevant behavioral training. Your understanding of [Five Animal Frolics] has deepened further (1/5)."

"One-fifth already? So I only need to practice four more times to get started?"

Seeing this message, Ling Qing's spirits rose, and he eagerly practiced the routine again.

However, after he completed all the movements, no notification appeared.

"Could it be that the first time only requires one round, while the second requires more?"

Still unwilling to accept it, he began repeating the training over and over.

Finally, when he reached his fourth round of practice, another prompt flashed before his eyes.

"Warning: Character's understanding of [Five Animal Frolics] has deviated. Continuing will result in the loss of related progress!"

The bold words, continuously flashing with scarlet light, stabbed at Ling Qing's eyes. At the same time, they were like a basin of ice water poured over his overheated mind.

That was right. Every martial art passed down through China emphasized gradual progress and deep foundations before sudden advancement.

Most shortcut methods were considered unorthodox paths, with the risk of cultivation going awry.

Training with the impatient mindset he had just now meant that even if his movements perfectly met the standards, his state of mind did not.

It was only natural that he had made no progress.

Ling Qing rubbed his somewhat sore muscles and thought to himself in relief.

Good thing that one-fifth of my progress wasn't erased.

With time still to spare, he simply leaned against the large tree behind him and closed his eyes to meditate.

For a time, the cool river breeze drifted around him, stirring the grass on the ground, the blooming flowers, and the unfurling leaves.

The faint rustling of grass, the crisp swishing of leaves, and the sound of flowing water came together like a beautiful piece of music.

It played endlessly in this quiet corner amid the bustling city.

At once, Ling Qing's slightly restless mood calmed down. At the same time, the Natural Force that had been depleted by his training slowly recovered.

Natural Force: 5/5 ↑

When he stood up again, he had fully recovered. The soreness in his body had faded, and he even felt as though he were brimming with strength.

But Ling Qing understood that this was merely an illusion.

Not only had the attributes on the panel not increased at all, but a single morning of exercise could never possibly produce such an effect.

After a day of work, Ling Qing walked out of the company gates and subconsciously looked up at the bridge overhead. Nothing fell from it.

After riding his little electric scooter for some distance, he turned the handlebars and left his usual route. Before long, he turned into a bustling place.

The farmers' market.

Due to urban planning, the roadside stalls that had once been set up everywhere were gone. They had all been moved to designated locations.

The market had everything: chicken, duck, fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, spices, seasonings, and more.

There were even several shops selling live chickens and ducks, slaughtering them on the spot.

Since Ling Qing had now fully activated the Druid inheritance, though he had chosen the nature branch,

his sensitivity to animal emotions was not as acute as that of the branches more focused on animal transformation and summoning.

Even so, sensing the animals' fear of death at the moment they were slaughtered

still made him abandon the idea of personally killing animals to gather killing experience.

General Experience was a kind of insight and energy gained when a character completed actions relevant to their profession and aligned with its traits.

For a Druid, activities such as landscaping and killing monsters that disrupted nature's balance could both grant General Experience.

The key to gaining killing experience lay in "killing monsters that disrupt nature's balance." The definition of a monster depended more on Ling Qing's subjective judgment as a Druid.

After all, all things that existed were part of nature. To nature, deserts and forests alike, seas of fire and vast oceans alike, were all natural.

How one practiced, and what kind of Way of Nature one practiced, depended on the Druid himself.

Clearly, in his mind, artificially raised chickens and ducks did not count as monsters that disrupted nature's balance.

At the same time, the animal perception granted by Wild Empathy made him somewhat repulsed by such actions.

After asking around, Ling Qing discovered that he had come to the wrong place. This market did not sell seeds.

Stores that sold vegetable seeds were called agricultural supply shops, while flower and grass seeds required a trip to the flower-and-bird market.

Still, unwilling to make the trip for nothing, Ling Qing bought several heads of garlic and a bundle of scallions while he was there.

Scallions and garlic were essential seasonings in most households, though some people also ate them raw as vegetables.