Chapter Three: An Unexpected Surprise

The standards for beginner trainees: punch force of 300 kilograms, speed of 18 meters per second; for intermediate trainees: punch force of 500 kilograms, speed of 20 meters per second; for advanced trainees: punch force of 700 kilograms, speed of 22 meters per second; for quasi-martial artists: punch force of 900 kilograms, speed of 25 meters per second.

Qin Ming remembered that he had measured himself ten days ago. At that time, his punch force was 550 kilograms, and his speed was 22.3 meters per second—just reaching the threshold for intermediate trainees.

He took a stroll around the martial arts hall and then left.

“Trainee cultivation is really too simple. It’s basically just a set of military boxing, along with weight-bearing and striking exercises—crude and straightforward!” Qin Ming mused as he made his way home.

His house was a three-story villa, surrounded by flowers, trees, and even an ornamental rockery. Only martial artists and people with special status enjoyed such luxury.

His father was out for a walk, his mother had taken his little sister to buy groceries.

Returning to his room, he turned on his computer and browsed the web.

An hour later, he closed the computer, sat on the stool, and pondered.

“It’s now April 2056. After the college entrance exams, Luo Feng will rise rapidly, reaching planetary level in just two or three years!”

“I remember, at the beginning of 2059, the Golden Horned Beast was born. In 2060, it began to set foot on land and wreak havoc across the globe.”

“I have just over three years. If by then I still can’t protect myself, I may very well become cannon fodder!”

Qin Ming had an excellent memory; even the memories buried deep within his mind remained vivid.

“Three years...!”

After a long while, he had a plan.

He activated the recording function on his phone and aimed it at himself.

Closing his eyes, he sent his consciousness deep into his mind, shifting his awareness to Jiang Fan of the Great Song Dynasty. A moment later, his consciousness returned, and he opened his eyes.

He played back the recording.

“As expected, it’s only the consciousness that transfers!” Qin Ming discovered that when his awareness entered the Great Song Dynasty, his body here seemed to fall asleep, though it continued to breathe.

He reflected on his past and took stock of himself.

In his room, Qin Ming assumed a stance: left foot hooked behind the right, right hand touching his left ear, left hand resting on his lower abdomen, half crouching.

It was an awkward pose, but this was the method for cultivating the first diagram of the Thirty-Six Diagrams of the Mysterious Way. He wanted to try it, to see if it would work in this world.

In the world of Swallowed Star, there were two major cultivation systems: psychic force and physical gene evolution. Gene evolution, Qin Ming felt, was similar to the body-tempering methods of the Great Song Dynasty.

Soon, he felt a gentle warmth welling up inside him, spreading into his limbs, bones, and even the depths of his muscle cells, causing his eyes to light up.

Half an hour later, Qin Ming rose to his feet, his limbs not only free of numbness but also feeling noticeably stronger.

“It works!” His spirits soared.

He spent the entire morning cultivating. The first diagram was completed with ease, the second posed no challenge, but the third, even with his experience, took some time to master.

“In the Great Song Dynasty, the first six diagrams of the Thirty-Six Diagrams correspond to foundation building. Here, they probably equate to the trainee stages!” Qin Ming speculated.

At lunch, he devoured his food ravenously, astonishing his mother. “Xiao Ming, why are you suddenly eating so much? Don’t overeat!”

Qin Yicheng’s spirits lifted. He quickly asked, “Are you full?”

“About halfway,” Qin Ming patted his stomach and shook his head.

“Did you practice this morning?”

“Mm.”

“Good, good, good!” Qin Yicheng was delighted. “Wife, go stew a pot of meat for Xiao Ming—the iron-haired pork we bought yesterday!”

“Dad, you’re turning my brother into a rice barrel!” Qin Lulu giggled. “No, a fat piglet!”

“You child, how can you talk about your brother like that!” Luo Xia chided, then realized, “Yicheng, is it possible that his appetite means he’s improved?”

“The more he eats, the faster he improves!” Qin Yicheng explained. “Before becoming a martial artist, gene optimization requires nourishment—most of it comes from food!”

“I’ll get to it right away!” Luo Xia hurried excitedly to the kitchen.

The cultivation of their son was the greatest matter in the world.

Though they hadn’t dared hope much for Qin Ming’s progress, and often avoided the topic altogether, now that he was showing improvement, how could they not be happy?

“How do you feel today?” Qin Yicheng inquired.

Qin Ming tilted his head in thought. “Today felt like a breakthrough—after training, I felt my strength increase a little.”

“Then keep at it!” Qin Yicheng replied. “I’m prepared that if you can’t become a quasi-martial artist, I’ll use the savings I’ve earned hunting fierce beasts to buy you an A-grade gene potion, so you can at least reach that level and have a worry-free life in the future.”

“Dad, don’t worry. I’ll enter the ranks of martial artists by my own strength!” Qin Ming promised.

An A-grade gene potion could raise a trainee to the martial artist threshold, but it came at the cost of potential, so it wasn’t recommended.

Qin Lulu muttered, “So biased!”

“Hahaha!” Qin Yicheng laughed heartily.

“Lulu, when I become a martial artist, not just A-grade, even B-grade gene potions—I’ll buy them all for you!” Qin Ming declared.

“You promise?”

“Of course!”

After lunch, Qin Ming continued his cultivation in his room, leaving Qin Yicheng to smile helplessly at being denied a chance to check on his progress.

Midnight.

Qin Ming leaped up, a pill appearing in his hand—the Marrow Cleansing Pill from the other world.

Through the space in his mind, he could bring non-living objects across.

“Let’s hope it works!” Qin Ming took a deep breath and swallowed the pill, assuming the third diagram’s posture. Instantly, a surge of heat washed from his upper abdomen, flooding into muscles and bones, permeating his organs, and being absorbed by every cell in his body.

Moments later, he instinctively moved into the fourth diagram.

His bones tingled, his skin quivered like flowing water, and even the marrow in his blood underwent dramatic change.

Feeling the transformation, Qin Ming was overjoyed.

He shifted into the fifth diagram’s posture.

Finally, he completed more than half of the sixth diagram before the internal warmth dissipated.

Qin Ming exhaled a turbid breath that shot out like an arrow.

“The Marrow Cleansing Pill works even better here than in the Great Song Dynasty. Did something change when it was transferred? Or is it because Swallowed Star’s world is focused on gene evolution? Or has my own constitution changed?”

Whatever the reason, the results were delightful.

“My strength now...!” He clenched his fists, feeling power surging, but also a deep discomfort—the sweat from his exertions clung sticky and unpleasant to his body.

After a shower, Qin Ming lay on his bed.

The next morning, he rose early as usual, feeling invigorated despite little sleep. Out in the yard, he found Qin Yicheng already sitting cross-legged on a square stool.

He understood that his father was practicing the Gene Origin Energy Cultivation Method of the Five Hearts Facing Heaven, absorbing cosmic energy into his cells to become gene origin energy. In this process, the genes were optimized, and bones, cells, blood, organs, skin—all underwent continuous evolution and improvement.