"Xu, come down for dinner!"
Inside the practice room, Xu Zong had just opened his eyes when he heard the shout.
He looked out the window. The sun had already set, and the golden twilight spread across the earth, giving it a dreamy veneer.
The evening breeze of January carried a chill that invaded the surrounding terraced houses, causing passersby to shiver uncontrollably.
"I'm coming!"
Xu Zong responded.
Then he went into the bathroom attached to the practice room, took an invigorating cold shower. Given his current constitution, even winter swimming was a breeze.
After showering, he put on a loose robe and stood in front of the mirror.
The teenager in the mirror, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a side parting in his black hair, had bright eyes due to regular exercise. Only his skin was slightly fair.
He inherited the genes of his parents in this life. He didn't look like his previous life, but luckily his foundation was good. Although he wasn't shockingly handsome, he had a decent appearance. Once, a girl in his class who liked to rate others' looks told him that he was probably the third most handsome in the class.
Plus his well-built muscles, he had a formidable presence. At least he wouldn't be treated as a pretty boy.
"At least I'm much stronger than me in 'The Nine Cauldrons' world!"
Xu Zong disdained the other him in the group in his heart.
That avatar must be his own. Despite the handsome pose, he actually had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and was robust. That was so rough. If he grew a beard that looked like steel needles, he would be Zhang Fei reincarnated!
Xu Zong went downstairs to the kitchen, and Auntie Liu, the housekeeper, had already prepared the meals.
"Xu, come and sit down, or the food will get cold!"
Seeing Xu Zong coming down, Auntie Liu greeted him to sit down and took out various home-cooked dishes like vinegar potato shreds and scrambled eggs with tomatoes from the thermal cover.
"Auntie Liu, you sit down and eat too, don't be polite."
Xu Zong said naturally as he sat down.
"Ah!"
Auntie Liu has been a nanny here for over a year, and the two were very familiar with each other.
The two sat opposite each other, and for a moment, the sound of dishes and chopsticks was heard at the table.
"Xu, is your uncle not coming back yet?"
"Not yet."
"The country has declared these days as disaster days, and the whole nation is on holiday, and your uncle still doesn't?"
"Well, that's how it is for soldiers."
"Yes, soldiers are always the hardest working, especially in these times. When I was a kid, it was okay, soldiers were only required to rescue in disasters. Since the Great Nirvana, there have been more and more monsters, and soldiers have to fight these terrifying monsters! It's even harder, and more dangerous!"
Auntie Liu's face full of wrinkles was filled with regret, as if she had returned to the era before the Great Nirvana, and her eyes were full of long memories.
She was in her fifties this year, born in the 2000s, and grew up in the countryside. Her family was not very well-off, but at least each household had independent housing. The population was sparse in the countryside, but the families often interacted with each other, and the feelings were very real.
Back then, when there was a flood, it was the soldiers who stepped up, and when there was a wildfire, it was still the soldiers who came to put it out. People competed to give gifts to the soldiers.
Who would have thought, the RR virus broke out, monsters mutated, the global population sharply decreased, the disaster in the movies appeared in reality. At this time, humans could only live in base cities, and still had to rely on soldiers on the front line.
"Auntie Liu, you take your time, I'm full. I'll go practice."
After having three bowls of rice in a row, Xu Zong finally felt full. He said goodbye to Auntie Liu and went upstairs.
"He's sensible and polite, doing well in school, and working hard at home practicing. He's the typical kid from someone else's family! If my grandson is half as excellent as Xu, I'd be satisfied in my lifetime!"
Watching Xu Zong's disappearing figure on the second floor, Auntie Liu sighed and decided to give her grandson, who only knew about playing video games during holidays, a good lecture when she returned home.
Video games, video games, video games! That's all he knew! Playing day and night, not doing any homework, and never going to the Martial Arts School, he just lazed around at home all day! Look at Xu, younger than you, but doing better in school and practicing every day! Why don't you learn from him!
…………..
Since the RR virus outbreak in 2013, all kinds of animals on Earth, whether in the sky, the sea, or on land, have undergone unimaginable evolution. Animals that humans could easily hunt in the past, their scales, feathers, skin, and internal organs have all become incredibly hard and powerful. Feathers that could be penetrated by hunting shotgun bullets in the past, now even rocket launchers struggle to scratch them!
Powerful monsters launched fierce attacks on humans. In just eight years, the earth's population had sharply decreased by almost half!
Humans lost a lot of their living space, countless cities and even small countries were destroyed by monsters, only a few large countries barely had the ability to protect themselves.
Fortunately, in the midst of the great disaster, not only the monsters evolved, but humans also underwent unimaginable evolution, becoming capable of contending with and even killing those monsters!
These humans who could kill a large number of monsters were called "Warriors"!
With the help of these powerful warriors, a large number of massive base cities were established worldwide. The remaining people had no choice but to hide in a total of 52 large base cities.
The disastrous history from 2013 to 2021 is now referred to as the "Great Nirvana Event" by people!
Since then, the base cities have become the only safe haven for humans.
In these base cities, where the average population is as high as one or two hundred million, and the land is precious, 99% of people can only live in towering cylindrical buildings, with an average area of only about thirty square meters.
In this era, people like Xu Zong, who live in row houses, are becoming fewer and fewer. Although it's just a row house, the price has reached over 100 million Chinese yuan. A detached house costs even more, about four to five hundred million yuan!
Not to mention wealthy merchants, even warriors with average assets may not dare to buy such a house!
On the second floor of the row house.
A room closer to the interior was transformed by Xu Zong into his own practice room.
"Turn on the light."
The light illuminated the dim practice room.
Xu Zong walked into the room, sitting cross-legged on a sponge pad laid on the ground.
He opened the chat group in his mind, clicked on his avatar, and looked at the shared skills.
The skills available for sharing did not include the Xingyi Quan skill shared from the Xu Zong of 'The Nine Cauldrons'.
"It's more like sharing memories than skills."
Xu Zong understood as he felt the knowledge about Xingyi Quan in his mind.
Twelve Forms, Five Elements Fist, Three Body Posture… All the knowledge and past experiences of practicing Xingyi Quan that the Xu Zong of 'The Nine Cauldrons' mastered, are now all in his mind, not missing a bit!
As long as he integrates these memories, the Five Elements Fist of Xingyi will become his skill from 'Swallowed Star'!
"Being able to obtain such amazing knowledge out of thin air, this sharing feature is indeed the most useful feature of the chat group! I must not delay and start practicing Xingyi Quan right away!"
Xu Zong was excited and immediately got down on the ground.
Although he was prostrating, it wasn't just simple lying down, he propped up his upper body with his elbows, suspended slightly in the air, like a resting tiger.
"No, this is only mimicking the form, I'm only like a tiger, not becoming a tiger itself, my mood is too excited, I need to calm down, synchronize my breath with the rhythm…"
With the experiences of practicing for ten years in 'The Nine Cauldrons' inside his mind, Xu Zong quickly realized where he had made a mistake. He began to meditate, letting his brain gradually empty out, and his breathing rhythm gradually matched the rise and fall of his body.
Within a few minutes, it was as if Xu Zong had disappeared from the ground. Instead, there was a slowly snoring tiger. His breathing was sometimes rapid, sometimes gentle, and sometimes it disappeared entirely, making one feel as if they were not in a city, but in a jungle, fearful that a colorful tiger might jump out from somewhere!
"Huff… puff… huff…"
The rhythmic sound of breathing echoed in the practice room.
This breath lasted for half an hour. Xu Zong seemed to not feel tired at all, his whole body was incredibly relaxed, feeling very comfortable. In fact, the practice of Internal Martial Arts is primarily for health preservation. Once one gets used to those weird postures, it's inevitable to feel comfortable, and one won't feel tired even after practicing for several hours!
Immersed in this feeling, Xu Zong even forgot the passage of time.
Until another hour later.
A tingling sensation came from the depths of his bone marrow, suddenly awakening Xu Zong!
"Is this… Inner Power?"
Still maintaining the posture of a tiger, the expression on Xu Zong's face was full of surprise and joy.
The cultivation of Internal Martial Arts has three major realms!
The first level is the External Power Realm, where one hones their muscular strength to the extreme, filling their body with vitality and accumulating energy.
The second level is the Inner Power Realm, constantly refining energy until the Inner Power is cultivated. This power stimulates the muscles and deep bones, allowing the body to absorb the energy of Inner Power for continuous growth. Meanwhile, the Inner Power pervades the whole body, continuously opening up all the meridians within the body. This stage already surpasses human limits!
The third level is the Master Realm! The meridians throughout the body are fully opened, and Inner Power pervades the body. One can perfectly control every muscle, tendon, and membrane, easily controlling the circulation of blood and the speed of the heartbeat, even adjusting their height at will!
The Xu Zong from 'The Nine Cauldrons' is currently at the second level of the Inner Power Realm!
And he has already reached the peak of Inner Power. After ten years of painstaking practice, he has opened up 90% of the meridians throughout his body, leaving only the meridians in his face unopened!
Because the world of 'The Nine Cauldrons' has abundant spiritual energy, the Xu Zong who constantly refines the spiritual energy into Inner Power to stimulate his body now possesses a physical strength of 80,000 catties (40 tons)!
40 tons!
What does this mean?
In the world of 'Swallowed Star', high-level War Generals only have a force of 32 tons, and entry-level War Gods only have a power of 64 tons!
The other Xu Zong, who has only practiced Internal Martial Arts for ten years in the world of 'The Nine Cauldrons', has already reached the strength of a high-level War General!
And now, the Xu Zong from 'Swallowed Star' has also begun to practice Internal Martial Arts. On just his first day of practice, he has already cultivated Inner Power!