Chapter 1: Lin Qi (Seeking follow-up reads)

Martial Path Era, year 2045, Cang Province, Tianhai City.

It was the scorching summer of September, and the entire city was shrouded in heat.

Rongshan Residential Complex, Building 4, Room 301.

5:30.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep!"

Lin Qi snapped his eyes open, sat up instantly, and turned off the shrill phone alarm on the bedside table.

With the alarm gone, only the whirring of the blue electric fan remained, and the air was thick with stifling heat.

Looking around, this was a cramped bedroom.

The bed was a bunk bed, with luggage of all sizes piled onto the top bunk, and an old, brown wooden table placed beside the bed.

The walls were covered in posters, especially the largest one, which depicted a man with a blurred face, a majestic physique, and a body wreathed in golden flames.

Beneath his feet, he was trampling a massive, ferocious black dragon-like beast.

A terrifying aura seemed ready to burst out from the image.

Printed on the poster was a line of bold, sweeping calligraphy:

【Effort is the ladder to becoming a powerhouse — Red Emperor, the world's strongest.】

Other than that, there was almost no extra furniture; it was simple and empty.

A space was cleared in the middle of the room, which was less than 15 square meters, and the floor was covered in deep footprints left by time.

Lin Qi stood up and put on his slightly faded school uniform short-sleeve shirt.

He opened the bedroom door and entered the narrow bathroom to wash up.

"Swish, swish!"

Using the toilet, brushing his teeth, and washing his face were done in one go, washing away the grime and leaving him feeling refreshed.

Lin Qi looked at himself in the mirror: 1.75 meters tall, a lean physique, three-dimensional and handsome facial features, eyes full of spirit, brimming with masculine energy, and a cold, stern look between his brows.

After leaving the bathroom, a burly man with a bare upper body sat on the sofa in the living room; the old sofa had already faded.

One could see that the man's upper body was covered in various scars.

His left arm was completely missing, and his right hand was carefully attaching a flesh-colored mechanical prosthetic limb.

"Click, click~"

After a few moments, the five fingers of the prosthetic limb began to move stiffly, just like a normal arm.

"Morning, Xiao Qi!"

When the burly man saw Lin Qi, he revealed a smile. He had a resolute face, and every inch of his skin bore the marks of hardship.

"Morning, Dad!"

Lin Qi nodded!

The burly man turned and walked into the kitchen, saying as he worked:

"I'm going to the hospital today to pick up your mother. She just finished surgery and should have stayed in the hospital for a while longer."

"She was afraid of spending more money and refused to stay no matter what."

"Today is the start of your third year of high school, practice your martial arts hard."

"Do you still have enough money on you?"

Lin Zhen rambled on with his instructions, his hands moving quickly—lighting the stove, frying an egg, heating up pre-made buns and steamed bread...

【Balance: 66.6】

"I still have enough money..."

Lin Qi glanced at his phone balance and said nonchalantly, then took a pack of black coffee from a box in the corner, poured it into a glacier cup, and added cold water.

After stirring it well, he tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp. The bitter taste filled his mouth, and he felt wide awake.

After a short while, Lin Zhen brought out a plate full of food: meat buns, fried eggs, and steamed bread.

After eating quickly, Lin Qi returned to his room, changed his clothes, put on his black sneakers with the soles almost worn through, and grabbed his backpack.

"Dad, I'm leaving."

"Alright!"

Lin Zhen's resolute voice came from the kitchen, followed by more bustling.

Three minutes later.

After leaving the residential complex, Lin Qi got on his antique bicycle and rode down the wide street.

"Whoosh~"

Facing the morning breeze, a clear female voice came through his black Bluetooth earphones:

"Martial Path Era, year 1999!"

"That year, terrifying natural disasters broke out one after another across the world: tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes..."

"Causing severe loss of life and economic damage to countries around the globe."

"At first, people in every country only thought it was just an ordinary disaster."

"When people felt the disaster had passed, the true disaster descended."

"Huge black rifts appeared one after another across the world, and countless terrifying giant beasts rushed out, destroying everything."

"Greedily devouring all life."

"They were walking disasters, so their name is—Calamity Beasts!"

"They possessed mountain-like bodies, tough skin, sharp giant claws, and pointed fangs, capable of easily tearing through steel buildings and shredding humans. Prosperous streets were like rice seedlings in a field, plowed clean, with everything becoming ruins."

"The war began. Facing the terrifying Calamity Beasts, humanity had to mobilize all its weapons, and every country turned into a war machine amidst the beast tide."

"Facing the descent of the Calamity Beasts, humanity retreated step by step, countless warriors sacrificed their lives in the war, and ordinary people were displaced."

"At the same time the rifts appeared, humanity discovered that their physical fitness had improved significantly, and some even awakened special abilities, becoming like superhumans."

"Facing the endless Calamity Beasts, the ancient Martial Path also regained new vitality."

"The war between humanity and the Calamity Beasts began from that moment on..."

By the roadside were bustling streets, high-rise buildings, and shops with electronic screens playing the latest news about Calamity Beasts.

Lin Qi listened silently to the history lesson audio playing.

He had already heard this history countless times and knew it by heart.

"It's already been 17 years since I came to this world!"

Lin Qi felt a bit dazed.

!

He, Lin Qi, was a transmigrator.

Blue Star, a parallel world extremely similar to Earth.

In his previous life, he was just a corporate slave, and after working overtime for a month straight, he finally died of exhaustion.

When he opened his eyes again, he was an infant born into this world.

Before 1999, this world was almost exactly the same as Earth, but from that year onwards, it underwent earth-shaking changes.

It transformed directly from an ordinary human world into a martial path supernatural world.

As a veteran reader of Qidian, Lin Qi adapted to this world very quickly.

Of course, as a transmigrator, he also had a golden finger.

Lin Qi thought, and in a mysterious region of his mind, amidst endless darkness, a tattered golden banner emerged.

The banner was covered in cracks, as if it had experienced some great battle, with only a portion remaining.

It stayed in his consciousness, dim and dead silent, without the slightest movement, like a piece of rag.

It wasn't until half a year ago that it trembled for a split second and shot out a golden light.

Thinking of this, it was as if strange light flickered in Lin Qi's field of vision; it was a golden light screen that only he could see.

【Name: Lin Qi (17)】

【Profession: Martial Artist】

【Template: None (99.8%)】

【Qi and Blood Value: 5.2】

【Cultivation Technique: Primordial Stance (Great Completion), Tiger Form Fist (Small Completion), Basic Spear Technique (Small Completion)】

【Fist Technique: Stage One 80%】

【Spear Technique: Stage One 60%】

【Body Technique: Stage One 57%】

This was the panel given by the golden tattered banner, which allowed him to clearly view his martial path progress.

Looking at the data on the panel, Lin Qi sighed.

He had thought it would be the legendary "Deep Blue," where he only needed to add points to become stronger.

He had even prepared himself mentally to take off.

The result disappointed him; the panel's function was very simple, only allowing him to view his various data, giving him a clear understanding of his own martial path.

However, he quickly adapted and gave up on his fantasies.

Being able to check his progress at any time, this feeling of seeing progress could give people the motivation to work hard.

This function alone was better than what countless others had.

Having had the panel for half a year had allowed his martial path to progress significantly; what else could he be dissatisfied with?

As a third-year high school student, war and Calamity Beasts were too far away from him; those were things for the future.

Now, he just wanted to practice martial arts well, get into a decent martial arts university, and earn enough money to improve his family's life.

Thinking this way, Lin Qi's gaze fell back onto a line of data.

【Template: None (99.8%)】

Lin Qi had no introduction for this "Template" and didn't know its specific function, but he had a vague guess.

Every day after training, he would watch the percentage progress bar rise a little.

The harder he trained, the more it improved, and the faster it went.

In half a year, the progress bar was almost at 100%.

According to the progress, today, he would be able to know what this actually was.

He had a premonition that the template was very important to him and was the key to his future martial path.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 2 =====