Chapter 4: Template: Erlang Shen Yang Jian (Seeking follow-up reads)

"Inhale~ Exhale~"

The habit of standing in stances for over ten years allowed him to quickly adjust his breathing and enter the state.

Cooperating with the breathing method that came with the stance technique, Lin Qi quickly felt bursts of heat evaporating from his waist, surging rapidly through his body.

Strands of Qi and Blood roamed through his body; muscles, bones, blood vessels, the entire body came alive, tempering his muscles like a furnace.

Recalling the key points of the Primordial Stance in his mind, his body muscles trembled, his chest heaved with his breathing, his whole body heated up, and his skin turned red.

Fatigue, soreness, numbness...

The stifling air and the discomfort of his body tortured Lin Qi's spirit.

"Drip~"

Sweat dripped like water beads from his forehead, and soon soaked his short-sleeved shirt.

Persist, persist!

Lin Qi gritted his teeth and persisted, making "click-clack" sounds.

He was like running a long-distance race now, relying entirely on one breath to persist.

Once he gave up, all his previous efforts would be wasted.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Lin Qi's consciousness became blurred, and he persisted by willpower.

On the panel, the template column also changed.

【You have undergone one effective workout, template progress has reached 100%】

【Template: None (99.9%+0.1%)】

The moment the progress reached 100%!

"Boom~"

In an instant, Lin Qi's mind went blank.

"Ah!!"

His consciousness sank into a void of darkness, entering a nihilistic gloom where only a golden tattered banner lay silent.

But at this very moment, the banner suddenly trembled, blooming with brilliant golden light, illuminating the entire consciousness space.

Golden patterns flowed on the banner, emitting endless mysterious auras, brewing the power to destroy everything.

"Boom~"

The banner trembled again, and in an instant, dozens of dazzling golden light clusters shook out, circling around the banner.

After a short while, one of the golden light clusters rushed out and turned into a huge scroll.

Pale mountains and strange stones, strange forests and eerie trees.

A cold-looking youth stepped forward; he was as handsome as jade, with a majestic physique, like a god.

Clad in battle armor, holding a divine weapon, with a divine eye on his forehead, releasing hawks and letting out dogs, blocking the front and cutting off the back, launching a search of the mountains and subduing demons in the vast deep mountains.

The scroll kept unfolding, golden light spread, and mysterious charm shrouded: searching mountains and subduing demons, capturing dragons and beheading flood dragons, splitting mountains to save his mother...

Telling one legend after another.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the cold-looking youth suddenly raised his head, stepped out of the scroll, his body expanded, and amidst the endless golden light, a golden light shot out from his divine eye on his forehead.

"Boom!!"

Lin Qi's consciousness was instantly hit by the golden light...

【Template: Erlang Zhenjun · Yang Jian (Fusion Degree 1%)】

"This is..."

Lin Qi came back to his senses and looked at the panel, which had already undergone a huge change. In the template column, "None" had already become Erlang Zhenjun.

Behind it appeared the words "Fusion Degree 1%".

The next second, a massive amount of information rushed into his consciousness.

"The higher the fusion degree, the higher the martial path talent. At 100%, you completely possess Erlang Zhenjun's talent."

Lin Qi sorted out the information, and a trace of realization appeared in his eyes.

At the same time, his heart was shocked: Erlang Shen?!!

Erlang Shen, a figure in mythology, in folk stories, novels, comics, and film and television works.

He had countless titles: Erlang the True Lord, True Lord of Pure Source and Wondrous Path, Lord of the River Source, Hunter God...

Gifted with talent, immense strength, boundless magic power, immortal primordial spirit, flesh becoming a saint...

All-around powerful, a hexagonal warrior.

Lin Qi couldn't help but be excited; this was Erlang Shen, he was an immortal, the strongest existence among the third-generation disciples under the Primeval Lord of Heaven in mythology.

Even if it was only 1% of his talent, it was still a genius in the eyes of others.

"Ah!!"

Just as he was excited, a mysterious energy injected into his body, and in an instant, a strong sense of pain exploded from his body.

"Click, click~"

The bones in his body broke in an instant, hurting Lin Qi so much that his whole face twisted.

This was the template talent's transformation!!

Lin Qi reacted; the process of talent fusion was also the process of body transformation and reshaping.

Fearing that his parents would worry, he struggled to take out his dirty martial arts uniform from his backpack and twisted it into a ball to bite in his mouth.

"Click, click!!"

"Ah, ah, ah!!"

Pain, too painful!

Bones breaking, muscles tearing, numbness, itching—compared to the pain of standing in a stance, this was simply enjoyment.

Genetic optimization, the entire body was reshaping, tendons, bones, and muscles, and his physique was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.

Lin Qi was like a caterpillar, struggling on the ground, sweat flowing and mixing with dust.

He didn't know how long he persisted, but Lin Qi lost consciousness.

Three hours later, 11:30.

"Whoosh~"

The stifling temperature, accompanied by the whirring sound of the fan, Lin Qi slowly opened his eyes.

The scene from just now appeared in his mind, and he still had lingering fears; it was too painful, simply worse than death, the ten great tortures were nothing compared to this.

"Whoosh~"

Finally over.

When he crawled up from the ground, looking at himself in the mirror on the wardrobe, he was covered in dust, and the sticky sweat made him feel uncomfortable.

"Gurgle~"

The next second, a sound came to his ears, and intense hunger surged into his mind with lightning speed.

"Water, food!" Lin Qi quickly opened the drawer, took out the remaining red Qi and Blood capsules and swallowed them all, then ate piece after piece of compressed biscuits, which were the snacks he usually used to fill his hunger after training.

He ate them mouthful by mouthful, and after a short while, he finished them all.

He opened the refrigerator, picked up a bottle of drink, and drank it frantically. After drinking three bottles, he continued to eat.

Looking at the fruits and leftovers in the refrigerator, he began to wolf them down.

After eating, Lin Qi felt satisfied.

But suddenly, a strange smell drifted in the air.

"Sniff~ Sniff~"

"What's that smell? Ugh?"

Lin Qi smelled a foul odor, like the filth in a sewer that had been sealed for several years.

It was also emanating from his own body. Looking at his body again, dust and sweat, and strands of black liquid—that was the waste metabolized by his body.

!

Ten minutes later.

Lin Qi walked out of the bathroom, feeling comfortable all over as he lay directly on the bed, feeling reborn.

"I've come back to life!"

Looking at the ceiling, he had a sense of satisfaction from being full.

Lin Qi felt that his whole body was relaxed, as if he had undergone a marrow-cleansing.

Before he could think carefully, fatigue and sleepiness struck him unconsciously, and he fell into sleep.

The next day, September 2nd.

"Ding-a-ling!"

Lin Qi opened his eyes, and as usual, turned off the alarm and sat up from the bed.

The first second, he looked at the panel.

【You have awakened the Erlang Shen · Yang Jian template, the higher the fusion degree, the higher the talent.】

【Fused with Erlang Shen talent, your body has transformed, and your talent and comprehension have improved.】

【Your stomach's digestive ability has been strengthened.】

【Name: Lin Qi (17)】

【Profession: Wu Zhe】

【Template: Erlang Shen · Yang Jian (Fusion Degree: 1%)】

【Qi and Blood Value: 5.3→5.4】

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

【Fist Technique: Stage One 80%】

【Spear Technique: Stage One 60%】

【Body Technique: Stage One 57%】

Lin Qi looked silently at Erlang Shen in the template column, his calm heart also finding it hard to suppress his excitement.

Fusing Erlang Shen's talent, 1% of his talent had already strengthened his physical talent and comprehension.

Standing up and moving his body, he only felt endless energy surging from his body.

Although his Qi and Blood had only improved by 0.1, he felt that it was because of insufficient resources.

If he could eat enough Qi and Blood potions and other resources, his Qi and Blood value would improve crazily.

At the same time, he found that his body had become lighter, and the fatigue and soreness had been swept away.

Lin Qi clenched his fists, force transmitted from his waist, feeling better than ever before.

The fusion of talent not only reshaped his body, but in the words of novels, it was "cleansing the marrow."

"And it also relaxed my muscles, so I don't need to go for recuperation, saving a large sum of money."

After muttering to himself, he went out and entered the bathroom to wash up.

"Swish, swish~"

While brushing his teeth, looking at himself in the mirror, Lin Qi was surprised.

"I seem to have grown taller!"

Lin Qi was surprised to find that his height and physique had undergone subtle changes.

His shoulders were wider, and his muscle lines had become clearer.

After washing up, he came to the living room and compared himself to the height line on the wall.

"1.78 meters!"

Having grown two centimeters taller, Lin Qi felt happy.

In this era, martial arts practitioners, under sufficient nutrition, had an average height 10 to 20 centimeters taller than a few decades ago.

Male martial artists even had an average height exceeding 1.9 meters, having been pulled up by some martial artists over two meters tall.

"Xiao Qi is up, eat breakfast."

Fang Huiyi brought out buns and steamed bread and placed them on the table.

"Mom, your body hasn't recovered yet, you need to rest more, right?"

Lin Qi brewed black coffee and sat down.

"It's fine, I know my body, don't worry about me, eat more."

Fang Huiyi said nonchalantly.

Lin Qi looked at the amount on the table, which was twice as much as usual, and began to eat heartily.

He was indeed too hungry.

A few minutes later, the buns and steamed bread on the table were all eaten by Lin Qi.

"I'm leaving, I'm going to school."

"Be safe!"

Fang Huiyi watched Lin Qi go out, her face becoming fatigued again, and she glanced at the bedroom: "Let Ah Zhen sleep a bit more."

Then she turned and entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Lin Zhen.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 5 =====