Chapter 4: Transformation

The night was deep, and on the dim street, driverless cars sped past in an unceasing stream.

His aunt stayed at the hospital to care for the patient, and his cousin Chen Ruizhe was returning to Tieshi Street anyway, so he picked up Lin Qing along the way, saving on taxi fare.

Inside the car.

After giving the command “home,” the smart driver plotted the route and swiftly headed toward Tieshi Street, while he picked up his phone and began messaging old classmates.

Lin Qing sat quietly beside him, watching the street scenes flash rapidly by outside the window.

Soon after sending his messages and waiting for replies, Chen Ruizhe asked casually, “When Yanan asked you to quit just now, I noticed you hesitated—do you want to pursue the patrol officer path?”

“I’ve thought about it,” Lin Qing nodded. “But I haven’t decided yet.”

“You saw today how dangerous patrol work is.”

Chen Ruizhe frowned. “I don’t want to interfere with your life choices, but I still want to advise you: once you enroll as a martial arts special talent student, you can still take the police or military academy exams later, or even retake the college entrance exam if needed.”

He shook his head slightly. “Yanan suffered because of her low academic score—that’s why she joined the patrol force. If her college entrance scores had been high enough, she could’ve gone straight into police or military academy, where the job is safer and benefits are better, even if promotions are slower.”

Lin Qing naturally understood his cousin’s meaning.

Although urban outskirts across major cities were chaotic, the police didn’t need to go hunting for trouble like patrol officers did.

The military was even less active—in this era of global peace, their deployments were rare.

Precisely because of that, the patrol officer path suited Entropy Reversers best.

“I’m still considering.”

Lin Qing replied evasively. “There’s still half a year until the college entrance exam.”

“True. Think it over carefully,” Chen Ruizhe nodded. “But training martial arts is definitely right.”

…

The next morning, at the shooting range.

“Bang!”

After today’s eighty-first precise shot, a line of luminous text instantly appeared before Lin Qing’s eyes.

【‘Gunslinger’ skill fully completed】

“Finally…”

A faint smile touched Lin Qing’s eyes; he pretended to inspect the target while mentally calling up the Entropy Reverser interface.

The number of pre-advance items had restored to 1/1.

“Enough.”

Lin Qing placed the pistol on the table, removed his goggles and earplugs, and turned to An Instructor. “That’s it for today.”

“So soon?” The same bold, provocative An Instructor looked surprised.

“I just remembered I have something to take care of at home.”

Lin Qing made a casual excuse. “Instructor, I’m heading out.”

“Then… alright,” An Instructor nodded, then couldn’t help asking, “Will you come back?”

“Maybe.”

Lin Qing took off his shooting jacket and walked out without looking back.

…

Back home.

After confirming the security door was locked and all curtains drawn, Lin Qing summoned the Entropy Reverser interface.

The Four-Six Version of the Morning Practice had already been recorded by the interface, listed among the pre-advance items.

“Pre-advance ‘Four-Six Version of the Morning Practice.’”

As his will shifted, a flood of inexplicable information suddenly surfaced in his mind.

According to the Entropy Reverser’s calculations, theoretically, he needed to perfectly execute all twenty-four movements and breathing techniques of the practice, ensuring the absorbed mysterious energy fully integrated into every part of his body, for a total of sixty-five repetitions.

The next instant—

Lin Qing’s mind suddenly filled with memories of himself repeatedly practicing the Morning Practice.

With each attempt, the practice evolved from clumsy to proficient, then nearly perfect, every minute detail flawless.

Simultaneously, his breathing and blood circulation instinctively changed, while waves of mysterious energy flowed into his body, devoured by every single cell.

The mysterious energy surged continuously, causing his body to transform at an astonishing rate.

His heart pounded like a war drum, beating at an unprecedented frequency, pumping vast amounts of blood throughout his entire body.

Beneath his trembling skin, it felt as if giant earthworms writhed beneath the surface.

Lin Qing’s pupils shrank sharply; overwhelming pain surged through him. He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and sat down on the floor.

He endured in silence.

Moments passed.

When all anomalies ceased and calmed, Lin Qing finally opened his eyes. The world before him was now far clearer; his hearing had changed too—he could even hear the faint plop of sweat hitting the floor, feeling more energetic and mentally alert than ever before.

Though drenched in sweat and disheveled, he brimmed with vibrant vitality.

“Is this the state after fully mastering the Four-Six Version?”

Lin Qing stood up and tried a few empty strikes; as air was violently compressed, a whistling sound followed.

He tested military hand-to-hand combat techniques—his control and power had noticeably improved. A relieved smile appeared.

Not only had his explosive power increased, but his control over his muscles had improved dramatically.

As for the exact degree of improvement—

Lin Qing immediately used his home exercise equipment to accurately measure his current strength.

He didn’t know the rest, but his strength had at least doubled from before.

He felt a sense of transformation.

And a sense of security.

!.

…

“I heard that even after mastering the Morning Practice, you must repeatedly refine it until perfect to truly approach the body’s ‘first limit.’”

In the bathroom, Lin Qing stood under the showerhead, tilting his head as water washed over his sweat.

According to the Morning Martial Arts Gym’s official website—

This practice primarily adjusted breathing and blood circulation to maximize the body’s potential, thereby activating a dormant “mysterious energy” within.

Legend claimed this mysterious energy was the origin of evolution.

Only by truly finding the key and entering that peculiar state could one use the practice’s twenty-four movements and breathing techniques to activate the dormant mysterious energy.

At first, it was awkward; most of the activated energy would dissipate. Only through repeated attempts could one gradually refine it to perfection.

“I can achieve perfect practice every time—sixty-five repetitions shouldn’t take long…”

Lin Qing silently estimated.

Before this, he had never mastered the Four-Six Version.

Now, he had leapt straight to its limit.

This improvement was enormous.

And it was a comprehensive enhancement of his base physical attributes.

Combined with the hand-to-hand combat techniques he had pre-advanced and completed during the apocalypse in his past life, his combat capability was now vastly superior.

“This is still just the most simplified version of the Morning Practice. No wonder the Morning Martial Arts Gym…”

Lin Qing felt a quiet awe.

Though many martial arts gyms existed globally, one could say there was only one: the Morning Martial Arts Gym, with branches nearly everywhere.

Moreover, institutions involving force—police, patrol, military, security—used the Morning Martial Arts Gym’s ranking system as the standard for promotions.

It was nearly a complete monopoly, with absurdly high prestige.

Even the ZhiXing Group, a colossal extraterrestrial conglomerate, invested in the Morning Martial Arts Gym!

All of this stemmed from the gym’s founder, hailed as Earth’s hero.

The universally recognized pioneer of the strongest martial arts.

“Even the original Morning Practice is merely the foundation of martial arts.”

The more Lin Qing thought, the more astonished he became. “Just how strong was that founder?”

It was said the original Morning Practice consisted of seventy-two movements and an extremely complex breathing technique; once fully mastered, it could bring the human body close to its true limit.

But to practice the original version, one must first master the Seven-Seven Version.

“Learning the Four-Six Version is cheap, but the Seven-Seven Version costs money—somewhat expensive, at least twenty to thirty thousand.”

Lin Qing turned off the faucet. “But tomorrow I can apply for permanent status at the patrol bureau. Once I’m permanent, I can directly apply for free access to the Seven-Seven Version—no need to waste money.”

This was one of the patrol officer’s benefits.

Even without considering combat techniques, just saving money was substantial.

…

After drying his hair and tying it loosely at the back, Lin Qing walked to the living room and picked up his phone.

“Huh?”

Lin Qing suddenly noticed a message from the patrol bureau system sent half an hour ago.

“All patrol officers of the Xiao Shan District Branch must assemble at the patrol bureau auditorium at 10 a.m. Monday… a new team leader’s oath ceremony?”

“So soon? They’ve already appointed a new acting team leader?”

Lin Qing decided to go to the patrol bureau early tomorrow—first apply for permanent status, before dealing with a new boss’s three fires.

(End of chapter)