Chapter 1: Lin Qi (Please follow/read)

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

It was the sweltering heat of September, and the entire city was shrouded in stifling warmth.

Rongshan Residential Complex, Building 4, Room 301.

5:30 AM.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep!"

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

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

Looking around, it was a cramped bedroom.

The bed was a bunk bed, with various pieces of luggage piled onto the top bunk, and an old, brown wooden desk sat beside the bed.

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

Beneath his feet, he trampled a massive, hideous black dragon-like beast.

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

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

【Either accept the status quo or change it. Change always requires a price, and hard work is the ladder to becoming a powerhouse — The Red Emperor, The World's Strongest】

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

A small space was cleared in the middle of the less than 15-square-meter room, the floor covered in the deep footprints of time.

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

He opened the door and entered the tiny bathroom to wash up.

"Swish, swish!"

Brushing his teeth and washing his face were done in one go, rinsing away the grime and leaving him feeling refreshed.

Lin Qi looked at himself in the mirror: 1.75 meters tall, a lean and toned physique, sharp and handsome features, eyes full of spirit and masculinity, with a cold, stern air between his brows.

Exiting the bathroom, a burly, shirtless man sat on the sofa in the living room; the worn-out sofa had long since faded.

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

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

"Click, click~"

After a few movements, the five fingers of the prosthetic stiffened and began to move, mimicking a normal arm.

"Morning, Xiao Qi!"

The burly man smiled when he saw Lin Qi. He had a resolute face, every inch of his skin bearing the traces of a hard life.

"Morning, Dad!"

Lin Qi nodded.

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

"I'm going to the hospital today to pick up your mother. She just finished her surgery; she should have stayed in the hospital longer."

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

"Today is the first day of your senior year, work hard at your martial arts."

"Do you still have enough money?"

Lin Zhen nagged as he gave instructions, his hands moving quickly—lighting the stove, frying an egg, heating up pre-made buns and steamed bread...

【Balance: 66.6】

"I have enough money..."

Lin Qi glanced at his phone balance and said nonchalantly, then took a packet 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 downed it in one gulp. The bitter taste filled his mouth, and he felt fully awake.

In 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 nearly worn through, and grabbed his backpack.

"Dad, I'm leaving."

"Alright!"

Lin Zhen’s resolute voice came from the kitchen, followed by the sounds of him staying busy.

...

Three minutes later.

After leaving the complex, Lin Qi hopped on his antique bicycle and rode down the spacious street.

"Hoo~"

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

"Martial Arts Era, year 1999!"

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

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

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

"Just when people felt the disaster had passed, the true catastrophe arrived."

"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 they were named—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 seedlings in a field, plowed clean; everything became ruins."

"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 tides."

"Facing the arrival 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, humans discovered that their physical fitness had improved significantly, and some even awakened special abilities, like superhumans."

"Facing the endless Calamity Beasts, ancient martial arts also regained new vitality."

"The war between humanity and the Calamity Beasts thus began..."

By the roadside were bustling streets, skyscrapers, and shops with electronic screens playing the latest news on Calamity Beasts.

Lin Qi listened silently to the history lesson audio.

He had heard this history countless times; he could recite it backward.

"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 who died of overwork after a month of continuous overtime.

When he opened his eyes again, he had been born into this world as an infant.

Before 1999, this world was almost identical to Earth, but from that year onward, it underwent earth-shattering changes.

It transformed directly from an ordinary human world into a world of martial arts and transcendence.

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 about it, and in a mysterious region of his mind, amidst endless darkness, a tattered golden banner appeared.

The banner was covered in cracks, as if it had been through some great battle, leaving only a fragment behind.

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

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

Thinking of this, a strange light seemed to flicker in Lin Qi's vision—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】

【Techniques: Hunyuan Stance (Great Success), Tiger Form Fist (Minor Success), Basic Spear Technique (Minor Success)】

【Fist Technique: Tier 1, 80%】

【Spear Technique: Tier 1, 60%】

【Movement Technique: Tier 1, 57%】

...

This was the panel provided by the golden tattered banner, allowing him to clearly view his martial arts progress.

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

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

He had even mentally prepared himself to take off.

The result disappointed him; the panel's function was very simple—it could only view his various data, giving him a clear understanding of his martial arts.

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

Being able to check his progress at any time—this feeling of seeing his own growth gave him the motivation to work hard.

This function alone was better than what countless others had.

Having had the panel for half a year, his martial arts had improved significantly; what more could he ask for?

As a high school senior, war and Calamity Beasts were too far away from him; those were matters for the future.

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

Thinking this, 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 go up 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 finally know what this was.

He had a premonition that the template was very important to him—it was the key to his future path in martial arts.

...

(End of chapter)