Chapter 3

“What the hell are you?”

…

Under the eaves of the old house, Lin Tuo asked seriously.

What happened just now was so mysterious. If you said it, no one would have believed it.

And following his question, the Evolving Sand Table in his mind actually answered:

[The host trigger keyword is detected and the “Novice Guide” is turned on]

[Evolving Sand Table: A Tool with Mysterious Origins]

[Main function: Assist the host to collect “Ether” energy to achieve life level promotion.]

Lin Tuo, who was sitting under the eaves, was startled. So he really found a system, right?

Is this system a tool for collecting so-called “Ether” energy?

“What is Ether?” Lin Tuo tried to ask.

He still remembered that in the observation mode, Yangcheng in the sand table had a low ether concentration.

[Ether: The stream of consciousness that composes space, the first most basic element created when the spiritual world creates the world of material phenomena. A mysterious gas that exists widely in the universe. A place where intelligent life prospers, has the power to raise the Ether levels…]

While explaining, Lin Tuo only felt that a large amount of relevant information flooded into his mind. He couldn’t help holding his forehead, closing his eyes and combing for a while before finally understanding it.

In simple terms, the so-called “Ether” is similar to the spiritual energy in cultural and entertainment works, and it is a substance that is associated with life.

It comes from the ‘spiritual world’ in the sense of occult.

If we followed the information given by the Evolving Sandbox Table..

In the universe, as long as intelligent life appears on any planet, Ether will appear.

The amount and concentration of Ether are closely related to the overall quality of intelligent life on the planet.

In other words.

Ether is widely present in all human gathering places on the earth, whether in cities or villages.

If all people have a good physical health and mental state, then the greater the population, the greater the amount of Ether injected into the material world from the ‘spiritual world’.

If the population is constant, then the stronger the body and the better the mental outlook, the more Ether will be produced.

Therefore, on Earth, the concentration of Ether above cities is much higher than that in rural areas. Economically and culturally developed areas have a higher Ether concentration than poor land.

The amount of Ether also changes dynamically with the state of intelligent life.

In short, if the world is peaceful and the country is prosperous, the Ether concentration will increase.

Once there is war, famine, illness… etc., the concentration of Ether will decrease.

[TN: Calling it, China is for some reason the best country ever to live in lol.]

The Ether is invisible under normal circumstances, but it can be observed and absorbed by special means to realize the evolution of life.

And this Evolving Sandbox Table is a tool that assists in collecting ether.

…

Opening his eyes again, Lin Tuo let out a sigh of relief. He understood the meaning of this system and immediately became interested in the so-called Ether.

“According to what you said, how should I collect Ether?”

[Please follow the instructions]

[Click on the virtual panel to return to the main page]

With the information in his mind, Lin Tuo was stunned and focused again on the virtual panel on the retina. At this moment, it was still in the Observation Mode, but because he left the sand table, his field of vision was empty.

Observing carefully, he discovered that in the upper left corner of the virtual panel, there was a small, very light “return” icon he hadn’t noticed before.

“So, this Observation Mode is just a subpage?”

He tried to “click” with his mind.

The virtual panel changes immediately, exiting the Observation Mode and returning to the main page.

From a designer’s point of view… the main page is… boringly simple.

On the left are two lines of text arranged up and down, namely:

[Observation Mode]

[Creative Mode]

A little farther on the right, there was a Mall button hanging alone.

Otherwise, there was nothing left.

‘Please open Mall’

“I wonder what this button could lead to..”

Lin Tuo complained in his heart, and opened it with his mind.

Immediately, the “Mall” page pops up.

It was also pretty empty.

There are only two products in the mall:

[Breathing Method: Free]

[Observation range: 1,000 points/10,000 square kilometers]

Lin Tuo first set his sights on the latter, and then an explanation window popped up next to him. He briefly browsed, which probably meant that he could spend Ether and buy the observation range in the mall.

That is: the city area displayed by the sand table in his observation mode.

For example, now he can only observe Yangcheng and its surroundings, a total of about 15,000 square kilometers of land. If he wants to expand his scope of observation, he can purchase vision with Ether points.

Every expansion of 10,000 square kilometers requires 1,000 points of Ether.

‘How much Ether do I have now?’ Lin Tuo asked in his mind.

[Current Ether Points of the host: 0]

“…Alright.”

He decisively averted his gaze and looked at the free “breathing method”. Not surprisingly, this should be the method of collecting Ether.

Buy!

Click with his mind, and in the next second, Lin Tuo saw a successful purchase button, and then a large piece of information poured into his mind.

[Please enter the Observation Mode and use the breathing method to collect.]

Lin Tuo immediately got up, returned to the old house, came to the sand table, and entered the Observation Mode again.

In the sand table, Yangcheng City was still operating normally. Cars passing on the highway in an orderly manner, and in places like shopping malls and movie theaters, densely populated citizens conducted their daily lives.

Over the city, there were still dark clouds stacked, and the hollow cloud layer torn by Lin Tuo has been restored.

“Huh?” However, this time, Lin Tuo saw some new things in the sky above the city and above the clouds.

He saw that there were strands of illusory, blue-white gas floating in the sky. Like turbulence, it was undulating and fluctuating, very different from the clouds. The central area of the city has more and the farther out, the thinner.

When it reached the edge of the sand table, that is, the sky over the suburbs of the city and the countryside, it was even thinner and almost invisible.

“Is this Ether?”

As if Lin Tuo realized something, he moved in his heart and approached instinctively and then adjusted his breathing rhythm to operate the breating method.

Immediately, he saw that the blue and white gas seemed to be attracted, slowly gathering towards Lin Tuo from above the sand table and it was being sucked into his body by his mouth and nose.

This scene was extremely strange. In a blink of an eye, in Yancheng City, the Ether produced by nearly six million permanent residents was consumed by Lin Tuo!

The residents of the city had no idea about it.

According to the evolving sand table, Ether is a kind of energy. If it is not collected, it will be wasted, plundered away and will not have any impact on intelligent life.

Moreover, it only takes a while for the intelligent life to regenerate the Ether.

However, at this moment Lin Tuo had no heart to think about this. When the blue and white gas entered his body, he only felt that the cells in his body were awakened.

It was like a long drought and a cold rain.

An unspeakable refreshment made it hard to let go of this feeling. It’s evolution!

Lin Tuo’s whole body suddenly rose to a high temperature and the Ether in his meridians was like a river. He felt as if there was infinite power in his body and wanted to vent it somehow.

“Wow!”

Lin Tuo turned around, jumped, walked out of the old house and came to the spacious patio in the middle of the house. It was also the martial arts field of the martial arts hall.

Standing still in the center of the martial arts field, Lin Tuo’s mind moved and suddenly put on a starting pose, and then, it felt like his whole life was changed!

His eyes were shining like stars, his body moves at will, his back was like a bow. He punched out, almost too eager, causing a bang noise in the courtyard!

“Wow…”

When his fist hit the air, in the courtyard, the lonely grass swayed, and the leaves of the centuries-old trees in the courtyard wall rustled.

This is not the breathing method, but the family martial arts practiced by Lin Tuo since childhood.

A powerful boxing technique passed down by Lin Tuo’s Grandpa.

Wuzu Boxing!

Its highest levels simulate all kinds of weapons with human muscles and limbs. Simple and pure while strongly advocating killing.

After reaching that realm, you can disarm your soldiers with bare hands. Destroying the weak. Extremely terrifying.

This style of boxing is not well-known, and few people know it. Lin Tuo doesn’t know the origin. He only knows that it is passed down from generation to generation in his family.

For more than 20 years, he has been so familiar with all kinds of tricks.

However, until today, Lin Tuo has never felt that this technique was so handy and natural.

Combining the breathing rhythm of the breathing method, mobilizing the Ether in his body, Lin Tuo’s figure is as fast as lightning. He started to practice the whole boxing set from beginning to end.

Fist, finger, elbow, waist, knee, shin, foot…

Every joint and every limb was forged like fine gold, cracking into the air at every turn, sinking vigorously.

In particular, as he completed half of the whole set of Wuzu Boxing, Lin Tuo seemed to be immersed in a strange state. He felt that for twenty years, he had only learned and practiced until this moment.

There were layers of understanding in his heart, and they kept emerging. Gradually, his movements got smoother. In his pores, strands of blue and white breath poured out, enveloping his whole body.

“Return!”

When the whole boxing technique came to an end, Lin Tuo let out a low , swung his right hand to the side, and turned his wrist to make a holding gesture.

In the next second, the strands of blue and white breath turned into an illusory short spear!

Swish!

Lin Tuo raised his arm slightly, and threw this short spear made of blue and white aura towards the sky!

The short spear flew out a hundred meters, disintegrated and exploded in mid-air, making a huge roar like thunder.

Boom!

…

The foot of the mountain.

Some residents near the foot of the mountain suddenly raised their heads at this moment, looking at the sky with piles of clouds in wonder, and muttered:

“Where is it thundering? It doesn’t seem like it’s going to rain…”

“Who knows… the weather forecast is not always accurate…”

Although the sound was loud, it did not leave a lasting impression on the residents after it had faded for a while.

…

In the martial arts field.

Lin Tuo stood quietly in the patio, sweating all over.

“Is this… the Wuzu Boxing I am familiar with?”