In the year 2518 AD, the ancient and vibrant blue planet had long entered a new era. Starships cruised through space and aircraft shuttled above urban areas, filled with a strong sense of science fiction.
Within a residential building in Yuzhang City, Jiangyou Province, Wang Xuan, a twenty-four-year-old young man from the Dragon Mountain area, stood at 1.78 meters tall, which wasn't excessively tall.
However, his shoulders were broad and his frame was robust, adorned in a simple gray short sleeve shirt that sagged loosely, revealing clusters of muscularity that seemed to carry the power of a tiger and bear. In ancient times, he would undoubtedly be a formidable general.
He woke up at half past four in the morning, silently holding a posture stance for two hours, from dark to dawn as people gradually woke, until most of the residents in the area started lighting and washing up.
Wang Xuan held his stance on the balcony, watching all of this.
He had been practicing the Mixed Element Stance for many years, having reached the Small Success Realm for a while, yet was unable to achieve Great Success.
To cleanse the bone marrow, one must start with the posture stance.
In the Body Refining Seventh Realm, from muscle training to Bone Marrow Forging and Blood Exchange, the posture stance plays a crucial role. This special posture can not only enhance strength and endurance but also refine the bone marrow and internal organs.
A little past six, Wang Xuan finished his stance and fetched breakfast made by the artificial intelligence in the kitchen, starting his morning meal which included not only meat and vegetables but also medicinal herbs that replenished energy and blood.
Martial pursuits are costly; a middle-class family must tighten the belt to properly support a child's cultivation, but this is a valuable lifelong investment.
"Xiaoyi, are there any important news? Pick the important events and tell me about them." Wang Xuan instructed.
The personal terminal's intelligence was powerful enough to handle most of the trivialities for its owner, understanding personal behavior habits and prioritizing importance.
"Yes." A voice, hard to distinguish as male or female, came from the personal terminal on the table.
"Recently, the Celestial Eye captured an increase in high-level demon beasts in the Australian region, with frequent activity. The East Coast has also seen the appearance of suspected Flood Dragon creatures.
The Divine Gene Group is researching Flood Dragon genes and is willing to purchase Flood Dragon blood at a high price, offering a bottle of Moon Spirit Gene Potion in return. The potion is designed to create a physique with affinity to Yue Ling, enhancing Moonlight absorption efficiency by ten percent.
The Starry Sky Mecha Group has developed a new thin inner armor for military and civilian use, named Executioner Shield No. 1. Its defense is comparable to one-centimeter thick titanium steel, and it has sparked a pre-order craze even before its market release.
Following Medaya Mountain in South America, a new forbidden zone has appeared in the Siberian Region, with Abyss Mountain's perimeter of one hundred miles filled with eerie energies, devoid of vegetation and wildlife, drawing serious attention from the Federation.
Netherworld Star Realm experienced a rebellion with over eight thousand civilian casualties. After a day of fierce battles, the Federation swiftly suppressed the uprising and captured the main figures. The principal suspect faces certain death upon judgment.
In Jupiter Immigrant Region, the cult Nether God Sect resurfaced, converting thousands of citizens into followers. During a public ceremony, a large police operation was obstructed. Those stubborn cult followers were either exiled.
The Federation's major army engagement with the Evolution Realm has shown significant progress. Massive quantities of cultivation materials may soon flow to Earth. The Wizard Realm is sensitive to the Federation's approach, making cooperation with Earth challenging, risking war."
Accompanied by the news, Wang Xuan consumed his breakfast, caring little for Mother Star's celebrity gossip or television and entertainment programs.
Earth, this blue planet, has undergone multiple leaps and now exists in an era where technology and cultivation coexist. The strong soar through the skies and traverse the cosmos, splitting planets with micro black hole weapons and antimatter weapons.
The Solar System teems with human presence, and amid alterations, Earth's surface area far surpasses that of the twenty-first century, commanding a hundredfold, being termed Mother Star, the center of Solar System civilization, with a population exceeding six trillion.
Apart from the Solar System, Mother Star has many Affiliated Star Domains, such as Purple Crystal Star Domain, Barbaric Star Domain, Three-Eyed Star Domain, Red Moon Star Domain, Ghost God Star Domain, transforming stars within Xingyu. After years of colonization, these star domains' populations collectively far surpass those of the Solar System.
Compared to the era of nations five hundred years ago, the current Federation era is a time when technology has developed to an incredible fantasy level, a mythic era bursting with powerful beings.
The cultivation room spans over thirty square meters. Once inside, Wang Xuan's gentle aura was swept away, replaced by strength and power, akin to a fierce bear. His aggressive evil qi deterred casual approach.
He then began his practice, his body performing various movements, resembling yoga and jujitsu at first, and shortly turning as fierce as tigers and leopards.
All citizens of the Federation can cultivate the Thirty-Six Techniques, boosting strength and stretching tendons and bones, serving as an excellent martial art foundation.
The Federation utilized super intelligence, fusing yoga, jujitsu, xiangyi, bajiquan, along with Buddhist and Daoist incantation and breath techniques, to derive the broadest and most effective martial art possible.
Having achieved mastery long ago, Wang Xuan practiced the Thirty-Six Techniques for an hour, fully activating his muscles and bones, and then connected these techniques into continuous sequences.
Soft as a boneless snake, firm as a stepping elephant on earth, the wind whistled between his punches and kicks, unleashing Wang Xuan's speed and strength.
After twenty minutes, his body broke into a light sweat, significantly raising the room temperature, indicative of the energy expended, exceeding a long-distance run.
His practice lasted until ten o'clock, with Wang Xuan, now brimming with energy and like a blazing furnace, having long exhausted the nutrients from breakfast, promptly consuming two Grain Avoidance Pills.
Just one Grain Avoidance Pill suffices for an ordinary person to skip meals for a day and still remain full of vitality, highlighting the dense nutrition packed within, a piece as small as a fingertip matches three meals.
Standing in the living room posture stance, he sensed the changes in his energy and blood, and another hour passed. Wang Xuan, with condensed energy and blood, recognized familiar footsteps, bringing a smile to his face, quickly followed by knocking at the door.
Once finished, Wang Xuan strode across the room, covering meters with each step until he reached the entrance, opening the door with a loud click.
A girl of about ten stood at the entrance, holding a lunch box, and said politely, "Uncle Wang Xuan, Xiaowei has brought you food."
The girl was fair and tender, her cheeks touched with a hint of blush, appearing very cute and innocently endearing to anyone who saw her.
"Xiaowei, you must be tired. Come in and sit down." Uncle Wang gently ruffled Su Xiaowei's hair, so smooth and silky that it was irresistible.
Uncle Wang opened the lunchbox, revealing a large portion of rice and two dishes. The aroma was inviting, whetting one's appetite.
It's easy to guess that this was made by Xiaowei's aunt, Bai Yuzhen. As for the young girl's sister, Su Qiubai, a sixteen-year-old girl, her culinary skills were much inferior; when Wang Xuan tried her cooking, he could only say it was edible.
On the living room sofa, Uncle Wang poured the young girl a cup of tea. The spirit tea was sweet and fragrant, and after drinking it, one could cleanse the body and strengthen themselves. It's a drink that cultivators use to keep their internal organs clean. Naturally, it was also quite expensive, costing one hundred thousand yuan for five hundred grams of tea leaves.
This sum of money seems substantial, but if used for cultivation, it wouldn't last Wang Xuan more than two days. Moreover, he could earn money himself, despite the high risks involved.
Uncle Wang ate heartily. He consumed a considerable amount of energy each day due to his cultivation practice, and his appetite was now voracious. Su Xiaowei held the teacup in her small hands and took a tiny sip. The fragrance was refreshing, making her squint her eyes into crescent moons.
Five minutes later, Uncle Wang cleared the plate swiftly and handed the lunchbox to the young girl. "Time to head back."
"Goodbye, Uncle Wang." The little girl bounced away happily.
Watching Su Xiaowei enter the house across the hall, Uncle Wang smiled before finally closing the door.
Through the two doors, the voice of the young girl's sister complaining reached his ears.
"That guy stays home all day. I heard he's a failed internet author. This deadbeat doesn't know how he's ruining our family!" The voice was sweet and pleasant; she was a very pretty girl.
The house Uncle Wang was currently renting was the former home of the two girls, but their parents had passed away during a demon beast disaster, so their aunt Bai Yuzhen returned to the city to take care of them.
Next, an adult woman's voice, gentle and soothing, spoke in guidance, "Wasn't he injured a month ago? He probably hasn't recovered yet. We should show more care. You're not allowed to be capricious."
"My sister is so stingy." Su Xiaowei stuck her little tongue out.
...
In the afternoon, it was time for practice again, no longer the Thirty-Six Techniques, but the Fierce Bull Fist, a forceful attack fist technique that he had already mastered to Great Success.
He then began a medicinal bath, pouring two bottles of potion into a large tub with a diameter of 1.5 meters and filling it with hot water, immersing his whole body into it.
Just this one medicinal bath cost two to three thousand Star Yuan, equivalent to a few months' salary for an ordinary person. Within a month of cultivation, Wang Xuan had already spent most of his savings.
He didn't stop until nearly eleven o'clock at night.
In the bedroom, he pulled out a long, rectangular box from under the bed, opening it and skillfully assembling it. Within a few breaths, a heavy sniper rifle, two meters long, appeared.
Holding the fifty to sixty pounds heavy sniper rifle with one hand, Wang Xuan seemed to handle it effortlessly, as though it were a mere clothes pole.
Slightly crouched, Wang Xuan lifted the sniper rifle like a posture stance, targeting the light spots in the room, constantly shifting direction.
After half an hour, a slightly weary Wang Xuan finally took a break, marking the end of the day.
At night, Wang Xuan expertly operated a cultivation technique focused on breathing exercises that consumed most of his energy every day. Even when asleep, his subconscious would automatically control its operation.
From four-thirty in the morning to eleven-thirty at night, Wang Xuan spent all his time cultivating, resting only for two or three hours to read books or write something, not slacking off for a single day.
Even during those reading times or while sleeping, he was still operating that cultivation technique, performing breath exercises.
Cultivation is never an easy task; it requires great willpower and determination, or else it's like sailing against the current.
The night deepened, and Wang Xuan lay in bed, silently reciting a phrase as a panel appeared.
Name: Wang Xuan
Age: Twenty-four
Height: 1.78 meters
Weight: Ninety kilograms
...
Cultivation Skills: Mixed Element Stance Minor Achievement (Acceleratable), Golden Bell Shield Minor Achievement (Acceleratable), Fierce Bull Fist Great Success (Acceleratable) ...
Source Point: Zero
Wang Xuan clicked somewhat absentmindedly on the words "Acceleratable." However, each time he clicked, a prompt informed him, "Insufficient Source Points, unable to accelerate."
Shaking his head and letting out a helpless sigh, Wang Xuan drifted into dreamland.