Dawn of a New Era

The Shell Lady squatted on a large tree nearby, each of her hands holding a plump little insect. She watched the Giant in the distance continuously pounding on the tree, yawned out of boredom, watched for a while longer, and then stopped paying attention to the Giant. She lowered her head, placed the two insects on a branch, and began to poke at them with her fingers.

"Hmm, one of them seems to have stopped moving."

She hurriedly grabbed the half-dead insect, shook it with force, and pinched it again.

Despite her small size, her grip was by no means weak. The poor insect was squeezed so that its body kept expanding and contracting, and green liquid and excrement were squeezed out of it.

After fussing with it for a while, the Shell Lady placed the insect back on the branch and disappointedly found that it still didn't move. Without any attachment, she threw the insect off the tree and focused all her attention on the other one, which was still crawling with some strength.

...

The indentation on the tree grew bigger and bigger, and after ten or so minutes, the tree finally broke and fell with a loud crash.

Chen Shouyi glanced at his bloody fist, waited for half a minute, and then rubbed off the scab. Fresh pink skin was revealed on the back of his hand, and the skin became visibly thicker and darker. Three to four minutes later, it gradually became consistent with his other skin, and the differences became less noticeable.

Chen Shouyi felt the back of his hand, carefully experiencing the sensation:

"It seems to have some effect. The newly generated skin is slightly thicker than before, and it seems to have become tougher."

Chen Shouyi didn't find it miraculous. The skin of someone who works outside every day is naturally more resilient than that of someone who stays home all the time. It is a natural adaptation to the environment, with the skin producing corresponding defenses as a stress response.

Due to the existence of Natural Healing, he shortened this adaptation process to thousands of times. Effects that typically require months could be seen in just half an hour.

Chen Shouyi immediately decided to experiment a little.

He found another large tree and used the same strength as before, this time slightly increasing his force from twenty percent to twenty-five percent.

However, after just one punch, he stopped in pain, almost breaking his bones.

Looking at his bloody fist, Chen Shouyi thought to himself, "The effect doesn't seem to be that apparent."

Yet, he didn't feel disappointed. He had initially only tried it on a whim, without any real expectations. Besides, increasing physical strength isn't something that can be achieved with such crude and primitive methods.

He opened the attribute panel and took a glance, noticing that the half-hour practice had increased his unarmed combat skill.

...

Though it was just past noon, Chen Shouyi returned early.

After returning to the Safe Zone, he turned into a bookstore and headed straight to the section with Martial Arts Books. In the entire store, this section had the most people, mostly youths and teenagers, though there were also quite a few older individuals.

It was evident that the current situation had led to more people practicing Martial Arts, and the atmosphere was becoming more and more prominent.

The books here were introductory material for beginners in Martial Arts.

Placed in the bestseller section was a book titled "New Edition: Thirty-Six Physical Training Methods and Insights," surrounded by a crowd,

but these books didn't interest Chen Shouyi at all. He carefully searched through several bookshelves, looking for a long time without finding what he wanted.

Over the past twenty years, Martial Arts had developed rapidly, and some old training methods, having little effect, were gradually being replaced and ignored. After all, it was better to practice standard Martial Arts, as it was promoted by the government and had tangible results.

Leaving the bookstore, Chen Shouyi looked slightly disappointed:

"If only the internet was still around. I could easily search for this stuff. But with the current situation, where can I find these books?"

Suddenly, his eyes lit up: "Jiangnan University!"

As one of the top universities in the Great Xia Country, there should be Martial Arts laboratories, and with them, a collection of related books wouldn't be lacking. Exercises like the Thirty-Six Physical Trainings and Internal Practice are not conjured out of thin air; they are consolidated from various ancient and modern domestic and international training methods, refining them and continuously modifying and perfecting them.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and he eagerly headed to Jiangnan University.

Before long, he found Guan Miao again.

The two walked to a secluded corner.

"What do you want with me now?" Guan Miao asked coldly.

"I need you to help me borrow some books," said Chen Shouyi straightforwardly, seemingly unconcerned by her rejection.

"The sun must be rising in the west. A big brute like you suddenly wants to study?" Guan Miao scoffed.

Initially feeling somewhat hopeful, Chen Shouyi's anger flared at her words.

"Damn it, can't you talk properly?"

But realizing he needed her help, he swallowed his anger and said impatiently, "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Is this how you ask for favors? You called me out here just to have a professor borrow books for you? Am I not busy?" Guan Miao sneered.

"You're just an associate!" Chen Shouyi's face darkened, his fists creaking in his hands, "Stop wasting time. Don't make me resort to force."

"What books do you need?" Guan Miao's expression changed, and she took a step back, capitulating.

As expected, you can't speak gently with this woman.

"Books on traditional martial arts, like hard Qi Gong, Iron Cloth Shirt, anything that trains physical defense. The more, the better! To prevent you from going through the motions, at least a hundred," Chen Shouyi added a condition to avoid being perfunctorily treated.

The more samples, the richer the knowledge. Then the Book of Knowledge's deductions would likely be more effective.

"That's impossible!" Guan Miao exclaimed in shock at Chen Shouyi's huge request, and seeing his face darkening, she quickly explained, "Even if I'm a professor, I can't borrow that many books at once."

"How many can you borrow?"

"Twenty!" Guan Miao replied, pausing before adding, "But I still have eight that I haven't returned, so I can only give you twelve."

"Are you lying to me?" Chen Shouyi asked with suspicion.

"How dare I lie to you? Aren't I afraid of being beaten?" Guan Miao turned her head, pouted, and replied mockingly.

"If only twelve, then twelve for now!" said Chen Shouyi.

...

At the library entrance, Chen Shouyi had been waiting for over half an hour when Guan Miao finally came out with a disgruntled expression and handed him a stack of books.

"When will you return them?" Guan Miao asked coldly.

Golden Bell Shield, Iron Cloth Shirt, Crimson Palm, Iron Head Skill, Iron Crotch Skill, Hard Qi Gong, Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training...

Each book wasn't thick, at most a few dozen pages. Chen Shouyi checked them and said, "I'll return them to you tomorrow. If it's not enough, I might need you to help borrow some more!"

Guan Miao's expression became even more displeased.