Hu Yue’er and Zhao Liangying looked at each other. It was rare for the two of them to be on the same page. They immediately acted like a baby in front of Ye Lingchen, feigning misery while simultaneously acting cute.
“Stop!” Ye Lingchen quickly held down the two of them so that they were motionless for a moment. Then, he let out a long sigh of relief, “In any case, both of you are still goddesses. Do you still value your image or not?”
“No! You’re giving us diet therapy, aren’t you?” Zhao Liangying looked at Ye Lingchen fiercely.
“It’s not like they’re streaming live now. What are you afraid of? If you don’t agree, we’ll keep pestering you,” Hu Yue’er said too.
Ye Lingchen smiled bitterly. “Be good and go to bed right now, both of you. I’ll cook fish soup for you two tomorrow.”
“Really?” Hu Yue’er and Zhao Liangying’s eyes lit up. They looked at Ye Lingchen in suspicion and surprise.
Ye Lingchen nodded. “Mm. I’ll change my mind if you guys still don’t head up.”
Zhao Liangying and Hu Yue’er immediately cheered and ran upstairs.
Ye Lingchen touched his nose helplessly before going up as well.
Nights in the countryside were exceptionally quiet.
The same held true in the early morning. The occasional crowing chicken or chirping insect might be heard, but it was not noisy at all. In fact, it made people closer to nature.
Even if Hu Yue’er and Zhao Liangying disturbed Ye Lingchen late last night, he still managed to wake up early.
His biological clock had been set long ago and he was never in the habit of taking a nap. Moreover, after learning how to refine Qi, his constitution had also been greatly improved. He would remain very energetic even if he did not sleep all day.
At that moment, even Huang Lei—who was supposed to get up to cook breakfast—did not wake up. Ye Lingchen got out of bed, freshened himself up, then walked out of the Mushroom Hut and went to the pavilion.
The pavilion’s location could be regarded as rather excellent. It was not too isolated and off the beaten track, but it allowed one to have a panoramic view of the scenery.
At that point, the sun had not risen and the sky was just beginning to light up. The entire mountain was shrouded in mist and so were the villages at the foot of the mountain.
The mist was endless, like a fairyland.
The fog was formed by morning dew and it was vastly different from the smog from the city—not only was it harmless; it was refreshing too. When one took a deep breath and the air flowed from the throat to the trachea to the lungs, one’s entire person would become incredibly energetic.
Ye Lingchen stood there motionless for a long time. He soaked in the mountain’s tranquil morning and felt his entire body becoming relaxed.
At that point, he did not want to do anything and did not think of anything. He was simply feeling it all.
Of course, it was not to say that he had achieved detachment. It was just a momentary feeling of inspiration.
Secularity and people were inseparable. How many of those Daoist priests in Daoist temples or monks in Buddhist temples could treat worldliness as a mere illusion? If anyone did retreat to live in seclusion, stand aloof from the world, and become out of touch with society, it was all too easy to be driven into madness.
Peace might sometimes bring people spiritual enjoyment, but if it continued forever, it would turn into suffering and end up being a waste of life.
At the same time, a crew member came out of the Mushroom Hut and was already starting to prepare for that day’s filming.
However, they were all taken aback when they saw Ye Lingchen in the pavilion. It was hard to imagine that Ye Lingchen would actually wake up so early.
Their stupefaction did not last long because they did not want to waste that chance. They picked up their camera with lightning speed, pointed it toward Ye Lingchen, and went live at once.
[First, the sofa!]
[Today’s live broadcast is starting so early? Wow, someone has already woken up?]
[Is this figure God Ye? So handsome! As expected of my hubby! Even his back looks so handsome.]
[I feel like my husband is an immortal, mmmmmm! He’s become an immortal, otherwise he can’t possibly match the surrounding scenery so well.]
[I don’t know why, but I felt at peace when I looked at his figure from behind. I want to take a screenshot as my wallpaper!]
[Good morning, hubby. Did you sleep well last night?]
…
Ye Lingchen gained a lot of fans in just one day. It was completely unexpected for there to be people waiting in front of the TV so early in the morning.
It was rather strange too since Ye Lingchen simply stood there without moving, yet his rear figure alone made many people watch eagerly.
As time went by, the fog in the air gradually dispersed and a ray of sunlight parted the clouds and shot out directly.
Purple Qi from the east[1]!
The first ray of morning sunlight shone on the earth and peeked through the mountains. One could imagine how startling the scene was to them.
[F*ck! So amazing! The natural scenery is too beautiful!]
[A stunning work of God. I’ve never seen such beautiful scenery in my entire life, it was worth it for me to get up early.]
[Wow, look at God Ye’s body. It’s like it’s covered with a glow! Wow, wow, wow! He’s so attractive!]
[Upstairs, stop being a nympho. It’ll never be your turn.]
[Fart off. I’ll get in touch right now and travel to meet him!]
…
At that point however, Ye Lingchen raised his brows slightly and his face was surprised.
During the exact moment that the purple Qi came from the East, he felt that the speed of his Qi refinement increased indefinitely. A current—warm like no other—flowed through his body, as if he had absorbed all the sunlight.
Any ordinary person would probably be completely rid of all cold energy from their entire body, with illnesses like rheumatism capable of being cured in an instant.
He did not study much about such phenomena, but the only thing he needed to know was that it brought him purely benefits instead of harm.
However, that warm current caused Ye Lingchen to feel an indescribable heat all over his body. He had not done anything, but the sweat had soaked his clothes and his blood seemed to flow even faster.
He moved his body and there was an eager look in his eyes.
He had the habit of shadowboxing regularly and relied on it to temper his body. With his system, he mastered the pinnacle of punching, which created an extremely visible physical enhancement.
Under the effects of the purple Qi coming from the east, Ye Lingchen suddenly felt like shadowboxing to exercise his muscles and bones as well as vent his inner feelings. It was rare that he felt that way, and it would have been wasteful not to do any shadowboxing.
He turned and walked out of the pavilion. With his straightened body, his legs sank slightly and he swiftly moved them to enter into a horse stance. Both his hands were clenched into fists and he kept them at the sides of his body.
Feet flat, shoulders level, elbows to one’s side; palms pressed down, breath calmed down, lower stomach hardened.
Press palms forward together with Qi as one; cross palms in front of the heart and guard one’s crotch
Flip body over, press the web of the hand, and throw a punch; stand up again and aim both fists to the ears
Turn body around, hack the wrist like a coiled dragon; strike the back like dragons exiting a cave
Keep a horse stance and ruthlessly strike the crotch twice with your fists; lighten your step and soar over to deliver another punch
Take flight like a Sparrowhawk tunneling through the sky; retain your momentum like a lonesome fighting tiger.
Strike twice with a flurry of flying kicks; the Arhat carries his sword and descends the famous mountain.[2]
…
After undergoing an upgrade by the system, his fist technique had been simplified. They were often lucky techniques or those with few moves. There was nothing to practice.
As a result, that particular fist technique of Ye Lingchen became his first-ever martial art.
The technique’s name was called the Arhat Fist!
[1] 紫气东来 – is translated literally as ‘purple cloud from the east’, but here we use Qi in place of cloud because it seems to describe what Ye Lingchen is experiencing, instead of what anyone else saw. Legend has it that purple clouds were considered a lucky omen in the olden days.
[2] This entire sequence of words (from the ‘Feet flat, shoulders level’ line onward) is from a lyrical piece of poetry that details the Arhat fist’s moves, known as the 罗汉拳歌诀 (literally translated to Arhat Fist Lyrical Mnemonic). It is incredibly difficult to translate such pieces, especially when there is scant information made available to the public, but we have—to the best of our ability—translated the moves as understandably as we could. Our apologies should there be any shortcomings.
