i have a divine tree in my heart
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lin Yao pushed aside his thoughts. When he returned to the lake after training, he found his parents surrounded by people, and his arrival was greeted by constant praise. Lin Yao had some difficulty getting used to this.
Fortunately, although he was talented, he had not become a powerhouse. The people around him did not fawn over him that obviously. After he finished dealing with them, along with his two younger siblings, the family of five walked home together.
“Brother, you’ve awakened. Can I tell my classmates?”
Lin Xiaodie, who was just a junior high school student with her hair in a ponytail, did not think much of it. While she felt happy for her brother, she also wanted to tell her classmates about his awakening. This was also a way of showing off.
“Do what you like.”
While his family was feeling happy about his awakening, Lin Yao sensed the changes in his body.
Today was a bright and sunny day. While walking down the road, Lin Yao felt like a light-absorbing source. He was constantly absorbing energy from the sunlight scattered between the sky and the earth.
As Lin Yao’s body absorbed the gush of energy coming from the sun, he felt his body warming up as if he was soaking in a hot spring. It was a very refreshing feeling.
Amid this comfort, Lin Yao also observed some subtle changes in his body. His body had been exhausted after training five times in a row, but it felt rejuvenated now as gushes of energy refilled it.
‘Thanks to this progress, I’ll be able to train again after spending two more hours in the sun.’
Originally, Lin Yao had only been able to train thrice in a row and had needed half a day to recover from the training. Now, Lin Yao could train five consecutive times and recover in just over two hours. Lin Yao could not contain the excitement and happiness about these changes in his heart.
After returning home in a good mood, Lin Yao quickly ate a simple meal and then ran to the courtyard of his residence. He was not required to attend school, as it was the holidays.
In the hot summer, ordinary people could not bear the scorching heat of the sun, but Lin Yao found the weather very comfortable.
While standing under the sun, he calmed down and his consciousness entered his Sea of Consciousness.
Apart from the small tree turning white and growing a branch in his Sea of Consciousness, there was also another change. The green energy ball above the small tree had become smaller, and there were 80 grams of energy.
‘This is the only way to upgrade the seedlings. Unfortunately, 80 grams of energy is not enough for the upgrade.’
[Ding! System prompt: It takes 1,000 grams of energy to upgrade the seedling of the Tree of Light to a small sapling. Please work hard to accumulate them.]
‘If I do volunteer work, it will take me 1,000 days, which is three years, to earn 1,000 grams of energy. I’ll also need to spend money, but I’m penniless now.’
Sighing and shaking his head, Lin Yao shifted his gaze away from the energy ball to the attribute interface above the small sapling.
Lin Yao’s attributes were still very shabby, but one of the changes surprised him greatly.
[Lin Yao]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 17]
[Techniques Practiced: 13th Military Boxing]
[Realm: Human Body Limit (89.75%)]
[Tree Planted: Tree of Light (seedling)]
[Talent: Sunlight Absorption LV3]
Lin Yao was surprised by the Human Body Limit before he could review anything else.
‘How did the Human Body Limit become 89.75%? It was 89.58% after the completion of the evolution this morning. After I practiced military boxing five times this morning, it should have become 89.63%. Where did the extra 0.12% come from?’
Although 0.12% was a very small amount, it usually took 12 rounds of military boxing to attain it.
Lin Yao remembered very clearly that he’d only practiced five times in the morning.
After pondering this under the sun, a thought occurred to Lin Yao.
‘Could the sunlight absorption not only enable me to train more but also improve my physique, thus allowing me to absorb more spirit energy each time I practice?’
This was Lin Yao’s guess, and he tested it right afterward.
He stood under the sun for two hours. Thanks to the nourishment of the sun, the body pain he’d felt due to the five rounds of military boxing practice in the morning had completely disappeared. This allowed Lin Yao to continue training.
Without any hesitation, Lin Yao got into position and practiced military boxing under the sun.
Phew. Phew. Phew.
Breathing rhythmically, he waved his fists and feet. Soon, he completed one round of military boxing. This time, Lin Yao did not continue to train. He calmly pushed his consciousness into the Sea of Consciousness and looked at his attribute interface again.
He was not disappointed. In his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yao discovered that his Human Body Limit had increased again. The increase was not 0.01% but a full 0.03%.
‘It increases by 0.03% at a time. I’m now three times more efficient than before. Furthermore, I can train several more times every day. It usually takes 100 days to reach the martial artist level, but I may be able to achieve that sooner. Is this what a so-called genius is?’
In the past, Lin Yao had thought that being a genius would be cool. Now, after becoming a genius, Lin Yao knew how great it truly felt, and it exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.
Lin Yao was reluctant to rest because of the high training efficiency. He stretched his body in the courtyard, waved his fists and feet, and trained repeatedly.
During these rounds of training, thanks to the nourishment of the sunlight, Lin Yao’s physique improved again. He was advancing toward the limit of his body.
Soon, one hour passed. Lin Yao had completed five rounds of training by then.
“Phew, phew, phew. I can’t continue. I have to rest… Xiaodie, bring me a bottle of water. I’m really thirsty.”
“Okay, Brother.”
The Spirit Energy Festival holiday resembled the National Day celebration in his previous world. All the schools had been granted a holiday. Therefore, both his sister and brother, Xiaodie and Lin Ye, were at home. They were watching Lin Yao from the side, as they could not continue training due to physical fatigue. Lin Yao could thus call on them for help.
After taking the water from Xiaodie, Lin Yao drained all of it in one gulp. However, this could not quench his thirst. He felt better only after drinking three bottles of water.
“Brother, you can return to the house to rest if you’re feeling hot.”
“No, I’m more comfortable under the sun. I just need to have enough water.”
After adapting to the sunlight absorption, Lin Yao discovered that sunlight absorption could absorb the power of the sun. Thus, he did not need to worry about the rate of energy depletion. However, water was necessary during this process.
Therefore, Lin Yao had to drink a lot of water even if he did not perspire much.
“This is not a problem. Nutrient drinks cannot be supplied for a long time, but you can drink as much water as you want.”
He was drinking water, resting, training, and absorbing sunlight for the first time. Lin Yao trained repeatedly and did not leave the sun for an entire day.
He recharged under the sun for two hours, trained for one hour, and then sunbathed for two more hours. In addition to what he had done in the early morning, Lin Yao completed four rounds of training in the sun and went through a total of 20 rounds of military boxing training for the day. This was twice the amount of Lin Yao’s training in the past.
Most importantly, in addition to the increase of his training, Lin Yao became more efficient during each round of training.
However, upon glancing at his attribute interface after each training, Lin Yao discovered that his training efficiency was not static. In the early morning and close to the evening, his training efficiency was only thrice that of ordinary people. This was due to the weaker power of the sun. When the sun was the hottest at noon, his training efficiency was five times that of ordinary people. The same applied to his recovery rate.
‘The body of the sun is associated closely with sunlight. The stronger the sunlight, the more I’ll gain… Well, I also need to consume more water.’
When the sun was setting in the evening, Lin Yao lay in the bathtub, soothing his tired body and summarizing that day’s harvest.
‘I trained 20 times today. My body limit will increase by 0.03% or 0.05% each time. After one day, my body limit has increased by about 0.8%. It has now reached 90.50%.’
An increase of 0.8% per day was eight times that of Lin Yao’s previous training speed. Sunlight absorption was certainly a divine skill. For a poor man like Lin Yao, who did not have the aid of nutrient drinks, the effect was immeasurable.
‘I am only 10% short of reaching the Human Body Limit. With an 0.8% increase a day, I’ll be able to reach the Human Body Limit in about 10 days. If I achieve a breakthrough successfully, I’ll become a martial artist in 10 days.’
Becoming a martial artist was the beginning of the martial arts journey. This was also the resilient backbone of mankind. Lin Yao looked forward to having the powers of a martial artist. At the same time, he also remembered what the one-eyed instructor had announced yesterday.
“After the holiday, the school will first conduct a class assessment, followed by an assessment of the entire third-year cohort, and finally, an assessment of all the colleges in Ninghai City. Do you want resources? Do you want combat skills? Do you want fame? If you want them, work hard. The competition after the Spirit Energy Festival can give you everything that you want.”
Before today, Lin Yao had not cared about this competition. He’d kept thinking that it had nothing to do with him. Today, however, upon sensing the adequacy of the strength in his body, Lin Yao had an idea.
‘I might have a chance to compete for this quota.’