This path was one he was used to climbing, and he quickly reached the natural platform, continuing his training as he always had. He didn’t train haphazardly; he was tempering his body according to the ancient methods described in the book “Qinyun Biography” he bought at the bookstore—“Qinyun Biography” is the personal biography of the Naha-te master Harold Clark (Japanese name Grace Lake), and Naha-te is the predecessor of karate (Tang hand), which evolved from the southern fist practiced by the thirty-six Ming families sent to Ryukyu by Emperor Hongwu, combined with local martial arts.

The reason for training according to “Qinyun Biography” was mainly because Naha-te placed great emphasis on the development of muscles and tendons, paid special attention to timing in offense and defense, making it especially suitable for fighting tree spirits. Most importantly, Harold Clark lived in the seventeenth century, and the training equipment he used was very primitive and relatively easy to obtain.

For the past two years, he had been staying in a special care facility, living a collective life, surrounded by watchful eyes, under considerable restrictions. It wasn’t easy to sneak things into the demon-refining pot, and the rocky hill was bare, so this point was very important to him.

After starting his training, he jogged a few more laps. Once his body had adapted, he began single-item training:

Stone lifting—lifting a large stone onto his shoulder, rotating it forward with one hand until the arm was straight, then returning to the original position, taking a breath, and repeating with the other hand, to enhance arm strength and flexibility;

Sprinting—straight sprints over short distances, diagonal sprints, repeated lateral jumps, quick forward and backward shuttle jumps, and duck walks, to improve dodging ability;

Balance—standing on the right leg as an axis, single-leg stance, upper body upright, arms close to the body, slowly lifting the left leg forward and to the left, repeating a certain number of times, then switching legs and repeating, to train balance, flexibility, and waist and leg strength;

Flying kick—“kick” means striking with the foot, and “flying kick” is a two-stage kick: the left foot kicks high while jumping, then the right foot delivers a powerful front kick in midair, landing and switching legs to repeat, to develop overall body elasticity and core muscle endurance;

Punching—gripping a rope with both hands, with a tire dragged behind (the book used a huge log, but he couldn’t get one; even if he cut down a tree, he couldn’t drag it back, and the tree spirits wouldn’t allow it, so he stole a few big tires from the junkyard as substitutes), then stepping forward and punching continuously, each punch dragging the tire forward;

Striking the straw roll—practicing strikes around a wooden stake wrapped thickly with straw rope, using fists, feet, knife hands, elbows, and knees, hitting high, middle, and low sections, requiring swift movements, to develop striking sensation and muscle memory;

Breakfall—throwing himself to the ground to master the technique of avoiding injury when falling;

……

Autumn Whitman didn’t come from a martial arts family, nor had he been able to apprentice at a dojo before, so he just trained according to the methods described in “Qinyun Biography.” In the “high gravity” state, his stamina consumption increased exponentially, and after less than an hour, he was drenched in sweat. He simply took off his pajamas and continued in just his underwear—muscles lean and well-defined, body fat extremely low. If not for all the scars, he would have looked quite aesthetically pleasing.

Most of the scars were from being beaten by tree spirits or scratched by branches while escaping. In the beginning, his physical fitness wasn’t great, and he suffered a lot in tug-of-war battles with the tree spirits. However, he had a “vampiric” talent, so his wounds healed quickly and didn’t really affect him, though scars were inevitable. Fortunately, after two years, luck was on his side—his face was unscathed, and with clothes on, he still looked like a refined young man.

He didn’t wear shoes either; training wore them out too quickly. When he lived in the special care facility, he didn’t have many pairs to change into, or it would have aroused suspicion. Now he was used to going barefoot, with several layers of calluses already formed.

Over these two years, in order to defeat the tree spirits, to cultivate immortality, to gain extraordinary power, he had endured quite a lot. He was truly self-disciplined—so much so that even he hadn’t expected himself to reach this level.

Perhaps, as an online novel enthusiast, transmigrating to cultivate immortality was the ultimate dream. To be able to cultivate, he was truly willing to risk his life.

Fortunately, none of this was in vain. He figured he could use these skills in basketball too—at least now he could jump high and run fast, and his body was strong enough that grabbing a rebound shouldn’t be a problem.

He thought about installing a basketball hoop here, setting up a basket, and practicing shooting when he had nothing else to do. That would be perfect.

Chapter 5: Lady Blue Oni

Five minutes to seven, Autumn Whitman, bare-chested and steaming from head and body, returned to his cheap apartment, tossed aside his pajamas, and headed straight for the faucet, gulping down water with a “dun dun dun.”

He had spent almost three hours and had finished his morning training for the day. According to his usual routine, he would look for a chance at noon to ambush a tree spirit and “vampirize” it, to recover from the hidden injuries and ailments caused by “high gravity” training. In the afternoon, he would try to cross the forest or set a fire in the woods, and then do another three-hour evening training session.

Of course, now he had given up on cultivating immortality, keeping only the morning and evening training sessions. As for the tree spirits, to hell with them—they were just blood bags now. Whenever he felt unwell, he’d go beat them up.