mijobooks Chapter 1: Starting with Inheriting a Dilapidated Courtyard House, Signing In Surprisingly Grants Me
Chapter 1: Starting with Inheriting a Dilapidated Courtyard House, Signing In Surprisingly Grants Me
Under the blazing sun, the asphalt road felt soft from the heat.
Deep in the old hutongs of Beijing, Lin Fan, in his early twenties, was fretting over a dilapidated courtyard house.
The red paint on the door was peeling off in patches, the signboard was crooked and the characters were long since blurred into a mess, making it seem particularly lifeless in this alley full of life.
This is the only legacy his grandfather left him.
A complete mess.
"Squeak—"
He pushed open a door, and half of it swayed. The yard was overgrown with weeds half a person tall, and several huge spider webs were coiled in the corner. A musty smell of rotten wood mixed with soil made him take two steps back.
Well, what's the point of opening an artsy café? It's too small even to be a junkyard.
Lin Fan deflated and turned to leave. The cost of demolishing and rebuilding this place was more than the value of him.
The moment he turned around, the sounds of the entire world were instantly sucked away.
The sounds of cicadas, wind, and vendors hawking their wares in the alleyways have all disappeared.
A cold, emotionless, mechanical voice exploded directly in his mind.
"【National Martial Arts Check-in System】Activated successfully."
"Host detected entering the special check-in location for the first time - 'Qiyun Courtyard'."
Lin Fan froze abruptly, as if he had been struck by a pressure point.
Hallucination? Heatstroke?
He shook his head vigorously, but the voice rang out again with unmistakable clarity.
"First-time sign-in reward: Obtain all martial arts insights from Wang Chao, the protagonist of 'The Legend of the Dragon and Snake,' and the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound evolution bloodline!"
boom!
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Fan felt as if his head had been cleaved open out of thin air, and a torrent of information rushed in.
From the basics of boxing to the practice of "embracing the dantian and sitting on the hips," from Ming Jin and An Jin to the pinnacle of Hua Jin, countless exquisite boxing techniques, stance training methods, and understanding of the limits of the human body were powerfully imprinted into the depths of his soul.
He even "saw" a blurry figure practicing martial arts in the long river of time, each move containing the highest principles of martial arts.
Deep within his body, his bones emitted a series of fine popping sounds as his fascia was forcibly stretched and reorganized. Inside his chest cavity, a deep, rumbling sound rolled in, causing his blood and qi to surge.
Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound!
The force came too fast and too fiercely; Lin Fan's legs went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground. He quickly grabbed the door frame beside him, but a tingling, sharp pain shot through his fingertips.
Looking down, he noticed that he had unconsciously made five clear fingerprints on the seemingly rotten wooden door frame.
Lin Fan stared blankly at his hands.
With smooth skin and well-proportioned joints, is this really my own hand, which is a little swollen from typing on the keyboard?
He could feel a tremendous change taking place beneath his skin—in his muscles, bones, and blood vessels. An explosive power lay dormant in every corner of his body, waiting to erupt at the slightest thought.
Lin Fan subconsciously raised his hand towards the broken wall in front of him, his newly formed instinct driving his body.
With a twist of the waist and hips, the force rises from the ground, twists up the spine to the shoulder, and finally is delivered from the fist.
A powerful punch.
The movement was very light, without much force.
"Snapped!"
A crisp sound, like a whip cracking.
On the wall, a clear fist mark was dented, and brick dust fell in a flurry.
Lin Fan stared blankly at his fist, then at the fist mark, his Adam's apple bobbing, unable to utter a word for a long time.
This...this is my hand?
This is clearly a human-shaped murder weapon!
"You can check in at the courtyard once a day for a random reward. Please manage the courtyard as soon as possible to improve your luck and unlock higher-level rewards."
The system notification brought him back to reality.
Lin Fan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He glanced at the courtyard, then at his fist, and a plan instantly took shape.
We must not make a fuss about it.
He started cleaning the yard, beginning with pulling weeds. His sudden increase in physical fitness made him tireless, but he deliberately slowed down his movements, bending over and standing up, pretending to be struggling like an ordinary young man, and even deliberately panting a few times.
"Hey, Xiao Fan, did the sun rise in the west today? You've finally decided to tidy up your old yard?"
An elderly man carrying a birdcage and wearing a white vest strolled to the door and peeked in with a smile.
It's Grandpa Wang from next door.
Lin Fan straightened up, wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead, and said with a simple smile, "Uncle Wang, we can't just let it lie fallow forever, can we?"
"That's true, it's a memento left by your grandfather." Grandpa Wang nodded, then lowered his voice and leaned closer, "By the way, Xiao Fan, I have something to tell you. Things haven't been safe in the alley lately, so try not to go out at night."
Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong?"
"Hey, what else can they do? Martial arts schools are fighting over territory." Old Wang curled his lip, looking disdainful. "A few new martial arts schools came from the south, and they're ruthless. I heard they kicked down the signboard of 'Eight Directions Martial Arts School' a couple of days ago, and the owner is still in bed."
Bafang Martial Arts School? Lin Fan remembered that it was an old martial arts school in Beijing that had been passed down for generations.
He verbally agreed, "So arrogant? Isn't anyone going to do anything about it?"
"Who cares? They came to challenge us legitimately, according to the rules. If you're not as good as them, you have to swallow your pride." Old Wang shook his head and sighed. "This world is getting harder and harder to understand. Alright, you're busy, I'm going to walk my bird."
Watching Grandpa Wang's departing figure, Lin Fan slowly withdrew his gaze.
He looked down and gazed again at the wall where his fist had left its mark, his eyes becoming deep.
My peaceful life is probably really coming to an end.
However, he slowly clenched his fist, feeling the power that was almost overflowing.
For him, this turbulent world is perhaps... just beginning.