Qin Ming's heart stirred. The "method" he was once told he couldn't master, had it now become clear and connected?
He had returned from the wilderness, feeling a fire within him that made even the cold winter feel warm. The strength in his body was not an illusion; with a flick of his toes, he lifted a heavy stone mill off the ground.
He jumped into the air, feeling a strong sense of weightlessness, and grabbed a handful of snow from the roof.
As he exhaled, a white mist shot out like a long spear, making a loud whooshing sound as it cut through the air.
Using deep belly breaths, he moved vigorously, stirring up the snow on the ground, causing it to fall again like heavy snowflakes.
Every part of him moved in sync. With a powerful swing of his arm, all the swirling snowflakes in front of him burst apart.
His body felt incredibly alive, heat radiating from him. Silver patterns danced across his skin, bringing forth sweat as if he were purifying himself.
Qin Ming felt relaxed, surrounded by a faint silver glow.
Such a scene was rare during the "rebirth" process.
He had been training for a long time and was exhausted. Only when he truly felt tired did he stop.
Rebirth was a process, and Qin Ming believed he was changing, that he would soon achieve his wish.
He didn't go back inside but sat quietly in the yard, letting the stirred snowflakes fall on him. He was unafraid of the cold, feeling warm all over.
This was completely different from before. When he was recovering from illness, he would wrap himself in thick blankets on a heated bed and still feel cold.
Qin Ming closed his eyes, reflecting on himself, repeating the difficult moves he had practiced earlier as a way to train his mind.
The silver ripples that had just faded reappeared. His breathing, guided by his thoughts, became complex and hard to predict.
Thoughts sparked his spirit, and his aura brightened slightly.
The yard was quiet, with Qin Ming covered in snowflakes.
After a long time, he let go of all thoughts, completely emptying his mind.
When the silver glow finally faded, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling the changes within him. He was sure that a powerful new life force was growing inside him.
Qin Ming calmly lifted a stone mill weighing over two hundred pounds and then gently set it down.
"The rebirth will likely be complete in two days," he thought to himself.
At that moment, he felt a familiar and intense hunger.
He cooked a pot of mushroom soup, making walnuts, almonds, and chestnuts his main meal, with dates and hawthorn as side dishes, enjoying every bite.
After resting enough, he started a new round of training, wanting to speed up the rebirth process.
Qin Ming moved like a bowstring ready to snap, his hair flying like thunder, stirring up the snowflakes in the yard, his vitality growing stronger.
He kept this routine: resting when tired, eating when hungry, and training again, from early evening to late at night, full of life.
Before sleeping, he washed with cold water mixed with ice, feeling no chill. His tall, lean body had no excess fat; his muscles were tight, and his lines were smooth. His wet black hair dripped with water, shining in the light of the setting sun, exuding a sense of strength.
At night, he slept soundly without dreams, falling into a deep sleep. As his rebirth accelerated, his body remained filled with fresh vitality.
The next day, Qin Ming's appetite increased significantly, now eating seven meals a day.
The main reason was that the consumption required for his rebirth was enormous.
Even the tastiest food became a bit monotonous after so many meals, especially since he was only eating dried goods with hot water.
"Too bad there aren't many mushrooms left; I can't make fresh soup," Qin Ming lamented.
What troubled him was that his food supplies were running low; at this rate, he could only last another day.
"Am I a bottomless pit? A whole beast skin bag of dried goods only lasts three days," Qin Ming muttered to himself.
He couldn't stop the method that aided his rebirth. When still, he was like a mountain; when moving, he was like an eagle soaring high, the silver light from his pores growing stronger.
He truly felt that his physical condition was improving, not all at once but gradually changing.
Qin Ming walked to one side of the yard, trying to lift both halves of the stone mill together. With a sudden burst of strength, he managed to move them from their spot.
At that moment, Lu Ze happened to push open the yard door and was left speechless.
"Little Qin, what are you doing..." he said in surprise. Just yesterday, he had felt sorry for Qin Ming, thinking he would miss his golden age of rebirth, and today he witnessed this scene.
In the neighboring yard, Liang Wanqing heard the commotion and came over, looking dazed when she realized what was happening.
"Just like the second son from the neighboring village, newly reborn and able to lift over four hundred pounds," Lu Ze said, genuinely happy for Qin Ming.
"Reborn during the golden age, Little Qin really did it," Liang Wanqing said, noting that he was the first in Shuangshu Village in many years.
"Uncle, you're amazing!" Wen Rui also ran over, her big eyes sparkling with admiration as she looked up at him.
"I feel the changes from my rebirth are still ongoing," Qin Ming said.
He had realized that the time would exceed his earlier estimates and was far from over.
Liang Wanqing, looking astonished, said, "In our area, even during the golden age of rebirth, after stabilizing, lifting five hundred pounds is the limit. Little Qin can't be reaching that, can he?"
"I heard there's a boy in the bright city far away who can lift six hundred pounds," Lu Ze said, eager to know how high Qin Ming's changes would reach once completed.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted in the street.
Liang Wanqing went outside and quickly returned, saying, "The old lady from the Zhou family is not well."
Qin Ming had seen her on the road yesterday. Remembering her frail body and pale face, he realized something was indeed wrong.
"What happened?" Lu Ze asked.
Liang Wanqing sighed. "They say she hasn't been eating well lately, and her health was already poor, so now she's in trouble."
Qin Ming and Lu Ze went to the street to learn more.
The Zhou family's son had gone out recently but returned injured, with a broken right arm and no food.
This winter, everyone was short on food, and with the main support of the family injured, the old lady was worried sick. Every day, she quietly saved her own food, taking only a little to fill her stomach.
Many people had gathered in the Zhou family's yard. When Qin Ming and Lu Ze entered the house, they saw the old lady lying still, her face waxy and silent.
Two children were crying, kneeling nearby and calling out for their grandmother.
Before she passed, the old lady had told them where to find food, hiding some yams and hard bread in a bamboo basket under the snow.
The nuts Qin Ming had given her, she hadn't even touched.
It was only today that her family learned she had been saving her rations, worried that her injured son Zhou Changyu might not return with food, afraid her grandchildren would go hungry. She had chosen to eat less, even to not eat at all.
Hearing the truth, Zhou Changyu's heart broke. This nearly thirty-year-old man was in tears, slapping his own face, calling himself useless and unfilial for not noticing sooner.
His wife was also kneeling there, crying uncontrollably.
Many people in the yard sighed. In such hard times, the entire region was suffering, lacking food and clothing, making it very difficult.
Qin Ming felt a lump in his throat. Just two days ago, when he saw the pale old lady, she had trembled as she handed him some dried yams, insisting he take them.
Now, it was clear she had been secretly saving her rations.
What a good old lady, gone just like that. Qin Ming stood silently for a long time.
As the evening wore on, people in the yard gradually dispersed. Qin Ming returned, carrying a bag with five pounds of nuts, offering it to Zhou Changyu to help ease his sorrow.
"Brother Qin!" Zhou Changyu, with red eyes, tried to refuse. He knew how hard it was to find food in the wild right now.
Qin Ming placed the bag in his hands, insisting he take it, then turned to leave.
It was already late, and the sound of crying from the Zhou family could still be heard.
Qin Ming sat in the dark yard. While others had family to mourn with, his own memories of unclear faces grew more and more blurred. He feared that one day he would forget entirely, losing all memory.
On this cold winter night, he looked up at the night sky, seeing nothing, lost in thought for a long time, feeling an indescribable loneliness.
In his heart, there was a hazy light, a faint shadow. He wanted to get closer to see clearly, but he could never reach those faded childhood memories.
Suddenly, a chilling presence rushed toward him, heavy and oppressive, causing Qin Ming's body to tense up. In the pitch-black sky, two golden lanterns appeared, mysterious and intimidating!
Then, the calm winter night turned wild with wind, the snow on the ground swirling up, and the roof seemed ready to be blown off, shaking violently.
In the deep, dark sky, those golden lanterns swept across, bringing a fierce wind, creating an overwhelming sense of pressure that made it hard to breathe!
Qin Ming's pupils contracted. He guessed it must be a high-level being, enormous and incredible, flapping its wings like dark clouds covering the sky, passing over Shuangshu Village.
The golden lanterns were its eyes. As it moved away, the sudden storm quickly weakened and then vanished.
The village was in an uproar, with many people coming out to discuss what had happened.
The older villagers, having experienced similar events, looked serious but reassured the younger ones not to panic, saying it was just a high-level being passing through.
Qin Ming returned from the street, sitting in the yard for a long time, gazing at the endless night sky.
The darkness enveloped the world, blocking the path to the distance, making everything feel more mysterious. His heart stirred with a desire to go out and explore the vast land.
Finally, he stood up firmly, practicing the specific moves he remembered most clearly from childhood.
Even with thoughts in his heart, he needed strength to act.
Gradually, a vibrant new life force surged within him, a thin glow appearing on his skin.
After a long time, he felt an unprecedented hunger. The changes from his rebirth had not stopped; they seemed to intensify.
Qin Ming ate a pile of dried goods with hot water but still felt hungry.
When thoughts of mutated squirrels and the black goat from Yang Yongqing's family crossed his mind, he couldn't help but swallow.
He really wanted to eat meat. Just thinking about it made him feel as if he could smell the rich aroma of meat. He realized his body was sending signals that it needed nourishment.
Only after eating another pile of nuts did that unusual craving slowly fade.
"It seems that after the evening comes, I need to go back into the mountains," he decided, wanting to satisfy his body's call and ensure his rebirth went smoothly.
In fact, after giving the Zhou family five pounds of dried goods, his own food supply was no longer sufficient.
After a dreamless night, Qin Ming woke up early. Though his stomach was very hungry, his spirit was high. He felt that with the ongoing changes from his rebirth, he should be able to lift over five hundred pounds now.
"The most important thing is that the rebirth is still in progress." This made him very curious about how far he would ultimately go.
He began to stretch his muscles.
Then, Qin Ming performed the Dragon Spine exercise, first bending forward, then arching back hard, his entire spine forming an exaggerated crescent shape. His joints cracked as his flesh trembled violently.
Starting from his tailbone, warmth surged upward along his spine, reaching his head.
Qin Ming felt a tingling sensation all over, as if he were being electrified. His pores opened up, and warmth enveloped him.
At the same time, a layer of silver light shimmered on his skin, clearer than before.
There was no doubt this significantly promoted the process of his rebirth!
Before the evening fully set in, Qin Ming was already outside the village. He could no longer satisfy his appetite with dried goods; it felt like his hunger was insatiable.
Thinking of the rock sheep, night deer, and black-feathered pheasants roasting over a fire, dripping fat onto the coals, made his mouth water. He felt a rush of energy, eager to dash into the wild forest immediately.