The System is Abstract, Luckily, So Am I

"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"

The demonic sound of Apple's pacemaker surged into his brain, awakening Lin Li.

The time was 4:30 AM.

The sky was like a scroll with light ink just beginning to show, revealing glimmers of light through the haze. The eastern horizon gradually turned fish-belly white, the sky color shifting from ink to blue, unknown birds singing with pleasing melodies.

Lin Li had never imagined that Xiling Town at 4 AM could be so beautiful.

Lao Da, I finally understand you. I've finally become a real man.

No one could remain unconquered by such beautiful scenery. In this situation, how could he not do something meaningful?

—Sleep five more fucking minutes, what idiot gets up this early.

As everyone knows, thirty plus five equals fifty.

At 4:50, Lin Li finally reluctantly got out of bed.

Actually, he really wanted to get up at 4:59, but he was worried this low-intelligence system would judge the time calculation node as when he started exercising. After washing up and going downstairs, it would be about 5 o'clock.

Yawning, Lin Li walked out from the first floor.

The residential area at 5 o'clock wasn't exactly deserted. In fact, when Lin Li arrived at the community park, there were already quite a few people there.

Most were elderly men and women, either chatting or exercising in the park, with some middle-aged people jogging around the park.

However, young people like Lin Li—there was only him, so the surrounding elderly people did glance at Lin Li a few times.

Lin Li was witnessing a side of this residential area he had never understood before, and it was quite shocking.

"Pi li ge bu ci, pu pu, bu ci ke da ci ke bu bu bu—"

An elderly lady who looked definitely over sixty was actually demonstrating beatboxing in front of Lin Li!

There was another equally aged old man actually doing the moonwalk, friction friction, the devil's steps!

Where the hell did this come from? Is this still China?

Were the hours before and after 6 AM actually the dividing line between two worlds?

Could this world possibly have an inner world and an outer world?

Or were this old lady and old man trendy elders with Shanghai residence permits?

Regardless, for such masters, Lin Li never spared his compliments: "Grandma, your beatbox is amazing!"

"What B-thing are you talking about?" If the other party hadn't used a questioning tone, Lin Li would have felt she was cursing him.

"Just what you were performing..."

"Dandelion seeds just got in my mouth, so unlucky." The old lady got angry just mentioning it and went "bu bu bu" a few more times.

Lin Li: "..."

He looked toward the moonwalking grandpa, already feeling less confident: "Grandpa, what were you just..."

"I stepped in dog shit." The old man continued rubbing his shoe sole, not even lifting his head.

It's back, everything's back. He was indeed still in China. Everyone suddenly became familiar, though this didn't prevent Lin Li from moving slightly away from the dog-shit elder while paying more attention to what was under his feet.

Lin Li hadn't forgotten his task. He came to the park's plaza.

A large group of elderly ladies were training square dancing in formation, but very civilly—they didn't play music to disturb others. In a way, wasn't this silent dance at the forefront of trends?

And quite relaxed.

Lin Li didn't join them but found an empty space near a pavilion, where there was only an old man in exercise clothes practicing tai chi.

Mm, very much the atmosphere for body training and cultivation practice.

Lin Li used the phone stand he brought to secure his phone, then opened eight-brocade exercise tutorials on a website that had appeared on Mongolian top lane streams, took a deep breath, and began learning and exercising.

Speaking of which, there were many fitness videos on Bilibili too—why didn't they trigger any tasks?

The reason for practicing eight-brocade exercises was that the task description required body training and cultivation practice. Lin Li had just tested it—on the way running over, the progress bar hadn't changed. Running didn't count.

So cultivation practice was also a necessary condition. Fortunately, in five thousand years of heritage, there was no shortage of cultivation methods.

After confirming the progress bar started moving, Lin Li breathed a sigh of relief. His idea was indeed correct. Even though he was still in the learning and listening stage, as long as his body also earnestly followed along, it counted as earnest body training and cultivation practice.

Then, he just needed to earnestly practice for one hour.

The old man practicing tai chi nearby originally thought Lin Li was just acting on a whim. His movements were also very crude, so initially he didn't take it seriously. But unexpectedly, Lin Li practiced so earnestly.

He stretched his limbs straight each time, using all his strength. This wasn't difficult, but you had to know this was without anyone supervising. This child's self-control and perseverance were truly frighteningly strong. The old man nodded with relief.

A pillar of the motherland!

Infected by this emotion, he who had originally been doing health-maintenance tai chi switched to combat techniques, his clothes fluttering with each punch. He couldn't lose to this child!

This old man's hot blood was also ignited!

Youth!

This old man unleashes his youthful madness! Treats kidney deficiency, sugar-free!

Lin Li didn't know a hot-blooded elderly anime was playing out beside him. If he knew the old man's thoughts, he would definitely complain.

No supervision? Your grandpa is the one without supervision. He had a comprehensive, no-blind-spot low-intelligence system supervising him!

If he showed any lazy or slack behavior, the progress bar would give Lin Li a harsh blow.

Could only say the difficulty gap between earnest theoretical study and earnest body training and cultivation practice far exceeded Lin Li's imagination.

Lin Li's physical condition...

Put it this way—Lin Li thought Bolt was just so-so. 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, while he could run 9.58 seconds without needing a hundred meters.

—Lin Li was actually a weakling who took four and a half minutes to run 1000 meters during fitness tests. His daily exercise consisted only of bicycling to and from school.

Plus, on summer mornings, as time passed, the temperature kept rising. When the progress bar was only halfway, Lin Li was already drenched in sweat, his clothes showing obvious color differences from sweat stains.

At this point, Lin Li's movements were no longer standard, but the good news was the progress bar was normally increasing. After all, the system still knew whether Lin Li was earnestly practicing. Now it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he could no longer achieve standard movements.

Lin Li started practicing at 5 o'clock, but it wasn't until 6:30 that he finally sat on the ground with a long sigh of relief, finally free.

[Task One completed!]

[You have acquired the cultivation method: Eight-Stage Body Forging Technique.]

[Learning is not the work of a day, martial arts is not the work of a day! The immortal path of body transformation has taken a crucial step. Great achievement initially attained, but the path is blocked and long. If you stop here, all will be regretted!]

[Task Triggered!]

[Task One: For one consecutive week, rise before the Hour of the Rabbit and earnestly practice the Eight-Stage Body Forging Technique. Before the Hour of the Dragon, accumulate at least half a time period.]

[Reward: Constitution Improvement: Qi and blood increased by 50%; System Currency × 100]

[Without true practical combat, one ultimately cannot achieve greatness, merely becoming an embroidered cotton pillow. The importance of tempering cannot be ignored.

Right now there happens to be a young martial arts practitioner nearby who coincidentally has comparison intentions, so why not immediately invite him for a friendly spar?]

[Timed Task Triggered!]

[Task Four: Within one time period, engage in friendly sparring with the nearby young martial arts practitioner until one party falls and admits defeat.]

[Task Reward: Martial arts-related random ability × 1.]

"Huh?"

(End of Chapter)