Chapter 6: The Golden Age
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
Qin Ming’s heart felt like a calm river suddenly stirred by a strong wind. For so long, he had thought his training was a far-off dream, something he’d never achieve. But now, it felt like those methods had finally become a part of him, flowing within him like a powerful current.
He had returned from the wilderness, and something inside him had ignited—a fire that burned bright enough to push away the cold of winter. The energy coursing through him was real; it wasn’t just his imagination. With a light kick, he sent the heavy millstone in the courtyard soaring off the ground.
He jumped after it, feeling strangely weightless as he reached up and grabbed a handful of snow from the edge of the roof. Letting out a deep breath, a plume of white mist shot out like a spear, cutting through the cold air with a sharp, whistling sound.
Qin Ming’s breathing was steady and full of life. His body moved gracefully through the courtyard, like a shadow darting in the night. Snowflakes scattered around him, swirling like feathers in the wind. With a swift motion, he brushed them away, the snow dancing around his outstretched hand.
Inside his body, he felt a surge of energy. His skin warmed, and silver lines began to shimmer through his pores, drawing out sweat as if cleansing him from the inside. A rare warmth enveloped him, his whole body glowing with a faint silver light—a sign of his “awakening.”
Qin Ming trained for hours, pushing himself to the limit. Only when his muscles grew tired and heavy did he finally stop. “Awakening,” he thought to himself, “is a journey that takes time.” He felt his body changing, and he believed that soon his deepest dreams would come true.
Instead of going back inside, he sat quietly in the courtyard, letting snowflakes fall on him. He didn’t care about the cold; his body was warm from within. This was nothing like the days when he was sick and had to lie by the fire, shivering even under thick quilts.
Closing his eyes, Qin Ming imagined himself doing his training exercises in his mind. He sharpened his focus, and soon the silver ripples on his skin began to appear again. His breathing became calm and deep, guided by his thoughts.
His spirit moved his mind, and his breath followed. The silver light around him brightened. The courtyard was silent, and soon he was covered with a thin layer of snow.
After a while, he emptied his mind completely, letting go of all thoughts. When the silver light faded, he slowly opened his eyes. He could feel a new energy growing inside him, a vitality that hadn’t been there before.
With steady hands, Qin Ming lifted the two-hundred-pound millstone in the courtyard and set it down gently.
“Awakening will probably be done in two days,” he thought with confidence. He wasn’t surprised when he felt a sharp hunger—one that gnawed at him fiercely.
Qin Ming made himself a pot of mushroom soup and ate walnuts, almonds, and chestnuts as his main meal, with red dates and hawthorns on the side. He ate until he was full, then rested. Once he felt ready, he started training again, eager to speed up his “awakening.”
He moved like a stretched bowstring, his hair crackling with energy. Snow whipped around him in the courtyard as his inner strength grew stronger and stronger. And so it went: he trained until he was exhausted, rested, ate dried fruits, and trained again. From dusk until deep into the night, an unbreakable life force flowed within him.
Before going to sleep, he bathed in cold water with ice shards floating in it, yet he felt no chill. His tall, lean body had no excess fat; his muscles were firm, his lines smooth. His wet black hair dripped with water, and in the dim evening light, his skin had a healthy glow, full of strength.
That night, he slept deeply, without dreams. His body felt full of new energy, driven by the quick pace of his awakening.
The next day, his appetite was ravenous; he ate seven meals. His body’s transformation needed a lot of fuel. Even the tastiest food became boring after eating it over and over—especially dried goods, which he had to wash down with hot water.
“Man, I wish I had more mushrooms for some fresh soup,” Qin Ming muttered. But what worried him more was that his food supply was running low. At this rate, he’d only last one more day.
“Am I some kind of bottomless pit?” he grumbled. “Half a sack of dried goods, and it’s only enough for three days.”
His training that helped his “awakening” couldn’t stop. When he stood still, he was like a mountain; when he moved, he was like an eagle soaring in the sky. The silver light glowing from his pores grew stronger. He felt his body getting stronger—not in one big leap, but bit by bit.
Qin Ming walked to the edge of the courtyard and tried to lift both millstones at once. He gathered his strength, and to his surprise, he managed to lift them off the ground.
Just then, Lu Ze pushed open the courtyard gate, his eyes wide in shock.
“Qin Ming, what the…?” he stuttered. Just yesterday, he had been worried that Qin Ming might miss the chance to achieve “awakening” during his best years. But today, he was seeing something incredible.
In the courtyard next door, Liang Wan Qing also came over, drawn by the noise. When she saw what had happened, she was speechless.
“Just like that boy from the next village,” Lu Ze said, genuinely happy for Qin Ming. “Able to lift over four hundred pounds right after awakening.”
“To awaken during the prime years… Qin Ming has really done it,” Liang Wan Qing added. “He’s the first in Twin Trees Village to do so.”
“Uncle, that’s awesome!” Wen Rui also ran over, his big eyes sparkling as he looked up at him, his little face full of awe.
“I feel like the changes from awakening are still happening,” Qin Ming said. He realized now that it would take longer than he first thought—his awakening was far from over.
Liang Wan Qing looked amazed. “In our area, even if someone awakens in their prime years, the most they can lift is about five hundred pounds. Is Qin Ming trying to go beyond that?”
“I heard that in the big city far away, there are young people who can lift six hundred pounds,” Lu Ze remarked. He was curious to see how strong Qin Ming would become once his awakening was fully complete.
Suddenly, there was a commotion on the street.
Liang Wan Qing went to check it out and came back quickly. “Granny Zhou from the Zhou family isn’t doing well.”
Qin Ming had seen her the day before. He remembered her frail body and pale face and realized her condition must have gotten worse.
“What happened?” Lu Ze asked.
Liang Wan Qing sighed, “They say she hasn’t been eating enough lately. Her health was already poor, and it’s just gotten worse.”
Qin Ming and Lu Ze went to the street to find out more. They learned that Granny Zhou’s son had been away for a while and came back empty-handed, with his right arm badly injured.
This winter, every family was struggling to find food. With their main provider hurt, Granny Zhou had been worried sick. She started saving her food, eating just enough to survive.
The Zhou family’s courtyard was packed with people. When Qin Ming and Lu Ze arrived, they saw Granny Zhou lying still, her face pale and lifeless. Two children knelt beside her, crying out for their grandmother.
Before she passed, Granny Zhou had told them where to find some food—a few tubers and hard buns hidden under a bamboo basket beneath the snow. She hadn’t even touched the nuts Qin Ming had given her.
Today, they realized she’d been saving her food, worried her injured son, Zhou Chang Yu, might not bring back more. She was afraid her grandchildren would starve, so she chose to eat less herself.
When Zhou Chang Yu found out the truth, his heart broke. The nearly thirty-year-old man’s face was wet with tears as he hit himself, calling himself useless for not realizing sooner. His wife knelt beside him, crying in sorrow.
The courtyard was filled with sighs. This harsh winter, everyone was suffering. Food and clothes were scarce; life was tough.
Qin Ming felt a lump in his throat. Just two days ago, when he saw Granny Zhou’s pale face, she had tried to press a few pieces of dried tuber into his hands, her own secret stash. Now, it was clear that those were all she had.
Such a kind-hearted elder, now gone. Qin Ming stood there in silence for a long time.
As the night grew darker, the crowd in the courtyard began to leave. Qin Ming returned with a cloth bag filled with five pounds of nuts and handed it to Zhou Chang Yu, offering his sympathy.
“Brother Qin!” Zhou Chang Yu, his eyes red from crying, tried to refuse. He knew how hard it was to find food in the wild these days.
Qin Ming pushed the bag into his hand, told him to keep it, and turned to leave.
It was late, yet the sound of crying could still be heard from the Zhou house.
Qin Ming sat alone in his dark courtyard. Others had families who could cry for them. But what about him? The faces in his memories were becoming blurrier, and he worried that one day they would disappear completely, leaving nothing behind.
In the cold winter night, he looked up at the starless sky, lost in thought for a long time, feeling a deep sense of loneliness.
In his mind, he saw a dimly lit place with blurry figures moving around. He wanted to get closer, to see more clearly, but he could never quite reach those long-gone childhood memories.
Suddenly, a cold presence swept over him, heavy and threatening. Qin Ming’s body tensed. In the pitch-black sky, two golden lights appeared—like eerie lanterns, shining in the darkness.
Then, the calm winter night exploded into chaos. Snow flew up from the ground, and even the rooftops seemed ready to be torn away by the howling wind.
The night sky, dark as an abyss, was split open by those golden lights moving across the heavens, bringing with them a terrifying, suffocating pressure.
Qin Ming’s eyes narrowed. He guessed it must be a high-level creature—massive and powerful, its wings spreading across the sky like dark clouds over Twin Trees Village. The golden lights were its eyes. As it moved away, the sudden storm began to weaken and then stopped.
People in the village stirred, coming out to talk about what had happened. The elders, who had seen similar things before, reassured everyone not to panic. It was likely just a high-level creature passing by.
Eventually, Qin Ming returned to his courtyard and sat for a long time, staring into the vast night.
The darkness covered the world, hiding the path to distant lands, making the world seem even more mysterious. At that moment, a deep longing rose within him—a desire to go out and see the world for himself.
Finally, he stood up with determination and started practicing the movements he remembered from his childhood.
Even if his heart yearned for adventure, he knew he needed strength to make it happen.
Slowly, a strong new energy built up inside him, a soft mist of light rising from his skin.
After a long time, he felt an intense hunger like never before. The changes from his awakening hadn’t stopped; they were growing stronger.
Qin Ming ate handfuls of dried goods with hot water, but his hunger didn’t go away.
When he thought about the mutant squirrels and the black mountain goat from the Yang family near the village entrance, his mouth started to water.
He really craved meat now. Just imagining it, he could almost smell the delicious aroma. He realized his body was asking for more energy to keep up with his transformation.
Only after he had eaten another pile of nuts did that craving start to fade.
“Looks like I’ll need to head back into the mountains at dawn,” he thought, knowing he had to listen to his body to ensure his awakening went smoothly.
After giving the Zhou family five pounds of dried goods, his own supply was already running low.
That night, he slept deeply and woke up early. Though his stomach was empty, his spirit was high. He had a feeling that his continued transformation might allow him to lift over five hundred pounds.
“Most importantly, the process of awakening is still going strong,” he thought, eager to see just how far it would take him.
He began stretching his muscles and bones. First, he bent his waist, then leaned back with force, his spine forming an exaggerated curve, his joints popping, and his muscles trembling.
Starting from his tailbone, a surge of energy climbed along his spine up to his head. Qin Ming’s whole body felt electrified, his pores opened wide, and he was bathed in warmth, filled with a strong, vibrant energy.
At the same time, a layer of silver light spread across his skin, brighter than ever before.
There was no doubt—this was speeding up his awakening!
Before dawn had fully broken, Qin Ming was already outside the village. The dried fruits he had weren’t enough anymore; his appetite seemed endless.
As he pictured rock sheep, night deer, and black-feathered pheasants roasting over a fire, their fat sizzling and dripping onto the flames, he could hardly control himself. His mouth watered, and he moved with a speed that showed his eagerness, ready to rush into the wild forests.