Chapter 25

‘I will redeem the gold combat skills of my quota tomorrow and start practicing.’

With that thought in mind, Lin Yao took out the talent certificate issued by the Abnormal Ability Department, opened a special web page on the computer according to the accompanying instructions, and entered the number on his certificate.

After completing a series of procedures, Lin Yao reached the official website of the Abnormal Ability Department. He could find the threads posted by talented individuals and a Resource Management Office on the website.

After logging in, Lin Yao was able to see the items that he could exchange on the web page.

[Lin Yao]

[Rating: Silver (Diamond Potential)]

[Website Browsing Authority: Level C]

[Talent: Energy absorption (No one can view this except for the person himself and Level-A personnel)]

[State Subsidies: 10,000 yuan per month. 10 low-level nutrition drinks, 1 diamond technique, 1 gold combat skill, 1 opportunity to apply for gold resources.]

[Ninghai City Subsidies: 20,000 yuan per month, 20 low-level nutrition drinks, 1 gold combat skill (Ninghai City’s exclusive skill), 1 opportunity to apply for gold resources (Ninghai City…)]

Due to the advancement of technology, Lin Yao could now browse the techniques, combat skills, and treasure information on the Internet.

Of course, this was merely information. He had to go to the Treasure Chamber in the city if he wanted to exchange them.

It was very daring of China to allow people to browse through treasures on the Internet. Although these were not the most precious treasures, this went to show the country’s confidence and that they were not afraid of the treasures being snatched.

‘Look at the diamond techniques and gold combat skills! I didn’t expect that combat skills would be more expensive than techniques in this world.’

The techniques were definitely more valuable. If one did not have good combat skills, one was considered to have low combat effectiveness. One could learn them at any time without delaying one’s foundation.

However, without good techniques, one’s future would be very limited or might even be ruined. Everyone was a part of the country and worked for the country’s prosperity.

Therefore, the country made every effort to popularize the techniques and instead neglected the combat skills. This was also why techniques could be easily obtained, while it was difficult to obtain combat skills.

‘I can leave the techniques until a later time. Let’s take a look at the combat skills first.’

There were many combat skills in the Abnormal Ability Department. Lin Yao decided to choose one from Ninghai City. As local government, the resources that they provided were all available locally.

Fortunately, there were a lot of gold combat skills in the city.

He randomly clicked on one, and it turned out to be a pretty good combat skill.

[Vajra Palm]

[Level: Gold]

[Description: The strongest and most masculine move. When one reaches the advanced level, their hands will be as hard as steel and they will have the ability to cut into mountains and the ground. Upon comprehending and realizing its profound meaning, one can direct and release one’s vital energy to unleash the Vajra Palm.]

The times had been evolving, and there were not only graphic introductions but also video demonstrations of the techniques of the Abnormal Ability Department.

Lin Yao clicked on the screen under the Vajra Palm and a bald monk was seen standing on the ground, putting his palms together.

After he bowed, the monk’s expression turned stern. There were beams of golden lights on his palms. The monk first put his arms into fire charcoal and grilled them. After several seconds, he lifted his hands, yet there was no trace of any injuries on them.

After doing that, the monk subjected his golden palms to various tests, such as knife slashes, electric shocks, and gravitational crushing. These tests did not leave any injuries or deformities on his palms.

After demonstrating the defensive capabilities, he went on to demonstrate the offensive capabilities. A bluestone was placed in front of the monk. He inhaled slightly before crushing it with his palm. Then, a deafening sound was heard.

Boom!

The bluestone in front of the monk was smashed into pieces.

After doing that, the monk continued to smash iron plates and steel plates with his palms, and every piece of hard object was shattered into pieces. Finally, the monk took a deep breath. He paused for a second before he launched an attack in midair toward a bluestone 10 meters away from him.

There was a loud boom before a golden palm-like shadow appeared in the air. It flew more than 10 meters away and kept expanding until it eventually formed a golden palm that was several meters tall, shattering the bluestone in the distance and turning it into powder.

Then, the video presentation ended. The monk put his palms together once again, bowed deeply while facing the audience, and was ready to step back… This was what Lin Yao thought.

However, things exceeded Lin Yao’s expectations. The aloof monk, who had been silent for a long while, made a sound after demonstrating a whole set of techniques. Lin Yao was shocked by what he heard next.

“The Vajra Palm is the authentic technique created by Shaolin. Welcome to Shaolin, where you can learn martial arts. We have the most authentic 72 stunts of Shaolin martial arts…”

Lin Yao was completely stunned by the advertising slogan. After the monk finished speaking, he finally reacted and turned off the video.

‘They need to earn a living as well.’

Lin Yao sighed. He was about to close the video interface when an unexpected image appeared. There were three lines of words.

[The authenticity of this technique demonstration is jointly verified by the National Supervisory Bureau, the National Abnormal Ability Department, and the National…]

[Please look for the icon of the national department. Techniques without government certification might be dangerous. Please report it to us if you come across them and you will be duly rewarded. The hotline is…]

[Spreading an evil sect’s combat skills is illegal. Those who practice an evil sect’s techniques will be investigated.]

‘This is indeed a society ruled by law.’

Lin Yao clasped his forehead. There seemed to be something odd about this martial arts era.

‘I shall think no more. In fact, this is better for me.’

Videos were more intuitive than graphics and text, and the videos in the Abnormal Ability Forum had been specially certified by the authorities. This gave Lin Yao peace of mind, so he could browse through the various martial arts demonstrations and make informed choices.

However, Lin Yao was put in a difficult position. The gold combat skills were very powerful, and every single one of them was perfect for him. After browsing through the skills, he wanted to learn all the combat skills that he had looked through.

‘Cutting through the air with sword energy, wiping out everyone with a single wield of a stick, subduing a dragon with a palm, moving past people without a trace… Alas, at times, having too many choices is a source of trouble as well.’

Lin Yao was in a dilemma. He stopped watching the videos online and instead settled down to think about his current situation, asking himself questions about his current abilities.

‘What is my distinguishing feature? What kind of combat skill can unleash my potential?’

In this era, it was important to be proficient in combat skills. It was no use if one picked the best combat skill but was unable to comprehend its essence. It was worse than learning an ordinary combat skill and becoming excellent at it.

Therefore, the best combat skill might not be suitable for him. Lin Yao wanted to find the combat skills that suited him best. That way, his cultivation speed would increase within a shorter period of time and he would be more powerful as well.

In fact, it was easy to identify Lin Yao’s distinguishing feature. Although the Abnormal Ability Department had stated that his ability was energy absorption, Lin Yao knew very well that his most critical ability was planting trees and the talent brought about by the big trees.

‘So far, I have only planted the Tree of Light, and the Tree of Light belongs to the light-based category. Therefore, the combat skills most suitable for me must also be light-based combat skills.’

With a goal in mind, Lin Yao filtered out the light-based abilities on the Abnormal Ability Department’s website. There was no need for him to search through them one by one. There was a simple search function on the Internet. Lin Yao only needed to search for light-based combat skills, and the website would filter out most of the other combat skills, displaying only the light-based combat skills.

However, Lin Yao’s face turned green when he saw the search results.

Compared to the dozens of abilities he had seen just now, there were very few light-based gold combat skills available in Ninghai City.

Lin Yao counted the number of available skills and realized that there were only seven options for him. Four of the seven options were barely related to light-based skills.

For example, the first gold combat skill on the list was the Buddha Light Palm. This was not so much a light-based skill but a Buddhist combat skill.