Putting aside his sigh, Lin Tuo observed a little longer, confirming that nothing unusual had happened.
After all, Ether clouds were not a tangible entity, merely clusters of energy. Though they had a certain tendency to drift, the process was very slow, so there was no need to worry about them dissipating in the short term.
Still, even though quite a few people were trying to cultivate, the traditional breathing method was highly inefficient.
Lin Tuo estimated that the five hundred units of Ether he had infused would be more than enough to sustain them for quite some time.
Thus, after collecting Ether for a second time from the Creation Mode of the Sand Table, he didn't pour it into Yang City again. Instead, he stored it within his body as a reserve.
With accelerated time, Ether's recovery speed was impressive.
So Lin Tuo simply made a timetable, set alarms on his phone, and got up every few hours to absorb it again.
…
The night passed without incident.
Morning came.
Inside an office building in Yang City—
As the piercing sunlight streamed through the window into the empty office, Li Tai, who had been sitting cross-legged in cultivation all night, stirred. His eyelids trembled before finally opening.
"Whew."
Exhaling, he slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm back to normal, and only then did his mind clear.
"Did I really sleep here all night?" he muttered, dazed, looking around.
His memory still lingered on last evening!
For several seconds he stood stunned, then instinctively pulled out his phone. Only when he saw the time did he truly wake up—utterly astonished.
He tried to stand, only to find his body surprisingly light.
It wasn't at all like he had been sitting all night.
By all rights, staying in that posture for so long should have left his legs numb, but instead the tingling was minimal.
Twisting his neck, he heard several crisp cracks from his spine—and realized in shock that his chronic neck pain was gone!
His entire body felt unexpectedly limber.
It was as though his body had turned back the clock a few years, returning to his university days.
"This… how could this be… could it be…"
Li Tai stared at his hands in disbelief, then quickly ran over to a full-length mirror in the office.
He expected to see a weary face after an all-nighter.
Instead, when his reflection came into view, the usually steady department manager couldn't help but cry out in shock:
"Ah!"
The man in the mirror was anything but exhausted. Aside from a little oily skin, his eyes were astonishingly bright, and his whole being radiated vitality.
"Could it be… that breathing technique really works?!"
…
Meanwhile, in a residential community in Yang City—
Inside a cozy bedroom—
"Purrr… purrr…"
Woken by her cat's purring, Zhou Mo rubbed her eyes groggily. She glanced at the time, then jolted up in alarm:
"It's already morning? I… I actually fell asleep?"
She was dumbfounded.
She had just started meditating after nightfall yesterday, but the longer she practiced, the sleepier she grew—until she unknowingly dozed off.
"This is bad… don't tell me this technique is just a glorified lullaby…" Zhou Mo muttered, her pretty face collapsing. After a pause, she picked up her phone and called her best friend.
A moment later, the call connected.
Zhou Mo: "Shanshan, did you… did you try that breathing technique last night?"
Her friend: "Yeah."
"And… how did it feel?"
There was a pause. Then her best friend's voice grew uncharacteristically solemn:
"I meditated all night. When I woke up, I wasn't tired at all. I felt more energized than ever, even physically stronger…
My skin looks better too… This thing might really be the real deal.
Mo-mo, you practiced too, right? How do you feel?"
Zhou Mo blinked her big eyes, hesitated, then cautiously replied:
"I think… in terms of improving sleep quality, it really does wonders."
Jiang Yishan: ??
…
That morning, scenes like these repeated across the districts of Yang City.
Most people didn't notice obvious changes.
But in a population that large, there were bound to be some with higher natural talent.
With Lin Tuo's help, after just one night, quite a few people clearly felt their bodies change.A few experienced changes that were especially dramatic.
And this was only the result of cultivating for a single night.
…
Meanwhile—
The "mysterious martial artist" who had spread the cultivation method…The mastermind behind the Tucker Black Box incident…The current head of the Lishan Dojo…The Science Ambassador of the Chi Kingdom…
Lin Tuo, freshly washed, finally returned to the Evolution Sand Table.
"Hmm, just one night, and Chi Kingdom has changed this much?"
Rubbing his eyes, Lin Tuo stared in surprise.
Before him, the continent rapidly shifted and transformed.
After a single night of development, Chi Kingdom looked vastly different from before.
Most striking of all were the massive cities and the sprawling heavy factories that now dotted the outskirts.
If last time the nation had only just left behind an agrarian society, entering the stage of light industry…
Now, after this accelerated evolution, it had completed its first industrial revolution.
Machines had replaced manual labor.Factories mass-produced goods.The state controlled a freer market.Urbanization was essentially complete.
The architecture itself reflected this transformation.
"Rumble… rumble…"
When Lin Tuo adjusted time back to 1:1 and cleared away the clouds, lowering his face close to the Sand Table for detail—he heard faint rumbles.
Looking toward the sound, he saw a long railway where a black steam locomotive crawled across the plain like a massive beast.
It was a passenger train, its cars nearly identical, exuding the beauty of industrial standardization.
Under his gaze, the train slowly entered a station.
Soon, countless tiny black dots poured out, boarded carriages, and moved toward the city.
In the Sand Table, it was nighttime, yet Lin Tuo even spotted faint sources of light resembling electric lamps.
Too small to see clearly, but still—
"Could it be… Chi Kingdom has already entered the electrical age? Have they learned to use electricity?"
Shocked, Lin Tuo hurriedly pulled up the virtual panel and checked the "operation log."
After scanning quickly, he finally let out a breath of relief.
"Not quite… looks like the second industrial revolution hasn't fully begun yet. But if I go by the history textbooks, this should be the eve of the electrical era…"
With a sigh, he looked a while longer before re-enabling automatic time flow.
Once again, light and shadow swept rapidly across the continent.
"If their progress mirrors Earth's history, it won't be long before they invent electrical appliances, automobiles, maybe even airplanes."
Lin Tuo gazed down at the miniature human society in awe.
Though he could destroy this world at any moment if he wished—he couldn't deny that the vigorous momentum of human civilization filled him with respect.
"Pity… according to the rules of the Sand Table, once the civilization inside catches up to Earth, the time ratio locks at 1:1. Otherwise, I'd love to see them evolve to even higher levels."
Shaking his head, he was about to switch to Observation Mode.
But just then—
In his vision, the Ether concentration indicator on the virtual panel suddenly shifted from a green upward arrow to a yellow dash—then to a red downward arrow!
"What's happening?" Lin Tuo froze.
That symbol meant the Ether inside the Sand Table was decreasing!
Impossible!
Chi Kingdom was clearly flourishing—why would the Ether decline now?!
Startled, Lin Tuo looked back at the Sand Table.
There—he caught brief flashes of fire across the landscape.
He instantly halted the time acceleration, bringing the view into focus.
On a plain at the continent's center, dense formations of black dots had gathered.
And here and there, tiny bursts of fire erupted.
Lin Tuo's pupils contracted.
It was a battlefield—smoke, flames, and gunfire!
Operation Log:
[Year 740,100,048 of World Evolution: His Majesty the Emperor of Chi Kingdom passed away. The first heir ascended the throne. In the same year, the Governor of the Western Province rose in rebellion. Commanding the armies of the west, he crushed the Imperial Army at the Sunset Plains and marched toward the capital.]
War had begun.
(End of Chapter)