I've become the emperor of humanity, and only now is spiritual energy reviving?

"Beep beep, you have run 10 kilometers!"

「总用时23分42秒，平均配速为2分22秒，最新的一公里配速为1分59秒！」

"You have achieved a new personal best. Would you like to upload your score?"

"Yes."

It doesn't matter if I upload it.

This achievement doesn't even rank them in the top 100 in the region.

Didn't you see that the number one on the leaderboard completed the 10km race in 1 minute and 40 seconds? That's the real "superman".

In the pouring rain, An Sheng slowly stopped at the starting line of the track and let out a heavy breath.

The muscles throughout his body became scalding hot under the flow of true qi, evaporating the fine sweat and rainwater on his skin and quickly removing the accumulated lactic acid, bringing An Sheng an unprecedented feeling of comfort.

"Running feels great!"

Sure enough, the positive feedback from exercise these days is completely different from the feeling of being forced into it in the past.

However, An Sheng vaguely remembered that the world record was around 26 minutes and 30 seconds.

Should I post on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) at this point—sincerely asking what to do if I accidentally break a world record by a large margin?

This was still the result of An Sheng carefully sensing this body, without exerting her full strength.

"I feel better now. I'm going home to take a shower."

……

As soon as the door opened, An Zhiwei's curious little face popped out.

She blinked.

"Hey bro, how's the chat going?"

How did the conversation go?

Read but no reply?

Or has my little sister misunderstood something again?

An Sheng was busy taking a shower and didn't want to think about it. He casually replied, "When I met someone who wanted to sleep with me, I just kicked him away."

This thunderous reply brought An Zhiwei to a standstill.

The girl stood there blankly, not even reacting when An Sheng walked past her into the house.

What...what's going on?

Is it a bit too early for a first-year high school student to be discussing such intimate topics?

I went into the bathroom.

An Sheng, having taken off her sportswear, looked at the man in the mirror.

It's a world of difference from the person I used to be, who was so thin that my ribs were clearly visible.

Muscular and well-defined.

The once thin shoulders have become full and powerful, and every muscle illuminated by the cold light is clearly defined, flowing with a marble-like luster.

This body is not as muscular and robust as a bodybuilder's, nor does it have any single muscle that is exaggeratedly large.

But anyone with normal eyesight can see that explosive power is quietly hidden within it.

Just standing there, he exudes a terrifyingly powerful aura.

He went from being an ordinary high school senior to where he is today in less than two days.

An Sheng's mind stirred again, and he controlled his muscles to bounce slightly according to his thoughts, easily performing many difficult movements in the bathroom.

His entire body moved as if it were his own arm.

"Indeed, cultivating the Imperial Heavenly Netherworld Divine Technique first to achieve harmony between spirit and body was the right choice."

……

With nothing to do at home, it's time to focus on the Lostbelts.

Welcome back to the Lostbelt: The End of the Great Era, O newly born emperor!

[During your absence, Tang Jingtian, the strongest grandmaster from four hundred years ago, single-handedly traversed the northern frontier and continued his journey south.]

Apart from that, nothing particularly noteworthy happened.

"This Tang Jingtian is pretty fierce. Could he be one of the final bosses in this dungeon?"

"I wonder when I'll finally meet this 'strongest from four hundred years ago'."

Seeing that no more text appeared, An Sheng continued walking towards Peking University.

Its speed is more than ten times faster than when it first entered the Lostbelt.

This time, An Sheng felt like he hadn't walked for long when a line of unique emerald green text appeared in his mind.

An unusual green phantom has appeared not far from you, causing a violent disturbance to the spiritual energy there. Should you go and investigate?

Special event?

The experienced An Sheng immediately figured out why the text prompts were different colors.

Then, quickly turning his gaze, he discovered a fist-sized, slime-like, emerald-green gel-like creature slowly wriggling about a hundred meters away.

An Sheng didn't make a move that would alert the enemy. Instead, he crouched down and used the ridges of the field as cover to sneak closer.

New text appeared when he got within about twenty meters of him.

[Bold yet cautious emperor, you chose to stealthily approach and observe.]

You've discovered the dying "spirit of plants"!

A severe drought struck, forests withered, water sources dried up, locust plagues swept through, and animals and people alike fled in exile.

Only it remains, watching over its homeland.

[Spirit of Plants and Trees: Small spirits born among natural plants and trees, hardworking and reliable, without any aggression; spending time near them nourishes one's life force. They usually take the form of plants and trees, but transform into servants in front of their masters.]

[Please note that the dying "spirit of plants" is severely dehydrated and will die from dehydration within an hour.]

An Sheng's eyes lit up.

This is good stuff.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that it nourishes vitality is a top-notch effect for my parents and younger sister.

Walk quietly and hold your breath.

After getting within ten meters, he suddenly unleashed his true qi and seized the essence of the plants in one swift step.

They were afraid it would use some special ability to escape into the soil.

"Gurgle..."

However, the spirit of the plants only spun in his hand for a moment, emitting a low buzzing sound, and then made no further move.

Right.

The little guy was already so dehydrated he was on the verge of death; he didn't have the strength to run.

An Sheng took out a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and poured it directly onto the little sprite in his hand.

Glug glug~

"Gurgle..."

After absorbing the entire bottle of water, the essence of the plants barely regained its vitality.

Those two small, dark, uneasy eyes looked towards An Sheng.

However, at that moment, a cheerful, hoarse scream rang out from a ditch not far away.

"Big brother! Look what I found!"

An Sheng looked around.

Thus, a group of four, one tall and one short, one thin and one strong, came into his view.

The four men, brandishing their gleaming broadswords, swaggered toward him, clearly regarding him as a rare and delicious prey.

Compared to the previous group of starving people who had no other choice, perhaps these four could be considered true bandits.

Before the severe drought, each of the four men had taken at least ten lives; they were ruthless, cold-blooded, and vicious. Their leader even had some martial arts training, making him a truly ruthless individual.

"Ruthless? Can anyone be more ruthless than me?"

An Sheng narrowed his eyes, ignoring the bandits who were still some distance away, and instead asked the spirit of plants and trees, "..."

"Little guy, want to come with me? We'll have enough water from now on."

"Gurgle...?"

An Sheng pointed at the four bandits and said calmly, "If you don't come with me, you can go and be burned alive by those guys."

"Gurgle! Gurgle!"

Clearly, the plant spirits, who were somewhat sensible, immediately cried out.

[Taking advantage of the spirits' predicament, you, the despicable emperor, have subdued the "spirit of plants and trees"!]

How can this be called despicable?

I'm clearly just kind-hearted.

An Sheng tried it and found that he could put the essence of plants into his backpack.

So good.

He ignored the sound of gold coins hitting the ground beside his ear and the new words that appeared in his mind.

Because the four people were already in front of them.

The shortest of the group grinned maliciously, "Kid, kneel down and kowtow now, give up the fight, and our boss can let you die a quick death."

Just as the skinny man and the tall man were about to speak up, a dark, armor-piercing crossbow bolt whistled out, flew into the short man's mouth, and exited from the back of his head.

The dwarf's body fell straight onto the yellow earth.

A moment of silence followed.

The sound of swallowing saliva could be clearly heard.

An Sheng slowly took out the next crossbow bolt: "Just kill someone, why waste so much time talking?"

"Young hero, it seems you've made a mistake..."

The eldest of the four, a burly man who seemed to have cultivated innate Qi, spoke up.

No, there's no misunderstanding.

An Sheng interrupted him, revealing a sunny smile: "I only want to kill the three of you, or be killed by the three of you."

Upon hearing this, the burly man who was still cocking his crossbow stopped talking, his muscles bulging, and he immediately drew his knife and charged forward.

Thrust forward!

He roared, the sound causing a slight stinging pain in An Sheng's eardrums.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

But to everyone's surprise, An Sheng dropped the crossbow, and instead of retreating, advanced, his face beaming with joy as he met them empty-handed, spreading his arms wide and shouting:

"—Good timing!"