The Three Masters of the Poor

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for planting the seedlings of the Tree of Light. The host now has the ability to absorb sunlight.]

After reading through all the information on sunlight absorption, Lin Yao finally understood what was going on. Upon planting the tree, he felt heat flowing from both inside and outside. The inner heat came from the warmth of the Tree of Light, while the external heat was caused by the absorption of the sun rays that shone down on him.

To be honest, Lin Yao was saddened by this ability. When he saw his parents looking at him expectantly, he felt heartbroken.

'The ability to absorb sunlight is useless. If I had the ability to heal injuries or recover from diseases, I'd be able to earn money at the hospital.'

Yes, Lin Yao had chosen the Tree of Light because it could earn money. After all, Lin Yao needed energy points, and as long as he had enough money, he could obtain energy points quickly.

However, right now his plan had failed.

Upon seeing the dimmed expression on Lin Yao's face, his parents understood what was going on.

"Have you failed? Don't worry, it's okay."

His mother offered him words of comfort while his father patted him on the shoulder.

"Only one in a million people have such a talent. It's alright that you failed. Look at our community, You are the only one who showed signs of awakening. You are already a genius."

Actually, Lin Yao's parents felt depressed. After spending all their savings, their son was still a failure. However, they were worried that their son would feel even guiltier. Therefore, they stopped themselves from sinking in despair and comforted Lin Yao.

Lin Yao calmed himself down, trying hard to keep a smile on his face. "Who said that I failed? It's just that my awakening ability is not very ideal."

Upon saying that, Lin Yao revealed his ability and joked about it.

"With photosynthesis, our family can at least prepare fewer servings of food in the future. I will be full by basking in the sunlight every day.

"In fact, I won't need to beg even if I end up a homeless man. I will fill my stomach when I sleep on the road on a sunny day. Ha ha ha."

At this thought, Lin Yao burst into laughter.

After they learned that Lin Yao had not failed but merely had an ability that was not as ideal, big smiles formed on his parents' faces.

His father gave his shoulder a hard pat.

"You have succeeded! Good, good, that's great. Although this ability is not very powerful, only one person in a million awakens. You are now a genius. I heard that being able to awaken means that your body and spirit energy are very compatible. Given that you are in harmony with the spirit energy, the country will groom and nurture you."

"Exactly! We have to count our lucky stars that you have awakened. What more do you want? Most awakened people do not have very powerful abilities, but they are all geniuses. Besides, I heard that many rich people would like a change in their family genes. Awakened people like you are very popular. You don't have to worry about getting a wife."

"Mom, I'm only in high school. Studying is my priority now. No puppy love is allowed."

As Lin Yao's parents had said, there were only a few talented people in this world, and even fewer had gained powerful abilities upon being awakened.

Although Lin Yao's ability was not good, he was still a one-in-a-million genius. Besides, both the city and the government had policies in place to provide these geniuses with some material support in order to attract talent and prevent brain drain. In addition, there were indeed rich people who wanted a change in their family genes. Therefore, Lin Yao did not need to worry about his future.

In short, although Lin Yao's awakening had not perfectly met his expectations, it was still fairly good. Also, compared to his parents, Lin Yao had more confidence in himself.

This was because the Tree of Light was just a seedling right now.

[Ding! System prompt: The host has planted the seedling of the Tree of Light. Please water and fertilize it frequently so that the seedling can grow quickly.]

'Seedlings can grow. One must wonder why The Ant Forest originally needed tens of thousands of grams of energy to plant a sapling, while I can plant it with 100 grams. This seems like a trap. I feel like this is a big tree that swallows energy. It will not grow without one million grams of energy.'

At this thought, Lin Yao did not look upset. Instead, he looked surprised.

'Since the sapling can grow, the abilities it will bring me will naturally evolve. Right now, it can absorb sunlight. When it is fully grown, I will definitely obtain the abilities of the Tree of Light, including the holy light, the dispelling ability, and the purifying ability. I will definitely learn them one by one. If the Tree of Light achieves atavism to become a Celestial Tree, I might be able to summon angels.'

The more he thought about it, the more Lin Yao anticipated this.

After absorbing the fruit of the Tree of Light, Lin Yao did not go home, as he felt in top condition after being nourished by the seedling of the Tree of Light. He went straight to the lake, ready to complete his morning training before returning home.

His parents naturally did not object to it and followed Lin Yao to the lake.

Of course, they could not enter the lakeside square, but they could wait by the edge of the lake. Many people would watch their children exercise by the lake every day.

When Lin Yao and the others arrived at the lake, the training by the lake had already started, so there was no time for chatting. After the first round of exercise was over, Lin Yao quickly found a place on the side and started the second round of exercises.

There were not many garden lakes in Ninghai City, where Lin Yao lived. People who lived nearby came to the lake as well. Therefore, many adults and children there knew them.

Upon seeing Lin Yao and his parents, who had arrived late, some of them even greeted them.

"Why were you late today?"

This was just an ordinary inquiry. Their familiar acquaintances were expecting to hear that they had woken up late.

However, something unexpected happened.

"Today, I accompanied my son to his awakening."

As soon as his parents said this, there was instant silence in the area. After a long while, a familiar person opened his mouth in surprise. "Awakened?"

"Yes, he was awakened. My son Lin Yao needed a medium to be awakened. In order to give him the best preparation, we spent all our money. We didn't expect his awakening ability to not be so ideal… Sigh."

Lin Yao's mother kept sighing while she explained, expressing her slight dissatisfaction. However, after hearing her words, everyone around them was filled with envy and widened their eyes in surprise. Even if the awakening was useless, Lin Yao was still better than ordinary people.

Lin Yao's mother felt pleased that everyone was envious of them. No matter where one was, people in the country had a habit of showing off their children.

Of course, this was also because there was no need to hide Lin Yao's awakened talent.

"Has he registered? I remember that even the lowest level, which is a Level-E Awakener, can receive 1,000 yuan a month from the government."

"He was just awakened today. He has yet to register."

"Are you sure it's not a mistake? The college entrance examination is around the corner, and the students are under great pressure…"

"What are you talking about? Yao is very honest. How could he possibly lie? Sister, do you remember my daughter? Your son has been on close terms with Lian since a young age. They should spend more time together in the future."

"Of course. Still, it's a pity. Although my son was awakened, his abilities are not very good. It would be great if he had fire or ice abilities."

While she was speaking, one could tell that Lin Yao's mother still had some regrets, but she could not hide the smile on her face. The awakening of her child meant that he would surpass ordinary people in the future.

Although it seemed that his awakening was not very powerful now, it was still an awakening. Moreover, in some cases, people started out with useless abilities but developed powerful abilities. In fact, some people even said that there were no useless talents, only useless people.

Lin Yao's mother had full confidence in Lin Yao and believed that he could develop his abilities.

Although other people might have differing opinions, an awakened person could live a better life than ordinary people as long as they put in a little effort. Therefore, many people were envious of them.

Of course, only a few people were concerned about this. After learning that Lin Yao's talent was not ideal, most people just left after congratulating them.

…

While a group of parents chatted by the lake, the exercise in the field was still ongoing. When combined with the breathing method, military boxing would be very taxing on the body. Therefore, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer people in the field. Only less than 500 people were left in the field, training under the leadership of the warlord soldiers up ahead.

Suddenly, the people around Lin Yao's parents noticed an oddity.

"Sister, your son is still training. Won't this be taxing on his body?"

Basically, everyone in China used to practice military boxing. Therefore, they all knew that although this boxing method could strengthen the body, if one did not have sufficient nutrients, the more one practiced, the more tiring it would be for the body. Someone had suddenly noticed that Lin Yao was still practicing and expressed their concern to Lin Yao's parents.

His parents were also slightly nervous. They were worried that after discovering his poor awakening ability this morning, Lin Yao would try to show off his abilities and overexert himself.

As they were worried sick about him and were ready to stop him, someone spoke up.

"It should be okay. Look, people who can't hold out anymore are all sweaty, and their bodies are trembling with fatigue. They are a little unstable when standing. On the contrary, Ah Yao does not look sweaty at all. He moves around easily. He does not seem to be overexerting himself."

Upon hearing that person's remarks, others also took a closer look at Lin Yao, who was exercising, and realized that this was indeed the case. After three consecutive rounds of military boxing, Lin Yao showed no signs of fatigue. Instead, he looked relaxed as he continued the exercise. He did not seem like he was forcing himself to exercise.

However, other people, especially those who were familiar with Lin Yao's family, began to have doubts.

"That's not right. I saw him exercise yesterday. He was only able to practice three times. Why is he capable of exercising for so many rounds today?"

"It should be because of the awakening ability."

"Doesn't the awakening ability only increase the absorption efficiency of spirit energy? It is impossible to extend the duration of the exercise."

Many people had similar doubts. The man who had pointed out that Lin Yao was not overexerting himself spoke up.

"Of course, ordinary awakened people cannot extend exercise duration. However, if one's awakening ability is suitable, things will be different."

After he said that, he looked at Lin Yao's parents and smiled.

"Sister, you are not being frank with us. If Ah Yao's ability is useful for his cultivation, it must not be a weak ability like you said. Instead, it must be one of the strongest abilities."

"That's right. With an ability that can assist him in cultivation, as well as the increased absorption efficiency after his awakening, Ah Yao will be a genius in the future."

Lin Yao's mother felt confused by the comments made by others.

"I am really clueless. Ah Yao said that the ability is useless, and I thought that was the case."

"Ah Yao is still young. He must have been hoping for abilities related to fire and ice, which are like special effects. However, one's martial arts are one's foundation. Your son's awakening ability is better than a fire ability."

"Really?"

"Of course, it's true. An awakened person who is in harmony with the spirit energy has better training effects than ordinary people. Now that the training time has been extended, your child will be a warlord soon."

The man who made this comment was the security captain of the community that Lin Yao lived in. He was an advanced martial artist. Many people were convinced by his words, and this made many of them look at Lin Yao's parents with envy again.

"An awakening! Why does Lin Yao's family have such good fortune?"

"It would be great if my child was awakened too."

Lin Yao's mother, who was by the lake, received endless praise for Lin Yao's talents. As for Lin Yao, he was totally unaffected by them and was still focusing his full attention on his training. He'd wanted the Tree of Light because he had been after the Holy Light and wanted to expel diseases and heal injuries. Lin Yao had planned to acquire these three abilities. However, he had not expected to receive the ability to absorb sunlight.

When Lin Yao had first gained this ability, he had thought it was useless. He had appeared to be very frustrated by it, which had affected his parents as well. However, as the exercise had begun, Lin Yao had slowly realized that something was different.

In the past, although military boxing had been effective, it had been very strenuous and had consumed a lot of energy even though he had gone there with a full stomach. Whenever his energy was exhausted and his muscles became sore, he would have to stop training. If he pushed on, he would only overexert himself.

However, the situation was different today. When he practiced under the sun, Lin Yao felt as if he was a Tree of Light, constantly absorbing sunlight into his body.

The sunlight turned into light energy, and part of it made up for his physical exertion. Therefore, he could train for a longer period of time. Meanwhile, the other part turned into a beam of warm light, nourishing his muscles and cells and making him feel tireless.

Thanks to the supplement of sunlight, although Lin Yao practiced military boxing three times in a row and was tired, he could still carry on training.

'I have yet to reach my limit. I can continue practicing.'

With these thoughts in his mind, Lin Yao did not leave the field. Instead, he kept training with the wealthy children who drank nourishment drinks, going through the fourth and fifth rounds of exercise.

After the fifth round, Lin Yao could not take it anymore. He was covered in sweat and he collapsed on the ground, panting and gasping for breath.

'Five rounds. My current limit has increased to five rounds. Sunlight absorption is not useless. It is a powerful auxiliary ability, especially for someone like me, who has no money.'

One needed nutrition to practice martial arts. In the past, Lin Yao had been unable to get a lot of nutrients because of his family situation. Now, this problem had been solved. He no longer needed nutrition drinks or the meat of magical beasts. As long as he basked in the sun, Lin Yao's cultivation speed would be akin to that of super-geniuses.

No. Lin Yao himself was considered a super-genius.

'This is exactly the ability that I need the most now.'

In the past, Lin Yao had heard people say that the poor had to survive by eating soil and drinking the northwest wind1. Right now, Lin Yao had gone a step further and advanced to the training method of basking in the sun.

'I have awakened and obtained the ability to bask in the sun, which will help me with my training. I wonder if anyone will be lucky enough to awaken and have the ability to eat soil and drink the northwest wind. If that happens, we could be hailed as the Three Masters of the Poor… Wait, there might come a day when I obtain all three training abilities.'

Lin Yao, who was thinking out of the box, even dreamed of the day when he would become famous and how he would answer if others asked about his training method. Perhaps he should tell them that he ate soil, drank the northwest wind, and basked in the sun.

This formed such a beautiful picture that Lin Yao had to stop himself from thinking about it any longer.