"Okay, Dad, I know, I won't!"
Ding Yun casually replied and walked to the living room to flip through the newspaper. As she read the reports, her brows furrowed tighter, and she found it increasingly strange.
The reports in the newspaper were simply too outlandish.
There were reports of Qigong curing cancer, of Qigong healing incurable diseases and prolonging the lives of foreign dignitaries.
Then there was acupoint anesthesia for surgery.
The centerfold even had a report on regaining youth.
An uninformed reader looking at this newspaper might think this was a world where martial arts had reached their peak. Ding Yun truly had to look at the newspaper's name on the front page several times to confirm it was a legitimate newspaper.
And not some sensational fantasy story tabloid.
But this made Ding Yun even more puzzled. Was the newspaper unreliable, or did this world truly have a highly advanced martial arts civilization hidden in the shadows that her original body had never encountered, only for it to be exposed recently?
Filled with doubts, Ding Yun finished reading the newspapers on the coffee table and immediately went to the storage room. She brought out all the accumulated newspapers and magazines she hadn't sold and moved them to her bedroom to read carefully.
As she flipped through them.
She was able to trace the overall narrative of the reports.
The further back she flipped, the less exaggerated the content of the newspapers became. For example, in newspapers from the beginning of three months ago, there were only mentions of some Qigong masters living long lives, looking youthful in their seventies and eighties, or someone who could fight several people.
Flipping further back to a magazine from last year.
The Qigong mentioned then was only for health preservation, with the effect of prolonging life if persisted, far less outlandish than what was mentioned in the newspapers on the coffee table.
"So, did spiritual energy truly begin to recover, and Qigong became increasingly powerful? Qigong that only had health benefits a year ago can now easily cure cancer, even reverse aging?
Or are the scammers becoming increasingly boastful?
Are scammers so effective these days?
They can deceive so many people, and even get reported in newspapers?
Perhaps I should buy a few martial arts manuals to read. Yes, as soon as I see a martial arts manual, I'll be able to determine if something is wrong with this world, or if there are just too many scammers, and people are currently foolish and easily deceived!"
Because several of the newspaper and magazine publishers were quite authoritative, even considered official, Ding Yun hesitated for a moment, unsure if the entire nation was being deceived. After muttering for a while, Ding Yun decided she needed to find a way to get her hands on some martial arts manuals to examine.
If this was indeed a spiritual energy recovery, she would have to quickly change her strategy. In a world of spiritual energy recovery, merely being an ordinary top student might not have much impact.
With this thought, Ding Yun skipped her nap. She told her father she was going to the bookstore to buy some books and then directly to school. She immediately took her original body's New Year's money, hurried out, and rode her bicycle to Xinhua Bookstore.
It was the largest bookstore in their area. The newspapers mentioned that the bookstore sold martial arts manuals, so Ding Yun decided to go and see. If she could flip through them directly, she would, otherwise, she would buy a couple. In any case, she had to find a way to understand what was going on as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night.
There weren't many people in the bookstore at noon. Ding Yun easily found the section where the martial arts manuals were displayed. Then, she saw a large pile of standing Qigong, sitting Qigong, meditation Qigong, visualization diagrams, as well as miscellaneous things like Shaolin and Wudang secret techniques, and Tai Chi.
Good heavens, there were punches, kicks, claws, fingers, knives, axes, and chisels – all eighteen types of martial arts were available. However, all the books were shrink-wrapped and couldn't be previewed.
"Um, are these martial arts guaranteed to be genuine?"
Looking at this large pile of what seemed to be genuine martial arts manuals, Ding Yun immediately called over a bookstore employee and pointed at the pile of manuals, asking hesitantly.
"Guaranteed, of course, they're all secret techniques from major sects, secret techniques from masters who, in violation of ancestral decisions, have donated them to improve the overall quality of the people.
Many of these martial arts, if they were in ancient times, would be the secret techniques of sect leaders, and one wouldn't even have the资格 to come into contact with them without being an apprentice for ten to eight years. Now you can buy them for just a few dollars.
It's a great deal. Why not buy a few to try.
Let me tell you, young lady, practicing something like the 'Jade Maiden Heart Sutra' or the 'Profound Yin True Scripture' is particularly suitable for you. It's said that those who achieve mastery can delay aging.
Those with particularly good talent can achieve eternal youth!
Why not buy a few?"
Whether it was commission or not, the bookstore employee was very enthusiastic. She even took out several martial arts manuals that were clearly meant for female practitioners, showed Ding Yun their brief descriptions, and while doing so, painted a rosy picture for her.
Ding Yun had originally intended to open her Omniscient Eye to examine the manuals. But then she thought that since they weren't expensive, she didn't bother and directly paid to buy a few martial arts manuals recommended by the employee, then tore open the packaging.
She walked towards school while reading.
However, before she even finished reading one copy of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra, Ding Yun felt like cursing. What was all this? This was a strangely shaped chimera. It contained content from Taoist scriptures, Buddhist scriptures, and then mixed in some meridian theories. Some of the Qi circulation theories in the middle might even be fabricated. This thing was not a martial arts manual at all; its sentences were not even coherent.
It was a complete scam.
If something like this could cultivate internal energy, then it would truly be a ghost.
Afterward, Ding Yun quickly flipped through the other martial arts manuals she had bought this time. As expected, they were all similar. The so-called "Profound Maiden True Scripture" contained nearly half of its content from the "Suwen," with some content from the "Yinfu Jing" mixed in the middle. It was useless.
If she hadn't bought fake manuals, Ding Yun could now basically conclude that all those people reported in the newspapers were scammers. It might even be a large-scale scam with a very wide scope and a huge number of victims. Perhaps some scammers, while deceiving others, even deceived themselves and genuinely believed they were Qigong masters.
She wondered what those scientists were doing. Didn't they know to come out and refute these rumors?
Although Ding Yun felt very angry, a sense of frustration from feeling foolish, the confirmation that it wasn't a spiritual energy recovery also relieved her. An ordinary world was easier to handle.
If it were a spiritual energy recovery, that would truly be troublesome.
After Ding Yun visually inspected the manuals, she specifically activated her Omniscient Eye again, intending to use it to identify the martial arts manuals she had purchased.
The result was not far from her judgment.
Several high-end manuals were fakes.
Only the Tai Chi manual, which was a buy-five-get-one-free item, was genuine. The Omniscient Eye indicated that the Tai Chi manual had the effect of exercising the body, and long-term practice could strengthen the body.
But moving around more and exercising generally strengthens the body.
The Tai Chi manual could only be said to have exercise methods that were slightly more reliable than random exercise, which was based on empirical knowledge.
It had nothing to do with Qigong or not.
Its effect was only slightly better than the broadcast gymnastics.
Ding Yun estimated that among those martial arts manuals, only some forms of moving exercises or standing exercises might have some effect. Moving more could indeed strengthen the body and make one feel slightly better. As for the rest, silent Qigong mainly incorporated some psychological hypnosis-like content.
The rest was nothing.