Chapter 10: She Gets Motion Sickness

Afterward, Mu Yin performed a set of first-level physical technique movements. Compared to the initial stretching exercises, the first-level techniques resembled martial arts, ethereal yet imbued with a sense of attack. Once everyone witnessed the first-level moves, those who had lost interest found themselves drawn in once more, earnestly following Mu Yin to practice the basic movements.

At first, complaints abounded, but when Mu Yin demonstrated her effortless leap onto the basketball hoop, everyone became serious again. Every evening after school, they gathered at the playground to practice with her, attracting the curiosity of the junior high students. Some of them were boarders from distant villages, and the evenings were lively even on weekdays.

Later, square dancing became popular, and even a century on, it remained so. But at this time, it hadn't yet caught on, so a group of young boys and girls practicing dance-like moves on the playground drew considerable attention. Embarrassed, they eventually relocated to the front of Mu Yin's house, where her cousins naturally joined in, and the adults stood at the doorway to watch the spectacle.

Ten days later, when they had mastered the movements to a standard, Mu Yin received notification that she had passed the preliminary round of the painting competition and was to prepare for the selection round in Zou City.

The competition consisted of a domestic preliminary, from which five would be chosen for the international contest. The domestic preliminary itself was divided into several stages: the first round, the selection round, and the qualification round.

The selection round was divided into four regions—east, south, west, and north—with the southern region in Zou City. The ten finalists from these four regions would proceed to the capital, Yun Jing, for the final qualification round.

Mu Yin was delighted when she saw the letter and immediately took it to her parents. “Hm? When did you enter the competition?” Zhou Qi took the letter from her, astonished.

“I saw it in the newspaper before, so I sent in a painting, and I made it through. Mom, can I go?” Mu Yin looked at Zhou Qi with hopeful eyes.

“This is something we’ll have to ask your father about,” Zhou Qi hesitated before responding. It wasn’t that she disagreed or couldn’t decide, but she couldn’t make the decision alone. After all, Mu Yin couldn’t go by herself; one of them would have to accompany her.

Naturally, they had to discuss it. The couple ran a shop and weren’t exactly free, and she had no idea how long the trip would take. At the very least, her husband had to agree.

“Alright,” Mu Yin understood that she couldn’t go alone and accepted it easily. Zhou Qi’s approval was already a pleasant surprise; rural areas didn’t yet emphasize nurturing various interests as they would in the future.

Mu Song was thrilled when he learned the news and readily agreed. The rest of the family was also happy for Mu Yin—after all, something like an International Children’s Painting Competition sounded grand and impressive.

Mu Shao even wanted to go along, but was quickly suppressed. Zhou Qi took Mu Yin to school to request leave, packed some clothes and money, and set out with her.

Zhou Qi had worked away from home in her younger years, but with limited education, the jobs she found were hard and poorly paid. When Mu Song later opened a repair shop, she returned to help, so she wasn’t afraid of traveling.

Mu Yin, however, suffered greatly on the journey. Buses in those days were cramped, the air inside unpleasant, and worst of all, the roads were terrible. It took eight or nine hours just to reach Pingzhou City from Maoyang County, and getting to Zou City took fifteen hours.

The first part of the trip was along winding mountain roads, hours of endless curves that truly demonstrated the meaning of “eighteen bends.” Mu Yin became dizzy, and during a meal stop, she threw up. She’d never known she could get motion sickness, and afterward, had little appetite.

She managed a few bites, bought motion sickness medicine, and slept all the way to Pingzhou City. But their destination was Zou City, so this wasn’t the end. They spent another night on the road and finally arrived the next day.

Leaving the station, they first inquired about taxi fares, then opted for the bus. After two transfers, they reached their destination—a youth center where the competition would be held. Mu Yin was thoroughly exhausted.

Zhou Qi, helpless, took her daughter to the designated hotel mentioned in the letter. Along with the letter came a voucher-like card, which allowed them to stay for free; the competition organizers covered accommodation during the event, so they only needed to arrive at the hotel on time.

After washing up at the hotel, Mu Yin went straight to sleep, waking only at midday. She finally felt somewhat refreshed, but thinking of the return journey, she wished she were already at level three in her abilities, able to draw large-scale tools—she would definitely create herself a flying car.

Mechanical objects were actually simpler for her than food items, provided they didn’t involve energy. Energy was more complex; as she’d mentioned before, she could use her powers to construct laws, but only if she’d mastered some basic principles.

Mechanical things, once understood, were relatively straightforward. Flying cars were first developed around 2079 and had gone through several iterations before the apocalypse, becoming mature technology. After the collapse, she dismantled quite a few, gaining insight into their structure.

The energy aspect, however, was not so easily solved. Flying cars didn’t run on gasoline or similar fuels, but on hydrogen energy. In the future, hydrogen energy had completely replaced oil and coal, with solar power as a supplement, though solar energy had its limits—even with high efficiency, cloudy days imposed restrictions.

She understood the principles of hydrogen energy, but using her abilities to create it was less practical than simply employing scientific methods. After all, she hadn’t mastered the laws governing energy.

Energy seemed simple, but in terms of laws, it was closer to the source. If she truly comprehended the fundamental laws of energy, she wouldn’t need to worry about evolution anymore; she wouldn’t need the energy reserves evolution provided.

Abilities initially required understanding and control, then storage. But for someone like her, restarting her cultivation, storage was paramount. She understood her powers well enough; what she lacked was the energy reserve to support their use.

Deeper mastery—comprehending, creating laws, transforming them into innate abilities—was a matter for the future.