Otherworldly snow mountain.

"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion resounded.

The earth trembled, and a mountain peak suddenly collapsed, with countless massive boulders tumbling through the air.

At the same time, a hundred-meter-tall giant shot into the sky like a rocket, with a shockwave resembling a ring of stars "slowly" spreading through the air.

His violent power granted him unparalleled explosive force.

A simple leap, and the instantaneous energy burst was as high as two to three thousand tons of TNT.

With one jump, he soared nearly ten thousand meters high, pausing for a moment.

Then, under the pull of gravity, he plummeted straight down.

"How can I best utilize this power?" In mid-air, Chen Shouyi pondered secretly.

Due to the agility and intelligence limitations while in Giant Transformation, his adversaries were destined to be those agile and swift-thinking assassin types, whereas those less agile could not be his opponents.

"There are only two approaches: first, restrict the opponent’s agility... this is manageable, mainly by enhancing control over atmospheric talents," Chen Shouyi thought to himself. Now that his Giant Transformation had reached its peak, the next focus was atmospheric control.

"Second, improve combat techniques and skills."

As he neared the ground, his foot tapped the air, landing on the mountainside.

He extended his hand, and a massive Lightning Sword swiftly extended from his arm.

The Lightning Sword had become much heavier compared to before, and its color had deepened.

As it appeared, the sky displayed meteorological changes, with muffled thunder rumbling through the clouds and lightning rolling.

Compared to before, the power of this Divine Artifact had increased severalfold.

This was a phenomenon Chen Shouyi inadvertently discovered.

When this Divine Artifact merged with his body, it could expand or shrink out of thin air according to his size. Normally, its diameter could reach one to two meters, and its length could be four to fifty meters. As his body shrank, its energy/matter would disappear into thin air, reducing it to the size of a normal Martial Arts Sword.

And if the process were reversed, merging it while not in Giant form or in a half-Giant form, and then enlarging the body, would it enhance the Divine Artifact’s essence?

The answer is yes.

The more Chen Shouyi understood about this Giant Transformation ability, the more mysterious and incomprehensible it became.

Now his Giant Transformation’s casual strike consumed energy of tens of trillions of joules, roughly equivalent to a thousand tons of TNT, a million or two million kilowatt-hours, and this strike duration could only be measured in milliseconds.

In intense battles, a 20 billion kilowatt-hour, about one-fiftieth of the Three Gorges Dam’s full power, might barely supply the energy he required.

This terrifying energy consumption meant that with his own energy reserves, not to mention sustaining a battle, even a slight movement might drain him dry.

Yet in reality, the Giant state seemed to connect to another dimension, where endless energy surged within his body out of nowhere. Not only was he not drained, but he instead possessed limitless stamina, never tiring, and could even maintain the Giant state eternally.

...

Chen Shouyi was about to practice when he suddenly had an epiphany, and the color of the Lightning Sword dimmed significantly. Simultaneously, a massive shield about half a person’s height appeared on his left hand.

Shield and Sword Combat Technique was rarely used among Martial Artists.

He had never even seen it.

The standard Martial Artist gear of a bow and sword became mainstream, not for its style, but for practical reasons.

The initial purpose of training Martial Artists was to explore otherworldly realms, while invasions from those realms would naturally be met with firearms.

Martial Artists, with high attack, low defense, and weak stamina, struggled against even the most ordinary Barbarian in the triple-gravity otherworld, so it was impractical to carry heavy weapons—lighter gear and more agility were preferable.

When encountering an enemy, a bow was used first, and during close combat, they unleashed all their strength, depleting their stamina in a desperate struggle.

Not to mention carrying a shield, not even wearing armor or anti-stab clothing was common due to the impact on bodily agility.

Moreover, stabbing with a sword was faster and more deadly than slashing with a blade.

Thus, besides the bow, the lighter sword became the absolute mainstream.

"But this combat style is completely unsuitable for me, nor is it suitable to counter an enemy with reaction speed two or three times faster than mine. Against such foes, the first consideration should be how to defend," Chen Shouyi thought thoughtfully.

He then imagined a battle with the Lord of Lightning, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

"Boom boom boom..."

The surrounding mountains suffered a catastrophe, with the ground shaking violently and mountains collapsing.

If Chen Shouyi hadn’t responded in time and retracted his body, the mountains within a ten-kilometer radius would probably have been destroyed, turned into flat terrain.

...

Evening.

Mrs. Chen set the dishes on the table and told Chen Dawei, who was on the sofa reading the newspaper:

"Alright, stop reading the newspaper."

Chen Dawei put down the newspaper, smiling. "The newspaper says that last year’s birth rate in Zhonghai was 3.78%. No wonder they say baby products are selling out now."

Chen Shouyi served the rice, sat down, and thought with a hint of sarcasm. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

How could it not be high?

Now not only are contraceptive pills/condoms banned, but even abortions are completely prohibited.

Once you hit the jackpot, you have to go through with it.

What human invention reduced the most population?

Not guns, not nuclear weapons, but the condom—it’s practically humanity’s ultimate demon.

So many aspiring seeds ready to embrace new life, ultimately blocked by that thin membrane, ending up in the trash, classified as dry waste.

"It’s good to have more births, more children means more fortune. So many people died in recent years, I’m sure it’s not less than a third," Mrs. Chen said, her eyes closed, speaking nonsense.

"There’s no way it could be a third," Chen Xingyue couldn’t help but argue. "At most, it’s just one or two billion."

"There wasn’t, really? Look at Hedong, how many died there—it was corpses everywhere on the road," Mrs. Chen murmured with some discomfort as that scene, witnessed first-hand, was like a nightmare for anyone.

"It’s all in the past, so why bring it up?" Chen Dawei said.

"I’m just saying it casually, anyway, more than a third died," Mrs. Chen said.

"That’s only in certain places," Chen Xingyue said.

"Do you know or do I know? Shou Yi, come here and set it straight," Mrs. Chen said.

"Mom, you’re right," Chen Shouyi quickly swallowed his food and said.

Chen Xingyue, having a temper, snorted, "Fine, fine, you’re great, I can’t argue with you."

After a while, she added, "Brother only humored you, he didn’t want to argue with you."

Caught in the crossfire, Chen Shouyi nearly spat out his food upon hearing this.

All that kindness wasted, just yesterday he gave her a box of gems. If he’d known, he’d have been stingy.

Seeing Mrs. Chen looking over suspiciously, Chen Shouyi quickly said, "Mom, when have I ever humored you? Don’t listen to Xing Yue’s nonsense."