Chapter 18 The Aloof Individual (Please follow)

November 29th, a Sunday morning.

The rain was even heavier than last night, almost on the verge of turning into a downpour.

At dawn, the whole city seemed cloaked in a layer of gray mist.

The old houses on Old Factory Street had a damp, secretive air, half hidden and half exposed.

The breakfast stall downstairs was already open, with wisps of white smoke curling up.

A man sat beside the plastic table under the rain shelter, wolfing down meat buns with soy milk.

In the distance, one could faintly see the all-night inn turning off its red lightbox sign.

Two young women in short skirts, wrapped in fur coats, stood under the eaves, smoking to relieve their boredom.

Some were waiting for the rain to stop; others took pleasure in the rain.

Fang Cheng glanced at the street scene outside.

Then he closed the window to prevent the water droplets from wetting the floor.

He used to love rainy days.

Rainy days were perfect for staying in.

The rain could also wash away many troubles and noise, allowing one to enjoy a moment of tranquility.

But at this moment, he sincerely hoped this dreadful weather would end quickly.

Because it was seriously disrupting his leveling up.

Early in the morning, Fang Cheng carried out his daily training as usual.

He started with some stretching and leg presses, and then practiced Air Attack as a warm-up.

Many top boxers have this habit.

For Fang Cheng,

Practicing Air Attack not only could improve his experience but also helped maintain rhythm and touch so he could always be ready for combat.

After practicing Boxing,

Fang Cheng then reviewed the Sanda leg techniques he had just learned the day before.

After all the warm-up exercises, came the consistent physical training.

Following a training plan that had been adjusted several times,

Fang Cheng now needed to complete 60 tiger pounce push-ups, 60 folded knife push-ups, 180 single-leg half squats, and 300 flat lying straight leg raises every day.

Push-ups, known as the "king of fitness," primarily strengthened the upper body's muscles, with various advanced postures having different benefits.

The "tiger pounce push-up" focused on exercising shoulder muscles and triceps.

"Folded knife push-ups" strengthened the upper body as well as cultivated body control for future handstand pushup practice.

Deep squats, known as "man's filling station," mainly developed lower body strength and the waist and hip core muscles.

The single-leg half squat was a step prior to challenging the single-leg squat, with a difficulty factor nearly double that of the narrow-stance squat.

Lifting Leg belonged to the "abdominal muscle shredders," focusing on exercising the rectus abdominis and incidentally stretching small muscle groups in the groin area.

The flat lying straight leg raise was a medium difficulty standard posture.

The four fitness movements had different focal points.

Grouped together, they complemented each other during the workout, preventing the same muscle groups from being activated for too long and leading to over-fatigue.

Moreover, at the end of each training set, Fang Cheng would rest for about 3 minutes and perform some relaxing and massaging exercises to dissipate the lactic acid produced by the muscles.

Thus ensuring a faster recovery of strength and an efficient workout routine that could be maintained daily.

Prisoner Fitness itself was an integrated, scientifically conceived training method.

The six arts advanced to their peaks could train nearly every muscle in the body.

There was no need to go to the gym to buy expensive personal training courses or use those dazzling assistance machines.

Fang Cheng had accumulated enough experience through practice.

The level of exercise was neither too high nor too low and could be completed with a bit extra within two hours.

However, today he faced an unexpected setback.

The cooldown time for Potential Activation had ended.

As usual, Fang Cheng should have continued to challenge his physical limits and unlocked the "Pull-ups," the fourth art of Prisoner's Six Arts.

But the lousy weather and real-life conditions forced him to abandon his plan.

The book "Prisoner Fitness" described how prisoners used all kinds of rudimentary conditions to exercise in jail.

For example, they could use the iron bars of the cell door to practice pull-ups.

Ordinary people at home, ironically, didn't have such conditions.

Fang Cheng had tried grasping the narrow upper edge of the door frame to practice, but ultimately chose to give up.

Pull-ups required a high standard of posture.

Newcomers who rashly tackled this difficulty not only experienced poor training results but also risked injuring themselves, leading to muscle strains, joint wear, and even issues with the cervical spine and lower back.

The philosophy of Prisoner Fitness was to progress gradually, developing the body's potential in the simplest way, rather than deliberately torturing oneself.

Moreover, Fang Cheng's main goal was to unlock the skill column on the panel.

"If the weather were better, I could go to the nearby park, where they have horizontal bars, parallel bars..."

Seeing the rain getting heavier with no signs of stopping,

Fang Cheng shifted his gaze to the panel to check the progress of his other skills.

[Lifting Leg lv0（55/100）]

Still a long way from leveling up.

Due to relatively weaker abdominals, the efficiency of Lifting Leg exercises is slightly lower than that of Deep Squats and Push-ups.

After passing the halfway mark on the progress bar, an average of 20 reps is required to gain 1 experience point.

More than 300 reps per day are needed to barely keep up with the upgrade pace of other skills.

Even with the restoration to full stamina from "Potential Activation," it was absolutely impossible for Fang Cheng to complete thousands of Lifting Legs immediately.

Of course, he could opt for a higher difficulty exercise option to improve training efficiency.

But the advanced "Hanging Leg Raise," like Pull-ups, also requires a horizontal bar to complete an effective standard action.

Fang Cheng looked at another skill.

[Deep Squat lv0（93/100）]

Only 7 points short of completion on the progress bar, about to break through.

Roughly the equivalent of another 65 to 75 Single-leg Half Squats.

He turned and glanced at the clock's hands.

6:41.

It was still early, and he had rested enough.

Fang Cheng's gaze refocused and he immediately made a decision.

"Even though it's a bit wasteful..."

"Today, I'll prioritize upgrading the Deep Squat!"

The magic of "Potential Activation" lies in its effect of two health bars, able to eliminate muscle fatigue and light sports injuries in a short time.

If it weren't for pushing limits and speeding up skill unlocking,

In normal training, a high-frequency, low-rep grouped training method is more suitable for practicing skills and gaining experience.

Fang Cheng barefooted on the floor, left foot hanging straight in the air.

Both hands also stretched forward, helping the body maintain balance.

This movement is called "Single-leg Half Squat," which, as the name implies, is doing a Single-leg Squat to just half its depth.

For ordinary people, this is highly challenging, testing the body's balance and requiring sufficient explosive power in the thigh and core muscles.

Fang Cheng tightened his core and slowly bent his knee to squat.

Until his body lowered to the point where his right thigh was parallel to the floor, that is, his right knee joint formed a 90-degree angle, then he stood up again.

After completing 1 set, he rested for about 3 minutes.

Then he switched to the left leg as the supporting leg and continued to practice.

[You completed 9 Single-leg Half Squats, experience +1]

[You completed 9 Single-leg Half Squats, experience +1]

[You completed 10 Single-leg Half Squats, experience +1]

.........

[You completed 12 Single-leg Half Squats, experience +1]

About half an hour later.

As Fang Cheng predicted, on the 72nd squat.

The panel shone in an instant, and a prompt message emerged before his eyes.

[Congratulations, through relentless effort, your skill has reached Expert Level]

[Deep Squat lv1（0/250）]

"Phew————"

Fang Cheng let out a long breath, already feeling his legs sore and numb, becoming heavier and heavier.

Today's workout was indeed a bit over the limit.

If there wasn't sufficient recovery therapy, it would take at least a day or two to recover, which would necessarily disrupt the regular training schedule.

Fortunately, Fang Cheng possessed the incredible skill "Potential Activation"!

He just needed to grit his teeth and do another twenty or thirty reps in one go to be fully revitalized, enjoying the top service of a Gold Medal Technician.

While Fang Cheng continued to persevere, he also divided his attention to check the rewards of this level-up.

[Enhancement one: 6 Free Attributes]

"Similar to Boxing, there are two options..."

Fang Cheng nodded in satisfaction.

His gaze carried expectation as it moved downward, but he was instantly stunned, the practice of the Deep Squat subsequently paused.

[Enhancement two: 1 Constitution Attribute, Skill Effect "Lone Peak"]

[Note, enduring Deep Squat training has caused your testosterone secretion to be abnormal; during its effective period, it can enhance male endurance, and bone and muscle tissue repair capabilities to over three times the Constitution Attribute]

Looking at the enhancement selection given by the panel.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but fall into deep thought.