Chapter 29: West Mountain Explosion Incident

Rumble——

The dull sound of thunder echoed through the night sky.

Fang Cheng suddenly woke up.

He glanced at the clock; it was only 4:36 AM.

Outside, darkness still prevailed.

Vague thunder sounds traveled from a distance.

Mixed with those were the faint rustling noises.

Clearly, just after two days of clear weather, it was about to rain again.

Fang Cheng yawned, sleep completely dissipated, and decided to get up early.

He turned off the preset alarm, donned a sports jacket, and went to the bathroom to wash his face and rinse his mouth.

Then, he stepped toward the living room balcony.

Gazing at the dawn outside, he slowly crouched down and said softly:

"December 4th, the 15th morning training begins!"

The night was still, the neon lights flickered.

The silhouette in front of the window, statue-like, sketched out a firm and steady profile.

In no time.

That figure suddenly changed, resembling a nimble antelope, leaping back and forth.

Swoosh!

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Fists cutting through the air, feet shuffling and spinning.

Having completed the warm-up exercises, Fang Cheng began practicing Air Attack.

Boxing techniques, leg techniques, combination skills, throw-and-punch combinations...

Various combat skills came naturally, executed fluently without any hint of hesitation.

After a sequence of Air Attack, Fang Cheng paused to catch his breath and closed his eyes to contemplate momentarily.

Soon after, he posed in a four-legged combat stance, trying to practice the basics of karate, according to the key points learned from instructional discs.

Specifically, the routine demonstrated by Shijima Goro during training.

It included kicks, punches, throws, grabs, pins, locks, strangles, reverses, acupoint, and breathing among many complex techniques.

Many theoretical karate techniques are actually very similar to traditional martial arts.

Because karate originated in Xia Country and was extensively developed in Japan.

After being refined by generations of masters, its practical capabilities have greatly improved and are more suited to the modern martial arts sports style.

However, no matter how much it evolves, karate still leans towards tradition, emphasizing personal cultivation and the aesthetic of movements.

Different from modern competitive martial arts which is based solely on determining the winner with fists.

In terms of performance on the ring, it's only slightly better than traditional martial artists from Xia Country.

If we talk about practical capabilities, Jujitsu, which might look less graceful, is actually more dominant.

But yesterday, at the club, the performance of Shijima Goro caught Fang Cheng's eyes.

Ignoring his slightly unusual mental state.

Just focusing on his solid basics, beast-like vitality, and offensive desire.

He definitely qualifies as a top-class fighter.

It's just unclear how much the gap is when compared to world-class Boxing Kings like Zheng Haokang.

The figure agilely flickered, as the sky gradually brightened.

6:50.

The shower ceased, and the sounds of people began bustling on the streets again.

Following the start of winter, the intermittent rainy weather had continued for a week.

The unusual climate, to those unaware, felt like a return to the early summer rainy season.

Fang Cheng exhaled a breath of hot air, his face slightly beading with sweat.

He decided to remove his sports jacket and undershirt completely to let his body breathe and cool down.

This revealed the muscles on his back with several bruises dabbed with red medicated wine.

Another new day had arrived.

Another morning training session ended.

A light panel screen appeared before him, and Fang Cheng reviewed today's gains.

[Concentration Experience +3]

[Boxing experience +7]

[Sanda experience +20]

[Deep Squat experience +15]

[Lifting Leg experience +9]

"Not bad!"

Fang Cheng wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling slightly more fulfilled.

Looking at another message, the curve of his smile grew more pronounced.

[Congratulations, through relentless effort, your agility has been improved]

Because of yesterday's participation in the coaching division's physical test, he did a continuous 250 push-ups.

Today's training volume was actually much less than before.

Moreover, to prevent exacerbating the fatigue in his upper body muscles, Fang Cheng specifically omitted push-up exercises.

Even so, this morning training session was still very rewarding.

His current attributes are:

[Strength: 11]

[Agility: 12]

[Constitution: 16]

[Spirit: 18]

Aside from the recently broken through Agility, the specific progress of the other three attributes are Strength 12%, Constitution 37%, Spirit 59%.

The special effect of "Lone Heights" is like an endless refueling machine.

It has shortened the time required for physical attribute breakthroughs that would normally take at least a month, by two to three times.

Fang Cheng moved his limbs and contracted his arms, throwing a series of jab punches as fast as lightning at the air.

Whiz whiz whiz ——

Experiencing the noticeable change in punch speed after the increase in Agility.

He also felt a burst of soreness coming from his arm muscles.

This is a physiological phenomenon caused by lactic acid accumulation and protein breakdown.

It is inevitable once you exercise.

"Indulging myself just this once, ultimately comes with a price..."

Fang Cheng muttered to himself, returning to his stance.

Did 250 push-ups in one go.

At the time, it did not feel burdensome and was even very exhilarating.

Just after a night's sleep, his muscles became fatigued.

Along with the bruises caused by the fight with thugs at the night market the day before, targeting his arms and back.

The two effects combined.

Before fully recovering, it will slightly impact his daily training plans.

Fortunately, he has high Constitution Attributes and his body is robust enough.

Otherwise, he would probably need to take a few days off to rest.

"If I could master a skill like the quick healing ability in games, that would be even better..."

Fang Cheng's thoughts flickered, summoning a light screen.

He looked at all the skills he currently mastered.

[Speed Reading lv1 (54/250)]

[Concentration lv1 (106/250)]

[Cooking Skill lv0 (89/100)]

[Cleaning lv0 (91/100)]

[Boxing lv1 (164/250)]

[Sanda lv0 (35/100)]

[Push-ups lv1 (132/250)]

[Deep Squat lv1 (90/250)]

[Lifting Leg lv1 (18/250)]

[Potential Activation (23:58:16)]

His eyes swept over them one by one, landing on the last skill slot in a grey sealed state.

The displayed cooldown time shockingly had less than a day left.

"Hope it doesn't affect tomorrow's plan to unlock Pull-ups..."

Seeing this, Fang Cheng immediately gathered his thoughts and headed to the bedroom.

He collected a few clean clothes, preparing to go downstairs to the public bathhouse for a hot shower soon.

Today is Friday, no work, so he had plenty of resting time.

Glancing at the gloomy sky outside the window.

Fang Cheng then turned on the TV, switched to East Capital News Station, wanting to check the weather forecast at 7:30.

The soothing voice of the host then began to resonate inside the room.

It wasn't time yet, the station was still broadcasting the morning news program "Good Morning East Capital."

Fang Cheng put down the remote control, went to the bathroom, first turned on some cold water and wiped his body with a towel.

"This station's news update, today around 3 AM, a severe explosion occurred at the West Mountain Ruins excavation site, triggering a large-scale wildfire..."

"West Mountain?"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng flipped the towel over his back and came back out to watch the news.

His mother works in Ren'an Hospital, located right at the foot of West Mountain.

"...The specific cause of the accident is unclear, and the loss has not yet been assessed; it may be due to sabotage."

"At the moment, the East City government and the National Security Department have dispatched a large number of police and firefighters to the area to carry out evacuation and rescue operations."

"To prevent traffic congestion and potential criminal movement, West Gate area is temporarily on alert, blocking all intersections and strictly prohibiting idle vehicles from entering and exiting."

"If the public has plans to travel to this area in the near future, please note the change in schedule and await further updates from our station..."

Watching the host sitting upright reporting the news, and the pans over the images of West Mountain shrouded in thick black smoke.

Fang Cheng's eyebrows slightly furrowed.

He then returned to the bedroom, took out his phone from his bag, and quickly dialed a number.

Shortly after, a series of waiting tones sounded.

Beep—beep—beep—————

Finally, the call automatically disconnected.