Chapter 31: The Song of Life in the Rain

Splash, splash, splash—

A sudden downpour descends, with the rumble of thunder in the distance.

The windows clatter incessantly as rain pelts the glass.

Fang Cheng, clad in underwear and shorts, stands barefoot on the floor, eyes slightly closed, oblivious to the noise outside the window.

He repeatedly squats and rises.

Until he completes the last set, the 20th Single-leg Squat.

A blue light screen emerges.

A stream of messages flows before his eyes.

[Concentration Experience +3]

[Boxing Experience +8]

[Sanda experience +20]

[Deep Squat Experience +15]

[Lifting Leg Experience +10]

December 5th, Saturday.

The 16th daily training ends, the rain still pouring.

Fang Cheng wipes his sweat with a towel, drinks a cup of hot water, and walks to the balcony.

He silently watches the rainstorm outside, feeling caged.

His eyes flicker non-stop, showing a hint of hesitance.

After a long contemplation.

Suddenly, he turns and walks towards the entrance.

From a cabinet behind the door, he takes out a pair of waterproof rubber shoes and an army-green raincoat.

Putting on the shoes, slipping on the raincoat.

Fang Cheng then takes the keys, opens the door, and quietly steps out.

Clang.

The metal door gently shuts behind him.

It's just past 6 AM on the weekend, dawn barely breaking.

Most neighbors are still deep in slumber.

The entire building is quiet, except for the relentless sound of rain, hardly any other noise to be heard.

Soon after, a faint sound of footsteps echoes in the pitch-dark stairwell.

Descending the stairs, he hesitates briefly at the door.

Fang Cheng stands at the entrance, puts on his raincoat hood.

Looks up outside.

The night is as dark as ink, impossible to distinguish the boundary between sky and ground.

Strings of rain weave into a "rain net," enveloping the whole empty, dark city.

Raindrops lash his face with the wind, painfully sharp and slightly stinging.

Fang Cheng shows no sign of backing down; instead, he feels a strange thrill.

The rain at dawn, so cold and pure!

He then steps out from the shelter of the tubular building.

Alone, he traverses the rain-drenched Old Factory Street, disappearing into the endless rain and darkness.

.........

Jiangbin Park.

The daytime noise has already been completely overshadowed by the natural clamor.

The dark field is filled with flowing puddles.

Four uneven parallel bars stand lonely.

Nearby, trees sway in the breeze, and further away, the river waters and residential buildings blur into obscurity.

At this time, in this weather, no one would come here.

Yet.

A figure in an army-green raincoat appears.

Rubber boots stepping in puddles, splashing, slightly sluggish sounds.

Below a 2.5-meter high parallel bar.

The figure appears especially small, like a lonely traveler wading through mountains and waters.

When he looks up, his eyes flicker faintly.

The person is Fang Cheng, preparing to practice Pull-ups.

Due to the weather and other factors.

The unlocking progress of "Prisoner's Six Arts" has remained stagnant, stuck at the fourth art, "Pull-ups".

Originally, Fang Cheng planned to wait for Potential Activation to reset and for clear weather before making suitable arrangements.

But unforeseen changes in weather occur, people's plans can't keep up with changes in heaven.

Thunder rumbles from behind the clouds, as if suppressed by something, faintly illuminating the night.

The heavy rain falls as if the sky has collapsed, pouring from the sky.

The entire world is submerged by the torrential rain, as if facing an apocalyptic scene.

Reason tells Fang Cheng.

In such severe weather, practicing Pull-ups is a crazy and dangerous thing to do.

But his emotions incessantly whisper in his ears.

If he starts getting used to making excuses for himself, getting used to avoiding facing various difficulties.

Then the difficulties will become stronger and more insurmountable.

Until, the person is overwhelmed, conquered.

Adversity only makes the strong stronger and the weak weaker!

Fang Cheng suddenly realized that sometimes he was too cautious, to the point of forgetting his original intention to become stronger.

He didn't want to wait any longer, didn't want to become that timid, helpless student who faced unemployment immediately after graduation.

"The greatest enemy of a person is often himself..."

Looking up at the sky, the cold rain instantly drenched his entire face.

It then slipped down his neck and into his collar, causing his body to shiver uncontrollably.

"True strength lies, truly, in helping oneself."

Fang Cheng murmured quietly, wiped his face with his hand, and walked under the horizontal bar.

Then, he exerted force on his feet, leaped up, and firmly grasped the bar with both hands.

He clenched his fingers tightly around it, testing the feel.

"Not bad..."

Fang Cheng's expression relaxed slightly, he sighed lightly.

Immediately, his arm muscles tensed, and he arched his back.

He leveraged his body upwards until his chin was over the bar.

"1."

"2."

"3."

"..."

The initial movements were completed fairly easily.

After practicing for a while, he gradually felt the hindrance caused by the heavy rain.

Not only were his palms slippery, making it hard to grip the bar, causing a loss of leverage,

but the rain also kept pouring down his sleeves.

It was damp and felt like numerous cold snakes sliding against his skin.

Wearing clothes made him feel even more uncomfortable.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng let go and landed, then unbuttoned his raincoat.

The thermal inner wear he had on was almost soaked through, so he took it off as well and threw it on the ground.

The large raindrops furiously pelted the ground, splashing layers of water.

Fang Cheng, with his muscular back exposed, returned in front of the 2.5-meter-high horizontal bar.

He jumped up forcefully and continued to do pull-ups.

Practicing this move in the rain was fraught with dangers everywhere.

Falling due to a slip of the hand...

Muscles becoming too stiff, leading to strains...

Incorrect exertion, accidentally twisting muscles or bones...

Even if treated as a liberating shower,

The rain would still wet his hair, blur his vision, and disturb his mind.

The chilling cold nearing zero degrees constantly penetrated his body, as sharp as a knife, as gnawing as insects.

It was truly a torment both physically and mentally!

Fang Cheng activated his Concentration Skill, fully immersing himself in the exercise.

In this state, not only was his endurance enhanced, but his control over his body also significantly improved.

When he did the 10th pull-up.

He noticed the increasing soreness in his arms, yet his back still felt relatively unburdened.

Fang Cheng realized his posture was not yet perfect.

Pull-ups mainly exercise the shoulder and back muscles, including the latissimus dorsi, rhomboid, and trapezius muscles.

The difficulty is substantial for ordinary people.

Besides these muscles being seldom involved in daily life, the movement is a comprehensive technical action.

It is not like push-ups or deep squats that can be purely measured by counts or time.

Pull-ups are not just about the count.

They also involve grips overhand or underhand, pulling with force, varying grip widths, changing speeds, chest expansion and back arching, chin over the bar, dropping all the way down etc., and are directly related to one's own body weight and the material of the bar.

Even a slight variation in any of these aspects, accumulating over time, can lead to a significant difference in the number of pull-ups achieved.

With Fang Cheng's current physical condition, solely relying on arm strength, he could manage at least 20 or so.

If he opted for a momentum-swinging trick, he could easily achieve over 40.

But continuing in this manner was definitely not acceptable.

What Fang Cheng sought was not merely the number.

Instead, it was his understanding of the skill, his control over his body muscles.

He calmed his mind.

Silently feeling the muscle feedback after each execution, then making tiny adjustments to his posture.

Slowly, he seemed to finally get the feel.

The latissimus dorsi muscle abruptly contracted, generating a powerful upward stretching force.

The biceps brachii assisted in exertion, pushing his body upwards.

At the same time, the rhomboid and trapezius muscles were responsible for maintaining the body's stable balance.

"This is the feeling!"

Fang Cheng's eyes sparkled.

After adjusting his posture, he took a deep breath and continued in succession.

"15."

"16."

"17."

"..."

In the park at dawn, in the pitch-dark torrential rain.

A figure moved up and down, stretching and contracting, like a vibrant spirit of the night.