Start with push-ups to gain experience

In the early hours of the morning, all was quiet.

The deep mountains and dense forests behind the Cuigu Sanatorium.

Night had not yet completely faded, and only a faint gray-white tinge peeked through the horizon.

The entire mountain forest was immersed in the thin mist unique to a summer morning.

Only the occasional clear bird song echoed far and wide in the humid air.

A faint rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes.

A large, robust wild boar stopped rooting in the soil, its snout twitching as it sniffed the unfamiliar scent in the air.

It suppressed a wary growl in its throat and raised its head.

Those eyes, gleaming eerily in the dim light, were fixed on a century-old oak tree a few dozen meters away.

There, there was a human figure.

Bare-chested, he was suspended more than ten meters above the ground.

He was doing pull-ups on a tree, his hands gripping a horizontally growing branch.

Without using any momentum from the waist and abdomen, it relies purely on the absolute strength of the back and arms.

The figure was slowly pulled upwards.

With this movement, his broad latissimus dorsi muscles squeezed and contracted inward, like two open steel wings suddenly closing.

The biceps and forearm muscles on the upper arm instantly swelled up with blood, and the veins on the surface of the distinct muscles coiled like dragons.

Sweat dripped down the contours of his full, sculpted chest muscles, gathering at the edges of his sharply defined abs.

It eventually dripped onto the fallen leaves below, making a soft sound.

He exudes a visually striking physique and masculinity.

It's like a tireless machine, constantly in motion.

"1590."

Fang Cheng slightly tucked his chin and uttered a low, guttural number.

He relaxed his muscles and controlled his body to sink at a steady pace until his arms were fully extended.

After a half-second pause.

With another burst of strength, pull upwards.

"1691."

"1692."

"..."

The monotonous counting echoed through the quiet forest, accompanied by the dull creaking of the old oak branches straining under their weight.

Fang Cheng's eyes shone brightly as he let his thoughts wander through the repetitive physical movements.

Four days have passed since the battle in the ancient locust village.

After Jiang Chen, that ancient monster who had lived for a thousand years, was completely exorcised, Fang Cheng's life returned to a peaceful and uneventful track.

During this period, he went to and from get off work at the Cuigu Sanatorium every day, following the same routine.

Although Shi Chengyi had given him the title of "special expert" beforehand, his working hours and tasks were relatively flexible.

However, Fang Cheng had only been with the company for a short time and felt that he should act like a qualified special search team member.

Working nine to five every day and clocking in on time, I'm quite happy to play the role of an office worker.

During the weekends, he also took the time to go back to Wanghu Town and Jiuchang Street.

My grandfather's health is improving, his complexion is becoming increasingly rosy, and his life in town remains peaceful and comfortable.

My mother has been staying in the old factory street area for a while now, since the tenement building is about to start renovation work and someone needs to contact the renovation company.

Fang Cheng ate several meals with them to make sure everything was alright at home before returning to the sanatorium.

As for the newly established Illuminati, its current operations are entirely focused on Lin Chuqiao and the professor.

Two days ago, Fang Cheng went to the Jinshui Fish Market to check on the progress of the renovation.

The basic interior decoration of the six-story building is largely complete.

According to Lin Chuqiao's estimate, the official move-in will take at least two weeks.

In recent days, this conscientious "housekeeper" has been busy running around the wholesale market, purchasing various office equipment and daily necessities.

Once things are settled over there, the Illuminati brothers will finally have a proper foothold in the city.

In the future, it will be much more convenient for everyone to gather, run errands, and even store equipment and supplies.

Fang Cheng never cared about these trivial matters.

He handed over all the antiques and gold he had brought from the ancient locust village to Lin Chuqiao to convert into cash, directly replenishing the organization's treasury.

Fang Cheng, on the other hand, comfortably became a hands-off manager.

As for the aftermath work in Guhuai Village, it is also progressing smoothly.

Cheng Jiashu, along with Xu Hao, stayed in that remote village to handle the aftermath.

With the full cooperation of Qian Dongming, a local strongman, the property transfer procedures were completed at lightning speed.

This land has now fallen safely into the control of the Illuminati.

Once all the handover procedures are completed, a new round of renovation projects will begin.

Fang Cheng plans to transform the place into a secluded safe house and training ground, while ostensibly using it as a private resort.

"1988."

As his chin passed over the rough tree bark, Fang Cheng exhaled a breath of hot air.

Feeling the soreness in his arms, he gritted his teeth and continued exercising.

The people and things surrounding him are becoming increasingly complicated.

As the Illuminati's organization was being formed, everyone implicitly regarded him as its core leader.

This profound sense of being relied upon gradually transformed into an invisible sense of responsibility, propelling him to continuously convert his desire to become stronger into practical motivation.

Since life was unusually stable at the moment, he focused all his attention back on his skills practice and training plan.

I usually live in a single dormitory arranged by the sanatorium. Apart from doing some basic training by myself in my room, I can't find a suitable place to do high-intensity exercise.

In his spare time, he began to pay attention to the terrain around the sanatorium and eventually settled on a secluded forest in the back mountain.

The location was secluded, with sturdy trees, perfectly suited to his morning exercise needs.

And so, this scene unfolded today.

"1997."

"1998."

"1999."

"2000."

Fang Cheng's chin passed over the tree branch for the last time, and his arms remained still and contracted at the top for about three seconds.

Then, he released his grip, his body falling lightly downwards, his feet landing firmly on the muddy ground covered with fallen leaves.

"call--"

Fang Cheng let out a long sigh, raised his arm, and wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand.

Performing two thousand standard pull-ups consecutively is an absolutely impossible, death-defying challenge for any ordinary athlete.

However, given Fang Cheng's current abnormal physical condition, it seemed far too easy for him.

If it's just ordinary lifting and lowering, even if you do it ten thousand times, it's just a warm-up.

The reason he appeared to be struggling so much, with his muscles congested and even sweating profusely, was because he had activated the special training mode effect for his pull-up skills.

In the state of accumulating power, he deliberately controlled the rhythm of his upward stretch, precisely maintaining the process for about three seconds. During those three seconds, it felt as if a heavy hydraulic press was inserted into his body.

It's roughly equivalent to a terrifying internal pressure of six tons, causing deep grinding and resistance between the bones and muscle fibers.

This double pressure from the inside out allows each movement to achieve the most efficient destruction and reconstruction.

Such inhuman and terrifying training intensity would be impossible for Fang Cheng, with his physical attributes of 95 points, to withstand in one go.

He could only break down the two thousand power pull-ups into five sets of four hundred each.

After finishing the workout, rest for ten minutes in place, relying on your strong physique to quickly eliminate lactic acid and restore your strength, then jump back up the tree and continue exercising.

Anyway, there is a lack of professional weight training equipment in these deep mountains and forests. Even if you do thousands of squats, push-ups, and back bridges, the training efficiency is ridiculously low.

Fang Cheng decided to change his approach and focus all his morning exercise on the skill of "pull-ups".

After all, with its unique skill effects, the difficulty level increases several times when the training mode is activated, but the training efficiency and experience gained also increase several times.

As for other fitness programs, we can gradually complete them when we return to Haitian Garden or the dormitory.

There is also an obvious benefit to doing this.

At the current pace, pull-ups, a skill he's practiced day and night, will soon reach LV5, making him one of the first to reach the maximum level.

Just then, a faint light appeared in the lower right corner of my retina.

A light blue system notification message quietly appeared:
[Pull-up experience +47]

[Pull-ups LV4 (298/2500)]

Fang Cheng looked at the numbers on the panel and a pleased smile appeared on his lips.

He raised his hands and moved his knuckles, the bones cracking and popping.

I wonder what kind of feedback the system will give after this skill reaches its maximum level.

Is it a direct reward of a large number of free attribute points?

Or will it unlock some kind of even more incredible new skill effect?
Or will it undergo some kind of qualitative transformation?
Fang Cheng was filled with anticipation.

"Chirp—"

In the canopy overhead, several gray sparrows fluttered their wings and skimmed over the branches.

Fang Cheng collected his thoughts and looked up at the sky.

The surrounding environment had brightened considerably, and the grayish-white fog was gradually dissipating.

The emerald green leaves gleamed in the morning light.

The wild boar, which had been hiding in the bushes and spying, had long since fled in terror after he repeatedly caused the bones to crack.

Fang Cheng got up at the dormitory at four o'clock in the morning and ran ten kilometers slowly along the winding mountain road as a warm-up.

Next, we went to this mountain forest and did more than an hour of extreme physical training.

Summer days are naturally early, so it's probably already around 5:30.

Fang Cheng stood still and took several deep breaths.

Feeling his heart rate rapidly calming down and his energy being quickly replenished, he slightly parted his legs, habitually lowered his center of gravity, and clenched his fists.

We are preparing to conduct daily, unwavering air combat training.

"However, before that..."

Fang Cheng suddenly stopped what he was doing, and with a thought, switched the system panel to the skill interface.

My gaze swept straight down to the "Palm Technique" skill section.

His gaze was fixed on those four words at the end.

"Condensing Qi into罡 (Gāng)"

His life-or-death battle with Jiang Chen in the Ancient Locust Village gave him a wealth of fighting experience.

The "Palm Technique" skill, which had been stuck in a bottleneck period, was successfully upgraded to the Master level through practical experience.

"Condensing Qi into Qi" is a new skill effect gained after advancing in palm techniques.

During the past two days, Fang Cheng had been staying alone in his dormitory at the sanatorium, and he had also secretly activated his true qi to test it.

However, the dormitory space was too cramped, and even a casual wave of the hand was afraid of breaking through the wall and disturbing the colleagues next door.

It's impossible to fully unleash its power and test its true upper limit.

Fang Cheng looked around; the woods remained quiet and dark.

Now that we're in the middle of nowhere, it's the perfect time to get down to business and thoroughly figure out the details of this new special effect.

He closed his eyes, reviewing the specific details of the special effect in his mind.

[Condensing Qi into罡]

The density of true qi has increased by 300% compared to before. The true qi that was originally in a gaseous or liquid state in the body has undergone physical changes after extreme compression, presenting a high-energy crystallized "罡气" (罡气 is a type of internal energy), which greatly increases the destructive power of attacks.

[The effective control and lethal radius of true qi externalization have been greatly increased by 300%, completely breaking the martial arts constraint of "qi not leaving the body." The qi can exist independently of the host's body and briefly maintain its high-energy structure during flight.]

Fang Cheng opened his eyes, his gaze flickering slightly.

He stood still, slowly raising his right hand, palm facing up, fingers naturally slightly spread.

The true energy within the dantian surged and converged towards the right arm along specific meridians.

"Congeal!"

Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly spread his five fingers, bringing the fingertips together like knives.

hum-

A very faint yet sharp high-frequency vibrating sound suddenly appeared in the air.

Suddenly, a semi-transparent membrane appeared on the surface of his palm.

This gas film no longer erupts outwards in a violent, flame-like manner as before, nor does it disperse into a liquid form like flowing water.

It obediently converges and compresses towards the edge of the palm, presenting a highly dense, even slightly luminous solid texture.

When the true energy becomes extremely dense, it becomes as clear as crystal, radiating a sharp and chilling aura.

Like a tangible golden lightsaber, it extends and spits out at your fingertips.

"Is this the罡气 (罡气 is a type of internal energy)?"

Fang Cheng carefully observed the crystalline substance covering the surface of his palm, meticulously sensing the flow and changes of energy within his meridians.

The true energy that was originally in a gaseous or liquid state underwent a physical transformation under terrifying internal pressure, directly solidifying into this high-energy crystalline state.

The arrangement of true qi has been thoroughly optimized, and its external concentration has naturally increased significantly.

The so-called "罡气" (gang qi) is not a new energy generated out of thin air, but an advanced form of true qi after extreme compression, representing a complete qualitative change.

To verify its destructive power in actual combat, Fang Cheng took half a step forward.

He didn't use any muscle power; he simply swung his hand at a normal swinging speed, aiming the chop at a pine tree about the thickness of an adult's waist.

laugh!
A soft sound, like a hot knife cutting through butter.

The transparent aura covering the fingertips, upon contact with the tree bark, was like the laser blade of a high-frequency cutting machine.

There was little resistance and no flying sawdust.

The fingertips smoothly sliced ​​through the entire hard tree trunk.

After a brief pause.

The thick upper half of the tree trunk lost its support and slowly slid down along the sloping and flat cut.

Immediately afterwards, the center of gravity completely lost its balance, and it tipped over.

With a crash, the tree trunks crushed the crisscrossing bushes along the way.

Finally, with a loud "bang," it crashed heavily onto the muddy ground covered with fallen leaves, breaking branches and sending dust flying. (End of Chapter)