The darkness before dawn was like an abyss that engulfs the entire city.
Riverside Park, fitness area.
A lone figure was lying on the ground, practicing push-ups in a one-handed stance.
It had rained last night, leaving puddles and making the ground muddy.
The figure, uncaring, kept their form as straight as a javelin.
As they bent their elbows, sinking down, it was as if they were gently kissing the sleeping earth.
And as they straightened their arms, lifting their chest, they resembled a silent warrior shouting in the darkness.
Throughout the practice, they maintained a steady rhythm, their movements solid and forceful.
After completing a set, they switched to the other hand, continuing the exercise.
Gradually, the sky began to brighten with a light orange hue, tearing a gap in the dark night.
The surrounding scenery took on a slightly brighter tone.
The dim morning light cast upon the figure, revealing their sculpted muscular lines,
And as their body rose and fell, beads of sweat rolled off, glistening and shimmering.
With a forceful push from one hand, they sprang up in a lunge and stood straight again.
Their chest rose and fell mildly as they took deep breaths, looking up ahead.
The darkness was vanishing rapidly, and the glow of dawn burst forth.
The light of orange and red colored half of the sky as magnificent as an oil painting.
The entire city was also gently awakened in the morning light.
"Another new day, another challenge completed, I should be proud of myself!"
Fang Cheng gazed at the dawn’s breaking scenery, smiling faintly and murmuring to himself.
At the same time, a long list of rolling notifications appeared before his eyes.
There were updates on the use of skills, increases in attribute values, and progress in experience gains.
And most notably, the skill level-up notifications.
[Congratulations, through relentless effort, your skill has reached the Master level.]
[Push-ups lv2 (0/500)]
[You have received a skill enhancement reward. Please choose between two enhancement options.]
[Enhancement one: 9 Free Attributes]
[Enhancement two: Strong Wrist Master effect, allowing the otherwise fragile wrist’s flexibility and hardness to receive a 100% boost on basic attributes.]
"Enhanced flexibility and hardness of the wrist at the same time?"
Fang Cheng contemplated the reward content silently.
He then decisively chose the second enhancement option.
The wrist is one of the most fragile and vulnerable joints, yet it is one of the most frequently used.
Particularly for many fitness enthusiasts, the wrist is indeed the most prone to injuries.
Whether doing push-ups, pull-ups that rely on one’s own weight, or bench presses, deadlifts, and bicep curls at the gym.
This region connecting the palm and the forearm is constantly under stress.
Yet it is extremely delicate, with small bones and thin muscles.
This structure allows the wrist to perform flexion, extension, radial deviation, and ulnar deviation smoothly.
But it also makes it particularly susceptible to injuries from strong external impacts.
Fang Cheng could vividly feel this during routine training and combat.
Desiring to throw powerful punches, while also having to consider the posture to minimize rebound damage to the wrist.
If it weren’t for the panel’s enhancement reward, practicing fist push-ups and one-handed push-ups would be good strengthening exercises.
After making his choice, Fang Cheng squeezed and flexed his right wrist with his left hand a few times.
He carefully perceived the significant changes brought by the skill effect.
It even felt like the small cut on the back of his wrist from a butterfly knife could be disregarded.
Fang Cheng nodded in satisfaction.
His eyes fell on the panel, reviewing the current status of all his skills.
[Speed Reading lv1 (89/250)]
[Concentration lv1 (153/250)]
[Cooking Skill lv1 (10/250)]
[Cleaning lv1 (6/250)]
[Gourmet lv0 (19/100)]
[Driving lv0 (11/100)]
[Bone Setting lv0 (5/100)]
[Japan Language lv0 (16/100)]
[Boxing lv1 (242/250)]
[Sanda lv1 (233/250)]
[Jujitsu lv1 (106/250)]
[Push-ups lv2 (0/500)]
[Deep Squat lv2 (10/500)]
[Lifting Leg lv1 (133/250)]
[Pull-ups lv1 (145/250)]
[Back Bridge lv0 (90/100)]
Several basic life skills have been added; they are still at the beginner stage.
The most significant progress has been in the fitness and martial arts skills.
Two skills from Prisoner’s Six Arts have already reached master level.
The progress bars for the other three skills are also steadily advancing.
In a few days, the last skill "Handstand Pushups" should also be expected to unlock.
As for martial arts skills.
Boxing and Sanda now earn less experience from practicing Air Attack and rely more on actual combat to improve.
However, following several consecutive wins in combat, I’m close to breaking through lv1 to reach master level.
After inspecting the Skill Panel, Fang Cheng then turned his attention to the 9 Free Attributes that were previously reserved.
He decided to apply all these attributes now to achieve a breakthrough in Strengths and Agility.
He first added 2 points to Strength.
Watching the Strength value jump to 20 on the panel, he immediately felt a surge of immense power erupt from within.
His whole body inflated rapidly, like a balloon.
Blood rapidly pulsing, flesh reddening, and the joints crackled like firecrackers.
Two seconds later, his arms, torso, and thighs were significantly bulkier.
The exaggerated swell of the muscles was on par with those of bodybuilding champions.
"This feels a bit like Shijima Gorou after going Berserk?"
Fang Cheng furrowed his brows, bending his arm to take a closer look.
The protruding biceps were hard and elastic.
After pondering, he then added the remaining 7 Free Attributes to Agility.
Then, a miracle happened!
As Agility also broke through to 20 points, the whole body underwent an inward compressive force.
Amidst brief intense pain,
those excessively bulging muscles quickly shrank, as if coarse iron was being refined into fine steel.
In an instant, his figure returned from the bulkiness of a big brute to a state close to a normal person.
Fang Cheng’s brow relaxed, exhaling as if a burden had been lifted.
The previous somewhat sluggish heaviness disappeared, and the body seemed to become lighter and more coordinated.
Movements fluid, his eyes sharpened, and his arms retracted, unleashing several jabs in front of him as swift as lightning.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
With each punch, there was a crisp popping sound, like firecrackers.
He was currently shirtless, so it was definitely not the rustling of sleeves caused by moving arms.
Nor was it a sonic boom due to punches exceeding the speed of sound.
That would require breaking the 340 meters per second mark, which his current physical strength isn’t capable of yet.
Fang Cheng, with his high Spirit Attribute, sensed the changes within his body.
He knew clearly that this was the effect caused by his tendons and ligaments snapping and contracting in a very short time.
Previously, he could only produce a faint sound from the force of a full-strength punch,
unlike now, where a few casual jabs could easily do so.
Obviously, the explosive power of his body had grown to an extremely terrifying level.
Fang Cheng slowly clenched his hands, his knuckles cracking loudly.
Suddenly, he felt a chill in his groin area.
Looking down, he noticed that the athletic pants he was wearing had their seams stretched open during the muscle expansion.
They had turned into open-crotch pants, quite luckily the elastic underwear didn’t tear.
With this thought, Fang Cheng quickly scanned his surroundings.
Taking advantage of the momentary absence of people passing by, he quickly took his jacket from the horizontal bar, put it on, and ran out of the park.
The rest of the training can wait until I get home!