Mastery

The newly risen winter sun was like a bright orange, lighting up the quiet, cold City.

Soft light passed through the thin mist, reflected in the glass, and fell across the open space in the room.

A sturdy figure wearing only shorts kept bending his knees into squats, thrusting his hips forward as he stood, training.

Sweat droplets slowly seeped out across his back.

They rolled and flowed along the sharply defined Muscle Lines.

In the sunlight, they flickered crystal clear, carrying an unusual beauty.

Every time he squatted, the muscles of his thighs bulged even more, as if explosive power were hidden inside them.

"Phew—"

Fang Cheng exhaled and straightened up, taking a Towel to wipe the sweaty stains from his chest and back.

After resting for two minutes, he bent his knees and lifted his leg again, starting the next set of Single-Leg Squats.

Two days had already passed since the day of his match with Majima Goro.

Though he was still on sick leave, Fang Cheng couldn't sit still after all, and this morning he threw himself back into training.

The recovery speed of his dislocated shoulders was within expectations.

The injury to his left shoulder was relatively light, and from how it felt, it was already close to fully healed.

Though his right shoulder didn't hurt, it still felt a little strange, making it temporarily unsuitable for intense exercise.

Considering his current physical condition, Fang Cheng adjusted his Training Plan.

Aside from practicing Leg Techniques, he focused on training squats.

By doing this, the experience growth speed of a single skill was extremely fast.

His squat skill in particular was visibly about to break through the Major Milestone of 250.

"..."

"698."

"699."

"700."

Fang Cheng counted silently, then suddenly let out a long breath and stood with his legs straight, his whole body relaxed.

"Training complete!"

Under the sunlight, the light blue screen was especially dazzling.

Focus Experience +4

Squat Experience +59

Sanda Experience +13

...

Squat Lv1 (226/250)

Sanda Lv1 (140/250)

Fang Cheng's gaze swept over the information on the panel, and he nodded in satisfaction.

He was another big step closer to a Skill Level Up.

The harvest was pretty good. Keep it up.

He looked up at the calendar on the wall. December 15th.

Then his eyes flashed slightly, and he murmured:

"I hope my shoulders can recover by the time Zheng Haokang comes..."

After all, he had promised to make a move in Majima Goro's place and test the true strength of this newly crowned World-Class Boxing King.

The thought suddenly turned through his mind, and Fang Cheng quickly walked toward the Bathroom.

He planned to wipe himself down, then throw himself into self-study for the Graduate Entrance Examination.

Ring ring ring ring—

On the desk, the Alarm Clock let out a piercing sound.

Fang Cheng immediately put down his pen, tossed aside his book, and pressed the shutoff button.

At the same time, several lines of small text rolled and emerged before his eyes.

Your Focus Skill Experience +3

Your Speed Reading Skill Experience +3

Fang Cheng's eyes were bright, without the slightest hint of fatigue.

His forehead and temples also didn't have the swollen ache that came from using his brain for a long time.

If this were before, using two spirit-type skills at the same time for more than an hour and a half...

It would definitely have caused the panel to issue a warning message.

Now that his spirit attribute had broken through to 20 points, it was equivalent to his mana bar growing by a large chunk.

The original skill consumption naturally seemed hardly worth mentioning.

His study efficiency had therefore improved quite a bit.

After putting away the graduate entrance examination textbooks, Fang Cheng picked up a brand-new-looking book instead.

On it were the words "New Edition Eastern Ocean Language Tutorial."

This was something he had bought from a nearby bookstore the day before yesterday, after visiting Majima Goro.

Since he intended to learn more information from the other man, Fang Cheng was not willing to only rely on others to help translate.

These past few days, aside from studying Eastern Ocean Language at home with textbooks, he would run to the hospital to have heart-to-hearts with Majima Goro whenever he had time.

They talked about the Martial Path, about life, or about changes in the international situation, the mysteries of the universe and all living things...

Most of the time, the two of them were like a chicken talking to a duck, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Fang Cheng simply treated it as spoken-language practice to gain experience.

As for Cui Xiuying's slightly reproachful gaze, he just pretended not to see it.

"Gozaimasu."

"Aishiteru."

Fang Cheng read out a few common phrases in an authentic Osaka Dialect.

In fact, he had already forcibly memorized all the content in the entire textbook with the help of his Focus and Speed Reading skills on the day he bought it.

Now he was only reviewing and reciting it to deepen his understanding.

Just as he was getting into the reading, something suddenly stirred in Fang Cheng's heart.

It was as if a shackle had been opened; inspiration bubbled out like spring water, surging forth without end.

At the same time, several prompt messages emerged before his eyes.

You have reached a certain level of proficiency in learning a foreign language and successfully mastered a Language Skill

Unlocked Skill: Eastern Ocean Language Lv0 (0/100)

Fang Cheng's eyes went slightly startled.

He only felt that all the knowledge points that had been poured into his mind instantly blended together seamlessly, receiving a thorough understanding at this moment.

"This effect..."

Sensing the qualitative change produced after mastering the skill, Fang Cheng could not help but praise it in a low voice.

His current language level was basically equivalent to that of a proper Eastern Ocean language major graduate.

Simple communication should be completely fine; at the very least, there would be no obvious communication barriers.

Unfortunately...

The skills he had mastered before the panel was activated seemed to have all been excluded and could not be displayed.

Otherwise, adding in the English required by school and his own native language, he could have unlocked three Language Skills all at once.

If he learned another new foreign language and successfully mastered four skills of the same type...

Wouldn't he have a chance to try in advance the true effects of synthesizing an excellent, outstanding, or even Epic Grade talent?

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's eyes shone, and his motivation instead became even stronger.

At worst, he would just learn a few more foreign languages.

For him, who possessed a high Spirit Attribute and two study skills, this was not particularly difficult.

Judging by his current study speed, it was at least much easier than fitness training and combat.

Thud thud thud!

The kitchen knife flew rapidly over the chopping board, chopping and slicing through a slab of pork leg.

Cold light flickered as the blade first gently gouged, then he swiftly pushed with his hand, and the bone separated from the skin and meat.

Then, using the seams between the bones, he used the blade tip to pick away the fascia and lymph nodes at the connecting points.

Finally, he cut the dismantled pork leg meat into small square chunks.

Fang Cheng stood in front of the stove, skillfully processing the ingredients he had bought from the morning market.

In the living room behind him, the TV screen flickered, playing a foreign horror movie.

Waves of bloodcurdling screams came from it.

Now that he had money, of course he could not treat himself poorly when it came to food.

Fang Cheng's current food standards had improved quite a bit.

He was no match for those star fighters, but he had basically reached the standard of an ordinary athlete.

He finished breaking down the pork hind leg, trimming the bones perfectly clean.

He set aside two pieces of meat for stir-fry later, and concealed the rest in the refrigerator.

The remaining marrow bones could be used to make soup too.

Fang Cheng planned to cook something good tomorrow and bring it to the hospital, then personally tell his mother that the surgical fee had been taken care of.

As for this afternoon?

Looking at the message "Cooking EXP +2" that emerged before his eyes, Fang Cheng pondered to himself.

He could go bother Majima Goro again, show off his talent for languages, and grind some skill proficiency.

That would probably surprise him even more than anything on the martial arts side.

After he came back, he still had to go to Master Lin's Trauma Clinic in the evening to help out for free.

And learn medical skills like bone setting while he was at it.

Although he was on sick leave, his life was still this busy and fulfilling.

Fang Cheng greatly enjoyed the feeling of making progress and gaining something every day.