Breakthrough and the One-Strike Punch Crack

Breakthrough and the One-Strike Punch Crack

Half an hour later.

With his stamina restored, Chen Sheng began putting on his Weighted Gear.

After a full day of training, his attributes had clearly improved.

Thirty kilograms of weight was obviously no longer enough for his current needs.

Chen Sheng immediately added two more Steel Bars to his Weighted Vest.

With a total load of forty kilograms, Chen Sheng felt it was just right.

Strength: 1.86

He was still 0.14 away from breaking through the two-point mark. "Let's go!"

Rubbing his hands together, Chen Sheng went out to the balcony and immediately began his basic training.

Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups.

One exercise after another,

Chen Sheng could feel his muscles gradually growing stronger, and he trained with exceptional vigor.

An hour later.

His Strength had risen by 0.11. He was now just 0.03 away from the two-point mark. His other two attributes had each risen by 0.02. Chen Sheng lay on the balcony, gasping for breath as he waited for his stamina to recover.

It was already past ten at night.

Normally, Chen Sheng would have showered and gotten ready for bed by now.

But today, he had to see whether, with two points of Strength, he could make his punch crack in a single strike.

Twenty minutes later.

Most of Chen Sheng's stamina had recovered, but the soreness in his muscles had not completely faded.

Fortunately, the increase in his Strength attribute eased his muscle fatigue, so it was not as though he could not train at all.

He got down again and began doing Push-ups.

Chen Sheng did not close the panel. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on its changes throughout his workout.

Five minutes later.

1.98

Ten minutes later.

1.99

Just one last point! Thick veins bulged across Chen Sheng's skin, his arm muscles swelled, and his expression turned somewhat fierce.

Gritting his teeth, he pumped his body up and down, one repetition after another.

Finally,

Strength: 2

"Done!"

Chen Sheng's face lit up with delight.

With a push of both arms, he sprang straight up from the floor.

Whoosh! Chen Sheng tried throwing a punch.

His fist cut through the air with a distinct whistling sound.

But this

was clearly not enough to be called a one-strike punch crack.

Still, Chen Sheng was not in a hurry.

To make a punch crack in a single strike, his body had to become familiar with the proper way of exerting force.

The strength of his arm muscles alone was far from sufficient.

Chen Sheng closed his eyes.

After taking several deep breaths,

he assumed the San Ti Stance and slowly began practicing the Xingyi Five Elements Fist.

Split, Crush, Drill, Cannon, Cross.

Move after move flowed out as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.

Chen Sheng kept his eyes closed, sensing the changes in the muscles throughout his body.

Then,

his movements gradually sped up.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! His fists sliced through the air again and again.

Sweat continuously seeped from Chen Sheng's forehead.

Almost there.

So close.

He could feel it.

Just a little more.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! His moves grew faster and faster,

until Chen Sheng's fists vanished from sight, leaving only streaks of afterimages in the air.

The sounds grew louder and louder, nearly blending into one continuous roar.

Then, at last, crack! A sudden explosive sound instantly shattered the silence of the night.

People in their sleep were jolted awake by the sudden blast.

Dogs began barking, followed by curses.

But hearing the nonstop stream of abuse,

Chen Sheng ducked his head and rushed into the room as quickly as he could, lest anyone discover that he was the one disturbing the peace.

Back in the living room.

"Ha!"

Chen Sheng stared at his fist, his face brimming with wild joy.

A one-strike punch crack!

He had finally done it.

Still feeling somewhat unsatisfied,

Chen Sheng shut the balcony door and began practicing his punches again in the living room.

With the experience from his first attempt,

he became increasingly familiar with mobilizing his muscles.

Crack! At first,

he still needed to perform two or three rounds of the Five Elements Fist before he could barely produce a crack.

Crack! Crack! Later on, he could make the sound with every round.

An hour later.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Chen Sheng was drenched in sweat, his face filled with ecstatic joy.

He was still punching.

But now, every move came with an unending series of explosive cracks.

The entire living room sounded like firecrackers going off.

"Hoo—"

Chen Sheng let out a long breath.

Only then did he stop, staggering somewhat as he walked over to the sofa.

Thud! He collapsed headfirst into it.

The moment he suddenly relaxed, the intense soreness felt so good that Chen Sheng nearly cried out.

Chen Sheng

Strength: 2

Agility: 1.62

Constitution: 2.12

Three-Body Stance lv2: 40/5000

Xingyi Five Elements Fist lv1: 50/2000

Skill Points: 1.96

These were Chen Sheng's current attributes.

That hour of punching had raised his Agility by 0.01 and his Constitution by 0.02. For his current self,

it was better than nothing.

And he now had enough Skill Points to upgrade the Five Elements Fist.

However,

before his Strength reached the level needed to produce hidden force, Chen Sheng did not intend to upgrade it.

Although upgrading the Five Elements Fist would allow Chen Sheng to learn how to exert hidden force,

the prerequisite for martial arts realms was sufficient physical fitness to support them.

Chen Sheng's muscle strength had only just reached overt force. There was no need to rush into upgrading.

The Three-Body Stance, on the other hand,

had seen its proficiency requirement increase drastically after reaching lv2.

Chen Sheng was quite curious about what changes the next level would bring.

Therefore,

Chen Sheng planned to put off upgrading the Five Elements Fist for now. Once he had accumulated enough Skill Points, he would upgrade the San Ti Stance.

At that point, the effectiveness of his training would receive another boost.

With that in mind,

Chen Sheng, feeling that his body had recovered somewhat, climbed off the sofa and took off his Weighted Gear.

He did not shower right away. Instead, he went to the kitchen and took out some instant food he had bought.

His earlier training had consumed most of the energy in his body.

He was so hungry that he could practically chew through the table.

After filling his stomach a little, Chen Sheng went to the bathroom to shower.

Half an hour later, Chen Sheng lay in bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day.

Morning.

Chen Sheng opened his eyes.

Having slept deeply yesterday in his extreme exhaustion,

he now woke feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Climbing out of bed, Chen Sheng stretched.

A series of crackling pops came from all over his body.

It felt incredibly good.

When he reached the kitchen, he found that the ingredients he had bought two days ago were basically all gone.

So, after washing up, Chen Sheng went to the market again to buy groceries and grab breakfast along the way.

After returning home,

he put away the ingredients, then put on his forty-kilogram weights again.

Once outside, he ran straight toward the martial arts gym.

As the base values of his attributes grew higher and higher, the gains brought by each day of training also increased.

Yesterday, with thirty kilograms of weight, he could only barely run thirteen kilometers.

But today, wearing forty kilograms of weight, he did not stop to rest until he had run fifteen kilometers.

Only five kilometers remained before the martial arts gym, so Chen Sheng gave up on taking a Motorcycle Taxi.

He proceeded at a slow walk, recovering his stamina as he headed toward the gym.

Arriving at the gym entrance,

Chen Sheng looked at the panel.

This morning's run had raised his Constitution by 0.09.

His other two attributes had also risen by 0.02.

He was extremely satisfied with that.

After checking his gains and glancing at the time, Chen Sheng entered the martial arts gym.

Because he had gone grocery shopping today, he had arrived a little late.

"Brother Chen, why are you only getting here now?"

As soon as Chen Sheng entered the training hall, Shi Jian, who had been practicing, stopped and greeted him.

"Hello, Brother Chen!"

"Morning, Brother Chen!"

"Brother Chen, you're handsome again today!"

The few gym disciples Chen Sheng had instructed yesterday also greeted him warmly.

Chen Sheng nodded in response to each of them and walked over to Shi Jian.

"This morning, while I was Inhaling Purple Qi, I had an insight and made a small breakthrough."

"That's why I came late."