Talent Is Not An Excuse For Laziness

"Time's up, let's rest."

As his will battled his body for control, Instructor Qin's voice was like a divine melody.

"Haaah."

Fang Qingyu lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

His vision was dim.

He could barely even hear Instructor Qin's voice beside him.

Hungry. So hungry.

The feeling of hunger even overshadowed the soreness in his body.

This was the first time Fang Qingyu had encountered such a situation.

"Get up and eat."

Fortunately, Instructor Qin pulled Fang Qingyu up, handing him a meal box.

Famished, Fang Qingyu didn't notice it was the same as the ones from Clear Pool Club until he finished eating.

"Uh, how much does this cost, Instructor Qin?"

"It's just a meal, consider it a reward for sticking with it."

Instructor Qin waved his hand dismissively. Having watched from start to finish, he knew Fang Qingyu gave his all in every training session.

Unlike others, who slacked off towards the end.

The physical limit of exhaustion capped their progress.

"You'll have to train like this every day from now on. Can you keep it up?"

"Only then will you have a chance to get into the Elite Class."

Seeing that Fang Qingyu couldn't stand up for a while, Instructor Qin didn't rush off. He leaned against a training post and asked.

"I can."

Fang Qingyu nodded without hesitation.

"Well, the fact that you endured today shows that even when you feel you have great talent, you didn't choose to slack off. This is a very good mindset for martial arts training."

"As long as you're willing to work hard, there's still a chance."

Fang Qingyu listened intently and didn't think much of it at first, but then he suddenly realized.

"Feel like?"

"You think you have great talent?"

Instructor Qin heard this and retorted with a strange smile.

"Do you know how long it took ancient people to learn the Hidden Dragon Stance and this Basic Fist Technique?"

Fang Qingyu shook his head blankly.

"One hour."

Instructor Qin held up a finger under Fang Qingyu's disbelieving gaze.

"The Hidden Dragon Stance and Basic Fist Technique were originally the simplest ways to strengthen the body. In the eyes of ancient people, they were as easy as learning to do standard push-ups today."

"Does it take you several days to learn standard push-ups?"

Before Fang Qingyu could recover from his shock, Instructor Qin continued.

"However, times have changed. Practicing martial arts is too hard, and people can live very well without it. Plus, many people have never been exposed to it, so taking a few days is normal."

"So, your talent is actually quite good among ordinary people."

Perhaps fearing Fang Qingyu would be discouraged, Instructor Qin added a word of comfort at the end.

A martial artist should not be arrogant, but they should not lack confidence either.

However, Fang Qingyu didn't feel anything in particular.

He was just shocked that such terrifying people existed.

Whether his own talent was good or not didn't matter.

As long as he had the illustrated manual, hard work could bridge any gap.

Now that talent was mentioned, Fang Qingyu remembered the person he met on his first day at the Martial Hall.

"Instructor Lin?"

Instructor Qin's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

"His situation cannot be compared to ordinary people. Just know that people like him are one in ten thousand."

"..."

It seemed he was still a long way from a 'red title' profession.

"Let's go. No strenuous exercise today. Get a massage, and we'll continue tomorrow."

The topic concluded with Instructor Lin.

Fang Qingyu changed his clothes and came out of the Martial Hall.

Accustomed to the light rain falling from the sky, he wasn't in a hurry to deliver food. Instead, he first opened his skill book.

[Congratulations on activating your Professional Basic Skill "Basic Fist Technique"]

[Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice Lv.1 (21/100)]

[Professional Basic Skill 1: Hidden Dragon Stance Lv.1 (33/100)]

[Professional Basic Skill 2: Basic Fist Technique Lv.1 (1/100)]

Besides gaining a new skill, the experience for Hidden Dragon Stance had also increased significantly.

This aligned with what Instructor Qin had said.

Stance training combined with fist techniques was a complete set of methods for strengthening the body.

Therefore, his professional experience was also soaring.

However, the gains from persisting through the morning weren't limited to this.

Fang Qingyu opened the profile page.

[Name: Fang Qingyu]

[Age: 18]

[Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice, Security Guard, Fitness Enthusiast, Food Delivery Rider]

[Strength: 8.0→8.2]

[Speed: 8.2→8.3]

[Physique: 9.1→9.2]

[Willpower: 10.7→10.8]

All four core attributes had increased, more or less.

Don't underestimate these minor attribute gains.

After coming out, Fang Qingyu simply jumped lightly and threw a casual punch, clearly perceiving the difference between today and yesterday!

As the thrill of growth gradually subsided, Fang Qingyu remembered the intense hunger he had experienced earlier.

The total attribute increase today was 0.5, the same as when he unlocked the Martial Arts Apprentice profession.

However, before that day, he had just finished the Medicinal Cuisine that Qi Hao treated him to.

He hadn't consumed much energy.

That's why he hadn't felt hungry after the attribute increase that day.

With this thought, Fang Qingyu hopped on his e-bike and headed straight for the Clear Pool Club.

The effects of massage could be replaced by attribute points.

But there was no substitute for food.

Fang Qingyu took on seventy to eighty orders, only finishing just before his work shift started.

[Profession: Food Delivery Rider Lv.1 (21/100)]

[Professional Basic Skill: E-Bike Piloting Lv.1 (54/100)]

After activation, the professional experience gained slowed down a bit.

However, the E-Bike Piloting skill experience was increasing rapidly. He estimated it would level up within another day or two.

He arrived at the Night Beguiler Bar.

Fang Qingyu's physique today made the person handing over the shift do a double-take.

"Qingzi, you been hitting the gym lately?"

"Yeah, I signed up at a martial hall and just been messing around."

There was no point in hiding something like this, so Fang Qingyu stated it openly. The other person, upon hearing this, even came over and felt the muscles on Fang Qingyu's arm.

They were hard.

Fang Qingyu took the radio, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then officially started his shift.

Xiao Si watched his retreating back before ducking into Brother Jiao's office.

The bar's neon lights licked at the swaying reflections of the drunk patrons.

Fang Qingyu completed his work for the night without incident.

[Profession: Security Guard Lv.1 (55/100)]

[Professional Basic Skill: Vigilance Lv.2 (11/200)]

After the Vigilance skill improved, the speed of professional experience gain also increased significantly compared to before.

This indicated that Fang Qingyu was performing his job more effectively.

Even though nothing happened.

After finishing his handover with Xiao Si, Fang Qingyu rode his e-bike home through the back door.

He took his usual shortcut.

He had to upgrade a fitness skill tonight.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to handle tomorrow's martial arts training.

So, upon returning home, Fang Qingyu didn't switch up his exercise routine this time.

Instead, he went all out on squats, which gave the most experience.

They didn't require any technical skill at all.

The only thing they tested was willpower.

But willpower was currently Fang Qingyu's highest attribute!

For the past eighteen years, although the professional skill tree hadn't appeared and had even given him headaches, it could also be considered a blessing in disguise.

Sweat dripped continuously onto the ground.

Until a new prompt popped up on the skill tree.

[Congratulations, your professional basic skill "Squats" has leveled up to Lv.2 (Max). You have been rewarded with one attribute point.]

Before Fang Qingyu could celebrate, he saw the subsequent letter prompt.

"It's max level already?"

He opened the Fitness Enthusiast's professional panel.

[Professional Basic Skill: Squats Lv.2 (Max)]

The experience bar behind it had indeed disappeared.

But it made sense.

The basic skills for the Fitness Enthusiast were the simplest.

It was understandable that they didn't have high levels.

After all, you couldn't exactly squat a flower into existence.

Moreover, the basic skills for the Fitness Enthusiast...

There were quite a lot of them.