"Time's up. Take a break."
As his will battled relentlessly with his body for control, Instructor Qin's voice sounded like heavenly music.
"Haah... huah..."
Fang Qingyu lay on the ground, panting heavily.
His vision had grown somewhat dim.
He could not even clearly hear Instructor Qin's voice beside him.
Hungry. So hungry.
The hunger even overwhelmed the soreness throughout his body.
This was the first time Fang Qingyu had encountered something like this.
"Get up and eat."
Fortunately, Instructor Qin pulled Fang Qingyu to his feet and handed him a meal box.
So ravenous that he had gone crazy, Fang Qingyu failed to notice at first that it was the same kind used at Clear Pool Club. He only realized it after finishing the meal.
"Uh... how much does this cost, Instructor Qin?"
"It's just one meal. Consider it a reward for holding on."
Instructor Qin waved dismissively. Having watched from beginning to end, he knew very well that Fang Qingyu gave his all during every training session.
Unlike the others, who slacked off once they reached the latter stages.
The limits of their physical exhaustion restricted the ceiling of their progress.
"From now on, you'll have to train like this every day. Can you keep it up?"
"Only then will you have a chance of getting into the Elite Class."
Seeing that Fang Qingyu would not be able to stand for a while, Instructor Qin did not hurry to leave. He leaned against the fist post and asked,
"I can."
Fang Qingyu nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Mm. You managed to hold on today. That shows that even though you thought you had great talent, you still didn't choose to slack off. That's an excellent attitude toward martial arts."
"As long as you're willing to work hard, you still have a chance."
Fang Qingyu listened carefully. At first, he did not think much of it, but he soon suddenly realized what Instructor Qin meant.
"Thought?"
"You thought your talent was very good?"
Hearing this, Instructor Qin replied with a strange smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Do you know how long it took people in ancient times to learn the stance training and this set of Basic Fist Technique?"
Fang Qingyu shook his head blankly.
"One hour."
Under Fang Qingyu's incredulous gaze, Instructor Qin held up one finger.
"Stance training plus Basic Fist Technique was originally the simplest way to strengthen the body and health. In the eyes of the ancients, it was as simple as our learning to do standard push-ups today."
"It takes you several days to learn standard push-ups?"
Before Fang Qingyu could recover from his shock, Instructor Qin continued,
"However, times have changed. Martial arts training is too difficult, and people can live perfectly well without practicing martial arts. Besides, many people have never come into contact with it at all, so taking several days is normal."
"So among ordinary people, your talent is actually considered quite good."
Perhaps worried that Fang Qingyu would be discouraged, Instructor Qin offered one last word of consolation.
A martial artist could not be arrogant, but neither could he lack confidence.
Fang Qingyu, however, did not feel much about it.
He was merely shocked that there were people with such terrifying talent.
Whether his own talent was good or bad did not matter.
With the Job Chart, as long as hard work was rewarded, he could erase every gap.
Now that talent had been mentioned, Fang Qingyu instead thought of the person he had encountered on his first day at the martial arts academy.
"Coach Lin?"
Instructor Qin's brows drew tightly together.
"His situation can't be compared with that of ordinary people. You only need to know that someone like him is one in ten thousand."
"..."
In that case, he was still quite a long way from a red-title profession.
"Let's go. Don't do any strenuous exercise today. Go get a meal set, and continue tomorrow."
The topic ended with Coach Lin.
Fang Qingyu changed his clothes and left the martial arts academy.
He had already gotten used to the light rain falling from the sky. Instead of hurrying to make deliveries, he first opened the Job Chart.
Congratulations, you have activated the profession Basic Skill "Basic Fist Technique" Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice Lv.1 (21/100) Profession Basic Skill 1: Hidden Dragon Stance Lv.1 (33/100) Profession Basic Skill 2: Basic Fist Technique Lv.1 (1/100)
Aside from obtaining a new skill, the experience of Hidden Dragon Stance had increased substantially.
This matched what Instructor Qin had said.
Stance training and fist techniques together formed a complete method for strengthening the body and health.
That was why his profession experience was also soaring.
However, the gains from holding on throughout the morning did not end there.
Fang Qingyu opened the title page.
Name: Fang Qingyu Age: 18 Professions: Martial Arts Apprentice, Security Guard, Fitness Enthusiast, Delivery Driver Strength: 8.0→8.2 Speed: 8.2→8.3 Physique: 9.1→9.2 Willpower: 10.7→10.8
All four attributes had increased to some extent.
One should not underestimate a mere fraction of an attribute.
After leaving, Fang Qingyu only needed a light jump and a casual punch to clearly sense the difference between today and yesterday!
Once the thrill of growth gradually faded, Fang Qingyu recalled the experience of being ravenously hungry just now.
The total increase in his attributes this time was 0.5, the same as on the day he unlocked Martial Arts Apprentice.
However, before that day, he had just finished eating the Medicinal Cuisine Qi Hao had treated him to.
He had not consumed much energy.
That was why he had not felt hungry after his attributes increased that day.
Thinking of this, Fang Qingyu mounted his little electric scooter and headed straight for Clear Pool Club.
The effects of a massage could be replaced with attribute points.
But there was truly no way to replace food.
Fang Qingyu accepted seventy or eighty orders, only barely finishing when it was almost time to go to work.
Profession: Delivery Driver Lv.1 (21/100) Profession Basic Skill: E-Bike Piloting Lv.1 (54/100)
After activation, his profession experience increased a little more slowly.
However, the experience for E-Bike Piloting was rising rapidly. He estimated that it would level up in another day or two.
He arrived at Night Beguiler Bar.
Fang Qingyu's physique today made the person taking over the shift look at him twice.
"Qingzi, have you been working out lately?"
"Yeah. I signed up at a martial arts academy and have been training a bit."
There was nothing worth hiding about it, so Fang Qingyu answered openly. Upon hearing this, the other person came over and felt the muscles on Fang Qingyu's arm.
Hard.
Fang Qingyu took the radio, exchanged a few more polite words, and officially began his shift.
After Xiao Si watched his back disappear, he turned into Brother Jiao's office.
The bar's neon lights licked the swaying reflections of the drunken patrons.
Fang Qingyu safely completed his work that night.
Profession: Security Guard Lv.1 (55/100) Profession Basic Skill: Alertness Lv.2 (11/200)
After his Alertness skill improved, the rate at which his profession experience increased also became quite a bit faster.
This showed that Fang Qingyu was doing his job more thoroughly.
Although nothing had happened.
After handing over to Xiao Si, Fang Qingyu rode the electric scooter home through the back door.
He still took the same shortcut.
Tonight, he had to level up one of his Fitness Enthusiast skills.
Otherwise, he absolutely would not be able to withstand martial arts training tomorrow.
So after returning home, Fang Qingyu did not switch between different exercises this time.
Instead, he focused on the deep squats with the most experience and did them frenziedly.
They did not require the slightest bit of technical skill.
The only thing they tested was willpower.
And Fang Qingyu's highest attribute at present was precisely willpower!
During the first eighteen years of his life, although the Job Chart had not appeared and had even brought him debilitating headaches,
it could still be considered a blessing in disguise.
Sweat kept dripping onto the floor.
Until the Job Chart displayed a new notification.
Congratulations, your profession Basic Skill "Deep Squats" has reached Lv.2 (Max). You have been rewarded with one Attribute Point.
Fang Qingyu had no time to celebrate before he saw the lettered prompt afterward.
"Max level?"
He opened the Fitness Enthusiast Job Panel.
Profession Basic Skill: Deep Squats Lv.2 (Max)
The experience bar afterward had indeed disappeared.
But that was normal.
The Basic Skills of Fitness Enthusiast were considered the simplest.
It was understandable that their levels were not high.
After all, there was no way to squat a flower into existence.
Besides, the Basic Skills of Fitness Enthusiast...
There were quite a lot of them.
Before you continue