Early to bed, early to rise, makes the body thrive

Back in his cramped rental room, Chen Jue slept exceptionally soundly that night.

He even woke up naturally before seven the next morning!

Chen Jue guessed that his mindset had changed somewhat.

Having been controlled by the monotonous routine of work for so long, he had nearly turned into a robot that only knew how to clock in.

He had spent every day in a daze, waiting for work to end and hoping night would come sooner so he could return to his rental room, scroll on his phone, and play games.

Now that he had this Attribute Panel, things were different!

Because a fire that had long been extinguished in Chen Jue's heart had been reignited!

He no longer thought about how to end each day sooner. Instead, he began looking forward to starting sooner.

He wanted dawn to come earlier, to get through the long nights, make his life more fulfilling, and grind a few more attributes.

He wanted to see whether, once his attributes increased enough, his body—and even his life—would change in different ways.

This was what happened when a lost young man suddenly found something new to pursue and look forward to.

The passion and hope that reality had worn away were gradually returning over these past few days.

"I never thought an Attribute Panel would cure my emo phase!"

"No one would believe that if I told them, right?"

With hope for life rekindled, Chen Jue got up early in the morning and originally wanted a cigarette to wake himself up.

But after seeing the warning printed on the pack—"Smoking is harmful to health"—he hesitated, crushed the Blue Liqun pack with three cigarettes left, and tucked it into the inner pocket of the suit jacket hanging on the wall.

"Unless it's absolutely necessary, I won't smoke anymore."

"I'll set myself a small goal first: quit smoking!"

Chen Jue made up his mind.

After washing up and shaving his scruffy beard, he dragged his aching body outside for a slow walk.

Since he had only started working out at the gym yesterday, both his legs were so sore that he could barely spread his stride. Even slight vigorous movement made his thigh muscles pull painfully.

Not even the 688-yuan-per-session spa treatment at Jingtanghui helped!

According to Coach Li, this was normal lactic acid buildup and needed time to metabolize.

People who worked out regularly would not have this problem. Their metabolism was faster than that of ordinary people, and they could basically recover after a day.

Chen Jue had not exercised for years, so now that he was moving again, his body needed time to adapt.

As he strolled slowly around the central flowerbed in the residential complex, he saw quite a few elderly men and women out for morning exercise.

There were also middle-aged aunties in neat uniforms and headphones dancing in the square, as well as a group of nearly bald old men gathered in a pavilion playing Chinese chess.

These retirees had colorful lives and extremely regular routines, far better than those junior office workers in the rental apartments who did not get up until noon.

Chen Jue was somewhat envious of these elderly people in Hang City.

That was because most of them were landlords living off rent, with several relocation apartments in their hands and no financial pressure whatsoever.

As long as their children did not blindly start businesses, they could lie back and collect money until they were buried, without ever worrying about food or clothing.

"So being born into the right family really is a skill," Chen Jue sighed inwardly.

After dragging his aching body around for a lap, he spotted several elderly men practicing Taiji in a corner of the complex.

A small speaker sat on the ground, playing elegant, soothing background music.

Chen Jue was finding the slow walk boring, so he watched them for a while and, feeling a little itchy himself, casually followed along with a few gestures.

To his surprise, the Attribute Panel actually reacted to this traditional Chinese martial art!

[Ding~]

[Movement meets the requirements]

[Skill activated: Twelve Taiji Forms]

"This can be activated as a skill too?"

Chen Jue froze. He stared at the Attribute Panel for quite some time before coming back to himself.

He had always thought the panel only recorded relatively obscure sports. He had not expected traditional martial arts to fall within its scope as well.

"Twelve Taiji Forms?"

"This should be a simplified version of Taiji, right?" Chen Jue took out his phone and searched online, confirming his guess.

There had always been endless debate surrounding Taiji, this traditional martial art. There were six theories on its origins alone.

There were also countless Taiji schools on the market, including Chen-style Taiji, Wudang Taiji, Sun-style Taiji, and many more.

They were further divided into things like large frame, small frame, and old Taiji frame.

Chen Jue was merely an ordinary office worker and did not like delving too deeply into such things, because reading too much about them made his head hurt.

After finding out that the Twelve Taiji Forms had been streamlined and adapted by the General Administration of Sport of China, Chen Jue put away his phone.

His muscles ached all over, so he could not do any intense exercise these next few days.

As it happened, the Twelve Taiji Forms featured gentle movements and health-preserving benefits, so Chen Jue joined the group and slowly practiced along with them.

The elderly men and women in loose training clothes did not reject the stranger. They smiled and nodded at Chen Jue, gave him a once-over with looks that said, "This young man has promise," and then ignored him, as though they had completely immersed themselves in their own world.

But Chen Jue grew more and more energized as he practiced, because he watched proficiency increase notifications pop up continuously on his Attribute Panel.

After spending over an hour repeatedly performing the twelve forms until his body was lightly sweating, the Twelve Taiji Forms leveled up with remarkable ease!

[Ding~]

[Proficiency has reached 100%. Skill level increased.]

[Twelve Taiji Forms Lv0 (100/100) → Lv1 (1/200)]

[You have become somewhat more familiar with the Twelve Taiji Forms. Your movements are more fluid and less prone to mistakes.]

[Ding~]

[Completed an aerobic exercise that meets the requirements]

[Free attribute point +0.01]

[Ding~]

[After a period of moderate exercise, your muscle groups have been properly stretched and relaxed. Your metabolism has accelerated, and your muscle recovery speed has increased slightly.]

[Constitution attribute +0.01]

"Amazing! Even practicing Taiji can trigger a critical hit?"

"Awesome! That's seriously effective!"

As Chen Jue watched the notifications appear one after another on the Attribute Panel, he recalled the night he had practiced [Stone Skipping], and his mood immediately brightened.

If not for the group of elderly people nearby, and his concern that it would look bad, he would probably have thrown back his head and shouted a few times.

Naturally, the sudden increase in his Constitution attribute also brought a stream of warmth.

But this warmth was not confined to Chen Jue's hands and feet. It spread through his entire body, and even his internal organs felt pleasantly warm.

To make that sensation last a little longer, Chen Jue once again added the free attribute point he had just obtained to [Constitution].

His Constitution attribute immediately rose to 0.96, and the soreness in his muscles eased considerably.

He subconsciously glanced at the MUD-style text Attribute Panel:

Character: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.79

Constitution: 0.96

Mental: 1.06

Skills: [Stone Skipping Lv1 (2/200)] [Darts Lv2 (1/500)] [Twelve Taiji Forms Lv1 (1/200)]

Distributable free attribute points: 0.00

(Character evaluation: A corporate wage slave who has gained some awareness. Your subhealthy body is developing in a positive direction.)

"The evaluation changed!"

"My Constitution attribute isn't far from a whole number now!" Chen Jue happily clenched his fist, grinning from ear to ear.

If those elderly men and women had not been busy practicing Taiji themselves, they would probably have treated him like an idiot.

That young man was standing there alone early in the morning, grinning foolishly without even looking at his phone. Was work pressure so great that something had snapped in his brain?