Outdoor Training

Zhang Shuai rode his electric scooter out of Qingshui City, heading toward the remote outskirts.

Before long, Zhang Shuai found a place perfectly suited for stealing electricity.

His phone showed that this was within Fuzhu County, under Qingshui City's jurisdiction. It lay at the foot of a mountain, with vast stretches of fertile farmland in the distance, a reservoir farther beyond, and the nearest village several miles away. Near that village, a railway and highway both passed through.

Zhang Shuai found a spot at the foot of the mountain and set up his camping tent.

There was no one around. Wild grass covered the area, and it was some distance from the nearby fields. Most importantly, there was a utility pole here—a common rural power transmission pole, probably carrying 10 kilovolts.

Although Zhang Shuai was only a sham electrician and had been on the job for less than a month, he still understood some basics. He noticed that on the side of the utility pole facing the village, there was a single-pole transformer, along with a high-voltage drop-out fuse and a high-voltage lightning arrester, all installed on the same pole.

This supplied household electricity to the nearby village, so the line on the village-facing side of the pole was 220V. He could not afford to connect to the wrong wire. If he tapped into the 10kV line, he feared he would be burned to a crisp.

His campsite was very close to the utility pole. After working at it for a while, Zhang Shuai successfully connected a wire from the pole and ran it down.

In the wild grass, Zhang Shuai assumed a stance and began practicing the first thirty-six forms of the Big Dipper Long Fist. The fist technique now came alive in his hands, fierce winds rising from every blow, and the longer he fought, the more strength he seemed to have.

After practicing for more than an hour, Zhang Shuai was drenched in sweat. A great deal of grime and oily stains appeared on his body again, and an intense hunger rose within him once more.

Zhang Shuai temporarily ignored the filth on his body. He understood that these were toxins and impurities being expelled from his body, cleansing his meridians and washing his marrow—good for him.

Whenever practicing fist techniques left Zhang Shuai hungry, he began charging himself. This time, charging took more than an hour.

After charging, Zhang Shuai continued practicing the Big Dipper Long Fist. This time, he practiced for over two hours before feeling hungry. Clearly, Zhang Shuai's endurance was steadily improving.

The next charge took an hour and a half, after which he continued practicing the Big Dipper Long Fist.

Night fell. Feeling sticky all over, Zhang Shuai rode his electric scooter through the darkness to the nearby reservoir.

Seeing that no one was around, Zhang Shuai stripped naked, jumped into the reservoir, and took a bath. He also washed the dirty clothes he had changed out of.

After bathing, he returned to his tent feeling refreshed. He found several sticks to hang up his clean clothes, then took out an electronic scale and weighed himself. Eighty-three kilograms.

Zhang Shuai was overjoyed. He had actually lost seven kilograms in just two days! At this rate, as long as he kept it up for a while, getting down to seventy kilograms was no dream!

Over the next two days, he stayed there and trained with his head down, his weight dropping to seventy-five kilograms.

Since practicing the Big Dipper Long Fist, Zhang Shuai had lost fifteen kilograms in only a few short days. Though the weight had fallen off rapidly, his muscles were exceptionally firm. Unlike many people who overdid their dieting, the flesh on his belly did not hang loose and saggy from his body, looking ugly as hell.

Zhang Shuai was now completely transformed from before. He had once looked very fat, but now he could be considered to have a standard build. Moreover, he felt that his strength had increased greatly and his energy was overflowing. He had gone three days without food or water and did not feel the slightest hunger. Even more frightening, Zhang Shuai had not gone to the toilet during these days. Not only had he not taken a dump, he had not even urinated.

Zhang Shuai was somewhat horrified. Was a human who did not need the cycle of the five grains still a normal human? He could go without eating, drinking, shitting, or pissing; all he needed was charging. Wasn't that practically a robot?

Still, Zhang Shuai was different from a robot. Robots did not need sleep and could work without rest, but Zhang Shuai still needed to sleep. He also still wanted women and had normal desires. The little brother below his waist functioned normally, switching freely between soft and hard. Robots did not have that ability.

Looking at it that way, Zhang Shuai could still count as a normal man. For a poor loser like him, not needing to eat, drink, or relieve himself might even be a good thing. How much could that cut his expenses?

However, starting from the fourth day, Zhang Shuai discovered that practicing the Big Dipper Long Fist was no longer having much effect. He practiced for an entire day without needing to charge, and no more filthy grime came out of his body. He barely even sweated. When he weighed himself, he was still seventy-five kilograms—not changed at all.

That was rather strange. Had he reached his limit, like the bottleneck described in those martial arts novels?

Zhang Shuai was somewhat unwilling to accept it. He had to lose another five kilograms at least. Since the first thirty-six forms of the Big Dipper Long Fist no longer worked, then he would start practicing the latter thirty-six forms.

Zhang Shuai took out his phone and found the official website of the Dragon Kingdom General Administration of Sport. The website contained a complete, detailed breakdown of the 72-Style Big Dipper Long Fist, so Zhang Shuai began practicing each move and form according to its explanations.

Compared to the first thirty-six forms, the latter thirty-six were far more difficult. The official website explained that the first thirty-six forms were roughly as difficult as square dancing and radio calisthenics, but the latter thirty-six required a foundation in martial arts to complete. Many of the movements placed high demands on the body's physical abilities, and without some professional martial arts foundation, it was basically very hard to grasp their essence.

Zhang Shuai had once been too fat to complete many of the movements, but things were different now. After losing fifteen kilograms, he had not only become more agile, but his physical fitness and endurance had improved far beyond what they had been before. Even his brain seemed to work better than before. After practicing against the move breakdowns for more than an hour, Zhang Shuai felt that his overall completion was quite good.

Once he had memorized all the individual movements, Zhang Shuai began performing the entire fist routine in one continuous flow.

Zhang Shuai's movements were exceptionally smooth. At times he was graceful, like a swimming dragon playing in the water; at times he was fierce and sharp, like a tiger pouncing and an eagle striking. After completing the entire routine, Zhang Shuai felt as though a ball of fire were burning inside his body. Sweat poured from his entire body, as if his fat were burning fiercely, and huge amounts of oily grime and impurities were expelled from him once again. After performing the fist routine just once, Zhang Shuai felt hungry.

Zhang Shuai was delighted. It really worked—there was hope for weight loss after all!

Grabbing the wire he had connected from the utility pole again, Zhang Shuai began charging himself. As the tingling current entered his body, his hunger slowly faded away.

This charge took two hours before Zhang Shuai finally felt the full, bloated sensation of being satiated, returning once more to a refreshed state.

However, Zhang Shuai was very dissatisfied with this charging speed. Every charge wasted two hours, and the time required might very well grow longer and longer in the future. That would be rather unsuitable. Charging for too long would easily draw attention and expose something unusual. If only he could charge quickly and keep the charging time within five minutes.