He practiced from sometime after nine right up until lunch, finally raising his proficiency in the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic to (12/100).
The unwavering rate of one point every half hour also made Chen Jue resolve to spend points for a breakthrough.
The Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic truly deserved to be called a "divine art." After a morning of practice, most of his muscle soreness had vanished. His tendons stretched, his back loosened, his heartbeat slowed, and his breathing grew deeper.
Most importantly, his constitution had risen another 0.01, reaching 1.34. Even his health index had climbed from 89% to 90%!
It was like a divine art specifically designed to improve physical fitness!
"It's already given me such a huge boost before I've even grasped the basics. If I get it to Level 1, won't I really take off?" Chen Jue began to look forward to it.
His free attribute points showed no sign of increasing, however. He could only pin his hopes on the afternoon's stance practice and weight training.
After lunch, Chen Jue went to bed for his planned rest. After a moment's thought, he opened Taobao on his phone and ordered an electronic wristband that could monitor his heart rate and sleep.
Although the attribute panel could display his health index directly, Chen Jue still wanted to use scientific methods to measure his heart rate and other aspects of his condition.
He spent over five hundred on a high-end wristband, then impulsively ordered a regulation 7.26-kilogram shot put, a measuring tape for the long jump, and a stopwatch for timing runs.
When he had some free time, Chen Jue planned to find somewhere to test his performance in various track and field events.
Practicing martial arts could improve his attributes, but scientific measurements and comparisons would surely provide more useful data, helping him build up experience and prepare to adjust his training direction in the future.
After all, in Chen Jue's view, a stronger body manifested itself in a few straightforward ways: running faster, jumping higher and farther, throwing a shot put farther, lifting heavier objects, and so on.
All of these could be measured directly with the right tools. If he could establish that those figures were improving, he could confirm that the attribute panel he had awakened really worked, rather than being a figment of his imagination that led him blindly down the path of training.
Other things, such as whether he would live longer, could only be proven with time.
Some advanced medical laboratories could probably measure more complex, deeper indicators such as "vitality" and "the upper limit of cell division," but Chen Jue had no access to those laboratories for the time being. He would have to make do with simple testing methods.
Name: Chen Jue Age: 27 Health index: 90% Strength: 0.95 Agility: 0.88 Intelligence: 1.22 Constitution: 1.34 Skills mastered: [Boat Boxing Level 1 (83/200)] [Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic Level 0 (12/100)] [Eight Immortals Stance Level 1 (46/200)] Available free attribute points: 0.07
He napped until two, having set an alarm in advance, and slept for just an hour and a half.
He did indeed feel better upon waking than he had after his previous unrestricted naps. Just then, his phone rang.
It was the installer delivering his television. Installation had originally been scheduled for the morning, but the man seemed busy and had changed the appointment beforehand.
Chen Jue washed his face with cold water, wiped the sleep from his eyes, then went out to guide the installer, who had driven over, to his house.
The seventy-inch television was installed in the living room. It did not face the sofa; it was specifically for practicing martial arts.
The installer asked him several questions to confirm that he really wanted it there, then drilled the holes, fitted the mount, and connected the cables.
New flat-screen televisions had built-in set-top box functionality. All they needed was power and a Wi-Fi connection.
Chen Jue tested it, then cast the Boat Boxing videos he had downloaded on his tablet to the screen. The picture was very clear, and he signed the installation paperwork with satisfaction.
After seeing off the two television installers, Chen Jue made another trip to the village shop.
Everything he had ordered over the past few days had now arrived. He had been particularly eager to get his hands on the potent tonics.
Back home, he unpacked everything. He had no plans to try pills such as the Black-Boned Chicken and White Phoenix Pill yet, so he first put the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction into a clay pot to simmer.
The Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction used an ancient formula, and this was a premium product from Tong Ren Tang. As soon as it went into the pot, a rich medicinal fragrance filled the room.
According to the instructions, it needed to simmer over low heat for at least two hours to extract its medicinal properties.
He also had to keep adding water to the pot so that the liquid would not boil dry and the herbs would not burn.
He checked the time. It was just right for his afternoon practice.
Chen Jue began practicing the Eight Immortals Stance on the Solid Wood Square Table, occasionally checking the heat in the kitchen and doing some weight training to increase his strength and agility.
The afternoon passed like this, and the medicinal fragrance in the room grew almost thick enough to touch.
Chen Jue's attributes also improved considerably. His strength and agility each increased by 0.03, and he accumulated another three hundredths of a free attribute point, bringing the total to 0.1.
It was 0.1, not 0.01! Ten times as much!
This was the largest reserve of free attribute points Chen Jue had accumulated since awakening the attribute panel!
His proficiency in the Eight Immortals Stance and Boat Boxing had also risen considerably over the afternoon's practice.
Seeing that it was almost six, Chen Jue went into the kitchen, turned off the heat beneath the clay pot, and ladled a rice bowl full of Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction.
The instructions said that the pot of decoction had to be taken in several doses.
Drinking too much at once could cause excessive internal heat or other side effects from taking a tonic the body was too weak to handle.
Chen Jue first held up the bowl and sniffed it. Its fragrance seemed much richer and mellower than ordinary Chinese herbal medicine, invigorating him with a single whiff.
"It has such a powerful effect before I've even drunk it?"
"No wonder it's an ancient formula!"
Once the medicine had cooled a little, Chen Jue raised the bowl and gulped it all down in one go.
After an afternoon of practice, his stomach had already felt hollow. That large bowl of Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction made Chen Jue's stomach grow hot, and a wave of warmth surged through him.
Glancing at the 0.1 free attribute points he had accumulated, Chen Jue simply assumed his stance and raised the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic straight to Level 1!
His original proficiency of (12/100) suddenly blurred and rolled over. After consuming 0.09 attribute points, the skill entry changed to: [Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic Level 1 (2/200)]
An unfamiliar muscle memory spread throughout his body. The parts of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic that had previously felt awkward or baffling suddenly became clear.
After completing one set of the twelve forms, Chen Jue's body turned bright red, like a cooked shrimp!
Visible heat rose as white vapor from his shoulders, the top of his head, his back, and his limbs!
"I've grasped the basics of the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic!"
What surprised Chen Jue most was that, after he completed one set of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic, his constitution attribute actually ticked up by 0.01!
Such an outrageous improvement was like having a cheat enabled!
"It really does live up to its reputation as a Shaolin divine art!"
Unable to hold back his amazement, Chen Jue practiced two more sets and watched his constitution climb another two hundredths.
By then, however, the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction he had drunk just moments ago had already been completely used up.
That whole bowl of medicine has already been digested? On reflection, the water must have evaporated with his heavy sweating, while the medicinal effects had become nutrients that fueled his rapidly increasing constitution.
Having already experienced one improvement through spending points, Chen Jue immediately understood the principle. He bounded into the kitchen, poured all the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction from the clay pot into a large bowl, and lifted it to gulp some down.
After drinking, he returned to the living room to perform the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic. Once the decoction in his stomach was used up, he went back for more, repeating the cycle six times.
He used up all the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction that should have lasted three days, and Chen Jue's constitution surged from its original 1.34 to 1.56 before finally coming to a halt!
His health index shot up from 90% to 98% in one go!
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