The documentary was called Legend of Martial Arts. It had several seasons, each with eight episodes.
Each episode covered a real martial arts school, from south to north, from China to overseas. Every style of boxing worth mentioning was included.
Chen Jue watched with such fascination that he binged two episodes in a row. Only when he checked the time and saw it was nearly midnight did he finally put down his phone.
When he got up the next morning, Chen Jue felt wonderfully refreshed, perhaps because his Child's-Boy Skill had reached perfection.
He checked his health index. It had recovered to 98%, leaving just another 1% before his injuries were fully healed.
After washing up, he unwrapped the gauze around his right hand. The black scab beneath had already fallen off, revealing a layer of tender pink skin.
Sure enough, the stronger my constitution, the faster I recover!
These scrapes actually healed in just three days. Quietly delighted, Chen Jue headed to the reservoir dam for his morning training.
It was a bright, sunny day, though the temperature had dropped considerably from the peak of summer. Autumn was just around the corner.
Two hours of boxing and stance training earned Chen Jue a total of 0.04 free attribute points.
His panel attributes, however, did not budge.
Clearly, with every attribute already above 1, these two basic disciplines, Boat Boxing and the Eight Immortals Stance, could no longer raise them.
Still, Chen Jue was already more than satisfied to be earning free attribute points!
Once his newly ordered fitness equipment arrived, there would be plenty of time to grind strength and agility through "scientific" exercise.
After finishing his morning training, he checked his digital watch. It was just past eight. Chen Jue went home for a shower, changed into clean clothes, and walked to Lin Family Village for breakfast.
Today was the day he had arranged to collect his medicine. Chen Jue had been eagerly awaiting the Shaolin Mighty Pills he had ordered from Ye Tong Ren Tang.
He decided to skip walking or jogging this time. After breakfast, he flagged down a passenger van, paid five yuan for a ride to the main road, and caught a bus into town.
Since it was a weekday, the bus was less crowded than on the weekend. Nor did he encounter anything like the thief chase last time. He watched the scenery outside the window and reached the county town in a little over an hour.
At Ye Tong Ren Tang, the same young male doctor greeted Chen Jue. "Thirty Mighty Pills in total, with concentrated medicinal potency. These are very potent tonics, so one every three days is the absolute maximum! Do not take more than that!"
"Also, you have to take these with yellow rice wine. We stock twenty-year-aged yellow rice wine. Would you like a jar?"
Chen Jue nodded. He had never heard of a traditional medicine shop also selling alcohol. "Give me a jar!"
"All right. One jar of yellow rice wine, plus the outstanding balance, comes to 4,862 yuan." The doctor printed out a bill and directed Chen Jue to the payment counter.
The cost was so high because Chen Jue had bought a large quantity and chosen older, more mature specimens for several of the medicinal ingredients, driving up the price.
After paying, Chen Jue collected the medicine and a jar of yellow rice wine with a pained expression, then left the pharmacy carrying an elegant paper bag bearing the Ye Tong Ren Tang logo.
Before he left, the young doctor also suggested that Chen Jue try making some medicinal wine at home. He said it was very effective for martial artists and far better than indiscriminately drinking those Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoctions.
Clearly, the elderly doctor from his last visit had deliberately passed this advice along through his grandson.
Chen Jue paid a little more attention this time. Knowing the advice was well meant, he thanked him and decided to look into how best to make medicinal wine when he got home.
Of course, he would probably have to buy the ingredients for that medicinal wine from Ye Tong Ren Tang later. They had secured more business while doing him a favor on the side.
It certainly lived up to its reputation as a longstanding Wenzhou establishment that had been open since 1670. Even a young doctor knew how to handle people and relationships so smoothly. Chen Jue had to admire that.
With the Mighty Pills in hand, Chen Jue could hardly wait. He had no interest in shopping around the county town, so he took a bus to the passenger terminal and boarded an express coach. The steep fifteen-yuan ticket got him to Panlong Town in thirty minutes, considerably faster than the regular bus.
He then took a rural taxi-a seven-seat minivan-and arrived back at his old house in Chen Village just before noon.
He fired up the stove and made a simple meal. Once he had eaten, he began examining the Shaolin Mighty Pills.
He took out a wax-sealed Mighty Pill and peeled away its coating, revealing the dark pill inside. Holding it beneath his nose, he sniffed gently, and a rich medicinal aroma flowed into his nostrils and lungs.
He opened the aged yellow rice wine he had bought and poured a small bowl. After swallowing the whole Mighty Pill with the wine, Chen Jue began practicing the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic in his living room!
After all, the recipe for the Mighty Pill also came from the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic. The two complemented each other.
Sure enough, after taking the Mighty Pill, Chen Jue felt his body inexplicably begin to heat up as he practiced the Twelve Forms of the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic. A faint swelling sensation spread through his muscles.
Even his skill proficiency, which normally grew slowly at just one point every half hour, began increasing faster.
One full set of movements took only twenty minutes and added two proficiency points. That amounted to six points an hour. Compared with his previously appalling efficiency, he was now performing at full capacity!
More importantly, his strength and constitution attributes both ticked upward, each gaining 0.01!
It really lives up to the name Mighty Pill! It actually does increase strength!
What Chen Jue had not realized was that it worked so quickly because his constitution was already strong enough-absurdly strong, in fact.
Combined with the benefits of his perfected Child's-Boy Skill, his digestive and absorptive abilities far exceeded those of an ordinary person. He could rapidly absorb the full medicinal potency of a Mighty Pill without any of it going to waste.
It was as though he had even absorbed the medicinal dregs!
Only after practicing for over an hour did Chen Jue feel that the pill in his stomach had been fully digested.
Both his constitution and strength had increased by 0.03. This was far more efficient than grinding free attribute points and allocating them.
Popping pills and training feels great!
But if I keep popping pills, will there be side effects? Chen Jue did not even feel like taking an afternoon nap anymore. With the one qi, rising sun birth buff granted by his perfected Child's-Boy Skill, he could stay full of energy all day.
He glanced at the wax-sealed pills in the box and recalled the young doctor's warning. In the end, impulse beat reason. He peeled open a second Mighty Pill and swallowed it with yellow rice wine.
If my health index drops, that will prove taking pills back-to-back has drawbacks!
If it doesn't drop...
Chen Jue intended to experiment on his own body. After all, his physique was now somewhat beyond human limits. He could probably withstand a higher dose of Mighty Pills.
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