On this trip to the market, he bought quite a lot: meat, eggs, vegetables, cooked food, dried goods, and seafood. Together, they weighed over twenty jin. He asked a vendor for a large bag and packed everything inside. It should have been enough to feed Chen Jue for five or six days.
Unfortunately, he had no car of his own. Otherwise, he would have driven straight back to his old family home in Chen Village.
How about walking back, too?
Chen Jue checked the time on his phone. Even after buying groceries, it was still before nine, and the sun had only just risen above the mountaintop.
After walking six or seven kilometers that morning, he had also discovered that his free attribute points had increased by another 0.01. More importantly, his agility had risen by 0.01 as well, going from 0.75 to 0.76.
That really was a double dose of good news!
I heard the Taoist monks at Wudang get up before dawn every day and run all over the mountains, practicing their lightness skills and footwork along the way. Does power walking like this count as training, too? Chen Jue wondered.
Unfortunately, the Boat Boxing lessons taught no such leg techniques or lightness skills. Otherwise, he might have gained even more attribute points that morning!
It's just that my calves feel a little weak and sore after walking so long.
My fitness probably hasn't caught up yet. I practiced boxing last night, and I still haven't fully recovered. Chen Jue shook out his arms and kicked his legs a few times. The soreness he had felt upon waking still lingered.
But he did not want to spend money on a minivan ride, either, so he turned his attention to his free attribute points.
I've saved up 0.08 attribute points since last night. I'll put them all into constitution! Chen Jue operated the attribute panel, and his constitution quickly jumped from 1.06 to 1.14.
A warm current suddenly spread throughout his body, greatly easing the soreness in his muscles.
In one go, he had gained the equivalent of eight percent of a standard adult's constitution. How could Chen Jue not be delighted?
Feeling much of his stamina return, Chen Jue picked up the bag weighing over twenty jin and strode briskly along the main road.
He planned to get back to Chen Village early. It was still late summer, and although temperatures were no longer above 40°C as they had been before, they would approach 30°C as ten o'clock drew near. The seafood and meat in his bag would not last long in that heat and could spoil very easily.
For the sake of the bag of groceries that had cost him over three hundred yuan, Chen Jue quickened his pace even further.
However, he had only acquired the attribute panel recently, and most of his physical capabilities were still below those of a standard adult man. After power walking nearly two kilometers, Chen Jue began panting, and both his hands grew sore.
With the physical fitness of a modern person, carrying over twenty jin in one hand for a hundred meters or so was just about manageable.
Once the distance stretched to two kilometers, it felt as though his soul were leaving his body. He shifted the bag to his left hand, then slung it over his back. Sweat poured off him, and beads of it even clung to his glasses from time to time. In short, he was utterly miserable!
At that moment, Chen Jue wanted nothing more than to find a refrigerator, shove the bag inside, and then find somewhere to collapse!
But this was the countryside. The roadside was bare, with nothing but trees and dust. Where could he possibly lie down?
Fortunately, there was always a way out. After he stood by the road and caught a few ragged breaths, the minivan he had been longing for slowly approached from behind.
"Young man, need a ride?" The window rolled down, revealing the same little old man who had been picking up passengers at the bus stop outside town the day before.
"To... to Chen Village..." Still gasping for breath, Chen Jue pulled open the door and climbed in.
Earlier, he had thought taking the minivan would get in the way of his training. Now, the moment his backside hit the seat, he felt as though even his pores had opened wider.
He stretched out his legs, set down the bag, and felt comfortable all over!
Sure enough, nobody was immune to eating their own words!
As the seven-seat minivan bumped along, Chen Jue looked out the window while turning his attention back to the attribute panel.
After power walking two kilometers carrying twenty jin, both agility and strength had unexpectedly gained upward arrows. Each had increased by 0.01!
Besides that, the strenuous walk had earned Chen Jue another 0.01 free attribute points. Without much thought, he put it all into constitution, bringing it to 1.15.
My body really is far too weak!
Back in college, I could run and jump. Even a short marathon wouldn't leave me this exhausted... Working for a living really does squeeze you dry. A few years on the job, and my fitness has dropped this much, Chen Jue lamented inwardly.
When he was working, every day meant either overtime or business dinners. How could he have had any energy left to exercise?
On top of that, he often stayed up late, and his hair fell out in handfuls. After several years of that vicious cycle, he should have been grateful he had not ended up needing emergency treatment in the ICU.
Thank goodness I awakened this attribute panel!
Otherwise, however much money I earned would just end up going to the hospital. As Chen Jue thought this, the minivan reached the entrance to Chen Village.
If Chen Jue had tried walking those five kilometers of mountain road while carrying twenty jin in his current condition, it would probably have taken him several hours.
The only reason he had walked from Chen Village to Panlong Town so quickly that morning was that the road went downhill, saving him a great deal of effort.
After all, going downhill was easy; climbing uphill was hard!
Even with attribute points to improve his constitution, he could not quickly replenish the stamina he used up, so Chen Jue shelved the idea of walking home for now.
Once his attributes had improved a little more, he could try tackling the twelve-kilometer round trip to buy groceries again. Perhaps then he would succeed.
In any case, the current Chen Jue was in no position to compete with a car.
For a car, five kilometers of mountain road meant little more than pressing the accelerator and driving for a dozen or so minutes.
Besides, the little old man behind the wheel had clearly been driving around the area for a long time. He shifted the manual transmission with such vigor that he looked every bit the racing god of Mount Akina.
Upon reaching Chen Village, Chen Jue paid the five-yuan fare and dragged his exhausted body home.
He put all the seafood and meat in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and the dried goods in the freezer. The vegetables went into a washbasin to soak off the pesticides; he could take them out and rinse them when he wanted to eat them.
When he checked the time, it was already a little past ten. Chen Jue slumped in a chair for a while, then, after recovering some strength, washed the rice and set the timer on the rice cooker.
The round trip was twelve kilometers. I got up at six, and I couldn't even manage much more than half of it.
Looks like I need to get serious about practicing boxing!
After setting lunch to cook ahead of time, Chen Jue felt sticky all over, so he went to take a hot shower.
The stimulation from the hot water helped open his pores and promote circulation, easing fatigue and refreshing his mind.
After showering, he sat and browsed his phone for a while, checking the trending news. Once he felt that some of his stamina had returned, Chen Jue opened the attribute panel again:
Name: Chen Jue Age: 27 Strength: 0.85 Agility: 0.77 Intelligence: 1.22 Constitution: 1.15 Skills mastered: [Boat Boxing Lv0 (56/100)] Free attribute points available: 0.00
I farmed 0.04 attribute points in one morning! At least all that walking wasn't for nothing!
Chen Jue looked at the slight improvements across his attributes. His constitution, in particular, had increased by a full 0.08 that morning.
Although he had used up all the free attribute points saved from the day before, the unmistakable feeling of his body growing stronger was simply too addictive.
Reading ten thousand books is no substitute for traveling ten thousand miles! I'll go power walking again tomorrow and see if I can farm a few more attribute points. With that thought, Chen Jue dragged his still slightly sore body into the kitchen to cook.
Before you continue