11: Chapter 11 Adjustment

The Skill Dimension finally lit up!

Although only a small piece, "Cooking," had been lit up, and it was still far from being fully illuminated, it was still much better than the bare zero it had been before.

The rating was Good...

Chen Zhen stared at the words on the system panel, then turned his head to glance at the plate of scrambled eggs with their truly mediocre appearance, his mouth twitching.

This thing can also be rated Good???

Was the threshold for "Good" eaten by a dog?

Could it be that if it's out of a hundred points, anything from 1 to 79 can be crammed in to make up the numbers?

But looking on the bright side, this indirectly lowered the difficulty.

Chen Zhen carried the plate to the dining table and set it down gently.

He looked at his mother: "Mom! Come and taste your son's masterpiece."

"Masterpiece? You really like to flatter yourself."

Although his mother was teasing him, she was smiling on the surface, picked up a piece of egg, and put it in her mouth.

She chewed.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

After swallowing, she finally spoke: "It's salty."

Chen Zhen hurriedly picked up a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing twice.

It was indeed salty; too much salt had been added.

"But it's still edible." His mother added, her tone filled with amusement, "For your first time cooking, this isn't bad. Just the fact that you didn't burn the pan is worth praising."

"You can finish this off tonight. Xiao Shu and I will eat the pork rib soup I stewed," his mother joked with him.

Chen Zhen: ???

Chen Zhen washed his hands, shook the water droplets off, returned to his room, and opened the system panel.

[Complete weekly challenge: Learn a dish]

[Reward: Cultivation + 0.5, Skill Dimension experience + 20]

[Obtain title: Kitchen Novice]

[Effect: When learning life-related skills, efficiency + 10%]

Outside the window, the setting sun tilted westward, and golden light shone in diagonally.

Another day was about to slip away.

In the evening, Chen Zhen sat cross-legged on the bed, opened that dog-eared copy of "1587, a Year of No Significance," and continued to gnaw through it.

Today he read about an obstinate official who was so incorruptible that he was devoid of human sentiment.

The System expanded with more content:

His family background, his academic lineage, and the rift between his ideals and reality.

As he read, Chen Zhen suddenly drifted off, thinking of himself.

What if one day, the existence of the System was exposed?

What would happen to him then?

Would he be treated like a god descended to earth and worshipped?

Or would he be dragged to a laboratory to be sliced up and studied?

Or perhaps, be avoided like a monster?

But for now, he was just a Mortal who hadn't even completed the Hundred-Day Foundation Building.

If he told anyone, they would just think he was obsessed with playing games.

After finishing a chapter, exactly one hour had passed.

The system panel performed a calculation:

It gave 0.1 Cultivation, and one [Historical Insight] fragment.

There were already two fragments.

Looking at it this way, collecting ten of them would be quite fast.

Chen Zhen lay flat on the bed, his mind stirred to call up the system panel, and he took a look at today's summary:

[Day 8 Completion Status]

[Morning run 3 km: Completed (8 consecutive days)]

[Learning task: Over-fulfilled (Efficiency bonus 20%)]

[Learn a dish: Completed (Unlocked Skill Dimension)]

[Reading task: Completed]

[Total gained: Cultivation + 1.15]

[Current total Cultivation: 9.22 / 100]

[Health Dimension: 21.3 / 100]

[Learning Dimension: 35.6 / 100]

[Social Dimension: 73 / 100]

[Skill Dimension (Cooking): 35 / 100]

He was a tiny bit closer to Foundation Establishment.

Chen Zhen closed his eyes and emptied his mind.

After a short while, his breathing gradually steadied.

The system panel flickered one last time:

[Tomorrow's reminder: Pay attention to left-right balance during the morning run]

[Health Dimension is about to reach a critical value; please continue to maintain regular training]

...

The ninth day.

5:30 AM.

Chen Zhen opened his eyes suddenly in the pitch darkness; the sky outside the window was still a deep navy blue.

He nimbly scrambled up, put on his sportswear, and splashed cold water on his face, instantly waking up more than halfway.

He took two bottles of plain water he had left out to cool the night before from the refrigerator and stuffed them into his pockets.

He tiptoed and gently closed the door behind him.

The morning air was cooler than yesterday, and the wind on his face had a damp touch.

Chen Zhen hurried toward the Riverside.

At 5:55, he saw from afar that familiar bench, with a thin, tall figure sitting on it.

The old man didn't bring that radio he never left home without today.

Beside the bench lay a washed-out white cloth bag, with the corner of half a dry steamed bun sticking out; it must have been his breakfast.

He was sitting with his back to the river, his hands resting on his knees, his back straight as a ramrod.

Chen Zhen softened his footsteps as he walked over, and just as he stood still, the old man opened his eyes.

"You're here." The old man's voice carried a hint of morning hoarseness.

"I'm here." Chen Zhen handed over the water.

The old man took it, unscrewed the cap, took a small sip, tightened the cap again, and set it on the bench beside him.

He didn't rush to speak, just looked Chen Zhen up and down for a dozen seconds.

"Stand properly," he said.

Chen Zhen stood straight.

"Wrong," the old man shook his head. "When I say stand properly, I don't mean for you to tense up like a stick."

He stood up, walked to Chen Zhen's side, and tapped his lower back with a rough finger:

"Here, relax a bit."

Chen Zhen tried to relax the muscles in his lower back.

"Let your shoulders sink." The old man's hand pressed on his shoulder. "I don't mean hunch your back; I mean let your shoulders hang naturally."

"Right, just like that."

"Lift your head, tuck your chin in a bit, look straight ahead with your eyes. Don't look up, and don't look down."

"Don't lock your knees, keep them slightly bent."

With every adjustment, Chen Zhen could feel the subtle shift in his body's center of gravity.

Finally, the old man stepped back two paces and nodded: "That is what you call 'standing'."

The system panel popped up a notification: [Learn basic posture, Health Dimension experience + 5]

[Posture correction progress: 1%]

"People nowadays, they don't have a proper way of standing or sitting."

The old man sat back down on the bench.

"They aren't taught this from a young age, so when they get old and have aching backs and cramping legs, who can they blame?"

Chen Zhen gritted his teeth, struggling to maintain the posture he had just adjusted.

The effect was truly obvious; he had just made the adjustments, and his calves were already starting to feel sore.

"Old man, could you tell me the ins and outs of this?"

The old man laughed, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunching up.

"Let me ask you, when you are running, don't you get sore on the outside of your left calf when you hit around three kilometers?"

Hearing this, Chen Zhen recalled it.

It was true.

He nodded: "Yes, it really does start getting sore every time I hit over two kilometers, and it takes ages of stretching after the run to recover."

"That's because your standing posture is wrong, causing uneven distribution of force."

The old man pointed to his left leg.

"Your left side is tighter than your right. When you stand, your center of gravity unconsciously shifts to the right, so when you run, your left foot has to exert extra effort to pull and keep your body stable so you don't tilt."

"Over time, your calf muscles get exhausted, so how could they not be sore?"

"Standing is the Foundation of all skills."

The old man's voice deepened.

"If you stand correctly, your walking will be stable; if your walking is stable, your running will be smooth. It's all linked, one thing after another; even a slight deviation won't do."

"Then... how should I practice? Please, old man, give me some guidance." Chen Zhen said sincerely.

"Simple." The old man waved his hand. "Stand for ten minutes every morning, just in the posture I just adjusted for you."

"You don't need to deliberately tense up; just stand like that, feel where your center of gravity is, and how your breath flows through your body."

"Just... just like that? There's nothing else?"

The old man glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling up: "Hey, you kid, don't look down on this just because it sounds simple. Try sticking with it first."

"Okay, okay."

The old man picked up the water bottle again for a sip, then tilted his chin to point at the Riverside track:

"Alright, go run. Remember the feeling from just now while you run, don't just focus on sprinting for speed, go slower."

"Got it!"

Chen Zhen responded and turned to sprint toward the track.

For the first few hundred meters, he deliberately focused on his posture.

Relaxed shoulders, slightly bent knees, center of gravity between both feet.

Hiss...

Why does it feel more awkward the more I try to control it?

But fortunately, after persisting for one kilometer, his body finally gradually found its rhythm.

Chen Zhen felt something subtle.

It wasn't him controlling his body, but his body adjusting itself.

The sluggishness when his left leg landed had lessened a bit more, his breathing was deeper, and his pace was steadier.

The system panel notifications popped up one after another:

[Posture optimizing, Health Dimension experience + 0.2]

[Breathing rhythm improved, Health Dimension experience + 0.1]

[Left-right balance improved, Health Dimension experience + 0.3]...

When he reached the two-kilometer mark, passing right by the bench where the old man was sitting, he heard the old man shout at the top of his lungs: "Back!"

"Yes!"

Chen Zhen straightened his back reflexively.

"Right! Keep it like that! Don't let your waist collapse!" The old man's voice chased after him on the wind, carrying a hint of approval.

The remaining one kilometer.

Chen Zhen firmly kept the words "back straight" in mind, running step by step with extra stability.

After finishing the three-kilometer run, Chen Zhen leaned against the railing to stretch.

The soreness in his calf muscles was much lighter than yesterday, and it felt much more comfortable.

[Morning run completed, Health Dimension experience + 3.2]

[Cultivation + 0.18]

[Posture correction progress: 5%]