186: Chapter 186 Gecko's Wall-Climbing Skill

Chapter 186: Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill

Raindrops gently tapped against the window, producing a delicate and rhythmic melody.

Then, as if to accompany the sound of the rain, a rumble of distant thunder faintly sounded.

The thunder was low and deep, sounding as though it came from behind the clouds, dragging out a very, very long tail end that made the window glass tremble slightly.

But if one listened carefully, it came from inside the originally silent house.

Fang Cheng stood in the living room, silently circulating his True Qi and practicing Qigong.

His nasal cavity faintly emitted the sound of inhalation and exhalation.

The muscles, joints, and blood throughout his body simultaneously vibrated along with it, continuously producing a sound of resonance.

At the same time, white smoke continuously rose and billowed from his legs, hands, shoulders, and the top of his head.

His entire body's skin took on a flushed red color, just like a boiling kettle of water, with steam constantly puffing out to form a magnificent spectacle.

The dull sound of thunder constantly echoed inside the house, and the breath within his body was constantly inhaled and exhaled, repeating in a cycle for metabolism.

"Hrululu——"

Two streaks of white smoke burst out from his nostrils like arrows, and Fang Cheng let out a long breath.

After successfully dispersing his technique, he shook his arms and shoulders, and kicked his legs a few times.

At this moment, all the sweat and rain on his body had been evaporated clean, and even his hair felt as though it had been blown by a hot wind, becoming much drier.

He only felt that his body was incomparably comfortable from the inside out, and every pore appeared exceptionally clear and open.

[Qigong Experience + 3]

[Qigong Lv1 (167/250)]

Looking at the prompt information floating before his eyes, Fang Cheng then walked toward the bathroom to scrub away the salt and dirt excreted on the surface of his body once more.

After finishing the Cleaning work, he picked up the hair dryer and blew his hair completely dry.

Then, he threw all the clothes and pants stained with blood from last night into the washing machine all at once.

Hearing the squeaking sound of the drum turning, Fang Cheng secretly shook his head.

It seemed that this New Year, the home appliances at home also needed to be upgraded as soon as possible.

Walking out of the bathroom, Fang Cheng opened the kitchen refrigerator, took out a bottle of sports drink, and took a big gulp, swallowing it with gurgling sounds.

The ice-cold liquid flowed down his throat and into his stomach, bringing a wave of stimulation and instantly exciting all the cells in his body.

This was the official designated drink of the national sports department.

To suit the needs of athletes, it was rich in easily absorbed carbohydrates like glucose and fructose, nutrients like vitamins and amino acids, and added electrolytes like potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium.

Drinking a bottle after strenuous exercise could timely replenish the energy consumed by the body, maintain fluid balance, and avoid muscle cramps.

Of course, its price was also nearly double that of ordinary brands.

In addition to sports drinks, Fang Cheng also bought some plant protein drinks and gluten-free pure fruit juice to help quickly restore physical strength and accelerate muscle repair and growth.

In the past, conditions were limited and he couldn't think so comprehensively, having to rely only on daily diet to supplement nutrients.

Now that he wasn't short on money, naturally he couldn't mistreat himself when it came to food and drink.

Given that he consumed at least three or four bottles a day, Fang Cheng directly bought more than a dozen boxes and piled them in the storeroom, ready to enjoy them to his heart's content at any time.

After finishing a bottle of sports drink and a large cup of pure fruit juice, he let out a relaxed breath.

Fang Cheng then looked back at the panel, focusing his attention on the Handstand Push-up skill that had previously been promoted to the Great Master level.

[Air Walk, makes the body and mind fully adapt to the feeling of weightlessness, increasing balance ability and hang time by 100%]

Among the reinforcement reward contents, what gave Fang Cheng the most pleasant surprise were the four words "hang time".

Because this involved the lightness skill he had been longing for.

The so-called "hang time" did not refer to the time interval from after jumping, when both feet left the ground, until either foot touched the ground.

It focused on the feeling of the body staying in the air and overcoming gravity.

To put it more accurately, it referred to the period of smooth Flight or stagnation in the air from when the shoulders rose to their highest point until they obviously began to fall.

Therefore, it wasn't that the higher the strength and agility attributes, and the stronger the jumping ability, the more significantly the hang time would be enhanced.

Through long-term exercise, Fang Cheng had long deeply realized one thing.

The enhancement brought by increased physical fitness to the extension of hang time was very weak, and its upper limit and potential relied more on certain talent levels.

If the hang time of top basketball sports stars could approach 1 second.

Then before today, the hang time limit Fang Cheng could reach was about 2 seconds.

This was mainly thanks to the 80% improvement brought by the Great Master level Leg Raise skill special effect "Ape Waist".

If one added the skill special effect "Air Walk" just acquired from upgrading, then the total improvement magnitude could reach 180%.

Such a huge improvement might give him a chance to break through the 3-second limit...

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's gaze condensed, and he raised his head to look at the ceiling which was about 2.6 meters high.

Deciding to test what the specific effect was like.

He immediately took out his phone and set the stopwatch timing function.

Then taking a deep breath, the moment he squatted down and raised his head, his feet exerted force to kick the ground, and his arms swung.

With a direct standing jump, his figure instantly shot straight up like a large bird, very easily touching the gypsum-material ceiling.

Furthermore,

Because he didn't control his strength well, his head also knocked directly against it with a thump, almost crashing out a hole.

After falling back to the ground,

Fang Cheng wiped the white ash off his forehead, looked at the phone stopwatch in his right hand that he hadn't had time to press, and shook his head while muttering to himself:

"Do it again."

Then calming his mind, he first raised his head to visually estimate the distance, adjusted his posture, and slightly bent his knees.

Then his feet exerted a little force to kick the floor, executing a standing jump just right.

This time it was obviously much steadier.

Fang Cheng stretched his limbs, his body lightly flying upward, and the moment he was about to reach the highest point, he instantly pressed the phone stopwatch.

At the same time, in order to give his body stagnating in the air one more force-exerting target, he continuously slapped the ceiling.

Slap slap slap slap slap——

Accompanied by more than a dozen consecutive light slaps, Fang Cheng's palms seemed to adhere to the gypsum-material ceiling.

It practically formed an illusion.

That he was actually taking the ceiling as the ground and doing a one-armed Handstand Push-up.

Instead of doing a standing jump where there was no support point at all after the body was airborne.

This near-stagnant floating state, along with the fast-jumping stopwatch numbers displayed on the phone, seemed capable of continuing forever.

Suddenly,

Fang Cheng finally felt the call from gravity.

Immediately following that, his heart beat with a thud, and his entire body instantly turned from a lightweight state heavy again, plummeting straight down.

Pat!

In the blink of an eye, both feet landed back on the floor.

Fang Cheng immediately lowered his head to look at the phone screen.

3.07 seconds.

On the stopwatch timer, it clearly showed that his hang time had exceeded the expected 3-second limit.

That was to say, compared to the previous 2 seconds or so, it had increased by about 1 second.

This proved two points once again.

Hang time was related to basic attributes, but the effect was not very obvious.

Different skill special effects all provided enhancements based on basic attributes, rather than doubling and stacking every time.

If there were no two special effect enhancements of "Ape Waist" and "Air Walk", his body's hang time would be about 1.2 seconds, which actually wasn't much stronger than top star players.

From this, it could be deduced how difficult it was to improve this kind of ability.

At least it was still very far away from true mid-air Flight, performing peerless lightness skills like in Wuxia movies.

Fang Cheng concentrated and settled his mind, carefully experiencing the subtle feeling of floating in the air just now.

It seemed that during that brief period of time, the work done by his body was enough to briefly overcome the inertia of free fall.

The force experienced by the human body in the air was mainly gravity, and other things like air resistance could be completely ignored.

Perhaps... by adjusting the position of his center of gravity, he could further extend this hang time to the limit of his body.

Just like acrobats or gymnasts in the air, in order to keep their shoulder height relatively stable, they usually used the method of changing the positions of the upper and lower limbs to replace the displacement of the torso part.

To the audience, their torso part seemed to be stagnant in the air, but in reality this did not violate the laws of physics.

Because a person's limbs were moving, the center of gravity was moving; as long as the motion trajectory of the center of gravity conformed to the laws of free fall, there was no ideological "hang time".

After a brief thought, Fang Cheng then put down his phone, took another deep breath, and stepped back several steps.

Until he retreated to the front of the balcony and stood firm again.

Then he raised his head and looked at the ceiling near the entryway of the living room.

Without error, inner content, check it out one by one!

This time, he decided not to choose the method of high jumping to touch the top, but instead adopted a forward flip action similar to Jiu-Jitsu.

Fang Cheng stood with his back against the balcony, his gaze slightly condensed, and made a small-scale two-step run-up.

Then his right foot stepped on the floor, and like a gymnast, he raised his arms and leaped forward and upward with the help of inertia.

It's just that the height of the jump somewhat exceeded the cognitive limits of ordinary people.

The whole person was like a carp leaping high out of the water, tracing a graceful upward arc in the air.

Until his shoulders were about to touch the ceiling, Fang Cheng quickly lowered his head, tucking it into his chest.

At the same time, his leg knees bent, drawing them in as much as possible to curl his body.

This tucked front flip movement lasted for about 1 second, and the stagnation in the air was also nearly 1 second.

Fang Cheng felt the change in the center of gravity with his waist and abdomen as the center. Taking advantage of the inertia of the forward leap not completely disappearing, he then quickly stretched his limbs, pressing his spine completely against the ceiling.

At this time, all the strength of his whole body had been condensed into an integrated force, converging at the waist and abdomen.

Thus erupting with a special force sufficient to overcome gravity, when pushing his body up into the air, he also continued to move forward along the parabolic trajectory of inertia.

During this process, Fang Cheng used his waist and abdomen strength to constantly make minor adjustments to his center of gravity.

Then, unexpectedly like a gecko, he slowly slid across the ceiling.

Until sliding close to the entryway, feeling his body become heavy and on the verge of falling.

Fang Cheng immediately took a deep breath.

At the juncture of being at the end of his tether, his waist and abdomen suddenly twisted, and he darted forward for a distance again.

Afterwards, he lowered his head and tucked his chest again, retracting his legs and curling his body.

The whole person was then like being pressed with a slow-motion button, slowing down the landing speed again.

Pat!

Fang Cheng's body rolled twice, reversing direction in the air, and suddenly reached out with both hands to grab the upper edge of the wardrobe near the entryway.

Just like an incomparably agile monkey moving and turning on precipitous cliffs, he landed lightly and silently on the floor.

"Hoo——"

Having completed a brilliant set of "acrobatic performances", Fang Cheng let out a breath, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

This time, the hang time during the entire jumping process lasted for at least about 5 seconds.

Although it still couldn't reach the superpower-like level of flying through the air, he had at least initially realized a Wuxia version of the "Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill".

It could also be considered a very good result.

If he wanted to further enhance his abilities in this area, besides continuing to improve his strength and agility attributes, the most important thing was to extend his hang time as much as possible.

Perhaps... he could choose to learn more skills like Leg Raise, Handstand Push-up, and Jiu-Jitsu that required the body to be airborne and emphasized balance.

Then by continuously stacking skill special effects, or synthesizing a new lightness skill.

Eventually completely overcoming gravity, truly achieving the level of being as light as a swallow and soaring through the sky.

Fang Cheng let his imagination run wild, exercising his neck, hands, and feet.

Turning his head to look at himself in the full-length mirror, he was still the image of a muscular hunk.

Although he was very satisfied with the reinforcement rewards of this upgrade, there were still some minor regrets in his heart.

If he could gain a little more agility attribute points to restore his body to a refined and gentle normal state, that would be even better.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly, and he summoned the panel once more.

Carefully checking a few skills among them whose progress bars were relatively high.

[Speed Reading Lv1 (203/250)]

[Culinary Arts Lv1 (119/250)]

[Boxing Lv2 (205/500)]

[Sanda Lv2 (267/500)]

[Tai Chi Lv0 (69/100)]

[Muay Thai Lv1 (141/250)]

These skills were not too far away from leveling up; fast ones would take a dozen days or so, and slow ones a month or more.

Judging from the practice efficiency, perhaps only Tai Chi could complete a Breakthrough and achieve an upgrade in the shortest time.

Fang Cheng pinned his hopes on the next reinforcement reward.

He immediately gathered his thoughts and put on his jacket.

Then he took out a chicken breast sandwich bought from the supermarket from the refrigerator.

He made do by eating a few bites first to satisfy his hunger.

Without delay afterwards, he immediately began to cook a sumptuous nutritious breakfast rich in high protein and trace elements.

You must know that about 30 minutes after exercise, the body's absorption efficiency of nutrients was the highest, making it the best time to intake food and replenish energy.

Having borrowed so many medical books in the library back then, Fang Cheng certainly hadn't read them in vain.

In the kitchen, the gas stove swallowed and spat out deep blue flames.

Holding pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, Fang Cheng clattered away, beginning a new round of busyness.

At this moment, some movement came from outside the door.

Thump, thump.

It seemed someone was knocking gently on the door.

Hearing the sound, Fang Cheng immediately put down the kitchen knife he was preparing to cut meat with, and strode toward the entryway.

Creak——

After the door opened, a familiar and pretty face was revealed.

Zhou Xiumei was wearing a white sweater, with an apron tied around her chest. Seemingly also busy in the kitchen, she hurried over.

The two looked at each other, slightly awkward for a moment.

"Brother Cheng, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't see you. Where did you go?"

Zhou Xiumei blinked her eyes, asking with her cheeks slightly flushed.

It could be seen that she had already come here to knock on the door several times before.

Fang Cheng answered feigning composure:

"I have a habit of exercising early in the morning. I was afraid of disturbing you, so I didn't tell you."

Zhou Xiumei didn't continue chatting about this issue.

Then the corners of her mouth pursed slightly, as if gathering her strength, and she raised her volume slightly:

"I just made breakfast, why don't we eat a little together?"

Saying this, she raised her eyes and looked at Fang Cheng somewhat nervously.

Seeing her face full of anticipation, Fang Cheng hesitated for a moment, but still nodded and agreed with a soft yes.

Hearing this, Zhou Xiumei's brows and eyes relaxed, and she immediately ran back home happily:

"The kitchen is simmering soup, it should be ready soon. I'll go ladle a bowl for you right now."