3: Chapter 3 The Six Arts of Prisoners: Liberating Oneself

Chapter 3 Prisoners Six Arts, Liberating Oneself (Seeking Readership Support)

The city at five in the morning.

Countless bright stars, sparse street lamps.

Aside from the occasional sound of tires speeding past, absolute silence.

Inside the dark and narrow rented apartment.

Flickering neon lights penetrated the window, casting swaying and shifting shadows on the wall.

"Sss... Hah..."

"Sss... Hah..."

Fang Cheng lay flat on the floor, keeping his back straight and his feet together stretching back.

His arms continuously bent downward until his chest was almost touching the ground.

He took a deep breath of the bone-chilling cold air.

Then he forcefully pushed up his elbows, puffed out his chest, lifted his head, and looked forward.

He exhaled a puff of hot white vapor.

With each completed movement, he silently counted the numbers, trying to maintain a steady sense of rhythm.

That is correct.

What he was doing was none other than the Push-up, known as the "golden movement of calisthenics" and one of the three major foundations of street fitness.

After careful consideration, Fang Cheng decided to place "physical training" in the most important position.

He hoped that, just like mastering "Boxing", he could unlock new skills like "Fitness" or "Workout" through basic training.

In his past life as a stay-at-home otaku, Fang Cheng had watched countless videos and read various books on combat and fitness.

Especially a bestseller titled Convict Conditioning: How to Build Strong Survival Strength》, which left a particularly deep impression on him.

The author of this book had served 19 years in the darkest of prisons.

Prison life was cruel; beatings and abuse were commonplace, and accidents causing serious injury or death frequently occurred.

In such a harsh environment, weakness was a crime, and becoming strong was simply for survival.

The author studied for several years, learning various traditional skills from cellmates, and combined them with modern physical training science.

Finally, achieving sudden enlightenment one day, he excavated a set of Prisoner fitness techniques containing the Six Arts with the Great Dao being the simplest.

Its philosophy was very simple: eliminate the gym.

No need for cold auxiliary equipment, nor drugs to stimulate muscles.

It did not pursue thick limbs or hypertrophic pectoral muscles, but solely pursued flexible and free control over one's body, becoming the master of oneself.

Anyone could possess explosive strength and a beast-like physique.

Forsaking equipment and drugs fit Fang Cheng's current living conditions very well.

Right now, he similarly had no money to go to the gym to buy private trainer classes, nor to buy supplements like protein powder, nitric oxide boosters, or creatine.

Therefore, combining his own needs with the contents of the book, Fang Cheng formulated a bodyweight fitness training plan.

Including Push-up, Squat, Pull-up, Leg Raise, Back Bridge, and Handstand Push-up.

The book referred to these six skills as the "Prisoners Six Arts".

And "Push-up", ranked first among the Six Arts, was the simplest, easiest, yet most effective strength training method.

Doing this movement could not only exercise the wrists, upper arms, pectoral muscles, and core of the waist and abdomen, but also promote cardiopulmonary function and enhance endurance.

Fang Cheng was now practicing starting from the most standard double-arm Push-up.

Of course, on this basis, there were even higher-difficulty movement options.

For example, Diamond Push-up, Pike Push-up, Archer Push-up, Fingertip Push-up, One-arm Push-up, Superman Push-up, and other advanced training methods.

"13."

"14."

"15."

"Hah... Hah..."

As the number of Push-ups exceeded 10, Fang Cheng's breathing gradually grew rapid.

The movement of his arms bending and extending also began to deform, making it difficult to reach a standard level.

However, Fang Cheng was not prepared to give up here.

This was both a physical test and a further exploration of the actual effect of the Golden Finger.

Unlike professional skills like "Boxing" and "Culinary Arts".

The concept of "Fitness" was too broad and all-encompassing, making it hard to define specifically.

For his first training session, Fang Cheng really wanted to see.

Whether repeating the same movement could trigger the panel to unlock the skill bar.

"18."

"19."

"20..."

Barely persisting to 20 reps, his physical strength seemed to be close to its limit.

Fang Cheng's chest rose and fell violently, and his arms began to tremble slightly out of control.

He couldn't help but stop to take a breather.

"I'm still too weak..."

According to the training plan, a set of movements should originally be 25 full reps.

Now it seemed he had indeed overestimated himself.

This body lacked exercise normally and had been weak for a long time.

Suddenly encountering high-intensity exercise, having such a performance was actually enough to be called excellent.

Besides...

The panel was slow to react, which inevitably made one feel hesitant and uncertain.

Fang Cheng knitted his brows tightly, panting heavily.

The thought of wavering flashed past, and was immediately banished from his mind.

Once an ordinary person, he could be unwilling, could self-pity, and could regret past regrets.

Now, the heavens had given him the opportunity to change his ordinary and humble life.

How could he easily give up and fabricate lies and excuses to numb himself?

A salty bead of sweat trickled from the corner of his mouth down to his jaw.

Fang Cheng clenched his back teeth.

The game had already begun.

If he couldn't even take the first step, he only deserved to be a loser forever!

Success or failure aside, if you want something, you have to fight for it with all your might!

At the very least, he had to see where his limits were!

"Focus Skill — Activate for me!"

[You used the Focus Skill, your mind is highly concentrated, and your body's control is enhanced]

[Please maintain for over 30 minutes to increase experience points]

"21."

"22."

"23."

His muscles were still trembling continuously, but Fang Cheng's gaze became resolute and calm.

It felt like returning to the exam room during the college entrance examination, facing difficult and complicated test papers without the slightest thought of backing down.

Every time he bent down to touch the ground, it was like talking to his once weak and helpless self.

Every time he puffed out his chest and lifted his head, it was just like proving a self-transcendence.

"24."

"25."

Breaking through another major barrier once again.

Fang Cheng's forehead was already covered with fine beads of sweat.

The sweat flowing down from his body drenched his undershirt in patches.

He silently panted for a few seconds.

Then he continued to repeat the simple yet incomparably difficult movement.

As if forgetting the pain produced by his flesh.

He only attentively felt the tense muscles of his arms, feeling the power hidden within them that could change his destiny.

[Warning! You are beginning to overdraw your physical strength, please rest in time and condition your physical condition]

"26."

"27."

"28."

"29."

Reaching this level, every additional movement was a huge challenge.

The pain and suffering involved were no less than enduring torture.

No matter how strong the will was, the flesh ultimately had a physiological limit of self-protection.

Fang Cheng's face turned flushed red, and his gaze seemed to have flames burning.

Was he really reaching his limit?

Then.

For the last time.

Do just 1 more!

"30!!!"

Fang Cheng heavily swallowed a mouthful of saliva, roaring in a low voice.

Barely completing the movement of bending down and lying prone.

The muscles in his arms suddenly began to spasm at this moment.

Finally... unable to continue supporting his increasingly heavy body.

Plop.

Fang Cheng knelt on the ground, elbows flat on the floor, lowering his head to pant heavily.

The whole person was like a fish just jumped out of water, with limbs, waist, and back all drained of strength, so tired he almost collapsed on the ground.

However.

In the silent darkness, Fang Cheng's face showed no trace of discouragement or pain.

Instead, his gaze was bright and glowing, revealing speechless joy.

Because the panel light screen in front of him was rapidly brightening and enlarging.

New messages emerged one after another, scrolling and playing continuously.

[You practiced Push-up with all your might, reached a certain level, and gained a deep understanding of it]

[Unlocked Skill: Push-up lv0 (0/100)]

[You challenged your limits, and your body triggered a self-protection mechanism]

[Unlocked Skill: Potential Activation]

[You successfully triggered a hidden skill, please use it as soon as possible]

Unexpectedly, it wasn't "Fitness" or "Workout" as expected, but the more specific and subdivided "Push-up".

That was fine too; at least it proved the method was viable.

The Prisoners Six Arts included a total of six skills. If all of them were successfully unlocked, wouldn't the enhancements gained from leveling up be even more?

Not a single mistake, first, release, inner, content, look at them one by one!

Fang Cheng didn't have time to think carefully.

He found that on the skill panel, another newly unlocked skill bar was flashing red continuously, seemingly likely to disappear at any time.

Without hesitation, he immediately chose to use it.

Buzz————

In an instant, invisible energy seemed to be born from his own blood.

Fang Cheng's pupils dilated.

He clearly felt that energy running along his blood vessels, continuously injecting into his bones, muscles, and internal organs throughout his body.

His originally exhausted body instantly felt like it had been injected with a shot of adrenaline, resurrecting to full health in an instant.

Or like soaking in a hot spring, just having received spa service from a gold-medal technician.

All negative factors such as soreness and fatigue produced by exercise were wiped away.

Fang Cheng raised his arm, clenched his fist, and felt the newly recovered strength.

"Is this the effect of Potential Activation?"

This sense of fulfillment, akin to leveling up in a game, made his extinguished fighting spirit burn fiercely once again.

Fang Cheng licked his dry and peeling lips.

Then he stood up and poured a cup of warm boiled water from the thermos on the table.

Gulp gulp, pouring it straight into his mouth.

After finishing most of the cup of water in one breath, he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel.

His physical strength had recovered, and the lost water had been replenished.

Then let's strike while the iron is hot and continue practicing!

"31."

"32."

"..."

"40."

"..."

"60"

"..."

Counting the numbers, Fang Cheng practiced Push-ups with an extremely standard posture.

Unlike before, his body muscles seemed to have formed instinctual memory.

Every movement tried to use the minimum cost of physical stamina consumption to achieve the most perfect score.

If Push-ups had the Olympics, then with Fang Cheng's performance at this moment, he would be fully qualified to participate in the national team's collective training.

"82."

"83."

"Whew————"

Fang Cheng suddenly felt a bit dizzy and couldn't help stopping his movement.

The excitement brought by Potential Activation was gradually fading away, and the recovered physical strength also seemed about to be exhausted.

Narrowing his eyes, he checked the scrolling information displayed in real-time on the panel.

[You completed 5 standard Push-ups, experience + 1]

[You completed 5 standard Push-ups, experience + 1]

[You completed 5 standard Push-ups, experience + 1]

...

Dragging to the end, it stopped at the 9th message and no longer displayed anything.

Looking at the skill bar again.

[Push-up: lv0 (9/100)]

After unlocking the skill, he did more than 50 Push-ups in one breath.

Only the last 8 times did not increase experience because the movements were not standard enough.

It seemed the System's evaluation was very strict.

Perfunctorily muddling through, or having insufficient physical strength leading to deformed movements, definitely wouldn't gain experience.

As for unlocking the skill successfully by challenging his limits,

Fang Cheng guessed that it had more of the meaning of an introductory test.

Much like the "Boxing" skill, he could also completely choose real combat methods to speed up the unlocking progress.

And so on.

Even if he only practiced 5 standard Push-ups a day, lasting for a month or two, he could still achieve the goal.

However, the time required for that would simply be too long.

At this moment, the glowing characters on the skill bar had dimmed, and that wonderful feeling was rapidly receding.

"Potential Activation" turned into a gray sealed state.

Below were small text annotations.

[This skill belongs to a hidden skill, requiring prerequisites to activate]

[Remaining cooldown time, 71:39:56]

Fang Cheng did not continue intense training.

He still had to go to work at the club today.

Since the training purpose had been over-fulfilled, he should conserve more physical strength.

To avoid overtraining, leading to muscle strains and delaying the recovery cycle.

"Let's set the next skill unlock for three days later!"

Fang Cheng's gaze flickered slightly as he muttered in a low voice.

Right now, the muscles in his arms were not convulsing and trembling like before, nor was there the soreness caused by lactic acid accumulation.

Only his head felt a bit dizzy, and his stomach was rumbling.

As if he had been starved for three or four days, becoming extremely anaemic and weak.

Fang Cheng simply lay flat on the ground with his limbs splayed out, slowly panting and resting.

Although his body was dead tired, there was a masochistic sense of gratification.

All the negative emotions pent up in his heart found a great vent during the sweat-drenched workouts time and time again.

The sky outside the window gradually turned from pitch black to bright and white.

It was already past dawn.

The fog-blurred glass surface glowed with a hazy flash, like being coated with a thin layer of gold powder.

Dark room, golden windows.

Like the descent of a sacred door to heaven.

Fang Cheng opened his eyes, slowly crawled up, stepped barefoot on the floor, and walked to the window.

His home on the top floor had an extremely wide view, allowing him to see the distant skyline.

The city under the faint morning light appeared exceptionally quiet and peaceful.

Street lamps went out one by one, and people in residential buildings were still fast asleep.

The occasional car horn on the street seemed to wake up this vibrant world.

Looking at this winter morning scenery, enjoying the warm touch of sunlight shining on his face.

Fang Cheng suddenly surged with an urge as if stepping onto a stage.

He couldn't help opening his throat and shouting loudly:

"Ah————————"

The voice was loud, facing the morning wind, echoing among the buildings for a long time without fading.

Yet it also woke up the surrounding neighbors, drawing bursts of denunciation.

"Which lunatic is howling like a ghost early in the morning, not letting people sleep peacefully?! Damn it, don't let me catch you, or I'll give you a hard time..."

Listening to the cursing sounds ringing one after another, Fang Cheng grinned.

In his past and present lives, it was the first time he felt the thrill of his physique becoming stronger.

This feeling was simply too awesome, leaving him deeply shocked and intoxicated.

No wonder some people got addicted to fitness.

He couldn't understand it before, thinking those people were absolute masochists asking for suffering.

Now he felt the exact same way.

No!

It should be that he had a much deeper understanding than them.

Fang Cheng's pupils shone brightly, staring straight at the pale blue light screen shining in tandem with the dawn.

Perhaps the greatest significance of this panel's existence.

Was that as long as you practiced, you would have experience, and with experience you could level up and become stronger.

Being able to tangibly see yourself improving step by step would never let down every drop of sweat shed.

Therefore, just grind it out!

A new author and a new book set sail, asking all book friends for collections and readership support, thank you for accompanying and supporting!