31: Chapter 31 A Song of Life in the Rain

Chapter 31 Song of Life in the Rain

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

A torrential downpour suddenly arrived, with faint rumblings of thunder.

The window glass was battered with a ceaseless patter.

Fang Cheng was wearing underwear and shorts, stepping barefoot on the floor with his eyes slightly closed, turning a deaf ear to the noises outside the window.

He simply kept repeating the actions of squatting and rising.

Until completing the final set, the 20th single-leg Squat.

A blue light screen emerged.

A long string of information flowed past his eyes like running water.

[Focus Experience + 3]

[Boxing Experience + 8]

[Sanda Experience + 20]

[Squat Experience + 15]

[Leg Raise Experience + 10]

December 5th, Saturday.

The 16th daily training ended, and it was still raining.

Fang Cheng wiped away his sweat with a towel, drank a cup of boiled water, and walked over to the balcony.

Silently watching the torrential rain outside the window, he had a feeling of being trapped in a cage.

His eyes flickered unceasingly, revealing a hint of hesitation.

Pondering for a long while.

Suddenly turning around, he walked toward the entryway.

He took out a pair of waterproof rubber boots and an army-green raincoat from the cabinet behind the door.

Putting on the shoes and slipping into the raincoat.

Fang Cheng then grabbed his keys, opened the door, and quietly walked out.

Clatter.

The iron door was gently closed.

A little past 6 o'clock on the weekend, the sky was neither bright nor dark yet.

The vast majority of neighbors were still in dreamland.

The entire building was very quiet; apart from the whooshing sound of rain, almost no other noises could be heard.

Afterwards, a string of faint footsteps sounded in the pitch-black stairwell.

Heading down the stairs all the way to the front door of the stairwell, they suddenly paused.

Fang Cheng stood at the doorway and pulled on the raincoat hood.

Looking up towards the outside.

The night was as pitch-black as ink, making it impossible to tell the boundary between heaven and earth.

Wisps of rain wove together into a "rain net", permeating the entire empty and dark city.

Raindrops were whipped against his face by the wind, biting into his skin and stinging slightly.

Fang Cheng had no intention of retreating; instead, he felt an unusual sense of excitement.

The early morning rain was actually so cold and pure!

He immediately took a step forward, walking out of the Tubular Building that sheltered his body.

Alone, he crossed Jiuchang Street in the curtain of rain, submerging into the endless rain and darkness.

...

Jiangbin Park.

The daytime human voices had long been completely covered by the clamor of nature.

The pitch-dark grounds were filled with flowing accumulated water everywhere.

Four single and parallel bars of different heights stood lonely.

Nearby were rustling, swaying trees, and in the distance were the indistinct river water and residential buildings.

At this time and in this weather, absolutely no one would come here.

However.

A figure draped in an army-green raincoat actually appeared here.

The rubber boots stepped in the accumulated water with plop, plop, the sound slightly sluggish.

Beneath the 2.8-meter-high single bar.

That figure appeared exceptionally thin and small, like a lonely traveler wading through mountains and rivers.

When he raised his face, a pair of eyes slightly flickered with a dim light.

The newcomer was none other than Fang Cheng, who was preparing to practice Pull-up.

Due to weather reasons and other factors.

The unlocking progress of the "Prisoners Six Arts" continued to stagnate, always stuck at the fourth art, the "Pull-up" stage.

Fang Cheng's original plan was to wait for Potential Activation's cooldown to recover and when the weather was clear, then make appropriate plans.

But the weather is unpredictable, and human plans ultimately cannot rival heaven's calculations.

Thunder came from behind the clouds, seemingly suppressed by something, slightly illuminating the night curtain.

The heavy rain poured down from the sky as if the heavens had collapsed.

The entire world was submerged by this majestic rain force, as if in an apocalyptic scene.

Reason told Fang Cheng.

In such harsh weather, practicing Pull-up was a crazy and dangerous thing.

But emotion kept whispering in his ears.

If he started getting used to making excuses for himself and avoiding various difficulties he faced.

Then the difficulties would become stronger and stronger, more and more invincible.

Until the whole person was crushed and conquered.

Adversity would only make the strong stronger and the weak weaker!

Fang Cheng suddenly realized that he was sometimes overly cautious, to the extent that he forgot his original intention of becoming stronger.

He didn't want to wait any longer, nor did he want to turn back into that cowardly, helpless student who became unemployed upon graduation.

"Man's greatest enemy is often himself…"

Raising his eyes to look at the sky, the freezing rain instantly soaked his entire face.

Then it trickled down his neck and into his collar, causing his body to involuntarily shiver.

"The truly strong help themselves."

Fang Cheng whispered a sentence to himself, reached out to wipe his face, and walked under the single bar.

Then he exerted force with the soles of his feet, leaped up, and firmly grabbed the single bar with both hands.

Squeezing his ten fingers tightly, he tested the feel.

"Not bad…"

Fang Cheng's expression relaxed slightly, and he let out a soft sigh.

Instantly, his arm muscles tightened and his waist and back straightened.

He smoothly pulled his body upward until his chin rose above the bar.

Without a single error, every movement was executed properly.

"1."

"2."

"3."

"…"

The first few movements were completed quite easily and leisurely.

After practicing for a while, he gradually felt the hindrance caused by the torrential rainy weather to him.

Not only were his palms wet and slippery, making it difficult to grip the bar and easy to misapply force,

but the rainwater would also continuously pour in through his sleeves.

Drenched, it felt like countless small, icy snakes sliding against his skin.

Wearing clothes made his body feel even more uncomfortable instead.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng let go and landed, then unbuttoned his raincoat.

The thermal underwear worn underneath was also almost soaked through; it was likewise taken off and thrown onto the ground together.

Bean-sized raindrops crazily beat against the ground, splashing layers of water.

Fang Cheng's muscular, bare back came once again before the 2.8-meter-high single bar.

With a powerful leap upwards, he continued doing Pull-ups.

Practicing this kind of movement in the rain, danger was everywhere.

Slipping and falling...

Muscles too stiff, pulling a muscle...

Incorrect exertion of force, accidentally spraining tendons and bones...

Even freed from restraints, treating it as a shower,

rainwater would still wet his hair, blur his vision, and disturb his mind.

The near-freezing chill continuously seeped into his body, like cutting with knives and gnawing by insects.

It was simply a dual torture of body and mind!

Fang Cheng activated Focus Skill, devoting himself heart and soul into the exercise.

In this state, not only was his endurance enhanced, but his control over his body was also greatly improved.

When he reached the 10th Pull-up,

noticing that the soreness in his arms was gradually increasing, while his back still did not have much sense of burden,

Fang Cheng realized that his posture was still not standard enough.

The primary muscle groups exercised by Pull-ups are the shoulders and back, including the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles.

The reason why it is very difficult for ordinary people,

besides the fact that these muscle groups are rarely involved in daily life, lies more in the fact that it is a comprehensive technical movement.

Unlike Push-ups and Squats which can be assessed purely by count or time,

Pull-ups are not just a matter of quantity.

They also involve posture standards such as overhand and underhand grips, kipping/dead hangs, grip width, speed, chest-out and arched-back posture, chin over the bar, full extension at the bottom, and are directly related to one's own body weight and the material of the single bar.

Even a slight difference in every single detail, accumulated over time, would lead to a significant difference in the number of Pull-ups.

With Fang Cheng's current physical fitness, purely relying on arm strength for dead hangs/pulls, he could do at least twenty-something.

If using the clever method of kipping/swinging, he should easily be able to do over 40.

But continuing to exercise in this way definitely wouldn't do.

The essence of Fang Cheng's pursuit was not the number of repetitions,

but his degree of understanding of this skill and his mastery over his body's muscles.

He calmed his heart down.

Silently feeling the muscle feedback after each completed movement, and then making subtle posture adjustments.

Slowly, it seemed he finally found the feeling.

The latissimus dorsi suddenly contracted, generating an upward pulling force.

The biceps brachii then assisted in exerting force, pushing the body upwards.

At the same time, the rhomboids and trapezius muscles were responsible for maintaining the stability and balance of the torso.

"This is the feeling!"

Fang Cheng's eyes shone brightly.

After adjusting his posture, he took a deep breath and started doing them continuously again.

"15."

"16."

"17."

"…"

In the early morning park, amidst the pitch-black torrential rain,

a figure stretched and undulated up and down, like an energetic elf of the night.