354: Chapter 354 Freedom Beyond Restraint, True Aerial Walk

On a spring afternoon, the sunlight was warm and gentle.

The mountain forest was tranquil, with only a few crisp bird calls occasionally coming from deep within the woods, breaking the peace.

Carrying an old blue messenger bag on his back, Fang Cheng walked alone through the mountains.

Sunlight pierced through the lush branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground covered in fallen leaves.

As a breeze brushed past, the light and shadows swayed gently like ripples in water, and the leaves emitted a "rustling" sound.

Beneath his feet was a seldom-trodden yellow mud road, winding its way toward the top of the mountain.

This place was already quite close to Western Mountain, or strictly speaking, it belonged to an offshoot of Western Mountain.

Although the terrain was not steep, it was relatively towering.

Coupled with its remote location, the trees grew exceptionally lush and thick.

Aside from a few outdoor enthusiasts, few people ever came here.

Heading all the way up, the woods gradually began to thin out, and the field of vision suddenly opened up.

The summit was an open, flat area scattered with a few weathered giant rocks.

Arriving here, the wind clearly grew stronger, continuously blowing his hair and causing the corners of his clothes to flap noisily.

Fang Cheng walked to the edge of a cliff, stopped in his steps, and gazed far into the distance.

The rolling green hills spread out beneath his feet like a solidified green ocean.

Farther away, the shimmering Yulong Lake under the sunlight looked like a huge piece of jade.

Several tour boats glided slowly across the lake surface, leaving behind streaks of white ripples.

Fang Cheng's gaze was sharp and bright as his line of sight crossed the lake and landed in a valley a few kilometers to the east.

There, a cluster of off-white buildings was faintly visible.

Several towering cranes were at work, seemingly undertaking major construction.

Fang Cheng understood in his heart that this was the Lu Family Manor hidden within Miwu Mountain.

Ever since participating in the operation to fight for the golden bumpa bottle alongside his uncle and Lin Chuqiao, to avoid suspicion, he had never set foot in this region again.

Now, nearly a month had passed, and the initial turbulence seemed to have completely subsided.

However, the mountain forests surrounding Miwu Mountain were blocked off by tall barbed wire fences, and it was said that they planned to build a private resort villa here.

And according to the information gathered by Xu Sanduo, the Lu family's actions had become increasingly low-profile recently, with family disciples rarely stepping outside.

Even that Lu Second Young Master, who frequently hogged the entertainment headlines, seemed to have cultivated his moral character overnight, leaving no more gossip news.

The only movement of any significant scale was the internal personnel changes of the Jinlu Group; drastic layoffs and restructuring had stirred up quite a wave in the business world.

It seemed that the newly appointed head of the family, Lu Yongquan, although young in age, possessed quite formidable methods.

However, none of these had anything to do with him.

As long as the Lu family didn't actively come to provoke him, Fang Cheng couldn't be bothered to have a direct conflict with such a prominent family wielding mysterious powers.

After all, strictly speaking, he had benefited from them back then.

Not only did he use the spirituality of the golden bumpa bottle to achieve a Breakthrough in his "Qigong" and "Meditation" skills, comprehending "Flame Breathing" and "Mind Resonance".

He had also absorbed a massive amount of "blood rain", allowing his Physique to achieve yet another leap in growth.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze and looked back down at the cliff beneath his feet.

At the bottom of the precipice was a lush green mountain forest.

The branches and leaves were incomparably lush, resembling a giant green carpet that almost completely blocked out the line of sight.

Visually estimating, the vertical height from here to the forest below exceeded two hundred meters, almost equivalent to the height of a seventy-story building.

Compared to the gliding leap performed in Miwu Mountain last time, this was even much higher.

Jumping directly down from this height far exceeded the current limits that his body could bear.

Under the effect of gravitational acceleration, even though his Physique attribute now exceeded 50 points, with tough muscles and hard bones, he would ultimately only be smashed into an unrecognizing pulp of flesh.

However, Fang Cheng's physical qualities far surpassed ordinary people, and he also mastered extraordinary power derived from fitness skills.

That's right.

He had specially come here today precisely to conduct a brand new "quasi-Flight" experience.

By challenging his limits, he wanted to verify just how strong his current mid-air suspension ability had become.

The wind at the summit continued to blow.

It was far inferior to the force-7 gale when leaping over Miwu Mountain that night, but as assistance for the test, it was enough.

Fang Cheng raised his hand to remove the wig from his head and carefully stuffed it into his messenger bag.

Afterwards, he began to warm up his body—wrists, ankles, knees, waist and hips...

Every joint was fully stretched, emitting a series of crisp popping sounds like frying beans.

Then, he took a few steps back, his body sinking slightly, knees bent, striking a sprint-start posture.

His soles clung tightly to the ground, allowing him to clearly feel the solidness transmitted from the earth.

His gaze locked onto a relatively open area in the distant dense forest as the intended landing spot.

His brain began to spin at high speed, simulating wind speed, angle, and the precise ratio of explosive force required for the jump within his Memory Palace.

After waiting quietly for a few minutes.

Fang Cheng raised his wrist and switched his sports watch to the "timing and distance measurement" mode.

Finally, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it.

All distracting thoughts in his mind seemed to be expelled from his body along with this breath of foul air from his chest.

The next second, his gaze became incomparably sharp, shooting out like an arrow.

Snap!

The earth beneath his feet seemed to be violently struck by a heavy hammer, instantly caving in with a clear footprint.

Fang Cheng's entire person was like a cannonball leaving its chamber, carrying an indomitable Aura as he burst into motion with a boom.

His figure turned into a blurry black shadow, and the moment he reached the edge of the cliff, the muscles in his legs bulged as he leaped forward with all his might!

The powerful explosive force threw him high up, his body tracing a perfect parabola in the air, instantly clearing dozens of meters beyond the cliff.

When his body reached the highest point of the parabola, at the very instant it was about to start falling—

The time that was originally flowing past swiftly seemed to have a pause button pressed on it at this exact moment.

Fang Cheng's entire person was thus abruptly suspended mid-air.

There was no point of support, nor did he rely on any external objects.

He just floated there quietly.

As if an invisible giant hand was steadily holding his body between heaven and earth.

Beneath his feet were rolling green mountains.

In the distance were sparkling, boundless lakes.

The figures of people out for spring outings on the ground were as tiny as ants.

This was a completely different experience from the usual feeling of weightlessness, yet it was exceptionally wonderful.

The wind surrounded him, gently brushing across his face.

Fang Cheng could faintly feel that the tug of gravity and the confrontation with a certain power within his body formed a delicate force field balance around him.

He stood right at this fleeting equilibrium point, like the absolute serenity within the eye of a storm.

Fang Cheng slowly closed his eyes, opened his arms, and thoroughly enjoyed this freedom beyond shackles.

At this moment, he seemed to possess the entire world, acting as the god of this world!

This feeling of overriding physical rules was truly intoxicating and mesmerizing...

According to previous calculations, after his "Leg Raise" skill advanced to Grandmaster and he comprehended the mystery of resisting gravity, his basic mid-air suspension time had skyrocketed from the past 3.5 seconds to 6.3 seconds.

Yesterday morning, Fang Cheng had already made a preliminary attempt in his room regarding the ability to maintain static suspension after jumping.

So now, it was time to test the mid-air suspension effect under dynamic conditions.

Fang Cheng opened his eyes abruptly, a sharp gleam flashing through his pupils.

Right at this moment, a mountain wind blew from behind.

Relying on a mental attribute as high as 50 points, Fang Cheng had an extremely acute perception of airflow changes.

The trajectory, intensity, and even subtle fluctuations of the wind were instantly deconstructed and analyzed in his mind.

Right now!

Fang Cheng's body moved along with the momentum, his arms stretching out, waist and core exerting force as he leaped forward fiercely.

His entire posture instantly switched from a hovering standing position to a gliding dive.

He accurately captured the pulse of the airflow, converting the wind's thrust into his own momentum.

His body thus began to glide through the air.

The 40-point agility attribute endowed Fang Cheng with a high degree of control over every single muscle fiber in his body.

In the air, he was like the most vigorous swift.

Every subtle posture adjustment could most effectively utilize aerodynamics, reducing drag and increasing lift, as if merging into the wind.

His sleeves billowed and snapped loudly, and the messenger bag on his shoulder fluttered upward.

The speed of gliding forward became faster and faster, while the speed of dropping downward was also limited to the extreme.

But Fang Cheng felt it was still not enough.

With a thought in his mind, the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Breathing Technique was fiercely activated.

Rumbling—

Between breaths, True Qi surged within his body, and his internal organs, tendons, bones, skin, and flesh all vibrated slightly, with faint thunderous rumblings echoing.

The next moment, the tightly closed pores all over his body suddenly opened, and visible jets of white steam spewed out from them.

These high-temperature steams formed a strong recoil force behind him, as if equipping his body with countless miniature boosters.

Whoosh—

Fang Cheng's gliding speed suddenly surged, like a low-flying jet fighter, carrying a sharp whistling sound as he sped toward the intended landing point.

Unlike the last time in Miwu Mountain when he borrowed the power of the gale.

Today, he relied more on his own strength and skills to "fly", which was undoubtedly a huge progress.

However, the thrill of Flight was always short-lived.

After gliding for about a kilometer, Fang Cheng clearly felt that the internal power resisting gravity was rapidly fading.

The suspension time was about to run out!

Fang Cheng's body began to grow heavy.

The sluggish feeling of free fall once again took dominance.

Immediately afterward, he plummeted straight down toward that ocean of green forest below like a meteorite.

Swish—

The wind roared violently in his ears, and the speed of his body falling became faster and faster.

The umbrella-like dense treetops also rapidly magnified in his field of vision.

Boom—

Fang Cheng's robust body crashed fiercely into the jungle like a cannonball, with countless broken branches and leaves splashing in all directions.

The moment he pierced through the canopy, there was not a trace of panic in his eyes; his arms reached out like lightning, precisely grabbing a thick branch.

Crack!

The immense impact caused that bowl-thick branch to snap in response.

His body continued to fall.

He reached out again and grabbed another thicker branch.

Crack!

It was still the crisp sound of breaking.

For the third time, he used both hands simultaneously to grab the main trunk fork of a giant tree.

This time, the trunk only shook violently and finally did not break again.

Fang Cheng hung by his hands under the branch, his body swinging back and forth a few times under the effect of inertia.

Once the force was spent, the muscles in his arms suddenly bulged, performing an effortless double muscle-up pull-up.

His entire person was already standing silently on a branch more than twenty meters above the ground.

Letting out a soft breath, Fang Cheng turned around and looked out into the distance.

All around was a tranquil primeval jungle, with sunlight filtered by layers upon layers of leaves, leaving only sporadic patches of light projecting in.

Fang Cheng raised his wrist and looked at his sports watch.

Just at the moment free fall began, he had already pressed the stop button.

The screen displayed a set of startling data:

[Time: 19.3 seconds]

[Distance: 1156 meters]

Looking at the data, Fang Cheng fell into deep thought.

Compared to last time in Miwu Mountain, this result didn't seem to have improved in an exaggerated manner.

But one had to consider that that night had a force-7 gale as the most powerful assistance.

And today, the wind was relatively weak.

Furthermore, he had also enjoyed nearly two seconds of static hovering at the highest point.

If that stationary time was deducted and all suspension ability was utilized in the gliding state.

Then, under the same wind power and environment, the distance and time he could leap would definitely be longer.

Even so, such performance could be called Heaven-Defying.

Fang Cheng couldn't help sighing that this was the powerful aspect of skill special effects and talents.

Without the percentage increases of "Ape Waist" and "Air Walk".

Relying solely on his 2.25-second basic suspension time, even if it far exceeded those top basketball stars, he would definitely not be able to pull off tricks like "gliding Flight".

This was the unsurpassable chasm between the extraordinary and the ordinary.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's gaze condensed.

Now that the suspension ability had been further verified and the time had been refreshed once again.

It was time to try another application method he had previously envisioned.

Standing on the treetop, Fang Cheng breathed lightly and adjusted his state.

The next moment, he stepped forward without warning, instantly leaving the support of the branch.

This step seemed like a misstep into empty air, but his body did not fall directly as expected.

Instead, with a rhythmic sense full of staccato, it slowly sank down a short distance.

As if the soles of his feet were stepping on an invisible step.

A smile curled up at the corner of Fang Cheng's mouth as he raised his other foot and stepped forward once more.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Just like that, in the mid-air without any reliance, he walked down step by step as if strolling leisurely in a courtyard.

It could be called a true "Air Walk"!

The difficulty behind this seemingly effortless and casual action was even greater than the extreme gliding just now.

It not only required monster-level waist and core strength.

Even more, it required micro-level precise control over every muscle fiber of the body, continuously searching for that fleeting force field balance point in motion.

Pat.

His feet finally landed steadily on the soft humus soil, making only a slight sound on the soles of his shoes.

Feeling the surging powerful force within his body, Fang Cheng's emotions churned.

The panel before his eyes emerged, looking once again at that encouraging prompt message:

[Please keep up the good work and continue forging ahead on this path...]

How could he reach the goal of 9 seconds and unlock new abilities?

Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly as he silently calculated.

His current limit static suspension time was 6.3 seconds.

Although the improvement of physical attributes had a relatively limited impact on the suspension ability.

But before, when Agility broke through the 40-point mark, the basic suspension time still increased by about 0.25 seconds.

By analogy, when Agility breaks through the 60-point mark, conservatively estimated, it could at least increase by another 0.25 seconds.

The 0.25-second basic time, after an 180% amplification from the two major skill special effects, would eventually convert into 0.7 seconds of suspension time.

6.3 seconds plus 0.7 seconds made 7 seconds.

Distance to 9 seconds, there was only a 2-second gap left.

And this final gap could perhaps be made up for by continuing to upgrade relevant skill Ranks and acquiring new suspension special effects.

Or simply continuously improve his physical quality, breaking through the Dao with brute force, and sooner or later he would be able to make up for the remaining gap.

A clear route to becoming stronger formed in his mind.

Fang Cheng put away the panel, turned around to identify the direction, and walked out of the mountain forest.

Today's test gave him a deeper understanding of his own capabilities and clearly understood the feasibility of unlocking new skills.