359: Chapter 359 Wolves and Sheep, Higher-Order Humanoid Creatures

In the corridor, the atmosphere was somewhat stagnant for a moment.

Councilor Zhao's two bodyguards had sharp gazes, still intently staring at the already closed elevator door, their hands instinctively pressing against the inside of their suits.

The red-faced elder's gaze flickered slightly, also carrying a hint of contemplation.

The elevator's descending indicator light lit up, and the few of them waited quietly.

"Old Dong, what is it?"

The middle-aged man referred to as Councilor Zhao asked, his voice steady.

"Oh, it's nothing."

The red-faced elder snapped back to his senses and shook his head:

"The young fellow in the elevator just now reminded me of an old friend. Perhaps I saw wrong."

Councilor Zhao nodded slightly without pressing further, instead patting the elder's shoulder and saying in a sincere tone:

"Old Dong, this time thanks to your advice and strategizing, shouting and cheering for me in the legal circle, I was able to turn danger into safety and win back this crucial game in Congress."

"I will remember this favor."

The tone in which he spoke was unhurried, yet it naturally carried a convincing power.

"Councilor Zhao, you flatter me. Purifying the corrupt and exalting the upright is naturally within my duty."

The elder quickly waved his hand and said solemnly: "Even without me, with your ability and reputation, you would still be able to safely get through it."

The young assistant who had been quietly standing by at the side smiled just at the right moment and chimed in:

"Elder Dong, you are too modest. The councilor often tells us in private that you are our Jiang Taigong and Zhang Zifang. With you here, everyone feels at ease."

These words both flattered Elder Dong and demonstrated Councilor Zhao's heavy reliance on him, airtightly spoken.

Councilor Zhao gave the assistant an approving look, then smiled and shook his head, a trace of imperceptible profound meaning flashing deep in his eyes.

Just at this moment, with a ding, another elevator arrived.

Soft light spilled down from the corridor ceiling, illuminating the dark red carpet beneath their feet and outlining Councilor Zhao's thin and steady figure.

The elevator door slowly slid open, and he took the lead in making a gesture of "please", his bearing calm and composed.

...

Dongdu's night scene was brilliant and colorful, with towering skyscrapers rapidly receding outside the window.

The black SUV drove steadily on the road.

Fang Cheng held the steering wheel, his expression showing Focus.

In the back seat, Li Dingjian was already fast asleep, letting out light snoring.

Wen Xin was also tired, her small head nodding up and down as she leaned on Zhou Xiumei's shoulder.

"Chengcheng."

Li Biyun finally couldn't help asking: "What was going on in the elevator just now? And where is that friend of yours surnamed Ma?"

Zhou Xiumei also cast a concerned look.

"It's nothing."

Fang Cheng's tone was very calm:

"Those two are Ma Donghe's old classmates, and we happened to run into them here."

"We originally recognized them and wanted to chat for a bit, but they drank too much, so Donghe took them to a hotel nearby to get a room and settled them in."

This explanation was obviously somewhat far-fetched, and Li Biyun's eyes carried a hint of suspicion.

However, seeing that her son didn't want to say much, she ultimately didn't ask again.

Zhou Xiumei quietly hugged Wen Xin, her gaze merely sweeping past Fang Cheng's face in the rearview mirror, her eyes revealing a slight worry.

Fang Cheng gripped the steering wheel steadily with both hands, his gaze piercing through the windshield.

Looking at the traffic flow in the distance formed by countless taillights, his gaze flickered, deep in thought.

At the same time, inside a dark alley not far from Wangjiang Tower.

It was damp and dirty here, the sour and rotten smell overflowing from the trash cans mixed with the scent of inferior cigarettes, making one nauseous.

Patte, patte——

Heavy objects were continuously dropped on the ground.

Sounded like someone was playing an extremely violent wrestling game here.

After a few muffled screams and the dull thuds of bones colliding, only heavy panting was left inside the alley.

A couple passing by the alley entrance heard the commotion inside and curiously glanced over.

Then their faces turned pale, they linked arms tightly, and almost jogged away quickly, as if evil ghosts were chasing them from behind.

Screech——

The sound of tire friction slashed across the quiet street, and an unplated white van abruptly braked and stopped at the alley entrance.

The car door was pulled open with a "clatter" sound, and several youths holding iron bars and machetes jumped down.

They wore flashy vests with dragons and tigers tattooed on their arms; at a glance, they were obviously not decent people.

"Big Brother, where are you?"

A yellow-haired fellow shouted first:

"We brought our gear, guaranteed to let the bastards who dare offend Brother Cheng and you know how many eyes Lord Ma has!"

"Yeah, Brother Ma."

Another brawny man also chimed in, shouting fiercely: "Just say which leg or which arm of his you want dismantled? Or should we just stab him straight through?"

The few of them clatteringly rushed into the alley, but were stunned by the scene before them.

In the darkness, a figure as sturdy as a bear was straddling another person, seemingly still muttering something.

"Damn it, what's going on? Are today's assassins so fragile and not fun to play with?"

Hearing the shout, that figure stood up, turned around, and unhurriedly pulled up his pants.

The underlings looked closely and saw two men lying on the ground.

At this moment, they were disheveled, bruised and battered, with bloodstains hanging from the corners of their mouths, having completely passed out.

Looking again at their own boss's appearance of having just finished "exercising", the gazes of several underlings instantly turned weird, looking at each other in dismay.

Ma Donghe didn't mind their gazes, splitting his mouth wide to reveal a mouthful of white teeth that looked exceptionally creepy in the darkness:

"Hurry up and bring these two pups back to the base. Tonight I need to properly serve them."

He placed heavy emphasis on the word "serve", originally intending to express that he would interrogate them using torture.

But when these words fell into the ears of the underlings whose minds were already somewhat filthy, the flavor completely changed.

They shuddered all over, shivering, and when they looked at the two unconscious men on the ground again.

Their eyes were already filled with sympathy and awe.

Sympathy for the two unlucky fellows, and awe for their own boss.

"Yes, Big Brother!"

The underlings didn't dare ask more questions, hurriedly responding as they scrambled to prop up the two half-dead assassins, dragging them onto the van like sacks of flour.

Ma Donghe squeezed his fists, his joints producing "crack, crack" popping sounds, and muttered to himself with satisfaction:

"After going into seclusion and bitterly cultivating for so long, it seems my strength has really fucking improved quite a bit..."

Right at this moment, a broken earpiece on the ground suddenly transmitted a burst of urgent calls:

"Night Owl, Hound, please respond if you hear..."

"What happened? Why did the target leave safely? Report your location immediately..."

Ma Donghe raised an eyebrow, lifted his foot, and heavily stamped down.

Crack!

The communicator completely turned into a pile of plastic fragments, and the sound abruptly stopped.

The van's engine started up with two "beep beep" sounds, and it soon merged into the traffic flow of the main road, disappearing from sight.

Leaving only that deserted alley, under the city's neon lights, swallowed once again by shadows and silence.

...

Just past five in the early morning.

Jiuchang Street under the faint morning light appeared exceptionally quiet and peaceful.

The sky was a calm and deep ink blue.

The outlines of distant buildings were faintly discernible, as if the entire city had not yet completely emerged from the night veil.

On the rooftop of the Tubular Building, a figure stood atop a square concrete water tank.

More accurately speaking, it should be hands supporting the ground, feet off the ground, suspending the body in the air.

If the camera were zoomed in, one could even see that supporting his entire body weight were merely a single index finger on each of his left and right hands.

That figure was actually practicing the high-difficulty Handstand Push-up movement here in an unbelievable way.

Two fingers pressed against the rough cement surface like steel nails driven into it, firmly supporting and controlling the torso so that it wouldn't topple over.

Every time he bent his arms to sink down and then exerted strength to Push-up, the muscle groups of his upper body clearly undulated and bulged like living creatures, rising high.

The morning breeze continuously blew across the rooftop, bringing a trace of coolness, yet it couldn't shake his body by a fraction.

The figure stood erect on the rooftop like a flagstaff, keeping watch over this city still deep in sleep.

The scattered residential buildings nearby, and the gradually clear skyscrapers in the distance.

Seemingly all became the stage background for him to display his well-built muscles and extraordinary posture.

"..."

"498."

"499."

"500."

Along with the final arm-bending descent, Fang Cheng silently counted the reps, his arm, shoulder, and back muscles working in coordination to forcefully push his body up to the peak.

Then his waist and core tightened, his legs traced a graceful arc in the air, landing lightly and standing up straight again.

A light blue light screen floated before his eyes.

[Handstand Push-up Exp + 15]

[Handstand Push-up Lv2 (470/500)]

"In just a few days, it's going to level up..."

Looking at the experience progress bar about to be filled, Fang Cheng muttered to himself in a low voice, his pupils revealing a look of anticipation.

Taking a short rest to adjust the rhythm of his breathing, he immediately bent down close to the ground and threw himself into the next training project.

Single-finger Push-up.

These days, in order to prepare for the re-examination and also to let his mother rest easy, Fang Cheng had been living at home in Jiuchang Street.

Lacking the professional training equipment equipped in that house at Haitian Garden, he could only adapt to local conditions and intensively practice the Six Arts of Convict Conditioning.

Fang Cheng's temporarily formulated morning exercise plan was:

500 two-finger Handstand Push-ups, 600 single-finger Hanging Leg Raises, 600 single-finger Pull-ups, 800 single-finger Push-ups, 800 single-leg Back Bridges, 1000 single-leg Squats.

Compared to the extreme weighted training in the gym previously, this set of bodyweight training was actually much easier in terms of intensity, and practicing it was completely without pressure.

Just because the repetitions were numerous, he had to speed up the movement frequency to finish before dawn.

As a result, the training efficiency was conversely not as thorough as when he slowly exerted force in the past.

After all, only by extending the eccentric and concentric processes of the movement as much as possible could one more fully stimulate the tearing and growth of muscle fibers, thereby maximizing the control and endurance of the whole body's muscles.

In addition, there was one minor difficulty.

When practicing single-finger Pull-ups and Hanging Leg Raises, the old running water pipe on the rooftop was too thick and round, making it unsuitable as a support point for exerting strength.

However, for Fang Cheng, this was not insurmountable.

The skill effect of "Absolute Control" endowed him with perfect control over his palm strength.

Coupled with the ten-fold enhanced finger friction, that smooth water pipe under his fingers was as stable as if glued with super glue.

As the morning exercise continued, the city's skyline was also gradually rendered with bright edges on the ink-blue background.

On the street, the rolling shutter doors of breakfast shops were pulled open, making a "clatter" sound, occasionally mixed with a few coughs and vague conversations.

The crisp bell of bicycles also came from far to near, accompanied by the low humming of car engines starting up.

Various sounds began to intertwine, jointly composing the morning melody of this waking city.

When the final single-finger Pull-up was also declared complete, Fang Cheng let out a long breath of turbid air.

His legs landed on the ground, his toes lightly tapping the ground, and his entire person leaped onto that square concrete water tank once again silently, as if weightless.

At this moment, the first ray of sunlight finally pierced through the gaps of the tall buildings, falling onto this old Tubular Building rooftop.

Fang Cheng's whole-body muscle lines were outlined clearly and distinctly, his bronze-colored skin reflecting a glossy texture.

He stood at the top of the water tank, overlooking the street scene below that was gradually coming to life, casually stretching his tendons and bones.

Then, sinking his body and standing firm in a horse stance, facing the rising morning sun, right in this square inch of space, he began practicing Shadow Boxing.

His movements did not pursue speed; every Move and stance was clearly visible, advancing and retreating methodically, his Aura steady and composed.

Every strike contained internal force, hidden without releasing, focusing more on the connection between Moves and the application of skills.

Even so, a dull sound of breaking through the air still rang out in the air, the wind whistling endlessly.

As if a Qigong Great Master on TV, every punch thrown came with its own sound effect.

Until the five combat skills had each been rehearsed, the morning exercise entered the final concluding stage — Qigong conditioning.

"Hululu—"

Fang Cheng focused his gaze and gathered his mind, moving his Qi and blood, and a faint sound was emitted between his nostrils.

Rumble rumble——

In an instant, his entire body's muscles, joints, and even blood trembled together in unison, continuously emitting a low echoing sound.

Not even a few breaths later, his entire person was like a boiling kettle.

From his legs, arms, shoulders, and even the top of his head, faint white smoke continuously emerged, rising in curls.

However, if this scene were viewed from a distance, it wasn't particularly obvious.

With the improvement of his Qigong skill Rank, Fang Cheng had long been able to skillfully control the heat of True Qi circulation.

When practicing usually, he would deliberately restrain it to avoid causing too much commotion and bringing unnecessary trouble.

He held his chest and pulled his back, lowered his waist, and his legs were planted on the cement ground like the entwined roots of an old tree.

Maintaining the stance posture, he continuously inhaled and exhaled, repeating the cycle.

About fifteen minutes later, his face was flushed red, and the white smoke on his body gradually decreased until it completely disappeared.

"Hoo—"

Fang Cheng's Adam's apple rolled, akin to a tiger or leopard roaring low.

Two clearly visible white Qi arrows immediately spewed out from his nostrils, shooting several meters away before dissipating into the air.

After concluding the exercise, Fang Cheng stood straight, shook his arms and shoulders, and kicked his legs.

He only felt immensely comfortable all over, every pore appearing extremely translucent.

Before his eyes, new prompt information emerged.

[Qigong Exp + 3]

[Qigong Lv2 (120/500)]

Fang Cheng's mouth curled up slightly.

Don't look at how he had just finished a high-intensity morning exercise, but his own feeling was one of being full of spirit and radiating vitality.

Even if an enemy suddenly appeared right at this moment, he could instantly burst forth with whole-body strength and plunge into battle.

Fang Cheng twisted his neck and shoulders, producing a series of "crackling" explosive sounds.

Seeing the sun rising higher, he raised his wrist and glanced at his sports watch.

It was already 6:35.

This morning there was still the graduate school re-examination interview.

At this hour, Mom should have already gotten up and was busy making breakfast for him.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng swiftly turned his body sideways, and with a light side flip, leaped down from the water tank, landing steadily back onto the rooftop ground.

Then, he picked up the jacket and long pants thrown to the side and quickly put them on.

Toward the upcoming interview, Fang Cheng actually didn't have much anxious emotion.

If it were placed half a year ago, facing those examiners who could determine his own fate and future, he might have been nervous or even stage-frightened.

But now...

Fitness brought not only strong muscles, but even more so, a confidence originating from the essence of life.

Fang Cheng nowadays had long since broken away from the category of ordinary people.

Strictly speaking, he counted as a higher-tier humanoid being.

Can you imagine a sound-minded adult feeling awkward or stuttering when facing a five or six-year-old child?

The gap within this did not stem from intelligence or social status, but rather a fundamental difference on the level of life.

Just like the mindset of a wolf when observing a sheep.

There is scrutiny, analysis, and perhaps even curiosity.

But solely there will be no nervousness and fear.

Fang Cheng looking at those examiners right now was precisely like this!