378: Chapter 378 Martial Arts Training by the Sea: Speed ​​Breakthrough Once Again!

Splash——Splash——

The sound of waves surged in waves, as if it were the city's deepest and longest breath before dawn.

On the beach dyed by the night color, a figure merged into the darkness.

He was bare-chested with a lean upper body, wearing only athletic shorts, stepping barefoot on the cold, damp sand.

Allowing wave after wave of turbulent splashes to roll in and wash over his ankles.

The figure seemed unmoving, yet the wind of his fists was already poised to strike.

A fierce right straight punch tore through the air in front of him.

Pop!

The crisp sonic boom, like a sudden release after being suppressed to the extreme, was sharp and short.

Interspersed within the mighty and ceaseless sound of the waves, it didn't seem abrupt at all.

Following closely, the second punch, the third punch...

The sounds of sonic booms began to ring out densely.

That figure stretched out completely.

Sometimes swift like a boxer, stepping flexibly.

Continuous jabs, hooks, and swing punches were as fast as phantoms, every single punch creating clear ripples in the air.

Sometimes transforming into a Sanda stance, a powerful whip kick lashed out like a steel whip.

Leaving a fierce afterimage in the air, the stirred-up splashes burst outward in all directions.

One second it was a vicious charging knee and horizontal elbow, as if trying to smash the waves in front of him;

the next second, his form suddenly turned, transforming into the Cloud Hands of Tai Chi, his arms tracing rounded and heavy trajectories.

Seeming to gently catch the surging waves, using four ounces to move a thousand pounds.

Occasionally, he also burst out with astonishing springiness, completing a neat "whirlwind kick" followed by a backflip in the air.

Then, his bare feet landed steadily on the damp sand left behind by the receding waves, leaving only two shallow footprints.

The dark night was boundless, and the sea was limitless.

This lonely figure exuded power between heaven and earth.

There were no spectators, no opponents.

Only the waves served as his sole sparring partner.

Every punch and kick of his seemed to reach a certain resonance with the rising and falling tides and the blowing sea breeze.

The vigorous figure, the surging waves, and the distant firmament formed a picture of harmonious motion and stillness.

Pop!

Another fierce straight punch was thrown, and the stirred-up air wave blew open a shallow pit in the sand ahead.

Fang Cheng slowly withdrew his fists, brought his feet together, and naturally stood firm with his body.

His chest rose and fell rhythmically, his gaze calm and focused.

A light blue light screen quietly emerged in the darkness, and several prompt messages flashed past his eyes.

[Boxing Experience + 2]

[Sanda Experience + 2]

[Muay Thai Experience + 3]

[Tai Chi Experience + 4]

[Jiu-Jitsu Experience + 1]

Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly as he raised his wrist.

The screen of the sports watch lit up with a dim glow in the night, clearly displaying the time.

5:09.

Facing the slightly salty and fishy sea breeze, Fang Cheng enjoyed the rare coolness after strenuous exercise, his thoughts racing.

The light blue light screen still flickered slightly in his field of vision, like lonely stars in the night sky.

Except for Jiu-Jitsu, which was a relatively special skill usually practiced only by doing a few more somersaults.

Today's morning exercise of over an hour could be said to have earnestly performed Shadow Boxing with all the combat skills he currently mastered.

The gained experience points were no less than practicing one or two skills with Focus in the past, and even slightly more.

It seemed that choosing the early morning hours to practice Boxing alone and immersively by the sea.

Indeed had higher efficiency than holing up at home or finding someone to spar with at a club.

Whether it was traditional martial arts or modern combat, they all emphasized the Realm of the integration of essence, qi, and spirit.

In this environment of vast skies and open seas where no one disturbed, the mind was more easily highly concentrated, able to immerse all consciousness into the deliberation and drills of every single move.

Every muscle and every breath of his body harmonized with the Fist Intent, naturally yielding twice the result with half the effort.

Pulling back his thoughts, Fang Cheng cast his gaze at the panel once more, looking at those combat skills not far from leveling up.

[Tai Chi Lv1 (202/250)]

[Muay Thai Lv2 (261/500)]

[Jiu-Jitsu Lv2 (357/500)]

Especially the skill of Jiu-Jitsu; its progress bar had always been relatively lagging behind, but now it suddenly jumped up by a large margin.

This was mainly thanks to the battle with Jia Liang that night.

In order to test the improvement effect brought by the 60 points of agility attribute, Fang Cheng spent most of the time fighting the opponent dodging and retreating, deliberately avoiding head-on strong attacks.

As a result, the experience for offensive combat skills like Boxing and Sanda was minimal.

On the contrary, the experience points for Jiu-Jitsu, a skill that could play a greater role during dodging and maneuvering, soared by 30 points, which could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

"Combat is ultimately the best teacher..."

Fang Cheng sighed with emotion, then his gaze narrowed, and Battle Intent rose once more.

He spread his feet apart, sank his body slightly, and struck a standard half-horse stance of Karate's "front stance".

Then clenching his fists at his waist with a "reverse punch" posture, he prepared for the upcoming Shadow Boxing practice.

Almost all of last night, Fang Cheng watched the instructional discs he unearthed from Wu Datong's shop, focusing on studying two other famous schools in Karate — Goju-ryu and Kyokushin.

Goju-ryu, just as its name implied, emphasized the combination of hardness and softness, breathing in and out; it was a relatively traditional ancient Okinawan school, quite close to the traditional martial arts of the Xia Country.

As for Kyokushin, it discarded the "full-stop" rule of traditional Karate and was a modern combat school emphasizing full-contact actual combat, known for its ferocity and practicality.

However, they both shared a commonality: they attached extreme importance to the cultivation of two techniques: Spear-hand and Knife-hand.

Especially the founder of Kyokushin, who legend has it could chop off a bull's horn with a Knife-hand, and its power was evident.

This was precisely the study example carefully selected by Wu Datong according to the demands he raised.

Gathering his mind and calming his breath for a few seconds, Fang Cheng then shook his shoulders slightly and plunged into practice.

This time, his movements were much slower than before, and also steadier.

Every move and style had clear and distinct operational trajectories.

Every waist turn and hip delivery, every arm swing and palm chop, precisely controlled the power to rise from the soles of his feet, transmit through the waist and back, and finally pour into the edge of the palm.

The constantly surging waves were his imagined targets.

Whoosh——

A Knife-hand chopped down, and the sharp wind stirred up by the edge of the palm even carved a brief ripple on the water surface.

Fang Cheng constantly changed angles and postures, chopping horizontally, vertically, and diagonally...

Integrating the theories learned from the discs into his own physical instincts.

Time quietly passed amidst focused practice.

The sound of the tides grew louder and louder, and the waves became higher than the last.

The time for the high tide had arrived.

On the distant sea level, a faint line of fish-belly white finally appeared, distinct from the ink-blue firmament.

Like a boundary dividing day and night.

"Whoosh——"

Fang Cheng let out a long breath, crossed his hands in front of him, and slowly withdrew them to his sides, finishing the exercise and standing upright.

Raising his wrist to look at his watch, the time was 5:27.

The panel still showed no reaction, nor did it flash a brighter light.

But Fang Cheng was not discouraged in the slightest.

Through this immersive practice just now, his insight into the technique of "Knife-hand" in his heart had deepened a lot.

He knew that the path he was walking was not wrong.

Combat did not solely rely on iron-hard fists and wind-swift legs.

The palm formed after the five fingers were brought together could similarly become an unstoppable Sharp Weapon.

As long as he persisted, unlocking new skills was only a matter of time.

Fang Cheng raised his head and looked around.

The sky was not yet bright, and the outline of the distant city was hazy; it seemed to be foggy.

After moving his body a bit, Fang Cheng decided not to conduct routine long-distance Running exercise today, but prepared to test short-distance Running instead.

After the agility attribute broke through to 60 points, his body's flexibility, balance, coordination, and muscle reaction speed all had a qualitative leap.

Even the basic hang time in the air was increased by 0.5 seconds.

He just didn't know, in the Running skill that best embodied agility, to what astonishing degree his limit speed could ultimately reach?

Fang Cheng walked barefoot onto the beach, not putting on the sneakers placed aside.

This time he learned his lesson, lest when he burst out with full force, he would tread a good pair of shoes to pieces on the spot again.

Twisting his wrists and ankles, stretching his tendons and bones.

Joints all over his body emitted a series of "crackling" popping sounds, just like roasting beans.

After making preparations, Fang Cheng immediately lowered his body.

Supporting his hands on the slightly damp sand, his legs separated front and back, he struck a professional sprinter's crouch-start posture.

His lean Physique didn't look exaggerated, but every bundle of muscle was like a steel cable compressed to the extreme, emitting a silent and terrifying tension.

Then, he launched in an instant.

Boom!

As if a sudden clap of thunder on flat ground!

Fang Cheng's feet violently kicked against the sand, the sand under his feet compressed by the huge power and exploded backward, forming two deep pits half a meter in diameter.

The whole person was like a cannonball out of the chamber, switching from a stationary state to extreme acceleration in less than 0.01 seconds!

Splash——

A visible wave of air spread around him as the center, blowing the sand and seashell fragments on the ground flying in all directions!

Merely the instant explosive force at the start was more than a tier stronger than when he had 40 points of agility!

If previous Running was like a top-tier supercar.

Then Fang Cheng now was more like a Flight vehicle instantly catapulted on an electromagnetic track.

His figure drew a straight afterimage on the beach, so fast that the naked eye simply couldn't capture it.

Everything around was retreating rapidly, turning into blurred patches of color.

Fang Cheng's five senses were also elevated to an unprecedented height.

The wind blowing against his face was no longer wind.

It was a heavy-as-water resistance, frantically squeezing his body and rubbing against his skin.

Making him feel as if he were traveling at high speed in the deep sea, with only a high-frequency buzzing sound left in his ears.

His heart at this moment turned into a super engine Running at full power, every pulsation like the beating of a war drum.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The sound clearly echoed on the inside of his eardrums, and the scorching blood was pumped to every corner of his body.

The capillaries beneath his skin were clearly visible, his entire body glowing with an abnormal crimson red, his body surface temperature rising sharply, and even his exhaled breath carried scorching white mist.

A distance of over a kilometer was, under his feet, merely a brief instant.

When he forcibly stopped his steps, his feet plowed out two deep trenches over a dozen meters long on the beach before finally shedding that terrifying inertia.

"Whoosh——"

His nostrils exhaled a long breath, and the scorching airflow formed two long-lasting white arrows in the slightly cool morning breeze.

Fang Cheng was sweating profusely all over, his heartbeat as fast as a beating drum.

Although his breathing became a bit hurried, it still maintained a certain rhythm, showing no signs of exhaustion.

Before his eyes, the light blue light screen emerged once more.

[Your Running speed broke through 200 meters per second for the first time, Running Experience + 15]

[Running Lv1 (91/250)]

Don't look at the distance run as not very far.

But this kind of exercise that squeezed physical energy to the limit and challenged the physiological Peak in an extremely short time.

Its consumption was so huge that it even exceeded continuous two hours of weighted 500 kg one-finger Pull-ups, or practicing Shadow Boxing for a whole night.

Fang Cheng looked at the sports watch, and a set of numbers was frozen on the screen:

[1095M - 5.33S]

That is to say, completing this "short sprint" of over a kilometer, the average speed was about 205 meters per second.

Previously when his agility attribute was 40 points, his tested Running limit speed was 79 meters per second.

Now it had directly increased by more than twice.

Translated into hourly speed, that was 738 kilometers per hour!

This speed had far surpassed any top-tier mass-produced sports car in the world, and even F1 racing cars appeared like toddlers learning to walk in front of him.

You must know that ordinary civil aviation planes only reach a maximum speed of 800 to 900 kilometers per hour.

However, compared to the speed of sound at 340 meters per second, it was still a far cry.

During the Running process just now, Fang Cheng could clearly feel that as the speed became faster and faster, the external impact and internal tension borne by the body grew exponentially.

Not only was his skin hot and red, but his muscle fibers also faintly had a pain of being torn, and the air resistance was so large that it felt like an invisible wall.

This feeling was completely different from when he unleashed Sonic Punches with all his might.

The reason why a fist was easier to reach the speed of sound was not only because its contact surface with the air was small, but more importantly because it was at the very end of the human body's kinetic chain.

Just like the tip of a whip could easily crack to produce a sound-breaking noise.

The power of the whole body could rely on elastic potential energy, layer upon layer accumulating to transmit to the fist Peak at the end, amplifying the whip-tip effect to the extreme, thereby tearing the air and generating a sonic boom.

But for the entire body to reach the speed of sound, what it faced were fundamental obstacles originating from human physiological structures.

That was not just a matter of air resistance, but more so whether one's own structure could withstand the huge load brought by this terrifying speed.

The closer the speed approached the limit, every little bit of improvement would demand a geometrically multiplying cost.

This was no longer a problem that could be solved merely by improving the agility attribute.

"It seems I have to wait until the strength and Physique attributes also break through the 60-point mark before trying extreme Running again, to see if I can touch the barrier of the speed of sound."

Fang Cheng thought to himself inwardly.

Not to mention fragile carbon-based organisms, even Flight vehicles manufactured by modern technology had to first overcome the difficulties of Materials science in order to break through the speed of sound.

In this world, only a few top major powers mastered the technology of manufacturing supersonic fighter jets and missiles.

For humans to rely on a pure Physical Body to surpass technology, surpass civilization, and reach that level was obviously a Heaven-Defying path.

Even with the panel, I'm afraid it would still require walking a very, very long way.

But, so what?

In Fang Cheng's eyes, there was not the slightest fear; instead, an even more blazing fighting spirit burned.

Using a human body to challenge the Laws of nature was in itself a matter sufficient to make one's blood boil.

If sixty points of attributes wouldn't do, then eighty points!

If eighty points wouldn't do, then one hundred points!

He firmly believed that one day, he would fiercely trample the so-called Laws of physics under his feet!

The sea breeze carrying a slightly cool dampness blew against his face, making his scorching body feel much more comfortable.

Fang Cheng lowered his head to look at his reddened skin all over, then looked toward the rolling, pitch-black ocean.

Suddenly grinning widely.

It seemed that he hadn't gone swimming for a long time.

(End of Chapter)