380: Chapter 380 Advancement to Grandmaster, Ghostly Back Unfolds!

Thump, thump, thump.

Just as an abrupt knock on the door sounded.

Fang Cheng had just completed a Back Bridge movement, tilting his head back up and falling backward.

Snapping.

With his hands splayed flat on either side of his head and his palms supporting the ground, he maintained a stable posture.

His entire body, like an arch bridge, hovered at the peak.

Beads of sweat trickled down his temples, but his breathing remained steady and long.

Only a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes as he looked toward the door.

With his exercise rhythm interrupted, a trace of doubt inevitably welled up in Fang Cheng's heart.

"Is Mom coming over?"

As soon as the thought arose, it was dismissed.

She had a key; if she wanted to come in, she would open the door herself and would never do something so redundant.

Could it be his uncle, Li Dingjian?

The possibility wasn't high either.

The day before yesterday, his uncle had said he was accompanying that professor to Tiannan Province for personal business and wouldn't be back for a week.

Besides them, the only ones who knew the address of Haitian Garden were Zhou Xiumei and Xiaosa.

But both of them had their own things to keep busy with.

If it wasn't urgent, they definitely would have called first and would never have rushed over silently early in the morning.

As for takeout...

Today he hadn't ordered any at all yet.

His thoughts spun wildly. After eliminating all possibilities, the high probability left only property management, or... a neighbor.

Thinking of that female neighbor next door who often came to harass him, and the ambiguous gaze she gave him every time she saw him as if she were appraising a male model.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but feel a trace of helplessness in his heart.

Thump, thump, thump.

The knocking outside the door stopped for two seconds before sounding again.

The rhythm was neither hurried nor slow, appearing very patient.

Fang Cheng, however, had no intention of getting up, still maintaining the upside-down Back Bridge posture.

He withdrew his gaze from the door and let it fall onto the stack of heavy barbell plates suspended from his body.

Then, he looked at the light blue light screen floating in his field of vision.

[Back Bridge Lv2 (499/500)]

Only the last 1 point of experience value was missing.

Fang Cheng's eyes suddenly turned sharp.

It was as if he could already see the invisible Bottleneck lying across before him.

Like a tough thin film, it was close at hand yet stubbornly blocking the way forward.

"Hah—"

Fang Cheng took a deep breath, his chest swelling as a result, and his lungs taking in a sufficient amount of oxygen.

The thing he hated most was being disturbed while exercising.

Now, even if the King of Heaven came, no one could stop him from completing this final Breakthrough!

With his mind made up, outside interference receded like a tide.

Fang Cheng once again sank his consciousness into Absolute Control over his body.

No matter how persistent the knocking was, it couldn't stir up a single ripple in his heart.

He began his final sprint.

Under the five-hundred-jin load, his muscles tightened again, and his body became like a fully drawn hard bow.

His vertebrae stretched section by section, like a dormant Dragon waking up, and every muscle connected to it was mobilized.

The next second, a formidable power erupted, forcibly pushing his body along with the barbell plates to the apex.

Then, he neatly stood back up straight.

This wasn't purely waist and abdomen strength.

Instead, it started from the deepest erector spinae muscles, to the middle rhomboid muscles, to the superficial latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles, all the way to the gluteus maximus and hamstrings...

The entire posterior chain muscle group, like seamlessly meshed precision parts, exerted force in coordination, perfectly transmitting and bursting forth with power.

The knocking sounded for a while, and seemingly realizing no one was inside the house, it finally stopped.

The outside of the hallway returned to silence, with only the faint sound of footsteps fading away.

And Fang Cheng's training had just entered its most frantic stage.

The five-hundred-jin heavy barbell plates suspended from his waist heavily compressed his core muscle groups and his inverted arched spine.

Sweat had long since soaked his shorts, sliding down the ravines of his muscles and leaving a small dark patch on the floor.

However, his body remained as steady as a monolith.

He neither let out a beast-like roar nor showed the slightest pain or distortion on his face.

The strong should enjoy the process of conquering limits rather than being crushed by them.

Fang Cheng continuously pushed his body to the peak, and then fell backward.

In his world, there remained only deep and long breathing, the exhilarating sensation of muscle fibers tearing, and that distant limit about to be pierced in one fell swoop.

Rolling heat rose from his body, and amidst his breathing and the undulations of his muscles, it seemed to contain a certain powerful and primitive rhythm of life.

I don't know how long had passed.

When another standard Back Bridge movement was completed.

The panel in his field of vision finally bloomed with incomparably brilliant light!

[Congratulations, through effort and persistence far surpassing ordinary people, your skill has successfully broken through, reaching the Grandmaster level]

[Back Bridge Lv3 (0/1000)]

[Obtained Enhancement Reward One: Strength Attribute + 6 points]

[Obtained Enhancement Reward Two: Skill Special Effect "Demon Back"]

Almost the moment the prompt appeared, a warm current rose from the coccyx, surged all the way up along the spine, and instantly spread to the entire back region.

The posterior chain muscle groups, which were previously tightened to the extreme and seemed about to tear the next second, were washed by this warm current, rapidly dissolving their fatigue and once again becoming filled with an explosive sense of power.

"It's finally done!"

Amidst his joy, Fang Cheng swept his gaze across the panel, his heart stirring slightly.

This upgrade actually had two enhancement rewards.

Besides the 6 fixed attribute points, there was also a new skill special effect.

This could be said to be quite rare.

Subsequently, his gaze fell on the new entry, looking closely.

"Demon Back?"

Fang Cheng muttered to himself, but a terrifying sharp gleam suddenly burst from his eyes.

In his mind, the figure from a fighting manga involuntarily surfaced.

That man who also possessed the "Demon Back" and was crowned with the title of "the strongest creature on Earth".

Every time he displayed this form facing enemies, he could achieve an overwhelming victory.

Between his gestures, he was like a humanoid Tyrannosaurus; relying solely on his flesh and blood, it was enough to make an entire well-equipped army collapse.

Restraining his excited emotions, Fang Cheng let out a long breath of foul air and neatly untied the load-bearing belt around his waist.

The five-hundred-jin barbell plates were gently stacked on the plastic flooring.

He stood up straight, twisted his waist, stretched his muscles and bones, producing a series of crisp popping sounds.

His whole body was sticky with sweat, which was extremely uncomfortable.

Thinking about it, Fang Cheng walked straight toward the bathroom, deciding to take a shower first.

Cold clear water gushed out from the showerhead, pouring down over his head, instantly taking away the heat and greasiness on the surface of his skin.

The comfort from inside out refreshed one's spirits, enough to wash away all fatigue.

A few minutes later, Fang Cheng walked out of the shower room refreshed.

Standing in front of the vanity mirror, wiping his damp hair, he refocused his attention on the panel.

First was the 6 Strength attribute points.

Since they were fixed attribute points, there was nothing to hesitate about; they could be added right now.

As his mind issued the command, the value in the Strength column instantly jumped from "52" to "58".

A solid and thick warm current quietly surged from within his body.

Fang Cheng could clearly feel that the muscle fibers all over his body, especially the waist and back muscle groups supporting his body's core, slightly expanded and heated up at the same time, as if injected with brand-new energy.

The attribute values on the panel updated accordingly.

[Strength: 58]

[Agility: 60]

[Physique: 50]

[Spirit: 50]

Glancing at the attribute interface after completing the point allocation, Fang Cheng's gaze fell on the second enhancement reward—the skill special effect "Demon Back".

[Demon Back: Through long-term superhuman training, your spine and waist-back muscle groups have been deeply reinforced. The physical damage reduction you can withstand is increased by 75% based on your base Physique attribute]

[Under limit burst, you will enter a brief "Demon Back" liberation phase. During this phase, back defense is additionally increased by 150%, and punch power is boosted by 100%]

[After liberating the "Demon Back", the aura you emit will be like the descent of ghosts and gods, which can invisibly produce immense psychological oppression and fear in enemies]

[Note: The "Demon Back" state can last for at least five minutes, the duration increases with the increase of the Physique attribute, cooldown time 24 hours]

[This skill special effect has merged "Iron Bridge", completing evolution, old entry has been overwritten]

Seeing the end, Fang Cheng's gaze slightly narrowed, landing on the "Back Bridge" skill column.

Sure enough, the original logo of "Iron Bridge" had disappeared, replaced by the brand-new "Demon Back".

No wonder there were two enhancement rewards this time.

Fang Cheng was thoughtful.

This was different from last time when the "Leg Raise" skill rose to the Grandmaster level.

That time it was because the peculiarity of the training method triggered the prerequisites for unlocking a new ability, thereby increasing the airtime.

And this time, it was the old skill special effect, under higher-stage training, being catalyzed, reshaped, and ultimately evolving into a brand-new, more powerful skill form.

To ensure the integrity of the Grandmaster-level skill "Back Bridge", the panel additionally rewarded 6 Strength attribute points as a supplement and balance for this "evolution".

However, speaking of which, this "Demon Back" special effect description looked indeed outrageously strong.

Under normal states, the damage reduction of the entire torso back is increased by 75%.

Calculated with his 50 points of Physique, the defense effect was equivalent to the toughness of nearly ninety points of Physique.

Ordinary saber slashes and sword cuts probably couldn't even scratch the skin.

Except for heavy weapons or armor-piercing bullets, if an ordinary pistol shot at his back, the bullet would probably only touch the superficial layer of muscle and scrape a bit of skin, which could perhaps be cured by applying some red medicine afterwards.

As for after liberating the "Demon Back", the defense is additionally increased by 150%.

That directly soared to a terrifying level of one hundred and twenty-five points of Physique.

Truly achieving the likeness of a humanoid iron plate.

This made Fang Cheng couldn't help but think of the Goju-ryu "Gou-style" practiced by Majima Goro.

That kind of hard qigong that strengthened the weak parts of the body and enhanced muscle and bone strength through day-after-day pain-resistant anti-strike training was certainly powerful.

But they needed to rely on years and months of pounding to accumulate effects.

And he, through skill enhancement, could have immediate results.

Of course, Fang Cheng wasn't just sitting back and reaping achievements without working.

The existence of the panel merely ensured that every drop of his sweat would not flow in vain and every training session could gain valuable experience.

Because it never degraded, it continuously accumulated, ultimately piling dirt into a mountain, gathering thick and bursting forth thinly, completing a leap beyond the mortal world.

Fang Cheng's thoughts stirred, his gaze falling on the second half of the skill introduction, his eyes becoming even more scorching.

Punch power boosted by 100%!

He slowly clenched his fists, feeling the sense of power transmitted between his finger bones that seemed capable of crushing steel.

If under the "Demon Back" state, combined with the charged attack of the "Qilin Arm"...

Punching out with this, the destructive power might be a bit too explosive!

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng looked at himself in the mirror.

Then turning his body sideways, raising his arms, he struck a classic "double back spread" posture from a bodybuilding competition, fully displaying his back muscles in front of the mirror.

From the outside, his figure was slightly sturdier than before, and his shoulder and back contours appeared broader.

But the overall body shape hadn't fundamentally changed, still maintaining a lean and introverted style.

Especially beneath the bronze skin of his back, every bundle of muscle fibers seemed to be endowed with an independent life.

They were not bloated lumps of meat, but super fiber bundles forged through a thousand refinements and compressed to the extreme.

Outlining clear and shocking lines, like hidden high-density explosives.

Once ignited, it would burst forth with power unimaginable to ordinary people.

This was his body, a perfect tool evolved for combat.

The next second, Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed.

With a thought.

Liberate the "Demon Back"!

Puf! Puf! Puf!

A series of muffled sounds of muscle fibers rapidly expanding and stretching came from his back.

The originally smooth and tight back muscle groups seemed to come alive, beginning to exaggeratedly wriggle, expand, and reorganize at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The extremely compressed muscles, like steel cables whose bindings had been instantly untied, completely released their ferocious form.

The latissimus dorsi stretched to the extreme, forming the demon's wide cheeks.

The trapezius muscles rose high, forming a locked brow.

The deep spine ravines were like the bridge of a ghost and god's nose.

And what was most heart-palpitating were the two sides of the shoulder blades.

The infraspinatus and teres major muscles were forcibly pulled, forming distorted eye sockets.

And squeezed between them, the teres minor muscle, which was extremely difficult to show under normal states, was now frantically congested and bulging out, forming a pair of "Devil's Eyes" filled with violent expressions!

A clear, distorted ghost face, as if silently weeping, was thus vividly branded onto his back.

"Is this the 'Demon Back'..."

Fang Cheng looked at the terrifying figure in the mirror, heartfeltly letting out an exclamation.

Just standing there, the visual impact and sense of oppression brought by this posture were enough to make any weak-willed enemy collapse instantly.

If his Strength attribute also broke through the physiological limit of 60 points, and his body became even sturdier.

When he liberated the "Demon Back" then, what kind of terror would the visual effect be?

Daydreaming for a moment, Fang Cheng immediately restrained his mind and ended the "Demon Back" state.

The muscles on his back wriggled for a while, slowly returning to their normal lean form.

"Whew—"

Fang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.

Maintaining the Demon Back form clearly consumed physical strength far exceeding the normal state.

Not to mention he had just completed several hours of high-intensity morning exercise and was currently at the end of his tether.

"Gurgle..."

A clear sound of bowel rumbling untimely sounded from his abdomen.

Fang Cheng touched his belly, walked out of the bathroom, and glanced at the time displayed on his phone on the table.

It was almost 7:30.

Today's training intensity far surpassed the past, coupled with the huge amount of body energy consumed by adding points, his stomach was indeed very hungry.

Fang Cheng was a bit too lazy to cook for himself right now.

Moreover, the ingredients in the fridge weren't much anymore, so he had to go to the supermarket to stock up in the afternoon.

Thinking about it, he immediately picked up his phone and searched for all the breakfast shop numbers saved in his address book.

For today's workout recovery meal, he might as well order a few more takeout portions.

(End of Chapter)