513: Chapter 513 Jujutsu, Ascetic Training, Lin Chuqiao's Premonition

Time flowed like water as the sun set and rose.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Sunlight laid a warm golden carpet across the light blue sports flooring.

A shirtless, muscular figure moved dynamically within a living room renovated to resemble a combat training hall.

"Pah!"

Fang Cheng pushed off the ground with both feet, launching into the air to perform a textbook backflip.

Before landing, his core suddenly engaged, forcefully shifting his center of gravity to execute a stylish cartwheel supported by a single hand.

Immediately after, he went limp like a boneless creature, allowing his body to hit the ground back first while slamming both arms forcefully against the floor.

This was no mistake, but rather the crucial "breakfall" technique in Jiu-Jitsu.

By utilizing the reaction force of his arms striking the floor, it dissipated the impact of the fall, protecting his spine and internal organs.

The next second.

Fang Cheng arched his waist and back like a shrimp, pushed off with his feet, and rapidly shifted his hips backward.

This was "shrimping," a core escape movement in ground fighting.

Immediately following that, he popped up with a kip-up, springing back onto his feet.

Front flips, side flips, butterfly twists...

He executed continuous flips like a spinning windmill, generating gusts of howling wind.

Every muscle contracted and relaxed with precision during the intense movement, demonstrating astonishing flexibility and explosive power.

Sweat sprayed outward as his body rotated.

The impact of his soles striking the sports floor was completely absorbed by the thick rubber padding, generating no noise that would disturb the neighbors.

For a full hour.

Fang Cheng did not stop, repeatedly practicing breakfalls, rolling techniques, and continuous flip combinations.

"Phew—"

Finally, he stopped, grabbed a towel hanging from the Pull-up bar, and wiped off his sweat.

As he regulated his breathing, his thoughts shifted slightly.

A light blue light screen slowly floated before his eyes.

[Jiu-Jitsu EXP +3]

[Jiu-Jitsu LV2 (429/500)]

Fang Cheng shook his head helplessly.

After an hour of continuous, high-intensity exercise, he had only gained a mere 3 EXP.

Indeed, combat skills were different from fitness skills.

Especially a unique combat style like Jiu-Jitsu.

It focused on interpersonal confrontation, the control and counter-control of force, and the psychological and technical interplay in actual combat.

Much like playing chess, no matter how much one studied manual games alone, it could never match the deep understanding gained from a match against a master.

Without a sparring partner, he couldn't simulate an opponent's struggles, resistance, and shifts in center of gravity.

Purely practicing basic techniques could only refine body coordination and muscle memory, making the efficiency of acquiring EXP pitifully low.

It would be great if he could have a real combat match.

After enduring enough beatings and beating up enough people, the EXP would naturally climb up.

Fang Cheng walked to the window and pushed open the ventilation window on the left.

The cool morning breeze rushed into the room, dispersing the smell of sweat.

On the central green lawn of the residential compound downstairs, a group of retired elderly people was practicing Tai Chi.

On the distant beach, a few scattered figures moved slowly along the coastline, seemingly Running for exercise.

Over the past few days, Fang Cheng's life had been even more dull and burdened than that of an ascetic monk.

To fully immerse himself in training without worries, he had specifically called his uncle to find an excuse to take his mom back to Wanghu Town to stay for a while.

The excuse was readily available: his maternal grandfather had a poor appetite lately, missed his daughter's cooking, and needed someone to return and look after him.

His mother was a filial daughter, so upon hearing this, she packed her bags and went over without a second word.

Free from family concerns, Fang Cheng cut off all external distractions completely.

Confining himself inside this "cage" of steel and concrete, he began a nearly frenzied secluded cultivation.

Apart from eating, necessary rest, and going out to purchase supplies, he crammed all his time into endless training.

Facing the behemoth that was "Utopia," the sense of urgency felt like an invisible whip, constantly lashing his nerves.

Forcing him to continually squeeze every ounce of potential from this body.

Forcing him to take a huge step forward every day compared to yesterday on the path of becoming stronger.

As his thoughts drifted, Fang Cheng summoned the panel again, scanning the rows in the skill column.

Aside from lifestyle skills, most combat and fitness skills had already reached the high Rank of LV3, requiring thousands of EXP points to upgrade.

Without any special opportunities, raising these skills by another level would take at least several months of slow, painstaking effort.

Currently, he could only remain patient and build up small steps to reach a thousand miles through daily training.

"However..."

Fang Cheng's eyes glinted as he paused on the progress bars of a few specific skills.

"Jiu-Jitsu" and "Muay Thai" were less than a hundred EXP points away from leveling up, making them relatively hopeful to achieve a Breakthrough in the short term.

Yet what he anticipated the most was the skill that seemed the hardest, but was actually progressing the fastest.

Pull-up.

Over the past few days, Fang Cheng had poured almost all his energy into these three key projects.

Every morning, come rain or shine, he first went to the seaside for an hour of cross-country Running.

Returning home, he habitually went through five of the skills from the "Prisoners Six Arts."

Push-up, Squat, Leg Raise, Back Bridge, Handstand Push-up.

These served merely as warm-up exercises to awaken muscle groups across his entire body.

Finally came the main event.

Activating [Training Mode], he performed standard Pull-ups in a charged state.

Each Pull-up attempt was kept to approximately three seconds.

Thereby allowing the horrifying internal pressure equivalent to six tons inside his body to deeply grind every inch of muscle and bone, maintaining maximum training efficiency.

His training plan could be described as monstrous:

He needed to complete 10 sets throughout the day, 100 reps per set, totaling 1,000 reps.

This meant that every day, he had to endure thousands of tons of equivalent pressure building up inside his body!

Such intensity—let alone ordinary people—

even "Enhancers" who had undergone physical modification would likely suffer muscle lysis or even ruptured internal organs before a single day was done.

Even with Fang Cheng's high Physique of 80 points, it was impossible to finish it in one breath.

He could only spread this 1,000-rep workload across different times of the day.

After completing each set of Pull-ups, he forced himself to take a mandatory one-hour rest.

And during this one-hour "rest" interval, he didn't idle, instead interspersing technical Jiu-Jitsu movements along with Muay Thai roundhouse kicks and knee strikes.

This arrangement could advance the progress of these two combat skills while rotating through different muscle groups to avoid overuse injuries from a single movement.

Day and night, tirelessly, Fang Cheng remained in a training state almost 24 hours a day.

When hungry, he gulped down beef and high-energy liquid food.

When tired, he sat cross-legged, circulating Qigong to regulate his internal breath.

With such devilish training intensity, the price paid was naturally huge as well.

After several consecutive days, the unalleviated fatigue deep within his muscles accumulated continuously.

Every morning when he woke up, the soreness across his whole body would be a bit heavier than the day before.

After all, the conservation of energy was an iron law; Fang Cheng was no perpetual motion machine.

Superhuman recovery didn't appear out of thin air; it was converted from massive food intake.

Over these few days, the stock in the large freezer visibly diminished, requiring a restock almost every day.

Although his body was exhausted and his muscles were constantly at the tipping point of soreness and remodeling,

whenever he saw the rapidly ticking EXP on the panel, Fang Cheng's heart filled with indescribable excitement.

Especially Pull-ups.

With the blessing of [Training Mode], the EXP bar was like riding a rocket.

Basically, every time he completed a 100-rep set of charged training, he gained nearly 20 EXP.

After ten sets a day, theoretically that was a staggering 200 points.

Of course, as his body gradually adapted to this intensity, efficiency in the later stages would drop, stabilizing at around 150 to 160 points per day.

Even so, this was an astonishing speed.

Fang Cheng had even contemplated risking injury to rush this skill to a level-up in one go.

But reason stopped him.

Overtraining would only backfire; haste makes waste.

He glanced at the skill progress displayed on the panel.

[Pull-up LV3 (698/1000)]

"Soon..."

Fang Cheng murmured to himself, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Hold on for a few more days—as long as his body held out, this skill would definitely be the first to break through to LV4!

He took a deep breath, turned, and walked beneath the Pull-up bar.

The brief rest was over.

The next set of training began.

Fang Cheng leaped up lightly and grabbed the bar.

As his lats suddenly contracted, his arms applied force, pulling his torso upward.

Invisible internal pressure instantly filled his body, muscles tightening like iron and stone, veins bulging under his skin like twisting enraged dragons.

"1."

"2."

"3."

Fang Cheng counted under his breath.

Just as he finished three reps,

a sudden ringing of the phone shattered the quiet of the room.

Fang Cheng paused his movement, maintaining his hanging position, and turned his head to look at the phone tossed in the corner of the living room.

The screen lit up, casting a cool glow onto the floor.

Who would be calling at a time like this?

...

Morning sunlight seeped through the gap in the French window, spilling onto the dark gray velvet carpet.

This was a high-rise luxury apartment located in the core district of the city.

Soothing jazz music flowed through the room, and the air was filled with a faint lavender scent, completely isolating the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Lin Chuqiao, dressed in a burgundy silk slip nightdress, walked barefoot into the open kitchen.

The silky fabric clung to her graceful figure, swaying gently as she walked, outlining a full, high bust and a slender waist.

Having just washed up, she wore no makeup, yet her skin was fair and translucent like congealed fat.

A few damp strands of hair hung casually over her collarbones, exuding a natural charm amidst her laziness.

She deftly retrieved a bag of coffee beans from the climate-controlled cabinet and poured them into the grinder.

"Buzz—"

Accompanied by the low hum of the machine, a rich coffee aroma instantly filled the entire space.

While waiting for the coffee to extract, she placed two slices of whole wheat bread into the toaster and sliced some avocado and cherry tomatoes, plating them as exquisitely as a piece of art.

Over the past few days, Lin Chuqiao had been busier and more fulfilled than ever before.

As the chief housekeeper of the "Illuminati," countless trivial matters flooded toward her like snowflakes.

Though the property transfer procedures for the old building at Jinshui Fish Market were tedious, with the Pan Family's connections handling things, it was smooth sailing all the way.

However, getting the renovation team settled required a lot of her effort.

To ensure secrecy, she specially brought in a construction team from out of town and had them sign non-disclosure agreements.

Even the blueprints were personally overseen by her, having the designer revise and finalize them over and over.

As for registering the trading company, it was an even more delicate task.

She made use of many private contacts, not only sorting out the complex VIE structure but also opening up several key import and export channels in an extremely short time, ensuring that this front company appeared flawless.

Entangled in all these complex affairs, Lin Chuqiao simply requested leave from school to throw herself entirely into the preparatory work for the Illuminati.

The funds on the books shrank rapidly like Running water, almost Running dry in the blink of an eye.

To prevent Fang Cheng from worrying about funding, she quietly advanced a substantial amount of startup capital, intending to use it to purchase a top-tier security System and servers.

Busy as she was, she didn't feel the slightest bit tired.

On the contrary, whenever she recalled the gaze of that man standing on the balcony looking down over the harbor, a continuous stream of motivation welled up inside her.

Since he harbored such grand ideals, swearing to become a beacon piercing through darkness to light up the world,

then she was willing to be the person who silently supplied the oil, doing everything in her power to help him build this beacon sturdier and make it shine even brighter.

"Ding."

The toaster chimed softly, and the bread slices popped up, golden and crispy.

Lin Chuqiao carried her breakfast to the rattan chair on the balcony, sat down, and took a sip of the rich black coffee.

Looking at the city gradually awakening beneath her feet, a satisfied smile curved at the corner of her lips.

After finishing breakfast and tidying up briefly, she pushed open the door to a north-facing room.

This was her private studio and her most secret domain.

The room was arranged in an exceptionally quiet and elegant style, with natural wood bookshelves on the four walls packed with various books and art albums.

By the window stood a wide walnut drawing table, strewn with various sizes of paintbrushes, pigments, and several unfinished sketches.

Beside a pile of professional painting tools were a few quaint ceramic kitten figurines,

adding a touch of feminine softness and playfulness to this slightly solemn space.

Lin Chuqiao pulled out a chair and sat down, taking a deep breath to let her mind slowly settle.

She took out a sheet of thick sketch paper from the drawer and spread it on the table.

Then she picked up an extremely fine charcoal pencil, her fingertips gently rubbing the barrel.

"Hoo..."

With a barely audible exhale, she slowly closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, an earth-shaking change had occurred in those originally clear, beautiful eyes.

Deep inside her pupils, it felt as though countless brilliant stars were swirling and flickering.

Her gaze was incomparably sharp, seemingly penetrating the walls of reality to look into some indescribable dimension.

Meanwhile, the charcoal pencil in her hand began moving rapidly across the paper.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

At first, they were merely chaotic lines, like a messy ball of yarn.

But as the tip danced, those lines seemed to gain life, rapidly outlining concrete shapes.

Dilapidated streets, electricity wires tangled like a mess of hemp on utility poles, uneven old residential buildings...

Lin Chuqiao's expression became extraordinarily focused, fine beads of sweat oozing from her forehead, yet the pencil in her hand didn't pause for a moment.

Moments later, she switched to a red colored pencil, heavily shading the tallest building in the center of the drawing.

That was fire!

Raging flames, accompanied by billowing smoke from an explosion, nearly engulfed the top floor of the entire Tubular Building.

At the edges of the drawing, several blurry human figures were crying out and Running.

Although their facial expressions couldn't be clearly seen, that panic and despair seeped through the paper.

And amidst the sky-filling fire and smoke, two figures were extraordinarily distinct.

One behind the other, they were leaping down from the rooftop of a nine-story building, like two eagles battling through wind and rain.

Although the figure pursuing closely behind was blurry, the man in front, who maintained a calm and composed posture even while falling...

That upright back, that familiar outline.

It was none other than Fang Cheng! (End of chapter)