Chapter 20: You're Most Welcome

As December arrived, the average temperature in Dongdu continued to drop.

Especially during the coldest hours of the early morning, a layer of condensation would form on the windows.

In the darkness, a piercing ring suddenly erupted.

*Ring— ring— ring—*

Huddled under his quilt, Fang Cheng opened his eyes, his gaze slightly hazy.

It felt as if he had just been violently jerked back to reality from a beautiful dream.

He reached out his hands, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and let out a yawn.

Hearing the alarm still ringing, he turned on the light, looked up, and checked the time.

5:01.

Fang Cheng’s heart jolted, and his eyes instantly cleared.

He immediately threw back the warm quilt, climbed out of bed, and pressed the stop button on the alarm.

Then, he quickly pulled on his clothes and pants, stepped into his slippers, opened the bedroom door, and walked briskly toward the bathroom.

*Splash, splash, splash.* Soon, the sound of the faucet turning on, and the rustling of a toothbrush holder and towel, filled the air.

After a few minutes of washing up.

Fang Cheng stretched his arms, walked to the living room balcony, and pushed the tightly closed windows open to both sides.

A gust of cold wind whistled in, carrying icy rain that struck his face directly.

Though it stung his skin, it also served to invigorate his spirit.

Another day of self-discipline had begun.

In the pitch-black, rainy streets, only a small hostel's red lightbox sign was lit.

Enjoying a moment of solitude, Fang Cheng whispered to himself

"First, a set of squats to warm up."

"Then, a few rounds of shadowboxing..."

After stretching his limbs and muscles, Fang Cheng faced the dawn outside the window, lifted his left leg, and bent his right knee.

As he lowered his body into a squat, he could clearly feel his thigh muscles tightening, with his core and back held in a state as taut as a drawn bowstring.

A single-leg squat was considered "hell mode" for an ordinary person.

But for the current Fang Cheng, it only required slightly more effort than when he first practiced standard squats.

After five reps, he switched to the left leg.

Ten reps counted as one set.

Fang Cheng glanced at the notification; he had gained exactly 1 point of experience.

At the same time, he vaguely felt a surge of heat rising from his lower abdomen, continuously driving away the chill imposed by the environment.

"This should do it. The testosterone is already working..."

Throwing a punch at the air and following up with two kicks, Fang Cheng carefully felt the changes within his body.

His entire physique seemed infused with vitality, completely shedding the lethargy of early rising, and his mood began to turn exuberant.

With the enhancement effect of "The Solitary One."

Squats were clearly the best warm-up exercise, bar none!

Fang Cheng stood in a relatively open area of the balcony, clenched his fingers, and stepped his feet forward and back.

He stared ahead with a determined gaze, as if confronting an invisible enemy.

Suddenly, his figure moved, closing the distance, and his braced arms exerted force.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.* He performed continuous stepping movements and left-right straight punches, rapidly striking at an opponent's face and jaw.

*Swish!*

Immediately following, a front kick cut off the opponent's counterattack, slamming into their abdomen.

*Thud!*

As soon as his right foot landed, he instantly pivoted and stepped, circling to the opponent's weak side.

Twisting his waist and driving his hips, he unleashed another high and fast whip kick.

Soon, a light sweat began to bead on Fang Cheng's forehead.

Despite wearing only thin underwear and a jacket, the biting cold could no longer penetrate his body.

His blood flowed rapidly, making him warm up quickly and enter a combat state.

His movements transitioned from slightly stiff to increasingly fluid, coordinated, and relaxed.

The sound of air being broken by every punch and kick served as proof of the full power behind his strikes.

The four major techniques of Sanda: kicking, punching, wrestling, and grappling.

Fang Cheng's current boxing and kicking were sufficient to be called entry-level.

Thus, he began attempting to link his strikes together, practicing combinations more applicable to actual combat.

If he were to return to that scene in the hospital, confronting the blond thug.

Fang Cheng reckoned he wouldn't even need the "Iron Fist" effect; a single feint followed by a high roundhouse kick would be enough to KO the opponent.

Even if the opponent held a folding knife, no matter how long his arms were, could they be longer than his legs?

Half an hour later.

【You practiced shadowboxing and gained insight. Boxing skill experience +10】

Looking at the notification on the panel, Fang Cheng's eyes showed satisfaction, yet also a hint of dissatisfaction.

Regrettably... shadowboxing practice could currently only increase the experience of one skill at a time.

Possessing expert-level boxing skills allowed Fang Cheng to learn through analogy, making it easier to master the basics of other martial arts.

In just three or four days, after observing about ten classes.

He had successfully mastered the basic stances, footwork, punching, and kicking of Sanda.

If he wanted to completely unlock this new skill, he still had to master wrestling and grappling to make up for his shortcomings.

However, these two techniques were highly practical; without a sparring partner, one could not master them through imitation alone.

He couldn't exactly spend his free time doing somersaults for fun, could he?

Therefore, Fang Cheng did not include wrestling or grappling movements in his shadowboxing practice.

"Perhaps... I can apply to be a sparring partner now."

In the darkness, Fang Cheng's eyes gleamed as he observed his attribute panel.

After half an hour of shadowboxing, he tallied the training results.

Constitution increased by 0.02, Strength by 0.01, and Agility by 0.006.

Among them, although the Agility attribute increased more slowly, the progress bar had reached 94%.

The boost in training efficiency provided by "The Solitary One" was clearly evident.

Furthermore, through steady, continuous accumulation, the strong would grow even stronger, inevitably forming a "Matthew Effect" snowball.

Perhaps one day...

Pure physical training alone would be enough to break through human physical limits and reach the transcendent realm of his imagination.

Seeing this, Fang Cheng composed himself, and his gaze grew calm once more.

Strictly speaking, shadowboxing was also a warm-up to loosen the joints.

The most important part of morning training was still physical conditioning.

Next came a higher intensity of self-tempering!

100 decline push-ups.

100 plyometric push-ups.

200 single-leg squats.

300 lying leg raises.

………………………………

"Hah!"

"Hah!"

Inside the training hall, the sounds of students kicking and striking sandbags, exhaling to find strength, rang out from time to time.

There were no Sanda classes scheduled for this morning, and only one private lesson and one group class in the afternoon.

Fang Cheng could be said to be idle enough to daydream.

In the previous class, the coach had discussed the application and key points of punch-kick and punch-wrestle combinations.

In this class, it was basically students practicing kicking sandbags while the coach stood nearby to point out where their movements were not clean enough.

The core techniques of Sanda were kicking and wrestling, which traditionally accounted for a high percentage of scoring in matches.

As the saying goes, the hands are two doors; it's all about the legs—punches account for thirty percent, while kicks account for seventy.

The problem Fang Cheng faced was not a specific technical issue.

It was that he couldn't find anyone to spar with.

Forget actual combat; he didn't even have a training partner, so how could he truly master the skills?

Sometimes, Fang Cheng felt a real impulse.

To think about grabbing some unsightly thug off the street and giving him a beating just to test his feel.

5:30.

The last class ended.

Since it was still early before clock-out time, Fang Cheng began cleaning the venue ahead of schedule.

After finishing his work, he saw Chen Xiaohai standing alone in the smoking area, leisurely smoking a cigarette.

With a slight glint in his eyes, he walked over.

"What?!"

Chen Xiaohai looked at Fang Cheng with a face full of astonishment.

His expression seemed to say: *I was just speaking casually, but you're really not being polite, coming to me for favors.*

Fang Cheng had approached Chen Xiaohai to ask how he could become a sparring partner.

As for the excuse, it was ready: his grandfather was ill, the family was short on money, and he urgently needed to earn some extra income.

Chen Xiaohai was stunned for a long while before stammering

"Ah Cheng, the sparring partner business isn't easy. The club's vetting is very strict..."

Indeed.

Sparring partners were very lucrative. Calculating at a minimum hourly rate of 500 yuan, with two matches a day, one could earn 30,000 yuan a month.

Compared to the average working class, earning less than 4,000 yuan a month, it was incredibly tempting.

However, this job wasn't something just anyone could do.

Although it was considered temporary work, the club still had to bear the associated medical risks, so the assessment was extremely rigorous.

If you wanted to be a professional fighter, you just paid the fees; whether you succeeded was another matter, and at most, it would only affect the club's performance and reputation.

But wanting to be a sparring partner could be said to be harder in some respects than being a fighter.

The primary requirement was a strong physique and a sturdy build—enough to take a hit.

Secondly, one must have trained in boxing and possess some technical knowledge.

Finally, one must be someone the club knows well and must receive approval from both the Personnel Department and the Coaching Department.

Therefore, many sparring partners were retired professional fighters who knew each other.

Or they were amateur fighters who had left the club without making it into professional matches.

Fang Cheng was somewhat aware of these circumstances, so he said sincerely

"That's why I'm bothering you, Brother Hai, to see if you have any ideas?"

"Well..."

Chen Xiaohai's expression became complicated.

He had already talked a big game; he couldn't exactly slap his own face now, could he?

Fang Cheng waited quietly.

He could have gone to Xu Maocai for help, but being a sparring partner would inevitably conflict with his primary job.

The other party might find an excuse to decline, and Fang Cheng would feel too embarrassed to press the issue.

Chen Xiaohai pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up

"There is a way, I'm just afraid you'll misunderstand."

"Our Karate department just got a Japanese fighter who was suspended. That bastard hits very hard and has injured several people in a row; now no one dares to take his work."

"But the club still caters to this guy—who can blame them, he pays a lot!"

At this point, Chen Xiaohai looked up at Fang Cheng.

"Why don't you try applying to the Personnel Department tomorrow? They've been recruiting lately. If they can't find a suitable candidate, they might relax the requirements."

"However, being a sparring partner makes it very easy to get injured. You'd better think it through carefully..."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng pondered for a moment and asked

"Does Karate also have wrestling and grappling techniques?"

Chen Xiaohai blinked and replied, "Yes, they do."

Fang Cheng nodded and then said with a smile, "Thanks, Brother Hai."

Being a sparring partner certainly carried the risk of injury.

But in this world, what could anyone do that was guaranteed to be risk-free?

His eyes brightened as he looked at the skills displayed on the panel.

【Leg Raises lv0 (83/100)】

He decided to increase his intensity further to slightly accelerate the slow progress bar.

Once the Leg Raises skill successfully promoted to lv1 and he received attribute points, doing this should be much safer.