Chapter 52: Physical Changes

Thursday, December 17th.

Outside the window, a fine drizzle was falling.

Raindrops drifted against the glass; if one pricked up their ears and listened closely, a pleasant pitter-patter could be heard.

It sounded exactly like the sound of sweat hitting the floor.

Fang Cheng’s gaze was focused as he lay face down.

His feet were together with his toes touching the ground, his left arm was placed beneath his chest with his palm supporting him, and his other hand was placed at his side, keeping his entire body in a straight line.

Then, tightening his abdomen, he slowly bent his elbows, lowering his body until his chest neared the ground.

Throughout this process, his body remained extremely stable without a single tremor until he reached the lowest point.

Next, he pushed himself up forcefully, straightening his elbows.

He silently felt the explosive power brought about by the expansion and contraction of his muscles.

After pausing for a second, he repeated the same movement.

The alarm clock on the table emitted a faint "tick-tock."

The second hand moved, one tick at a time.

When the time reached 6:33.

Fang Cheng suddenly leaped into a lunge and stood upright again.

His expression was quite relaxed as he stretched his limbs.

Looking at the multiple notification messages scrolling continuously before his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

【Focus Experience +5】

【Boxing Experience +7】

【Sanda Experience +8】

【Push-up Experience +19】

【Squat Experience +21】

【Congratulations, through unremitting effort, your skill has reached Master level】

【Squat lv2 (0/500)】

Today's training volume was not large.

He had only done about 400 single-leg squats, 200 one-handed push-ups, plus an hour and a half of shadowboxing practice.

The injury to his dislocated shoulder had basically recovered.

However, to be safe, Fang Cheng had been using only his left hand for push-ups and had not rotated to the right hand for training.

It was essentially a form of rehabilitative training focused on warming up.

At two o'clock this afternoon, Zheng Haokang was scheduled to arrive at the Global Elite Combat Club.

Because of this, Fang Cheng decided to end his sick leave and return to his post at work.

He needed to conserve more physical strength now, bringing himself to a peak state of both mental and physical condition to face his long-awaited opponent.

This was also the greatest respect one could show to a powerhouse in their heart!

With a slight flicker in his eyes, Fang Cheng looked at the enhancement reward obtained from upgrading his "Squat" skill.

【9 Free Attribute Points】

After considering for a moment, he did not choose to allocate the points.

It was not out of contempt.

Rather, he held a certain thought in his mind.

He wanted to use himself as the standard and actual combat as the method of evaluation.

To compare exactly how much of a gap existed between "Berserk Majima Goro" and a world-class boxing champion representing the pinnacle of human physical capability.

Fang Cheng walked to the bathroom, cupped a handful of cold water, and rubbed his face vigorously.

Lifting his head to look at himself in the mirror—with bright eyes and a vastly changed temperament—he couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a very conspicuous clump of black hair lying in the sink.

Fang Cheng frowned slightly and muttered to himself

"It seems Majima Goro was right..."

Ever since he began insisting on high-intensity training every day, he had actually experienced a fairly noticeable phenomenon of hair loss.

At first, Fang Cheng didn't pay much attention to it.

Recently, for some reason, the situation had become increasingly serious.

It seemed that as his constitution broke through the 20-point mark, some kind of abnormal change was continuously occurring within his body.

During his chats with Majima Goro, they had also discussed the reason why they were both losing hair at the same time, noting it was likely related to breaking through physical limits.

The human body is indeed fragile, yet it possesses the most complete self-protection mechanism in the biological world.

Breaking through limits and shattering this mechanism meant acting in opposition to the laws of nature.

When that happened, suffering a backlash, hormonal imbalances, and various negative effects became an inevitability.

Perhaps hair loss was a minor issue.

The severe cases, like Majima Goro, would go mad or fall into a demonic state, losing their sanity.

Majima Goro had specifically warned him that while he didn't know how Fang Cheng had trained to such an extent, he only hoped that Fang Cheng would not follow in his footsteps.

"I should be fine..."

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng shook his head and stared intently at the pale blue light screen appearing before him.

On this path of growing and becoming stronger, the panel was his best teacher and friend, helping him cross one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after another.

However, having received this warning, Fang Cheng also decided to raise the importance of body maintenance to a higher level.

He then walked to the kitchen to begin preparing today's nutritious breakfast.

Ten fried eggs, celery stir-fried with pork, pumpkin porridge, plus two large glasses of warm milk.

After eating and washing the pots and bowls, it was still early.

Because the training volume was relatively low, and he had long since memorized the textbooks for his postgraduate entrance exam studies, he found himself with nothing to do.

Looking at the grease stains on the stove, Fang Cheng remembered that he hadn't cleaned the kitchen in many days.

Thus, he threw himself into household cleaning and sanitation work.

While he was busy, the panel suddenly flashed with light.

A notification message appeared before his eyes.

It turned out that his nearly upgraded "Cleaning" skill had finally promoted to lv1 as his experience grew.

Fang Cheng gazed at the expert-level enhancement reward.

He couldn't help but let out a soft sound of surprise.

"Scavenger's Eye?"

…………………………

Jiangdong District, Global Elite Combat Club.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were wet, blurring the view of the skyscrapers outside.

Even the rubber flooring of the training hall seemed to have a damp sensation.

It was a weekday, and a rainy day at that.

The club should have been relatively quiet, but today it appeared exceptionally lively.

Staff from all departments were out in full force; some were setting up the venue, others were cleaning.

Some had even braved the rain early in the morning to set up rainbow arches in front of the shopping center entrance and hang massive posters.

They were just one step away from beating drums and setting off firecrackers to announce to the entire city

The new KFC Gold Belt winner, Free Combat Champion, and world-class boxing king, Zheng Haokang, is about to arrive at this club!

A brand-new character poster was pasted on the background wall.

The man in the photo was handsome with robust muscles, and his gaze was so sharp it felt almost tangible.

Morning classes had all been temporarily canceled, and many club employees were gathered in front, chatting with great interest.

Some were discussing Zheng Haokang's glorious track record of various KOs in the ring.

Others, like the veteran employee Chen Xiaohai, took the opportunity to boast, saying he used to see Zheng Haokang training here often when he was still just a green youth.

A few coaches from different departments were huddled together, whispering and discussing how to profit from this.

One had to realize that inviting Zheng Haokang to give a guidance lesson was not as simple as just attracting students to sign up for classes.

At that time, many news media outlets and television reporters would also come to film and interview.

This was a golden opportunity to enhance the club's reputation and increase their performance!

Fang Cheng was also standing in the crowd.

His eyes were fixed on the combat superstar on the poster, who was wearing a gold belt and holding a championship trophy high, his expression thoughtful.

"Ah Cheng!"

Suddenly, a call reached his ears.

Looking back, it was Shen Haoming waving to him.

"Come over here, Manager Li has something to ask you."

Fang Cheng frowned slightly and followed Shen Haoming to the office area.

He saw that Manager Li had rarely stepped out of his office and was standing in the hallway.

When he turned to look at him, his expression appeared somewhat anxious and suspicious.

"Fang Cheng, have you seen Mr. Majima these past few days?"

Manager Li's first words were a direct question.

Fang Cheng nodded with a calm face.

"Where did he go now?"

"Isn't he in the hospital?"

Fang Cheng was momentarily stunned, looking at Manager Li with some surprise.

The club's upper management had long known about the major client Majima Goro being hospitalized due to injury.

They just didn't know who the "culprit" was.

Manager Li took a deep breath, then stared intently at Fang Cheng and informed him in a heavy voice

"Majima Goro... he has disappeared!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng's brow instantly furrowed.

(End of Chapter)