Chapter 131: Powerful New Panel Features

When sedentary people suddenly start exercising, they tire out quickly. Besides muscle atrophy and decline, the main reason is that most of their stamina is consumed overcoming fascial adhesions.

…

“I’ve learned so much!”

Just as Chen Jue finished flipping through the rehabilitation center’s custom-made manual, Master Liu finished the massage.

He warned Chen Jue not to overexert himself for the next few days. He should wait for the inflammation to completely subside and for his fascia and muscles to repair themselves before resuming his training, to avoid aggravating the condition.

Chen Jue humbly accepted the advice. While resting, he asked Master Liu for some tips on daily personal fascia maintenance and stretching. Afterward, he went to the locker room, took a quick shower, and changed back into his clothes.

It was already past 8 PM by the time he left the Tianyu Sports Rehabilitation Center. Gazing at the bustling nightscape of Binjiang District and feeling the evening breeze from the river, Chen Jue pulled his clothes tighter around him.

“Compared to the superficial massages at the Jingtang Club, this place is actually good for your health.” Chen Jue stretched lazily by the roadside, thinking, ‘A cigarette right now would make this perfect.’

‘Too bad I’m trying to quit. How about I trick that idiot Jiang Zhe into coming here next time?’

‘He absolutely had to drag his best friend here to experience this “wonderful” ordeal that would surely put a pained look on his face.’

As a gust of wind ruffled his hair, Chen Jue hailed a cab and returned to Wangyang Apartment.

The day’s ordeal had been exhausting, but his Attribute gains were the highest he’d had since acquiring the panel. From morning till night, he had managed to grind out a total of 0.11 attribute points.

Chen Jue guessed it had something to do with the [Break the Limit] message that had appeared on the panel.

His previous workouts had always been on the gentler side, and the best notification he’d ever received was [Perfection]. That was why his Attribute improvement efficiency couldn’t compare to today’s.

It was like a spring—only by compressing it all the way could it release its maximum force.

‘So, does that mean I can only get the greatest returns by completely depleting my stamina and touching what the panel calls my limit?’ Chen Jue analyzed internally. He then recorded this new discovery, along with the knowledge about fascia he’d learned today, into his [Strongest Human Training Plan] data file.

…

Thanks to the stretching and massage, Chen Jue slept soundly that night.

The moment his biological clock woke him the next morning, Chen Jue felt that the muscles all over his body were exceptionally soft and supple.

Compared to before his visit to the rehabilitation center, his entire body felt more agile.

Even his lumbar spine, which had become stubbornly stiff from years of sitting, felt flexible and mobile after just one night of sleep.

The only downside was a faint stinging sensation beneath his skin, which he assumed was the mild inflammation both Master Liu and the panel had mentioned.

‘Looks like I really do need to rest for a couple of days,’ Chen Jue thought to himself.

He couldn’t do any strenuous workouts with the inflammation, but he could still continue his light daily exercises.

He first went up to the roof to massage his eyes and ears while facing the morning sun. Then, in the warm autumn daylight, Chen Jue began practicing his Pile Skills and Horse Stance.

Both exercises were excellent for training the fascia and, since they didn’t involve large movements, wouldn’t aggravate his inflammation.

After over an hour of practice, he had grinded out several dozen Skill Level points, and his Free Attributes had also increased by 0.01.

Feeling like he’d done enough, Chen Jue packed his textbooks and headed to the Jiang University campus.

Since he needed to let his body rest for a few days, he didn’t bring his large gym bag. He went to the Jiang University cafeteria for breakfast first, then found the classroom for his morning lecture and sat down to read.

After his two morning classes on clinical medicine, where he learned about the human respiratory system, the 24-hour countdown at the top of the panel finally reached its end, just as Chen Jue had been eagerly awaiting.

——————

[DING!]

[System maintenance and update complete.]

[Two new functions added:]

[1. Designated Points: Allows you to assign free attribute points to a specific human organ or tissue.]

[2. Skill Breakthrough: Consume a certain number of free attribute points to break the upper limit of a skill at the Perfection level.]

——————

“The update’s finished!”

“It actually added new functions?”

After class, an excited Chen Jue found a patch of lawn to sit on and eagerly opened his brand-new Attribute panel:

——————

[Name: Chen Jue]

[Strength: 1.21+]

[Constitution: 1.67+]

[Spirit: 1.15+]

[Skills: Hidden Weapon Throwing (Perfection)+, others omitted]

[Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.08]

(Character Evaluation: A striving, ordinary person. Your physical fitness has reached the level of an amateur athlete, but you still lack a deep understanding of your own body. Please continue your hard work, arm your mind with knowledge, and explore the greater mysteries of the human body.)

——————

The panel’s layout was still very clean, but the “+” buttons next to his three core Attributes had changed from yellow to green.

‘Designated Points?’

‘What does that mean?’ Chen Jue wondered, subconsciously directing a tiny fraction of his free attribute points to the plus sign next to [Constitution].

Immediately, a brand-new view popped up in his vision!

It was a dynamic 3D structural map of the human body!

Just like the anatomical charts from his clinical medicine class, every single tissue and organ from head to toe was displayed in dense detail.

Not only that, but a green “+” button appeared next to all the labeled and annotated organs and tissues. As long as Chen Jue allocated a small amount of Free Attribute points, that specific organ or tissue would be targeted for enhancement.

Holy cow!

Chen Jue was blown away!

Whether it was his internal organs, his brain, a section of bone, or even his teeth and fingernails, he could add points to them as long as he had enough free attribute points.

‘So this is Designated Points… This function is incredible!’ Chen Jue marveled internally as he explored the new feature.

However, perhaps because his knowledge wasn’t yet systematic or comprehensive enough, the annotations for many organs were just marked with “???”, with the exception of ones he had already studied, like the gallbladder.

‘I can’t believe the panel’s annotation logic is based on the information and knowledge I’ve acquired.’

‘Coming to Jiang University to study was the right move, even if I stumbled into it!’ Chen Jue clenched his fists in excitement.

He then tried clicking the green “+” signs next to the [Strength] and [Spirit] Attributes.

This time, the view for [Designated Points] changed again!

It switched from the organs and tissues related to [Constitution] to a map of the skeletal muscles and fascia related to [Strength].

The fundamental source of the human body’s strength is the simultaneous contraction of skeletal muscles and fascia, so to increase the [Strength] Attribute in a specific area, one naturally had to enhance the corresponding muscles and fascia.

As for the structural diagram corresponding to the [Spirit] Attribute, it was a network representing the nervous system, spread throughout his entire body.

From the cranial nerves to the spinal cord, and down to the nerve endings spread throughout his bones, organs, muscles, and skin—it was so dense that it made his eyes blur just looking at it.

Most of the annotations for these nerves were also marked with “???”, waiting for Chen Jue to explore and study them.

“Incredible!”

“This point allocation system is absolutely incredible!”

‘Just unlocking all of this knowledge will probably take me several years.’

‘And besides adding points to a specific area, I can still do a general, full-body allocation like before, though the effect will be weaker.’ Chen Jue rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Chen Jue also tested the second new function, [Skill Breakthrough].

To break the limit of a skill already at the Perfection level, like his [Hidden Weapon Throwing], would cost 0.70 free attribute points—far more than Chen Jue could currently afford.

As for his other [Tai Chi] skills at the Perfection level, the cost to break their limits was slightly lower, but it still wasn’t as efficient as simply merging them.

After exploring the second new function and deeming [Skill Breakthrough] to be rather useless for now, Chen Jue turned his attention back to the [Constitution]-related Designated Points.

He switched the [Constitution] point-allocation view to the scalp. Although most of the five-layered structure of the scalp tissue was marked with “???”, Chen Jue could still recognize the dermis and subcutaneous tissues, where the dense hair follicles were located.

Without a second thought, he spent 0.01 free attribute points, designating them to that area.

“My thinning hair can finally be saved!” Chen Jue was moved to tears. This new [Designated Points] function was, in his opinion, simply the best.