Chapter 45 - 40: Real Kung Fu, Fake Stunt

After merging his Stone Skimming and Darts Skills, Chen Jue had finally accomplished a small goal he’d recently set for himself.

’Forcing myself not to spend my points is even more agonizing than holding back from [bleep]!’

He practiced using stones as Darts a few times until he was too hungry to continue. Only then did Chen Jue leave the park and find a breakfast shop to sit down and eat.

However, he discovered that his morning workout hadn’t just left him feeling invigorated—it had also greatly increased his appetite.

Sweet soy milk, meat buns, and freshly fried dough sticks. After finishing it all, Chen Jue only felt half-full, so he went next door to buy a savory crepe to eat on the road.

"Thirty-five yuan for breakfast. The cost of living in Hang City is even more ridiculous than my Hidden Weapon skills!" Chen Jue couldn’t help but complain.

As expected after hosting the major sporting event, the city’s public image had improved, and prices had ridden the wave and skyrocketed.

If an ordinary person on minimum wage were to live in Hang City, their Engel’s coefficient would probably shoot past 80%. They’d only earn enough to fill their stomachs!

Fortunately, since he had just changed jobs and his salary had nearly doubled, Chen Jue began to spend money more freely.

As long as the food was delicious and nutritious, he was willing to spend several hundred yuan on a single meal!

Of course, during breakfast, Chen Jue also took the time to study his newly activated Hidden Weapon Throwing Skill.

After the Skill reached Level 5, the progress bar to the next level shot up to 20,000 points.

At his previous rate of progress, he feared it would take him another year or two just to level up again.

However, when he saw the panel’s evaluation of the Skill as Master Level, Chen Jue was immediately reminded of the Ten Thousand Hour Rule he had learned about at work.

This was a rule proposed by the author Gladwell in his book *Outliers*.

For an ordinary person to become a world-class master in any given field, they must dedicate 10,000 hours of hard practice to it.

Working eight hours a day, five days a week, it would take at least five years to become a master in a field!

After graduating from a junior college at 21, Chen Jue had consistently worked in risk control data. He’d switched companies a few times, accumulating over eight years of experience. Counting all the overtime, he could already be considered a master in his field.

And yet, this Attribute panel had allowed him to start practicing from scratch and grow into a Master of Hidden Weapons in a mere ten days.

This just went to show its efficiency and unbelievable corrective function!

’If I started a hobby class right now, or even took on a few apprentices, I bet a lot of people would sign up.’ Chen Jue chuckled at the thought.

His Skill had improved, but Chen Jue hadn’t forgotten about the money-making aspect.

Taking advantage of the quiet moment after breakfast, he remembered his online video account.

He checked his channel’s dashboard and saw that the "Specialty: Stone Skimming" video he’d uploaded yesterday already had several thousand views.

The comment and bullet-screen sections were finally showing signs of life, no longer just populated by bots.

But his expression darkened the moment he read the comments.

"That’s it? And you call it a specialty? (scoffs)"

"You dare show this off when you haven’t even broken the world record? (tsk tsk)"

"Doesn’t he know everyone on Bilibili is a pro? (doge)"

"Hey, expert, someone’s trying to show off in front of you @Shen Tongxue"

"He probably bought these Water-Drifting Stones from you, right? @Shen Tongxue"

"Wearing a mask to act all mysterious... hey @Shen Tongxue, is this guy in our group chat?"

Everyone in the comments section was tagging the world record holder. The man himself even showed up and personally left a comment: "Not bad, keep up the good work! (finger heart)." His tone was dripping with the condescension of an expert giving pointers to a rookie.

Despite the public comment, the world record holder sent Chen Jue a private message inviting him to a Stone Skimming enthusiast group.

Chen Jue didn’t join. Instead, he just checked the group’s announcement.

The announcement advertised it as a "Hub for Competitive Stone Skimming Practitioners," but right below it were several Taobao links for sculpted clay Water-Drifting Stones.

’Figures he’d turn Stone Skimming into a business. Gather all the high-level enthusiasts in one place and sell them his own special stones. That’s some precision marketing right there!’

’You guys are the real business geniuses!’

Chen Jue gave him a mental thumbs-up.

「...」

After being mocked on the video site, Chen Jue had an urge to film another Stone Skimming video just to clap back at those arrogant, holier-than-thou keyboard warriors.

However, after a few attempts using his new Level 5 Hidden Weapon Throwing technique on the petal-shaped clay stones he’d bought, he still couldn’t break the world record.

His skip count maxed out at 250, and the distance was only about 90 meters. This was already considered a Master Level performance in Stone Skimming.

The only step up from there was to break the world record.

’The Skill only provides the technique.’

’The key is my Strength Attribute!’

’I’ll start training my hand strength next. I refuse to believe that once my Strength is higher, I still won’t be able to skip a stone clear to the other side!’ Chen Jue huffed, looking at the nearly 200-meter-wide park lake, clearly feeling defiant.

But meals are eaten one bite at a time, and skills are honed bit by bit.

There was no need to get worked up over some keyboard warriors.

「...」

Before it was noon, Chen Jue slipped out of the park.

Returning to his talent apartment, he picked up a few packages. The Darts and hand gripper he’d ordered online had arrived.

To prepare for future videos, he had bought quite a few Darts this time, and in a wide variety of styles.

However, thanks to the boost from his Hidden Weapon Throwing technique, Chen Jue found every new style of dart incredibly easy to handle. After fiddling with them for a moment and throwing them at the foam padding from the shipping box, he immediately figured out the optimal way to throw each one.

He tried them all a few times—Flying Knives, short daggers, iron chopsticks, steel needles, and Meteor Darts. His Skill Level didn’t increase by much, but Chen Jue was having the time of his life.

After all, he had spent several hundred yuan on these stainless steel weapons, and their weight and texture felt excellent in his hand.

As a nerdy homebody with a lingering case of eighth-grade syndrome, there was no way he could resist such cool little toys.

After trying out the new hidden weapons, Chen Jue picked up the hand gripper recommended by Yu Jie and adjusted it according to the manual.

He squeezed it a few times and found that with his current Strength of 0.83, he could barely close it with one hand at the 50-kilogram setting.

Any higher, and he wouldn’t be able to close the handles together.

’The maximum setting is 100 kilograms... I’m still a long way off!’ Chen Jue thought, a little dissatisfied.

After heading downstairs for lunch, he returned and began furiously working the hand gripper.

The gripper conveniently had an electronic counter on top that ticked up by +1 with every squeeze. After a few reps, watching the number climb became as addictive as refreshing the step counter on WeChat.

But as he squeezed and squeezed, Chen Jue’s fingers, wrists, and forearms began to burn.

Compared to just practicing Hidden Weapon Throwing, this hand gripper was obviously a more efficient way to build arm strength.

He spent about half an hour at it, alternating between his left and right hands.

After about 200 reps, once his forearms were as hard as [bleep], a notification finally popped up on the panel:

——————

[DING~]

[You have completed a session of mechanical anaerobic exercise. The muscle groups in your fingers, wrists, and forearms have been effectively trained. Your grip strength has increased.]

[Strength Attribute +0.01]

——————

"I can’t! I can’t take it anymore!"

’This is a hundred times more exhausting than playing League!’

Even though his Strength Attribute had increased, the training session left a deep, painful impression on Chen Jue.

The tiny hand gripper had utterly exhausted him.

The moment he set it down, he didn’t even want to lift a finger.

The worst part was that the deep, aching burn lasted from the afternoon well into the evening, a testament to just how intense the workout had been.

「...」

First, he applied a cold compress to his hands.

From his recent research, Chen Jue now knew that applying heat immediately after intense exercise could make blood vessels fragile, damage capillaries, and even worsen muscle fatigue by triggering inflammation.

Take NBA players, for example. After an intense game, many superstars would undergo cryotherapy in special liquid nitrogen chambers.

Only after the cryotherapy had completely cooled their bodies down would they take a hot shower.

This routine effectively prevents injuries and prolongs their peak competitive condition.

Chen Jue didn’t have an NBA star’s budget to spend millions on a cryotherapy machine, so he had to make do by mixing ice cubes from his freezer with tap water for a cold compress.

After the cold compress, he went to the bathroom and soaked his hands in hot water.

To his surprise, this first attempt yielded an unexpected reward from the panel!

——————

[DING~]

[You have completed a qualifying cryotherapy session. The cold compress has effectively cooled down your hand muscle groups, while the hot soak has reduced lactic acid buildup. Under the stimulation of alternating cold and heat, your hand muscle groups have slightly improved.]

[Constitution Attribute +0.01]

——————

’So it’s true. Top athletes don’t do things for no reason.’

’I can’t believe that learning their recovery techniques actually works!’ Chen Jue marveled as he stared at the notification on the panel.

Top athletes were worth hundreds of millions, especially the international stars, some of whom had assets in the billions or even tens of billions.

Only with that kind of wealth could one afford a top-tier recovery team.

Chen Jue was still just starting out and hadn’t figured out a good way to make money yet, so he had no choice but to rely on his own trial-and-error with these low-tech methods.

His standards weren’t high—as long as he didn’t injure himself while training, that was good enough for him!

「...」

After the hot and cold soaks, he sprayed his hands with Yunnan Baiyao and slapped on some Tiger Balm pain-relief patches.

He had been using both products so much recently that he’d already ordered and stockpiled two full cases of each.

Even after his homespun recovery routine, his hands still felt weak.

He was in no condition to do his Eye Health Exercises, and he didn’t even have the energy to scroll through his phone.

He was just thinking about going to bed early when, to his surprise, Wu Fang—who he hadn’t heard from all day—finally texted him back!

"You want to learn real martial arts? (surprised)"

"Isn’t your Darts technique a real martial art? (snickering)"