Chapter 183 - 134: Giving the Fans a Little Shock

Chen Jue stared at his palms, a little dazed. He remembered learning in a class before about why skin wrinkles when soaked in water.

According to the Theory of Evolution, these wrinkles on the hands and feet were a neurological stress response that human ancestors evolved to adapt to wet environments. The appearance of wrinkles is controlled by nerve endings, not simply caused by the skin bloating from water absorption.

The purpose of these wrinkles is to increase the surface area of the palms and soles, thereby improving friction to prevent slipping and falling. Only a very small minority of modern humans lack this adaptive adjustment.

Logically speaking, Chen Jue’s skin should have wrinkled after being in the water for so long. It would have been the normal reaction. Instead, his skin was reverting to its smooth state, and there was even a hint of atavism to it.

’That’s not right!’

’Why has the friction on my palms increased instead of decreased?’ Chen Jue tried touching the wall of the pool. The frictional sensation of his hand on the tiles was significantly stronger than before.

He took a closer look at his hands and discovered that while the pale wrinkles were gone, his palm lines and fingerprints had become noticeably deeper.

Normally, a person’s palm lines are very shallow, only about 0.4 millimeters deep, and fingerprints are even shallower at just 0.2 millimeters.

But under the stimulation of the aquatic environment and the panel’s effect, the lines on Chen Jue’s hands had doubled in depth.

This was especially true for his fingerprints. When he touched them carefully, it felt like running his fingers over a pair of anti-slip gloves with a rubbery texture.

Moreover, you couldn’t notice anything unusual without looking closely, which amazed Chen Jue.

’Could it be that the panel doesn’t just monitor Attribute growth, but can also stimulate my body to evolve and adapt to its environment?’ Chen Jue began to speculate boldly.

Just then, Ma Qiang finished a lap and saw Chen Jue clinging to the edge of the pool, staring at his own palms. He swam over with a playful grin. "Senior Chen Jue! What’s wrong? Is your skin peeling from the soaking?"

"Peeling?" Chen Jue turned his head and glanced at Ma Qiang.

"Yeah! Our skin peels all over when we swim for a long time. It’s especially bad on the palms and soles. You can just tear it right off." As he spoke, Ma Qiang raised his hand for Chen Jue to see.

His hand was covered in pale wrinkles, and the skin on his fingertips showed clear signs of peeling.

When compared to Chen Jue’s perfectly intact hands, the difference was striking.

’So, this means the white wrinkles that normal people have evolved are flawed?’

’It temporarily increases friction, but at the same time, it reduces the skin’s toughness and strength. It’s a flawed evolution.’ Chen Jue stroked his chin, analyzing this internally. He then tried to pinch and pull at the skin on his palms and soles.

He discovered that the skin on his palms was extremely resilient; it would be impossible to tear unless he used a knife to cut it or bit it with his teeth.

...

The two-hour swimming session had been hugely rewarding for Chen Jue. Aside from the gain in attribute points, the most important discovery was his body’s adaptive changes to an aquatic environment.

Furthermore, Chen Jue was surprised to discover that the deepened lines on his hands and feet didn’t automatically disappear after he left the pool.

Instead, much like the Adrenaline in his body, the effect had shifted from passive to active. As long as he focused his mind on his hands and feet, the lines would deepen at an incredible speed, and they could just as quickly return to normal.

The sensation was bizarre, similar to when he had practiced his Pile Skills and consciously controlled his arrector pili muscles to make his pores contract.

The same went for his auricular muscles. He had slowly trained and stimulated them into existence, and now he could contract and twitch them at will, just like many animals in Nature.

’These lines aren’t just useful for Swimming!’ Staring at his hands, Chen Jue tested them a few times. In the brief time he had while leaving the natatorium, he found a lamppost on campus and ran his hand over it.

The once-smooth lamppost now felt incredibly grippy in his hand. He could pull his entire body up just by gripping it with a single hand.

Previously, when Chen Jue had tried climbing a lamppost, it had taken a great deal of effort using both his hands and feet. He had to rely on a combination of hand grips and wrapping his legs around the pole just to keep from sliding down.

Now, he could climb using only the friction from a single hand. Such a massive improvement was like he had just activated a cheat code.

’It’s not just increased friction. With the deepened palm lines, touching a smooth surface creates a suction effect, like a suction cup!’

’This is insane!’

’Isn’t this even more amazing than the micro-barbs on Spider-Man’s hands?’

Chen Jue pressed his palm firmly against the pole, squeezing out the air. After it sealed, he yanked it away. A crisp "POP!" rang out, stunning even himself.

’In other words, the panel’s true purpose isn’t just to improve my physical fitness... its ultimate function is to allow the human body to achieve a certain degree of evolution within a real-world environment?!’ Staring at his palm, the implications of this thought sent a shiver down his spine.

Fortunately, this evolution had been entirely positive so far, with no negative side effects. After testing his palm’s new evolutionary function a few more times, Chen Jue adjusted his mindset and completely relaxed.

...

After he finished swimming, the sky outside had already grown dark.

Night came earlier to Hang City after the start of winter; it was already getting dark before six o’clock.

Driven by his hunger, Chen Jue went to the Jiang University cafeteria for a hearty meal to replenish the energy he had expended during training.

He discovered that aquatic exercise consumed far more energy than simple weight training. The resulting Attribute growth was also more well-rounded, not just limited to building muscle.

After several days of high-intensity training, Chen Jue’s endurance and stamina had noticeably improved.

Today’s afternoon swim hadn’t pushed his body into the [Extreme Fatigue] state again. He only felt [Mild Fatigue] after the pre-workout supplement and Adrenaline wore off.

After dinner, Chen Jue slowly walked back to his apartment, a heavy, oversized gym bag slung over his back.

As was his routine, he first soaked in a medicinal bath to relax, then applied a topical liniment to his body.

Unexpectedly, while he was doing yoga stretches and practicing [Meditation] in his room, even the [Mild Fatigue] status effect faded away, and his three core Attributes returned to normal:

——————

[Name: Chen Jue]

[Strength: 1.82]

[Constitution: 2.07]

[Spirit: 1.56]

[Skills: Horse Stance Lv5, Tai Chi Thirteen Stances Lv5, Climbing Lv6, Archery Lv4, Hunting Throwing Lv2, Meditation Lv2, Ice Skating Lv1 (Perfection Level Skills omitted)]

[Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.09]

(Character Evaluation: You are a robust adult male. Due to long-term exercise, some of your body’s tissues and organs have undergone a degree of evolution. You are currently pondering whether this evolution is rational. Therefore, you need to acquire more relevant knowledge to overcome this psychological fear of the unknown.)

——————

’Fear of the unknown, huh?’

’It’s true that people fear and worry about things they don’t understand.’

’If this evolution could be predicted, and if I knew it had no side effects, I probably wouldn’t be so worried.’ Chen Jue mused while looking at the new evaluation on the panel.

Feeling relaxed after his yoga practice, he saw it was still early and decided to go online and search for information about palm lines. To his surprise, he learned quite a few useful things.

Take fingerprints, for example. They are the patterns formed by the ridges and grooves in the skin on the pads of human fingers.

Fingerprints might seem to increase friction when touching objects, but in reality, they exist to reduce it, allowing the skin to stretch and deform more easily. This physiological mechanism helps protect the skin from injury.

Furthermore, the practical application of fingerprints and palm lines is still very limited, for example, being used in forensics to track down criminals or for fingerprint recognition in smart locks.

The fact that Chen Jue could deepen his palm lines at will was, in effect, a completely new application developed from the human body’s potential. To an ordinary person, it would be considered a supernatural ability, or even a Superpower.

...

「After a comfortable night’s sleep, he woke up on Friday morning.」

The weather outside was still clear and cloudless. Hang City saw little rain in the winter; the season of endless drizzle wouldn’t begin until spring.

After getting up, he followed his routine and went upstairs to train his eyes and ears. Having developed two active physical abilities the day before, Chen Jue no longer had any doubt about the panel’s power. He began to look forward to whether his eyes and ears could also evolve similar Superpowers.

For starters, it would be great if he could train his ears to close at will, like some animals.

As for his eyes, being able to see farther and more clearly would be a huge help in his daily life.

After spending over 40 minutes grinding out another 0.01 free attribute points, Chen Jue packed up his equipment and headed to the Morning Exercise Park.

Wu Fang happened to be there, so Chen Jue decided to ask her to film some new content as a teaser for tomorrow’s main stunt video.

"We’re filming today?"

"Then tomorrow..." Wu Fang was a bit surprised by Chen Jue’s request.

At the thought of her first date with Chen Jue tomorrow, Teacher Wu’s cheeks naturally flushed, making her look even more radiant and lovely in the winter air.

"We’ll film tomorrow too. For today, let’s just post a shorter vlog."

"The fans are clamoring for updates every day, so I figured I’d shoot more content. The hype is still going strong, so posting more videos should help me gain more followers," Chen Jue explained, pulling a pile of filming props from his bag.

"A vlog?"

"Okay, that works!"

Wu Fang nodded and helped Chen Jue set up the tripod and adjust the camera lens.

Many influencers who did stunts also filmed similar daily vlogs in addition to their main videos. They would casually edit something together and release it as new content. The goal was to increase their post frequency, which improved fan engagement and loyalty.

After all, you can’t come up with creative stunt ideas every single day. Video creation, just like literary creation, is bound to hit a bottleneck eventually.

However, Chen Jue’s vlog was clearly not going to be an ordinary slice-of-life vlog. It was hardcore from start to finish.

After putting on his mask, he began his usual on-camera routine of drawing his bow while holding a Horse Stance. After that, he did a planche on the lawn.

Having taken a pre-workout supplement before leaving home, Chen Jue was brimming with stamina and energy. The morning sunlight hit his body, making him seem to shine.

Once he finished his daily strength exercises, he pulled out the custom GM150 grip dynamometer he had bought. He connected it to the registered app, took a deep breath for the camera, and squeezed with all his might.

With the dual enhancement from the pre-workout supplement and Adrenaline, his three core Attributes were temporarily increased by 15%. His Strength Attribute shot up to an unprecedented 2.09.

This squeeze also utilized the power-generating technique of [Outer Force], boosting his explosive output by another 10%. Under normal conditions, Chen Jue’s grip strength was already over 140 kg.

Now, with multiple factors stacked, the number on the dynamometer’s LCD screen shot up, finally freezing at 177.12 kg.

And to give his fans a huge surprise, Chen Jue didn’t just test his right hand; he tested his left hand as well, which registered a value of 176.23 kg.

By the time this long segment for the vlog was filmed, Wu Fang, who was watching from the side, was in utter shock.

She had been operating Chen Jue’s phone for the entire shoot. The moment the first grip strength value of 177.12 kg appeared, the Bluetooth-connected GM150 app immediately displayed a firework-like easter egg animation: "Congratulations, user ChenJue, you have broken the world record for grip strength!"

"Your grip strength data has been added to the leaderboards. Current rank: World No. 1."