Chapter 62 - 53: Pile Skills = Aerobic + Anaerobic?

Since he’d been going out at night to practice with nails, Chen Jue worried that using them for too long would ruin his feel for regular darts. That’s why he carried one with him in the mornings to play with.

He was now a Master Level Hidden Weapon expert, and his fingers were incredibly nimble. Even an unsharpened Short Sword Dart could be flipped and twirled into intricate patterns in his hand.

As for the art of hiding a dart up his sleeve, that was something he had just figured out over the past few days by watching videos online.

The reason they were called Hidden Weapons was that they had to be concealed until the moment they were thrown.

Once he mastered this sleeve-concealment technique, he’d have another skill for self-defense.

’Definitely no intention of letting my hand slip and throwing it at someone!’

’He’s just a love rival, right?’

There were tons of people online clamoring for Teacher Wu’s contact info, saying they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with her. Chen Jue couldn’t just take them all out through the screen, one dart at a time, could he? (He’d probably need to reach Lv. 9999 for even a chance at that.)

"This is my cousin, Zheng Yuan, my aunt’s son," Wu Fang said with a hint of resignation, brushing a few sweaty strands of hair from her forehead.

She also took the opportunity to describe Chen Jue’s glorious feat of taking down the pit bull with a single dart. Hearing this, Zheng Yuan’s eyes lit up. He enthusiastically grabbed Chen Jue’s hand, his face full of worship. "You’re a god! I’m not worthy!"

"I’m no god, just an amateur dart enthusiast," Chen Jue said, waving his hand humbly. Inside, he grumbled, ’So he’s just her annoying little cousin!’

"No, no! An amateur could never have your kind of skill!"

"I’ve rewatched that security footage of you taking down the dog with a dart hundreds of times. You’re absolutely the most incredible Darts master I’ve ever seen... no, a true legend!"

Zheng Yuan lavished praise on Chen Jue before briefly explaining his reason for coming.

It turned out he was a third-year student at Jiang Province University, majoring in a life sciences field related to the human body. He had been wracking his brain over his graduation thesis.

After coincidentally seeing the videos of his cousin Wu Fang fighting off the dog to save someone and of Chen Jue taking it down with a single dart, Zheng Yuan had a sudden burst of inspiration. He wanted to do in-depth research on whether long-term practice of traditional Martial Arts, like Darts and Rope Darts, had a more positive effect on the human body than Western-style fitness training.

Although it was just a preliminary concept, Zheng Yuan was a man of action. He had made a special trip to the park to consult with the two Martial Arts experts in his family, his grandfather and cousin, and to stake out the "Darts legend," Chen Jue, hoping to recruit him for his research project.

’Qingbei Jiangfu... so he’s a top student from the third-best university in the country!’

’No wonder he has such a peculiar idea.’ Chen Jue lamented internally. As someone with only a vocational college degree, his academic credentials really couldn’t compare to this pair of cousins.

Then he glanced at Elder Wu nearby, who was holding a thermos. Apparently, the old man was a legitimate retired university professor.

It seemed there was a clear source for this family’s academic genius.

As for the research topic Zheng Yuan had come up with, Chen Jue didn’t actually find it that strange.

After all, there were foreigners who did dedicated research on how to do Stone Skimming!

As one of the Huaxia People, wasn’t it perfectly reasonable to research Darts, Rope Darts, or other traditional Martial Arts?

...

Under Wu Fang’s expectant gaze, Chen Jue chatted with Zheng Yuan for a bit, and they added each other on WeChat.

According to Zheng Yuan, his research project was still in its infancy. Once he had the framework established, he would invite Chen Jue and his cousin to visit the School of Life Sciences at Jiang University to have some of their basic athletic data measured.

If Chen Jue found it inconvenient or couldn’t spare the time, Zheng Yuan could also bring his classmates and equipment to test him here in the park. They could just set a time on WeChat later.

As for compensation for participating in the tests, it would be one thousand yuan per session.

Zheng Yuan was still a student with a limited allowance, so that was all the compensation he could afford.

"Forget the payment! Just show me around Jiang University and treat me to a meal in the cafeteria of a prestigious school," Chen Jue suggested instead.

Wu Fang and her grandfather were still watching from the side! ’How can I take money from this kid? That’d make me seem so distant, wouldn’t it?’

"Alright! It’s a deal then, Brother Jue!"

"The scenery at our School of Life Sciences might not be as stunning as at Zhijiang College, but our cafeteria food is absolutely first-class in the nation. I guarantee you’ll love it, Brother Jue!"

Zheng Yuan was thrilled. He hadn’t expected to settle the matter so quickly. It was a great start for his thesis project.

As for Chen Jue, he genuinely wanted to see Jiang University. He was definitely not going because of the beautiful and kind-hearted Teacher Wu.

As someone who had failed the college entrance exams, he was destined to have no connection with such top-tier universities in his lifetime.

In all his years in Hang City, he had only heard that Jiang University had a beautiful campus; he had never seen it for himself.

Now that he had the chance, he definitely had to make time for a visit.

Even just a quick tour would make his years of drifting in Hang City feel worthwhile.

...

After making the tentative arrangement with Zheng Yuan, Chen Jue chatted with Wu Fang for a few more minutes.

"I’m still so jealous of you, Chen Jue!"

"If only you had made your move before I did!" Wu Fang said, propping her chin on her hand and puffing out one cheek. It looked like her gums were a little inflamed.

She had been hounded by crazed fans lately. If she hadn’t been hiding out in her classes during the day, she probably would have been mobbed into a stupor. It was no wonder she was so stressed that her gums were acting up.

But seeing Wu Fang’s unconsciously cute expression made Chen Jue’s old otaku heart melt even more. He offered a few words of comfort. "Fame brings controversy! But this kind of popularity comes and goes quickly. Just hang in there for a few more days, and people will probably stop harassing you."

"I hope you’re right!"

Wu Fang flashed a beautiful smile, then led her cousin Zheng Yuan away to practice Martial Arts with their grandfather.

Not wanting to intrude any further, Chen Jue went off to find Teacher Zhao’s Tai Chi group in the park to continue grinding his Skill Level.

He knew that when it came to pursuing a girl, you couldn’t come on too strong and pester her from the get-go. You had to maintain some distance at first.

First become friends, then slowly work on it from there.

When the time was right, success would come naturally, and it would be smooth sailing.

As for being some kind of super-suave Casanova who could win a girl over with a single move, Chen Jue had neither the face nor the financial means for that. He could only rely on the slow and steady method of starting with conversation.

However, what Chen Jue didn’t expect was that shortly after he walked away, Elder Wu, who had been watching from the sidelines, addressed his granddaughter like a wise old man who had seen it all. Holding his thermos, he chuckled and teased, "Fangfang, that young man is quite nice. He seems very spirited! Are you sure you won’t consider him?"

"I hear he just signed up for your Uncle Zhao’s Tai Chi Class and comes to practice every day. Once he slims down a bit, he’ll be a handsome young man. He won’t be bad-looking at all."

Hearing this, Wu Fang felt her gums flare up even more. "Grandpa! What are you saying? If you keep joking like that, I’m not coming tomorrow!"

Seeing his cousin’s flustered state, Zheng Yuan’s own gossipy heart ignited. "Huh??? Grandpa, what are you saying? That Brother Jue from before has a thing going on with my cousin?"

"No way! Is the iron tree of our Wu Family finally about to blossom? Are the rumors online about the ’Dynamic Dart Duo’ actually true?"

"Ouch! Sis! Why are you kicking me?! Lighter... lighter..."

...

After making his way deeper into the park, he found Zhao Jianguo’s Tai Chi Class already in session at their usual spot.

When Zhao Jianguo saw Chen Jue approaching, he gave him a nod and gestured for him to join the formation and follow along.

Chen Jue nodded, took his place at the back of the group, and began to perform Tai Chi, following Zhao Jianguo’s movements.

The morning Tai Chi Class was split into two phases. The first was practicing together with the teacher, and the second was for free practice and asking the teacher questions.

However, as soon as he began following along, Chen Jue discovered that for certain overlapping moves, his three Tai Chi Skills would trigger a unified "+1 Skill Level" notification.

This was a pleasant surprise!

’They can stack like nesting dolls?’

’Is it because the movements are the same?’

After practicing for about an hour, Chen Jue stopped. He was lightly sweating, and his Free Attribute had increased by 0.01.

The Skill Level for his three Tai Chi Skills had already reached about Lv. 0 (60/100). He estimated that another hour of free practice would be enough to level them all up at once.

Just then, Zhao Jianguo, having finished leading the group practice, walked over. "Xiaochen, I see your movements are getting more and more precise, and your base is much more stable than yesterday. Have you been putting in extra work?"

’My base?’ A thought struck Chen Jue, and he remembered the [Horse Stance] Skill he had just activated yesterday.

The [Horse Stance] is a fundamental skill in many traditional Martial Arts. Although it was different from the Pile Skills of Tai Chi, the principles were related, so it naturally influenced his progress in learning Tai Chi.

Having figured this out, Chen Jue gave a noncommittal nod.

Seeing this, Zhao Jianguo mused, "You young people really do learn quickly! Not like the older students in the class. How about this? I’ll go ahead and teach you the Tai Chi Thirteen Stances. You can practice them in your spare time."

"These Thirteen Stances are the foundation of Tai Chi. Practicing them often will strengthen your body and solidify your core. It’s much better than just mechanically repeating the movements!"

With that, Zhao Jianguo conscientiously began to demonstrate the thirteen types of Tai Chi Pile Skill for Chen Jue.

From Tiger Subduing Stance and Pushing Mountain Stance to Tower-Supporting, Penetrating the Crown, Supporting Embrace, Heaven-Supporting, and then Wuji, Tai Chi, Two Force, Three-Body, Four Symbols, Five Elements, and Seven Stars—he demonstrated and explained all thirteen different types of Pile Skills one by one.

Since these stances had many ingenious applications for connecting and transitioning between Tai Chi movements, Chen Jue learned them very quickly.

As he listened to Zhao Jianguo’s explanations, he watched the rise and fall of the man’s chest and abdomen, and his ears unconsciously tuned in to the rhythm of his breathing.

It was an incredibly steady breathing rhythm, deeper and more stable than his own. It seemed Teacher Zhao’s lung capacity was even greater than his!

After about ten minutes of imitating the breathing rhythm, Chen Jue slowly got the hang of it. As his body rose and fell with the stance, he subconsciously began practicing [Squeezing Valley Dao].

The moment the Valley Dao was squeezed shut, his tailbone lifted in response. In the next instant, Chen Jue felt every pore on his body open and close in unison.

It was like stepping out of a hot shower into the cold air—goosebumps erupted all over his body as his pores sealed themselves shut. A current of heat stirred within him, his skin felt cool, his eyes grew bright, and he suddenly felt incredibly energized!

Then, he took another deep breath in coordination with his Pile Skill practice. It felt as if he was guiding a wondrous warm current to flow just beneath his goosebump-covered skin.

And at that moment, a new notification popped up on his panel:

——————

[Ding~]

[A perfect session of combined aerobic and anaerobic exercise has been completed. The muscles throughout your body have been lightly exercised, your cardiovascular system has been stimulated, blood flow has increased, your Cardiovascular Ability has been faintly enhanced, and your neural response speed has received a minor boost.]

[Constitution Attribute +0.01]

[Spirit Attribute +0.01]

[Free Attribute +0.01]

[Skill Activated: Tai Chi Thirteen Stances]