Chapter 93 - 75: Elegance Never Goes Out of Style

"This wasn’t easy!"

"My three main Attributes have all finally passed 1!"

Looking at the brand-new character evaluation from the panel, Chen Jue couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Ever since he had accidentally activated this Attribute panel, he had been exercising diligently every day. It had taken him nearly three weeks in total to finally raise his physical condition to a relatively healthy state.

Based on the panel’s previous evaluations, a value of "1.00" seemed to be the passing mark for a standard adult male’s Attributes.

Whether it was Strength, Constitution, or Spirit, you were only considered up to par after passing 1.00. Anything below that, and the panel would rate your physical condition as weak or suboptimal.

Chen Jue’s highest Attribute right now was Constitution, which was already a good bit above the passing mark.

The benefits of a high Constitution weren’t just limited to giving him abundant energy and stamina each day. It also sped up his lactic acid metabolism, improved his body’s self-healing and recovery capabilities, and allowed him to better adapt to high-intensity training. Even the gallstone in his gallbladder was slowly dissolving with the help of medication.

This made Chen Jue feel incredibly fortunate. ’Dumping all the Free Attributes I got right after acquiring the panel into Constitution was such a rational choice!’

’If I had focused on Strength or Spirit instead, I might still be plagued by injuries. The efficiency of my training definitely wouldn’t have been as high as the returns from adding to Constitution.’

...

Having just finished 30 Hannibal Pull-ups, his muscles needed to relax and recover. Chen Jue temporarily suppressed his excitement and went up to the spectator stands next to the equipment area.

He sat down to rest while continuing to study the panel’s notifications.

’Does this "friendly reminder" mean I should find a new course of treatment for my gallstone?’ Chen Jue mused, recalling the clinical medicine courses he had signed up for.

Besides the "Human Anatomy" class he had just attended today, there were seven more related medical courses waiting for him.

Since the current combination of exercise and Western medicine was proving to be slow, he might as well follow the panel’s friendly reminder and try something new.

After all, ever since he got the panel, his body had only been changing for the better.

Other than the time he’d strained his left hand after continuously adding points to Constitution to basically cheat his way through the silver brick challenge, Chen Jue had never experienced any negative effects from the panel.

"Too bad it’s Friday. I’ll have to wait until next week to attend more classes," Chen Jue sighed softly. He was beginning to realize that, besides a strong body, knowledge was just as important.

...

After resting for a while until the soreness in his muscles subsided, Chen Jue went back down and did a few more sets of ten Hannibal Pull-ups with Wang Xin.

He had just started learning this difficult, extreme Street Fitness method, and his body needed time to gradually adapt.

Of the five legendary Street Fitness skills mentioned before, the only one Chen Jue could practice right away was the simplest, the muscle-up, because its technique was very similar to a high pull-up.

He couldn’t learn the others for now, like the human flag, front lever, or planche, because those three movements were extremely demanding on core strength.

Chen Jue had only started training his core a few days ago, so that was still a weak point for him.

As for the one-arm pull-up, Chen Jue tested it out on the bar. He found that he could already manage one or two if he gave it his all, though his form wasn’t perfect—he could barely get his chin over the bar.

’A one-handed grip strength of 85 kg, and a single-arm pulling force of over 80 kg.’

’And this level is just the standard for an adult male?’

’What kind of evaluation will I get if I raise my Attributes to 2, 3, or even higher?’ A sense of anticipation grew in Chen Jue’s heart.

It was just like leveling up in a video game!

Watching his own strength, which was once on the level of a total scrub, slowly increase—that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction was something no man could resist.

...

He trained on the athletic field until just after five o’clock when his phone chimed with a WeChat notification.

He answered it and heard Jiang Zhe on the other end. Apparently, since it was Friday, he had temporarily broken free from his wife’s "great curfew spell" and wanted to meet Chen Jue at the Jingtang Club. The plan was to blow through those cash vouchers from last time and, more importantly, have a talk with Chen Jue.

After all, on the day Fatty Bai had died suddenly, Chen Jue hadn’t been himself at all.

It was beyond just being emo; he was on the verge of becoming depressed and giving up.

These past few days, he had transitioned from the workplace back to school, running around nonstop, so Chen Jue hadn’t had a chance to chat much with Jiang Zhe.

So, his best friend from college couldn’t help but worry about his mental state.

As it happened, Chen Jue had just finished exercising and was feeling a bit tired. He was thinking of getting a massage to relax, and while he was at it, grabbing some seafood buffet to replenish the protein and minerals needed for muscle and bone growth.

But when he arrived at the Jingtang Club, besides seeing Jiang Zhe, Chen Jue was surprised to find another one of his college roommates—Wang Wei, the fifth-oldest in their dorm.

"Wang Wei! What are you doing in Hang City?"

"Did you miss your daddy?" Chen Jue strode forward and enthusiastically slung an arm around his shoulder. It had really been several years since they’d last seen each other.

Of course, when best friends meet, you have to get one over on them.

If you didn’t get a few digs in to satisfy the urge, how could you prove the depth of your friendship?

Wang Wei shoved Chen Jue away with a look of disgust. "If you’re my dad, then Jiang the Second is my little brother! I’d rather be a dog and take you both down with me!"

"First, I’ll bite you to death, you deadbeat dog of a father, then I’ll bite that lousy little brother Jiang the Second to death!"