CHAPTER 601: CHAPTER 335: ABSOLUTE MASTERY

Chen Chen’s gaze grew increasingly somber.

After striving for so many years to reach his current position, how could he resign himself to becoming someone else’s pawn and lose everything?

.........

Just past six in the morning.

The sky was still dim, only able to outline the contours of the indoor furnishings.

The newly renovated room was filled with the faint smell of latex paint.

The light blue walls and sports flooring created an ambiance of tranquil deep sea.

Forming a subtle contrast with the city outside slowly awakening.

By the floor-to-ceiling window, a red and black freestanding punching bag stood silently, like a mute sparring partner.

Several dumbbells of different weights were piled carelessly by the wall, along with a stack of identical iron plates.

In the faint morning light, reflecting a cold metallic sheen.

"Creak... Creak..."

The rhythmic and heavy sound of metal friction broke the serenity in the living room.

A giant black sandbag hung beneath the ceiling, crisscrossed with steel beams and iron frames.

The sound came from beside the sandbag.

The pull-up bar, just installed a few days ago, was enduring incredible abuse at the moment.

A muscular naked figure hung from it, performing jaw-dropping weighted pull-ups.

A thick professional weight belt was strapped around his waist.

From the lower end of the belt, a special load-bearing chain densely layered with ten pure steel painted weight plates was attached.

Each weight plate clearly marked "25KG".

Adding them all together, that’s a terrifying load of 250 kilograms, or 500 pounds.

The man’s physique was extremely strong.

His latissimus dorsi protruded like mountain ridges, deltoids at his shoulders hard like two rocks, biceps and forearm muscles threatening to burst.

With the strength of just one arm, he pulled both himself and the heavy load up until his chin went over the bar.

On the descent, he controlled the speed, letting his body lower slowly, seemingly focused on feeling each muscle fiber’s pull and stretch.

The weight plates hanging from his waist swayed gently with his movements, producing a "ding-dang" sound of metal colliding.

Adding a powerful rhythm to this monotonous morning exercise.

Sweat rolled down his chiseled cheeks, dripping from his resolute jaw.

A small dark patch of dampness formed on the PVC sports floor.

Yet his expression remained calm, breathing steady and deep, movements standard and fluid, showing no signs of struggle.

At that moment, the first ray of true sunlight finally freed itself from the horizon’s grasp.

A bright red rising sun struggled to break free from the constraints of the sea horizon.

First casting a dazzling golden path across the distant shimmering sea.

Soon, the light crossed the low breakwater, flooded over the sleeping beach.

Finally, this dawn light found its way through the narrow gaps between city skyscrapers to this giant window.

Instantly, golden sunlight poured in like a thawed waterfall.

Completely enveloping the man on the pull-up bar, sweating profusely, bestowing a sacred and masculine aura upon him.

"Hoo—"

With a long exhale, the figure, along with the heavy weight plates, leapt down from the pull-up bar.

His feet firmly landed on the PVC sports floor.

The sheer force of his landing made the floor slightly dent inwards, producing a muffled thud.

"Unknowingly, it’s already 6:30..."

Fang Cheng twisted his neck, glanced at the phone screen lying aside.

Murmuring to himself, he felt the faint soreness coming from his arm and shoulder muscles.

Then raised a hand to casually wipe the sweat drenching his face.

This was already the fifth set, the 500th single-arm weighted pull-up of 250 kilograms he completed.

In addition to the other five fitness skill exercises he finished earlier.

This kind of training intensity, even for him, was unprecedented.

Fang Cheng’s thoughts stirred, and the panel silently appeared before his eyes.

[Pull-ups lv2 (449/500)]

Experience Points remained stagnant at 449 points, unable to break through the final bottleneck.

As if some invisible shackle existed.

It should be said that Fang Cheng’s physical fitness had already reached a terrifying level by now.

His Constitution breached the 50-point mark, Strength attribute nearly at 50 points.

To make conventional physical training continue to yield significant effects, the effort and sweat required were naturally far beyond the past.

Fang Cheng thought briefly, not removing the weighted plates from his waist.

Instead, he looked up, casting his gaze at the pair of gymnastic rings hanging nearby on the iron frame.

In the next moment, he explosively exerted force with his legs, launching himself upward like a cannonball.

In midair, his right hand reached out accurately, firmly hooking one of the rings with just a single index finger.

Then, his whole body, after a brief pause, was steadily pulled up by that seemingly fragile finger.

The weight plates on his body swayed slightly, emitting a colliding sound.

And then, the "ding-dang" rhythmic exercise beat once more began.

Single-finger, 250 kilograms weighted, pull-ups!

With a burst of compulsiveness, Fang Cheng decided to break through the final shackle in one go using this more perverse, almost self-torturous training method.

This physique, verging on monster-level.

Was enough to make any so-called fitness enthusiast deeply doubt their life.

"1."

The joint of his index finger endured a tear-like pressure, yet his movements remained standard, pulling his body up until the jaw went over the ring.

"2."

Sweat seeped again from his forehead, trickling down along the tense lines of muscle.

"3."

"4."

"..."

Fang Cheng silently counted in his heart, breathing deeply and long.

With single-arm exertion, continually raised his body upward and downward.

Felt the shout from the muscle groups from fingers to wrist, shoulder to the entire back, under extreme pressure.

"26."

"27..."

When he reached the twenty-seventh one consecutively.

Suddenly, the panel before him burst into a light brighter and more dazzling than the newly risen morning sun outside.

A uncontainable warm current surged from the tailbone, instantly traversing his entire body.

The pull-up fitness skill, under the extreme grind, finally broke through its original limit, successfully advancing.

Fang Cheng did not immediately stop but gritted his teeth, persisting to complete three more moves, making a total of thirty.

Then he jumped down from the rings once more.

Wiped away the sweat continuously streaming down his face, Fang Cheng focused his gaze on the shining attribute panel.

With a hint of anticipation in his eyes, he looked at the skill upgrade notification.

[Congratulations, through exceptional effort and persistence, your skill "Pull-ups" has successfully broken through to the Grandmaster Level]

[Pull-ups LV3 (0/1000)]

[Gained Enhancement Reward: Skill Effect "Absolute Control"]

Gazing at the shining panel, an indescribable sense of exhilaration and satisfaction surged from Fang Cheng’s heart.

Like turbulent tides, it instantly dispelled the muscles’ fatigue and soreness from the extreme workout.

Then, he focused on the specific description of the skill effect "Absolute Control".

[Absolute Control: Your control over the strength of your hands, shoulders, and back has reached an unimaginable level, allowing you to explosively increase grip and pulling strength by 150% in an instant without any preliminary actions.]

[Your climbing ability has been specialized, with fingertip and object contact unit area friction enhanced by 1000%]

[Therefore, you need no conventional grip points, any tiny protrusion, even if only a few millimeters, can be used by you as a support point. Skyscraper’s smooth external walls, vertical steep cliffs, it’s all as easy as flat ground to you.]

[Note: Once your Strength attribute exceeds 70 points, this skill will undergo changes, unlocking a hidden effect.]