0107 Drawing the Bow to Train Strength

After chatting with Wu Bei A-Jie for a while, amidst his continued astonishment, Chen Jue snapped a photo of his single arm flexed while gripping a 120kg handgrip strengthener and sent it to him. The entire arm bulged with muscle, noticeably thicker than an average person's, the muscle fibers standing out like stretched silk threads, accompanied by a grip strength comparable to that of three adult men—considering that an untrained ordinary person’s grip strength hovers around 40kg.

Seeing this, Wu Bei A-Jie finally understood how Chen Jue managed to string a 120-pound hard bow all by himself.

“Impressive! We’ve encountered a real prodigy this time!” Wu Bei A-Jie exclaimed inwardly. He then gave Chen Jue some routine maintenance tips for archery and sent him a self-service online registration link before ending the chat.

Since Chen Jue’s bow was a high-poundage hard bow equipped with sharpened arrows, which were even more lethal than darts, the registration was mandatory. Fortunately, with today’s advanced internet, archery as a leisure sport was gradually gaining popularity, and online registration was very convenient.

Chen Jue clicked the link, filled out the details, recorded his facial recognition, and completed the process within minutes.

...

After putting the strung Qilin bow back into its case, Chen Jue examined the newly purchased medicines one by one. He studied their ingredients, medicinal properties, and side effects, then began to arrange the order and dosage according to his own condition.

He wasn’t worried about the topical ointments; as long as he applied them methodically to his hands, their effectiveness would depend on feedback from his skin. However, the oral vitamins, calcium tablets, and blood-nourishing concoctions were different. Even supplements, if taken beyond the regular dosage, could impair liver and kidney metabolic functions.

That “blood exchange guy” from Silicon Valley dared to take over 110 supplements daily only because he had a professional medical team guiding him, strictly controlling his daily intake.

If an ordinary person mindlessly followed his reckless regimen, within a month symptoms like uremia, liver damage, or kidney failure would inevitably arise.

Medicine is truly a double-edged sword!

“I’ll mainly rely on external training for now. My visceral metabolic function hasn’t improved yet, so I’ll reduce my oral dosage to two-thirds of the usual daily amount and take it steady,” Chen Jue decided, switching his thrice-daily intake to once every morning.

Morning metabolism is at its peak; the body is in its prime state, so taking ten supplements at once then gave Chen Jue confidence that they would be fully absorbed and metabolized.

As for the topical ointments and meridian-activating wine, those were even simpler.

Chen Jue set a schedule to apply a different ointment every half hour, starting with both hands as a test.

To quickly lift that heavy gold bar, he was focusing on strengthening his hands and upper limbs.

Ten ointments, one every half hour, would take five hours total—best done at night before bed.

...

With some time before sleep, Chen Jue first applied the meridian-activating medicinal wine to both arms. Once the fiery, clear sensation subsided, he applied the penetrating bone ointment and went straight to bed.

After a day filled with exercise-related activities, getting enough sleep was essential.

The next morning, upon waking, a brand-new message appeared on his interface:

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed a deep repair session of both hands. Your muscle fascia, ligaments, and bones in the hand area have self-healed under the stimulation of the medication.]

[The strength of fascia, ligaments, and bones has improved; lactic acid accumulation inside the muscles has been fully metabolized.]

[Constitution +0.01]

——————

“It really works!” Chen Jue smiled broadly at the prompt, surprised that his unintentional self-experiment yielded such obvious results after just one night.

Peeling off the ointment from his hands, the medicine’s effect was already spent.

After washing up in the bathroom, he took the ten supplements he had arranged the previous night, swallowing them one by one, followed by 500ml of warm water to soothe his stomach.

Drinking a glass of warm water early in the morning replenishes fluids lost overnight and aids in morning urination and defecation, which helps detoxify the body.

...

For some time during his training, Chen Jue had been waking up every day to drink a large pot of warm water. Within minutes, a strong urge to go to the bathroom would arise, and he’d be done in two minutes.

Carrying his bow case upstairs, he intended to practice facing the morning sun, only to be greeted by a rare dawn glow.

The city skyline was bathed in a purplish-red radiance, with fish-scale clouds undulating like a gradient wave stretching overhead, evoking the majestic aura of auspicious purple qi from the East.

“Beautiful!”

“If I slept in on the weekend, I’d probably never see such a cityscape,” Chen Jue marveled, taking several photos with his phone.

Having lived in Hangzhou for many years, he had seldom witnessed such a splendid dawn.

Previously, as a corporate slave, he would stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. on Friday nights, sleeping in until noon or afternoon on weekends, making mornings an alien concept.

After admiring the auspicious dawn, Chen Jue began massaging his eyes and ears facing the sunrise. His vision and hearing were steadily improving, and he resolved not to skip this massage.

To set a goal for himself, Chen Jue focused his morning gaze toward the Jiang University athletic field, about two kilometers away.

Though distant, he could faintly see the bright red flags fluttering atop the stadium.

Having recently removed his glasses, he still struggled to clearly see the stars on the red flags, so more effort was needed.

As for his hearing, aided by the proficiency prompt for his “Ear Gymnastics,” Chen Jue was less worried.

Once the proficiency level hovered around +4 or +5, it indicated that the ear massages were effective.

After nearly an hour of eye and ear exercises, he moved on to 90 minutes of horse stance training.

Due to previously slow attribute gains, Chen Jue had deliberately brought his bow case upstairs.

He took out the 120-pound black Qilin bow, assumed a horse stance, held the bow with both hands, and pulled the string. The taut string immediately made him feel the strain.

After several attempts, unable to fully draw it, he employed the “Bright Force” technique, finally bending the bow into a full moon shape, then slowly releasing tension to return the string to its normal state.

“Huff~”

“Just this once already felt so exhausting!”

Chen Jue shook his stiff arms; this 110-pound hard bow exceeded his expectations.

Moreover, his method of training by drawing the bowstring without an arrow demanded control: jerky pulling and releasing could cause injury or damage the bow’s toughness.

He had to pull fast and release slowly, mastering a fluid rhythm that sharpened his focus and even regulated his breathing pattern.

Unexpectedly, this hard bow training complemented the horse stance remarkably.

Standing on the rooftop facing the sunrise, after a few draws, his horse stance proficiency surged wildly to +5 and beyond.

In addition, his archery proficiency also increased, though only by +1 each draw since he wasn’t shooting arrows.

After 15 minutes of hard bow training, a new prompt appeared on his interface:

——————

[Ding~]

[Proficiency reached 100%, skill level increased.]

[Horse Stance Lv4 → Lv5]

[Your understanding of horse stance deepened; muscles in your legs, waist, and back have been thoroughly exercised, nerves around the coccyx fully stimulated. Your control over the lower limbs has improved, and your balance during motion has markedly increased.]

[Strength +0.01]

[Mentality +0.01]

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed an endurance and explosive power training beyond your limits. Your upper limbs have been efficiently trained through sustained force output, significantly enhancing muscle elasticity.]

[You have mastered a special breathing rhythm during exercise, slightly improving your cardiopulmonary capacity.]

[Strength +0.01]

[Constitution +0.01]

[Free Attribute +0.01]

——————

“Whew~”

“Awesome! Another critical hit!”

Chen Jue, feeling the soreness in his hands, returned the Qilin bow to its case.

This training was ten times more exhausting than street workouts, especially with the 120-pound recoil after drawing the full bow, which left his hands bruised and purple.

In a few days, calluses would surely form on his fingers.

Ancient warriors wore finger guards made of ox bone or jade to protect against string friction.

But Chen Jue sought the physique of the “strongest human,” craving the raw and intense sensation, choosing not to wear finger protectors.

He wanted to see just how far his hands could be pushed under the influence of these skill prompts.

After years as a corporate worker, his right-hand fingers already bore thin calluses from the mouse; a few more from the bowstring wouldn’t hurt.

...

Sweaty from the bow training, Chen Jue ate breakfast outside his apartment. After the exercise-induced heat dissipated, he took a hot shower.

Traditionally, Chinese people rarely bathed in the morning, usually washing their hair or tidying up, with most bathing in the evening.

Westerners, however, habitually shower before work to invigorate themselves and sustain daily productivity.

Chen Jue no longer had a job but wanted to maintain his daily energy to train more effectively.

While showering, he allocated his newly acquired free attribute points again to Constitution.

The warmth from the water and the influx of mysterious energy instantly dispelled his morning fatigue and muscle soreness.

After dressing in fresh workout clothes, his phone buzzed with a message.

It was from Zheng Yuan.

Chen Jue gathered his things, packed face armor and several sets of darts, needles, and nails into his small bag, and slowly headed to the Jiang University campus.

On Saturday, he had to test Zheng Yuan’s peculiar project and had not forgotten.

Upon arriving at the agreed training ground, Chen Jue couldn’t help but smile slightly.

In his sight appeared the figure of Teacher Wu, whom he hadn’t seen for almost a week.

She wore a pristine white plush coat reaching her knees, loose casual jeans, black leather boots, and had tied her hair into a bun with a red silk ribbon. Her cheeks were rosy and vibrant, radiating youthful charm even among a crowd of twenty-year-old college students.

“Oh no! That feeling of heart flutter!”

They say love makes one see a beauty in the beloved; after a few days apart, Chen Jue thought Teacher Wu looked even more beautiful.

This chapter supplements last night’s events. I was typing until midnight and my heart was racing, so I quickly slipped into bed.

I need to adjust my routine. From now on, I’ll write during the day.

(End of chapter)