Degenerated Muscles

Perhaps it was the academic atmosphere of this elite institution, which surpassed the quality of Chen Jue's previous college a hundredfold. During the first zoology and laboratory class, Chen Jue listened with rapt attention, not even the slightest hint of drowsiness. Not only did he gain a true understanding of humanity's origins, he also managed to improve his proficiency in throwing hidden weapons by over three hundred points, and his strength attribute increased by 0.01 through the grip exercises.

Gazing at his strength attribute, which had risen to 0.98, Chen Jue began to anticipate the changes that would occur once this third attribute finally reached a whole point. "This afternoon and evening, I'll find time to train my legs and core muscles. Today, I'll grind it up," he resolved silently, resisting the urge to use free attribute points. Following the departing freshmen, he left the large lecture hall.

Lunch was again settled at the cafeteria. At precisely 1:30 in the afternoon, Chen Jue appeared in the clinical medicine department's human anatomy class. This was a small group session; the teacher and the freshmen had already grown familiar over the past two months. When Chen Jue, an unfamiliar face, appeared, the female teacher at the podium stared at him for a while. "You're not from our class, are you?"

"Teacher, I'm a new auditing student," Chen Jue explained, choosing a seat at the back and greeting her politely.

"Auditing student?" The teacher was momentarily surprised, checked the online roster, and indeed found Chen Jue's name marked as an auditing participant at the very bottom.

"Just mind the classroom rules—set your phone to silent and don't disturb the other students," she emphasized. When the bell rang and the roll was called, she opened the presentation and spoke into the microphone, "Today we'll continue with gross anatomy."

"In previous sessions, we've learned that human anatomy is divided into two major categories: gross anatomy, observable with the naked eye, and microscopic anatomy, which requires the aid of a microscope."

"So, today's lesson will use muscles as our entry point."

As she spoke, a projection appeared showing a human anatomical diagram, with bones, muscles, and special joints all carefully labeled.

"Muscles are the main source of strength, the physiological power of humans."

"When muscle groups receive signals from the brain, muscle contraction occurs; through the leverage and synergy of bones and joints, the force we speak of is generated."

"Muscle tissue is mainly composed of muscle cells, and can be divided by structure and function into three types: smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle."

"Skeletal muscle is the most abundant, with 639 muscles attached to the 206 bones of the human skeleton."

As she explained, the teacher highlighted each muscle group on the anatomical diagram.

"Are muscles the source of strength?"

"If that's the case, does the strength attribute on my panel correspond to these three types of muscles?" Chen Jue pondered, hurriedly jotting down notes.

The teacher circled the 639 skeletal muscles and the muscle group in the wrist and forearm, continuing, "Actually, the number 639 is an approximate figure determined by early anatomists."

"Recent research shows that some skeletal muscles have changed."

"For example, the palmaris longus—when you turn your palm upward and clench your fingers, the strip of muscle bulging at your wrist—about 13% of people no longer have it; it's degenerated."

As she spoke, the students in the class began to check themselves.

Sure enough, several exclaimed in surprise, discovering that the palmaris longus was absent in their hands.

"Wow! I don't have that muscle!"

"Is this a mutation?"

"Teacher Liu, will lacking the palmaris longus affect anything?" The students buzzed with questions.

Chen Jue checked himself as well; he could clearly see two prominent muscles in his wrists, even more pronounced than his classmates'.

"Don't worry if you're missing the palmaris longus," the teacher reassured them. "Its absence doesn't affect daily life; in fact, it's a sign of evolution."

"Modern humans rarely use it; its main function is wrist flexion, which is important for climbing. Only primates like monkeys and apes frequently use it to climb trees." She smiled, calming the noisy class.

Chen Jue stared at his two thick palmaris longus muscles, stunned. "So the climbing skill relies on this!"

"Degeneration? Isn't that similar to the coccyx?"

This seemingly obscure fact was actually immensely useful to Chen Jue, who had recently been grinding skill proficiency. He carefully recorded the knowledge about the palmaris longus, then continued to listen intently.

"In addition to the palmaris longus, there’s the auricular muscles around the ears, which are also degenerating."

"The auricular muscles include the superior, anterior, and posterior auricular muscles. When you see cats, dogs, or monkeys moving their ears, it's these muscles allowing their ears to rotate freely, helping them focus on sounds from a direction."

"In humans, only about 2% can move their ears—a common atavistic phenomenon." The teacher pointed to her own ears, which twitched lightly as she gestured.

The students were amazed: "Impressive! Teacher Liu can move her ears!"

"Feels just like a cartoon character!"

"Well, I lack the palmaris longus and can't move my ears; I must be useless," joked some, after trying and getting no response.

In the back row, Chen Jue raised his hand. Last night, disturbed by noises next door, he had wished he could close his ears. Seeing Teacher Liu move hers, he suddenly asked, "Teacher, can auricular muscles be trained?"

Teacher Liu glanced at him thoughtfully, then nodded. "Ears can be trained! If you can't move them naturally, try widening your eyes, raising your eyebrows, or making exaggerated facial movements; this can activate some auricular muscle activity."

"Repeat these exercises, and with persistent stimulation, you can gradually awaken some of the degenerated muscle function."

As she spoke, the class began making faces, some especially outgoing students contorting their features and making everyone laugh.

"Feels like another useless skill!"

"Who says it's useless? I'm learning cartoon ear magic!"

"Moving ears doesn't improve hearing; no wonder only 2% can do it."

"If I keep practicing, maybe I can kill mosquitoes with my ears!" The jokes flowed, and the atmosphere was lively.

Chen Jue tried a few times; raising his eyebrows did tug some muscles near his ears, but the effect was faint. He wondered how long it would take to really move his ears.

He recalled the eye exercises he’d done before; the muscles around the eyes, like those near the ears, lacked training and only responded to massage.

He raised his hands to massage the three auricular muscles and every part of his ears he could reach, combining this with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

Gradually, his cool ears began to feel warm, as if flushed from drink.

This was the blood flowing faster in the region, concentrating beneath the skin.

Unexpectedly, after ten minutes of rubbing, his panel displayed a new notification:

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed an effective auricular stimulation exercise. Your degenerated auricular muscles responded faintly, the metabolic rate in your ears increased, and hearing improved ever so slightly.]

[Skill activated: Ear Health Exercise]

——————

"A new skill!"

"Just like eye exercises?"

"Ears can be trained with massage!" Chen Jue was amazed.

He had struggled to find a way to train his ears, but on his first day at Jiang University, the problem was solved.

Now that the skill was engraved, Chen Jue felt confident he could gradually enhance this bodily function.

...

Listening to the lecture, taking notes, and massaging his ears simultaneously, Chen Jue discovered that his practice with throwing darts—training both hands—had a significant impact.

With improved dexterity in his left hand, he could now write with either hand, though his left handwriting was still rather messy and needed more practice.

"Lin Ling once said left-handedness can be trained."

"This is ambidexterity—like Zhou Botong's legendary technique," Chen Jue thought with delight.

However, the newly acquired ear health exercise was slow to improve; it took ten minutes of massage to gain a single proficiency point, and the constitution attribute showed no movement.

Chen Jue surmised his massage technique was lacking; he didn’t fully understand the muscles, blood vessels, and acupressure points of the ear region.

When practicing eye exercises, he had followed Chief Liu’s detailed video guide, with diagrams and instructions, so progress was swift and efficient.

But the ear health exercise was his own experiment, and the inefficiency was likely due to many wasted efforts.

"Indeed, knowledge is humanity's most precious treasure; I must keep learning!" Chen Jue resolved, as the class period flew by.