"Buddy, you're amazing! First class and you let Mr. Liang stretch you for so long, that's intense!"
Xie Yucheng was about the same age as Qin Shi, both around sixteen or seventeen years old.
Compared to the delicate and handsome Qin Shi, Xie Yucheng was tall, skinny, with dark skin and messy hair.
He exuded the robust vitality akin to weeds, and his demeanor was more like a child of the Old Factory Street workers!
"You guys... don't start like this on your first lesson?"
Qin Shi panted heavily, like a drowning man who had just reached the shore, his lungs burning and aching.
"I didn't piss off Mr. Liang, why would he go hardcore on me? Bone stretching in Old Martial has another name, it's called 'muscle tearing and peeling'.
It means that after one round, it's like your old tendons and skin are pulled out, and you get a new body... Just thinking about it is terrifying!"
Xie Yucheng carried the hundred-pound Qin Shi with ease, clearly indicating his excellent physical condition.
It seemed that his extra lessons with Mr. Liang had shown significant results in developing his life force.
"Our first lesson is simple, familiarize with the basic moves of combat, then do weighted frog jumps, rope climbing, and obstacle crossing. We did five or six days of physical training to adapt our bodies to the intensity before starting bone stretching.
That part is so torturous! Li Yuan and I only lasted ten minutes, the next day we were so sore we couldn't get out of bed, and we never tried it again."
Qin Shi was stunned, he had just paid two hundred yuan for tuition, shouldn't he start with the introductory class?
Why was it directly to the point?
"Buddy, we're here. Where do you live?"
Xie Yucheng skillfully turned into the alleys of the shantytown.
"Just drop me off at the small shop in front, thank you."
With marginally recovered strength, Qin Shi struggled to hop down, staggering to his feet.
"Aunt Zhou, a bottle of Hongbao soda. This is for you, classmate Xie, thanks for your hard work."
The first part was said to the shop owner's wife, the latter part to Xie Yucheng.
"From now on, consider us half classmates. At the high school number nine area, if you ever run into trouble, just mention my name, Xie Yucheng, and I've got you covered!"
Xie Yucheng took the Hongbao soda without being polite, eagerly drinking it with a straw.
"Mm."
Qin Shi nodded.
The children of Old Factory Street workers had been hanging out on the streets since childhood, often spending their free time in the video halls that thrived in the Old Era.
Perhaps influenced by those films that had become antiques, they had a bit of a gangster vibe, and liked to imitate the demeanor of big brothers.
After Xie Yucheng ran off, Aunt Zhou, who took care of the small shop, finally voiced her doubt:
"Kid, why are you limping, needing someone to carry you? Did someone bully you?"
Qin Shi, aching all over, grimaced and said:
"I just signed up for a tutoring class, the training intensity is high, I'll be fine in a couple of days."
Aunt Zhou breathed a sigh of relief:
"I was wondering who would dare to mess around on our Baogong Street, let me give them a good beating!"
Qin Shi glanced at Aunt Zhou's formidable waistline, and the bright red armband on her sturdy arm.
The words "Market Security Management Committee" were clearly written on it.
He couldn't help but find this statement quite convincing!
In Old Factory Street, where there were numerous street vendors, Aunt Zhou held considerable power!
His buddy Zhou Ning wasn't joking when he called his mom a minister.
"I can hop and jump, Auntie Zhou, don't worry."
Qin Shi placed a few coins on the counter, moving his legs that felt like they didn't belong to him, and slowly walked home.
"Oh, look at you, lifting your feet is difficult, sit down for a bit. Your sister went out again, why don't you just stay here for a meal!"
Aunt Zhou tried to keep him.
"No thanks, Aunt Zhou. The little one is still waiting at home."
Qin Shi walked along the wall, his legs as weak as noodles, comparable to a veteran battling for days at Red Romance Hair Salon.
The short distance of a few hundred meters took him ten minutes to walk home.
There was no one inside; his younger sibling Qin Lan had gone out.
During this break, his sister occasionally took on tutoring or cashier jobs to supplement their income.
Exhausted, Qin Shi lay in the house, lips pale, gulping water from a kettle.
The retina displayed new content –
[The body has undergone moderate exercise...]
[Growth +20]
[Primary Achievement Activated - Muscle Memory]
"This is moderate? I'm almost broken. But... it seems it wasn't all in vain."
As Qin Shi was about to complain, his eyes suddenly lit up.
The gray oval object on the black-framed panel had shattered at some point, hatching into a flesh-like embryo.
The data changed silently –
[Anchor: Qin Shi]
[Growth Stage: Embryo]
[Progress: 0.008%]
[Monument Number: 2]
Qin Shi stared closely at the two gray tomb-like stones, watching as the text refreshed like a waterfall, appearing and disappearing.
[Muscle Memory: Power grows with sweat. If it doesn't kill you, push harder, your will can breakthrough any barrier!]
[Trait: Muscles will remember every move you've mastered and reproduce it precisely.]
[Advanced Route: Perform over twenty sets of failure exercises daily and supplement with a large amount of protein. Continuously maintaining this will unlock the corresponding skills.]
"Muscle memory? I'm getting there!"
Qin Shi immediately perked up and got spirited.
Typically, muscle memory takes years to develop.
For instance, professional athletes train day and night, allowing their bodies to adapt to the rhythm and enter a state effortlessly.
It seemed that he could save this time by unlocking achievements!
"Mr. Liang wants me to back off! Muscle tearing and peeling? I'll keep going no matter what!"
Recalling Mr. Liang's indifferent attitude, Qin Shi pondered.
He understood that this high school PE teacher's approach was entirely out of goodwill.
He didn't want Qin Shi to lose out on greater opportunities, jeopardizing his future.
But after a lifetime of struggling on Old Factory Street, what future was there?
Living forever under this gray sky, guarding this decaying old street filled with chimneys and factories?
"In the Great Cosmos Era, the brilliant Star Sea, are the workers' kids from the Old Town District undeserving of it?
Even as dust, I wish to float in space rather than fall in the mud to be trampled upon."
After silently encouraging himself, Qin Shi took a deep breath, condensing all his thoughts into two words:
"Start training!"
In the dim room, Qin Shi calmed his mind, relaxed, and waited for his strength to recover.
Time passed quietly, about forty minutes later.
"Muscle memory, activate!"
Qin Shi tightened his lips, gritted his teeth, and spread his legs unsteadily into a stance.
He straightened his back, tightened his muscles, and carefully recalled the feeling when Mr. Liang trained him.
Breathe in, breathe out!
As his chest and abdomen moved, the tightened tendons in his body slightly twitched under his skin.
"Hiss, this is too intense! Swelling and hot, like being shocked, tingling like being bitten by thousands of ants..."
Qin Shi couldn't help but wince, trying to use his remaining strength to maintain a steady posture.
Then he reviewed Mr. Liang's instructions from start to finish.
After a while, something changed in his body.
The shoulders, chest, abdomen, waist, and legs...
This string of fine hot streams gathered and flowed like springs.
The feeling of scraping with a fascia knife reappeared!
"The trapezius, levator scapulae, splenius capitis, trapezius, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi... they all seem to be coming alive!"
Qin Shi endured the burning pain, familiarizing himself with the muscle memory.
He gradually discovered that a web-like structure seemed to exist between his bones and flesh.
From the sides of his neck to his waist and tailbone, numerous large tendons connected bones and muscles together.
It all felt like one coherent unit!
They moved like tiny mice, following Qin Shi's breathing either up or down, pulling tendons and muscles along!
"It doesn't seem as torturous as before, the longer I stand, the easier it gets! The body feels as if it's waking up from a deep sleep!"
In his first class, with an eight-point Life Force, Qin Shi had managed to hold on for twenty-seven minutes against Mr. Liang's punishing bone-stretching technique.
Now, thirty-four minutes had passed, and he still had strength left.
[Underwent a vigorous workout...]
[Growth +30]
"Training is momentarily satisfying, continuous training will be continuously satisfying!"
In the narrow shanty, Qin Shi accepted the slight transformations in his body with satisfaction.
The stiffness and heaviness that had accumulated in his muscles seemed to slough off like dead skin.
It gave him a sense of clarity and freshness!