At the end of the seventh month of training at the Martial Hall.
The Martial Arts Arena under the night sky.
Lin Chen was practicing his fists, while Gu Fei was also punching on the side, but his movements were scattered, indicating a lack of focus.
After finishing another Warm Sun Fist sequence, Lin Chen glanced at Gu Fei but said nothing.
Gu Fei didn't go to work at the cafeteria, so he could practice a little longer in the Martial Arts Arena, while Lin was making up the time.
People do get tired, and at that moment, Gu Fei was clearly in a state of fatigue.
Lin Chen didn't explicitly tell Gu Fei that practicing for five two-hour sessions a day would increase his Qi Blood by an additional point, as he couldn't explain the existence of the panel. Instead, he simply dragged Gu Fei to practice for the full five sessions every day.
After five sessions of practicing fists, Lin Chen summoned the panel.
[Name: Lin Chen]
[Occupation: Martial Artist]
[Qi Blood: 1402/3000]
[Life Chart: [Natural Progress]: Martial Arts First Realm, Perseverance, Step-by-Step, Unstoppable, No Bottleneck Problem.]
With the leftover beef from the cafeteria every day, his Qi Blood still maintained a growth of 10 points per day.
According to this Qi Blood value, he was already able to lift a 280-pound stone block.
Standing on the side, Gu Fei, seeing Lin Chen approach the 280-pound stone block, was a bit puzzled.
And when he saw Lin Chen squat down, grab the stone block handle, and lift it, his mouth opened wide enough to fit a goose egg.
"Chen... Chen, you can lift 280 pounds now?"
"Is there a problem? I reached 220 pounds at the end of last month; you knew that." Lin Chen was a bit confused, not understanding why Gu Fei was so surprised.
"Of course there is, that's sixty pounds more." Gu Fei quickly explained, "Once your strength reaches 200 pounds, you either have to increase your daily food expenses, or your strength growth will slow down. You see, three months ago, my strength was just 200 pounds, and now it's just slightly over 300 pounds."
Listening to Gu Fei's explanation, Lin Chen fell into thought.
Originally, his whole mind was focused on passing the 200-pound assessment point. After reaching 200 pounds, he hadn't really paid attention to everyone's strength growth. He'd only occasionally heard Gu Fei mention that strength growth had slowed but didn't know it had slowed this much.
"Are you working at the cafeteria? Did they give you Qi Nourishing Soup?" Gu Fei considered this possibility.
Lin Chen didn't answer directly, instead giving a caution, "Don't talk about my strength growth to anyone else for now."
"I understand, Instructor Yu treats you so well; if others find out, they might get jealous of you." Gu Fei raised his eyebrows and then added, "Can you talk to Instructor Yu and get me arranged at the cafeteria too? I'll wash vegetables, you wash dishes; our brotherhood will dominate the cafeteria together."
"Sure, go talk to Instructor Yu."
"I don't dare; I freeze up when I see Instructor Yu." Gu Fei shrunk his neck, waving his hands quickly.
Lin Chen could understand Gu Fei's fear of Instructor Yu. Since ancient times, students have always feared teachers. Although Instructor Yu wouldn't reprimand students harshly, he wasn't the smiling type either, and he held a certain authority in the students' minds.
"Let's head back to the dormitory."
On the way back to the dormitory, the night sky concealed the expression of contemplation on Lin Chen's face.
He felt that there was something he seemed to have overlooked.
...
...
Another month passed like this.
At the end of Lin Chen's eighth month of learning martial arts at the Martial Hall.
The sky was barely lighting up.
In the late autumn season, there was a thin layer of frost on the bluestone floor of the Martial Arts Arena, but under the constant moving steps of the young man, the frost slowly thawed.
Lin Chen stood there, waving his fists, executing a set of Warm Sun Fist with perfect fluency, feeling the flowing of Qi Blood within him. With every punch, a warm current surged in his belly, only to dissipate after retracting his fists.
"This sensation started appearing after my Qi Blood reached 1500. So 1500 Qi Blood is a threshold, only after reaching 1500 does the strength of the body truly distance itself from an ordinary person's."
Although Warm Sun Fist is not a combat fist technique but rather a method to accelerate the circulation of Qi Blood, its increase also enhances various body metrics.
In the previous few months, although his Qi Blood increased, the physical changes other than his height weren't very evident. But after reaching 1500 Qi Blood, he could genuinely feel the progress in his physical strength.
Strength doesn't simply grow in a 1 plus 1 manner.
A 300-pound punch landing on the body is vastly different in the extent of damage from three 100-pound punches landing simultaneously.
This involves the issue of the body's limit in bearing damage.
He should now be able to knock down his self from a month ago with a single punch.
Retracting his fists, Lin Chen looked at the panel.
[Name: Lin Chen]
[Occupation: Martial Artist]
[Qi Blood: 1702/3000]
[Life Chart: [Natural Progress]: Martial Arts First Realm, Perseverance, Step-by-Step, Unstoppable, No Bottleneck Problem.]
His strength had reached 340 pounds, surpassing Gu Fei.
But what delighted Lin Chen most wasn't reaching 340 pounds, but understanding the true meaning of the [Natural Progress] Life Chart.
A month ago, when Gu Fei mentioned that students' strength growth slowed after reaching 200 pounds, he had a hypothesis in his mind.
All Martial Hall students began maintaining a meat-eating habit after their strength reached 200 pounds, yet the growth still slowed, while only he maintained steady growth.
After verifying over this month, he confirmed that the Life Chart [Natural Progress] wasn't as simple as he initially thought.
[Natural Progress]: Martial Arts First Realm, Perseverance, Step-by-Step, Unstoppable, No Bottleneck Problem.
Natural Progress, when water flows over the ground for the first time, part of it is absorbed by the ground, slowing its pace. However, as the water increases, the flow speeds up, forming streams and rivers over time. The water force becomes powerful enough to move forward mightily, unstoppable even by high terrain ahead.
This was his original understanding of [Natural Progress].
He had only paid attention to the last part before, but now he realized that every line of the Life Chart represented a different state.
Perseverance: These four words call for consistent martial training without pause.
Step-by-Step: Gradual advancement and improvement.
Unstoppable: Rapid progress, pushing forward without hindrance.
Precisely because of being Unstoppable, he experienced no bottlenecks.
Lin Chen now truly grasped the [Natural Progress] Life Chart.
The [Natural Progress] Life Chart divided his martial arts journey into three stages. The first stage of Perseverance was pretty straightforward, while the second stage of Step-by-Step ensured constant growth, unlike Gu Fei and the others whose progress slowed down.
If this were the case, then entering the latter Unstoppable stage means his Qi Blood growth rate would accelerate even further.
Lin Chen's eyes were filled with fervor. With the [Natural Progress] Life Chart aiding him, even if he didn't have as many silver coins as someone like Lu Yongfeng, he could slowly catch up with them with the help of the Life Chart, rather than just having an advantage during a bottleneck stage.