This inner energy technique seems rather unorthodox.

Chen Jue took out his phone and searched for the ID of the "Old Mischief with Primordial Hands" on both Douyin and Bilibili. The man had just over two hundred thousand followers—a far cry from the martial arts influencers who practiced fancy routines, showed off flashy moves, and basked in their own charisma. Yet, this one was clearly the real deal, possessing genuine skill and mastery. Chen Jue scrolled through his history of videos, and not only was he able to make his hands swell and contract as if inflated at will, but even his handful of disciples could perform the same feat.

Though the principle behind it remained elusive, Chen Jue felt exhilarated upon seeing such impactful footage for the first time. Traditional martial arts—the true art is what’s been handed down. As long as the lineage remains unbroken, it lives!

After finishing the videos, Chen Jue glanced up at Old Wu. The elder, watching the influencer in the video, showed a hint of envy. Cradling his thermos with an air of mystery, he asked, "Young man, can you guess how old I am?"

"Well… perhaps sixty, seventy?" Chen Jue sized him up. The elder’s hair was graying, his skin wrinkled and dotted with age spots—a clear sign of advancing years.

"I'm seventy-five this year! Been retired for fifteen years now. Xiao Fang is my youngest granddaughter." Old Wu gave a secretive smile, then pointed at the "Old Mischief with Primordial Hands" in the video, "Guess his age?"

"Maybe… in his fifties?" Chen Jue looked at the video. This barehanded brute, dressed in training attire, sporting a mid-length perm tinged with gray, a rosy complexion, and a ring of beard around his lips, appeared to be a man in his fifties.

"He's my age—just two months younger!" Old Wu declared. "I had someone look up his information."

He snapped shut his thermos and cast a sly glance at Chen Jue, whose face was now a picture of disbelief.

Comparing Old Wu’s appearance to that of the Old Mischief, it was like seeing a ghost; their looks simply didn’t belong to the same age bracket. Visually, they differed by at least twenty years!

"No beauty filters, all videos are straight from the original camera," Old Wu added.

"Is there really such a difference from practicing internal skills?" Chen Jue was bewildered. The impact was so profound, he could barely process it.

"There’s definitely a difference. Just look at his appearance and aura," Old Wu said. "My father practiced internal skills and lived to be 102—quite long-lived. As for me, at this age, I only learned a bit of the family’s basics, practiced external boxing, and know nothing about health-preserving arts. Chances are, I won’t live that long!" he half-joked.

Seeing that Chen Jue was still grappling with the worldview-shattering implications of internal skills, Old Wu didn’t disturb him further. Chuckling, he grabbed a red-tasseled spear and his thermos, and went off to the chess tables in search of a game. He’d said everything he needed to—the task entrusted by his granddaughter was done. Whether Chen Jue believed or not was his own affair.

From what he could see, the young man seemed rather ordinary. Even with impressive dart skills, Old Wu felt he wasn’t yet a match for his granddaughter. After all, being skilled with darts wasn’t anything rare these days; plenty practiced online, but few made a fortune or lived grandly off it.

As for Chen Jue, after digesting the shock brought by the Old Mischief’s internal skills, he found himself yearning for that untrodden path. If someone could master it, surely he could too.

Watching those hands swell like Luffy’s third gear, not only increasing resistance to blows but seemingly boosting strength, Chen Jue was deeply tempted. If he could learn this and apply it to any organ, swelling at will, what wonders might he achieve?

"If only I knew how to contact him…" Chen Jue scoured the historical videos and the influencer’s profile, but found no address. Apparently, the Old Mischief was simply online for the traffic, not selling products; even direct messages were blocked. Clearly, he was an oddity among video creators.

He watched through every video, and before he realized it, noon was approaching. When he snapped out of it, Old Wu had already vanished.

"Damn! Didn’t even say goodbye!" Chen Jue smacked his forehead, annoyed at his lack of manners. He’d come seeking real martial arts, and though he hadn’t gotten it from Old Wu, the elder had at least pointed him in the right direction.

"I’ll have to thank him properly next time," Chen Jue muttered, grabbing his bag and leaving the park.

He found a fast food place and ate lunch, continuing to scroll through videos. He hoped to find some clues in the comments, but after searching, found nothing but jokesters and entertainers, with no practical information.

"Can the creator upload a video showing the hands growing bigger? And can it be applied to other limbs? I mean feet (dog head emoji)."

"I’m embarrassed to point it out, but you mean the third leg, right? (wry smile)"

"Can this skill be practiced anywhere? (tongue out)"

"Where do you want to practice, upstairs? (melon eater)"

"So Stephen Chow’s line about fists as big as sandbags is real? (shocked)"

"Uncle, did you eat the rubber devil fruit? (spectator)"

…

With no contact info found, Chen Jue decided to lock his phone and shelve his plan to seek a mentor for now. As long as the master kept uploading videos, there would always be a chance to reach him—no need to rush.

After lunch, he went upstairs for a ninety-minute nap. In the afternoon, he returned to the park, but rather than exercise to boost attributes, he set up his camera gear.

He picked a tree trunk as a target, donned a mask, and tried out several dart throws on camera. After his stone-skipping video had been mocked online by followers of the "Skill Master," Chen Jue wanted to redeem himself. If skipping stones wasn’t flashy enough, surely his masterful dart skills would draw attention?

To up the difficulty, he deliberately increased the distance, only throwing from about twenty meters away.

He spent over an hour practicing with all the different types of darts he’d bought. After gathering the footage, Chen Jue edited it on his phone, adding a classic martial arts soundtrack and uploading it under the title "Skill: Dart Throwing."

Why the elongated title with spaces? It’s a must-have for meme creators, fitting perfectly with his long-distance dart throws. His previous "Stone Skipping" video used the same gimmick, though overshadowed by the world record holder.

After posting, seeing there was still time, Chen Jue continued practicing the Twelve Forms of Tai Chi by the lake. Since the skill was already maxed out, further practice wouldn’t increase proficiency, but Tai Chi counted as aerobic exercise, so extra training still boosted attribute points.

He spent the afternoon grinding out 0.02 free attribute points, which he put directly into Constitution.

His Constitution attribute rose to 1.05.

With more points in Constitution, Chen Jue noticed his energy levels had greatly improved. Previously, a few hours at the computer would leave him drowsy; now, early mornings and training left him refreshed, and even after intense workouts, a night or two of rest saw him fully recovered—all thanks to having Constitution above one.

"I wonder if putting Constitution up to two or three would cure all my bad habits," Chen Jue mused, feeling a pleasant warmth flow through his body as he slung his backpack and returned to the talent apartment.

That evening, he skipped grip strength training. His hand muscles hadn’t fully recovered, and he figured another night’s rest would clear out the accumulated lactic acid.

According to the fitness coach Li Chaoqun, arm muscles are small groups and recover faster than larger ones. But for ordinary people training like Chen Jue, it could take five days or even a week to recover (note).

Chen Jue’s quick recovery was entirely thanks to his attribute panel.

Even so, without training that evening, he didn’t idle. Recently obsessed with exercise and improving himself, Chen Jue spent his free time browsing information on anatomy, sports, and fitness, recharging his knowledge to avoid training himself the wrong way.

He also messaged Wu Fang, thanking Old Wu for his guidance and saying the morning meeting had been enlightening.

Perhaps because the hype over saving the dog had faded, or the netizens had lost interest, Wu Fang was online and replied, "Glad I could help! (grinning) Grandpa says your dart skills are amazing—you could compete!"

"It’s just a bit of self-taught craft (innocent)," Chen Jue responded, happy to see the kind-hearted teacher reply so quickly, and began chatting with her.

Time spent chatting with a girl always flies. By ten o’clock, messages on WeChat ceased, so Chen Jue put down his phone, turned off the lights, and tried to sleep early.

Yet as soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with those hands swelling like balloons—a vivid impression from the day, leaving his brain still in a state of excitement. He tossed and turned until nearly eleven before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, he woke up a bit late and went up to the rooftop at seven to do his "Eye Exercises."

Thirty minutes of daily sunlight exposure with eyes closed and eye care had become Chen Jue’s habit. Those who never suffered from myopia can’t understand the discomfort and inconvenience of wearing glasses. The first thing every morning is to grope for his glasses; if forgotten, he’d squint and search everywhere, since everything beyond a few meters was a blurry mosaic.

Now, with a method to improve and restore vision, Chen Jue worked at it diligently. After days of practice, results were remarkable: his vision grew clearer, and his "Eye Exercises" skill leveled up again.

——————

[Ding~]
[Current proficiency reached 100%, skill level increased.]
[Eye Exercises Lv1 (200/200) → Lv2 (1/500)]
[After a period of exploration, you’ve gained insight into eye care massage. You are now familiar with the blood vessels, meridians, and neural points around the eye sockets. Your massage strength has improved, blood flow to the eyeballs is faster, retinal cell metabolism is more active, and your massage technique and therapeutic effect have been slightly enhanced.]

——————

A strange muscle memory flooded his hands, making them more nimble. When pressing the acupuncture points near his eye sockets, he could hit the right spot immediately, no longer fumbling after instructional videos.

"It’s truly miraculous! Like inputting a fixed code program into my muscles!"

Chen Jue tried several times, marveling at the upgraded effect, then went downstairs to pack his things.

Today was Monday—his first day reporting to work at Hengtong Group.

Though it wasn’t far, just a twenty-minute drive, he prepared early. He packed a large bag with a set of business attire—a standard requirement for financial firms, worn by all major companies. But Chen Jue planned to change at his workstation, as there was still plenty of time.

Despite having the panel now and being able to grind skills for rewards, Chen Jue wasn’t about to quit and go home before earning enough from his skills to sustain himself.

As a risk control specialist, he understood the uncertainties of quitting with nothing lined up.

He added a pair of leather shoes to his bag and slipped a grip strength trainer into his pocket, heading downstairs in sportswear. He didn’t go to the park for morning exercise—there wasn’t time.

Driving to the Hengtong Group building, he hit rush hour traffic and finally parked after eight forty. He saw crowds of office workers and young professionals streaming toward the nearby skyscrapers.

The Hengtong Group building was no exception—people and cars everywhere.

Chen Jue wasn’t worried; he approached the new job with a laid-back attitude. Didn’t you notice the grip trainer in his pocket? He could sneak attribute grinding while earning a high salary—a true master of time management!

But after clocking in on DingTalk and reaching the elevator, Chen Jue was dumbfounded! The new tower had so many employees that all eight elevators were packed to bursting. Even the fire escape and freight elevators were jammed, everyone scrambling to avoid being late.

Seeing this, Chen Jue’s mind turned to the empty stairwell. "Seventeen floors—shouldn’t be too hard."

He was already half an action-taker, so he started climbing.

He’d barely made it up half a flight when the panel popped up with a prompt:

——————

[Ding~]
[Completed a series of qualified limb movements]
[Climbing skill proficiency +1]

——————