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Chapter 227: Chapter 185 Gecko Wall-Crawling Skill_2
He pushed off the floor with both feet just enough to execute a perfect vertical jump.
This time it was notably more stable.
Fang Cheng stretched out his limbs, his body lightly leaping upwards, and the instant he was about to reach the highest point, he quickly pressed the stopwatch on his phone.
At the same moment, in order to give his body hanging in midair another target to exert force on, he continuously slapped the ceiling.
Pop pop pop pop pop—
With over a dozen consecutive light taps, Fang Cheng’s palms seemed to stick to the plaster ceiling.
It created an illusion.
As if he was doing Handstand Pushups with the ceiling as the floor.
And not just jumping in place, where the body is airborne with no support at all.
This almost stationary floating state, as the numbers on the phone’s stopwatch rapidly ticked, seemed like it could last forever.
Suddenly.
Fang Cheng finally felt the pull of gravity calling him.
Following that, his heart skipped a beat, and his entire body instantly reverted from its weightless state, plummeting downwards.
Thud!
In the blink of an eye, his feet hit the floor again.
Fang Cheng immediately looked down at the phone screen.
3.07 seconds.
The stopwatch glaringly displayed that his hang time had exceeded the expected 3-second limit.
Which is to say, compared to the previous 2 seconds, it was roughly a 1-second improvement.
This again proved two points.
Hang time is related to basic attributes, but the effect is not very significant.
Different Skill Effects enhance basic attributes rather than doubling with each iteration.
If it weren’t for the "Ape waist" and "Air Walking" effects, his hang time would be around 1.2 seconds, not much better than a top athlete.
From this, one can conclude how difficult it is to enhance this ability.
At the very least, far from the ability to truly fly in the air, like the legendary Qinggong in martial arts movies.
Fang Cheng Concentrated and settled his mind, carefully savoring the subtle sensation of floating in the air he had just experienced.
It seemed that in that brief moment, the movements made by his body were enough to temporarily overcome the inertial pull of free fall.
The main force acting on the human body in the air is gravity, with other forces like air resistance being negligible.
Perhaps... by adjusting the position of his center of gravity, he could further extend this hang time, even at the limits of his body.
Just like how acrobats or gymnasts maintain a relatively stable shoulder height in the air, they often use changes in the position of their upper and lower limbs to substitute for torso movement.
To the audience, their torso seems to be suspended in air, but in reality, this does not violate the laws of physics.
Because when the limbs are moving, the center of gravity moves, and as long as the trajectory of the center of gravity follows the law of free fall, there’s no ideological "suspension" in the air.
After some thought, Fang Cheng set down his phone, took a deep breath, and retreated several steps backward.
Until he stood in front of the balcony, firmly planted on his feet once more.
Then he lifted his head and looked at the ceiling near the front entrance of the living room.
This time, he decided not to try the high-jump-and-touch-the-ceiling approach but instead, adopt a Jujitsu-like forward somersault maneuver.
Fang Cheng stood with his back to the balcony, eyes slightly narrowed, taking a few short preliminary steps.
Then he stepped off the floor with his right foot, like a gymnast, raising his arms and using the momentum to leap forward and upwards.
Except that the height he reached somewhat exceeded the limits of common knowledge.
His whole body was like a carp leaping high out of the water, tracing a beautiful upward arc in the air.
Just as his shoulders were about to touch the ceiling, Fang Cheng quickly lowered his head, tucking it into his chest.
At the same time, he bent his knees, drawing in his legs as much as possible, and curled up his body.
This tucked somersault maneuver lasted about 1 second, with nearly 1 second of hang time.
Fang Cheng felt the shift in his center of gravity around his waist and abdomen, and riding on the inertia that had not yet fully dissipated, he quickly extended his limbs, pressing his back completely against the ceiling.
At that moment, all the strength of his body was consolidated into a unified force, concentrated in his waist and abdomen.
Thus, a special power strong enough to overcome gravity erupted, propelling his body up into the air and continuing its motion along the trajectory of a parabola.
During this process, Fang Cheng used his waist and abdominal strength to make minor adjustments to his center of gravity.
Then, he glided slowly across the ceiling, much like a gecko.
Until he almost reached the entrance, feeling the weight of his body becoming heavy and wobbling like it’s about to fall.
Fang Cheng took a deep breath then.
At the critical juncture of his strength waning, he suddenly twisted his waist and abdomen and propelled forward a bit more.
Then he once again tucked his head and legs into a curled position.
As a result, like in slow-motion, his descent rate slowed down again.
Thud!
Fang Cheng rolled twice in the air, adjusting his direction as he suddenly stretched out his hands to grab the top of the wardrobe near the entrance.
Like an incredibly agile monkey maneuvering and pivoting on a cliff edge, he landed silently and lightly on the floor.
"Hoo—"
After completing a spectacular "Acrobatic Performance," Fang Cheng exhaled and his lips couldn’t help but slightly curve upward.
This time, the duration of hang time throughout the jump was at least around 5 seconds.
Although still far from achieving the superpower-like level of Flying in the air, he had at least preliminarily accomplished the martial arts version of the "Gecko Wall-Crawling Skill."
That was indeed an impressive outcome.
To further enhance this ability, besides continuing to increase strength and agility attributes, the main thing was to extend the hang time as much as possible.
Perhaps... he could choose to learn more skills that required the body to be aloft and emphasized balance, such as Lifting Leg, Handstand Pushups, and Jujitsu.
Then, by continuously stacking Skill Effects or synthesizing a new Qinggong skill,
he could finally overcome gravity, truly achieving the degree of being light as a feather and soaring through the sky.
Fang Cheng let his imagination run wild as he moved his neck and limbs.
Turning his head to look at himself in the dressing mirror, he still had the appearance of a muscular hunk.
Despite being very satisfied with the rewards from this upgrade, there was still a slight hint of regret in his heart.
If only he could gain a few more agility attribute points to restore his body to its normal, refined state.
Thinking about this, Fang Cheng’s gaze flickered slightly as he summoned the panel again.
He carefully examined a few skills which, relatively speaking, had higher progress bars.
[Speed Reading lv1 (203/250)]
[Cooking Skill lv1 (119/250)]
[Boxing lv2 (205/500)]
[Sand Fighting lv2 (267/500)]
[Tai Chi Boxing lv0 (68/100)]
[Muay Thai lv1 (159/250)]
These skills weren’t too far from leveling up; at a quick pace it would take about ten days, or at a slower pace, a little over a month.
Looking at the practice efficiency, perhaps only Tai Chi Boxing could break through and level up in the shortest time.
Fang Cheng pinned his hopes on the next Enhancement reward.
Immediately, he reined in his thoughts and donned his jacket.
He then took out a chicken breast sandwich,—which he had bought from the supermarket—from the fridge.
He quickly ate a few bites to stave off his hunger.
Without further delay, he immediately began to prepare a rich, nutritious breakfast high in protein and trace elements.
After all, about 30 minutes after exercising, the body’s efficiency at absorbing nutrients is at its peak, making it the best time to eat and replenish energy.
All those medical books Fang Cheng had borrowed from the library were certainly not read in vain.
In the kitchen, the gas stove flickered with a bluish flame.
Fang Cheng, brandishing pots and pans, began yet another busy round of cooking.
At this moment, some noise came from outside the door.
Thump, thump.
It sounded like someone was knocking lightly on the door.
Hearing the noise, Fang Cheng immediately put down the kitchen knife he was about to use for cutting meat and walked towards the entrance.
Creak—
After opening the door, a familiar and pretty face was revealed.
Zhou Xiumei was wearing a white sweater with an apron tied around her front, apparently busy in the kitchen before hastily coming over.
Their eyes met, and for a moment there was an awkward silence.
"Brother Cheng, I didn’t see you when I got up this morning. Where did you go?"
Zhou Xiumei blinked, her cheeks flushing slightly as she asked.
It was evident that she had come and knocked several times before.
Fang Cheng replied with feigned composure:
"I have a habit of exercising early in the morning, and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I didn’t tell you."
Zhou Xiumei didn’t continue the conversation on this topic.
Instead, she pursed her lips slightly as if summoning the strength to speak a little louder:
"I just made breakfast. Would you like to have some together?"
As she spoke, she raised her eyes, looking at Fang Cheng nervously.
Seeing her face filled with expectation, Fang Cheng hesitated before nodding and agreeing.
Hearing his response, Zhou Xiumei’s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran back home cheerfully:
"The soup in the kitchen should be ready soon, I’ll go get you a bowl right now."
