Chapter 11 Tongbei Quan for Beginners

Even his other attributes had improved to various extents, including the most difficult ones to enhance: [Reaction] and [Spirit].

However, Li Ang knew that such a state of flow, like the one he had just experienced, was something that could be encountered but not sought after. Sustaining growth over the long term still had to happen step by step.

After resting for a moment, Li Ang went to the kitchen and took out a salmon that weighted more than five pounds from the refrigerator.

He had grown a bit tired of beef these days and wanted to change things up.

In America, eating freshwater fish was relatively rare, mainly due to the way of cooking.

In earlier times, the methods of cooking here were more simplistic: either grilling or eating raw, without the variety of cooking techniques found back home.

Both methods basically carried the risk of ingesting parasites, which is why people preferred the relatively safer sea fish. After all, many parasites found in sea fish cannot live in the human body due to different living environments and pose less harm to humans.

Then there's the matter of seasoning; in simple terms, it was hard to afford or use spices to remove the fishy smell, making many river fish inedible.

Over time, such a habit had developed.

When Li Ang got this fish, he didn't choose to prepare sashimi, although that's how everyone eats it, but he still felt repelled by the idea.

He originally wanted to make pickled cabbage fish, but unfortunately, after looking around the supermarket, he couldn't find any pickled cabbage, so he had to use tomatoes instead.

He made a pot of rich tomato fish soup that was both sour and appetizing while also being quite complementary to rice.

Moreover, it encompassed a variety of nutritional components including protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and fiber.

Breakthrough Point +0.06

After gaining the breakthrough point, Li Ang added it all to [Spirit], bringing this attribute to 13.60.

After briefly feeling it out, he thought that this level was still within his body's capacity to withstand, which reassured him.

Although attributes like [Spirit] and [Reaction] cannot be increased entirely at will, compared to Constitution and Strength, they were somewhat more difficult; thus, prioritizing them for improvement was not an issue.

Between the two, Li Ang still felt that [Spirit] was of the greatest help to him at the moment.

If there were a need for actual combat or some competitive sports in the future, enhancing [Reaction] would not be too late.

After resting for a while, Li Ang resumed practicing Xiao Lian Shou.

This was the skill he most urgently wanted to master.

If he could grasp both the Pile Skill and the technique of Tongbei Quan, his Tongbei Quan would be considered at the beginner level.

Perhaps because he had successfully mastered the Pile Skill, this time when Li Ang practiced Xiao Lian Shou, it felt different.

No wonder the books say that these techniques complement each other: without a solid foundation, practicing other skills would only yield half the results with twice the effort.

The clock on the wall had reached midnight.

Yet Li Ang was still in the living room, repeatedly practicing Xiao Lian Shou over and over.

The sweat dripping from his body had even soaked the floor in a circle.

He wasn't overly zealous today, practicing so diligently; it was more that he felt he was close to touching the realm, yet there seemed to be a thin membrane separating him.

That was why he kept practicing till now, continuously grasping for that fleeting inspiration.

To reach the beginner level in Tongbei Quan in such a short time, even with his attributes panel, giving more effort was still necessary.

He owed it to his improved constitution and spirit, both of which had grown significantly recently, otherwise, his previous body might not have withstood the strain.

With a smooth turn, Li Ang slowly steadied his breath, retracted his fists, and a satisfied smile finally appeared on his face.

The original skill [Tongbei Fist Standing Exercise] had disappeared, replaced by [Tongbei Fist] 42/100 (Beginner).

After half a day's practice, even his constitution had improved considerably, almost matching the results of his previous haphazard training.

Having achieved a minor goal, Li Ang could finally get a good night's sleep.

After breakfast in the morning, Li Ang got on his bike and, instead of wandering aimlessly as usual, he headed straight for the city center.

According to the map, he arrived at the door of a small villa where the Erick Brothers were already waiting for him.

Another person there was a tall and muscular Caucasian young man.

He simply greeted them and didn't talk much, but when his gaze glanced at Li Ang's bike, his expression revealed a hint of confusion.

Li Ang could tell at a glance that this muscular young man was probably aligned with the Erick Brothers and, like himself, was a "mercenary."

"Alright, forget about that damn women's bike for the next week, this will be your new ride," said Little Eric, laughing as he wheeled out a blue road bike from inside the house.

"Actually, it was my 'ex-girlfriend', but you wouldn't mind that, would you?"

Li Ang waved his hand dismissively, clearly unbothered by such things; it was just a second-hand bike, after all, and he didn't even know the history of the one he was currently riding.

Moreover, it didn't take much thought to realize that a road bike discarded by a rich kid wouldn't be too shabby.

"Okay, I called you here today mainly to do some emergency pre-race training and work on our team's coordination," Eric came over and interrupted the light-hearted banter, speaking earnestly.

After saying that, he looked at Li Ang and asked,

"Have you participated in any team cycling events before this?"

"No."

Li Ang shook his head; he hadn't even ridden a proper road bike before.

At this point, while his riding skills might have reached a professional level, he was still quite unfamiliar with the rules of the related competitions.

Eric wasn't too surprised by this response and explained the rules of the upcoming race to Li Ang in detail.

Simply put, in this race, each team sends four members to start at the same time, and the final score is based on the first three members to finish within each team.

This format is also known as a mass-start race and is one of the most exciting types of cycling events.

There's also the team time trial, in which teams start at intervals of two to three minutes, and the final score is determined by the time of the third member to finish.

Such rules naturally define each team member's role, such as "windbreakers," "sprinters," and so on.

Generally speaking, the role of a windbreaker is to take the pressure at the front, reduce air resistance for teammates behind them, conserve their energy, and help improve their results.

In the latter half of the race, windbreakers often exhaust their energy and drop out, so their performance isn't counted, which is why there are four racers but only the scores of the top three are considered.

In the preliminary discussions, Eric had chosen Li Ang as the "main windbreaker."