The sea breeze, carrying the coolness unique to the early morning, swept across Qingshui Bay in the northeast corner of East City.
The sky was still a deep ink color, merging with the boundless sea, indistinguishable from each other.
The silhouettes of tall buildings on the city side outlined undulating contours in the dark.
A few sparse flickering lights seemed like a sleeping giant beast, opening bleary eyes.
A nimble figure appeared stealthily on the seashore, darting like a cheetah.
Upon closer inspection, it was a muscular bald man wearing only shorts.
He was barefoot, and each step left a clear and powerful imprint on the damp sand.
The footprints connected in a line, extending straight ahead, soon to be gradually smoothed and dissolved by the tide surging behind.
At this moment, it was still early morning, yet someone couldn’t sleep and deliberately came to the beach for a run.
It’s undoubtedly a peculiar tale.
However, what was even more astonishing was the man’s manner of running.
His speed didn’t seem particularly fast, only equivalent to the sprint speed of top athletes in the hundred-meter dash.
But the rhythm was exceptionally steady, with wide strides from his legs.
His posture was extremely relaxed and unhurried, without the look of gritted determination or forceful effort.
It was as though he was engaging in a leisurely warm-up at a speed that would be the limit for ordinary people.
All his muscles acted as if pulled by countless chains, each lift of the leg, each swing of the arm, each breath was incredibly smooth, full of the harmony of strength and beauty.
Even the most critical track and field coach would struggle to find a single flaw in his running posture.
Not to mention, maintaining such a sprinting state for a long time would allow him to sweep all the gold medals in running events at the Olympics.
Even the world champion of men’s marathon, their average pace converted, is far less than half of the sprint speed of elite sprinters.
What he was doing now was like running a marathon at sprint speed.
The man’s running speed didn’t slow down or speed up, consistently maintaining a precise uniform pace.
This control itself was extremely impressive, let alone that high bursts of energy often accompany rapid depletion.
Yet he looked with no flush on his face, no shortness of breath, as if he was leisurely walking by the seaside.
His physical prowess was akin to a humanoid monster.
A breath, tinged with mist, was gently exhaled from his nostrils.
Fang Cheng wasn’t blindly pursuing extreme bursts during his training.
He simply tried to control his speed, running along the beach at a steady pace as a normal person would imagine.
Doing so, aside from avoiding excessive speed that could cause astonishing damage to the surrounding environment, was also a way to improve training efficiency.
The sand beneath his feet was soft and uneven; each footfall required engaging more muscle groups in the legs, buttocks, even the waist and abdomen to maintain balance.
In this way, he could effectively train the deep muscles less used usually and enhance body coordination.
Meanwhile, the sand absorbed much of the impact from the body, greatly reducing pressure on the ankle, knee, and hip joints during running.
Moreover, the feet sinking into the sand added extra resistance to the leg-lifting motion, consuming far more energy than on ordinary hard surfaces, thus increasing workout efficiency.
For those eager to lose weight, running on the beach undoubtedly burns fat more effectively while reducing joint strain and wear.
Of course, Fang Cheng had no need to worry about this.
What he enjoyed more was this unique experience.
The fine sand softly massaged his soles, bringing tingling pleasure.
The wide open view of the seaside, the freedom of running solo, relieved pressure and brought him joy physically and mentally.
Running along the winding beach from the southern end to the north, the route was five kilometers long.
A rugged rocky area appeared ahead, and beyond it was a small mountain.
To continue, he needed to leave the beach and step onto the coastal road.
Fang Cheng stopped at the rocks, with no obvious sweat on his face and no rapid breath.
He then turned around and ran back in the direction he came from.
After checking the house renovation status in Guilan District yesterday afternoon, Fang Cheng simply stayed overnight in the bare room.
He meditated throughout the night, continuing to familiarize and practice the ability of "Spiritual Resonance."
In the vast and boundless sea of consciousness, he aimed to capture individuals with similar consciousness frequencies and establish more spiritual links with them.
He kept busy doing this until four in the morning, when his phone alarm went off punctually.
Then, he started the day’s physical training ahead of schedule.
First, in the bare room, meticulously completing all the projects of the Prisoner’s Six Arts.
Two-finger Zen push-ups, 1000 single-arm pull-ups, 1000 single-arm hanging leg raises, 2000 single-leg squats, 600 handstand pushups, and 800 back bridges.
After a brief rest, without much delay, he went to Qingshui Bay.
After careful observation and confirming there was no one around, he began the long run along the entire beach.
Recently, Fang Cheng was like an untiring top, running back and forth between fixed locations such as Old Factory Street, Wanghu Town, the club, and Sea Sky Garden.
Besides living and working normally like ordinary people, he secretly awaited news on Xu Hao.
All other time was spent practicing various skills, seizing every opportunity to enhance his own strength, actively preparing for battle.