After a delightful dinner, Li Ang hopped on his road bike and headed to the town's park.
The place wasn't too far away, just five kilometers, which was just enough to warm up for him now.
When he arrived at the park, the setting sun left only its last afterglow, and the whole place was enveloped in a serene atmosphere.
Li Ang chose a secluded spot near the river and started practicing Tongbei Fist on his own.
He didn't know if it was psychological or if the environment was just that comforting and pleasant.
Today, his form while practicing the fist was exceptionally good.
Every move he made felt innately satisfying.
As Li Ang practiced his martial arts, he also attracted the attention of many people strolling in the park, but everyone just took a glance from afar without treating him like a spectacle.
Chinese Kung Fu was no longer an unusual sight in America; in fact, it had quite a following there.
"Beep beep beep!"
Li Ang's alarm, which he had set for an hour in advance, went off. He opened his attribute panel to check the proficiency of his Tongbei Fist.
[Tongbei Fist] 49/200 (Proficient)
(Trait: [Response], [Nerve Aggregation Ability] increased by 10%)
It had increased by 7 points compared to an hour ago. Although it didn't look much different from the previous 6 points, it was, in fact, a 16.7% improvement, which could be considered quite significant.
With the gentle evening breeze, Li Ang practiced for another hour.
Seeing the number of people around him dwindling, Li Ang didn't dare stay much longer, as the safety here was not comparable to back home.
In the dark and deserted conditions, anything was possible.
Arriving home safely, he had a late-night snack and then opened League of Legends.
This was a new addition he had discovered a few days ago when he was playing video games to relax and found that his [Reaction] increased accordingly.
Although the increase in attribute points was minuscule, every little bit helps, and after all, his main goal was relaxation.
The next morning, he first rode his bike to the park for a two-hour morning exercise, then cycled to the city center.
After searching on the map, he picked out a few gyms, visited them one by one, and finally chose one with the largest venue and the most comprehensive facilities.
It even had a swimming pool and a variety of sports courts.
The prices were also quite reasonable.
A single adult entry cost five US dollars, a monthly membership was forty-eight US dollars, and an annual membership was four hundred US dollars.
This pricing was completely within Li Ang's acceptable range, so after his inspection, he went ahead and bought an annual membership.
However, he ignored the various fitness courses the staff recommended to him afterward.
As is well known, gyms generally make money in two ways: either by selling classes or by offering cheap annual memberships to collect the money and then skedaddle.
If selling classes is profitable enough, the effectiveness of those classes is another story, but for sure the value for money would be quite low.
With Li Ang's learning ability, he just needed to watch some fitness guru videos online to achieve much better results than any of those subpar trainers could offer.
After getting the membership, Li Ang didn't stay to exercise but went to the supermarket instead.
This time his budget was ample, and the meat he chose was much better than before; he didn't even opt for discounted near-expiration milk anymore.
It can't be helped; having nearly ten thousand US dollars in his hand meant he could be capricious.
After stocking up on supplies, Li Ang made a trip to the mall and bought two sets of sports clothes, one casual outfit, spending just under four hundred dollars.
These days, his physique had been changing day by day, and he could hardly fit into many of his old clothes anymore.
Loaded with bags big and small, he returned home, had a simple meal to replenish his energy, and once again headed to the town park.
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Even though it's working hours, there are still many people in the park.
And unlike back home, where during the daytime, parks are typically filled with retired elderly and children, here, there are quite a few young people.
Li Ang was also curious, doesn't everyone have to work?
Setting aside the distractions in his mind, Li Ang continued to the riverside and started practicing the movements of Tongbei Quan.
From dawn to dusk, people around him came and went, but he stayed put the entire time.
That is until a Chinese old man with slightly gray hair, wearing a tank top and slippers, appeared.
"Young man, you're pretty good at Tongbei Quan," he said.
Upon hearing this, Li Ang immediately ceased his form and looked toward the source of the voice.
In this foreign land, it wasn't easy to hear a sentence of pure Chinese with an accent.
"Old sir, how do you know I'm Chinese?" Li Ang asked, surprised.
The old man in the tank top and slippers answered slowly,
"Over in Japan and Korea, there aren't many who practice traditional Chinese martial arts. Moreover, those who don't understand Chinese naturally wouldn't respond to me."
Li Ang nodded in understanding and continued to ask,
"Do you also know a bit about martial arts?"
Had it been the Li Ang of before, he definitely wouldn't have initiated so much conversation with a stranger.
But meeting a fellow countryman abroad was rare, and he took the unusual step of overcoming his social anxiety to ask a couple of questions.
The elder smiled slightly.
"I suppose you could say I know a little," he said.
"I see your practice is quite smooth, but the traces of your body adapting to Tongbei Quan seem weak, which probably means you haven't been learning for a long time, right?"
Li Ang quickly nodded, thinking to himself.
This old man's perception is so sharp, he must be a professional; I should establish a good relationship with him, and maybe I can even get some free advice.
Little did he know, Hua Tianming didn't come to greet him just because he had nothing better to do.
He had been watching for a while and according to his earlier statement, although Li Ang's training time was short, his proficiency in martial arts was high. The only conclusion was that this youngster had an extremely high martial arts talent.
And most importantly, he noticed that Li Ang's stance was very stable, his leg strength powerful, and his breathing was long and smooth, indicating that his physical condition was also quite exceptional.
What was this? This was a unique physique.
When these two qualities were combined, wasn't he a perfect martial arts prodigy?
Although he seemed a bit old, overall, he was one in ten thousand among ordinary people.
Based on this, Hua Tianming was more inclined to interact with him.
For a while, the two of them discussed the movements that had just been practiced.
Li Ang had finally encountered a free mentor, and a very skilled one at that, like stumbling upon a secret bonus level,
so naturally, he seized the opportunity to ask as much as he could, trying to gain as much as possible.
Meanwhile, Hua Tianming initially wanted to give some simple guidance, but as they interacted, he discovered that Li Ang's martial arts talent was even higher than he had imagined.
A casual remark from him would spark multiple insights from Li Ang, who could immediately correct his movements with just a slight hint, and he also had many unique thoughts and interpretations of his own.
This made Hua Tianming take a more serious approach, adopting the attitude of teaching a disciple.
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