Therefore, Zhang Lei decided to reserve at least one day's worth of internal energy from today onwards, just in case. It would only delay the strengthening process by one day, but the safety factor would be greatly improved.
However, before that, Zhang Lei had another thing to do: he also wanted to experiment with the effects of exercising under self-examination.
"Self-examination!" Unfortunately, there were no sound or light effects; self-examination was a superpower that existed entirely within the body.
Zhang Lei placed two thick wooden boards in front of him. Since he had remembered, he might as well try to see if it would work. Everyone knows that the internal organs cannot be trained to be as hard as muscles, skin and bones. Thinking of this, Zhang Lei suddenly had a thought: maybe he could!
This time, Zhang Lei didn't spread his internal energy throughout his entire body; there was no need. He only channeled a little internal energy into his palm to see the effect. It wasn't like he was fighting a wooden board. Cough cough, Zhang Lei has now learned to use the word "fighting."
"Snap!" With a crisp sound, Zhang Lei's hand struck the wooden board. Hearing this sound, Zhang Lei knew that he had basically failed. If the internal energy had been transmitted to the other side, it would have only made a muffled sound, an almost inaudible muffled sound.
Self-examination revealed that it could only control the internal energy particles within the body. Once these internal energy particles left the body, they were no different from usual. They were fine when in direct contact, but if one wanted to create a distance like hitting a cow from across a mountain, then these internal energy particles would be out of control. Whether one could succeed or not depended on luck, just like before.
In fact, Zhang Lei's desire to experiment with "hitting a cow through a mountain" wasn't just about testing the application of self-examination. He still harbored some apprehension towards the Zuo family. The things Liu Yun specifically instructed him to do before leaving were not unfounded. If there were no impact, Brother Liu Yun wouldn't have specifically warned Zhang Lei. Hopefully, he can bring back good news soon.
Although the internal energy did not penetrate the wooden board and explode on the other side as Zhang Lei had hoped, it did not dissipate silently either. On this side of the board, Zhang Lei's internal energy exploded and created a rather large dent.
The problem was that splinters and wood chips were flying everywhere. The splinters were one thing, but many of the wood chips got directly into Zhang Lei's palms.
"Huff, huff!" Zhang Lei panted as he pulled out the splinters and thorns. Some were inconvenient to remove, so he simply used his internal energy to squeeze them out, which made things easier. Otherwise, just picking out the splinters would have turned Zhang Lei's hands into a hole. Zhang Lei also discovered another benefit of self-examination: it made picking out the splinters easier.
However, this also reminded Zhang Lei that simply using internal energy to attack wasn't enough; his skin needed to be tougher. Last time, he blew up two red-haired men's arms, but luckily no bones were broken out, and Zhang Lei hadn't used too much internal energy. Otherwise, he might have been injured himself, and it would have been terrible if he had bled on the spot.
It's impossible to be so lucky every time, and it's impossible for the target to be so weak every time. If I miss and hit a wooden board or something, I'll end up with my hands covered in blood, which would be a joke. Strengthening the hardness and toughness of my skin shouldn't be too difficult, right? I'll have to study it carefully later.
Zhang Lei didn't know that while others might not be as efficient at controlling their internal energy as he was, they would add a directional element when issuing the explosion command as their internal energy left their bodies. Someone like him, who didn't control the direction, would naturally get hurt by the flying wood shavings.
Fortunately, these wounds were nothing to Zhang Lei, whose internal energy was most adept at healing. In just half a minute, apart from a few blood spots, Zhang Lei's palms were as if nothing had ever happened.
Today's tasks are not yet finished. Although I have saved my internal energy for the day according to the plan and do not need to do any strengthening exercises, I still need to test the effects of exercising under self-examination. Fortunately, there is still some time left for this self-examination, so I don't need to waste my internal energy to do it again.
Zhang Lei lay on the ground and slowly pushed his body up with his hands. This was a secret technique, a multi-purpose technique that every man should master—push-ups!
By focusing his attention on his arm, Zhang Lei can clearly "see" the twitching of every muscle, the contraction of every muscle fiber, and even the activity of every cell on the muscle fiber.
After doing it several times, Zhang Lei finally understood why it was said that self-examination had an unparalleled advantage in physical training compared to other superpowers.
...
"The Ultimate Cultivation Record" by Mo You, a novel titled "Black Fantasy," needs no further explanation.
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Episode 2, Metropolis, Chapter 24: To Deceive Others, You Must First Deceive Yourself
Zhang Lei can clearly see the effect of each of his exercises, know the consequences of bending and stretching too much, how to stop at the most suitable angle, and know when he has achieved the best effect. If he does more repetitions, Zhang Lei believes he can find the most suitable posture for himself.
Although this was the first time using self-examination to guide exercise, Zhang Lei was certain that, even with his current lack of proficiency, this guidance could achieve more than three times the effect of regular exercise.
This is just the beginning. As training progresses, without self-monitoring, sports injuries are more likely to occur. Most people's muscle growth is completed through the continuous injury and recovery of muscle fibers. The newly grown muscle fibers are slightly thicker than the original ones, but this also has its limits. If you go too far at once, you will not be able to recover in a short period of time.
Moreover, even professional bodybuilding coaches have many muscle groups that are difficult to train, but these are not problems when it comes to self-examination.
With the guidance of self-examination, the path to muscle growth is no longer entirely the same. Although everything is still being explored, Zhang Lei already has a clear understanding. Even with just muscle training guided by self-examination, he can at least turn the tide in terms of muscle growth.
However, it is difficult to improve either the bones or internal organs through exercise. Self-examination shows that the effect of exercise on the internal organs is limited, at most it can adjust the rhythm of breathing, and the same is true for the bones.
The first time is always new. Zhang Lei didn't even realize that more than an hour of self-examination had passed by. From that day on, Zhang Lei had an extra task every day. The amount of internal energy that his muscles needed to consume decreased. Correspondingly, Zhang Lei could use more internal energy on his internal organs, bones, skin, and other organs.
But now there's another area where he needs to use his internal energy: strengthening its hardness and toughness. This is what Zhang Lei learned after his hands were riddled with holes from wood chips. Therefore, Zhang Lei's internal energy is now even more strained. However, no matter what, he still needs to have at least a day's worth of reserves.
...
Several days passed in a flash, and the case of the two red-haired men seemed like a headless mystery to the police. Although there were witnesses, they couldn't find the men based on the images they pieced together.
The middle-aged man seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if he had appeared there specifically to teach those two stubborn thugs a lesson, and then disappeared into thin air after turning a few corners.
"Is Zhang Lei home? We have a few questions we'd like to ask him!" Two plainclothes police officers flashed their badges in front of the aunt's face.
"Oh, I'm here!" Before the aunt could answer, Zhang Lei's voice came from inside the house, "Come in quickly, I have an exam coming up soon, could you please make the time a little shorter?"
"Oh, no problem. It's not good for your eyes to read in such dim light!" a chubby policeman said, looking at the dim light in the room.
"There's no other way, we have to see. I won't stand on ceremony with you. Is it that assault case from a while ago?" Zhang Lei had been waiting for this day for a long time, and he had prepared enough words to fill a notebook.
To deceive others, you must first deceive yourself. For the past few days, Zhang Lei has been constantly telling himself, 'This has nothing to do with me. I wasn't even a witness. This has nothing to do with…'
"Oh, how did you know?" Another policeman holding a notebook looked up. There was no table in front of his chair; his notebook was placed on his folded knees.
"That guy named Sanjiang also asked me. I bet you guys will definitely ask him. You must have found out from him!" Zhang Lei was still working on his problem in his notebook, not even looking up. He didn't waste any time at all, looking like a bookworm.
"Well, then we won't waste any more time. He said that the person's clothes look a lot like yours. Can you tell us where you bought those clothes?" The fat policeman was very polite and showed no dissatisfaction that Zhang Lei wasn't looking up and focused on answering their questions. On the contrary, his eyes showed approval.
This area is a notorious gangster district in Shanghai. Studying here is the best way to get ahead. The fact that this kid is so hardworking in this environment shows he's destined for greatness. If my child could be like him, I wouldn't have to worry about him.
Zhang Lei designed several characters, but when he saw the age of the fat policeman, he decided to use a somewhat nerdy character. His children should be about the same age. In fact, Zhang Lei himself has some of that kind of personality, but he exaggerated it a little. It can be considered a natural performance.
"My clothes? I just came back from Northeast China not long ago. Back home, this is what everyone wears. It's still fashionable. But when I got to Shanghai, I realized it was already outdated. There's nothing I can do about it, so I have to keep wearing it..." Zhang Lei continued to cultivate his image.
The fact that they came to Zhang Lei meant that they had already decided to suspend the case. Police resources are limited, and it is impossible to keep focusing on one case indefinitely. Although the two teenagers were in a tragic situation, they also made mistakes. The police also have a lot of headaches dealing with these delinquent teenagers.
According to Zhang Lei, the purpose was to confirm that the crime was committed by an outsider. Since they couldn't go to other places to track down the culprit, they only needed to issue a notice for assistance in the investigation, and then leave the rest to fate.
Actually, there's another reason, which is something these lower-level police officers don't know.
When this case just happened, Tianxiao happened to come to the branch office to say hello. Liu Yun kept Tianxiao here, which can be considered as secretly taking care of Zhang Lei. Once Zhang Lei becomes their colleague, if they ignore Zhang Lei at this time, it will not be conducive to the future unity of the team. Relationships are reciprocal. There is no reason for me to be nice to you if you are not nice to me.
The people at the branch office were having a headache over this case when an expert arrived and discussed it with Tianxiao. Tianxiao's figure didn't look like that of a little girl at all, which increased her credibility considerably. If they knew that Tianxiao was just a fifteen-year-old girl, they probably wouldn't have the same attitude towards her advice.