Cultivating through increasing my stats in America-Chapter 95 - 94 The Finals Begin
Chapter 95: Chapter 94: The Finals Begin
Chapter 95: Chapter 94: The Finals Begin
The final challenge was comparatively more comprehensive, consisting of set exercises.
And since the range of competitive content increased, physical stamina had become a primary focus of examination.
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If one were to say that Li Ang’s first opponent had a mere physical advantage, then the opponent he faced in the finals was overwhelmingly powerful in every aspect.
Zate Baines, a professional football player, had just retired last year, standing 186cm tall and weighing 102kg.
It could be said that he had no weak points, whether it was in terms of sheer strength, explosive power, endurance, or even running speed, each of these aspects was at the level of an exceptional specialist athlete.
It was said that his participation in the competition was merely aiming for the title of “King of Titans,” and this “Titan” title contest was nothing more than a warm-up for him.
Even the audience, who had gained a certain understanding of Li Ang’s strength from the previous two matches, expressed their admiration that Li Ang had made it this far, but felt that he didn’t really stand a chance in the final.
Watching Li Ang, who was burying his head eating at the hotel buffet, Sheila asked with curiosity:
“Aren’t you nervous? Your opponent this time is quite formidable.”
Li Ang finished the food in his mouth before answering:
“A little nervous, I guess, that’s why I need to eat more to have energy for tonight.”
After learning about his final challenger’s information last night, Li Ang had headed to the hotel gym and trained intensely for two hours. It was only because of his extraordinary stamina and terrifying recovery ability that he could do this.
If it were someone else, the strenuous training from yesterday would have left them without the energy to compete today.
At 8 o’clock in the evening, the competition officially began.
With the finals upon us, the variety show reached its peak in popularity today. Virtually everyone interested in the program would not miss tonight’s episode.
Consequently, the viewership for the videos of Li Ang competing in the competition, which Catina had been shooting and editing these past few days, had also significantly increased.
During the pre-game interview, the host approached Li Ang with the microphone and asked:
“Do you think you can win today?”
Li Ang glanced at Sheila in the audience and firmly replied:
“I have to win.”
Hearing this answer, the host just smiled without saying anything, then turned the microphone towards Baines.
But before he could ask a question, Baines had already taken the initiative to speak.
“Kid, I admit you’re pretty good, but the ‘Titan’ title today might require a few more years of training for you.”
Thankfully, the style of the show was brisk and no-nonsense; after a brief preamble, the competition got underway.
The first obstacle of the race was a half-ton heavy wooden wall.
Starting off, Baines was running only a tad slower than Li Ang, but since the distance was short, no gap could be established.
When Li Ang reached the wooden wall, instead of slowing down, he used the momentum of his body and performed a “Tongbei Quan” wall-climbing move. With a “bang!” he hit the wooden wall.
“Oh!”
The impact of Li Ang’s hit was so powerful that the sound was heard throughout the venue without the need for a microphone, stunning the audience.
After so many episodes, they had seen numerous attempts at this obstacle, but Li Ang was the first to dare to hit the wooden wall with his shoulder without slowing down at all.
Just listening to the sound was enough to make one wince in pain, let alone attempt it themselves.
Even Dwayne Johnson had his mouth wide open, displaying a look of surprise.
In his memory, this was probably the fastest anyone had ever gotten through the first obstacle.
Li Ang had directly slammed the wooden wall into a tilted state, and with some additional force from his body, the wooden wall came crashing down.
At this moment, Baines had just started to push the wooden wall.
Seeing this scene, Baines felt a rush of urgency. Although this was only a small part of the race, he had not once considered the possibility of being outpaced by anyone else.
The second obstacle that followed left no room for skill—it consisted of three planks weighing a total of four hundred pounds that needed to be pushed to their designated position, much like moving boxes.
Because the track was on an incline, this challenge relied heavily on physical strength.
Li Ang swiftly ran up to the obstacle, and without any hesitation, the plank started to move slowly under his push.
This challenge depended mainly on the strength of one’s legs and a significant amount of stamina, both of which happened to be Li Ang’s strongest attributes.
With the enhancement of his [Cycling] Grandmaster level, his lower limb strength had increased by 60%, and his stamina had also increased by 60%. So, this challenge still posed no pressure on him.
When Li Ang had pushed the plank one-third of the way, Baines finally arrived at the challenge.
From his perspective, if the slim Li Ang could push it with such ease, wouldn’t pushing it be a piece of cake for him?
So he imitated Li Ang. Running over without slowing down, he started to exert force the moment he made contact with the plank.
“Bang!”
Baines’s body slammed heavily against the plank, producing a muffled collision sound. His expression twisted in pain, yet the plank didn’t budge backward as he had imagined.
A misjudgment led to his body bearing the full brunt of the reactionary force from the impact.
Luckily he had been a football player; such collisions were common occurrences, otherwise, he might have needed a good while to recover.
When he actually began to push the plank uphill, he found that his speed was, at best, on par with Li Ang’s and certainly not faster.
Bewildered, coupled with the hit he had just taken, a nameless rage began to swell within him.
“This is definitely rigged, that Asian kid’s planks must be lighter than mine,” he thought.
But with things as they were, even if Li Ang really cheated, it would have to wait until after the race was over.
If he won, it wouldn’t matter; but if he lost, he would definitely expose the show’s producers on the spot.
After the plank challenge came several consecutive rollers. This challenge was less demanding on strength and stamina, definitely the most friendly one for Li Ang.
Li Ang virtually had no hesitation; he lightly tapped his toes on the rollers a few times and passed the challenge with ease.
Although he hadn’t specifically trained in a martial arts movement technique, Tongbei Quan did incorporate steps, so he had some familiarity.
Having passed this challenge, another tall wall appeared in front of him.
But this time, the contestants weren’t expected to push it down. Instead, they had to smash holes into the wall with their bodies and then climb up through the holes to scale the wall.
Meanwhile, Baines had only just reached the roller challenge.
However, he wasn’t too worried, because after this challenge he would come into his true area of strength.
