Chapter 60 Preparing to Depart

Chapter 60: Preparing for Departure

Gao Yun did not care much about whether Yunhai Fitness would turn a profit. He still remembered the original intention behind this project: first, to establish a career for his four former subordinates and his friend Liu Xingsheng; and second, to enable him to better break through his physical attributes and combat skills.

Both objectives had now been met, especially the latter. Thanks to the more professional, luxurious training environment and rehabilitation equipment, his physical attributes had advanced by leaps and bounds in just one month.

Strength increased from 27 to 28.
Endurance increased from 25 to 26.
Speed increased from 22 to 24.
Flexibility increased from 23 to 24.
Agility increased from 22 to 23.

A total of six attribute points were gained, with a very balanced growth trend, earning him a cumulative reward of 19.3 million RMB.

In contrast, the progress of his mixed martial arts (MMA) skills was slightly slower, jumping only from Advanced 10% to Advanced 62%, and showing an increasingly sluggish trend.

Although Liu Xingsheng spent two hours every day conducting one-on-one teaching sparring sessions with Gao Yun and taught with great dedication, he was, after all, a retired athlete. While he was capable of teaching ordinary combat enthusiasts, turning an enthusiast into a professional-grade fighter like himself would take far too long.

Gao Yun estimated that if he wanted to accelerate his improvement in mixed martial arts, he would have to hire a dedicated fighting team of at least three people, much like his physical management team. This would include a boxing coach for standing techniques, a jiu-jitsu coach for ground techniques, and a professional sparring partner.

Only by doing so could he rapidly elevate his mixed martial arts to a professional level.

As for the two advanced skills of video shooting and editing, no matter how he filmed or edited, the progress remained stubbornly stuck at sixty percent.

Clearly, for any skill, moving from the advanced level to the professional level presented a significant threshold. After all, the word "professional" meant that you could make a living from this skill. As the saying goes: "Do not use your amateur hobby to challenge someone else's rice bowl."

Trying to achieve a breakthrough purely through isolated self-study was far too difficult. A skill could only truly transition from an amateur hobby to the professional tier after systematic theoretical learning, personal instruction from teachers, and extensive practical application.

Therefore, for the time being, Gao Yun had no good solutions for the three skills of combat, video editing, and filming, and chose to temporarily shelve them, focusing solely on breaking through his five physical attributes.

In his spare time every day, he would practice street dance, play the guitar, and sing—partly to keep his proficiency in these three areas from regressing (and hopefully improving them further), and partly out of genuine enjoyment to express his emotions and pass the time.

This could be considered the bad news regarding his skills. The other good news was that after a month of studying English, Gao Yun had raised his proficiency from Beginner 98% to Intermediate 44%.

Gao Yun and his physical conditioning trainer, Thomas, could now barely manage daily conversations, greatly reducing the number of times Clayton had to translate and the frequency of using mobile translation software.

"Sigh, I originally wanted to find a foreign girlfriend to teach me English, but now I'm being taught by a bearded, rugged man. Plans simply can't keep up with changes."

Inside the special training area of Yunhai Fitness, Gao Yun had just finished today's physical training. Wearing athletic shorts and shirtless, he was drenched in sweat, his hair as damp as if he had just stepped out of the shower. He walked over to high-five and fist-bump Thomas in celebration.

"Hey, man, today's training volume is simply not enough. Can't you guys come up with some new ways to torture me?"

Thomas scratched the thick beard on his chin and laughed heartily, "Alright, alright. I'll pass your challenge along to Luo. Tomorrow, he and Karida will arrive here, and the six of us will hold a meeting to discuss and formulate your next-stage training plan, just to see how we can give you a real taste of toughness."

Diao Jun and Zhou Tian had already finished their workouts. Holding cameras, the two of them sought out suitable angles to film, recording this scene.

A week ago, the two of them had moved into the Shoushan Fuhai Villa, becoming Gao Yun's personal videographers responsible for operating the "Gao Yun" accounts across various video platforms. They posted a daily vlog every few days to maintain the accounts' popularity, and their follower count was growing in an orderly fashion.

"Catch." Clayton brought over two long sports towels, tossing one to Thomas and keeping the other for himself. The two of them began wiping the sweat from Gao Yun's body, preparing for the upcoming whole-body cryotherapy session.

"It's time for the boss's favorite segment: freeze, freeze, freeze!"

"Yeah, I like this."

The so-called ultra-low-temperature cold therapy, also known as cryotherapy, was first adopted in recent years by certain football stars and NBA bigwigs. They believed that taking a cold session after a match or training could relieve muscle fatigue, reduce physical pain and swelling, eliminate inflammation, and even delay the aging of bodily functions to stay youthful.

Subsequently, top athletes across almost all other disciplines adopted cryotherapy. The implementation method was very simple: athletes wore only underwear and wooden clogs, stepping into a freezing chamber resembling a giant refrigerator with a temperature of around minus 150 degrees Celsius, staying inside for two to three minutes.

When the athletes left the freezing chamber two minutes later, their blood vessels would expand to four times their usual size, and blood carrying more oxygen would circulate through the body. Damaged or overworked tissues and joints could be treated, while endorphins were released to accelerate physical recovery.

Everything mentioned so far constituted only the physical benefits of cold therapy. If it were merely that, Gao Yun wouldn't go as far as saying he loved it. Most importantly, stepping into the freezing chamber caused human physiological reactions under low temperatures to trigger fascinating emotional shifts—transitioning from pain to calmness, and then to joy. Every time he finished a cryotherapy session, accelerated blood circulation promoted the secretion of endorphins, producing a sense of euphoria that also relieved training pressure.

Something this wonderful certainly didn't come cheap; the entire set of cryotherapy equipment cost Gao Yun nearly two million RMB.

Having undergone quick-freezing, Gao Yun received his customary muscle release and stretching session with the help of Clayton and Thomas, then left Yunhai and drove back to Shoushan Fuhai Villa.

"Boss, should we change our car? Or buy another one?" Clayton said as he drove the Tang DM, "The five of us are getting a bit cramped."

Even though the Tang DM was a large seven-seater SUV, it was ultimately not a commercial MPV, and as the number of people increased, the riding experience inevitably declined.

Gao Yun sat in the passenger seat, looking out at the night view of Hulu City through the window—dazzling neon lights and bustling traffic—and spoke with a hint of fatigue in his voice: "We'll buy one together once we get to the capital."

Diao Jun said, "Once we get there, the self-media team can also get started. Headhunters have already sent me many resumes for each position. I've filtered out a few, just waiting to interview them one by one."

Zhou Tian asked, "Brother Yun, which day are we leaving? I need to apply for extended leave from my work unit in advance."

"We'll hold a meeting tomorrow to figure it out. If there are no issues, it will be three days from now. Old Diao, you can book the train tickets and destination hotel by then. Business class plus a five-star hotel, and ideally, the hotel should be close to Peking University so it's convenient for me to visit my teachers."

"Okay!"