Chapter 169: Restriction

This place was on higher ground before a tall mountain. It even had snow at the peak. The barbed wire surrounded a large area. It stretched as far as Chen Chuan could see.

But Chang Ba didn’t drive inside. Instead, he parked outside. Chen Chuan could make out a series of pits, scattered haphazardly across the area.

“You’ve already learned the underwater paths from yesterday, so we’re not going to use them again. You’ll be swimming in this place today,” He Xiaoxing said.

Chang Ba gave Chen Chuan a sympathetic look.

But Chen Chuan didn’t mind. As long as whatever He Xiaoxing threw at him could help him improve, he didn’t mind what it was. All he needed to do was complete the training to the best of his abilities. Besides, while the location had changed, the general elements of the training hadn’t, so it wasn’t a problem to him.

After they got out of the SUV, Chen Chuan put on the diving suit, composed himself, gave them a nod, and jumped into a pit. Once he was in the water, he started swimming downward.

But soon, he realized that coming here wasn’t just a simple change in location and terrain. The underwater shafts here were much more complex.

First, the pits no longer led straight up or down, unlike the ones yesterday. Instead, they had all sorts of twists and turns. The width and height of the shafts also changed every so often. Even the speed of the water flow changed due to the structure of the shafts and the difference in water pressure, forcing Chen Chuan to exercise even more caution.

He Xiaoxing moved above ground and threw signs tied to ropes into the pits. He was familiar with their trajectory. Each time, he threw a sign into a pit that Chen Chuan was likely to pass through before he even arrived.

An hour later, Chen Chuan swam up. This time, he managed to touch eight signs, which was a decent improvement compared to the day before.

“I’m cutting out five minutes from your resting time. We’ll continue twenty-five minutes later. Get in the SUV. We’re changing locations,” He Xiaoxing said.

Chang Ba immediately went back to start the SUV, and they went to another place. The area around the mountain was huge. Not only did it have more than one thousand lakes forming the entirety of Cinnabar Lakes, but also countless pits.

The pits the day before had signs of being man-made. The ones he used today were all formed naturally.

When they reached their next destination and Chen Chuan’s twenty-five minutes were up, he immediately went for his next dive.

Over the next two days, he spent his time diving in the pits. After every session, He Xiaoxing took him to another location so that he could never get used to the terrain.

He also reduced his resting time after each dive until it went down to ten minutes.

Thus, Chen Chuan was forced to use all he had to recover his stamina as soon as possible. He never used his second self, though. Each sign was found with his own strength alone.

But he was still a little bit off from the goal He Xiaoxing had set for him even after two days. Despite achieving his best score a few times, his best was eleven signs.

It seemed like he had reached his limit.

That night, they didn’t leave. Instead, they set up a bonfire in the wilderness to spend the night there. Chang Ba took out some lamb skewers to show off his barbecuing skills again.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Honestly, it looked a little too much like a farewell party.

While Chang Ba barbecued the mutton with familiar ease, he kept glancing at Chen Chuan. He was beginning to be a little worried that if he couldn’t reach the target He Xiaoxing had set for him, he wouldn’t be able to move to the next stage of the training, and the crash course training would come to an end.

To be stopped from heading to the next stage just because of one sign after having come so far? Even Chang Ba found himself unable to accept these results.

The next stage of the training was practically unpassable, but he still wanted to see a miracle. Besides, Chen Chuan was just one step away from reaching the target. It would be a waste for him to be forced to stop here.

Chen Chuan sat by the bonfire calmly and showed no signs of dejection. After all, if he couldn’t succeed on his own, he was going to use his second self to pass.

If possible, he wanted to clear the stage by himself, but not because he saw any problem with using his second self. His second self was Chen Chuan and a part of him. There wasn’t a need for him to regard his second self as another entity, and with that logic, it was an entirely normal thing for him to use his second self to clear the stage. After all, his strength also belonged to Chen Chuan.

The reason he wanted to clear the stage on his own was because the stronger he was, the stronger his second self became. To reap the greatest benefits, he had to use his own strength to train and reach a breakthrough.

Just then, He Xiaoxing said, “There are plenty of ways to awaken dormant mutated tissue. Aside from forcing it to stir during life-and-death situations, some secret cults have awakened it through chants and scriptures. Cultists who have undergone long periods of the secret cults’ training have a much easier time with it.

“The average martial artist can do it in a different way—by taking off the restraints over their emotions. When you suppress your feelings, you also restrain a part of your mutated tissue.”

He continued gravely, “You should let your emotions go free, but not let them run wild. You have to find your goal and what your beliefs are. That’s the only way to unite your mind and body, so your mutated tissue will listen to your body’s demands instead of you having to mobilize it every time. This is much faster and more thorough. On top of that, if you activate the mutated tissue manually, the results you get will usually be no more than what you put in unless you get outside help.”

Chen Chuan pondered over his words and decided that they matched his experiences. The Second Limit required one to restrict their emotions. If the person didn’t control them, things might go bad for them.

Zhuo Bao was the type to not control his emotions, which resulted in severe mood swings, though he himself seemed to think that he was completely fine. He sacrificed his rationality for more power.

As for Chen Chuan, while he kept his emotions under control, he also suppressed some of his potential. He avoided using the mutated tissue that intensified his emotions, and he also wasted some of his energy to suppress them, thus restricting himself.

This was important to Chen Chuan’s fighting style because he wanted to remain calm and think while searching for the best way to win. He wasn’t the type to let loose and just let the fight go in whatever direction.

Due to this, it was difficult for him to let go of his control over his emotions. Every fiber of his being resisted the idea. If he couldn’t control himself, then he was no longer truly himself.

But after some thinking, he decided that He Xiaoxing’s words were not as simple as they sounded. After all, he had specifically mentioned secret cults. Their rituals were a form of restriction. So, he may have meant that only when he could control his emotions after letting them run free could he be considered to be truly in control of himself.

This was a higher form of control.

The reasoning made sense. If he was worried that he couldn’t control himself, then it meant that his self-control wasn’t good enough and he wasn’t strong enough.

Then, how should he solve this problem?

He Xiaoxing had given him the answer—an unshakable belief rooted deep within the body and mind.

As long as he believed that he could only achieve true freedom by continuously surpassing himself and breaking free of all shackles, he was certain that he could conquer his raging emotions.

Chen Chuan’s expression became much more serious. He shifted into a cross-legged position and shut his eyes.

Seeing this, He Xiaoxing stood up and walked away. Chang Ba observed Chen Chuan for a bit and guessed that he had figured something out, so he didn’t bother him either. He grabbed the almost done lamb skewers and left.

The night passed without notice.

The next day, when a refreshing morning breeze blew through the wilderness and the sun showered the world with its first rays, Chen Chuan opened his eyes and turned to He Xiaoxing as he walked over. “Mr. He, I’d like to try again.”

“If you think you can do it, go for it. I’ll wait for you up here,” He Xiaoxing said.

Chen Chuan gave a firm nod and changed into the diving suit. Then, he went to a pit he had never gone to. With the golden-red sun shining behind him, he stretched his body before jumping in.

He quickly went to the bottom, but for the first five minutes, he didn’t move. Instead, he used the time to adjust his mindset to free his mind and body.

Suddenly, the cluster of mutated tissue was no longer under Chen Chuan’s control. For the first time, it was free from restriction and immediately started rejoicing. All sorts of emotions and unnecessary thoughts filled Chen Chuan’s mind. They urged him to vent his emotions and charge down the shafts without any thought.

But Chen Chuan didn’t lose his rationality, because he had a voice telling him that if he let loose, unpredictable consequences would follow, and he might be unable to achieve his dream of being truly free from all restraints.

With this firm belief reining in those emotions, Chen Chuan’s eyes remained clear.

At that moment, he felt as if he had become two people. One was running high on emotions and was utterly fearless of consequences, while the other was judging and watching every change happening to his body.

The water moved, and Chen Chuan kicked off the ground before moving his arms forward and pulling them back to swim away.

He seemed to be able to “see” the underwater area more clearly than before. He was also able to do the exchange of gases more effectively via internal breathing. It was as if a brand new energy had filled his body. It allowed him to swim faster and more skillfully than before.

He swam around the underwater shafts in search of the signs dropping down from above.

Chang Ba noticed that He Xiaoxing was moving faster than before. This was, without a doubt, proof that Chen Chuan was swimming faster.

While staying in the back, Chang Ba counted the ropes that Chen Chuan had jerked. In a little over half an hour, Chen Chuan found ten signs. Nervousness and hope rose in his heart.

There were two signs left, but Chen Chuan had twenty or so minutes. He should be able to make it?

Soon, he realized that his worries were unnecessary. A little after Chen Chuan found the tenth sign, he found the eleventh, and soon after, the rope attached to the twelfth sign moved.

“He found all twelve!” Chang Ba shouted in excitement.

Chen Chuan had fulfilled He Xiaoxing’s requirements, but he didn’t stop. Within the next three minutes, he found the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth signs.

Chen Chuan swam like a fish underwater. He still had some time before the one hour was up, so he could find more signs, but he stopped.

He swam up the shaft, and with a push of a hand, he got himself out of the water. He planted his feet firmly at the edge of the pit and stood up.

He Xiaoxing observed him and nodded. “You were able to stop suppressing your emotions, but were still able to rein them in. You didn’t let yourself run wild while looking for signs and managed to overcome your desire to win. You were able to stop before the one-hour time limit. That is good. You’ve passed this stage of the training.”