Book 3, Chapter 49: Invitation

On the first of March, Chen Chuan went to Mr. Zheng’s house early in the morning. Today, he was going to learn how to attack, thus entering the most important section of the entire course.

After meeting up, just like before, Mr. Zheng first taught him the offensive techniques and refined forces for the saber. When Chen Chuan grasped the basics, he said, “Offensive refined forces are different from the defensive ones, but the mutated tissue you activate complements the ones you use for defense. It’s only when you have both that your saber technique is complete. Don’t neglect the training of the defensive refined forces and techniques you learned before.”

Once he finished with the instructions, he brought Chen Chuan to the training ground and picked up a long saber similar to the Frost King Saber before throwing it at Chen Chuan.

It was incredibly heavy. The moment Chen Chuan looked up, he saw Zheng Tongtong holding a similar saber.

“Now, you’re going to attack Tongtong, but you’re only allowed to use the refined force generating techniques I just taught you. Try and force Tongtong to move her feet.”

Zheng Tongtong swung the saber in her hand. Since her arms were thick, it was as if she was just swinging a twig around. “Come at me with all you’ve got, Chen Chuan.”

At this point, Chen Chuan had already figured out that their roles had switched, and he could use the chance to observe how Zheng Tongtong would defend herself. With a twirl of his wrist, he said, “Get ready, Senior Zheng.”

Knowing that Mr. Zheng and Zheng Tongtong were both frank, straightforward people, Chen Chuan stepped forward, activated his mutated tissue to generate refined force using the techniques Mr. Zheng taught him just now, and swung his saber down toward Zheng Tongtong’s head.

But despite the powerful slash, their sabers let out a light clang, as if Chen Chuan had never even touched Zheng Tongtong’s saber. He had no idea where all the force of his slash had been diverted to.

Zheng Tongtong appeared relaxed when she parried the attack, so Chen Chuan couldn’t tell how much refined force she had used. But with just a casual block, she managed to neutralize all the power of his attack.

Her feet did not sink in, as if she had truly distributed the full power of the attack to all of her mutated tissue. None of it spilled out.

Chen Chuan sucked in a deep breath and readjusted his stance before bringing his saber up slowly. If he wanted to break Zheng Tongtong’s defense, he had to generate his refined force with more efficiency. He put more power into his attack.

Just like when he had defended against Zheng Tongtong’s slashes, he had to repeatedly figure out how to generate refined force during his attacks in order to overcome the challenge before him.

While attacking might appear easier than defending, it was actually a greater test of a person’s skills.

Still, there was one thing that made attacking easier—he could take the initiative and be in control of when and how to attack.

This time, he brought his arms and lifted the saber high above his head. All his mutated tissue was activated and started generating refined force. When he felt that he could no longer generate any more refined force, he lunged forward and swung his saber down.

Zheng Tongtong brought her saber up.

Clang!

She was like a heavy rock that refused to budge. Her wrists did not even tremble when she parried his attack. The power that charged forward was completely absorbed and neutralized.

Chen Chuan could sense that this was far from Zheng Tongtong’s limit. She seemed to be able to withstand much more than that; Chen Chuan hadn’t been able to make her display all of her skills.

Zheng Tongtong could use far less mutated tissue than he could, but she was able to use her limited mutated tissue to an incredible degree and easily negate his attack. Her efficiency and the ease with which she switched her refined force was exactly what he needed to learn.

Hence, Chen Chuan didn’t feel disappointed. Instead, he perked up. Through the way Zheng Tongtong used her mutated tissue, he saw better ways to use the defensive techniques. While practicing the offensive techniques, he could also learn how to defend. He was reaping double rewards here.

Again!

He took a few steps back, spun on his feet, and performed a horizontal slash.

With a hand around the saber hilt and a hand on the back of the saber, Zheng Tongtong pushed her saber forward.

Clang!

Once again, she blocked his attack.

With the help of the momentum and the saber’s weight, the power contained in Chen Chuan’s saber was astronomically high, but Zheng Tongtong still used her powerful fascia, bones, and mutated tissue to block the attack. She also diverted so much of the power that only a low amount of force was left when their sabers eventually clashed.

Chen Chuan tried various slashes. As his efficiency at generating refined force increased, the speed of his attacks went up as well, but that wasn’t all. The power of his slashes climbed up noticeably too.

But no matter how much he improved, Zheng Tongtong remained like a sponge. She was able to absorb and negate his refined force, making Chen Chuan unable to bring out the power of his saber.

For three whole days, he didn’t make any progress.

But Chen Chuan didn’t feel defeated. He could feel himself getting stronger. The effects of the Radiant Light session were also getting clearer in the sense that the power of his fascia and bones was increasing.

This was especially clear when he noticed that Zheng Tongtong was no longer just blocking his attacks, like she had done before. Instead, she did the same thing as Chen Chuan did. Before his saber landed on hers, she brought it up to meet his attack. It showed that he was slowly getting closer to the limit of her defense.

Over the next few days, he no longer attacked as frequently as before. Instead, he would accumulate his power for a bit before attacking. Then, once he set up this foundation, he would gradually increase the tempo of his attacks.

On the seventh day, as he executed another attack, Zheng Tongtong’s saber suddenly trembled like a wave. She was forced half a step back, and she gave him a thumbs up in praise.

“You did great, Chen Chuan!”

She was truly happy for him.

Chen Chuan, meanwhile, gave her a fist-and-palm salute. “Thanks for going easy on me, Senior Zheng.”

He meant it, because he didn’t think that Zheng Tongtong was using the saber she was used to wielding. If she had, that attack just now wouldn’t have been able to force her to move. It seemed like he still had a long way to go in terms of technique.

Still, Mr. Zheng was satisfied. “Knowing your own weaknesses is a good thing, but don’t be too humble. It’s only been a short while since you started training with me, and doing this well is already impressive. You passed this stage of the training. Next, you’ll be practicing with a light saber, then both of them.

“Based on your progress, you should be able to grasp the basics within a month. After this, we’ll be heading into combat training, and that’s the crux of the course. If you don’t do well in it, you won’t pass my test. Alright. Go back and rest. Come back on the eleventh.”

Chen Chuan thanked Mr. Zheng and Zheng Tongtong. If possible, he would love to continue training, but they had their own matters to attend to, and Chen Chuan couldn’t neglect his daily training either.

In the blink of an eye, his day off arrived. He called his family and Cheng Zitong to tell them about how his life had been so they would not worry.

He also received a telegram from Gao Ming, saying that he was almost done with all the cases at hand and had already finished the procedure to go to Central City. He was in the midst of getting ready to come over.

But he was going to be a little later than what he originally planned and would only arrive at the end of March. He would notify Chen Chuan about the details later.

In the afternoon, while Chen Chuan was reading through the martial arts documents available to all students in the university, Ni Qianqian contacted him. Thinking that it was a task from the Resolution Department, he answered the call, and Ni Qianqian said, “Are you in the university now, Chen Chuan?”

“Yeah. Is it a mission?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Yes and no. Are you free? If you are, I’m coming over right now to take you somewhere.”

“Yeah, I am,” Chen Chuan replied.

“See you later, then.”

Chen Chuan paid close attention to certain matters of the Resolution Department. After all, they were his sponsor, and the resources they gave him had indeed made him stronger. So, after cleaning up a little, he went downstairs.

He waited for a little while before a red racecar rounded the corner across from him. With a beautiful drift, it stopped in front of him, and Ni Qianqian pushed her purple goggles up before flicking her wavy long hair. “Get in.”

Chen Chuan walked over and got into the front passenger seat. Right after he fastened his seat belt, the racecar shot forward.

While driving, Ni Qianqian said, “Wei Wusheng is a slippery eel. We haven’t been able to even find his shadow lately. Also, do you remember the market attackers in the case you participated in?”

“I do. I heard that one of the leaders fled,” Chen Chuan said.

“That’s the one. We were chasing him, but he fled to the lower city district with the Moss Gang’s help. Someone in the department suggested sending students like you after him, but I rejected the idea. That guy is crazy. The lower city district is a huge problem. While you kids are strong, you’re not

that

strong yet.

“Still, after I rejected the idea, they might give you kids another task, and I think it’s going to be trouble. Keep an eye out on it.”

“Thanks for the heads-up, Officer Ni,” Chen Chuan thanked her.

“Let’s talk about something else. Someone wants to see you today and asked me to bring you to him.”

“Me?” After some thinking, Chen Chuan thought of a possible candidate.

The racecar didn’t leave Martial Order District. In just a few minutes, they arrived at the largest privately owned landscaped garden. Ni Qianqian parked outside, told Chen Chuan to get out, and showed her ID to the security guard at the entrance before bringing Chen Chuan inside.

There was a huge lake inside, and Chen Chuan could see people rowing boats on it. A spring breeze blew at that moment, and the willow trees by the lake swayed gently. None of the ever-present, colorful light shows seen everywhere outside was here, making the place appear clean.

After walking over an arched bridge, they got onto a wooden corridor that led them to a pavilion. An unassuming old man was teaching a child. Once they got closer, he turned to Chen Chuan. “You’re here, young man.”

“Elder Cheng,” Chen Chuan greeted him. The old man was Cheng Shang, Cheng Zitong’s uncle. Chen Chuan had met him in the courtroom back in Yangzhi City, and they had exchanged a few words.

Cheng Shang told the child to go play with a wave of his hand before sitting down by the stone table in the pavilion. He then said, “Come in, you two.”

Ni Qianqian went to the side and sat on the reclining bench by the side. As for Chen Chuan, after thanking Cheng Shang, he sat on the stone bench in front of him.

“While I was in Yangzhi City, Zitong kept praising you. I’ve also been paying attention to you after you came here. By the looks of it, you’ve gotten pretty used to life here. I asked to see you today because there’s going to be an internal exchange. Would you like to join it? Lass, tell him about it,” Cheng Shang said.

“You should know that aside from Martial Valor University, there are also some martial arts schools passing down their knowledge through traditional methods, right?” Ni Qianqian piped up.

Chen Chuan nodded at that. Cheng Zitong’s senior brother had a disciple who was only a coursemate of Chen Chuan’s in name. They had never met before. He was only listed as a student in Martial Valor University and nothing else.

Pointing at herself, Ni Qianqian said, “That’s how I learned martial arts, but shutting yourself off from the world isn’t the way to go, so those disciples often think of ways to have an internal exchange with students from Martial Valor University to examine their strengths and weaknesses.

“Since you two kind of know each other, Senior Cheng suggested you join, but we won’t ask you to work for nothing and will reward your efforts. What do you say?”

“I’d love to spar with them,” Chen Chuan said sincerely.