Book 3, Chapter 86: Getting stronger

Chen Chuan’s world got darker until a cold, slimy sensation enveloped him. At the same time, he felt something squeezing his body and pushing him deeper into the darkness.

He slid down and immediately felt himself arriving at a slightly larger space. In just a moment, the powerful muscles around him began instinctively contracting and pressing down on him.

Immediately, Chen Chuan felt a powerful, resilient force wrapping around him and tightening its grip. Since Chen Chuan couldn’t spread his limbs, he was forced to use the innate power from his mutated tissue to push back against the pressure around him.

In this position, he could still breathe in a certain amount of oxygen. The Secret Python Cult had to have considered this when they cultivated this biotool.

But due to the force squeezing at him, it was difficult for Chen Chuan to take even a single breath, so his mutated tissue sensed danger and automatically cooperated with him to breathe.

In just a while, the snake secreted a large amount of liquid. It contained the nutrients and medicine. They seeped into Chen Chuan’s blood so that he could absorb them and not pass out or die because he ran out of stamina.

Chen Chuan could clearly sense the omnipresent pressure making the mutated tissue on his bones, fascia, and organs focus desperately on absorbing the medicine in order to become stronger and fight against this external threat.

Just absorbing the medicine and nutrients seeping into him was too slow and couldn’t satisfy his mutated tissue, so Chen Chuan activated the internal breathing technique. This made his skin join the breathing and absorption.

Zuo Handan watched from beyond the glass wall. Once the metamorphosed snakes hatched, they entered dormancy, but once an alien object entered their stomachs, the stimulation would make them grow rapidly.

Metamorphosed snakes lived for seventy-two hours—or three days—once they woke up from dormancy. When the service ended, their lives were snuffed out too.

While growing, the metamorphosed snakes stimulated the client in all aspects. With the dual effects of the medicine and the nutrients seeping into them, their organs, bones, and fascia would passively resist the pressure. Through this, they would gradually get stronger.

Most clients had to come out after a day or two, because while they were inside the metamorphosed snake, their stamina and mental energy would experience a constant drain. Being in a dark, cramped space would also take a huge mental toll on their psyche.

Thankfully, their clients were martial artists and had strong willpower—the most basic requirement for this service. As for normal people, even if their bodies could handle being inside, he highly doubted their minds could. It was likely that they would end up losing their minds within half a minute.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Getting out before the three-day mark wasn’t a bad thing. While in theory, being inside for longer stretches of time would bring about greater benefits, there was a limit to the human body, and the rate at which they absorbed nutrients couldn’t keep up with the rate they spent it. In the past, Zuo Handan had seen martial artists who pushed themselves so hard that they fainted or nearly died. That was why they warned the clients to know their limits.

As he stared ahead, he remembered that Chen Chuan hadn’t requested any biofield monitoring for himself, so he didn’t know the situation inside, but he believed that the youth would reach his limit around the two-day mark as everyone.

***

Chen Chuan noticed the contractions and pressure around him getting stronger. It felt like if he hesitated in pushing back for even a second, his bones and fascia would be broken.

The metamorphosed snake was growing at a rapid speed, so its strength and toughness were also improving. This biotool also changed according to the person it swallowed. The client’s resistance stimulated it and determined its life force.

Chen Chuan thought that this pressure was just right. It forced his mutated tissue to keep growing stronger and absorbing the nutrients. When he trained on his own after taking medicine, he could never achieve such results.

Soon, a day passed.

After sparring for such a long time with Zheng Tongtong and fighting against Zhao Qian and Bladed Toad, Chen Chuan’s maximum overlap time with his second self had reached three days and five hours. It was enough for him to cover the maximum length of time for the service.

***

Zuo Handan watched the metamorphosed snake with a serious expression. It constantly adjusted its strength, so if it sensed that the alien object in its stomach was becoming weaker, it would lower the pressure around it.

At such a time, the client would have a chance to recover. Medicine would seep into them from the outside to repair the tissue that had been damaged while resisting the pressure, and they could rest. Once they recovered their stamina, it would provoke the metamorphosed snake into continuing to apply the pressure again.

But this time, Zuo Handan saw no signs of the metamorphosed snake relenting its pressure. He had seen cases like this before, but it wasn’t a good sign, because it was usually caused by the clients pushing themselves past their limits. This was the moment when the clients got hurt or fainted.

Even though they stated on the contract that the client was fully responsible if such a thing happened, Cao Guiqi was the referrer, and Chen Chuan also had a good relationship with Green Satchel Pharmacy. Zuo Handan didn’t want to bring future trouble to the cult.

He instructed the person in charge to immediately run inside and put a stop to the service the moment he noticed anything strange. Meanwhile, Zuo Handan went to welcome another client.

The person in charge understood right away that the client in the metamorphosed snake was no ordinary person, so he watched with bated breath, ready to spring in and save them.

Another day passed.

After taking a brief break for half an hour and taking an energy booster, Zuo Handan showed up in front of the glass wall and asked for an update from the person in charge.

It had been forty-eight hours since Chen Chuan went into the metamorphosed snake. The average martial artist wouldn’t have been able to continue at this point, but Chen Chuan was still going on.

Since there were no abnormalities, Zuo Handan could only keep waiting.

***

At this point, the metamorphosed snake’s body had become stronger due to Chen Chuan resisting it, but it was also time for it to become weaker, since it would unleash all of its life force within a short three days. Once it completed its duty, it would die.

At the end of its final day, it looked as if it had been drained of moisture. Its body became emaciated before shriveling up.

Chen Chuan sensed the pressure relenting, and the powerful, tough muscles pressing against him vanished almost in an instant. This was a sign that the service had ended.

After wriggling for a bit, he stretched his hands out and easily pierced through the flesh and skin that had threatened to crush him just days ago. Then, with a bit of force, he tore apart the snake and broke free from his “binds.”

When he stepped out of the metamorphosed snake, he noticed that only shriveled snake skin was left of it. The bones that had supported its body had become as brittle as rotten branches. The moment he stepped on them, they were reduced to dust.

Chen Chuan took a deep breath and took some time to get a sense of his new strength.

Over the past three days, his bones, fascia, and organs had resisted against the omnipresent pressure while repairing themselves. Because of it, they received a certain degree of training and became stronger.

The effects were pretty great.

Since Chen Chuan could still sense the remnants of the external pressure, his mutated tissue continued getting stronger with the help of the remaining medicinal effects. It seemed like this effect would continue for some time.

He stretched a little before returning to his room through the tunnel. After taking a shower in the bathroom, he changed into his clothes, put on his Realm Pass, picked up the Frost King Saber, and left.

Zuo Handan was waiting for him outside. “Are you satisfied with our service, Mr. Chen?” he asked politely.

“Yes. Can I apply for it again in the future?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Of course. Unfortunately, though, since we can only produce a limited number of metamorphosed snakes, you can only apply for this service once a month. If you reserve a session now, we can only arrange for it to be next month,” Zuo Handan said.

“I’ll make a reservation, then,” Chen Chuan said.

“Alright. We prioritize providing this service to clients who have already gone through it once. You should get your turn at the start of the next month,” Zuo Handan replied.

“By the way, I have yet to see any other clients,” Chen Chuan mentioned after taking a look outside.

“That’s because we value our clients’ privacy. We make sure to arrange the schedule so that you will never run into each other. The amount of land we own around Morning Harvest Lake also makes it possible to house many people. We have a large variety of entertainment available near Morning Harvest Lake and Split Waves Valley. If you’re not in a hurry, you can rest and relax there.”

“Thank you, but I’ll have to turn down the offer. I have something to do and need to leave now,” Chen Chuan said apologetically.

“Alright. We look forward to your next visit.” Zuo Handan then turned to Lin Yingzi. “Send Mr. Chen off.”

Chen Chuan gave him a nod and walked out of the glass path with Lin Yingzi. They took the tourist cart and returned to the parking lot. Then, Chen Chuan drove out of the place.

On the way, he sent a message to Gao Ming that he was out. Then, he contacted Lu Fang.

“I’m done. How are things on your side?”

“I got close to Zhao Qian’s mansion and have been observing it over the past few days. Someone seems to be living there,” Lu Fang answered.

“Someone’s living there? Is it someone Zhao Qian stationed there to guard the mansion?” Chen Chuan asked.

“I’m not sure. A delivery worker brings them Grand Morals Food’s nutritional paste every day. I don’t think an average guard would do that. They aren’t buying loads of nutritional paste in one go, but rather having it delivered every day. This is really weird,” Lu Fang explained.

Chen Chuan thought about it. Grand Morals Food was one of the companies sponsoring Martial Valor University and provided nutritional paste for martial artists. While the average person could eat it as well, they wouldn’t be able to stand its bland taste. It wasn’t cheap either, and it would be even more expensive if it was delivered. This behavior didn’t match that of a normal guard.

Lu Fang then continued, “Wu Bei said that the biofield signal in there changes once every day, so there should be a biosentient entity inside. Regardless of who is staying there, they have to possess a certain degree of resonance skill.

“We believe that Zhao Qian is hiding something in there. Perhaps we might really find some clues.”

After some thinking, Chen Chuan said, “Don’t do anything just yet. Wait for me. I’ll meet you at night.”