Book 3, Chapter 242: Visit

After getting back to the university, Chen Chuan logged onto the platform to look for information about his tutor, only to find no details.

All he got was general information, which was not that much different from the message.

Judging by the situation, it seemed like his tutor was not from this Central City. Chen Chuan remembered a piece of information: the highest central institute sent a batch of lecturers to the main campuses in the Central Cities every semester. Could his tutor be from the highest central institute?

That was highly likely.

In the past, regardless of what Chen Chuan learned, he had to pay for his courses. This time, however, the university mentioned nothing about payment. Either his tutor offered his lessons for free, like most of the lecturers here did for some of their classes, or there were other considerations.

Right now, aside from not knowing how to reach the Fourth Limit, Chen Chuan also needed to get extra tutoring for certain things. For example, he was still relying on his outstanding physical abilities to overpower his opponents. While this was the right thing to do, he was lacking in in-depth training methods and techniques specifically for Third Limit martial artists. All he had was the Furnace Breathing Technique’s associated techniques.

There were clearly a lot of other vital aspects to the Third Limit. Jiancheng Sheng was a good example. He had a way to directly attack his mind, and he had suddenly grown too. It was a technique that could clearly only be activated through the use of blood essence and mental foundation.

Jiancheng Sheng couldn’t compare to Chen Chuan in terms of brute strength, but he had been able to keep up with him with that mental attack and sudden growth, which meant that those techniques were of utmost importance.

Chen Chuan hoped that he could make up for those flaws in his strength.

He would find out in a few days.

After reaching his room, Chen Chuan took a shower and changed into loose clothes before going to his training room, taking special medicine, and entering a meditative state.

The night soon passed.

When dawn broke, he opened his eyes at the first rays of light through his window. The moment Dawncall saw him wake up, it chirped happily.

Chen Chuan stood up and fed Dawncall some food and water.

He thought about his training in the campus and the merged space, only to find that training here was lacking in certain aspects.

While the merged space was more dangerous, he improved at a much faster pace there. This was likely because the medicine was supposed to bring his mind closer to the other world.

If Chen Chuan overlooked the negative effects and the unseen damage, the merged space was undoubtedly closer to the other world, so it wasn’t strange for the training there to have much greater effect. But to most people, training in the merged space wasn’t a reliable and safe option, so they had to come back to Central City to do it.

Chen Chuan wondered how the martial artists in the cities at the rear of the merged space trained, especially the Third Limit martial artists. After all, they weren’t allowed to come to Central City often. Still, if they weren’t talented and determined enough, it would be difficult for them to continue improving as martial artists.

Just then, he received a message. It was from Su Wei, the team member he recruited before the end of the year. He wished him a Happy New Year and asked him whether he had any missions for him.

Chen Chuan: Not right now. Just be on standby.

His main mission for the time being was to get closer to Chen Bitong, which meant that it was highly likely that he wasn’t going to go to the merged space for some time. Besides, Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque were still back at home, celebrating the New Year. Once they returned, Chen Chuan intended to call them over to have a meal together.

After replying to Su Wei, he changed his clothes to go out. Since the New Year was almost over, he intended to visit the lecturers he was close to and his friends. He had brought some of Yangzhi City’s specialties to share with them.

He visited Mr. Jiang, Mr. Bai, and Mr. Zheng before going to Wu Bei’s place to give him some of Yangzhi City’s snacks. Once he left, he contacted Cao Guiqi to visit him.

The moment he got confirmation that Cao Guiqi was at home, he drove to Motie Mountain and parked his car in front of the gate. When he stepped out, he saw Mr. Ding walking over to the gate to welcome him.

“Captain Chen, the young master is waiting for you in the courtyard. Please come with me.”

“Please lead the way.” Chen Chuan nodded. When he saw Mr. Ding, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the Iron Monster. There were indeed many similarities between them. If Mr. Ding were thirty years younger, he might be a copy of the Iron Monster. It was highly likely that they were relatives.

Upon entering the courtyard, Chen Chuan found Cao Guiqi sitting under a plum tree while wearing a moon white robe. Clearly, he was already waiting for him. Chen Chuan walked over and greeted him. “I brought some tea leaves and snacks from Yangzhi City. My family made the snacks themselves. I hope they’re to your tastes.”

“I’ll have to try them. Sit,” Cao Guiqi said with a smile.

After settling down, Chen Chuan said, “The last time I came here, I wanted to visit you, but there were a lot of cars parked outside your house, so I didn’t come in.”

“They’re all people I don’t want to see but can’t cut off from my life. Let’s not talk about them. You’ve gone to the merged space, haven’t you?” Cao Guiqi said while observing him.

Chen Chuan nodded. “I went there last year and barely made it back before the New Year. When I came back, I went straight home to celebrate the New Year and only came back a few days ago.”

Then, he told Cao Guiqi about the things he saw and heard in the merged space, though he didn’t tell him the details of his mission. After all, some of them were confidential information.

As for the similarities between Mr. Ding and the Iron Monster, he said nothing about that.

Based on certain minor details, he could guess Cao Guiqi’s background. It was possible that Mr. Ding was related to the Iron Monster, but the Great Shun Republic was wary of those related to the former royal family, so if he mentioned it, it would just bring grief to everyone involved.

After chatting for a while, he said, “I have something with me, but I can’t tell what it is, so I was wondering whether you’d recognize it.”

“Did you bring it?” Cao Guiqi asked.

Chen Chuan took the shattered jade bits from his pocket and put them on the table.

Cao Guiqi recognized them at first sight and said with certainty, “They’re jade cores retrieved from a shattered Skyhigh Jade.”

“Skyhigh Jade?”

Cao Guiqi nodded at that. “It’s a sacred object of the Skyhigh Cult. It’s a foreign religion.”

Then, he looked into the distance, as if lost in memory. “Apparently, when the former royal family was still in power, the Gong family had to offer these jades as tribute every year. The last emperor had a foreign consort, and he built the Glazed Jade Palace for her. He hung lanterns made of the Skyhigh Jade and even built a hot spring under them. Whenever night arrived, the water and jades would reflect each other’s light, making the place sparkle brilliantly like the galaxy and giving the impression that the place was heaven itself. The last emperor often took a boat and had fun with the consort in her palace.

“Since the Skyhigh Jades in the Glazed Jade Palace were tributes and some were from the consort herself, there might have been more than a thousand of them at some point. But when the palace was overthrown during the 49th year of the royal family’s reign, rumors had it that the consort burned all of them down.

“When the soldiers cleared out the debris, they didn’t find her corpse or the jades. The hundred concubines and consorts were also missing. Later on, someone theorized that the consort might have entered the merged space through a gap owned by the royal family.”

Chen Chuan thought about it. The rebellion in the 49th year was a famous incident and written about in textbooks. The last emperor had been ill, and the empress had no children. Hence, she had Prince Fan lead troops into the capital to kill the consorts and rebels serving them.

This incident led to a seventeen-year-long conflict between the royal family members. The internal fighting destroyed the royal family’s power and foreshadowed its fall.

“The royal family searched for the Skyhigh Jades in the past, and I heard that they had all been excavated. The Skyhigh Cult may have some left, but Skyhigh Jades with jade cores are rare. You can only find one once in a blue moon,” Cao Guiqi said.

“I feel like the jade cores can refresh the mind and build the mental foundation,” Chen Chuan pointed out.

“That’s indeed one of its uses. If the Skyhigh Jade was used as a lantern, you’d be exposed to the core’s rays all day long, and your mind would ascend to a higher plane, which might make you feel like you’re in the immortal world.

“The believers of the national religion in the old era used the Skyhigh Jade together with medicine. They blended them into incense sticks and lit them up during critical moments to focus their minds. It’s really helpful when trying to break through the limits of the physical body.”

Chen Chuan pondered over it before saying, “I got this from a Fierce Wave School disciple, who had it in his saber’s hilt. I think he used it to invigorate his mind. But if this thing is so precious, it shouldn’t be used in such a superficial, crass way. Is it because the foreigners don’t know how to use them?”

Cao Guiqi shook his head. “It’s because the materials required for the incense stick are hard to find. If you can’t get them, you can’t make the incense sticks, and you won’t be able to produce those effects.

“Nowadays, technology has improved so greatly that certain things can replace the incense sticks. While the effects can’t compare, they’re much easier to obtain. That’s why there’s no reason to look for the materials anymore. But since you got the jade core, why not use it? I know where to find the other materials for the incense sticks. I’ll tell you once I locate them.”

“Thank you, Senior Cao,” Chen Chuan immediately expressed his gratitude.

They stopped talking about this and switched their focus. Chen Chuan only left Cao Guiqi’s place when it was almost noon.

Mr. Ding stood by the side to brew tea and fill their cups while they talked. He did not say a single word. After Chen Chuan left, he spoke up. “It’s no longer easy to find materials for the incense stick. That person might be the only one who has them, Young Master.”

“Give him a shrub of the musschia he likes from the garden in exchange,” Cao Guiqi said.

“But we only have one shrub of musschia left in the garden,” Mr. Ding reminded him.

Cao Guiqi didn’t mind. “It’s just an inanimate object. If I have no more, I can plant another batch. As for him, he can keep those materials around, but they’re useless without the Skyhigh Jade.”

“He has been traveling all around the world to promote restoring the royal family’s power. If you send someone to him at this point in time, people might say things that can hurt you...” Mr. Ding pointed out.

Cao Guiqi gave him a look before saying, “A lot of those people came to my house recently. The ones who wish me harm can also use that to hurt me. It’s not so easy to break free of this mess. It’s better for me to do something meaningful instead.”

Mr. Ding pondered over his words before bowing to him. “I understand, Young Master.”

Cao Guiqi shook his head. He was pretty sure whatever Mr. Ding was thinking was not what he meant, but that was Mr. Ding’s business, so he didn’t spend any effort correcting him.