Book 3, Chapter 246: Sponsorship

Once Chen Chuan settled down in a meditative position, he slowly emptied his mind and pushed down all the unnecessary thoughts before restraining his mind bit by bit.

When Xue Shou demonstrated the process to him, he did it so swiftly and smoothly that he was able to instantly enter that empty, quiet state, but when Chen Chuan tried it, he could feel thoughts pulling at him and screaming for his attention. He was in a constant state of never-ending interruptions he could not seem to chase away, and it frustrated him.

If he used the Skyhigh Jade’s jade cores, would he be able to swiftly settle down?

He soon squashed that thought down, knowing that it was precisely because he had it that the thought was born. He also found that the more obstacles he ran into, the stronger that desire became.

But the whole purpose behind refining the mind was to subjugate and restrain all the unnecessary and disobedient thoughts so that his mind would become calm, still, clear, and focused. It was only after he succeeded that he could take the next step in his training.

The foundation on which his journey into refining his mind was built was his desire to keep improving so that he could break free of all restraints. With this unshakeable desire, he was going to squash down all the unnecessary thoughts.

He sat in meditative silence for an entire day before finally managing to bind all the “mental apes.” Next, he was to form the mental gemstone that would reflect a pure mind.

As he focused his mind, a ball of light rose in his mental space, but its radiance couldn’t compare to the ball of light Xue Shou had shown him. It was barely glowing and looked like it was going to fade away at any moment.

But this was the first time he observed his own state of mind and had yet to start polishing it, so it wasn’t focused or strong, which was why it manifested in such a manner. Still, Chen Chuan didn’t become impatient. As long as he continued training his mind, he was sure that the ball of light would become stronger and brighter.

More than ten days passed in the training room.

Despite spending a lot of time focusing and observing his mind, Chen Chuan didn’t neglect nourishing his blood essence. Aside from sticking stubbornly to his goal, he also needed a powerful body. Only by having both could he truly have a strong mind that wouldn’t weaken.

In the middle of February, in the morning right after Chen Chuan fed Dawncall food and water, he received a connection request. When he saw that it was from Lei Guangcheng, he immediately answered it.

“Mr. Lei?”

“Chen Chuan, I’ve been busy dealing with all the things I need to take over from the bureau. There’s so much work that I only just got them done. I called to thank you for helping us on our way to Central City that day. I heard about the details. Apparently, the Resolution Department thinks that the mastermind is Ferris Wheel?”

“That’s what I think too. Some colleagues of mine share the same opinion, but we still don’t know why,” Chen Chuan answered.

“I asked around. The Resolution Department is still discussing it. They don’t have a proper solution for this matter,” Lei Guangcheng offered.

“Yeah. They haven’t figured out what to do with this yet.”

Then, in an earnest voice, Lei Guangcheng said, “Chen Chuan, sometimes, the higher-ups’ decisions aren’t the same as what their subordinates think. Usually, we only care about solving a problem quickly and seldom think about what to do with the problems that will spring up after we deal with it.

“Most people aren’t sitting in their positions, so they don’t have to worry about so many things. That’s why it makes sense for them to want to get rid of the current problems immediately, but we need to think and consider the future. If everyone overlooks it, it’s just going to cause more problems.

“But sometimes, the more the higher-ups consider things, the more worried they get, and the slower they are to react. So, letting things stay in their current state becomes an acceptable option for them and many other parties.

“It’s usually quite hard to come to a decision.

“Black Orchid was forced to retreat to Yangzhi City all those years ago, but the higher-ups still had to mobilize many relevant parties to completely destroy them. It’s going to be the same for Ferris Wheel. If we’re not strong enough, then we need to have a certain degree of patience.”

Chen Chuan grasped the underlying meaning behind Lei Guangcheng’s words. “I understand, Mr. Lei.”

“I’ve taken some time to read up on Ferris Wheel over the past few days. This is a foreign company that seems to have close ties with the Skyhigh Cult and other evil cults, so I will lead a team to perform a long-term investigation of Ferris Wheel. I will keep looking into them until I find a problem,” Lei Guangcheng declared gravely.

Chen Chuan tensed up at that and reminded Lei Guangcheng to stay safe. “You have to be careful, Mr. Lei.”

“I will. You do the same, Chen Chuan,” Lei Guangcheng said calmly.

“Okay,” Chen Chuan gave his word.

After the conversation with Lei Guangcheng, a few minutes passed before he received another connection request. This time, it was from Yan Yi. He answered it and asked, “Did something happen at the company, Miss Yan?”

“Everything’s normal, Mr. Chen. I called because I wanted to discuss something with you,” Yan Yi said.

“What is it?” Chen Chuan asked.

“This year, a lot of new students with great potential enrolled in the main campus, and I noticed that one of them came from Yangzhi City.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“I’m sure that you know that we’ve always wanted to train up our own martial artists. That’s why we’d like to sponsor him, but before that, we’d like to ask you for your opinion.”

Chen Chuan had actually given some thought to Wei Dong’s sponsorship before. After all, the students needed to buy the specialized courses and other additional services. They couldn’t train with ease by just relying on the little amount of money and resources they had. They absolutely needed to get a sponsor.

But there was a problem. If they accepted sponsorship and signed a contract, they would have to accept certain restrictions and bear certain responsibilities. It was a form of exchange.

Chen Chuan thought that it would be a great idea for Wei Dong to join the Resolution Department, but that depended on the higher-ups of the department. His Plan B was Border Fusion, but that depended on whether Wei Dong would be willing to accept their sponsorship or not. Chen Chuan couldn’t just make decisions in his friend’s place.

“I’ll talk to him about this and give you an answer later,” he said.

The moment Yan Yi heard this, she figured out that Chen Chuan had a close relationship with Wei Dong, but that was to be expected. It had been precisely because of the possibility of them being friends that she had thought about talking to Chen Chuan first. Of course, there was another reason behind why they decided to pick Wei Dong: He wasn’t a recommended student and had a clean background, so they didn’t have to worry about him causing trouble.

“Alright. I’ll wait for your reply,” she said.

After the call, Chen Chuan contacted his friend. “Wei Dong, are you free?

“Okay. I’ll find you at the training center.”

Wei Dong had only been around for ten days, but he had spent more time at the training center than in his room. His path was clear: He was focusing purely on body hardening, and talent as well as hard work were required for any martial artist to become a body hardening expert. While teachers could help, it was not a lot.

Since Wei Dong didn’t have money to buy any courses, he went to the public lectures offered by the lecturers from the highest central institute.

Usually, public lectures didn’t offer one-to-one classes, but not many people practiced body hardening. This semester, only three students were doing it. The other two had hired tutors to teach them, so Wei Dong lucked out in this regard and got himself a one-to-one lesson for free.

When Chen Chuan arrived, the lecturer was sipping tea on the side while Wei Dong was covered in medicinal paste. His skin had turned a deep shade of red, and he was in a stance to train his refined force.

The moment the lecturer saw Chen Chuan, he was taken aback. Even though Chen Chuan was dressed like a student, he was already a Third Limit martial artist, which was a rare sight in the university.

He also noticed that there was a shine in Chen Chuan’s eyes that said that he had begun training his mind, though he wasn’t able to restrain it.

Whoever he is, he’s no ordinary person

, the lecturer thought.

Not all Third Limit martial artists were qualified to go through mental training. Those who could walk down this path all had a chance to reach higher limits.

The lecturer stood up and said, “You must be the student who spoke to Wei Dong just now.”

“Good morning, sir. You’re right. I spoke to Wei Dong just now. I’m Chen Chuan,” he responded politely.

“You can just call me Mr. Wang,” the lecturer said with a smile and discreetly checked Chen Chuan’s profile. He was working at the Resolution Department, so his detailed information was private. It showed that not only did Chen Chuan have a proper position there, but it was also quite high. Mr. Wang was shocked.

The Resolution Department got themselves someone really talented...

“Have a seat. Wei Dong can stay in that stance for a little while longer, so let’s wait for him.”

Chen Chuan nodded and sat down to chat with Mr. Wang.

The lecturer was a jovial man who could talk about everything and anything, but was surprisingly cautious. Even though he sounded like he was telling Chen Chuan many things, he never revealed anything crucial. When Chen Chuan asked about the highest central institute, Mr. Wang only talked about trivial, insignificant things, and Chen Chuan couldn’t form a picture of what the place was like based on the scattered, disjointed pieces of information.

As they continued talking, Chen Chuan sensed that Mr. Wang was no ordinary lecturer. When he really thought about it, Mr. Wang was sent over by the highest central institute, so he was not necessarily here just to teach the students. He might have been tasked with other things.

After around twenty minutes, the medicinal paste on Wei Dong’s body turned dark purple. After a twitch and a long exhale, it started falling off of him like peeling paint.

Mr. Wang stood up and praised him. “Not bad. Let’s end the class here today. Have fun chatting.”

He didn’t linger around to say anything else. With a wave as a goodbye, he strode out of the training center.

Wei Dong rolled his neck and shook off the remaining bits of medicinal paste. Then, as he rolled his shoulders and arms, he walked over. “What’s up, Chen Chuan?”

Chen Chuan noticed him being unable to resist scratching at his skin. Knowing that this was due to the stimulation from the medicine, he grinned and said, “Go take a shower. It’s noon now. Once you’re done, let’s have lunch together and talk.”

“Sure thing.”

Chen Chuan waited for him, then they headed to the cafeteria together. After they ordered their food, he asked, “What’s your assessment score?”

“Fifty-four,” Wei Dong answered.

Chen Chuan hummed at that. It wasn’t high, but that didn’t mean that he was no good. It just meant that his training framework wasn’t fully developed.

After all, recommended students usually hired martial artists to be their personal tutors and didn’t just rely on the lecturers in Martial Valor University. Even Chen Chuan himself had guidance from He Xiaoxing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hit the demanding requirements to join the main campus.

“Has anyone contacted you to talk about sponsorship?” he asked.

“No,” Wei Dong said with a shake of his head.

Before coming, Chen Chuan had checked and found that the Resolution Department had chosen their sponsorship target.

While Wei Dong had great potential, aside from body hardening, he had nothing else that stood out. There was also the problem that those who practiced body hardening seldom reached the Third Limit. His assessment points weren’t high either, so Chen Chuan could understand why the Resolution Department didn’t pick him.

This left only Border Fusion. At the very least, Chen Chuan was there and could take care of him. He had high hopes for Wei Dong and wanted him to join his team in the future.

So, he told Wei Dong about Border Fusion’s wish to sponsor him before asking what he thought about it. Wei Dong scratched his head and asked, “Do you think it’s a good place?”

Chen Chuan nodded.

“Then, I’ll join them,” Wei Dong declared.