Book 4, Chapter 17: Training

Chen Chuan continued swimming downward with Talu. In the beginning, there was still light around them, but as they got deeper, it couldn’t reach anymore, and everything started turning blurry.

But this didn’t affect him too much. Martial artists’ senses were sharper after mutation, and even without them, his mental energy and released biofield could help him sense the changes in the world around him.

Just then, Talu made a gesture, and he immediately understood what she meant.

The entrance was right ahead.

But he didn’t sense anything. Even after releasing his mental energy as far as he could, he detected nothing.

It seemed like gaps that had stabilized over a long period of time truly were different from gaps that appeared all of a sudden.

The gaps he saw in Central City released strong light and powerful gusts of wind. Many creatures also came from within, which made them really hard to ignore. But here, he felt nothing. It was no wonder why Single Flow School couldn’t find it for a long time after it went missing.

This made him really impressed with the Talu who rediscovered the gap. He hadn’t known whether it was still around, let alone its precise location of the gap. The thought of searching for a place like this in the vast ocean would have driven most people into despair.

As they continued their descent, Talu suddenly vanished from Chen Chuan’s senses. Surprise flickered in his heart, but he dived toward the place where she disappeared, and the water around him started receding.

The next moment, he found himself standing on solid ground. He was in a sparkling place that resembled a spacious hall supported on the sides by arched rib bones. The light came from the walls, and it only got brighter further into the gap, though it never got to a blinding degree. The place in no way resembled a gap.

The water droplets rolled off of their skin, unable to make them wet in the slightest. White steam rose from Chen Chuan’s skin, and all the moisture in his clothes evaporated as well.

Talu’s eyes sparkled. “Are you using the Furnace Breathing Technique, Mr. Chen?”

“Yes,” Chen Chuan said.

“The Furnace Breathing Technique is a secret technique within the faction. I heard that the conditions are really demanding. I’ve met others who practice it, but you’re using it a little differently from them,” Talu mentioned.

The other martial artists only had their skin turn red and hot. Some of them had a thin layer of steam coming out of them, but she had never met anyone who released rolling waves of white steam, like Chen Chuan. If she hadn’t sensed the burning sensation when she stood close to him and felt that unique breathing rhythm, she wouldn’t have been sure that it was the same technique.

Chen Chuan grunted. Secret legacies and secret techniques were different between each individual martial artist due to the coverage of mutated tissue in them and their personal differences.

Chen Chuan had an incredibly high coverage of mutated tissue, and he even had the All-Encompassing Force as his foundation. Hence, on the outside, he looked even more intimidating than the orthodox users of the Furnace Breathing Technique.

However, those who understood the Furnace Breathing Technique could identify what sort of breathing technique he was using based on his breathing rhythm.

He looked around. “The gaps I’ve gone into before were very different from this one.”

Talu looked up as well. “That’s because the predecessors of the school have developed this place over generations. We’ve achieved a certain balance with the other world.

“A predecessor of ours even fused with some sort of life form in the gap. Many of our secret legacies and secret techniques are contained within his biofield.”

“Then, where is...”

Chen Chuan had wanted to ask Talu where that predecessor was, only to trail off as he realized the answer. He looked around again.

“We’re in him,” Talu answered frankly.

She took a few steps forward to an empty spot. “It’s because of this predecessor serving as a wall that we can avoid getting corroded by the other side. He also made the entrance stable. But that also means that this predecessor has to withstand all the attacks from the other world.

“Apparently, he was conscious a long time ago, but as time passed, his mind faded away. Now, only his body remains to protect the place.”

It’s no wonder why this place doesn’t feel like the other gaps I’ve gone into. It’s because of this unique lifeform, Chen Chuan thought.

“I’ve heard that all gaps that have existed since the old era are stable because someone fused with a lifeform from the other world there. I think they’re all predecessors of their martial arts schools,” Talu added.

Chen Chuan took a moment to get a feel for the place. This lifeform was truly unique. There was no mental energy whatsoever. It was just like Talu said. All that was left was instinct.

He walked forward with Talu to the end of the place. It was a wall made of countless bunched up feelers.

Once Talu got closer, she did nothing, but the bunched up feelers unwound and slowly moved away, as if they sensed her biofield. In an instant, a ray of light spread out from the newly formed hole.

Then, Chen Chuan immediately felt something attacking his mind. Along with it came wisps of quintessence. While it wasn’t as much as what he got when the Gate to Heaven opened, which made what he got seem weak in comparison, a hole had still opened between their worlds.

Talu then gave him a kind reminder. “Mr. Chen, if you’re going to train, do it here. Don’t go over to the other side, because there might be something there. My predecessor’s body can block off those existences from the other world while you’re here, but once you’re out of his body, he can’t help you.

“My predecessor also instinctively blocks off all external objects, so if you leave, you might be forever locked outside.”

“Got it. Thanks for the warning,” Chen Chuan said earnestly.

Talu took a few steps back, and the feelers bunched up together again. “Mr. Chen, the gap is very unstable right now. If we open it for a long time during the day, many strange things will happen, and the others might notice the gap here. So, I would suggest coming at night. Let’s go back for now.”

Chen Chuan nodded. In any case, he already knew where the gap was located, and he had some things to get ready before coming here again. So, he left the gap with Talu. Since there was no path back up, they had to scale the cliff wall, but this wasn’t difficult for them. Soon, they reached the top.

Once the moisture on his clothes evaporated, Chen Chuan went to a makeshift shelter made of grass.

Dawncall was standing on the briefcase he left behind. When it saw him, it chirped.

Chen Chuan went over to pat it a few times before picking up his briefcase. Then, he walked down the mountain with Talu in search of a place to stay.

Mistlight Island had around four thousand residents, with the village at the bottom of the cliff in the middle of the island being the biggest. There were about two thousand people gathered there, and most of the students Single Flow School took in were from this place.

Of course, there were also some people who came to learn under Talu because they heard of her school’s former prestige. Since it was usually quite hard to figure out these people’s backgrounds, only a handful of them managed to become students.

Since the old era, Single Flow School served as Mistlight Island and the surrounding ocean’s protector. Before the martial arts school went into decline, Talus held great status. The rulers of Luowang Island would often come to be students of the school, though only in name.

Once Single Flow School fell into decline and Luowang Island was taken over by other island nations to be turned into a pure tourist island, memories of Mistlight Island and Single Flow School gradually faded away over the course of one hundred years among the residents of the region. Only the people of Mistlight Island continued worshiping Single Flow School as their guardians.

Since Talu had brought Chen Chuan to the village, the villagers gave him an empty room in the best inn they had. After he set his things down, Chen Chuan took a shower before going out to buy some items and tools.

At around 6 p.m., he took his newly purchased waterproof bag and returned to the cliff with Dawncall. Then, he sat down on the cliff, placed the Frost King Saber beside him, and put a hand on his bent knee. He watched the beautiful sky as the sun set with a relaxed expression.

The ocean breeze made his hair dance, while the setting sun basked his cheeks and clothes in a golden-red glow. Slowly, the sky started turning a dark purple.

Ever since he arrived on the island, Chen Chuan felt himself relaxing. He felt as if his mind was soaking in a hot spring.

At his current stage of mental training, this was really beneficial for achieving full coordination of the body and mind.

It seemed like the gap wasn’t the only treasure around. The island itself was worth gold. Single Flow School had a good reason for setting up its school here.

Chen Chuan sat until the sky turned completely dark. Then, he stood up, grabbed the waterproof bag, jumped down, and plunged into the ocean.

Since he had gone to the gap during the day, he knew where it was and was able to locate it right away. After diving down hundreds of meters, he sensed the water around him recede, and he was inside the gap once more.

Chen Chuan walked forward. Water droplets rolled off of him, and white smoke rose from his skin.

Once he was in front of the feelers, they unraveled and moved aside. It was likely because they had sensed his biofield during the day. Light shone through from the other side, and a powerful gust of air blew out to make his clothes and hair dance.

Chen Chuan stood still to get a feel for the effects. Even though he knew that going through would bear better results, Chen Chuan listened to Talu’s advice and had no intention of crossing over.

He dropped the bag and took a step forward. Around one meter from the entrance, he sat down and set the Frost King Saber beside him. Once he sensed the wisps of quintessence flowing out, he activated Xue Shou’s Awakening Clarity.

He took a moment to examine himself and found that he was getting stronger much faster than when training regularly. He didn’t even need any medicine to help him.

Usually, when he went through mental training, he had to use incense to complement his training. As his mental energy grew stronger, he also needed to increase the quality of the incense, but he didn’t need any of that here. But this also led to an unavoidable problem—his second self turned blurry.

This meant that some sort of corruption was spilling over.

Chen Chuan ignored it. He simply sat with his knees crossed and eyes shut as his whole mind and body were thrown into training.

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