Book 4, Chapter 175: Training While Waiting

Yang Ling had been transferred to Safe Room 509 in the Resolution Department’s recovery ward.

She was sitting in bed and reading a book. She had mostly recovered by this point, but she wasn’t a martial artist, so the medical officers couldn’t use the strong medicines on her. That was why she was bedridden even after more than ten days had passed.

Due to her mind being injured and the place being rather isolated, the medical officers couldn’t install any domain communication entities, so she could only read some books to stave off her boredom.

Just then, she heard the door being opened, and she saw Chen Chuan walking in. Yang Ling set the book aside and sat up straight. “Lead Investigator Chen.”

Chen Chuan took a moment to observe her. Her complexion had become much better, and the medical officers had removed the recovery membrane from her face, which revealed new skin tissue underneath. Then, he took a look at the book beside her. It was a collection of stories about supernatural beings.

He sat down and asked, “Are you interested in these things?”

“Yes. I like reading about them,” Yang Ling whispered.

Chen Chuan nodded. “Have you been practicing the breathing technique?”

“I did. Thank you, Lead Investigator Chen. It was really useful. I no longer suffer from the headaches,” Yang Ling said with a nod.

“This is regarding the conflict from before. While you’re a victim, you were also part of United Might, so you won’t be able to escape from the law. Once you’ve recovered, someone will come and talk to you about this,” Chen Chuan informed her.

Yang Ling ducked her head. “Okay.”

“Do you remember your brother?”

“I do,” Yang Ling whispered.

Chen Chuan didn’t hear an emotional inflection in her voice, but that made sense. Based on the information from the Mutual Aid Group, Shen Zheng had only found his sister after five years of her going missing. Apparently, back then, her family had brought her out to play and lost her.

Considering her current age, she had to have been really young when she went missing, so she might not have a deep bond with Shen Zheng.

“Once you’ve been disciplined, I intend to introduce you to a few people. They were pretty close friends of your brother. Of course, you’re the one who gets to decide whether you want to meet them, but we can talk about that later. Rest and recover first. Remember to practice the breathing technique I taught you,” he said and stood up.

With Yang Ling staring at him, he left the room and spoke to the person-in-charge of the recovery ward. “Go to my office later and give her two of my books about supernatural beings.”

“Okay, sir,” the person-in-charge hurriedly said.

Chen Chuan returned to his office. Once he was done with work, he would have to fill his two branch members in on what had happened.

He was sure that many people were watching him, though, so he couldn’t go far from the Resolution Department. “Safe Shield, lock down external domains and call someone on this signal for me. Make sure no one is listening in.”

“Understood. Contacting signal.”

The call went through soon.

With obvious excitement, Chang Dong said, “I saw what happened earlier, Lead Investigator Chen. Have you... reached the Fourth Limit?”

When it came to the people who were the most mentally prepared for Chen Chuan becoming a martial arts master, it would be him and Gao Yanjun.

Chen Chuan had received pure essence and medicine to reach the Fourth Limit from them, which meant that he was at the threshold. It was only a matter of time before he reached it. It might take some time, but it could also happen right away. Whatever the case, he was already on the track for it. However, Chen Chuan had reached the Fourth Limit faster than they expected.

“Yes. I reached the Fourth Limit in the merged space,” Chen Chuan answered.

“Amazing! That’s great!”

Chang Dong couldn’t contain his excitement. Every martial arts master played a pivotal role and had a great status. The same rules applied to the purity faction. Soon, though, he calmed down and tried to speak as levelly as possible. “Lead Investigator Chen, I’ll tell Yanjun to send a report to the faction to tell them about this. Are you okay with it?”

“No problem,” Chen Chuan answered.

Chang Dong immediately told Gao Yanjun about it before turning back. “By the way, it seems like Mr. Zhuan went to the merged space.”

Mr. Yao mentioned that Zhao Zhenye was injured in a fight against someone on his way to help Wei Guochan, Chen Chuan thought.

Back then, he had thought that Zhuan Liang was likely the one who intercepted Zhao Zhenye, so he couldn’t help but wonder how the man was right now. However, since the headquarters had sent him over, they had to have thought things through before doing so.

“I ran into Zhao Zhenye in the merged space,” Chen Chuan said.

Chang Dong’s breathing froze.

“According to a senior of mine, Zhao Zhenye is really strong, stronger than what the faction anticipated. I think that Mr. Zhuan met him too, but we can only wait for him to come back before we can talk about the details,” Chen Chuan continued.

Chang Dong sucked in a deep breath and said earnestly, “The moment Mr. Zhuan comes back, I’ll contact you.”

Chen Chuan hummed at that. “I also have an idea. I’d like to introduce someone to the purity faction, but we might not have enough time to go through the usual procedure of monitoring him for a while.”

Chang Dong’s expression turned stern. If this were a regular person, Chen Chuan wouldn’t have needed to say that, which meant that he was recommending this person to be a core member.

After giving it some thought, he asked, “Is there anything special about him?”

“I think he has the potential to become a martial arts master,” Chen Chuan stated.

“Oh?” Chang Dong’s eyes lit up, but then he frowned. “Lead Investigator Chen, if we’re to skip the observation period, then for the person to become a member, the referrer also has to become the guarantor. If the member goes rogue later, the guarantor will have to bear huge responsibility. A lot of people were affected by Zhao Zhenye’s case, and we even changed some of our rules because of it.

“When it comes to having the potential to become a martial arts master, Zhao Zhenye also has it. Because of it, the faction put a lot of effort into training him, but he ended up causing a lot of damage and other negative effects.”

“I know. I’ll think about it carefully,” Chen Chuan promised.

He wanted to bring Xu Chan into the purity faction. During their operation in the merged space, Chen Chuan had observed Xu Chan’s personality and strength, and among all the people he had seen so far, Xu Chan was among the best.

Xu Chan was strong, but he didn’t want to be promoted because he didn’t want to sign any contracts. Because of that, he couldn’t get pure essence.

After this incident in the Resolution Department, even if Xu Chan didn’t want to, it was impossible for him to run away from getting promoted. In terms of prestige and strength, few people were more suited for it than he was. Instead of waiting for the government to force him into signing a contract with them, it would be better to draw him into the purity faction.

Considering Xu Chan’s strength, he would have a high chance of becoming a martial arts master once he got pure essence.

But that was simply Chen Chuan’s idea. He didn’t know whether Xu Chan wanted to do that or not, so he planned to approach him about this later.

After talking to Chang Dong for a little while longer, Chen Chuan ended the call.

He sat in his office for a bit before turning off all the screens, picking up his Frost King Saber, and heading out.

He didn’t intend to waste the nighttime, but to seize every second to absorb more energy. His mind could draw energy from the other world without a gap and replenish his energy, but not much of it. However, if he could open a gap, it would fulfill his current needs.

While Chen Chuan could create an isolated space with his biofield, he decided to take his airship to the sea for safety’s sake.

When he walked out of the Resolution Department, wind blew across the square, and the red scarf around his neck started flapping.

Ever since Hongfu attached herself to him, she had been flickering about, like she was an illusion.

However, once he became a martial arts master, she stabilised.

This was because Hongfu had attached herself to his body. In the past, he wasn’t strong enough to support her properly, so she could barely keep her form. But now, once Chen Chuan reached the Fourth Limit and gained unprecedented power, Hongfu’s strength improved as well.

Hongfu didn’t need Chen Chuan to intentionally provide anything to her. She could now maintain her stabilized form by using his biofield and mental energy.

Chen Chuan got into his car and drove to the harbor. An hour later, he got out to sea on his airship.

He was only here to train, but everyone was watching him. Some of the tension had eased, but him going to the sea caused them to rise again, because the Linacrox Union’s martial arts master was out at sea too. Everyone wondered whether Chen Chuan had left to meet him.

***

A limousine traveled down the public road toward Central City from the west.

There were three people inside it: two at the front and one at the back. One of the two in the front said, “Martial arts masters are only restricted because of a rule made during the age of the mega alliance, which no one can go against. It’s generally accepted across the world that their strength has to be limited. If anyone wreaks havoc, other martial arts masters might copy the rogue’s behavior. Don’t you think so, Mr. Long?”

Long Xiang appeared to be a man in his forties. Even when he was in a car, he wore a pair of sunglasses and stayed aloof, but suddenly, he laughed, startling the driver. Puzzled, the driver looked into the rearview mirror.

The person in the front passenger seat scowled and snapped at him, “Just focus on driving. What we say has nothing to do with you. How are you so dumb?”

“Okay,” the driver said and focused back on driving.

Once Long Xiang finished laughing, he spoke in a chilly voice. “You’re right to a certain degree. If someone were to provoke a martial arts master, though, I don’t think that they would be in the wrong for fighting back. It’s only bad to destroy everything in one’s way without any regard for anything else.”

“We didn’t know that he was a martial arts master.”

Long Xiang laughed again, and since his laughter was oddly charming, the driver’s hands trembled. After Long Xiang finished laughing again, he said coldly, “Have you ever listened to anyone’s reasons? If not, why do you think he should listen to yours?”

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