Chapter 277: Progress
Chapter 277: Progress
The next morning, at 5 AM, Chen Chuan woke up, washed up, and got ready to leave. After putting on his clothes, he had a vague sense of unease and glanced towards the door.
He adjusted his collar, walked over, and opened the door. To his surprise, someone he hadn't expected was waiting there—Gao Qiu, the Wilderness Faction fighter.
"Senior Gao?" Chen Chuan asked.
Gao Qiu had no bandages or any other signs of injury, except for the absence of one hand. His mental state seemed no different from when he was on stage the day before.
Gao Qiu spoke solemnly, "Student Chen, I found out your accommodation from the cruise management. I came here specifically to thank you. If it weren't for you yesterday, I would have died there."
As he spoke, he tossed something over.
Chen Chuan caught it and opened his hand to reveal a polished, smooth, and sharp fang pendant.
"If you're interested in wilderness training, you can use this to find us. Everyone in the Wilderness Faction will welcome you," Gao Qiu said.
Chen Chuan nodded. He glanced at Gao Qiu's empty right sleeve, realizing that without an implant, his future combat effectiveness would likely be greatly diminished.
Gao Qiu noticed his gaze and remained calm. "If we could find the shattered bones and reconnect them, they might grow back. But it seems that's not possible now.
However, it doesn't matter. I fought with all my strength, and failure is also a wealth of experience. I will teach it to the younger generation and let them carry it on. The Wilderness Faction is not just one person but everyone. Remember, those who experience failure will eventually succeed."
He looked to the side, "It seems someone is looking for you. I'll take my leave now. See you again sometime."
Chen Chuan turned to look and saw Lu Shiqi approaching from one end of the guest cabin corridor. Unlike Gao Qiu, Lu Shiqi's broken arm had fully recovered overnight, either reconnected or replaced.
The advantage of implants was evident here; some body parts could be replaced or implanted through surgery.
As Gao Qiu and Lu Shiqi passed each other, they nodded respectfully. Despite being opponents in the combat arena, there was no deep-seated enmity between them.
Lu Shiqi reached Chen Chuan and said, "Student Chen, I'm not very good at expressing myself, but I'm here on behalf of the company to thank you. In the company's words, you recovered the company's assets." He handed over a card as a token of the company's gratitude, hoping that Chen Chuan would accept it.
Chen Chuan took the card and saw that it was a gold card from the Wan Sheng Conglomerate. It seemed they were offering money this time. Lu Shiqi's gratitude was indeed very practical.
Chen Chuan put the gold card in his pocket and said, "In that case, I'll accept it."
Lu Shiqi nodded in response and left without another word.
Chen Chuan returned to his room to continue packing. At 6:30 AM, the four of them left the Rhinoceros Horn Cruise Ship and took a speedboat back to the port. Before they departed, Pan Xiaode was still eager to compete. "Chen, we haven't fought before. How about finding a place to have a match now?"
Tan Zhi said, "There's no need to fight. If you really want to, we can do it some other time."
Pan Xiaode extended a fist, "As fighters, we communicate with our fists. Only by exchanging punches can we truly develop a friendship."
Chen Chuan thought to himself, 'Next time, I'll have to use my fists.'
He sincerely replied, "I'd like to fight Pan, but I might not be able to control the time. I've already made plans with Teacher Zheng, and I can't keep him waiting. Let's schedule a time another day."
Pan Xiaode agreed, feeling that he and Chen Chuan were not far apart in skill. If they fought, it would likely be a drawn-out battle lasting at least half an hour, and if it remained a stalemate, it might even take the entire day. It would indeed be challenging to control the time, and if he and Chen Chuan fought, he couldn't exclude Qi Huixin from the match. They would need to find a suitable time for that.
Pan Xiaode said regretfully, "Then, we'll have to do it next time.
After parting ways with the two, Chen Chuan rode with Tan Zhi back, but instead of returning to the Mystic Palace Tower, he asked Tan Zhi to drop him off at Teacher Zheng's residence.
He bid farewell to Tan Zhi in front of the house and entered. Inside, he met Teacher Zheng, who greeted him with a smile. "Did you have a good leisure day?"
"It was full of surprises," Chen Chuan replied.
"That's good," Teacher Zheng said. "You young people should know when to be tense and when to relax. Today's training will focus on defense. Follow me."
Chen Chuan followed Teacher Zheng into the training room. After a brief warm-up, he saw that Zheng Tongtong was already prepared.
The previous two training sessions had focused on blocking heavy and light swords, but this time, Zheng Tongtong held a light and a heavy sword in each hand. After she pointed it out, Chen Chuan realized that the two swords, despite appearing identical, were of different weights. Even if they had been told beforehand, it would have been challenging to distinguish between them.
Logically, a person holding two swords of different weights should exhibit slight differences in their center of gravity and footsteps. However, Zheng Tongtong's movements showed no such discrepancies.
This alone demonstrated her exceptional force power. If Chen Chuan could achieve this level of control, Xiong Jianyi would never have been able to predict his next move by observing his movement rhythm.
Zheng Tongtong brandished her two swords and asked, "Junior Chen, are you ready?"
Chen Chuan raised his sword, steadied his stance, and nodded.
Without another word, Zheng Tongtong lunged forward, wielding her two swords and unleashing a series of rapid slashes towards him.
Since Chen Chuan only had one sword for defense, Zheng Tongtong initially kept a slower tempo. But as he adapted, her pace quickened, and soon the air was filled with a blur of sword flashes and the continuous sound of clashing blades.
Before long, Chen Chuan realized that the difficulty of defending was immense. Not only did he have to vary his force, but he also needed to increase his speed. Just as he dissipated the force of a heavy slash, a light sword would swiftly cut towards him. Or, if he barely managed to block the light sword, he had to quickly adjust his force to counter the next heavy slash.
He had to vary his rhythm between the two different defense methods and react swiftly and timely, especially since he couldn't dodge by moving from his position, which added to the challenge.
It took him two days to adapt to this.
On the third day, Teacher Zheng called him over and taught him a breathing technique to adjust and vary his force.
She informed him that she would stand by and strike a rhythm with palm strikes. Whenever she struck, Chen Chuan had to defend against the light sword using the method for the heavy sword and vice versa. When she stopped striking, he needed to switch back to the normal method without any confusion.
He didn't need to worry about the collisions caused by reversing forces because Zheng Tongtong would change her force a step ahead. If his method was correct, there wouldn't be any issues.
Dealing with the varying sword slashes was manageable, but when he had to coordinate with Teacher Zheng's palm strikes, it became extremely challenging as it disrupted his rhythm.
The sound of palm strikes varied from rapid to slow, with intermittent or continuous strikes, constantly changing to catch him off-guard during his breathing transitions. One moment of carelessness could throw off his entire rhythm.
Despite this, Zheng Tongtong didn't make a single mistake, and her breathing seamlessly adapted to the changes, showcasing her mastery of this skill.
It took Chen Chuan another two days to grasp the essence of this breathing technique and gradually keep up with the changing tempo.
However, this was just the beginning. Teacher Zheng changed her approach again, instructing him that when she punched the table, he should defend using the method for the heavy sword, and when she struck with her palm, he should defend using the method for the light sword.
Through this repetitive training, Chen Chuan's defensive skills improved, but this was just the foundation. At this point, all the attacks he faced were straightforward slashes.
On the sixth day, Teacher Zheng asked Zheng Tongtong to incorporate force variations into her swordplay.
This was more challenging than dealing with heavy or light slashes because it was impossible to judge the force until the moment of contact, leaving him only an instant to adjust. Zheng Tongtong's double swords danced, and her techniques constantly changed, testing his adaptability.
It took a full three days to barely keep up.
Seeing that he had adapted and didn't take too long, Teacher Zheng was satisfied. She said, "Your progress is impressive. Your defensive skills are now at a basic level. This month's training will end here. Next month, we'll move on to the next stage, and I'll teach you how to attack."
Chen Chuan nodded. These days, although he felt his altered organism tense and sore after each training session, the sense of daily growth was incredibly satisfying.
He hadn't experienced this continuous improvement since his early days of learning combat skills from Yu Gang. It had been a long time.
Besides Teacher Zheng's excellent teaching, Zheng Tongtong's dedication as a sparring partner, meticulously executing each step, was also a rare find.
He sincerely expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Teacher Zheng, and Senior Zheng."
Teacher Zheng smiled, "You're welcome. It's a pleasure to teach a diligent student. You can also reflect on what I've taught you in your free time."
Chen Chuan agreed, and after bidding farewell to Teacher Zheng and her daughter, he left their residence and arrived at the station. Before he could board the tram, a message arrived on his Boundary Token from the Processing Bureau regarding the radiance exposure schedule.
The message informed him that his radiance exposure session was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and he was asked to choose a time. The Bureau would make the arrangements.
Chen Chuan decided to choose the following day since the day after was a leisure day. He promptly confirmed the time through the Boundary Token.
Just five minutes later, another voice message arrived, this time from Canglong Corporation. He connected, and a voice sounded in his ear:
"Hello, Mr. Chen. I'm Yin Fang, Assistant to Secretary Sun at Canglong Corporation. We received an application for radiance exposure from the Processing Bureau with your name on it. Per Secretary Sun's instructions, we will provide you with an additional three hours of quota each month. The physical voucher has been sent. Please check for it."
...
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(End of Chapter)
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