Chapter 65: Getting The Grasp Of The Refined Force: Strengthening Tendons, Structuring Bones

November arrived in the blink of an eye, and Chen Chuan had been in Martial Valor University for two months.

Quite a number of first-class students had officially begun practicing a breathing technique and picked up the basics of it, but even more had failed. Surprisingly, the number of first-class students who failed was the highest in the university’s history.

The university board discussed this and put pressure on the management to fix the problem, but the management believed that since more students had enrolled than before, the situation was entirely normal. They even deflected the issue back to the university board.

Meanwhile, the second-class students trained even harder to get ready to practice a breathing technique. Since they were less talented than the first-class students, they needed to spend more time building a foundation. Most of them needed half a year to a year before they were strong enough to begin practicing a breathing technique.

Since Chen Chuan no longer needed to worry about dispatch missions for the time being, he could turn all his attention to training.

As for the second monthly exam? It went without a hitch.

He was once again in the zone and forgot about the passing of time. Then, one day, while he was training, he felt his body heating up.

The feeling this time was completely different from the last time. It was as if some energy was growing within his body and was on the verge of revealing itself.

It was like a butterfly about to break free of its cocoon, but some invisible shackles were tying it down and stopping it from opening its wings.

Chen Chuan had a feeling he knew what it was. He continued practicing Principal Sanshou to help the force break free from the shackles.

He had been going through the moves quickly, but right then, his movements became progressively slower, even his steps turned sluggish, as if a huge weight pressed down on him as he performed every move.

But the shackles refused to come loose, and the force could not break free. Even so, Chen Chuan did not get impatient. He cast aside all unnecessary thoughts and became focused on the present. An entire night passed like that.

When the sun was about to rise and the sky got ready to welcome its first rays of the day, Chen Chuan pushed a palm forward. His entire body trembled, as if something had broken free. He stayed in the stance and did not move.

A long time passed. When the light from the morning sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling window, Chen Chuan exhaled long and hard and slowly pulled his hand back. He went to the window and basked in the morning sun’s rays.

Even though he had not slept the entire night, he felt energized from the joy of finally mastering the basics of his refined force due to his hard work. He used the Respiration Node Breathing Technique and sensed the changes in the mutated tissue in his body.

Compared to the growth brought by the other refined forces, his mutated tissue started growing from the fascia and spread toward his muscles.

Despite being fragmented, they intertwined with each other to form a web that looked like it could be torn at a moment’s notice. But if he tensed his muscles, they would pull and twist together to give him strength.

Another layer of mutated tissue grew under his skin. This layer seemed to have come from the thin mutated tissue and consisted of even finer threads that contained great flexibility.

They seemed to be moving as if they possessed life. With a single thought, they stretched and became connected to form a membrane-like protective layer.

The threads did not exist independently, but shared a strong connection with each other. There were multiple layers of them. The mutated tissue attached to the fascia that grew above his bones and muscles formed the base and continued extending outward.

When Chen Chuan tensed up to generate power, the mutated tissue would do the same, then relax to deliver power outward layer by layer.

But the mutated tissue whose growth was guided by the All-Encompassing Force seemed to be really weak.

For example, while the seemingly-dynamic mutated tissue could gather together in an instant, they could not form a protective layer as sturdy as that of the Wrapping Force. After all, he hadn’t specifically transformed the mutated membrane.

However, this was only the case in Chen Chuan’s normal state. Since the mutated tissue grew within him, it was part of him, which meant that his second self possessed it as well.

He turned to the punching bag and touched it with the back of his hand.

The punching bag did not sway, but fell apart, and the sand, cotton, sawdust, and other filling fell on the floor.

Chen Chuan pulled his hand back slowly. He had used an imitation of the Primordial Force’s yielding force, which generated internal tremors within a target. He did not know how his attack compared to the real effects of the Primordial Force, but he could adapt all sorts of refined forces for his attacks, which, in a real fight, was far beyond what any other refined force could do.

He also noticed a few important points. For example, when he attacked with the Primordial Force Stance, he got his power from his energy center, because that was the foundation of the Primordial Force Stance.

But the All-Encompassing Stance did not have just one source of power. Most of them were at the bases of his limbs. There were only a few at the middle parts.

Still, Chen Chuan knew that this was because he had only just mastered the basics of the All-Encompassing Force. It was not enough for him to make his whole body a source of power. But if he could make the mutated tissue continue growing and master the All-Encompassing Force, he would get closer to his dream.

Next, he performed imitations of all the refined forces he knew. Of course, he was only doing surface-level imitation. After all, each refined force could only be fully understood through tons of practice and harmony with the body.

Even if two people practiced the same refined force, they would have different levels of mastery. Hence, even if Chen Chuan could imitate those refined forces, he might never be able to perform them excellently.

But that was not necessary. As long as he could use refined force with all his attacks in the future, that would be enough for him. He had his own path to take. He did not need to imitate other people’s paths.

After doing a thorough review of his current state, he went to wash up and dress up before leaving his room. It was still early in the morning, but most of the students had already left to train.

He went to the public phone and picked up the receiver. Once the call went through, he asked, “I know it’s still very early in the morning, but I hope I’m not bothering you, am I, Mr. Cheng?”

“I have to deal with the logistics of the university, so I have to wake up early and can only go to bed late. Anyway, why did you call?” Cheng Zitong asked. Then, he came to a realization, and his voice rose. “Is it because...”

“Yes, Mr. Cheng. I did it,” Chen Chuan answered.

Cheng Zitong was silent for a moment before he spoke in a voice that made it clear he was trying to keep his emotions in check. “Good job, Chen Chuan. You didn’t let me down. More importantly, you lived up to your own expectations! You were rewarded for your efforts! Anyway, don’t go anywhere. Wait for me.”

“Don’t you have something to do? I can—”

“Nothing is as important as my mentee right now. Just wait!” Cheng Zitong interrupted him.

Ten minutes later, Cheng Zitong arrived at Dorm Four on the seventh floor. He asked Chen Chuan to demonstrate his refined force, then used a special method to tap his body to examine him. After that, he asked a few questions to ascertain that his mentee had indeed mastered the basics of the All-Encompassing Force.

“You managed to do it in a little over a month! That’s great! Amazing, even!”

Cheng Zitong no longer tried to suppress his emotions and let them loose. Chen Chuan was much more mature than most people his age and would not let this success get to his head, so he did not hold back on his praises.

“I have to thank you for your guidance,” Chen Chuan said.

Cheng Zitong smiled at him. “No matter how much guidance I provided, it would’ve been useless if you didn’t work hard yourself. But I have to remind you, just because you’ve mastered the basics, it doesn’t mean that you’ve completely mastered the All-Encompassing Force.

“The First Limit was once known as the True Seed Reserve, and the essence of this stage lies in the word ‘reserve.’ You’ve reserved enough mutated tissue to plant the ‘seed’ that is your refined force. Now, it’s time for you to think about how to make that ‘seed’ grow. You need to make your mutated tissue grow according to the purpose of the refined force and become stronger. This requires you to pay attention to certain things.”

“Please tell me what to do, Mr. Cheng,” Chen Chuan said with a hand-and-fist salute, since he could already sense that this was what he needed to do next.

“The mutated tissue that grew first is the mutated fascia, which is attached to your bones and muscles. In order to ensure their survival, they will seep into your bones and make them stronger and firmer. That way, they can bear stronger impacts.

“Martial artists in the past called this stage strengthening the tendons and structuring bones. This will be like forming a new set of tendons and bones.

“Even though the martial artists in the past didn’t understand what was going on, they could sense the changes and figure out what steps and methods work through experience. Their ideas align with the training mindset for the First Limit, but modern methods are more targeted, more practical, and more efficient.”

He pointed at Chen Chuan and said, “Next, aside from using medicine, you will also need to train and fight regularly, so that your mutated tissue will obey you.”