Book 3, Chapter 264: Limit

Chen Bitong observed Chen Chuan for a moment before saying, “You’re sharp. Your intuition is right, but you don’t have to figure out how to adjust your refined force after executing the attack. You’ll understand it in the future.”

He then walked over and tapped his Realm Pass. “This is the damage we did to our Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceroses just now. Have a look.”

Chen Chuan checked his Realm Pass and saw two diagrams. Just like Chen Bitong, he had managed to destroy his rhinoceros’ heart and surrounding mutated tissue, but Chen Chuan’s area of damage was larger.

This didn’t mean that Chen Bitong wasn’t able to hurt his Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros more, but that he understood the rhinoceros’ structure better, and his attacks carried just the right amount of force. It allowed him to kill the rhinoceros without wasting even a bit of his strength.

This was especially useful in the wilderness. Maintaining stamina was necessary, and every bit of it saved could mean survival over death.

“Do you understand now?” Chen Bitong asked.

“Yes. Yours is the rhinoceros’ limit,” Chen Chuan stated.

“Regardless of people or creatures like these, we all have limits of what we can endure. If you can attack with just the right amount of force, you can cut down on a lot of unnecessary damage and trouble. If you go past the limit, there’s an unnecessary price to pay,” Chen Bitong pointed out.

Chen Chuan cast him a glance.

But Chen Bitong’s eyes remained trained forward. “The Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros’ mutated tissue is really valuable and is in high demand in the rear. If you can keep its mutated tissue reasonably intact when killing it, you’ll receive better rewards.

“Once you master the way to kill the creatures in the merged space, you’ll be popular among the organizations and research centers, especially the merged space development squad. If you have the chance, try joining it.”

“The development squad?”

Chen Chuan thought about it. An instructor had mentioned it when he was in Fort 4.

Unlike the other squads, the development squad was formed by a team of outstanding martial artists, who were considered the elite of elites. Sometimes, they were in charge of killing enemies who had infiltrated their lines. Sometimes, they had to enter deep into the merged space to face unidentified creatures. Sometimes, they even had to enter the royal family’s territory to get information.

While they had to take up the toughest missions, their rewards were much better than those of the other squads too. Not only did they get promoted faster, but they also got their special medicine on time.

“The higher-ups give the development squad all sorts of benefits, and they get to learn some things not known to the public. They also fight against enemies others have never faced before. I was once a part of the squad, and my time there gave me a lot of fighting experience. It was a great help to me.

“But don’t underestimate the dangers of the merged space. The Ring-Banded Armored Rhinoceros is just a small creature.

“While we can hold our own against mid-sized creatures, the truly large ones can’t be taken out by regular weapons and martial artists. It’s difficult for us to even scratch them.”

While he was talking, the sky turned dark.

“Daylight in the merged space presents a world on the physical side of the spectrum, but when night falls, it presents a world more on the mental side. We can move about as we like during the day. Most of the creatures we encounter are within our realm of understanding, so we can use normal methods to take them out, but when night falls, all sorts of anomalies appear, which you can’t kill through normal means,” Chen Bitong pointed out.

“Are you able to move about freely at night in the merged space?” Chen Chuan asked.

Chen Bitong shook his head. “I can’t do it yet.”

Chen Chuan considered his words before asking, “I know that the remnants of the royal family can move about at night through some special method, like the Iron Monster did. It has something to do with their beliefs, right?”

“They had to become part of the merged space in order to survive here. It doesn’t matter whether they want to or not, they have to fuse with it.

“The national religion of the old era is closely linked to the existences. That’s why their act of becoming part of the merged space isn’t surprising. The cause for it has existed for a long time.

“I heard that you used rituals to stay a night out in the wild and track down the Iron Monster. Rituals are indeed useful, but they have a lot of weaknesses. They aren’t really efficient either.

“Now, I’m going to teach you a method to use your mind and mental foundation to protect yourself so that you can remain true to yourself even when out at night in the merged space.”

He tapped his Realm Pass and sent some texts.

Chen Chuan checked them and found that it was an image reading method. He would need to observe an image and form it in his mental space. Once he succeeded, he could observe the image in his head whenever necessary so that he could keep his mind at a certain state.

Chen Bitong went to the side to stand beside a huge tree.

“This is the Green Bark Tree. It’s the most common tree in the merged space. If you are unable to go back to a fort and have to spend the night in the wild, stay next to it and perform image reading.

“This method can lower your sense of presence and make your mind and breath almost the same as that of the tree. Then, you should be able to avoid the anomalies. This method does not have absolute guarantee of success, so the safest method is still to avoid staying out in the wild.

“Don’t get too close to the tree, though. I know someone who thought himself clever by digging a hole under the tree and climbing into it. The next day, he found that he had become part of the tree.

“These trees can’t fuse with things during the day, but their physical bodies become weaker at night, and they lean more toward being incorporeal. There’s no way to tell what they can do then, so don’t be careless.”

“Got it,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

“Even if we’re in a hologram, we need to avoid creating a large nighttime area. Otherwise, things will go out of control. While the Fu-Mu Entity won’t be affected, the ones using its resources will. Having a small nighttime area is fine, though. Try image reading now.”

“Okay.” Chen Chuan went to the Green Bark Tree and sat down cross-legged. According to the instructions, he began observing the image.

Soon, Chen Bitong said, “Time’s up.”

Chen Chuan opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the cushion, as if he had never left. The others, including Ding Mai, were sitting on their cushions too.

Chen Chuan checked the time and found that it had been two hours since the start of the lesson.

Chen Bitong had taught them all without ever taking a break. His lessons were also packed with details and a lot of information.

He was standing in front of them, and once their minds came back to the present, he said, “I will send your assessment points to your Realm Passes later. Those who failed don’t have to come tomorrow.

“Those who pass, you can come if you’re free, but if you fall behind, you’ll also be kicked out.

“The seats are reserved for those most suitable. I hope you understand.”

Central City was built on the Fu-Mu Entity, and most of its domain resources were allocated to the municipal government and big companies. It was an impressive feat that Chen Bitong had managed to get two-hours worth of domain resources every day for his training center. He had to have fought hard for it, so it was no wonder why he had such harsh requirements.

When Chen Bitong saw understanding on their faces, he said, “You can leave now.”

The students stood up from their cushions and bowed to Chen Bitong before leaving.

The moment they stepped outside, Ding Mai moved over to Chen Chuan and said, “How about a drink together, Captain Chen?”

He then looked at the others as well. “What about you guys?”

They gladly accepted the invitation.

Even though they had come from different places, they were attending the same training, so they could be considered classmates. If they forged strong ties, they might be able to help one another in the future.

Chen Chuan was fine with it and went to the bar downstairs.

Once they ordered their drinks, they sat down, and Ding Mai took a huge swig of his beer after it arrived. “The things I learned today are way more than what I learned over the past few years. You really can learn tons of stuff studying under Instructor Chen.

“It’s a pity I only have three days.”

The others agreed with what he said, but a young military officer stayed silent for a while before sighing. “I don’t think I’ll be returning tomorrow.”

“Lao Yan?” Ding Mai was quite surprised.

“I wasn’t able to perform well today because I was overthinking. Whenever I do that, I can’t fight properly. This means that I still have a lot of flaws. I haven’t received my assessment points yet, but based on how strict Instructor Chen is, I don’t think I’m going to get a lot of points. I need to go back and continue training.” He shook his head and lifted his glass. “Guess I should use the chance to befriend all of you right now, because I won’t be coming tomorrow.”

In the beginning, he seemed rather depressed, but after saying it all, he let it go and smiled. “I hope that you won’t be kicked out like me.”

The others comforted him a little and toasted him.

While Chen Chuan was drinking his beverage, he saw an icon flashing on his screen. It was the image of a crawling ant.

It belonged to Chen Xiaojin, so he answered.

“Xiaojin?”

“Captain Chen, are you free now?” Chen Xiaojin asked tentatively.

“I’m in the building where the training center is located. Do you have questions for me?”

Chen Xiaojin grunted. “I want to learn refined force. What should I do?”

Chen Chuan thought about it. “You learned a breathing technique much earlier than the average child, so it’s about time for you to learn refined force. The one you pick is going to affect your path later on, though. How much do you know about refined forces? Does Instructor Chen know about this?”

“He does not care,” Chen Xiaojin said.

Chen Chuan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, after some careful consideration, he said, “Where are you now?”

Chen Xiaojin perked up at that and said louder, “I’m in the recreation room on the twelfth floor.”

“I’m in the bar right now. I’ll take the elevator up later. Wait for me,” Chen Chuan instructed.