Chapter 165: Training

Chen Chuan lowered his hand from the door handle and observed the man.

He was less than thirty years old, and Chen Chuan’s first impression of him was that he was quite thin. He even wore tight-fitting clothes, which made him look like a beanpole. His eyes were quite large, but his most unique feature was his nose. It occupied most of his face, and Chen Chuan was willing to bet that it drew almost everyone’s attention to it.

The man felt displeased by all the staring. “Hey, are you done? It’s rude to keep staring.”

Chen Chuan checked the open window and shot back, “Aren’t you the one being rude by suddenly coming into someone else’s room?”

The man was completely unbothered. He crossed his arms and said, “If Uncle He hadn’t asked me to come pick you up, I wouldn’t have bothered coming here. I wanted to see what Uncle He’s student is like, but you don’t look anything special.”

Chen Chuan had guessed that He Xiaoxing had sent this man over. After all, he showed no hostility. When he turned around, he had even seen a boastful, cocky look on his face.

“Do I need to be special to learn under Mr. He?” he asked.

“Yes, Uncle He seldom teaches!” The man got so worked up that he straightened his back. Then, he seemed to have remembered something and slumped back down while grumbling under his breath.

“And how should I address you?” Chen Chuan asked.

The man puffed out his chest proudly and declared, “Chang Ba!”

An eternal overlord? Yeah, your father didn’t give you that name,

Chen Chuan thought.

When Chen Chuan didn’t say anything, Chang Ba thought that he was stunned by his name. He huffed and stood up. “Come on. Uncle He is waiting for you.”

“Let me grab my stuff,” Chen Chuan said.

He had guessed that he wouldn’t be staying for long. After all, the place was crowded and noisy. It wasn’t a suitable place for martial arts training. That was why he hadn’t unpacked after he reached the place. He grabbed his luggage, slung the Frost King Saber over his back, and followed Chang Ba out.

They went downstairs and got into an old-fashioned SUV. Chang Ba drove onto a smooth road and headed in another direction. A breathtaking view opened up before Chen Chuan’s eyes. Above him was a blue sky with white clouds, while far on the horizon was the gray outline of a mountain range.

“Mr. Chang, are you close with Mr. He?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Of course. My father is old friends with Uncle He. He’s staying at Lakeside Hotel, which is owned by my family. We’re going there right now. You’re going to study under Uncle He, so you should be staying with him too,” he said boastfully before turning to Chen Chuan. “Uncle He taught me a lot of things, you know?” he said even more loudly.

Chen Chuan acted as if he didn’t hear Chang Ba’s last sentence. He looked ahead and saw occasional cars speeding by. “Are they all going to the Ancient City of Elegance?”

Chang Ba pouted. “This is just the July crowd. The actual busy time is in spring and autumn. The camels form such long queues you can’t see the end of them. I have to say, these people are the reason why my family is able to run its business.”

“Since you’re from around here, you must have gone to the Ancient City of Elegance too, haven’t you?” Chen Chuan asked.

“That place?” Chang Ba shook his head. “Before I became an adult, my parents wouldn’t allow me to go there. After all, it was infamous for children going missing there. After the city became a tourist trap, it became infamous for

adults

going missing. Later on, I started studying martial arts and lost interest in it.”

He clicked his tongue. “It’s just some winding underground tunnels. What’s so nice about them? They can’t compare to martial arts, don’t you think?”

“I heard that there’s treasure down there. Aren’t you interested in it?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Treasure?” Chang Ba laughed. “I know people want to discover it, but I hope it stays hidden. My family is relying on the undiscovered treasure to earn money.”

Chen Chuan laughed as well. That was true. Chang Ba’s family owned a hotel, so they relied on the fact that there was still undiscovered treasure in the Ancient City of Elegance to attract tourists.

After a little while, Chang Ba was finally unable to contain his curiosity and asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me how I got into your room?”

Chen Chuan smiled. He could tell that Chang Ba was really proud about it and kept trying to steer the conversation toward it, but he kept refusing to ask. Chang Ba was about to burst, though, so since Chen Chuan felt grateful for him for picking him up, he decided to humor him. “How did you get in?”

Chang Ba felt much better in an instant. He huffed and said cheerfully, “Uncle He taught me how to do this. It’s called the Snake-Sparrow Stance. It allows me to move with incredible agility without making a sound. If I master it, no terrain in the city will restrict my movements.”

Chen Chuan thought about it and believed that it could do more than what Chang Ba said. Since he could enter Chen Chuan’s room without being noticed, it was most likely a technique that also allowed him to hide his tracks. It was likely that only someone with Chang Ba’s build could practice it. He Xiaoxing didn’t have that build, so did he create this technique for Chang Ba?

This was possible. Cheng Zitong had mentioned that a great teacher could teach according to the student’s aptitude and create different fighting systems based on each student’s specialty. He Xiaoxing should be that kind of teacher, and Chen Chuan was beginning to look forward to the crash course training.

After around two hours, the SUV reached a huge lake with a reddish hue. It was clear and clean, and seemed to stretch on forever from where Chen Chuan stood. There was a large cluster of buildings next to it.

“We’re here,” Chang Ba announced.

When he drove into the town, Chen Chuan noticed that the Chang Hotel signboard hung over at least one-third of the buildings. After asking Chang Ba about it, he learned without even the slightest bit of surprise that the buildings in town, the land, and even the hill belonged to his family. It wasn’t obvious, but this guy was rich.

The SUV took a turn and headed to the top of the hill. A few minutes later, it stopped in front of a martial arts training center.

A well-built man was standing on the flat land in front of the training center waiting for their arrival. His mane-like hair spilled over his shoulders.

Chang Ba parked the SUV, drew the keys out, and jumped out. “I brought him here, Uncle He.”

Once Chen Chuan got out, he walked over and gave He Xiaoxing a fist-and-palm salute. “Mr. He.”

He Xiaoxing cast him a glance before walking into the martial arts training center. “Come with me.”

Chen Chuan followed him. The martial arts training center was huge and had all sorts of commonly used training equipment. There were also some cushions on the floor. He Xiaoxing sat down cross-legged on one of them and motioned for Chen Chuan to do the same.

After Chen Chuan sat down on the cushion beside him, He Xiaoxing said, “Lao Cheng told me about your situation, but I can only teach you martial arts. They can solve certain problems, but it won’t be enough to deal with the Mutual Aid Group. You must understand this.”

“I know, Mr. He,” Chen Chuan replied.

“Since you understand, I won’t say anything else. I’m going to give you a crash course on martial arts. How much you can learn and how long you can persist depends on whether you can keep up with my training speed,” He Xiaoxing said.

Chen Chuan nodded. “I understand. When can we start, Mr. He?”

“Have you brought enough medicine with you?” He Xiaoxing asked.

“Mr. Cheng gave me two months’ worth of medicine,” Chen Chuan answered.

While that was true, Chen Chuan thought that it would not even last him a month. After all, the amount of medicine he used was always double or triple that of the average martial artist. Fortunately, the effect of the Hill Demon still hadn’t disappeared, so he shouldn’t need any medicine over the next few days.

“It’s already late, so go with Xiao Chang and find a place to rest. Come find me tomorrow at 5 a.m. Remember to bring your daily necessities. We’re going into the wilderness,” He Xiaoxing declared.

“Alright, Mr. He. I’ll take my leave now,” Chen Chuan said and stood up. He saluted He Xiaoxing again and left the martial arts training center.

When Chang Ba saw him come out, he called him over. “Come on. We’re going house-hunting. We have plenty of empty places around this time. Pick whichever one you like.”

After Chen Chuan got into the SUV, they went down the hill and looked around a bit before they settled on a spacious, two-storey house. It offered a wide view, and had great lighting and ventilation. Chen Chuan could live upstairs while training downstairs.

Since it was the off season and Chen Chuan had come to train under He Xiaoxing, Chang Ba only took some money for show. He then gave him a number and said that he could call this person if he needed anything.

Chen Chuan waited for Chang Ba to leave before setting his luggage down and taking his belongings out. Then, he cleaned up the house a little. Even though it was already past 4 p.m., he didn’t take much time setting his things down and returned to the first floor to begin his daily training.

There were quite a lot of people in the town, but it had an air of peace and quiet, as if it was secluded from the rest of the world. The atmosphere made it easy for Chen Chuan to get into the zone. Perhaps this was why He Xiaoxing chose this place to train.

At 6 p.m., a hotel attendant asked him whether he needed any food and said that there was a bonfire party at night that was open to everyone. She also gave him a small gift, saying that all first-time guests received it.

Chen Chuan examined the bracelet made of small, colorful stones strung together using a small string. After giving it a moment of thought, he removed the string and strung the stones on the source of the Flying Heads’ lock of hair. That way, it wouldn’t stand out.

When night arrived, he saw a bonfire by the lake, and more than ten barbecue stands. Around a hundred people sang and danced, creating a lively atmosphere.

After his training, Chen Chuan took a shower and went to the window. With the refreshing night breeze blowing against him, he watched the festivities for a while. Then, at 9 p.m., he went to bed.

At 4 a.m. the next day, Chen Chuan got up, took a shower, ate a simple breakfast, then put on his backpack, grabbed the Frost King Saber, and headed up the hill. He Xiaoxing was already waiting for him. While standing on top of the hill, he looked like he stood above everything else around him.

Chen Chuan went over, set down the backpack and the Frost King Saber, and gave He Xiaoxing a fist-and-palm salute. “Mr. He, I’m here.”

He Xiaoxing nodded and said, “Lao Cheng told me that he didn’t teach you any unique techniques. That’s good. You don’t need them. If you’ve learned some through other channels, forget all of them.”

“I understand.” Chen Chuan nodded seriously.

He Xiaoxing said gravely, “Now that you’ve entered the Second Limit, you should know that the martial artists of old called this stage the Life Guardian, and they placed a special emphasis on the word, ‘guard.’

“They weren’t wrong. This limit is a crucial stage that serves as a bridge between two limits. It’s like the middle section of a wooden beam. It can’t be too thick, but it can’t be too thin either. You must exercise extreme caution at this stage.

“But the concept of guarding your foundation is only restricted to old martial arts. Back then, medicine that stimulated the growth of mutated tissue and supplements were hard to come by. Usually, a sect’s elders would spend half of their lives searching and gathering the ingredients so that the next generation could use them. Then, the next generation would do the same.

“Due to severe lack of medicine, they could only use the most conservative of methods to train. In that era, this method was proven to be the most effective and reliable.

“But each era has a different way of doing things. A martial artist’s progress is usually decided by their hard work, but also their environment. If the environment becomes an obstacle, then everyone needs to work together to change it.

“Now, procuring medicine is no longer a problem, so we no longer need to be conservative about using it. The key to this stage is activating the organs and nourishing the viscera. So, we need to make your mutated organs ‘come alive.’”