Chen Chuan immediately contacted Lu Fang. Once the call went through, he asked about his current situation.
Lu Fang told him that nothing abnormal had happened. After Zhao Er woke up and learned that Zhao Qian was already dead, he still didnât give up and tried to attack Lu Fang again, only for Lu Fang to crush him.
As for Thirteen, she stayed in the mansion, just like she always did, and did not show any intention to leave. It seemed like she wouldnât do anything on her own, unless someone gave her an order.
Once Chen Chuan understood the situation, he said, âWu Bei found some new clues. Things might be different from what we expected.â
As he spoke, he sent the things Wu Bei found to Lu Fang. âCall me once you go through everything.â
Chen Chuan then went to the table. According to the date, he was supposed to take a green pill, so he took one and went to do his daily training.
In less than half an hour, Lu Fang contacted him, and his voice was a little downcast. âIf thatâs all the clue we have, I think... that she might be Shen Zhengâs sister.
âShe might have caught the eye of some United Might company executive or have some special value. Thatâs why her status became higher than Zhao Qianâs after she joined the company three years ago. Thereâs also a possibility that Zhao Qian was only able to join United Might because of her.â
âBoth situations are a possibility. All we can do now is guess,â Chen Chuan said.
âYeah. All we can do now is guess.â Lu Fang sighed.
âDo you still want to look for her?â Chen Chuan asked.
âWhen I first came to Central City, I just wanted to find Shen Zhengâs sister to know whether sheâs alive. If she is and isnât living a good life, then I was planning to save her, but my decision doesnât represent her thoughts. Thatâs why I want to make my decision after seeing how her life is.
âIf she needs help, then Iâll do my best to help. If she doesnât, then I will not bother her. Thatâs what Iâm thinking now.â
âEven though we have a clue now, things have become more complicated. If her status in United Might is higher than Zhao Qianâs, then we donât have any way to approach her. She might not even be in Jibei Roadâs Central City. With our current strength, we canât figure out the truth,â Chen Chuan pointed out calmly.
âTrue...â Lu Fang felt powerless. The longer he was in Central City, the more intensely he felt the invisible barrier delineating them to their circles and keeping them within them. If they so much as thought about taking a step out of their circle, the people from the other circles would attack them mercilessly.
Back in Yangzhi City, the powerful families had worked together to create a huge dam. Now, in Central City, he saw a towering wall, whose end he couldnât see, built by even greater forces.
He wasnât even a citizen right now. Forget contacting the companies, he could not even get close to them. If Chen Chuan hadnât helped him, he wouldnât have been able to learn anything at all.
âLu Fang, if you want to keep on investigating, you might only have one path to take... the path of martial artists,â Chen Chuan said.
Lu Fangâs heart trembled.
He knew what Chen Chuan meant. He was asking him to continue down his path as a martial artist. It was the only way for him to break free of his circle.
With his talent, he had a chance of climbing to further heights. After all, he had been a vice president of the Aspiration Club, since he was one of the most talented and outstanding students in the university. Some of the lecturers had even called him a talented person who only showed up once in a blue moon.
When compared to Wei Jun, Zhao Qian, and the rest of the Mutual Aid Group, all he lacked was resources. Yet that very thing which he lacked made his path incredibly hard to tread. He could already see it from the seniors who helped him. They had been in Central City for a few years, yet they hadnât reached the Third Limit.
But he believed that Chen Chuan was right. If he wasnât strong enough, then even if he did find Zhao Qianâs sister, he wouldnât be able to do anything. He had to be strong enough to change things.
Without proper strength he wouldnât even be able to help himself.
âThanks for the reminder. Iâm a martial artist, so Iâll think of a way to solve this problem through a martial artistâs way,â he said earnestly.
âIâll have someone take care of your situation later,â Chen Chuan offered.
âNo need. This is just a small matter. I can handle it. Letâs stay in touch, Chen Chuan. If you need my help for anything at all, just let me know,â Lu Fang said with a chuckle.
After a brief pause, Chen Chuan said, âAlright.â
Once the call was over, Chen Chuan returned to the training room and resumed his training.
He was going to keep paying attention to this matter, but he wasnât going to do anything about it right away, because he needed to focus on reaching the Third Limit. Once he was there, he would step into another circle, and he would be able to learn things that he was unable to in the past.
When noon arrived, he took a few tubes of nutritional paste and went for a shower before leaving for Oceanview Hall. This time, he only came out at 10 p.m.. The moment he was out of the domain interference zone, he sent the drug feedback to Green Satchel Pharmacy.
By the time he returned to the Arcane Palace, it was past 11 p.m.. Without wasting another second, he lit the incense burner, though he put less incense in the burner this time. Then, he took the ginseng-like medicine and the supplementary medicine together before beginning to practice the breathing technique.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he came out of his meditative state, but when he checked the time, just like before, it was already 7 a.m..
Chen Chuan felt as if his body had soaked in a hot spring, and he felt so warm that he didnât want to get up, but his mind felt incredibly clear. His mutated tissue also seemed full of life, which was a sign that all the nutrients and blood in his body had gone to his mutated tissue.
But meditating alone wasnât enough. This was just one of the steps. He still needed a powerful opponent to help him get his body and mind to become one.
He sat still for a little while longer before getting up and going to the weapon stand to pick up the Frost King Saber. Once Chen Chuan was in the training room, he logged onto the universityâs platform and searched for the Hongfu sparring partner service.
It cost nine thousand devs per session, and each session lasted three hours. The hologram resource points required were also the exact same as the points allocated to him daily.
While it was rather expensive, if it could help him achieve his goal, it was worth it. Besides, Hongfu was unique to Martial Valor University, and no other place offered such a sparring service.
Chen Chuan still had one last chance to take his assessment, but the results could be leaked far too easily. Also, having Hongfu test him and having her as his sparring partner were two different things, so Chen Chuan excluded the option of using his last assessment chance.
As he was purchasing the sparring service, he noticed a privacy option. If he picked it, other people would be unable to see any information recorded while he used the service. Of course, this cost an additional one thousand devs.
Without any hesitation whatsoever, Chen Chuan picked that option. Now that he knew for certain that people in the university were paying attention to him, he had to keep his strength secret. This way, those people wouldnât be able to get any information about his progress and situation.
After paying for the service, Hongfu said, âYou have been confirmed to have paid for me to be your sparring partner. The session will last three hours. You have picked the sparring venue, so now please pick the sparring time and date.â
Chen Chuan looked ahead and said, âRight now.â
The next instant, he saw a flutter of red robes, and Hongfu walked out from thin air. Her lively eyes were fixed on him, and in one hand, she held a goose-quill saber.
At the same time, their surroundings changed, and they appeared next to a sparkling blue lake with a blue sky, white clouds, and red sun above them. Under their feet was soft, fluffy sand and mud. The lake water kept splashing against the bank and drenched the hem of Chen Chuanâs trousers. There was a stone as tall as a person by the bank. A few birds were relaxing on it.
Upon sucking in a deep breath, Chen Chuan gave Hongfu a fist-and-palm salute. âLetâs have a fair fight.â
Hongfu returned the salute.
With another deep breath, Chen Chuan released all restraints over his mutated tissue. Since he had fought against Hongfu using this method before, her skill level should match it.
Hence, the moment the sparring session started, he let loose. With a flash, his saber came out of its sheath, and he lunged forward while swinging his blade.
Red sleeves fluttered across from him, and the goose-quill saber danced with the red tassel at the end. With seemingly no effort at all, Hongfuâs saber came into contact with the Frost King Saber. At the same time, an abnormal wave of refined force surged into Chen Chuan.
Since this wasnât an assessment but a sparring session, Hongfu wasnât going to let him bring out his full strength. Instead, she was going to do her best to overpower him.
After parrying some of her attacks, Chen Chuan felt a pressure he had never sensed before from all his other opponents, because Hongfuâs footwork, technique, and refined force were all perfect. Every slash reached the utmost limit of what he could comprehend. He simply couldnât find any openings or chances to attack.
Hongfu would also never run out of stamina. So, unless he could bring out more power in an instant or use the things around him for the fight, it was practically impossible for him to win just by engaging her in a fight focusing on technique.
The moment he made the slightest mistake or misjudgment, he might lose in a few moves, thus demanding him to be wholly focused on the fight the whole time.
This was precisely the sort of pressure he needed.
Chen Chuan wanted Hongfu to draw out his potential and make him enjoy this fight, because he knew that each one was going to further refine him and gradually make his body and mind perfect.
Three hours later, the spar ended. Just like how she had stepped out from thin air, Hongfu faded away into nothingness, and everything returned to normal.
As Chen Chuan stood in the room, he quietly took in the changes in his mind and body after the fight. His mutated tissue was full of life, and his mind had gained greater control over his body.
He needed to have his breathing, body, and mind become one to reach the Third Limit. The breathing technique, meditation, and medicine he took were all meant to help him get there. Then, he would release all the accumulated energy from the three things during the sparring sessions so that all the preparation became of value.
Essentially, Chen Chuan was guiding his mind through the things happening around him to make it know which direction to go. Everything around him also provided him with feedback on how to keep improving.
However, just going through this process once or twice was not going to be enough. He had to keep on repeating it until he touched the barrier.