Book 3, Chapter 186: Analyze

Chen Chuan turned another page and found that there was indeed more content.

But once he started reading, he was rather disappointed.

He had thought that he would learn about the Fourth Limit, but while the page was full of words, they were more like the ramblings of a madman. The text was incoherent and jumbled up.

The words didn’t seem to be carved into the page either. Instead, they were written with a blood-stained brush, which made them unreadable chicken scratches.

The only words Chen Chuan could read were “sacred caves” and “secret locations.” It seemed like a certain place was necessary for a martial artist to reach the Fourth Limit.

There was no record of how to find the place, however. Or rather, it was all hidden within the ramblings of which he couldn’t make heads or tails.

By the looks of it, the book wasn’t worth much.

Just when he wanted to put it down, Chen Chuan thought of something and lifted the book again. This time, he ignored the words and checked their outline instead. He could make out the faint shape of a mountain.

Was this... a map?

But how was he supposed to know where it led based on the outline alone?

In the old era, a martial artist who couldn’t find any other way to improve would try to find the place, but now, there were established paths to reach the Fourth Limit, so Chen Chuan didn’t need to waste his energy looking for this mountain.

After checking the cave a little more, he didn’t find anything else, so he dragged out a leather suitcase, wrapped everything up in the waterproof tarp, put them all inside, and left through the forest. Then, he walked back across the lake, found his car, put everything into the back seat, and left.

***

At that moment, Big Sis Huan received a report from her subordinates.

“Big Sis Huan, Unit Two sent word. The target might have discovered them. After that, whenever they tried to get closer to monitor the target, a resonator got in their way.”

“Is the resonator connected to the Resolution Department?”

“No. The Realm Nodes he used are open-access ones.”

“Immediately stop monitoring the target. From now on, gather information about the target through indirect means,” Big Sis Huan declared decisively.

She was worried about alerting Chen Chuan of their presence and the Resolution Department getting involved.

The possibility wasn’t high, but if the Resolution Department got involved, they might be able to find clues leading to them.

While Big Sis Huan and her team had no connection to their company, once they were exposed or put on the Resolution Department’s list, they wouldn’t be able to do anything in secret anymore.

Soon after she finished talking to Unit Two, someone else immediately called her.

“Big Sis Huan, the team members we sent to gather information in the peripheral city have come back.”

“Have the representative connect with us,” Big Sis Huan immediately ordered.

A moment later, another person’s voice appeared in her ears, and he greeted her respectfully. Big Sis Huan asked, “Well? What did you find?”

“We found that the target graduated from the city’s Martial Valor University a year ago, and he’s really famous there. Many people know about it—”

Big Sis Huan interrupted him. “Skip that. You can write it in the report and send it to my Realm Pass. I only want to know whether you’ve gotten any records of his previous fights.”

“I’m... sorry, but we couldn’t find anything, Big Sis Huan.”

“Why?”

“The target’s information is stored in the university’s filing room, which is in the administrative office building. We tried a few times, but we couldn’t get in. We were nearly discovered, actually. Even if we got in, I don’t think we’d have been able to get what we want,” the representative answered in resignation.

“That’s why I could only get some information from the students, but they weren’t able to give me any details, so I couldn’t tell whether they told the truth.”

“If you can’t get it from the university, I’m sure the government has records of his fights as well. They usually do for martial artists of his level. Did you check there?” Big Sis Huan asked.

“We couldn’t find anything. Someone took all of them a long time ago,” the representative answered.

“‘Took all of them’?”

“It might be a special department or a law firm he hired. I believe that it’s more likely that a government department took it, because even after I bribed the officials in charge of taking care of records, they didn’t have a concrete answer. It felt off and I was worried that we might get into trouble if we continued digging into this, so I ordered the team to stop.”

Big Sis Huan didn’t blame him. “You made the right call, and you were careful. It’s better to not get the information than to alert the government. Anyway, send me the information you got.”

Soon, she received a report of the things Chen Chuan did while he was in Yangzhi City. Most of them were his achievements, but it didn’t provide much help for their operation. But when she read up to a certain part, she stopped for a moment.

“The All-Encompassing Force?”

This was, apparently, the refined force Chen Chuan practiced. She wasn’t familiar with it, and only after doing some research did she understand this refined force’s unique characteristics.

Big Sis Huan was well-informed and didn’t believe that this refined force was weak.

In theory, once a martial artist had a wide coverage of mutated tissue, they would be able to master it. This refined force could even promote further growth in the mutated tissue.

The difference in the level of mastery, talent, potential, and determination affected how much a person could persist in practicing such a refined force.

At present, they could be certain of at least one thing: Chen Chuan should really have a high coverage of mutated tissue, and it was likely to be more than 80%. This would fit with her calculations so far.

Despite confirming her assumption, she wasn’t too bothered.

After all, even though this refined force could allow the user to imitate other refined forces, it was only something possible in theory.

Considering Chen Chuan’s age, it was impossible for him to have become proficient in the other refined forces. At most, he had only formed a solid foundation. From this point on, he had to prioritize only a certain few. No matter how talented he was, he had to pick and choose which one fit him best.

Judging by the available records, it was highly likely that Chen Chuan focused on grappling and Sanshou-type refined forces. Perhaps he also practiced some saber-type refined forces. He might also have some secret takedown-type refined force.

If that’s the case...

Big Sis Huan sent the information to the analysis team and told them of her theory. Then, she ordered, “Use this information, along with what we’ve gathered before, and do a tactical simulation.”

Through the use of multiple passive biosentient entities, they could create a hologram based on a target’s past physical abilities, including their strength, speed, durability, combat reaction, and possible movesets. Then, they could perform tactical simulations based on this hologram.

While a simulation didn’t reflect reality, it could help them perfect their plan to a certain degree. That was why the members of the External Operations Departments of many companies often performed tactical simulations when they had to take out difficult targets.

After waiting for half a day, she got her results, but things were dire.

Out of ten simulations, they failed six of them, and they only won the remaining four because they fought in unique environments, thereby making it obvious that there was a large degree of subjective bias. If she removed it, their chances of winning were actually very low.

“Big Sis Huan, whenever we fail, it’s because of the target choosing to retreat after noticing that the situation is going badly for him. We can’t go after him because we don’t have someone strong enough to stop him. We’re only able to do so if the environment is favorable to us,” a team member pointed out.

“What if we add Jiang Huowang into the equation?” Big Sis Huan asked after some thinking.

The team member was taken aback for a moment. “Um... We haven’t run a simulation for that, and we don’t have Jiang Huowang’s data right now to run one.”

“Where is he right now?” Big Sis Huan asked.

After a brief pause, the team member answered, “Training in Wisdom Isle’s Listening Tide Hall.”

“Locate him. I want to see him within three days.”

“Got it.”

***

After Chen Chuan left Blue Reed Lake, he went straight to the villa the company had given him and put all the things he retrieved inside it.

Once he got into his car again, he headed to Deep End District. Around half an hour later, he arrived in front of an underground martial arts school.

This was where Lu Fang worked. Even though he had never been here before, they had been keeping in contact, so he decided to drop by and take a look.

Once Chen Chuan parked his car, he walked to the martial arts school. The signboard and compound were pretty simplistic, but it was spacious inside. Upon removing his shoes, Chen Chuan walked inside and saw a group of teenagers training with loud shouts and grunts. Lu Fang was in charge of protecting and instructing them.

When Chen Chuan saw the teenagers, he couldn’t help but remember the children in the lower city district. Regardless of why their parents asked them to practice martial arts, they made the right choice, since the Great Crash was upon them.

“Chen Chuan?”

Just then, Lu Fang noticed Chen Chuan, and his face lit up. He motioned for the children to rest for a while before walking over. “What brought you here? Were you passing by?”

“I’m on break now, so I thought I’d drop by,” Chen Chuan answered.

Lu Fang brought him to the couch and brewed a pot of tea for him. “I only have normal tea leaves here. I don’t know whether you’ll find it to your liking.”

“I don’t drink high-class teas on a daily basis, you know?” Chen Chuan teased him before looking around. “Are you the only one teaching?”

“We don’t need that many instructors in the school. When my seniors saw that I could take care of daily operations, they went out to take up some missions. After all, we’re martial artists and spend more money than the average person,” Lu Fang answered.

Chen Chuan could understand that. Some clients preferred hiring great martial artists with no citizenship. Even if they got hurt, the clients wouldn’t need to take responsibility. The two seniors fit the bill perfectly.

“How’s business here?” he asked.

“We have plenty of students, and business has been pretty great. Some gangs even asked us to teach them martial arts. The two seniors often go there, but I don’t like them, so I’m in charge of teaching the kids,” Lu Fang said before turning to the teenagers.

“Most of them are going to end up joining gangs or becoming henchmen that do their employers’ dirty work. When I teach them martial arts, I can instill some life lessons and moral values in them, so I hope that I can change their minds at least a little.”

Chen Chuan, too, turned to the spacious hall and took a sip of his tea. “Senior Lu, it’s been a long time since we last sparred. It was back in the university, wasn’t it?”

Lu Fang was taken aback at first, but then his eyes lit up. He knew that Chen Chuan had reached the Third Limit. Instead of calling it a spar, it would be more accurate to say that Chen Chuan was going to give him some guidance, which was a rare chance.

He immediately shot to his feet and said seriously, “I’d be grateful for any tips you can give, Chen Chuan.”