While Chen Chuan and Cai Si were talking, the man they called "Old Wu" walked over. He said to Cai Si, "Fourth Brother, I got to the bottom of it. The woman who attacked you was one of Scarface’s people.
We sent a letter earlier to try and keep them calm, but they were still suspicious, so they sent her out to keep an eye on things.
While she was wandering around, she seems to have seen our people heading upstairs. She tried to call and warn Scarface and his crew, but we had already cut the phone lines. So, her only option was to cause a commotion to try and get their attention. Luckily, Brother Wei was decisive and we moved fast, so she didn’t succeed."
Cai Si thought back on the situation with lingering fear. "That was a close call. If Scarface had tried to escape early..." He trailed off, then looked at Chen Chuan and chuckled. "No, with Junior Chen here, he wouldn’t have gotten away either."
Old Wu looked at Chen Chuan, agreeing completely. ’He’s right.’
Chen Chuan shook his head. "Brother Si, I couldn’t have stopped him without everyone’s help."
’That wasn’t entirely true. The reason he could launch such a successful preemptive strike was that he’d already been observing Scarface for a while. If a Fighter can gather information on an opponent beforehand, they can use all sorts of targeted thods.’
’If he’d gone in completely blind, it might have been a tough fight just to figure out his opponent’s style. But with his Second Self, he had a much higher tolerance for error than others, so his chances of winning were still high.’
anwhile, after handling so matters, Wei Chang’an imdiately ca back to find Chen Chuan. "I wanted to treat you to another al, Junior Chen," he said, "but there’s a lot to wrap up, especially interrogating our captives to find the whereabouts of Fang Dawei’s group. I probably won’t have the ti. We’ll have to wait until we get so solid results."
Chen Chuan smiled. "You should focus on your work first, Brother Wei. I’ll take a rain check on that al."
Wei Chang’an nodded. "I might need to call you for the follow-up matters, Junior Chen."
"Just give a call when the ti cos, Brother Wei," Chen Chuan said.
Wei Chang’an called over Cai Si and tossed him a set of car keys. "Fourth Brother, Old Wu can handle things here. Take my car and drive Junior Chen back."
Cai Si caught them with one hand. "Got it."
"That’s not necessary, Brother Wei," Chen Chuan said. "You’re busy here. I can get back on my own."
But Wei Chang’an put a hand on his shoulder, shook his head, and said earnestly, "This ti, you’ll listen to your Brother Wei." He then gave his shoulder a firm pat.
After this incident, he no longer saw Chen Chuan as a junior he needed to look after, but as an equal partner. In fact, given the martial prowess Chen Chuan had displayed, his status might even be slightly higher.
Seeing his insistence, Chen Chuan didn’t stand on ceremony. He nodded and said, "Alright."
Cai Si imdiately went to the parking spot, drove the car to the cleared-out intersection, and picked up Chen Chuan before heading toward the academy.
The arrest operation had started at ten o’clock. By the ti Chen Chuan returned, it was not yet twelve. After parting ways with Cai Si, he got out of the car and went to the dormitory’s public phone. He first called Cheng Zitong to let him know the matter was successfully concluded and that he was back.
Since there were people coming and going, he couldn’t go into detail, so he just gave a brief overview before hanging up. It was lunchti, so he went to the cafeteria for a al before returning to his dorm.
After defeating Scarface, he could feel that the overlap ti between his Second Self and him had increased. He still needed to check the exact duration. He still had the watch he’d borrowed from his uncle, so he used it to ti himself. After testing it out, he found that it had increased by at least five minutes this ti.
’So the total overlap ti should be over twenty minutes now.’
’If it’s just a fight between two Fighters, that’s more than enough ti.’
’But in the future, I might face more complex situations, maybe even several battles in a single day. If the Second Self can’t provide support, my combat strength will plumt. That could even be a matter of life and death. So for , this amount of ti is far from enough. I have to keep working harder.’
’Still, this experience has made realize the importance of a Weapon Permit. If nothing else, if I had a suitable weapon in hand, this whole thing probably wouldn’t have been so much trouble.’
’But the authorities are very strict about them, especially for people from Wuyi.’
’Among the people present at the ti, only Brother Wei had a Weapon Permit. The others either had to bend the rules or were simply not strong enough for a weapon to make a difference.’
’Without mastering a Force Technique, even with a weapon, you’d pose almost no threat to soone like Scarface, who can’t even be hurt by guns.’
’Of course, there are people who carry weapons privately; after all, the authorities don’t have the ability to monitor everyone. But in an official pursuit like this, you can’t just openly bring one out.’
He thought for a mont, then walked into his bedroom, took out the Snow Monarch Blade, and went to the public training grounds outside.
He took his stance, laid the scabbard flat, and pushed up slightly with his left thumb, revealing a section of the gleaming blade. Then, with another push of his thumb joint, the entire blade shot out. As it flew, he stepped forward, reached in with his right hand, and snatched the hilt. He swung it forward in a smooth motion, brought his back foot forward, gripped the hilt with both hands for a downward slash, and then moved his feet again, thrusting the blade forward!
The brilliant blade flashed sharply under the lights.
He twisted his waist, turned, and rested the blade on his shoulder. After retreating two steps, he launched into a series of upward cuts, slashes, chops, and thrusts. As he perford the set, the training ground filled with the sharp energy of the blade and the flicker of cold light.
He hadn’t had the blade for long, and Cheng Zitong had only taught him so Basic Saber Techniques. But he practiced every day. In truth, both Saber Techniques and fist techniques depended on one’s physical condition. As a result, his drills were now fast and steady; the only thing he lacked was actual combat experience.
He actually had so questions he wanted to ask Cheng Zitong, but his teacher seed to be busy lately, so he would just have to wait.
anwhile, inside a Beifeng Garden Villa, Xiaoran was sparring with a training partner.
Since he had begun training in earnest, his progress these past few days had been especially rapid. The training partner, who had originally been a notch above him, was now being beaten so badly he couldn’t even fight back. A final, heavy kick to the stomach sent the man crumpling to the ground in agony.
Xiaoran curled his lip in disgust. "Useless." He waved a hand, and a nearby maid, unfazed by the scene, imdiately ordered the attendants to carry the man away.
Xiaoran walked up to an instructor. "Teacher Feng, what do you think of my current level?"
This Teacher Feng had been hired for a hefty sum. Unlike the instructors at the academy, he was with Xiaoran twenty-four hours a day, responsible for personally guiding his training.
Teacher Feng said, "Xiaoran, you’re progressing very quickly. In about sixty to seventy days, you should be able to start practicing a Force Technique."
"That long?" Xiaoran thought for a mont, then asked with sudden interest, "There’s a student at the academy who, before even mastering a Force Technique, was able to defeat over a dozen upperclassn using only a Breathing Technique. What kind of level is that? Could I do that?"
Teacher Feng considered this for a mont. "The student you’re talking about must possess innate talent. Soone without talent can’t be compared to soone who has it."
"Talent..." For a rare mont, Xiaoran felt envious. It was sothing you were born with, sothing that money and power couldn’t buy.
Teacher Feng consoled him, "You don’t need to compare yourself to them. Commoners can only rely on their own bodies; they have nothing else. And whether it’s talent or aptitude, it’s all limited. The path upward requires countless resources, which you were born with."
"But I don’t have talent..." Xiaoran was still hung up on it.
"It’s not an unsolvable problem," Teacher Feng said. "There is a way for people like you to close the gap with these naturally talented individuals in a short amount of ti."
Xiaoran’s eyes lit up. "What is it?"
"Implants," Teacher Feng said.
"Implants?"
Xiaoran looked disappointed. He pouted, "My family’s bodyguards have those things installed. They’re nothing special. The limitations are huge, and don’t they damage your body? I’m always being reminded how precious my body is."
Teacher Feng said, "The ones circulating on the market, whether military or civilian, are old models that are a generation or several generations out of date. In Central City now, the side effects of high-end Implants are far less severe. So technologies can achieve perfect integration with the body. As long as you can afford it, you can easily negate a top Fighter’s dozen-plus years of hard training."
"Central City..." A look of yearning appeared on Xiaoran’s face. Even for soone from a powerful family like him, it wasn’t easy to establish a foothold in Central City—not unless he could secure one of the academy’s nomination slots for Recomnded Students.
Just then, he seed to rember sothing. "Didn’t you say that teachers from Central City co to the academy every year? It’s been almost two months already, why haven’t they arrived?"
Teacher Feng said slowly, "No, they’ve actually already arrived. They’re at the academy right now, guiding a certain student’s training."
"Who? Who are they guiding?" Xiaoran’s eyes went wide.
Teacher Feng shook his head. "I don’t know for now. However, the one they’re currently guiding is likely one of the upperclassn among the Recomnded Students. As for whether a lowerclassman can catch their eye, that depends on whether the student shows enough potential... and whether the teacher is in the mood."
...
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers