Though Chen Chuan could not see, he could sense from the shifts in the current that it was roughly a spindle-shaped creature, and a fairly large one at that.
With a shift of his waist, he turned his body sideways in an instant, raising an arm to deflect it outward. Immediately, he parried an extremely hard and exceptionally fast object away.
Yet this was underwater after all, where his feet had no purchase. The momentum carried by the object dragged him along as well, forcing him to roll his body to dissipate the force.
From the tactile sensation against his hand, he realized what he had encountered was likely the hardhead black carp he had eaten earlier, only far larger—by his estimation, at least over a meter long.
This was no surprise. Chang Ba had been fishing nearby earlier, which indicated that this variety was plentiful in these waters.
In fact, there seemed to be a few too many.
Soon, from the shifting currents, he discovered that one hardhead black carp after another was rushing over in an unbroken stream. The force packed into each charging fish was immense, like blunt arrows being loosed; had their snouts been any sharper, they would probably rival genuine crossbow bolts.
At this point, it was impossible to block them entirely with his hands, nor could he stop them all. He could only guard his head and face, using the mutated tissue within his muscles to contract upon impact and bounce them off, or relying on twists of his body to slip past and shed their force.
Yet doing so inevitably meant a portion of his mutated tissue could not take part in internal breathing. Compounded by his strenuous exertion, this drastically increased his energy consumption. In just a short while, he felt he had expended more stamina than during an entire circuit earlier.
However, these fish were not deliberately attacking him; he simply happened to be in the path of their advance. The first one he had encountered was likely the leader, and the school behind it was merely following in its wake.
As long as he managed to get out of this area, he should be able to avoid the school.
He carefully felt the shifts in the surrounding current, maneuvering as best he could toward where the water was less turbulent.
Throughout this process, he proceeded with extreme caution. As Chang Ba had explained to him earlier, a few of the black carp possessed exceptionally sharp heads and often concealed themselves within the school. If one caught prey unawares, it could very well skewer straight through.
Thanks to his sound judgment, he broke clear of the school's trajectory. Instead of rushing to move, he seized the chance to regulate his internal breathing and recover a bit.
Only when he felt the currents settle completely did he begin swimming again.
Yet not long into his advance, new trouble arose.
He encountered another fish he had eaten before—the creature Chang Ba called a "piranha." These things were a nuisance. Though generally small, they were unusually agile, darting in from his flanks and back every so often to snap a bite at him.
Fortunately, the diving suit on him lived up to Center City technology and was not bitten through. Every time he felt one strike, the muscle at that spot would swell and ripple, bouncing the creature away.
At first, he thought he could avoid this swarm just as he had bypassed the hardhead black carp, but he soon realized he had been overly optimistic. These creatures seemed to have targeted him; far from showing any sign of relenting, more and more gathered around him.
Decisive as ever, he immediately expelled the unmetabolized toxins lingering in his body out through his skin. This method proved effective; though a few still darted in from time to time, the vast majority actively steered clear of him.
Noticing this, he wondered whether he should eat more of these fish before diving down next time.
Taking advantage of the toxins still being expelled, he sped up and swam out of the area.
In truth, having learned how these fish attacked, he was confident he could dispatch them with his bare hands. Yet doing so offered no real benefit beyond draining his stamina, and these were far from the only fish in the water—avoiding them was the wisest course.
Given the complexity of his surroundings, he slowed his pace somewhat. Yet this brief deceleration led to trouble.
As he swam through a certain stretch of water, he suddenly felt something wrap around him. It was exceptionally well-concealed, lurking right in his path and blending seamlessly with the currents. He had sensed nothing until it drew near, and by the time he realized something was amiss, it was already clinging to his body.
He could tell it was a weed-like growth—long, tough, and edged with serrations. If he thrashed violently, it might well slice into his flesh.
Once it coiled around him, it slowly tightened, and more strands followed in succession, winding over him.
The situation was exceedingly critical. If he could not break free quickly, he would never make it out.
Tearing at it by force was useless. It had ample elasticity and tenacity; even if he extended his limbs to their limit, he likely could not snap it. Furthermore, being submerged in water limited the power he could exert.
Facing this crisis calmly, under the operation of internal breathing, his body slowly expanded. The muscles of his legs, feet, waist, and arms tightened and swelled outward bit by bit under the influence of his mutated tissue.
When he reached his approximate limit, he forcefully exhaled and snapped his body inward. In that split second, the muscles across his entire body contracted violently, shrinking inward by a whole degree!
And in that split second, a sliver of space opened between him and the entwining weeds. Seizing the opportunity, he quickly withdrew his hands and feet from the coiling loops. Grabbing the weeds at his waist, he tightened his abdomen and jerked his torso upward with sudden force, wrenching himself free from the entanglement.
Immediately, he kicked hard with both legs and darted away, leaving a trailing wake behind him. The coiling strands constricted inward once more, grasping only empty water; after lingering for a moment, they swayed and slowly retracted.
Chen Chuan now knew that swimming down here could neither be too fast nor too slow. From then on, while maintaining a steady pace, he kept his senses tuned to his surroundings as much as possible, proceeding with immense caution.
Along the way that followed, he encountered various other types of fish, but he managed to evade or shake off every one of them. After swimming for a long while longer, he finally found—
Although it was far fewer than before, the circumstances were different and could not be compared in the same breath.
He could sense that this stage of training was testing his ability to cope with complex environments above all else; the skills and capabilities he had mastered earlier could all be put to use here.
After swimming a bit further, a narrow shaft appeared to the side. He instinctively grew vigilant, and sure enough, upon drawing only slightly near, a torrent of water surged toward him.
Having braced himself beforehand, he attempted to press close against the nearby rock wall. But just as he reached it, he suddenly sensed something was wrong. Driven by the mutated tissue within his body, he rolled sideways through the water. In the instant he evaded, something seemed to snap shut with violent force; the water pressure it stirred up even pushed him back a distance, showing just how immense its power was.
He waited for a moment and saw that the thing had gone still again. Though he could not see it, he sensed it was likely some clam-like creature lying open, waiting for prey to fall in—almost impossible to guard against.
He paused here. By his estimation, the one-hour mark was not far off now, and it was time to find a way out.
He also pondered whether to continue forward or simply turn back and return to his starting point.
The conditions ahead were unknown, while behind him lay stretches he had already traversed, which seemed easier. Yet he had come here to push himself through training; if he merely sought an easy path, there was no point in coming down in the first place. In an instant, he resolved to press forward.
Even if he encountered something especially dangerous, he had—
Roughly ten minutes later, while searching for an exit, he found another—
There was no need to hold the thing in his hand; he only had to touch it and know the number marked upon it. Even if he did not know, it made no difference—however many he touched was however many he touched. He was here to improve himself, not to give an account to anyone else; deceiving himself was pointless.
Gauging the direction of the current, he swam toward it. Before long, after turning past a narrow passage, he saw light filtering down directly above him. He accelerated toward it.
By now, he noticed quite a few piranhas swimming nearby. Before they could draw close, his hands struck out repeatedly. As he surged forward, he slapped over a dozen of them onto the water's surface one after another. Finally, with an upward spring, he vaulted out of the depths. As he broke through the surface, Chang Ba's voice rang in his ears: "Little Brother Chen is out!"
The shaft Chen Chuan was currently in was rather large. Swimming to the edge, he climbed out, wiped his face, and looked up at the dazzling sunlight overhead, exhaling a long breath. Although this dive had not been long, the dangerous situations he had encountered along the way were by no means few, and every single one was something he had never faced before.
Moreover, the area he had traversed today was merely a fraction of the domain; far more numerous and complex perils likely still awaited.
After he climbed out, Chang Ba—
Although Chen Chuan had not touched many markers, being able to navigate these subterranean waters for an hour and make it back up successfully was already an incredible feat.
It was not as though familiar young fighters had never attempted this before, but all of them had gone down tied to safety ropes. Even so, none could stay down for very long, and every one of them had emerged thoroughly shaken, wanting nothing more to do with it.
At this moment, He Xiaoxing spoke up: "I won't set any limits for you during this stage. You set your own targets; how far you can go depends entirely on you."
Chen Chuan thought it over. Before going down, he had assumed that with his prior achievements, even if his time fell short, he should still be able to navigate smoothly down below. Yet after going through a circuit beneath the surface, he felt he still had shortcomings.
He had emerged safely this time, but there was no guarantee he would do so every time. Although by using—
He looked up and said, "Teacher He, I want to continue the previous training and strengthen myself a bit more."
He Xiaoxing said, "Only when the foundation is solid is it easy to build upon it. Since this is your choice, proceed accordingly."
Chen Chuan gave an affirmative sound. Turning his head, he looked at Chang Ba, who was cheerfully holding a few fish, and said, "Brother Chang, it looks like I'll be troubling you for a while longer."
Chang Ba said, "No trouble at all! Next time you come down here, just catch me a few more fish as thanks. Besides, I'm waiting to treat you for free—miss this chance and you won't get another!"
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "That shouldn't take too long."
Chapter 170