As that piercing screech rang out, Chen Chuan saw the signs of fading on his Second Self surge sharply once more. In that instant, his Second Self was reduced almost to a faint, ghostly silhouette.
His overlap time was being depleted at an astonishing rate.
Everything around him—the concrete blocks, the shattered glass—shook violently. At the same time, he could see the esoteric ritual patterns inscribed nearby growing faint, locked in direct opposition against the urban legend.
Fortunately, he had anticipated how formidable this urban legend would be and had incorporated a substantial amount of ritual materials. Moreover, he was standing right here in person, absorbing a large portion of the mental encroachment, so he wasn't worried it would escape.
Ignoring the civet's shrieks and snapping bites, he bent down and picked up the stone fragment that had originally formed the back of the civet stone carving's neck. He had precisely shattered it into a small cube.
Bracing against the tearing shrieks and mental onslaught of the urban legend, he hurled the other broken fragments outward one by one. Finally, he placed the small stone cube in his hand squarely at the center of the ritual circle.
Once it was positioned, he backed away from the center, took up a brush, and added the final stroke to the outer binding ritual. The moment the stroke fell into place, a muffled whimper sounded. The stone trembled several times and flipped over onto its side.
In that single breath, the encroachment afflicting Chen Chuan vanished completely. Knowing the ritual had succeeded, he walked back in and picked up the stone.
The instant his fingers touched it, a faint sign of fading rippled across his body.
He had already made up his mind: he would take this piece back to polish and carve it into something he could carry with him at all times. Given the unique nature of this urban legend, it might serve not only for training down the road, but for other purposes as well.
Returning to the car, he started up the Jiade car and set off back toward the Xuan Palace Building. The past day and night had been grueling. Ever since Youxing launched his ambush, Chen Chuan hadn't stopped for a moment. Once he returned, he could finally get some proper rest.
Just as he was looking forward to resting, outside one of the Disposal Bureau's field stations, An Cheng stepped out into the open air, looking weary. He stood on the cleared lot for a moment before using his boundary credential to contact another student.
A moment later, a voice answered: "What is it?"
An Cheng said, "You probably know by now. That newcomer took his second evaluation. We don't know the exact numbers, but what's clear is that his assessment has surpassed ours." He stressed his words. "One of us is definitely going to be eliminated."
The voice on the other end sneered. "Didn't you say that by sharing intel, we could snatch away the opportunities that belonged to him? We've worked our asses off on plenty of tasks recently, but has it done any good?"
An Cheng defended himself. "I did say that, but who could have guessed he'd improve so suddenly? Who could foresee that? A leap like that only proves he was holding back from the beginning. You can't blame me for misjudging it. Besides, the Bureau must have noticed how hard we've been working these past days."
The voice replied, "In the end, the Bureau only cares about who is most likely to break through to the third limit. Now that he's proven himself, what difference does our hard work make?"
Just as they were speaking, warning chimes rang through both of their boundary credentials—the Disposal Bureau had an assignment for them. It was just as they suspected: the more capable they appeared, the more tasks the Bureau dumped on them.
The only reason Chen Chuan hadn't been assigned any tasks for days was that the moment an assignment opened up for students, the two of them caught wind of it immediately and snatched it up.
Yet none of that could outweigh potential for reaching the third limit. As long as Chen Chuan's assessment ratings remained above theirs, no matter how much work they put in, the Bureau would never cast Chen Chuan aside.
An Cheng sighed helplessly. "Let's just take care of the assignment first."
The person on the other end said, "Remember what you said before? If that newcomer breaks through to the third limit first, we might as well admit defeat early."
"No way. I will never admit defeat!" An Cheng ground his teeth. "Let's see who reaches the third limit first, then."
***
Several more days passed, and April arrived.
Chen Chuan emerged from Instructor Zheng's residence. Instead of heading back to school, he drove the Jiade car to a craft shop in Yinglu District and placed a half-carved stone plaque before the shop owner.
The owner immediately secured the stone using a foot-operated cord clamp and retrieved a chisel and mallet from his toolbox. Chen Chuan had instructed him not to touch the stone directly and not to leave it in the shop to be worked on later. It was a bizarre set of demands, but the craftsman ran only a modest shop; he was grateful for any business and did his best to accommodate his customer's wishes.
Fortunately, the customer's carving requirements were not particularly demanding—he merely wanted a simple relief of a civet.
The craftsman had already carved more than half of it on the last rest day, leaving only the finishing touches for today.
Hearing the clinking and tapping of the chisel, Chen Chuan did not disturb him and waited patiently to the side.
He had an idea regarding this urban legend. On his last rest day, he had photographed the book recovered from Youxing and sent the images to Bureau Director Lei. Information concerning this urban legend was likely contained within those pages. Once he understood it fully, he might be able to put it to good use.
After waiting for about half an hour, an incoming call registered through his boundary credential. He accepted it, and Ni Xixi's voice came through: "We just received word. Another fighter was killed by Wei Wusheng."
Chen Chuan's tone turned solemn. "Another one?"
After the incident at the martial arena, Wei Wusheng hadn't stopped. He had continued hunting for opportunities; this was already the third incident over the past few days.
It wasn't that the Disposal Bureau didn't want to keep watch on him, but with countless cases to handle every day, they couldn't pour all their resources into monitoring fighters scattered across the city. What was worse, even when those fighters knew they might be targeted, they disliked being monitored or directed by the Disposal Bureau and remained fiercely resistant to outside interference.
Ni Xixi warned grimly, "Behind Wei Wusheng is a highly skilled resonator, perhaps even an entire resonator team. The Bureau's technical specialists haven't been able to trace him despite multiple attempts. I'm calling again just to remind you to stay vigilant."
"Thank you for the warning, Sister Ni," Chen Chuan replied.
Even though Wei Wusheng had the backing of a team or even a corporation, Chen Chuan could tell that the man struck personally every single time rather than relying on intermediaries.
A few days earlier, he had consulted Instructor Zheng on how to deal with fighters specializing in external conditioning. Instructor Zheng had told him that unless one's skill reached an extraordinary level, there was little one could do against someone who had cultivated external conditioning to such heights.
The logic was straightforward: martial skill was ultimately about creating opportunities to break an opponent, but if none of those opportunities could land a fatal blow, they amounted to nothing.
Furthermore, those who reached deep mastery in external conditioning were almost always adept at fleeing. Most of the time, even if someone managed to wound them severely, as long as they had any sense left, they would cut their losses and run the moment things felt amiss.
Chen Chuan found the reasoning completely sound. Wei Wusheng was precisely that kind of person—at the first sign of trouble, he would turn on his heel and bolt. Therefore, against an adversary like that, one had to overwhelm and slay him in an instant with strength that completely outmatched him by an entire tier.
Chen Chuan judged that pulling that off right now would still be difficult for him. To be completely certain of victory, he would have to reach the third limit.
"All done, customer."
Chen Chuan looked up. The shopkeeper placed the finished stone plaque, roughly half the size of a palm, before him. Chen Chuan inspected it: upon the stone was a lifelike civet, framed by cloud-and-thunder patterns along the borders, with a small hole drilled through the top for a cord, exactly as requested.
The craftsman had done fine work, and Chen Chuan was satisfied. Now he could carry the plaque with him wherever he went.
He paid the fee, took the plaque, and walked out to the shopkeeper's parting words: "Take care, customer, come back anytime!"
Departing Yinglu District, he drove back toward the Xuan Palace Building. As he neared the plaza, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure walking along the roadside. Chen Chuan slowed the car, rolled down the window, and called out, "Senior Lu?"
Lu Fang glanced over, surprised. "Junior Chen?" Then he broke into a grin. "I was just telling myself that the Main Academy isn't far from here, wondering if I might run into you, and look at that—we actually crossed paths."
Chen Chuan asked, "What brings you to Center City, Senior?"
Lu Fang smiled. "I just felt Yangzhi was too small and wanted to come broaden my horizons in Center City, so here I am."
Chen Chuan glanced at the second-hand boundary credential Lu Fang was wearing, then met his gaze. "Senior, did you come because of Senior Shen?"
Lu Fang fell silent for a moment before nodding.
Chen Chuan said, "There's a place not far from here called the Jinwei Hot Drink Shop, and it's quite nice. Senior, it's been a while since we last caught up. Why don't we head over and chat for a bit?"
Lu Fang looked back down the street and saw the shop right on this side of the road. It had an understated, modest storefront that eschewed flashy, colorful light displays. He nodded. "All right."
Chen Chuan drove over to park his car in the plaza, then walked back to join Lu Fang. Together, they entered the shop and found a table.
Once inside, Lu Fang visibly relaxed. The record player, the old-fashioned tables and chairs, and the normal lighting made him feel as though he were back in Yangzhi City. It was nothing like the dazzling, garish light screens outside, which always gave him a sense of unreality—like walking on a bed of cotton where his feet could never find solid ground.
Chen Chuan ordered two hot drinks and asked, "How long have you been in Center City, Senior?"
Lu Fang said, "I arrived toward the end of March, so it's been nearly half a month. Just a few days ago, I finally found a place to settle down. I had some free time today, so I wanted to see what the Main Academy looked like. I never expected to run into you, Junior Chen."
Chen Chuan asked, "Are you looking into Zhao Qian's whereabouts right now, Senior?"
Lu Fang took a breath, lifted his hot drink, and took a sip. Setting the cup down, he looked up and said, "Yes. Since you've already guessed it, I won't hide it from you. After the Mutual Aid Society fell, Zhao Qian became the only surviving member of the society who was involved in what happened to Senior Shen back then."
Chen Chuan said, "Zhao Qian is a third limit fighter now. Do you know that, Senior?"
Lu Fang nodded. "I know. But I'm not here to pick a fight with him. I know I don't have that kind of strength. It's just..." He spoke earnestly, "Senior Shen's younger sister was taken away by Zhao Qian back then. I want to find her—or at least confirm how she's doing."
Chapter 296