Guidance

Outside the gym, Senior Yu was just returning from an errand. He glanced at Chen Chuan's Jiade car parked outside and couldn't help taking a closer look. "Whoa, a modified Jiade?" He circled around it, his eyes full of admiration and envy. He had wanted to buy a car like this for a long time. Unfortunately, in the district where their gym was located, even if you bought a car, it would only end up being taken by someone else. So up to now, it had remained just an idea he had never acted on. Then he noticed the car lock was merely a slightly raised disc, and his gaze locked onto it. "Is this... a weighted torsion knob?" He reached out and rested a hand on it, then shook his head. Opening this required immense finger strength—at least, far more than he possessed. Whoever drove this car was definitely an expert. What was an expert like that doing here? He glanced inside the gym and pricked up his ears. As he focused his attention, he heard sounds of combat coming from within. From the whistling cracks tearing through the air, it was clearly not something children could produce. His expression darkened. He unclasped the iron chain wrapped around his arm, hooked on his custom counterweight ball, and strode inside. Though the gym looked crude from the outside, the interior was decent enough. Sunlight poured in through the high windows above, brightly illuminating the center of the hall. The children could be seen sitting in a ring against the wall, while Lu Fang was sparring with a young man around seventeen or eighteen. Lu Fang was on the offensive, while the young man merely stood his ground and parried. Yet no matter how Lu Fang attacked, he couldn't force him to take a single step. Nor did the young man seem to strike back much; after a few exchanges, with just a casual deflective swipe, Lu Fang went flying sideways. However, the young man had clearly held back, controlling his jin with pinpoint precision. Lu Fang rolled once upon hitting the ground and smoothly sprang back to his feet, completely unharmed. Seeing that the two were merely sparring, Senior Yu put his weapon away, though he was secretly astonished. Lu Fang had sparred with him in private before, and his level wasn't much different from his own, though Yu could sense that in a true life-or-death fight, he might not necessarily win. And that was in the past. Lu Fang worked extraordinarily hard. Nowadays, outside of teaching, he spent all his remaining time tempering his body and honing his skills. He was the first to wake and the last to sleep every day, so his fighting prowess should have improved even further. Yet what played out before him was complete helplessness against that young man. "Th-this is..." Looking closer, a violent jolt ran through Senior Yu's body. He suddenly realized—holy shit, wasn't this the very person he had seen on the video recording defeating Wei Wusheng? A Third Limit fighter?! For a moment, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What's going on here?" Lu Fang wasn't one to brag, so he hadn't mentioned at all that Chen Chuan was the junior schoolmate he knew. But Senior Yu was quick-witted; after the initial shock passed, he soon put two and two together, an expression of disbelief mixed with excitement spreading across his face. In the center of the floor, Lu Fang tumbled back once again. This had already happened many times during the spar, but he wasn't simply taking a beating; every clash brought him new insights. Chen Chuan still held his ground, using neither strength nor speed beyond the Second Limit. This was merely guidance; crushing him purely with physical attributes was meaningless. Thus, he relied as much as possible on technique and refrained from engaging much of his mutated tissue, keeping it on roughly the same level as Lu Fang's. Even so, Lu Fang was still nowhere near his match. Even with a comparable amount of mutated tissue engaged, Chen Chuan's efficiency in utilizing it far exceeded Lu Fang's, not to mention that their understanding of technique and judgment of combat openings were on completely different tiers. Having clashed with multiple Third Limit fighters, Chen Chuan had accumulated vast experience. The moment Lu Fang made a move, Chen Chuan already knew what he intended to do and naturally executed targeted counters, making the match completely one-sided. After being knocked down over a hundred times, Lu Fang finally stopped charging in. Drenched in sweat and panting heavily, his expression was nonetheless full of exhilaration. In just this short span, he felt he had made immense strides—not in raw physical attributes, but in his understanding of combat and his grasp and application of jin. He cupped his fists in a salute to Chen Chuan and thanked him sincerely, "Junior Chen, thank you!" Chen Chuan said, "Senior Lu, no need to be polite." He suggested, "During our spar just now, I felt that certain parts of your body weren't quite coordinated. They might need some adjustment and conditioning." Lu Fang paused. "Oh? Where would that be?" Chen Chuan immediately stepped forward, lightly patting several spots on Lu Fang's lower back, spine, and limbs as he explained the issues present in each. For fighters below the Third Limit, their personal field wasn't prominent, overflowing noticeably only during combat or after consuming stimulating drugs. Through the fight just now, Chen Chuan had gained a clear read on Lu Fang's physical condition. This senior had laid an excellent foundation, solid and sturdy, but there were several discontinuities in his mutated tissue that required strengthening. Conversely, a few other spots were overly tough, which restricted him instead and caused an overall lack of coordination, ultimately weakening the jin he actually transmitted. He would need to consciously reinforce the surrounding areas during training to bring things back into balance quickly. If he followed this advice, his strength could improve by at least ten to twenty percent in less than half a month. One shouldn't underestimate such a modest increase; for a fighter, even a slight edge was enough to overwhelm an opponent who was normally an even match. In addition, there was a hitch in Lu Fang's breathing. He was probably using the breathing technique taught by Wuyi Academy. Yet everyone was different. A general breathing technique merely accommodated the broadest possible range of people, but it was not necessarily tailored for any single individual and required personal adjustments. Chen Chuan himself, for instance, had been consciously adjusting his all along. The broad strokes remained correct, while the nuances had been honed to suit him alone. Lu Fang could have eventually figured this out on his own, but doing so would have inevitably required a long, grueling process. With Chen Chuan pointing it out, he could avoid countless detours. The purpose of a mentor's teaching lay in showing the right direction, allowing one to reach the correct path without trial and error, thereby never wasting the window for growth. A fighter's golden growth period lasted only so long. If squandered on fumbling through such matters, it could easily pass them by, leaving their potential unfulfilled and forever barring them from reaching greater heights. While Chen Chuan gave his pointers, Senior Yu watched from the side. Chen Chuan didn't avoid him; watching this wouldn't do an onlooker much good anyway. Even so, envy unconsciously shone in Senior Yu's eyes. After hearing all this, Lu Fang shook himself from his absorption and noticed Senior Yu standing nearby. He introduced him right away: "Junior Chen, this is Senior Yu. When I first came to Center City, it was he and Senior Guo who took me in." Then he turned and said, "Senior Yu, this is the Junior Chen I told you about." Senior Yu beamed with a wide smile, coming forward. "A pleasure, a real pleasure! Junior Lu's been mentioning you all the time." Chen Chuan looked at him and said, "I took the liberty of dropping by today and disturbed both seniors. Since Senior Yu is here as well, why don't we have a spar too?" "Me too?" Senior Yu broke into a delighted smile. As if terrified Chen Chuan might change his mind, he nodded repeatedly. "Great, wonderful!" While Chen Chuan was guiding him, Senior Guo also returned. Guiding one person was guiding, and guiding two was no different, so Senior Guo reaped plenty of benefits as well. Chen Chuan could tell both men had their own little calculations, but he held no prejudice against them. With their martial capabilities, they could have easily joined any gang and made money far faster. Yet neither had a criminal record. That proved that whatever minor flaws they had, their character was fundamentally decent. When they finished, the two warmly treated him to a meal at an upscale restaurant in Shenwei District. That single meal wiped out months of their savings, but they didn't feel shortchanged in the slightest. On the contrary, they considered it an immense bargain. Where on ordinary days could one find a Third Limit fighter to provide guidance? Hoping to hire one for so little money was pure fantasy. Today they were basking in Lu Fang's reflected glory; otherwise, they wouldn't have even crossed paths with someone like him. After the meal, Chen Chuan took his leave, and Lu Fang walked him out. Watching the two depart, Senior Yu couldn't help sighing with deep feeling, "Only today did I realize just how formidable a Third Limit fighter is. Back at the academy, what teacher could ever point out the flaws in our bodies so clearly?" Senior Guo heartily agreed. "True. But in my opinion, it's not that those teachers were incompetent, but rather that this Junior Chen is just too exceptional." His conjecture was right on the mark. In reality, Chen Chuan could do this because his mutated tissue coverage was extraordinarily high, giving him a profound understanding of issues in various areas, whereas teachers could only teach by the book—a vast difference. Furthermore, he had even mastered biological fields; without that skill, it would have been impossible to pinpoint these shortcomings so clearly and meticulously. Back at the car, Chen Chuan asked, "Senior Lu, everything all right over there?" Lu Fang said, "Everything's fine. Xiao Shi—well, Number Thirteen—just wants to live her own life now." After Zhao Qian's death, Number Thirteen, as a doll without a master, had no one left to control her. That house became her residence, and she changed her name to "Shi Yi." Being a resonator, she took on various commissions using her resonator abilities and supported herself with the earnings. As for Zhao Qian's other loyal servant, upon realizing he couldn't defeat them, he subsequently refused food and water. After more than two weeks, he showed no signs of life, and the two buried him in the backyard. Lu Fang said, "I won't give up searching for Senior's sister's whereabouts. Right now my abilities are lacking..."