The Beginning

Having dealt with quite a lot on his first day of school, Chen Chuan decided to get to bed early. According to the class schedule, open lectures would begin tomorrow. Since his advising instructor had not been settled yet, he figured he could check those out first. After taking a quick shower, he turned in for the night. At six o'clock the next morning, he had just finished washing up and was about to head out to exercise when a knock suddenly sounded at the door. Who could it be so early? He walked over and opened the door. Standing outside was a middle-aged man of average build, wearing a white dress shirt and a diagonally striped tie. His jacket was draped over the crook of one arm, and a briefcase was tucked under it. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, with thick eyebrows and large eyes. Although his face had grown somewhat rounded with age, one could tell he had been quite handsome in his youth. In his hand, he held a pair of decorative sunglasses and an identification card, which he waved toward him. "Classmate Chen? Hello." He smiled. "I'm your advising instructor, Cheng Zitong. You can call me Instructor Cheng, or Old Cheng if you like." Chen Chuan glanced at the card and immediately replied politely, "Hello, Instructor Cheng." Yet as he recalled the profiles the dorm administrator had handed out, he seemed to remember there was no instructor by the surname of Cheng among them. "A bit sudden, isn't it?" Instructor Cheng said with a chuckle. "It's not just students choosing instructors; instructors can choose students too. I looked over your file—good stuff, you're fine material. So I came looking for you." Chen Chuan stepped aside. "Please come in, Instructor Cheng." Cheng Zitong gave an affirmative grunt, walked inside, and sat down on the sofa. Leaning back, he looked around the room and sighed. "These dorms haven't changed in years..." Seeing Chen Chuan pouring water, he waved a hand. "Don't bother with that. Come sit down and listen to what I have to say." Chen Chuan still poured him a glass of water, brought it over, and set it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Pardon the simple hospitality, Instructor Cheng. I only have plain water here." "Oh, why be so formal? Good, you're a polite student." Cheng Zitong held the glass and waited until Chen Chuan sat down before speaking: "Classmate Chen, others think you started practicing the breathing technique too early and overdrew too much of your potential. But in my eyes, you are precisely the kind of student who possesses real talent. Still, there is an urgent issue with your body that needs to be addressed right away, or things will get very troublesome. Here, let me show you something first." He picked up the briefcase beside him, took out a sheaf of papers, and handed them over. "These are records of several past students who graduated from Wuyi University, detailing their files from age seventeen up through thirty-seven. No need to look at the beginning; pay attention to the back. That's it, flip to the back." Chen Chuan turned to the later pages and soon discovered that from their twenties and thirties onward, nearly every one of these Wuyi students had records of medical visits and surgical procedures—and with alarming frequency. In certain cases, these conditions had appeared before they even reached twenty. Cheng Zitong said, "See that?" Chen Chuan looked up and asked, "Instructor Cheng, what is the cause of this? Are these injuries and illnesses caused by overtraining during their studies?" Cheng Zitong shook his head. "If only it were that simple. We need to take this step by step." Chen Chuan said, "Please guide me, Instructor." "No need to be so polite." Even as he said this, Cheng Zitong was clearly pleased with his attitude. He continued, "You've already started practicing the breathing technique and felt the benefits it brings. But you might not understand what truly lies beneath it." Chen Chuan couldn't help asking, "What is it?" Cheng Zitong said, "Under the stimulation of the breathing technique, your body's resistance, the strength of your internal organs, the load-bearing capacity of your bones, and practically every aspect of your physical makeup undergo a qualitative leap. You should already feel that, having learned the breathing technique, you have pulled ahead of ordinary people who haven't trained, and you are progressing day by day." Chen Chuan nodded. "That's true." "However, this also brings about another effect," Cheng Zitong said slowly. "Tissues and organs that were not originally present will begin to grow inside your body. We call them mutated tissue. For instance..." He pointed at Chen Chuan. "Spurred by the breathing technique, your body will first sprout extra fascial tissue. And the reason martial artists are able to generate jin far beyond that of ordinary people is precisely thanks to the presence of these tissues. "When such tissue appears in your body and continues to grow, you'll initially feel itching or heat. At that stage, you'll clearly perceive every facet of your physical fitness rapidly increasing." Chen Chuan felt a jolt in his heart. He couldn't help recalling how, not long after starting the breathing technique, he had experienced bouts of bodily heat and had even asked Yu Gang about it. As for the elevation of his physical attributes, that was likely because he had maintained the breathing practice continuously, without stopping even to this day. Seeing his reaction, Cheng Zitong said, "Looks like you've already experienced it. Don't be nervous, though. It simply proves your body is exceptionally sound and well-suited for martial arts. You should know that some people are even born with mutated tissue; such individuals are said to possess innate 'talent.' "However, this condition cannot be left unchecked. Particularly once you undergo combat training, prolonged and deliberate external stimulation will cause these tissues to grow at a rapid pace. Without proper guidance, allowing these tissues and organs to grow wild will, at best, encroach upon the normal functions of other body parts and lead to various illnesses, leaving you no choice but to have sections surgically removed. In worse cases, it causes mutations or outright claims your life." Chen Chuan thought it over and asked, "Instructor Cheng, how long does it usually take before problems arise?" Instructor Cheng tapped his knee with the decorative sunglasses. "It varies from person to person. Everything in this world has its pros and cons. The more talented a person is, the faster their mutated tissue grows, and the higher their ceiling will be." He gestured with his chin toward the documents. "The shortest time listed there is less than a year. Yes, less than a year—eleven months, to be exact. Let me ask you: how long has it been since you first mastered the breathing technique?" Chen Chuan answered, "Three months." Cheng Zitong mused, "Three months, huh..." Chen Chuan considered the matter and realized his Second Self probably couldn't resolve this. As far as he could tell, the Second Self could only take on direct, external trauma. The prerequisite for removing damage was that a unified 'self' had to exist in the first place, and these tissues were likewise considered part of that 'self'—just as he could not arbitrarily remove his own blood or internal organs out of thin air. How the Second Self might evolve in the future remained unknown, but for now, it certainly could not achieve such a feat. And so he asked for guidance: "Then, Instructor Cheng, how can this be avoided?" "You don't need to treat this as something terrifying," Cheng Zitong waved a hand and said solemnly. "You should face it head-on. In fact, I consider it a gift from heaven. Without mutated tissue, the baseline human body cannot surpass its limits. But if we can put it to use, it can become our stepping stone to climb higher. "And martial arts, as it happens, is precisely the method to do so. "Yes, martial arts stimulates the tissue, but with orderly guidance, it's possible to turn harm into benefit. The prerequisite, however, is that the method of guidance must be correct." Chen Chuan asked earnestly, "May I ask, Instructor Cheng, what counts as an orderly and correct method?" Cheng Zitong instructed, "Sit still." He stood up and reached out, pressing and kneading Chen Chuan's shoulders, the joints of his hands and feet, his neck, and his spine. Where the instructor's fingers pressed, Chen Chuan could feel faint tingling aches. Cheng Zitong's brows knitted. "Progressing this fast... Have you really only been training for three months? Some people couldn't reach your stage even after three years. It must be innate talent..." He sat back down, his expression grave. "It seems I'll need to speed up your pace. If you keep going like this, things will turn bad." Chen Chuan remained relatively composed and asked, "Based on what you've said, Instructor Cheng, how long do I have before that happens?" "Mm..." Cheng Zitong said in a low voice. "Hard to say. The most optimistic estimate would be half a year. If it progresses quickly, your mutated tissue could become uncontrollable within two to three months. By then, to preserve your health or even your life, we'd have to consider the least desirable measures." Chen Chuan didn't ask what those measures were, but he could make a fair guess. Cheng Zitong said solemnly, "What you've practiced should be the basic breathing technique. Starting tomorrow, I will begin teaching you a higher-level breathing technique. Moreover, you must master jin as soon as possible—as soon as possible! Even a lesser jin will do. That will ensure your mutated fascia no longer grows randomly, but develops in the direction you need. "If after ten days you feel no stinging pain, tingling aches, or congested swelling inside your body, that will mean your trajectory is temporarily on the right track, and we can proceed with training. If something feels off, we'll need to readjust until you've mastered full jin. Only then can you be considered to have crossed this hurdle. "Still, that doesn't mean it's over. If your mutated tissue continues to grow after that, you'll have to find a way to enter the next stage, keeping at it until the initial rapid-growth period slows down. Only then can you breathe easy." He looked at Chen Chuan and said with utmost earnestness, "Since I've decided to be your advising instructor, no matter how difficult it is, I will help you break through this hurdle. But this requires your own determination; otherwise, no matter how hard I push, it will be useless. What is your answer?" Chen Chuan thought for a moment, then said, "Instructor Cheng, thank you for telling me all this. Do you know? Hearing your words, my first reaction was actually happiness." "Happiness?" Chen Chuan nodded. He looked out the window, his eyes filled with yearning. "Only power that surpasses common reason can allow someone to break free from original constraints, carrying them to greater heights to take in the view from there." He turned back to look at Cheng Zitong and said with absolute sincerity, "Instructor Cheng, I will give it my all. Because this is precisely what I pursue and look forward to."