Teacher and Student

Cheng Zitong could hear a genuine, heartfelt excitement in his student's voice as he spoke those words. Never before had any student reacted like this upon hearing the truth about combat arts. He thought to himself, *He truly is an exceptional student. But this is good—very good indeed!* Only with such an attitude could one face this matter proactively and turn the impossible into the possible. To tell the truth, Cheng Zitong was not confident at all deep down. The time remaining was far too short. Judging by the rate at which Chen Chuan's mutated tissue was developing, the estimate he had given might shrink considerably. His earlier statement had merely been an attempt to avoid placing too much pressure on the boy. Now, however, he was no longer quite as worried about that. He spoke up, "Good! Starting today, I will oversee your training personally. You don't need to worry about any general school activities; I'll help you get excused from them. No matter what, none of that compares to your own life." Chen Chuan nodded. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Teacher Cheng, I have a question." "Go ahead." "I've heard that mastering jin is quite difficult, and not everyone can do it," Chen Chuan said. "So what does the school do with students who fail to bring their mutated tissue under control in time?" Cheng Zitong explained, "Mutated tissue doesn't actually grow endlessly in everyone. It occurs in stages. Some people train to a certain point and the growth simply stops, remaining stagnant for the rest of their lives. Naturally, that eliminates the problem. "Most mediocre practitioners never even get the chance. The most common scenario is like what's shown in the documents I gave you—a quick trip to the hospital for surgery, and they're discharged. "In fact, to attain greater martial prowess, some people deliberately use drugs to stimulate it, hoping to spur further growth of the mutated tissue. A whole variety of pharmaceuticals has been developed for just that purpose. "Only in people with innate talent like yours can mutated tissue undergo multiple successive stages of growth. While that raises your upper limit immensely, the danger increases right along with it." Chen Chuan nodded. He thought for a moment and asked again, "Teacher Cheng, are the students at school fully informed about this?" Cheng Zitong laughed. "Ordinarily, we aren't allowed to tell you current students. There's no point in telling those without talent, and anyone who does know must sign a non-disclosure agreement while enrolled and upon leaving to avoid disrupting their studies and causing chaos in the outside world. "Then again, I don't give a damn about any of that. Since I'm your advising instructor, it's my duty to explain these things clearly so my student isn't left in the dark about what he's doing. Just don't go blabbing to anyone on the outside; the paperwork can wait for later." Chen Chuan looked at him, thinking, *Teacher Cheng, didn't you just say earlier that you volunteered to be my advising instructor?* Still, seeing through a lie didn't mean one had to call it out. He took a breath and asked, "Teacher Cheng, when does my training begin?" "Don't rush; everything in due order." Cheng Zitong pulled a carbon-copy form from his briefcase. "Sign your name on this. I'll submit it to the Admissions Preparation Office for filing, and after that, you'll officially be my student. I will be responsible for everything during your advisement. There's nothing binding about it, though. If you ever feel I'm slacking off or lacking in skill, you can apply to switch instructors after a month." Chen Chuan took the form, signed his name without hesitation, and handed it back to Cheng Zitong. Cheng Zitong casually signed his own name as well, tore off the top sheet, and returned the duplicate copy beneath it to Chen Chuan. "All right, from this moment on, I am officially your advising instructor. I consider myself a good teacher—not because my skill is extraordinary, but because other instructors handle at least several or even a dozen students, while I have only you. If I still can't guide you well, I'd be utterly incompetent." Accepting the slip, Chen Chuan asked, "Teacher Cheng, I haven't asked yet—which department in the school are you from?" Cheng Zitong put on his decorative sunglasses and smiled faintly. "I started out in the Weapons Division, but I'm currently in the Logistics Office." Chen Chuan was momentarily taken aback. "The Logistics Office?" Cheng Zitong chuckled. "What, looking down on the Logistics Office? Are teachers in Logistics not real teachers? Can't we serve as advising instructors?" He pointed at himself. "Your teacher holds a legitimate advising instructor certification, I'll have you know. Furthermore, I'm the deputy director of Logistics. At Wuyi, everyone gives me a bit of face." Looking at his rather plump, prosperous face, Chen Chuan thought, *I can tell.* Unaware of what his student was thinking, Cheng Zitong lifted his briefcase, went over to pick up his jacket, and then decided to just toss it onto the couch. "I'll head to the pharmacy first to fetch your medicine. Cultivating jin requires pharmacological support. Wait here for me." Chen Chuan agreed, then remembered something and said, "Teacher Cheng, could I trouble you to bring back some Initiation Powder while you're at it? I have a friend who's about to start practicing and needs some." "That's easy. That medicine isn't worth much anyway," Cheng Zitong replied. "Oh, by the way, to prevent misuse, the medicine I'm prescribing you has a fixed quota each semester. If you exceed it, you'll have to pay out of pocket. I suspect you probably will exceed the limit, but your teacher has connections and I'll find a way to get you the lowest possible price... No need to see me out, the pharmacy isn't far. I'll be back shortly. You're just too polite, kid." After seeing him to the door, Chen Chuan turned back and paced slowly through the living room. A thought occurred to him: the mutated tissue in his body had developed under the prolonged, uninterrupted stimulation of the basic breathing technique, which meant it was triggered after birth, completely unlike someone born with it. Strictly speaking, he was not actually someone endowed with "innate talent." If that was the case, would reducing his breathing technique practice or halting it altogether slow or halt the mutation's progress? No, he would not do that. According to Teacher Cheng, such mutations clearly occurred in distinct stages. Once a phase of rapid growth passed, it might simply plateau. Since subsequent stages were not guaranteed, some people even resorted to drugs to stimulate further development. Yet this depended on latent talent; once halted, it might very well end right there, with no further growth to follow. He could not be certain whether that would happen to him, so far from actively restricting it, he had to find ways to sustain it, or even accelerate it! As for the pace of his learning and training, with his Second Self, he was confident he could keep up. No matter what, he had to do everything in his power to master jin! After only half an hour of waiting, Cheng Zitong returned. He tossed a packet of medicinal powder to Chen Chuan. "Initiation Powder. Pharmaceutical technology keeps advancing; this powder is more refined than what we used to have. This single packet is enough for two people, but it's just as potent as ever. Tell your friend to be careful and not take too much." Chen Chuan caught it and said, "Thank you, Teacher." "No need to stand on ceremony with your teacher," Cheng Zitong said, pulling out two more parcels of medicine. "These are the pills and powders for internal and external use, meant to accompany your new breathing technique and jin cultivation. They'll last you at least a month. Use them for now, and we'll see how the first phase goes. "Oh, right. There were also some suppressant drugs that I didn't grab. They can slow the growth of your mutated tissue a little—better than nothing, I suppose. But in my opinion, relying on your own training to guide the growth is best. The greater the drawback, the greater the payoff once it's converted. Avoid using them if you can; we'll reconsider only as a last resort." Chen Chuan answered decisively, "No need, Teacher Cheng. I won't use them." "Good," Cheng Zitong said. "Time is tight. Trying to master jin within two or three months is extraordinarily difficult. Most students spend several months to a year just adapting to a breathing technique, and another one to two years pursuing a jin that suits them and building their combat system. And that's referring to elite students; for ordinary ones, that's already considered fast." At this point, his tone turned solemn. "Now, I will teach you the Aperture Breathing Technique. It will draw out more of your latent potential, thereby accelerating the growth of your mutated tissue. It might be quite agonizing, but it is an indispensable prerequisite for cultivating jin, so there's no skipping it. You must be mentally prepared."