Three days passed in a flash.
Because Chen Chuan had the foundation of Greater Sanshou, it took him only three days to learn and familiarize himself with all the forms of Orthodox Sanshou. Immediately afterward, he began the next stage of his training.
Cheng Zitong said, "You already know that without enough mutated fascia, you can't exert complete jin. But even though fascia supports jin, it remains fragmented and disorderly because the strands are scattered from one another. They don't form a single whole, and even within a small patch of fascia, it is quite loose.
"Because of that, even though stretching them when you move allows you to generate greater power, they lack unified coordination, leaving the strength of your mutated fascia dispersed as well.
"Therefore, the first step is to use stance training to comb through and integrate this mutated fascia, bringing it into an orderly, unified whole."
Saying this, he assumed a few fixed stance postures and explained, "Fixed stances have their purpose here. After all, they are the culmination of our predecessors' experience and aren't entirely useless. So I don't intend to discard them, but rather combine them with flowing stances.
"You can focus primarily on flowing stances, supplemented by fixed stances in your training. Once you're familiar with them, you can derive a flowing stance unique to yourself based on your own mutated tissue. After all, I reckon very few people have ever practiced this jin technique in depth, so your future progress will depend on you."
Chen Chuan nodded. He picked up the booklet in his hand and looked through it. Fixed stances were generally divided into standing and reclining stances, and the standing stance was indeed similar to the stance methods of Greater Sanshou.
Cheng Zitong said, "This set of stances requires vocalizing shouted exhalations. Each shout and movement of the stance stimulates the corresponding area when exerting force, making the mutated tissue there even stronger.
"There is some difficulty to this. If you can't produce the correct sounds at first, you can substitute the old method's Six-Character Formula—*xu, he, hu, xi, chui, xi*—and once you gradually adapt, move on to the shouted breaths in the booklet."
At this point, he suddenly added, "Some old fogies from the old era don't understand the real principles behind it. They stubbornly cling to plausible-sounding rules of thumb passed down by ancestors, so only a few people with unique talent suited to that style ever reached any real height.
"Some people mockingly call this 'talent making up for a lack of knowledge.' And when these people entered the new era, based on their past experience, they often looked down on new martial arts. So they all have one thing in common: they only look for students of extraordinary natural talent and exceptional ability. Otherwise, they simply can't teach anyone worthwhile."
Hearing this, Chen Chuan sensed a faint trace of resentment in Cheng Zitong's voice, thinking to himself that Master Cheng must have been one of those considered untalented back then.
Cheng Zitong then brought over several packets of medicinal herbs and began mixing them with medicinal liquor. Stance training—whether stimulating mutated tissue or performing the vocal breathing—strictly required the aid of medicinal concoctions; it was indispensable.
Yet while it brought benefits, negative side effects always existed as well. Thus, he cautioned Chen Chuan not to rely on his strong constitution to overtrain. The human body always had a limit to what it could bear; just because one didn't feel it now didn't mean problems wouldn't arise later, so he had to know when to stop.
Chen Chuan agreed, though with the existence of the Second Self, he didn't need to worry too much about that.
By the end of the day's training, Cheng Zitong saw that Chen Chuan had gotten the hang of it. After a few final reminders, he left with peace of mind.
Although Chen Chuan didn't continue with stance training, he kept up his breathing technique practice.
Currently, he could sustain the basic breathing technique continuously for over an hour.
Yu Gang had said that skilled martial artists could maintain it for two to three hours or more every day, so he considered himself still far off. His goal was to achieve the ability to sustain it continuously for twenty-four hours or more.
This was only the basic breathing technique. If he couldn't even master the foundation to perfection, how could he talk about higher skills?
And after understanding the Aperture Breathing Technique, driven by the breathing method, he could clearly feel the growth and expansion of mutated tissue each time. He could sense himself growing stronger by the day compared to yesterday. This feeling of growing stronger was intoxicating, making him yearn to immerse himself in it constantly.
As he focused on his training, more than ten days slipped by; he was completely unaware that the news of his renunciation of Xuanxiang Jin had already been intentionally leaked and spread around.
Within Wuyi Academy, several student organizations existed. Aside from the Mutual Aid Society, another major one was the Fenxin Society. Formed under pressure from the Mutual Aid Society, it was a club spontaneously established by commoner students. The majority of its members were Class B students, though Class A students held the main decision-making power.
At that moment, inside the club's facility, many people were discussing Chen Chuan giving up Xuanxiang Jin.
"It has to be the Mutual Aid Society. In my view, they were just afraid another person like Senior would emerge, so they pressured Junior Chen into giving it up!"
"That's exactly what I think!"
"Where did the vigor Student Chen showed when he enrolled go? Where did all that blood and grit from taking down that monster Zhong Wu go? How could he back down so easily?"
"Junior Chen is too weak-willed! If it were Senior, he would never back down!"
"We can't expect him to be like Senior just yet. Doesn't everyone take things step by step..."
"Combat skills can be trained, but temperament is inborn. In my eyes, he just can't measure up to Senior on that front."
As a member of the Fenxin Society, Shu Han stood listening from the side. Now, he rose to his feet and said, "Everyone, I'm the senior assigned to liaise with him. I'll go speak with him and at least get to the bottom of this."
An upperclassman walked over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Shu Han, we're counting on you. Tell him our Fenxin Society will back him up. Tell him not to fear the Mutual Aid Society—he can freely choose his jin technique again."
Shu Han nodded and walked out. Shen Shao chased after him from behind, calling, "Hey, is it really necessary to get involved in this?"
Shu Han halted and turned back with a question of his own: "If Senior were still here, he wouldn't just stand by and let this happen. He would definitely step forward to help a vulnerable student."
"Right, I admit Senior genuinely helped us back then," Shen Shao said. "But what if things aren't what you all think? I mean, what if this was his own choice?"
"Then all the more reason for me to ask him clearly why he chose this. He's practically making a joke of his own studies and future." Shu Han remained steadfast.
Feeling utterly helpless, Shen Shao watched him stride toward the dormitory building. After a moment's thought, he had no choice but to follow along.
Arriving at the dormitory building, the two went straight up to the seventh floor and stopped outside Chen Chuan's room. After knocking and waiting a short while, Chen Chuan opened the door from inside. Seeing the two of them, he said, "Senior Shu, Senior Shen? What brings you here today? Please, come in."
With that, he stepped aside to let them in.
Shen Shao gave Shu Han's arm a tug, but Shu Han shook off his grip. Dispensing with pleasantries, he said bluntly, "Junior Chen, if you yielded to pressure from the Mutual Aid Society and were forced into making this choice, then I urge you not to be afraid. We will all back you up and help you withstand that pressure!"
Chen Chuan asked in surprise, "What pressure?"
Shu Han drew a breath and looked at him. "We heard you gave up Xuanxiang Jin. Is that true?"
Chen Chuan was mildly surprised, then grew pensive. "Oh? You all know already? Yes, I did give up Xuanxiang Jin."
"Right, we know." Shu Han took two steps forward and said solemnly, "If you're being coerced, you can tell me. The academy isn't a place where the Mutual Aid Society can blot out the sky with one hand. There are people who can help shoulder the pressure with you."
Chen Chuan shook his head. "No one coerced me, nor have I faced any threats or pressure. This was my own choice."
"Your own choice?" Shu Han stared in disbelief, then quickly grew agitated, his expression deeply anxious. "How could you give it up? How could you make such a choice?"
Chen Chuan remained calm and asked, "Why couldn't I?"
Shu Han took a deep breath. Looking at Chen Chuan, he began unbuttoning his outer coat, his tone earnest: "Let's spar, Junior Chen. I know what you're thinking. You probably believe your natural talent is extraordinary, so it doesn't matter what jin technique you practice. But I need you to understand that you're wrong! You don't realize what an incredible opportunity you've thrown away!"
Chen Chuan said, "My apologies, Seniors, but I have training today. I have no interest in sparring with you, Senior Shu, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't disturb me." He stepped aside. "Please, after you."
Shen Shao hurriedly said, "Sorry about this." He stepped up and grabbed Shu Han, trying to drag him away, but Shu Han planted his feet and didn't budge.
Shu Han glared at Chen Chuan. "Junior Chen, beat me, and I won't come back to disturb you. You don't think I showed you my full strength that day, do you?"
Chen Chuan looked at him. If Shu Han truly refused to leave, a fight was inevitable; and even if he left now, he might come back again later. Rather than dragging this out, it was better to settle it cleanly. He said, "Fine. I'll spar with you, Senior Shu. If you lose, don't interrupt my training anymore."
Shu Han said, "Deal!"
He turned toward the door. "Let's take it outside."
"No need."
Chen Chuan turned around and looked at him, his voice calm. "Right here is fine. It won't take long."
Chapter 54