Light

He Xiaoxing stared intently at Chen Chuan with bright, piercing eyes. After a long moment, a powerful voice rumbled from his broad chest: "Overcoming hardship requires force, and force is violence. That is the fundamental logic by which this world operates. It holds true for massive corporate conglomerates, and it holds true for nations across the globe. When scaled down to an individual fighter, it reveals itself even more clearly. "Yet if you wish to attain power, you must first know yourself before you can truly know your opponent. The academy asked me to return to instruct you, and they even told me they intended to have you cultivate Xuanxiang Jin as well. But had you accepted that arrangement, you would at best have become nothing more than the next Shen Zheng. Even if there were differences, they would not have amounted to much." His voice dropped lower. "Repeating a path walked before is meaningless. But you chose Zhouyuan Jin, and I also heard you rejected the Fenxin Society's interference. That shows you clearly know what you want. In that respect, if you persevere, you will go much further than he did." He extended a broad palm, fingers splayed, leveling it toward Chen Chuan. "Hit me with everything you've got." Seeing this, Cheng Zitong took two steps back and gave Chen Chuan a nod, signaling him to strike without hesitation. Chen Chuan nodded. Stepping forward, he raised his hand and clenched his fist, drawing in a deep breath. In an instant, the Second Self merged with him as one, while mutated tissue throughout his entire body contracted in unison under his conscious will. Once the power built to its absolute peak, he let out a sharp cry. The ground beneath his feet caved in abruptly, and his fist slammed into that outstretched palm! The moment they collided, a clear, resonantly focused crack rang out. A layer of cyan tracery surfaced across the back of He Xiaoxing's hand, ripples of lines extending backward in successive rings as the force traveled along his arm, halting just before reaching his elbow. Having delivered the punch, Chen Chuan had braced himself for the recoil. To his slight surprise, however, every shred of the force in his fist sank straight into the palm, leaving not a trace behind. He had no doubt that if He Xiaoxing pulled his palm away right now, he would pitch forward. Yet the man stood at the exact boundary needed to hold him in place without spilling a single drop of excess power. Such control was undeniably exquisite. Looking down at the tracery reaching up toward his elbow, He Xiaoxing remarked, "Mm, interesting. Your power is already remarkably close to the theoretical limit of the First Limit. Your talent truly is as exceptional as Old Cheng claimed." Cheng Zitong replied as though it were only natural, "I told you before, this student of mine is out of the ordinary. His talent is extraordinary." Chen Chuan asked, "The limit of the First Limit?" He Xiaoxing said slowly, "Why is the stage of 'Nurturing the True Seed' called the 'First Limit'? It isn't just a measure of how far your mutated tissue has transformed; it also expresses that a person's strength has a boundary. "As long as you are human, no matter how powerful your mutated tissue becomes, within this first stage you can only ever reach a certain defined ceiling. That is the First Limit. "However, because individuals vary, the margin allowed here is quite broad. Theoretically, that upper limit can only be reached by someone nearly flawless in every respect. Even so, you are already very close to that point." Chen Chuan glanced at He Xiaoxing's elbow. From that single strike, this teacher had apparently gauged his strength and technique with pinpoint accuracy—and perhaps other aspects he did not yet understand. He felt little disappointment over not having exceeded that limit. Every time he made an advance, the Second Self advanced alongside him; strictly speaking, his own body had not yet reached the ceiling of this stage. According to this theory, he had every chance to challenge or even surpass it. Cheng Zitong chimed in, "That lackey of Tan Wang's seemed to have already touched the Second Limit, but from what I gathered about their clash that day, he still lost to Little Chuan in a contest of pure strength. That is the difference in talent." He Xiaoxing said, "That is entirely possible. The ceiling of the First Limit can exceed the floor of the Second Limit. It's just that the ceiling of the Second Limit is something the First Limit can never match, no matter what. The crux comes down to the depth and completeness of the mutated tissue. Old Cheng, did you teach him only one breathing technique?" Cheng Zitong answered, "Indeed. Aside from the basic breathing technique he already knew, I only taught him the Aperture Breathing Technique and a routine of Orthodox Sanshou. Nothing else. I was afraid my own abilities wouldn't do him justice and lead him astray, so I wasn't in a hurry to push advanced training methods on him." He Xiaoxing said, "Your caution spared us a lot of trouble." He turned his gaze back to Chen Chuan. "To my eyes, you are still like a blank sheet of paper. Even as you stand right now, there is ample room for improvement. There is no need to rush into the Second Limit; laying a solid foundation is everything. Shortly, I will teach you a breathing technique and a set of training drills. They will continue to refine and strengthen your mutated tissue. "From what I observed when you threw that punch, power in many parts of your body was never mobilized. That means the mutated tissue there has not engaged, or has only partially engaged, to the point where its lack of strength causes it to be rejected by the whole. "For anyone else, that would be normal, because they only strengthen a specific portion of their mutated tissue first. But you practice Zhouyuan Jin, which demands that force reaches everywhere and leaves nothing untouched. You must find a way to incorporate those overlooked areas. "Otherwise, down the line, these small neglected spots will compromise the overall delivery of your force, making future breakthroughs far more arduous. By the time you try to turn back and make up for those deficiencies, it will take ten or a hundred times the effort." Chen Chuan could not help but nod, taking the advice deeply to heart and committing it to memory. He Xiaoxing continued, "Your overall release of force also lacks full saturation. This is two sides of the same coin: it lacks saturation because the power of much of your mutated tissue hasn't been brought into play. While I don't know the exact internal state of your mutated tissue, I can tell just from your strike that its strength is uneven and somewhat scattered. "This isn't due to a lack of effort on your part. Power is something that runs deeper the more you train, and anyone newly entering this stage starts out like this. But you must understand that when others train their mutated tissue, they only develop one portion, expanding outward from a single point to the rest. They have the time and energy to make corrections, and they have the notes and experience of predecessors as reference points to keep them from going astray and allow constant self-correction. "Zhouyuan Jin has none of that. You must feel your way forward alone, which multiplies the difficulty many times over. "Yet you must keep yourself mindful: if this is like erecting a tall tower, and a flaw emerges in one part of your foundation, creating a weakness, then you are destined to reach only a very limited height in the future. "My advice is to use the breath aperture method to observe your interior while pairing it with jin movements, applying conscious stimulation and guidance to the areas that need reinforcement so the mutated tissue there receives adequate conditioning. Fortunately, you have only been practicing for two months and are still in the early stages; the gap between different patches of mutated tissue hasn't widened yet. Correcting and compensating for it now is still well within reach." Cheng Zitong spoke up, "Old He, why don't you stay for a couple more days and give him more pointers?" When it came to teaching students, he considered himself far inferior to He Xiaoxing. If He Xiaoxing could stay to guide Chen Chuan, even for just a few days, it would be invaluable. He Xiaoxing said, "Since I've decided to leave tonight, I won't stay until tomorrow. I'll write down a booklet of key points afterward and mail it to you. That said, cultivation is an enterprise that consumes immense resources—especially for a case like his. To reach his goal, a tremendous amount of medicine will be required, and the amounts needed will only multiply later on. In the old era, there would have been almost no hope of succeeding. "Yet the times are constantly progressing. As they push the world forward, they elevate us individuals as well, allowing us to draw upon all kinds of convenient advantages to forge a brand-new future." He looked at Chen Chuan. "I, too, am eager to see what heights your achievements will reach in the future." Cheng Zitong said solemnly, "Leave the medicines to me. Little Chuan is my student; I can track down whatever he needs, even if it has to come from Center City." He Xiaoxing believed in Cheng Zitong's reach. Turning back to Chen Chuan, he said in a deep voice, "I will demonstrate. Commit it to memory first, focusing on the core principles. You don't necessarily have to master everything I teach; as long as it patches your flaws and exercises the areas you overlooked, the purpose will be served. When that time comes, you can discard it whenever you like." Chen Chuan agreed earnestly. Without another word, He Xiaoxing began his demonstration. His approach was largely to perform a movement once himself, then have Chen Chuan follow suit. Unlike other teachers, however, his eye was exceptionally sharp; the moment Chen Chuan mirrored the form, he could immediately pinpoint any flaw and instruct him on how to correct it. After running through a sequence just two or three times, Chen Chuan had not only committed it fully to memory, but had also ironed out the basic shortcomings. The experience felt remarkably fluid—like catching a favoring wind or sailing a swift boat, carried forward by an invisible momentum. Time always slips away quickly. Under the chill of the mountain breeze, as midnight approached, He Xiaoxing spoke up: "That will do for tonight." Chen Chuan halted his movements, knowing the lesson was at an end. At that moment, not only he, but even Cheng Zitong watching from the side felt a lingering sense of wanting more. He Xiaoxing stood tall, his loose hair swaying in the wind. "The areas you need to watch, including how to correct and reinforce them, have all been shown to you. What comes next is your own practice. But never become dogmatic. What I said may not be entirely correct either; you must adjust according to your own circumstances at any time. Our learning process is a matter of continuously correcting mistakes and oversights." Pausing, he looked up at the full moon hanging high in the night sky. "All right, it's time for me to go." Chen Chuan bowed deeply to him and said with heartfelt sincerity, "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher He." He Xiaoxing nodded. Cheng Zitong said, "Old He, we need to head down the mountain too. Let me give you a ride." He Xiaoxing did not refuse. "Very well." The three of them climbed into the car one after another. Driving down from the summit, the vehicle pulled up before the dormitory building. Chen Chuan got out and cupped his fists in salute to both teachers, watching as the car departed beneath the flanking streetlights. Its taillights gradually vanished into the pitch-black night, yet he knew that before long, a brand-new day would arrive. He turned around and walked toward the dormitory building, where lights still shone warmly. His gains this night had been immense. It was as though everything that had previously puzzled him had been illuminated in full clarity; the issues had been pointed out, solutions provided, and a far more detailed, definite direction laid before him. Step by step, he climbed the stairs. In the quiet solitude of midnight, the sound of his footsteps rang clear and distinct. With his back to the deep, heavy dark of the night, he walked forward toward the place where the light gathered.