Chapter 52: Making A Choice

Cheng Zitong demonstrated the Primordial Force Stance to Chen Chuan. He started with the Air Embrace and ended with the Mountain Lift. It was no different from that of Yu Gang.

Chen Chuan could not tell who was better, but he felt that Yu Gang’s breathing seemed to suit the stance better.

Cheng Zitong pushed down on his stomach and said, “The source of power for the Primordial Force Stance comes from here. Old martial artists talk about having your qi sink into your energy center, which is talking about using the mutated tissue in your energy center as a core to activate all the strength in your body.

“Once you are able to hold your qi in your energy center, you will be able to maintain your center of gravity. The word ‘sink’ reveals it all. It’s like having a huge stone pinning your body in place. Once that stone starts moving, a powerful force is also released.”

As Cheng Zitong continued explaining, Chen Chuan looked through all the main refined forces. There were not many of them, only a dozen or so. The others were all subtle forces.

According to Cheng Zitong, some of the augmented forces were difficult to train and had high requirements regarding the mutated tissue before they could even be used, so students could only start practicing with subtle force. Usually, a martial artist needed at least two refined forces before they could turn them into a proper force to use in fights.

As a result, their fighting style felt fragmented. If one ignored all external factors and looked purely at the martial artists themselves, those who only learned subtle force naturally fell short compared to those who learned augmented force. However, people always found ways to make up for their shortcomings. With various tools and assistive devices in play, the gap in strength between individuals was much less pronounced.

Nowadays, those who practiced augmented force also practiced some subtle forces. In critical moments, those subtle forces could produce amazing effects.

Chen Chuan went to the last row to the right. There were fewer bamboo slip bundles here, with just one lying on the middle shelf. Cheng Zitong’s gaze became more focused when he approached it.

Chen Chuan picked up the bundle of bamboo slips and took a look. It had the words, “The Arcane Phase Force.” Inside were densely packed instructions on how to perform its stances, along with notes from predecessors written in the margins.

***

Meanwhile, Gao Ping, Yue Hong, and Bian Feng were all gathered in Gao Ping’s office in the administrative office building.

“Mr. Cheng brought Chen Chuan to the Hall of Judgment an hour ago. He should be preparing to teach him how to use refined force,” Yue Hong noted.

“Will he choose that refined force?” Bian Feng asked.

“I think so. That’s the best refined force we have in the university, and it even has handwritten notes from all of its former practitioners. He picked that one too.” Yue Hong felt really optimistic.

“The best? I don’t think so. The refined force best suited for you is the best,” Gao Ping remarked.

“Mr. Gao, the students usually don’t know what the right choice is. They need someone with more experience pointing the way for them,” Yue Hong said.

“If Cheng Zitong were here, he would definitely say that what you just said is completely in line with the rational faction’s thinking. We’ll know the result soon,” Gao Ping said.

At the same time, the recommended students were training together on North Peak. One of the recommended students was looking at South Hill through a pair of binoculars.

“Lin Mian, what’s got your attention?”

Behind him, a few recommended students were firing at a human-shaped target with crossbows. One of them turned around curiously and walked over. “What’s so nice about it?”

Lin Mian stepped back a little to adjust the lenses. “I heard that Cheng Zitong brought a student to the Hall of Judgment, and they’re inside right now. Does that remind you of something?”

“The Hall of Judgment?” The student did a double take. “Wait a second. I remember that the university staff brought that annoying guy to that place too, didn’t they?” he hissed.

Then, he turned around. “Jiang Wei, did Cheng Zitong bring his mentee there? What’s the university management up to now?”

Jiang Wei slowly strung his crossbow as he smiled. “Some people are displeased with how things ended two years ago, so they’ve been trying to find someone like him again. They might have placed their hopes on that student.”

The recommended student immediately lost his cool. “What should we do? Since we were able to take care of that guy two years ago, we should be able to do it again, right?”

“Patience. Let’s see how things go first,” Jiang Wei said and lifted his crossbow before training it at a spot ahead. He narrowed his eyes and pulled the trigger. With a whoosh, the crossbow bolt landed on the red target in the distance.

***

Chen Chuan looked through the bundle of bamboo slips in the Hall of Judgment. This was the longest time he spent reading the manual of a refined force ever since he was given the go ahead to choose one.

Cheng Zitong just sat on his cushion and stayed quiet.

Chen Chuan could tell based on where this manual was located that this refined force was not ordinary. Its descriptions proved his guess. The manual only talked about the training method and things to take note of, but did not give a detailed description of where the mutated tissue would grow.

However, based on the human body drawn in the manual, whoever practiced this refined force would have tattoos appear on their chest and backs, which would grow clearer and more complicated the more skilled they became with the refined force. In the end, the tattoos would resemble the face of an angry person.

Once he finished reading it, he remarked, “This refined force is quite unique, Mr. Cheng.”

“The Arcane Phase Force is one of the most profound refined forces in the university. I never practiced it, and my exposure to it has been limited. That’s why I can’t tell you where your mutated tissue will grow if you practice this one. I only know that the requirements to begin practicing this refined force are really high, but those who pick it up are usually able to achieve great things. The last person to choose this was another student around three years ago…”

Cheng Zitong seemed to be intentionally leading the conversation to this topic, but Chen Chuan did not ask about it. Instead, he put the refined force back and sat down on his cushion. “Are there other refined forces, Mr. Cheng?”

Cheng Zitong was surprised. “What? Don’t you want to learn the Arcane Phase Force?”

“I don’t think it suits me,” Chen Chuan answered frankly.

Cheng Zitong’s expression turned complicated. It was as if he found the situation a pity, but he also felt relieved. After a while, he said, “If you think it doesn’t suit you, then forget it. But are you telling me that you didn’t find any to your liking after reading through so many refined force manuals?”

Chen Chuan looked toward the bookshelves. “Are all the refined forces available in the university here?”

Cheng Zitong shook his head. “No. Some of them aren’t that special, so they weren’t placed here. Tell me. What sort of refined force are you looking for? I’ll look for it for you.”

After some careful consideration, Chen Chuan asked, “Is there a refined force that attends to all attributes of the human body?”

“A refined force that attends to all attributes of the human body?” Cheng Zitong was taken aback, and his expression turned quite strange. “Is that really what you want?”

Chen Chuan nodded.

Cheng Zitong took some time thinking before he said hesitantly, “There is. It’s called the All-Encompassing Force. But you must understand that while this refined force can attend to all attributes of the body, it means that it’s mediocre in all aspects.”

His expression turned stern. “The knowledge we gathered from the past tells us that martial artists need to turn their strengths into their specializations and keep improving upon them, because we can use tools to compensate for our weaknesses. Also, a person only has so much energy to spare. Even with mutated tissue, they can only focus on strengthening one particular thing. If you choose the All-Encompassing Force, it will spread your power, and you won’t have any focus in the end.”

Chen Chuan thought about it and said, “Thank you for your advice, Mr. Cheng. May I see that manual?”

Cheng Zitong sighed and said, “Alright. I did say that you have a mind of your own. Wait here.”

He stood up and went to the side door. Soon, he came out holding an old, printed book with yellowing pages, which he handed to Chen Chuan.

As Chen Chuan flipped through the pages, he found that it was just as Cheng Zitong said. The All-Encompassing Force attended to all parts of the body. What stood out about it was it having the practitioner grow mutated tissue all over the body. It did not require the martial artist to make the mutated tissue go through any sort of specialization. Instead, it should spread out and attach to every part of the body.

If the martial artist picked up all sorts of techniques from different martial arts, then, in theory, they could imitate any refined force in the world. But the effect was worlds apart from what the theory proposed. After all, mutated tissue was required to support and generate augmented force. If it had to attend to all parts of the body, it could not even support and generate subtle force. It was just as Cheng Zitong said, striving to take care of all aspects led to mediocrity.

But Chen Chuan knew one thing clearly: the foundation to execute all martial art techniques was the body, and mutated tissue was part of the body.

If a person’s physique was far better than that of any average person, then all the theories could come true. Thanks to his second self, Chen Chuan was certain he could keep strengthening his body’s foundation and eventually surpass everyone.

He could also sense that his second self was still growing. He had a lot more potential to uncover in the future.

Chen Chuan looked up and said seriously, “Mr. Cheng, this refined force is exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep