Chapter 7: Finding A Trace Of That Life-Sustaining Technique

Chen Chuan could not let this continue, so he decided to transfer the pain to his second self, and the pain gradually disappeared.

The second self could absorb Chen Chuan’s pain and injuries, but this time, he only shared the pain, because the “injuries” from the medicine stimulated his qi and blood.

If he did not get “injured,” he would be using the medicine for nothing. Its effects would not strengthen his body.

Just removing the pain was enough. Without its interference, he could focus on using the breathing technique again.

Yu Gang watched calmly from the side.

He had been expecting Chen Chuan’s breathing to become uneven. All those who started learning the breathing technique had this sort of reaction. If Chen Chuan could not tolerate the medicine at any point and become unable to continue, Yu Gang would stop this part of the training and dissolve the medicinal effects by patting on various spots on Chen Chuan’s body and washing the paste off. Then, they would try again at a later time. Otherwise, the body would have been damaged for nothing.

He was not expecting Chen Chuan to succeed right from the start, because he knew just how much pain a person was in while exposed to the effects of the medicinal paste, especially for the first time. Very few people were able to tolerate it.

Usually, even people with strong willpower needed to try two or three times before getting used to it and being able to use the breathing technique normally. It was not strange to need a few more tries, but most people could not withstand the torture and gave up halfway. Yet soon, Yu Gang’s calm mask cracked a little, because in just half a minute, Chen Chuan’s breathing became steady again.

The boy was quite something.

Chen Chuan was focused on guiding his breathing, but even after going through two cycles, he did not find any secrets, meridians, or qi. He was at a complete loss.

Due to the effects of the medicinal paste gradually fading away, the remainder was not even enough for him to complete the third cycle. In order to not have any underlying problems, he decided to let his second self absorb even the damage from the third cycle.

This led to his second self blurring out in lots of different areas. The degree of damage varied greatly. It was as if multiple foggy holes had appeared on the second self. When Chen Chuan saw this, he suddenly thought of something.

“Alright. Let’s stop for now,” Yu Gang said. “It’s about time.”

“Mr. Yu, can I continue later?” Chen Chuan asked.

When Chen Chuan did not resist the thought of going through the training again and even seemed eager for another round, Yu Gang fell silent for a while. “Go to the bathroom next door to wash up and rest for half an hour.”

Chen Chuan agreed to it. He picked up the saltwater Yu Gang had prepared for him on the table and went to the bathroom. Then, he turned on the shower and washed himself.

He was starving. After all, he had not had lunch, and the breathing technique stimulated his life force as well as activated his qi and blood, which used up a lot of energy. After he came out of the bathroom, he asked, “Mr. Yu, do you have anything to eat here?”

Yu Gang had already prepared food for him. He threw a plastic box that was approximately two fingers wide and fifteen centimeters long to him as he said, “This is a nutritional paste from Grand Morals Food. It might be tasteless, but it has all the nutrition necessary for martial arts training. When you go to Martial Valor University, you’ll need to eat this every day.”

Chen Chuan tore open the packaging and found that it was a green paste. He did not scoff at it, but swallowed it in just a few bites. Just as Yu Gang said, it was tasteless. But the moment he finished eating, he felt much more energized and no longer as hungry. The effects came on instantly.

After ten or so more minutes of resting, Yu Gang helped Chen Chuan put on the medicinal paste again, and he attempted the breathing technique a second time.

This time, he had experience. When pain started assaulting his entire body, he immediately transferred the pain and parts of the damage away. He then started using the breathing technique while observing his second self. Just like before, his second self showed different degrees of blurring.

Chen Chuan observed his second self for a bit and became certain that the blurred parts and the degree of blurring was related to his breathing.

The degree of blurring fluctuated and was sporadic, so Chen Chuan believed that it was due to his breathing guiding his life force, qi, and blood. The damage from the medicinal paste alone would not cause such blurring.

Due to this, he could directly see the effects of the breathing technique. At the moment, he was not using the breathing technique to guide his life force, qi, and blood properly, so his activation of those components within him was chaotic and scattered. Could he then assume that if the damaged parts all showed the same degree of blurring, became connected and steady, and showed signs of becoming unified, Chen Chuan would have achieved the state of integrating all steps of the breathing technique as one whole, just like Yu Gang said?

This was a highly likely possibility, and he had nothing else to try anyway. Even if he was wrong, he could pass all the damage he suffered to his second self. So, he started adjusting his breathing according to the blurring parts of his second self.

Half an hour later, Chen Chuan was forced to stop again. Even though he was a little tired and his breathing rapid, he was really excited, because he could sense that he was beginning to get the hang of it. He might actually be on the right path!

Yu Gang watched him and the mixture of sweat and medicinal paste flowing down his legs. “Even if you have that medicinal paste to restore your energy, you can only try this at most four times a day. Do you still want to continue?”

“Yes!” Chen Chuan said firmly.

After taking another shower and resting for a bit, Chen Chuan attempted the training for the third time.

As he continued making adjustments, the blurry effects finally started to converge, as if they were all being linked together. Chen Chuan also started to feel something, but when he was about to get a grasp of that feeling, the medicinal paste’s effects ran out again.

He could only wait for the next attempt.

Yet this time, when he stood up, his heart raced, and he grew short of breath. His vision swam, and he could not stand steadily. He fell back down on the stool. Even if his second self had absorbed the pain and part of the damage, the stimulating effects of the remaining medicine were still within him.

When Yu Gang saw this, he said, “Let’s end it for today. The training of the breathing technique, the boost to your qi and blood, and the stimulation from the medicine put a heavy burden on your organs.”

Chen Chuan looked up. “But you said that a person can attempt this a maximum of four times a day. I want to try one more time.”

Yu Gang met his gaze square on and saw his unrelenting determination. “Since you insist, you can try one last time.”

One more time, Chen Chuan took a shower and ate two packs of nutritional paste. Then, he went to rest before attempting the training for the fourth time.

He believed that he had found the right direction. The damage his second self displayed served as a guide to readjust his course so that he could continuously get closer to the correct path.

This time, he had to succeed.

Yu Gang watched Chen Chuan. The medicinal paste dealt heavy damage to a person’s body and mind. Not many people were able to persevere when faced with the repeated physical and mental torment.

The fourth attempt was only theoretically possible. Most people gave up after the first or second round, but who could have guessed that Chen Chuan would keep going until the fourth attempt.

Lu Ke came back after he finished cooking the meat. When he saw Chen Chuan attempting the training again, his eyes went wide in shock.

He had tried this breathing technique at the beginning of the year, and he would never forget that sensation.

At first, he only felt a stabbing pain, but later on, it was as if he had ants crawling all over his skin, and an indescribable sense of frustration rose in his heart, making him want to scream, shout, and punch something.

Since he was unable to persist until the end whenever he tried it, Yu Gang believed that he was not ready, so he had put a stop to his training for the time being.

Even to this date, Lu Ke had not moved past that trauma. Whenever he thought about it, phantom pain assaulted his body.

But Chen Chuan kept going until the fourth attempt, even though Lu Ke had believed him to be a pampered city kid who had never suffered through any hardship. Lu Ke could not describe how he felt at that moment. He was impressed and jealous at the same time. A tiny part of him even wanted Chen Chuan to fail.

“Do you think Mr. Chen can do it, Master?” he asked.

“You need six things when it comes to martial arts training: a goal, determination, initiative, willpower, luck, and talent,” Yu Gang said. “When I asked him those questions in the beginning, I became sure that he had a clear goal and determination to reach it. Now, he showed me that he has the initiative and willpower for martial arts training. He has four of the six things.”

Lu Ke hummed and asked without looking at Yu Gang, “Since Mr. Chen already has four things, he should be able to find the secret to the breathing technique soon, right?”

“No. Among the six things, the hardest to come across is talent, and the most crucial one is luck,” Yu Gang said seriously.

Chen Chuan was entirely focused on his breathing and did not hear what was spoken around him.

Just a bit left…

Through his efforts, he had reached the final stage of adjusting his breathing technique. Once all the blurred out parts converged into one, he sensed the presence of a hidden life force. He could not describe what it was, but he had a feeling that if he took this meridian, his isolated, scattered breaths would merge into one.

The next instant, he finally understood what Yu Gang meant when he talked about the concept of making all the breaths become one unified whole.

The medicine’s effects were about to wear out, so Chen Chuan stopped.

He remained seated on the stool, but his body rose and fell minutely as he breathed. Yu Gang examined him and said, “Patience. You need to have some of that nutritional paste, then try again tomorrow.”

Chen Chuan slowly lifted his head, and his eyes sparkled. “I think I got it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep