Chapter 28: Knowing Yourself
After Chen Chuan got home, he immediately used his alarm clock to figure out how long he could overlap with his second self.
Even though he did not win against Gu Mao, he was satisfied because he felt that he had improved significantly.
And he was pleasantly surprised by the results too. The maximum time he could overlap with his second self had increased by a little over twenty seconds.
When it came to fighting, one second could determine many things, and the increase of twenty or so seconds brought the total time he could overlap with his second self to one minute and thirty seconds. He became confident that he could pass the follow-up exam.
He got off the bed and looked outside. That battle made him certain of the path he wanted to take.
Refining his technique would be useless. As he was now, Chen Chuan couldn’t possibly win against those who had started earlier in terms of fighting experience and skill.
So, he should make full use of his second self’s ability to absorb damage and fight without the fear of getting hurt. While overlapping with his second self, he should fight without hesitation and use all his power to defeat the opponent. If he could do it in one attack, he would not need to attack a second time. As for what he was lacking, he could think of ways to make up for his shortcomings after he passed the follow-up exam.
He stared at his palms and clenched them into fists.
Thanks to his hard work, he could maintain his breathing technique longer and sense himself improving every day.
Besides, since his second self was practically the same as him, the stronger he became, the stronger his second self would become as well. There was around a month left to prepare for the follow-up exam, so Chen Chuan was confident that he could push himself to further heights.
In truth, it was no longer necessary for him to go to other martial art schools. What he needed to do was to increase the intensity of his basic training.
But he noticed that three out of the five upperclassmen in the information provided by Martial Valor University were skilled in throws and takedowns. He might run into someone like that during the follow-up exam.
Chen Chuan was actually the worst at throws and takedowns. He did not have the time to improve them, so it was inevitable that he was lacking in this area. Hence, he decided to go to a martial arts school specializing in throws and takedowns to get more experience.
One of them met his needs—Yangzhi City’s Wave Turning School. It was even more famous than the Heroic General School.
The Wave Turning Fist was, as the name suggested, a martial art focusing on takedowns. This was its promoted feature.
After Chen Chuan started dabbling in martial arts, he gradually came to understand that all fighting styles were about integration and could not just rely on a single way of fighting to make it in the martial arts world. Grapplers had to train in striking, and strikers had to learn takedowns and grappling.
The Heroic General School was a good example. Gu Mao used a lot of modified techniques that were completely different from the original version of the Heroic General Fist.
The Wave Turning Fist had a good reputation, and its schools were willing to let outsiders seek guidance from them. Hence, after Chen Chuan finished training the next day, he went to the Wave Turning School located in the Sun Viewing District, which was situated in the eastern part of the city.
The instructor of the school was cautious. When he heard that Chen Chuan wanted to get a better understanding of grappling, he did not spar with him in the ring. Instead, he demonstrated several of the Wave Turning Fist’s key traits. The instructor provided many valuable insights, so Chen Chuan ended up staying the entire afternoon in the school.
Before Chen Chuan left, the instructor gave him a book he wrote and told him that if he was interested, the students of the school could train with him. The first week was free, while after that, as long as Chen Chuan paid, the instructor would be happy to spar with him daily.
While Chen Chuan did not manage to spar with anyone, he did not feel like he had wasted his time. He thanked the instructor sincerely and left. The instructor politely saw him off.
A veteran martial artist was puzzled by this and asked, “Mr. Huang, why did you give that kid such special treatment?”
“We’re conducting a business, so we should avoid getting on people’s bad sides as much as we can. That kid isn’t as simple as he seems. He’s young, but he has already learned a breathing technique. Judging by his looks, he has seen real action and has even spilled blood. Who knows how far he will go down the path of a martial artist in the future? I’ll just take this as doing him a favor.”
The martial artist pouted and thought, But you’ve never treated anyone else this nicely before.
But that made sense. Martial arts schools treated people differently based on who they were. No one bothered entertaining visitors with no background or influence. However, some people were obviously not to be trifled with and might even come from powerful families, so it was in their best interest to stay on their good side.
After Chen Chuan went back home, he flipped through the book. It had Mr. Huang’s notes about his own fights. Most of them were about takedowns. He even talked about how to deal with and fight against takedown-related refined force.
None of it was a secret. Yu Gang had already explained everything in detail, but Chen Chuan still got a new perspective after looking at it from a different angle.
After that, every day, aside from increasing the intensity of his training, he also practiced all the techniques of Major Sanshou.
The basic techniques were simple, but the more he practiced them, the more he found areas he could dig deeper into.
Also, Chen Chuan felt that while he was executing his techniques properly, something just felt awkward, and he wondered whether he was lacking in some areas, because he felt that he was supposed to be able to do better. It was as if he could not fully release his power, even though his body was full of it.
That feeling became even more prominent after he picked up the Soul Jolting Strike.
Since he was unable to solve this problem, he asked Yu Gang about it one afternoon.
Yu Gang thought about it for a while before he said, “You’ve been improving too quickly. Getting used to something takes time. Your mind may have grasped the technique, but your body’s still catching up, so when you train, everything feels a little off. That feeling is amplified when you use your breathing technique.”
Chen Chuan was quite surprised. “Is that so?”
“This is normal. I mentioned before that if you maintain the breathing technique over a long period of time, at a certain point, you will have a prolonged period of steady improvement. Clearly, you’re at that stage now.
“That feeling will persist throughout this phase. You have to either wait for this phase to be over or increase the intensity of your training and use your talent to get used to these changes.
“This is actually a good thing. I suggest that while you’re training, don’t focus on building power and speed. While practicing your techniques, use a relaxed rhythm. Perform each technique slowly and get a good feeling of how each part of your body is participating in executing the technique.
“Remember to maintain your breathing technique during this process. Never slack off when it comes to it. Without the breathing technique, Major Sanshou is just a warm-up exercise, and its effects on helping you improve will be insignificant.”
Chen Chuan finally knew how to solve his predicament. Once he thanked Yu Gang, he did as he was told. While maintaining his breathing technique, he slowed the rhythm of his movements.
A few days after training like this, he could feel the awkwardness slowly disappear. Then, two days before the follow-up exam, he felt as if he was in complete control over his body again.
But this did not mean that he had stopped improving. Instead, he improved even more than before.
On his way back from the Domain of Fists one day, Chen Chuan arrived at the spot where he was ambushed. Even after so many days, the traces of the fight still remained. After giving the place a quick glance, he soon ran past.
Just then, he heard a shout from above, “Hey, man!”
Chen Chuan looked up and saw a teenager with spiky hair standing on the railing of a balcony attached to a residential building. The teenager waved at him and said, “I was thinking about helping you that day, you know? Say, why don’t you come up here and have a spar with me?”
He clashed his fists together eagerly.
Chen Chuan stopped running and smiled. “Sure.”
The teenager’s eyes lit up.
With the teenager guiding his way up, Chen Chuan climbed up via a wall that had footholds. Soon, he got up to the balcony. The teenager extended a fist to him in a friendly gesture.
“I’m Wei Dong. What’s your name?”
Chen Chuan bumped his fist. “Chen Chuan.”
“Come on, let’s go to the roof. It’s wide enough up there, and no one will bother us. We can spar there,” Wei Dong said eagerly and beckoned Chen Chuan to come with him.
Chen Chuan followed him out of the room and to the roof through a steel staircase outside the building. Before he could even observe his surroundings, Wei Dong charged at him.
Chen Chuan kicked him.
Two minutes later, Wei Dong lay on the floor with bruises all over his face. He stared at the sky like he was having an existential crisis.
Chen Chuan sat down next to him and looked around. “You have quite the complete set of training equipment here.”
Wei Dong sat up from the floor and rubbed his face. He then said proudly, “I know, right? An old man left them behind for me.”
Chen Chuan noticed that the words, “Made during the 60th year of the Development and Order Era”, were printed on a sit-up bench. It was more than thirty years ago, so that man was, indeed, pretty old. But Wei Dong kept them in good condition.
“Did you learn martial arts from him?” he asked Wei Dong.
“Yeah. I practice every day according to his methods. He left these for me when he passed away. Now that I think about it, the thing he told me the most is that I’m like his grandson, but I’ve seen his grandson’s photo before, and I don’t look anything like him.”
Chen Chuan saw something just then and got up to go to a rather old table. He took out a maroon student ID from it and took a look. He found it interesting how their meeting lined up, but it also made sense. “Did you also get into Martial Valor University this year?”
Wei Dong scratched his head. “That’s right. Haven’t I told you? I saw you when I went to take the entrance exam on the first day. Later on, I saw you running through the alley every day.”
“Is that so? The follow-up exam is in two days. You’re going too, I guess?” Chen Chuan put the student ID back.
“Of course! The old guy said that his greatest wish was to see his grandson get into Martial Valor University. While I’m not his grandson, I’m sure I can pass the follow-up exam and become even better than his grandson.” Wei Dong punched the air twice.
Chen Chuan nodded. He headed to the stairs and waved at Wei Dong. “I’ll see you at the university two days later, then.”
“Sure! See you at the university, Chen Chuan!”