Celestial Human Diagram-Chapter 112 - 100: Light

He Xiaoxing’s eyes bored into Chen Chuan. After a long moment, his powerful voice rumbled from his broad chest:

"Confronting hardship requires martial strength. Martial strength is violence. This is the fundamental logic that governs the world. It’s true for corporations and megacorporations, and it’s true for the nations of the world. When you scale it down to a single Fighter, this principle becomes even clearer.

But if you want to gain power, you must first understand yourself before you can understand your opponent. The academy sent me back to teach you, and they told me they were preparing to have you practice the Profound Image Force. But if you had chosen that path, you would, at best, become the next Shen Zheng. Even if there were some improvements, they wouldn’t be significant."

His voice grew deeper as he spoke. "It’s meaningless to just repeat the paths of the past. But you chose the Circulation Technique, and I also heard you resisted the Fenxin Society’s interference. This shows that you know exactly what you want. In that respect, if you persevere, you will go much farther than he ever did."

He extended a broad hand, fingers spread, and aimed his palm at Chen Chuan. "Use your full strength."

Seeing this, Cheng Zitong took two steps back, gesturing for Chen Chuan to strike without holding back.

Chen Chuan nodded. He took a step forward, raised his hand, and clenched his fist. After taking a deep breath, his Second Self instantly merged with him. Simultaneously, under his conscious will, all the Mutated Organizations in his body contracted. Once he had gathered power to the absolute limit, he let out a sharp cry. The ground beneath his feet suddenly caved in as his fist slammed into that open palm!

The instant they connected, a clear and highly focused sound rang out. A layer of cyan patterns appeared on the back of He Xiaoxing’s hand. As the force traveled through him, the patterns extended backward, layer by layer, until they reached just shy of his elbow, where they could go no further.

After throwing the punch, Chen Chuan had braced himself for the rebound force. To his slight surprise, however, all the power from his fist seemed to sink into He Xiaoxing’s palm, with not a single trace left over.

He had no doubt that if He Xiaoxing were to pull his hand back now, he would lurch forward uncontrollably. As it was, He Xiaoxing was applying just enough force to stop him, with not an iota to spare. The level of control was undoubtedly exquisite.

He Xiaoxing looked at the patterns that had extended to his elbow. "Hmm, interesting. Your strength is already very close to the theoretical maximum of the First Limit. Your talent is indeed as high as Old Cheng claimed."

Cheng Zitong said matter-of-factly, "I’ve said it before. This student of mine is extraordinary, with exceptional talent."

Chen Chuan asked, "The maximum of the First Limit?"

He Xiaoxing explained slowly, "Why is the ’Primordial Truth Seed’ stage called the ’First Limit’? It’s not just about the degree of transformation in the Mutated Organization. It also signifies that a person’s power has its limits."

"As long as you are still human, no matter how powerful your Mutated Organization becomes, there is a set ceiling you can reach within the first stage. That is the First Limit.

But because individuals vary, the margin for this is quite large. In theory, only a nearly perfect individual could reach that upper ceiling. Even so, you’re already very close to that level."

Chen Chuan glanced at He Xiaoxing’s elbow. With that single blow, the teacher seemed to have accurately measured his strength and technique, and possibly other things he didn’t yet understand.

He wasn’t too disappointed about not having surpassed this limit. Every time he improved, his Second Self improved along with him. Just considering his own body, he hadn’t even reached the maximum for this stage yet.

’In fact, according to this theory, I actually have a chance to challenge or even surpass the limits of the past.’

Cheng Zitong interjected again, "That follower of Tan Wang’s, I’d say he has already touched the Second Limit. But from what I understand of the conflict that day, he still lost to Xiaochuan in a pure contest of strength. That’s the difference in talent."

He Xiaoxing said, "That’s entirely possible. The upper ceiling of the First Limit can exceed the lower threshold of the Second Limit. However, the upper ceiling of the Second Limit is something the First Limit can never hope to reach. The key here depends on the depth and completeness of the Mutated Organization. Old Cheng, did you only teach him one Breathing Technique?"

Cheng Zitong replied, "Yes. Besides the Basic Breathing Technique he already knew, I only taught him the Breathing Method of Qi Breathing and one Orthodox Scattering Hand. Nothing else. I was afraid that with my ability, I might teach him poorly and lead him down the wrong path, so I didn’t rush to instill more advanced training methods."

He Xiaoxing said, "Old Cheng, your caution has saved us a lot of trouble."

He looked at Chen Chuan. "To me, you are still like a blank slate. Even now, you have significant room for improvement. You don’t need to rush into the Second Limit; building a solid foundation is everything. I will teach you a Breathing Technique and a training method shortly. They will help you continue to perfect and strengthen your Mutated Organization.

Based on my observation, when you punch, there are still many parts of your body whose power you fail to summon. That’s because the Mutated Organization in those areas either hasn’t been engaged or is only partially engaged, making its contribution too weak and thus rejected by the body as a whole.

For others, this would be normal, as they only strengthen one part of their Mutated Organization at a time. But you practice the Circulation Technique, which emphasizes being all-encompassing and leaving no part untouched. Therefore, you must find a way to account for those areas.

Otherwise, later on, these minor weak spots could affect your overall power generation, making future progress exponentially more difficult. By that point, if you wanted to go back and fix these deficiencies, it would take ten or even a hundred times the effort."

Chen Chuan involuntarily nodded, taking these words to heart and committing them to memory.

He Xiaoxing continued, "Your overall power generation is also insufficient. This is actually two sides of the same coin as the previous issue. It’s insufficient because the power from many parts of your Mutated Organization isn’t being mobilized. Although I don’t know what your internal Mutated Organization looks like, I can tell just from your strike that it is uneven in strength and somewhat scattered in distribution.

This isn’t due to a lack of effort on your part; strength is always developed progressively, from the superficial to the profound. It’s normal at the beginning of this stage. But you must understand, others only train a part of their Mutated Organization, expanding from one point to encompass the whole. They have the time and energy to make corrections. They also have the summaries and experiences of their predecessors to reference, which keeps them from straying and allows them to correct their course constantly.

But Circulation Force has none of these. You can only rely on your own exploration, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty many times over.

You must be aware of your own condition. If you were building a skyscraper, and a piece of your foundation was flawed, creating a weak point, then in the future, you would be destined to reach only a very limited height.

My advice is this: you can use the Breath Technique to observe your internals. Simultaneously, coordinate it with your Force Technique movements to consciously stimulate and guide the areas that need strengthening. This will allow the Mutated Organization there to be exercised as fully as possible. Fortunately, you’ve only been training for two months and are still in the initial phase. The gaps between different parts of your Mutated Organization haven’t widened yet, so it’s still early enough to correct and compensate."

Cheng Zitong then said, "Old He, why don’t you stay a couple more days and give him some more pointers?"

He admitted to himself that his ability to teach students was far inferior to He Xiaoxing’s. If He could stay and offer guidance, even for just a few days, it would be a great benefit.

He Xiaoxing replied, "I decided to leave tonight, so I won’t stay until tomorrow. I will write down the key points you need to pay attention to and mail them to you later. However, cultivation is a resource-intensive endeavor. This is especially true for someone like him. To reach his goals, he will consume a great many medicinal supplements, and the amount required will only increase the further he progresses. In the old era, it would have been almost hopeless to master this.

But the times are always advancing. As the world is pushed forward, so are we as individuals, allowing us to borrow all kinds of convenient powers to create a brand new future."

He looked at Chen Chuan. "I am also very eager to see what heights your future achievements will reach."

Cheng Zitong said solemnly, "Leave the matter of the medicinal supplements to me. Xiaochuan is my student. I can procure them for him, even if they have to come from Central City."

He Xiaoxing trusted in Cheng Zitong’s resources. He turned to Chen Chuan and said in a low voice, "I will demonstrate. Memorize it for now, focusing on the key points. You don’t have to master what I’m teaching you. As long as it helps you patch your flaws and train the areas you’ve neglected, then it will have served its purpose. At that point, you can discard it whenever you wish."

Chen Chuan agreed seriously.

He Xiaoxing said no more and began his demonstration. He would first perform a movement himself, then have Chen Chuan copy him. But unlike other teachers, his eye was incredibly sharp. As Chen Chuan practiced, He Xiaoxing could immediately point out his shortcomings and tell him how to correct them.

After just two or three repetitions, Chen Chuan had not only completely memorized the movements but had also basically corrected his faults. The feeling was incredibly smooth. It was like riding the wind or sailing on a current; there was a force pushing him forward.

Time always flew by. Under the buffeting night wind on the mountaintop, as the hour approached midnight, He Xiaoxing spoke up: "That’s enough."

Chen Chuan stopped his movements, knowing the guidance session was over. At that moment, not only he, but even Cheng Zitong, who had been watching from the side, felt that it had ended too soon.

He Xiaoxing stood there, his long hair swaying in the wind. "The things you need to pay attention to, including how to correct your mistakes and how to strengthen your weaknesses, I have told you all of it. What comes next is your own cultivation. But do not be dogmatic. What I’ve said isn’t necessarily correct. You must always adjust based on your own situation. The process of learning is one of constantly correcting errors and omissions."

After a pause, he raised his head, looked at the full moon hanging high in the night sky, and said, "Alright, it’s time for me to go."

Chen Chuan gave him a deep bow and said with genuine sincerity, "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher He."

He Xiaoxing nodded.

Cheng Zitong said, "Old He, we’re heading down the mountain too. Let me give you a ride."

He Xiaoxing didn’t refuse. "Very well."

The three of them got into the car. The vehicle descended from the mountaintop and drove all the way to the entrance of his dormitory. Chen Chuan got out there, gave the two teachers a cupped-fist salute, and watched as they drove away, flanked by the streetlights on either side. The car’s taillights gradually disappeared into the darkness, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before a new day dawned.

He turned and walked toward the still-lit dormitory building.

His gains this time were immense. It was as if all the things he had been unclear about before had been completely illuminated. He Xiaoxing had pointed out the problems and even provided solutions, giving him a much more detailed and clear direction.

He climbed the steps one by one. In the quiet midnight air, his footsteps sounded exceptionally clear. With his back to the deep black of the night, he walked toward the place where the light was gathered.

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