Celestial Human Diagram-Chapter 139 - 125: Discussion

As Chen Chuan walked toward the crowd alone, behind him was an empty street stretching into the distance. Only the defeated Duma lay on the ground. For a moment, the students were slightly dazed.

Chen Chuan glanced over. All the Maka Students, including those who had participated in the attack, were now restrained by the Wuyi Academy students.

As upper-classmen of Wuyi, the students were essentially trainee Law Enforcers, so there was no issue with them taking action.

The students were all looking at him, their gazes filled with astonishment and curiosity, but most of all, admiration.

Even if Duma was one of the Maka People, he was still a teacher. The fact that Chen Chuan had managed to defeat him in a one-on-one fight demonstrated a level of skill they admitted they were far from reaching.

When he reached the front of the crowd, a student with a look of admiration on his face handed him his coat. He said, "Thanks," and took it.

His shirt had been torn in several places during the fight, so he put on his coat and buttoned it up.

He took the opportunity to glance at his Second Self. Large portions of it had turned translucent, a clear sign of the substantial damage it had absorbed in this battle.

However, during the fight, he hadn’t recklessly disregarded all defense just because his Second Self could transfer damage.

Throughout the battle, he had done his utmost to minimize damage by blocking and dodging, only letting his Second Self take the hit when a blow was absolutely unavoidable.

He knew that the Second Self’s defense had a limit and had to be used cautiously. If it were ever broken, not only would he lose his protection, but his combat effectiveness would also plummet. Therefore, even when he had the upper hand, he remained extremely careful when using his Second Self.

After he fastened the last button, he saw Guan Xinyin walking over, holding the hat he had dropped during the chase. She handed it to him, saying, "Chen, here."

Chen Chuan took it, put it on, and adjusted the brim. "Guan, thanks."

Guan Xinyin looked at Chen Chuan, her voice filled with respect. "Looks like we don’t need to have that match of ours. Even though I’ve developed Power, I’m still a long way from your level."

She really wanted to ask if Chen Chuan had also practiced Horizontal Training, but she held back. It touched upon the secrets of his personal techniques, and she knew not to ask what shouldn’t be asked.

Chen Chuan said, "Guan, since we already made an agreement, I can wait. Whenever you feel the time is right, just let me know in advance."

"Alright!"

Guan Xinyin was very straightforward. Just because she couldn’t beat him now didn’t mean she never could. And even if she could never surpass him, he would still make an excellent goal to strive for.

Chen Chuan then glanced back and saw Luo Kaiyuan walk up to Teacher Duma alone. He stared in silence for a while before turning to leave.

Just then, a line of armored vehicles drove up from the other end of the street. The Patrol Bureau had arrived. In truth, only about ten minutes had passed from the first gunshot to the end of the conflict, so their response wasn’t slow.

The security teams in the square, however, never appeared. Their primary mission was to protect the officials from the Administrative Affairs Hall. As for pursuing fugitives, that was the Patrol Bureau’s job and had nothing to do with them. No matter how chaotic it got outside, they wouldn’t intervene.

Teacher Han walked over just then, looking rather helpless. As a teacher from the executive department, he also held a nominal position at the Processing Bureau and was required to help protect the Administrative Affairs Hall officials. He only had a chance to check on the situation outside after every last one of them had been safely evacuated.

He glanced at the defeated Duma, his eyes narrowing slightly at the man’s Mutated appearance. His gaze finally landed on Chen Chuan. He seemed to want to say something more, but what came out was, "Are you alright?"

Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I’m fine."

"You’re a bold one. I can’t believe you actually won."

Teacher Han sighed with emotion. He had only ever seen one other student with such strength, and now he was seeing a second.

He looked at the surrounding students and said sternly, "I can’t say you were wrong to step in, but the other side had guns. If you had lost your lives over this, it wouldn’t have been worth it at all. Since no one was hurt this time, I won’t say any more. In the future, think carefully before you act."

The students responded sporadically.

Teacher Han said, "The Patrol Bureau will handle things here. The academy will take care of the aftermath. Everyone, follow me back to the academy now." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

On the way back to the academy, Luo Kaiyuan, who was sitting next to Chen Chuan, suddenly spoke up. "I don’t understand why they did that. That thing was already given to the government. Even if they wanted it back, did they really have to resort to this?"

Chen Chuan knew he was referring to the Oak Leaf. He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe that thing has some special purpose. They might have been afraid we wouldn’t return it, so they felt they had no other choice."

’The echo of the world is growing stronger... What did he mean by that?’

’Is it just a saying of the Maka People?’

As far as he knew, the customs of the Maka People involved being close to nature, and they often said things that leaned toward the mystical. This time, however, he felt it wasn’t that simple.

By the time the car reached the academy, it was about time for dinner, so the two decided to head to the cafeteria first. Luo Kaiyuan gave Feng Xiaochi a call. When Feng Xiaochi came out to meet them, he immediately started asking questions. "I heard you guys were attacked today? Did those Maka Students and their teacher really steal the Sacred Object used for the ceremony?"

Luo Kaiyuan said, "How did you find out so fast?"

"Someone called the academy. I heard an official from the Administrative Affairs Hall was shot? Did you guys see it?"

Chen Chuan nodded. "A resistance group might have been involved. But it wasn’t just officials from the Administrative Affairs Hall who were shot; a lot of civilians were too. The full details aren’t clear yet. We’ll have to wait for more information."

"Oh, okay." Seeing that the two didn’t seem to want to talk about it, Feng Xiaochi tactfully dropped the subject.

After dinner, Chen Chuan returned to his dorm and called Cheng Zitong. Once the call connected, he recounted the day’s events. Cheng Zitong said, "I heard what happened. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ll come over to your place tonight. I mainly want to talk about you taking the test for the Unlimited Defense Certificate."

Chen Chuan’s expression grew serious. "Okay, Teacher."

After hanging up, he glanced at his watch, then merged his Second Self with his own and went to the training room for his daily routine.

When the merging period ended, he checked the time. Defeating Duma had added a little over twenty minutes, bringing his total merging time to about two hours.

Two hours seemed like a long time, but during today’s battle, every heavy blow he took had drained a bit of that time, leaving not much by the end.

Considering he also had to periodically confront the ’weird tales’—which operated without any logic—he needed to keep working hard to increase his merging time as much as possible for better self-preservation.

At seven o’clock that evening, Cheng Zitong arrived as promised. He walked in and said, "You’re really something else, student. You even defeated Duma. Though the Maka People’s skills are generally lacking, anyone who becomes a teacher has crossed a certain threshold. It seems you’re progressing even faster than I thought."

Chen Chuan invited him to sit and poured him a glass of water. "Teacher, I just don’t understand why they did it."

Cheng Zitong said, "It’s hard to say. Small nations have their own struggles. But that doesn’t have much to do with us. There are people higher up to worry about that. When we are weak, we just need to focus on ourselves."

After Chen Chuan sat down, he continued, "I’ve read through the materials you brought. Your cousin is very capable, and his analysis is quite sound. Based on his report, it’s true that taking the Defense Certificate test in your first year gives you the highest chance of getting approved by the higher-ups."

"But that’s not the crucial point. The moment you get the Defense Certificate, you’ll likely face the same kind of opposition Shen Zheng did back in his day. If you were to get it in your third year, you’d have a certain degree of martial strength to protect yourself."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment. "I originally thought so too, Teacher. But then I reconsidered. Senior Brother Shen... was he really lacking in martial strength?"

"All of Senior Brother Shen’s injuries were self-inflicted, not caused by others. I suspect that was precisely because of the Defense Certificate—it protected him from direct attacks, so his enemies had to use other means to get to him. This shows that you don’t necessarily need martial strength to cause someone trouble."

"What I’m thinking is, after what happened with Senior Brother Shen, some people are probably even more wary of capable students."

"Putting myself in their shoes, it would be far easier to deal with a student who doesn’t have a Defense Certificate than one who does. From that perspective, it might actually be better to get it early."

Cheng Zitong grunted in agreement and nodded. "That’s one way to look at it."

Chen Chuan added, "Teacher, when I defeated Duma today, I heard him say at the end, ’The echo of the world is growing stronger.’ It seems that’s the reason they were so desperate to get that Oak Leaf. Do you have any idea what that means, Teacher?"

"The echo of the world?" Cheng Zitong thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Never heard of it."

Chen Chuan said, "The Maka People risked their lives to take back something they had gifted to Dashun. Setting aside its purpose, their desperation leads me to guess from the information revealed that some major change is coming to the world. It must be something extremely important, something that could have a global impact and is very likely connected to us Fighters."

"If we can’t find out anything in Yangzhi, then the answers might only be in Central City. If I can get there sooner and it turns out to be something advantageous, I might be able to get in on it. If I’m late, it’s hard to say what will happen."

Cheng Zitong mulled it over and said cautiously, "We still need to be careful about this. Your cousin’s report also mentioned that a student from a branch campus got a recommendation to enter Central City, and that it might be possible to replicate their success. But the specific details are still being investigated, right?"

Chen Chuan said, "Yes."

Cheng Zitong said, "That’s also very important and worth looking into. Once you get that information, I’ll review it with you." He paused, then looked at Chen Chuan. "Xiaochuan, if you make a decision, as your teacher, I will support you with everything I have."

"If there’s a chance to go to Central City, you have to try for it, no matter what. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped in a small circle forever, never seeing the wider world, and there’s no point in that. When I was young, I didn’t have the courage or determination to do it. You might. I hope you can. But remember, before you make your choice, you must be fully prepared."

Chen Chuan listened intently. "Yes, I will remember your advice, Teacher."

Cheng Zitong nodded and tapped his finger on the table. "Right, the documents your cousin gave you emphasized the matter of departmental evaluations. He’s not wrong. Regardless of whether you test early or not, departmental evaluations are crucial. Relying on just the Processing Bureau is too flimsy. Even with a recommendation from the Patrol Bureau now, it’s probably not a sure thing."

"That case of Director Lei’s... there is a possibility it could be resolved. But with the current lack of clues, I can’t make a judgment. Although I don’t know Director Lei, I do know someone who’s on good terms with him. You should pay her a visit first and get a feel for the situation."

With that, he took a Name Card from his briefcase and handed it over. "This is my martial niece. You can consider her one of us. Just ask her directly about anything you need to know."

After explaining everything to Chen Chuan, Cheng Zitong didn’t stay any longer and got up to leave. Just as he was outside the door, however, a thought suddenly struck him. ’The echo of the world... could it be what the old man was talking about...’

He shook his head and walked away, briefcase tucked under his arm, thinking to himself, ’But the student is right. If this is truly a worldwide phenomenon, we can’t afford to wait. We should try to get ahead of it.’

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