Spiritual Training

"That day was the eve of my departure overseas to take part in the World Championship."

"My family held a farewell banquet for me. Everyone was very happy, and they were proud of me too."

"My cousin had merely gotten drunk and said something jealous."

"I don't know why, but I suddenly became very angry, as if the whole person had been ignited by rage."

"My heartbeat grew faster and faster, my blood pressure climbed higher and higher, and both sides of my forehead bulged with a pounding thud, as if the monster hidden deep inside my body was about to crawl out!"

"Then, that monster and I truly became one..."

Fang Cheng sat on the stool, his expression solemn, listening to Majima Goro recount the past event.

This was also the first time Majima Goro had shown his so-called "transformation."

The berserk state would make a person completely lose their reason, leaving them with nothing but a beastlike urge to destroy.

In this unexpected event, he had accidentally beaten his cousin to the brink of death and severely injured him, and had also hurt several relatives and friends who tried to stop him.

Fang Cheng could imagine how chaotic and tragic the scene had been at the time.

He himself had only managed it through a grueling battle that lasted a full hour, slowly wearing down Berserk Majima Goro's stamina.

Then, by using a strangulation technique to make him suffocate and pass out, he had finally subdued him.

"How did you regain your reason in the end?"

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng couldn't help asking out of curiosity.

"A distinguished guest my grandfather invited helped."

Majima Goro answered.

"My mind was in complete chaos at the time. I couldn't remember clearly how I was taken down."

"When I woke up, I was just like now, lying in a hospital bed, unable to move..."

As he spoke, Majima Goro gave a self-mocking bitter laugh.

"Being a cripple for more than two months also gave me a long-lost peace because of it, and I thought of a way to ease the symptoms."

"As long as I was forcibly restrained by someone or my stamina was depleted when I transformed and went mad, causing me to pass out, that monster would lie dormant for a long time."

"That way, I could catch my breath a little and temporarily be a normal person again..."

Listening to Majima Goro's words that made light of hardship, Fang Cheng's eyes flashed slightly, and he then asked:

"Didn't you go looking for the people from the pharmaceutical company?"

"Them?"

Hearing this, Majima Goro froze for a moment, then explained:

"I can't even be sure whether that company really exists. The medicine was also sent over regularly by people from different addresses."

As he spoke, his expression looked very complicated.

It seemed to contain regret, hatred, fear, or perhaps cowardice?

After Cui Xiuying finished translating for her fiancé, she also added:

"Mr. Fang, those people have mysterious origins and aren't on the same social level as us. Being too serious about some matters would only bring more trouble instead."

Fang Cheng nodded and suppressed his doubts.

Unable to stay in Eastern Island, Majima Goro listened to his grandfather's advice and decided to go to Xia Country to seek a way to completely cure his chronic illness.

Because compared with other fighting schools, Xia Country's martial arts philosophy placed more emphasis on cultivating the body and nurturing the spirit, curing illness and prolonging life, and pursuing peace and tranquility of the mind.

Unfortunately, after traveling everywhere and seeking out famous teachers, he still did not find a true master.

On the contrary, as time passed, his condition began to relapse and gradually worsened.

Majima Goro could feel that the monster had already returned.

Seeing that he was about to be unable to hold on any longer, he then found the Global Elite Fighting Club.

On one hand, he vented his manic emotions and released the pressure in his heart here by beating sparring partners.

On the other, he waited for Zheng Haokang to arrive, wanting to use the fists of this world-class boxing king to give him a savage beating so he could drive back the monster in his heart once again.

After that, when he saw Fang Cheng's extraordinary performance, he shifted his target to him instead.

"Mr. Fang, I'm sorry. It was my fault for putting you in danger."

Majima Goro struggled, wanting to climb up.

Seeing this, Cui Xiuying hurriedly pressed him down with both hands.

Seeing that his opponent's mental state seemed to have completely returned to normal, and listening to his sincere apology, Fang Cheng hesitated for a moment, considered his wording, and replied:

"Mr. Majima, if you want to restrain the monster in your heart, you don't necessarily need to look for an external opponent. Perhaps you can try viewing yourself as your true opponent."

"My heart was once full of all kinds of negative emotions too. But every time I challenged the limits of my body, those negative emotions instead became the nourishment that helped me overcome difficulties and climb to another peak..."

"This is what is so wondrous about human beings. When your spiritual willpower is strong enough, you can often unleash potential even you couldn't have imagined. But when you mentally surrender and give up first, you may not even be able to bring out ten percent of the strength you usually have in training..."

Fang Cheng spoke slowly, doing his best to put into words the mental insight he had gained while training Pull-Ups in the storm.

Hearing this, Majima Goro could not help furrowing his brows in thought, seeming to gain some understanding.

"Grandfather also told me that practicing martial arts wasn't only for tempering the muscles and bones and strengthening oneself, but also a kind of spiritual self-shaping."

"This mental state you entered, explained through the martial arts concepts of Xia Country as far as I know, should be that you accidentally touched the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man."

Hearing this, Fang Cheng smiled, remembered the wuxia novels he had read in his previous life, and played along.

"If this crazed state of yours were described in the words of Xia Country, it would actually be called qi deviation. You need to put even more work into tempering your willpower."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

As former opponents, once they began talking about martial arts and found a shared interest, their relationship became much more harmonious.

Majima Goro even had Cui Xiuying take out a photo concealed in her wallet and hand it to Fang Cheng to look at.

In it was a delicate-looking, skinny boy.

According to Majima Goro himself, this was a photo from when he first entered a competition at fifteen.

Fang Cheng gave his evaluation: aside from not being handsome enough, everything else looked fairly normal.

Hearing this, the bitter smile squeezed onto Majima Goro's face looked even uglier.

Although the two had not known each other for long and needed to communicate through an interpreter, with their shared interests, they unknowingly talked for nearly an hour.

Cui Xiuying truly could not bear it anymore and forcefully ordered her fiancé to get proper rest, finally putting an end to the conversation.

Fang Cheng raised his head and looked outside the window. It was getting late, so he immediately rose to say goodbye.

He wished Majima Goro a speedy recovery and promised to come visit him again in a few days, so they could continue discussing martial arts issues together.

He walked out of the hospital gate.

Fang Cheng thought back on the secret matters Majima Goro had revealed, and his thoughts churned nonstop.

He could vaguely push aside a little of the mist shrouding this world, yet still could not fully glimpse the scene within.

Looking at the slightly hazy sky, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

If he could learn the Japanese Language, their communication would become smoother and more convenient, and he should be able to obtain more useful information.

Perhaps he could even master a new skill because of it.

At this thought, Fang Cheng opened the panel.

He looked at the Skill Enhancement Reward for "Cooking," which had just leveled up this morning.

Knife Flourish: can enhance finger dexterity, making one skilled at using various precise knife technique skills

If he switched it to a foreign-language skill, what kind of special enhancement effect would it have?

As his thoughts wandered, Fang Cheng suddenly felt an inexplicable stir.

It was as if, at this very moment, a pair of eyes behind him were secretly watching him.

He could not help turning his head to look.

His peripheral vision only caught a figure flash past in front of a window of the hospital building.