Interlude

After Yu Gang pointed out where he had gone wrong, Chen Chuan also reflected on his shortcomings just now. Although he had won, it had truly been a narrow, lucky victory.

He had mapped out a plan at the start—how to attack, how to fight, how to defend. He had thought it all through, but once it came time to put it into practice, it was nothing like he had imagined. Not to mention all the other problems, such as distorted movements and poor timing in seizing opportunities.

That palm strike might have landed on Lu Ke later, but that had been a chance encounter, an improvisation in the heat of battle. If Lu Ke had grabbed and pressed down on his head as he jumped, Chen Chuan might not have been able to land that strike so smoothly. He might even have been the one to lose.

He had gained a great deal from this practical sparring match. It made him understand that no matter how well and skillfully techniques were practiced in ordinary times, they might not be brought out in a real fight, because real combat was far more complicated than training.

Lu Ke complained somewhat, "Master, you wouldn't let me use throwing and locking techniques. I was tied hand and foot. I'd start a move, then remember halfway through that I couldn't use it. I just wasn't used to it..."

Yu Gang said in a deep voice, "Every place has its own rules. Right now, I'm the one setting rules for you. But in another place, someone else will set them. If you don't follow them, do you think you'll have room to argue? You'll only be excluded and eliminated. If you aren't used to it, then find a way to get used to it."

Lu Ke felt resentful, but that was mainly directed at Chen Chuan. He had always obeyed Yu Gang, so he lowered his head and said, "Yes, Master. I was wrong."

Yu Gang said, "The two of you, hurry up and rest for a while. Use the method I taught you to relax. We'll continue later."

Chen Chuan moved to one side. He did not sit down, but picked up a cup of water and took several sips. Guided by the Breathing Method, his depleted strength quickly recovered. At the same time, he considered how he should fight the next round and what moves Lu Ke might use.

This kind of prediction and analysis was not limited to physical confrontation. When the two sides were not far apart in strength, it was even more a contest of the mind.

Five minutes passed quickly, and the two began their second match.

Chen Chuan did not become conservative just because he had won a round. He remained aggressive, while Lu Ke had also learned from the previous match and used more combinations of feints and real strikes. However, he still feared Chen Chuan's attacks, so he remained generally conservative.

This time, neither of them could do anything to the other until the end, so Yu Gang ruled that neither received a point.

After this match, Chen Chuan believed Lu Ke had held his decisive move back for the third match, so that would be the true test. Yet rather than finding that unpleasant, he looked forward to it greatly.

Yu Gang stood calmly to one side, silently taking in both men's performances and reactions.

Five minutes later, the two once again stepped into the middle of the training area for their final match of the day.

Lu Ke charged forward immediately. By now, he had more or less adapted to the rules, and since it was the final match, he no longer needed to conserve his stamina. He could launch a desperate assault at any cost. Besides, if he did not knock Chen Chuan down in this match, then he would lose, so he no longer held back so much out of fear of Chen Chuan's attacks.

His strength had already surpassed Chen Chuan's, and once he let loose, he immediately suppressed him.

Faced with Lu Ke's fierce fists and kicks, his swift footwork, and an offensive that barely paused, Chen Chuan could only defend passively without using the Second Self. It was difficult for him to mount an effective counterattack.

However, the Breathing Method gave him enough stamina and resistance to withstand such a fast-paced assault, and he was gradually adapting to it. Throughout this, he never gave up looking for openings. From time to time, he could also return a more threatening blow, forcing Lu Ke's continuous attacks to break off.

Even by the end of this round, Lu Ke had not managed to get the better of him.

When the third match ended, Yu Gang gave Lu Ke one point because his advantage had been obvious. Thus, Chen Chuan won the three-match total, and today's task of cleaning everything up still fell to Lu Ke.

After Chen Chuan stepped down from the training area, he suddenly felt very hungry. He knew the Breathing Method had increased his expenditure, so he went to one side and sat down, eating three tubes of Nutrient Paste in succession before recovering a little energy and strength.

Lu Ke did not have his recovery ability. He stood there breathing slightly hard, sweat pouring down his entire body like rain. As he drank water, he pounded and kneaded various parts of his body to ease the tension and congestion brought on by the sparring.

Yu Gang told them, "Today was only the first day. From now on, you will spar every day. I will gradually increase the number of matches, so adapt as quickly as possible."

Lu Ke took a gulp of water and said, "Master, Young Master Chen may not be able to handle those tiring chores. I should just keep doing them from now on. There's no need to decide winners and losers."

Chen Chuan said, "Little Brother Lu, you're too polite. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. With the Breathing Method, doing chores won't be too tiring."

Lu Ke immediately fell silent and merely drank his water sullenly.

Over the following days, under Yu Gang's arrangements, the two focused on practical sparring every day. After each match, Yu Gang would analyze the reasons behind it, letting them know where their problems lay, how to correct them, and what the right course of action should be.

During that time, Yu Gang began teaching Chen Chuan the use of more complex Great Unrestrained Hands techniques, including elbow strikes, knee strikes, grabbing, seizing, throwing, and locking. As their progress continued, he also gradually lifted the restrictions in their sparring. This benefited Lu Ke as well, because he was more familiar with these techniques, making his chances of victory greater.

Chen Chuan did not shrink back because of the difficulties. On the contrary, he welcomed this kind of sparring, as it allowed him to become familiar with various techniques more quickly in combat and accumulate more experience.

Lu Ke was actually the perfect opponent. He was not overwhelmingly strong, yet Chen Chuan still had the possibility of catching up to him. Thus, Chen Chuan could feel his own strength growing almost every day. To be honest, the feeling was truly quite good. Especially since the duration of the Second Self's overlap was also slowly increasing during this period.

The only thing he found regrettable was that Yu Gang only allowed them to spar three times a day—once each in the morning, noon, and evening. Chen Chuan felt that, given his and Lu Ke's stamina, they could completely arrange several more matches. He had even suggested it to Yu Gang, but Yu Gang gave no response.

Until one time, after a sparring match ended, he noticed Lu Ke's breathing suddenly become somewhat rapid. Lu Ke even ran alone into a corner, seeming to swallow something. Chen Chuan vaguely realized something, and after that, he never again suggested increasing their matches.

Because combat training was highly demanding, it also needed to be paired with sufficient nutrition. His daily meals were also handled here by Yu Gang. Besides Nutrient Paste, he was required to eat one meal of Black Meat Pumpkin Rice every day.

In Yu Gang's understanding, the damage caused by the Breathing Method was deeply hidden and could possibly follow a fighter for his entire life. Therefore, it had to be repaired as much as possible while one was young. Only by eating it continuously for two months could a certain degree of recovery be achieved. Yet even so, some damaged areas could never truly be restored.

That was the helpless part of it, and also the price of taking a shortcut. After all, fighters from ordinary families had limited money and resources. The only thing they could expend was their own bodies.

Chen Chuan could not explain the matter of the Second Self, but he did not object to eating this either. Every day of training left physical damage behind, and this medicinal food could help repair it. The Second Self could then be used entirely to transfer the physical burden caused by the Breathing Method.

Ordinarily, if someone ate the same food for every meal every day, and had to keep doing so for dozens of days, they would probably grow sick of it easily. Yet Chen Chuan still ate it with relish every time. Lu Ke sincerely admired him for that.

Amid the continuous, unceasing training, time unknowingly reached the end of June. That morning, just after their sparring match ended, Yu Gang called Chen Chuan aside and said, "I need to remind you of something. It's time for you to pay again."

Chen Chuan nodded. He had paid fifty at the start, then added fifty Jianyuan Currency in the middle of the month. Now it was time to pay again.

However, this was money that should be spent, and nearly all of it was spent on himself. Yu Gang had not actually taken much. The continuous Nutrient Paste, daily meals, equipment, training grounds, sparring partners, and so on—if all that were counted, the cost was far greater than this.

He said, "I'll bring it to you tomorrow, sir."

Yu Gang was about to say something when a burst of noisy footsteps suddenly came from outside. Their conversation came to an unbidden stop.

Chen Chuan looked outside. The only entrances and exits here were the two long alleys in front and behind. He had been here for over a month, and aside from them, there had hardly been anyone else. Now, it seemed the peace had been broken by the newcomers.

Lu Ke looked at Yu Gang. At the latter's signal, he immediately put down the water bottle and the things in his hands and ran out. After a while, a conversation could be heard outside. Lu Ke was speaking with the people on the other side, but the newcomers seemed fairly polite. After a moment, Lu Ke ran back and said, "Master, it's Iron..."

Yu Gang interrupted him. "I know." He stood up and said to Chen Chuan, "Continue training. I'm going out to deal with something." With that, he strode outside, and Lu Ke hurriedly followed.