Knowing Myself

After returning home, Chen Chuan immediately used an alarm clock to measure the overlap time with his Second Self.

Although he had not defeated Coach Gu in the end, he was still quite satisfied with the outcome, so he felt it should have improved by quite a bit.

The result indeed gave him a pleasant surprise. The overlap time had increased by more than twenty seconds from its original length.

In a fight, a single second could determine many things. An increase of more than twenty seconds brought the total overlap time past a minute and a half, giving him greater confidence in passing the retest.

He rose from the edge of the bed and looked out the window. Through that previous battle, he had also confirmed the path he needed to take.

There was little use in deepening his techniques at this stage. Whether in fighting experience or combat skills, the current him could not possibly surpass those who had started earlier.

He should make full use of the Second Self's advantage of fearing no injury, using every ounce of strength at any cost during the overlap to knock down his opponent. If one move would do, there was no need for two. As for his shortcomings, he could find ways to make up for them after passing the retest.

He looked at his palm and clenched his fist.

Through his unrelenting efforts, the time he could sustain the Breathing Method had grown longer and longer. With the Breathing Method continuously driving and sustaining him, he could clearly feel himself improving every day.

For now, since the Second Self was nearly identical to him, the better his own physical condition became, the stronger the Second Self would be as well. With nearly a month still remaining, he could completely raise his strength by another level.

There was no real need to visit other boxing gyms anymore. Strengthening his foundational training was what mattered most.

However, from the student profiles provided by Wu Yi Academy, he noticed that three out of the five were skilled at grappling and throws. He might very well encounter opponents like that in the retest.

He was somewhat weak when it came to grappling and joint-locking techniques, and he had no time to cover everything, so some gaps were inevitable. He decided to visit another boxing club that specialized in wrestling and clinch fighting to broaden his horizons.

One boxing club happened to fit his requirements perfectly: the Turning Wave Boxing Club, which had an even greater reputation in Yangzhi City than Show General Fist.

Turning Wave Fist was openly a style centered on clinches and throws, and that was precisely the feature it advertised.

After getting into combat, he had gradually come to understand that every modern Fighter Faction actually incorporated a wide range of techniques. No one could get by with just one fighting style forever. Those who trained throws and clinches practiced punches and kicks too, while those who trained punches and kicks also practiced throws and clinches.

Just like the Xiu Jiang Boxing Club, many of Coach Gu's moves had been modified, making them completely different from the original Show General Fist.

Turning Wave Fist had a fairly good reputation and was willing to accept visits from others seeking guidance. So the next day, after finishing his training at Fist Home, he came to this boxing gym in Wangyang District, East City.

The resident coach at the Turning Wave Boxing Club was quite cautious. Hearing that Chen Chuan wanted to learn about grappling and joint-locking techniques, he did not spar with him in the ring. Instead, he personally demonstrated many of Turning Wave Fist's characteristics. He truly shared plenty of valuable knowledge, and Chen Chuan ended up spending the entire afternoon there without realizing it.

When he was about to leave, the coach even gave him a booklet he had compiled himself. He told Chen Chuan that if needed, members of the boxing club could train with him for free for a week. After that week, as long as the money was right, even having a coach spar with him every day would not be a problem.

Although Chen Chuan had not sparred with anyone, he still felt that the trip had not been in vain. After sincerely thanking him, he took his leave, and the coach politely saw him out.

A veteran fighter in the gym was quite puzzled by this and asked, "Coach Huang, why are you taking such good care of this kid?"

Coach Huang said, "We're in business. If we can avoid offending someone, we should. This kid is no ordinary person. At such a young age, he has already mastered the Breathing Method. And one look at him tells you he has been through real combat, maybe even seen blood. Who knows how far he'll go in the future? Consider it a favor invested."

The fighter curled his lip, thinking, I've never seen you be this polite to anyone else.

Naturally, boxing clubs tailored their treatment to the person. If you had no background or strength, who would bother with you? But some people looked hard to provoke, and might even have connections. If they could avoid offending them, they would.

After returning, Chen Chuan opened the booklet. It contained Coach Huang's personal combat notes, most of them focused on clinches and throws, with additional mentions of how to deal with and counter force used in grappling.

This was not exactly a secret. Yu Gang had spoken of it before, and in considerable detail. But looking at it from a different angle now, Chen Chuan gained new insights.

In the days that followed, aside from intensifying his training, he practiced the Great Unrestrained Hands over and over again.

Though this set of foundational moves looked simple, the more he practiced them, the more potential he found to explore.

Recently, however, he kept feeling that he could do better. Yet he did not know where he was lacking. Clearly, he was executing the moves and exerting force correctly, but there was always a sense of disharmony, as though his force could not fully penetrate and he could not bring all the strength in his body to bear.

That feeling became even more pronounced after he mastered the Surprise God Fist.

Because he had been unable to resolve this problem, one afternoon he specifically sought Yu Gang's advice.

After listening, Yu Gang pondered for a moment and said, "The reason you're experiencing this is that you're improving too quickly. People need time to adapt. Your mind has only just adapted to and become familiar with executing the moves, but then your physical abilities increase in every aspect, and the next day you feel out of sync again. The Breathing Method especially magnifies that feeling."

Chen Chuan was somewhat surprised. "Is that how it is...?"

Yu Gang said, "That's perfectly normal. I told you before that under the long-term effects of the Breathing Method, once you reach a certain stage, there will be a relatively long period of improvement. You are clearly in that stage right now.

"During this period, you will keep having this feeling. Either wait for this peak to pass, or intensify your training and use your own talent and effort to adapt to these changes.

"This is actually a good thing. My suggestion is that during this stage, you don't need to pursue explosive power or speed when practicing. Use a gentler rhythm when drilling your moves. Take every move slowly, and carefully feel every part of your body participating.

"Remember to maintain the Breathing Method throughout this process. You cannot slack off at any time. Without the Breathing Method, it would only be calisthenics, and its effects would be minimal."

After hearing this, Chen Chuan finally knew how to solve the problem. Having thanked Yu Gang, he followed his guidance and slowed his rhythm while maintaining the Breathing Method.

After training this way for several days, he indeed felt that the disharmony was slowly fading. By the last two days before the retest, it seemed as though he had once again gained complete control over his body.

But that did not mean his progress had stopped. On the contrary, he had advanced even further than before.

That day, after leaving Fist Home, he jogged all the way and soon reached the spot where he had been attacked that day. The traces of the fight still remained after so many days. After glancing at them, he quickly ran past. Then he suddenly heard someone call from above, "Hey, little brother!"

Chen Chuan looked up and saw a hedgehog-haired youth standing on the balcony railing of a residential building, waving at him repeatedly. "I was planning to come down and help you that day. Say..." He bumped his fist against his palm and said eagerly, "Come up. How about we have a match?"

Chen Chuan paused and smiled. "Sure."

The youth's eyes immediately lit up.

Following the youth's directions, Chen Chuan climbed over a wall with footholds and quickly reached the balcony. The youth amicably held out his fist. "My name is Wei Dong. What about you, little brother?"

Chen Chuan bumped fists with him as well. "Chen Chuan."

Wei Dong impatiently said, "Come on, let's go to the roof. There's plenty of space there, and no one will interrupt us. We'll fight there." With a wave of his hand, he led the way.

Chen Chuan followed him out of the room and up to the rooftop by an exterior steel staircase. Before he could even get a good look at the surroundings, Wei Dong eagerly charged at him.

Seeing him approach, Chen Chuan raised a leg and kicked straight out.

Two minutes later.

Wei Dong lay on the ground with a bruised and swollen face, staring at the sky as though questioning his entire life.

Chen Chuan sat nearby and looked around. "You've got quite a complete set of training equipment here."

Wei Dong rolled up into a sitting position, rubbing his face as he proudly said, "Pretty complete, right? An old man left it all to me."

Chen Chuan noticed that the plaque on a sit-up bench bore the words "Built in the 60th Year of Jianzhi." It had been more than thirty years since then. They were indeed all old things, but they had been well maintained.

He asked, "Did you learn your boxing from him?"

Wei Dong said, "Yeah. I practiced every day following his methods. Later, he left and gave all this to me. Thinking about it now, what he said to me most often was that I looked like his grandson. But I've seen a photo of his grandson. We don't look alike at all."

Chen Chuan spotted something then. He stood and walked over to a somewhat worn table, where he picked up a reddish-brown student ID. After flipping through it, he suddenly felt it was quite a coincidence, yet somehow only natural. "You're also taking the Wu Yi University entrance exam this year?"

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you?" Wei Dong scratched his head. "I saw you there on the first day I went to register, and after that, I saw you passing through the alley below every day."

"Is that so?" Chen Chuan put the student ID back. "The retest is in two days. Looks like you'll be going too."

"Of course!" Wei Dong threw two punches into the air. "That old man's greatest hope was to see his grandson get into Wu University. I may not be his grandson, but I can get in too. And I can be even better than his grandson."

Chen Chuan looked at him, nodded, placed the student ID back on the table, and headed out while waving a hand. "Then, Little Brother Wei, I'll see you at Wu University."

"Okay, Little Brother Chen. See you at Wu University!"