Facing Pain

The illusion of burning, boiling blood, a thunderous heartbeat.

Qing Chen felt as though the world were roaring, as though his very life were burning along with it.

But soon, the scorching sensation began to fade. With each breath, the Flame Markings remained on his and Li Shutong's cheeks, yet the air he drew into his lungs became a refreshing breeze, no longer accompanied by pain!

Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly reminded him, "Hold on to your consciousness. The pain you once forgot will soon flood your mind—all of it, remember, all of it. At that moment, you'll begin to collapse. If you can't endure this trial, no one can help you."

Qing Chen's mind tightened, because the pain Lin Xiaoxiao had spoken of surged into his thoughts in an instant:

The finger he had cut while trying to cook for himself when he first lived alone. In the instant it was cut, the blade slowly passed through his skin, and he could even recall the sensation of each fingerprint being sliced apart.

The icy water flowing through his lungs during the water torture, like poisonous saplings whose cold roots had taken hold in his lungs.

In the dark room, the dryness of dehydration collided with the pain of the water torture from the moment before.

And the sunset on the day his mother left.

As well as her back beneath that sunset as she dragged her suitcase away.

All of it swept over him like a tide, as if it were about to smash a seaside cliff into rubble.

The dark waves, fine and sharp as blades, gave hollow howls and wails.

Qing Chen seemed to return to the time of the water torture. He closed his eyes.

He once more fell into an endless darkness.

A gentle voice called to him from beneath the abyss. "Come with Mom."

Qing Chen answered, "I walked all that long road here by myself. I'll walk the rest of the road by myself too."

As if only the span of a finger snap had passed, he opened his eyes again.

No wonder Li Shutong had said that if he could not endure that trial, he would not be able to walk his path.

So it had all been for this moment.

Qing Chen's breathing was like a blazing fire.

That fire seemed to burn away all the events of the past in an instant. From then on, he understood his choice. He no longer needed to pity himself, nor did he need to look back.

The rest of his life lay entirely on the road ahead.

The expressions of Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao beside him changed as well. They straightened up and exchanged a glance, seemingly not expecting Qing Chen to still be conscious even now.

They too had experienced this kind of pain. When pain came all at once, they knew exactly what it felt like for the heart to begin collapsing.

Only those who had faced every pain head-on could cross the abyss of Heart's Inquiry, sever themselves from their past and future, and move forward.

Lin Xiaoxiao muttered, "Perhaps Qing Chen's photographic memory means he has never truly forgotten any of that pain..."

The human brain had a protective mechanism. It made people deliberately forget certain things so they could live on more easily.

But Hyperthymesia had granted Qing Chen extraordinary talent, and it had also given him endless pain.

He had long grown accustomed to the pain he revisited year after year.

Qing Chen had never been a child sheltered in a greenhouse. Long ago, he had already become a believer in pain.

And that abyss was one he had crossed long ago.

Li Shutong slowly released his hand and sighed. "This trial went even more smoothly than I imagined."

For some reason, once he realized what had happened, he began to feel a little sorry for the young man before him.

No one knew what Qing Chen's life had truly been like, or what burdens he had carried while enjoying his talent.

The Flame Markings on Qing Chen's cheeks began to fade. He asked, "What does this Breathing Technique do?"

He asked because he had not felt any obvious changes in his body.

He only felt invigorated and incomparably relaxed. The weakness from fasting for four days was rapidly fading.

"It is only an auxiliary method," Li Shutong said. "A Breathing Technique is simply a different breathing rhythm. You still can't use it on your own. Once I guide you through it a few more times, you'll remember its rhythm."

Yet as soon as he finished speaking, Li Shutong saw that the Flame Markings on Qing Chen's face, as he sat cross-legged across from him, had stopped fading and were spreading again!

For the first time, he gave a wry smile. "I forgot that you can enter Hyperthymesia and directly memorize this breathing rhythm."

Li Shutong truly felt rather helpless now. Back then, his teacher had guided him more than forty times before he barely managed to remember the breathing frequency. He could not make even the slightest mistake.

But the young man before him could do it after a single time.

Li Shutong changed the subject. "Since you no longer need me to guide you through this, let me tell you directly about the Knight Organization's inheritance. As for what the Breathing Technique does, we can discuss that later."

"At the beginning of the Knight Organization, its founder discovered the secret of the Gene Lock."

"According to his conclusions, once a human completed eight Life and Death Trials, the Gene Lock would open on its own."

Li Shutong continued, "In the earliest days, you could only be considered a qualified Knight after completing those eight Life and Death Trials. The Gene Lock would open, and you would transcend the ordinary."

"Back then, there were still many Knights. They accompanied humanity through the era of great calamity and, together with the surviving humans, created a new age of civilization."

"But later, there were fewer and fewer Knights. It wasn't because there were no suitable candidates, but because one Life and Death Trial had to be completed in the sea, and the entire ocean had become a Forbidden Zone. It used to be nine chances of death and one of survival. Now, it was certain death."

"With one Life and Death Trial missing, the Gene Lock naturally could not be opened."

"But Qin Sheng, the new leader of the Knights at the time, was exceptionally gifted. He created a new Breathing Technique as an aid. Later successors discovered that if they used the Breathing Technique during their challenges, each Life and Death Trial they completed would open a portion of the Gene Lock. They no longer had to complete all of them before it could be opened."

"Although a Knight who had completed only one Life and Death Trial could not be as powerful as one who had completed all eight, by the time everyone completed the sixth, their strength would completely surpass that of the older generation of Knights."

"If we use the Inner World's ranking system, there are six levels: A, B, C, D, E, and F. Completing the sixth trial makes one A-class."

Qing Chen froze for a moment. He had not expected the extraordinary people of this world to have ranks of strength.

He suddenly asked, "Then what rank are you, Teacher?"

Ye Wan said from the side, "The boss is S-class."

Because Li Shutong had already completed the seventh Life and Death Trial. Only the last one remained.

"But what is so miraculous about this Breathing Technique that it can help open the Gene Lock?" Qing Chen asked.

He was excited inside, because he had already touched the gates of the New World. Yet he still did not quite understand.

"You should know about Endorphin," Li Shutong said.

Though Qing Chen had a photographic memory, he had never really paid attention to this area before. He could only rely on the information in his memories. "Like Dopamine, it is a secretion that brings people pleasure, though there is a difference. The pleasure from playing games, winning the lottery, or gambling comes from Dopamine, while the relief and relaxation after exercise are given by Endorphin."

Li Shutong shook his head. "That's what all those feel-good self-help articles say, but Dopamine cannot directly make people happy. It is merely a neurotransmitter responsible for transporting serotonin-like substances that can make people happy. Still, in simple terms, saying Dopamine brings pleasure isn't wrong. But there is one thing you must understand: what it gives is not happiness, but the craving of addiction."

"Then what about Endorphin?" Qing Chen asked.

"Endorphin is a substance that brings sweetness after bitterness. It binds with the body's morphine receptors and has a pain-relieving effect, but that is only its most basic function," Li Shutong said. "Our predecessor Qin Sheng conducted very rigorous tests and discovered that after Knights completed a certain Life and Death Trial, their bodies would secrete large amounts of Endorphin."

"So he believed that Dopamine was a poison that caused people to sink into depravity, while Endorphin was the key to opening the Gene Lock."

"So the Knight Organization gained a new creed: only a life that has experienced pain can become more exalted."