Book 4, Chapter 230: Traveling Across The Ocean For Clues

Chen Chuan spread his legs and arms in the cabin to move into the Fist of the Vast Sky’s stance. At the same time, he used the Furnace of Heaven and Earth to guide his movements. In just a few breaths, a large amount of fog rose from his body.

Soon, he felt a stiffness in his movements. When he guided his mutated tissue and moved into the stance, it felt like there was a major force pushing back against him. If he relaxed for even a moment, the stance was going to collapse.

This forced him to use more power to push back, but the moment he did so, the pressure increased.

This was precisely what he needed.

After persisting for a while, he felt the force dwindling away, and he shifted out of the stance. A burning breath rushed out of him.

He then took a moment to recover before trying it again. He did that multiple times.

During the process, he could sense his energy being rapidly depleted. This was pretty much the same as when he practiced the Blinding Blaze.

However, the Fist of the Vast Sky was used to train the body, while the Blinding Blaze was for the mind. The two styles complemented each other. If he practiced only one, he could only bring out the strength of one. When Zhuan Liang gave him both techniques, Chen Chuan had no doubt that it was because his guide wanted Chen Chuan to use both together to have greater power.

Both techniques were incredibly difficult, but that was only the secondary problem. The main issue was the large expenditure of energy. Chen Chuan made an estimate and came to the conclusion that if he practiced them together, he was going to use up twice as much energy.

If he fought against anyone, he needed to eat a whole meal to replenish his energy, but training required much more than that. If he did not open a gap to absorb the energy from within to speed up his recovery, he wouldn’t be able to complete his training.

In truth, if it weren’t for the fact that he had been spending most of his time outside and had the country as well as companies provide for his energy expenditure, the ingredients and calorie-dense nutritional fluid he got would not have been enough for himself. It wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to call them snacks.

That made him think. Should he take up more national-level missions in the future? It was a good way to make up for the energy he was expending all the time.

However, as he practiced more stances and moves from both techniques, his energy expenditure was likely to keep going up. This meant that he would soon be forced to go to the merged space and frontlines of the World Ring. It was the only place where he could get enough energy.

Of course, he had another way to get more, which was to ask for it from the municipal government. He hadn’t done it before because if he suddenly increased his demands so much that it went past the normal amount for a martial arts master, the municipal government would just think that he was causing trouble for them.

But now, he had signed a contract. Everything he said would be within reason as long as the contract deemed it reasonable. If it wasn’t, it would hurt him. What he demanded had to reflect what he needed. This meant that no matter how much he asked for, the municipal government would have to provide. If they didn’t want to, he could choose not to honor his end of the agreement and use brute force or other methods to attack them. It would be perfectly within his rights to act that way.

After a short journey, the airship reached Red Crown Island.

It was like any other among the island nations. It didn’t have any unique scenery, and the island’s population was only around one hundred thousand people. Fortunately, the weather was pretty good, and it was located on the main maritime route, which made it pretty accessible. Ocean Development Corporation had already established a harbor and mooring point.

Once the airship stopped at the mooring tower, Chen Chuan got out of the airship and stared at the only mountain on the island.

According to the National General Affairs Bureau, the He siblings lived in a mountain village since around a year ago. They had set up a martial arts school there and were pretty famous on Red Crown Island and the other smaller islands in the area. Many islanders knew about them and came over to study martial arts under them.

Chen Chuan patted Dawncall. The bird reptile chirped and took flight. Its bright feathers were striking in the sky.

Once he stepped down from the tower, he politely said no to having an escort. He didn’t get into a car either. Instead, he took his time walking up the mountain.

On the way, he saw roads being built and utility poles being set.

Before coming here, he had read up on Red Crown Island. It didn’t have many businesses. The islanders relied on planting sugar canes, fruits, and vegetables, as well as fishing and maritime transport to earn a living, but Ferris Wheel took most of it. The islanders could only keep enough to maintain their basic needs, while Ferris Wheel pocketed the rest and had no interest in upgrading the infrastructure or the islanders’ quality of life.

After Ocean Development Corporation came, the situation started changing. They built harbors and other basic infrastructure. They also hired a large number of locals, though they did ask them to get implants for certain positions. To get those implants, the company provided low-interest loans. They also set up multiple small schools.

All children of suitable age were required to go to school, where they were taught in the only language they were now allowed to speak—the national language of the Great Shun Republic. They weren’t allowed to use any of the island nations’ languages or the Linacrox Union’s language, both of which were promoted by Ferris Wheel.

While Chen Chuan was walking over, he noticed that while the mountain looked tall, the path up wasn’t steep. All it had was a gentle slope.

When he passed by some of the villages, he saw children of five or six years old play-fighting with each other, though they stopped once they saw him and stared at him from a distance. Some of them even instinctively stuck their dirty fingers into their mouths to suck on them.

At yet another village, he weighed his options and decided to go into it. He asked an old man sitting in front of his door for a cup of water and directions. After that, he took some snacks and candy he had prepared beforehand to distribute to the children, which made them squeal in delight. Chen Chuan took a small break before leaving.

He then walked for another two hours until he reached a steep slope. When he reached the top, he saw a green highland with a village filled with houses made of red tiled roofs and white walls. There were around one thousand people there. The houses were spread apart, with some of them even built on the lime-colored mountain ridge.

A group of people were practicing martial arts in the empty space in front of the village.

There were two instructors, a man and a woman. The man was built and seemed to be in his thirties. He had a square face, a manly air, and slightly tanned skin, which gave him a really reliable aura. It also seemed like he was in the Third Limit, which was a rare sight among the islanders.

The woman resembled the man and appeared to be in her late twenties. She had a pixie cut and stood tall with an imposing aura. However, she was only in the Second Limit. Based on her biofield, it seemed like she wouldn’t reach a breakthrough.

They only had a few young adults and children in their class. Most of their students were teenagers wearing sportswear sponsored by Azure Dragon. All their clothes had the company’s logo on them.

The two instructors divided their work clearly. The woman taught the younger students, while the man taught the older group. Chen Chuan could tell that while the man was stronger, he was too straightforward. Sometimes, he would even raise his voice, which made his students fall into fearful silence. At that point, the woman would step forward to say a few things to lighten the mood.

Chen Chuan wasn’t in a hurry to interrupt them and went to a tree and leaned against it while he waited. Dawncall circled above him.

A long while later, the class ended. The teenagers and children went to the side to rest, rehydrate, and eat some fruits they had brought.

Upon seeing this, Chen Chuan went forward. The man and woman had noticed him when he walked up the mountain path, so they waited for him to approach them.

Chen Chuan had restrained his biofield and mental energy, but he was still taller than the average person. His gait and movement rhythm also made it clear that he was a martial artist.

The He siblings had been here for a year, but they seldom saw martial artists. Whenever they did, they were only security guards who came along the companies’ ships. Usually, they only stayed near the harbor. Hence, when a martial artist came to them, they became wary.

Upon seeing their guarded expressions, Chen Chuan was even more certain that these two had chosen not to go back to the Great Shun Republic due to certain reasons.

When Chen Chuan got even closer, He Zhilan saw him, and her eyes went wide as she took a few involuntary steps forward and waved at him. “Are you here for someone?”

Chen Chuan stopped at around ten meters away from them. “Mr. He, Miss He, I came here to visit you two.”

He Ruihai watched him with a grave expression. Few people knew that they were here, and they used fake names on the island, yet this martial artist called them by their real names, which meant that he had looked into them.

He Zhilan took a few steps forward. She had stopped talking and was instead sizing him up and down. Excitement started growing on her face, and she turned around. “Ruihai, he—”

He Ruihai interrupted her. “It’s sunny outside. Why don’t we go inside to talk?”

“Sure,” Chen Chuan said readily.

He Ruihai brought him inside. However, He Zhilan kept staring at his face and nearly spoke to him again a few times, but she managed to hold herself back in the end.

Under the gaze of their students, they entered a two-storey building. Once inside, He Ruihai asked Chen Chuan to sit down and served him a cup of tea. “We don’t have any good tea leaves to serve guests. You’ll have to make do.”

“Thank you,” Chen Chuan said and picked up the cup.

He Ruihai sat down on another chair and asked, “You came to see us?”

When Chen Chuan nodded, the siblings exchanged glances, and He Ruihai asked warily, “How did you find this place, and why did you come to see us?”

“I’ve only recently come back from abroad, where I visited Miss Fang Zhuoying of the seamless faction. I learned about you two from her,” Chen Chuan answered.

“You met Miss Fang? How is she now?” He Zhilan asked in delight.

“Wait.” He Ruihai stopped her with a grim expression. “You didn’t answer my question. We never told Miss Fang that we’re here.”

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