Atlas of Heaven and Man

Pan Xiaode and Qi Huixin both used fencing foils, differing slightly in length due to their height differences, and their styles were also distinct.

The former favored a direct, head-on approach, while the latter leaned towards swift and unpredictable tactics. When these two styles were combined, one would focus on frontal attacks to impede the enemy, while the other would launch flanking assaults, resulting in a harmonious blend of orthodox and unorthodox strategies, an exceptionally well-coordinated partnership.

Even with suppressed expression, Chen Chuan's current physical attributes couldn't possibly drop to the second threshold.

However, he had discovered that by using mental power for guidance, he could precisely coordinate his body, maintaining his exertion at a level perfectly suited to his needs.

He could even consciously influence and lower his senses below a certain level.

Previously, he had always wondered how those with immense power managed, as their daily consumption would increase with their strength. Merely maintaining their physiological functions would require considerable energy and nutrient intake, let alone during combat.

He possessed a Second Self to lower expression, but how did those others achieve it?

Now he understood that those who knew how to use mental power could impose self-limitations, allowing their bodies to maintain a certain level.

However, in this situation, he couldn't rely on his advantages in strength and speed; his only recourse was his fighting skills.

Even if his body was adjusted to the same level as Pan and Qi, his experience remained, his fighting skills were intact, and his combat observation ability was undiminished. These couldn't be taken away. But where did true fairness come from in battle? Perhaps only this was normal.

He casually deflected a thrust from Pan Xiaode's foil, and the latter, seizing the opportunity, swiftly thrust another foil.

But at the moment of his attack, Chen Chuan subtly shifted his center of gravity. It looked like he was retreating, but in an instant, he instead lunged forward, dodging the incoming blade and directly closing in.

Qi Huixin, who was flanking, was thrown off balance by his feint. Her intended thrust was only halfway out; if she maintained her original posture, it would definitely miss. She had to adjust to keep up, which made her uncomfortable.

After Chen Chuan moved to the inside, he reached out, seemingly to grab Pan Xiaode's wrist. The latter decisively retreated, simultaneously raising his sword to try and slash his arm.

But Chen Chuan seemed to anticipate this. His palm suddenly slapped sideways, hitting the spine of the sword a step ahead, while his elbow slightly lifted. Pan Xiaode was startled, sensing an attack on his face, and immediately leaned back to evade.

Chen Chuan instead ducked down, rushing past the opening he created and using Pan Xiaode's body to block Qi Huixin's path, preventing her adjusted thrust from landing smoothly.

From then on, no matter how they fought, he always managed to keep himself facing one of them, preventing them from forming a pincer movement.

In reality, either of them facing him alone, even with the same physical attributes, would be easily defeated in a few moves. But with weapons and coordinated teamwork, they could contend with him.

These two seemed to be telepathically connected, with a very tacit understanding and perfectly displaying their skills.

Tan Zhi vacated the first-floor hall for them, standing on the second-floor balcony. From his perspective, the three of them were constantly moving.

Pan and Qi desperately tried to seize advantageous positions, encircling Chen Chuan or forcing him into a corner, but Chen Chuan always managed to break free from their imperfect encirclement.

If they tried to retreat and adjust, Chen Chuan would take the initiative to attack one of them, forcing the other to come to the rescue, resulting in a loss of initiative. This scenario played out repeatedly, mainly because Chen Chuan controlled the battlefield's initiative.

Pan and Qi had considered using this to lure Chen Chuan into their trap, but after Chen Chuan saw through their attempts several times, they had to honestly seize the initiative and grab opportunities.

Tan Zhi could understand such combat. He couldn't help but wonder, if he had joined in just now, what would have been different? Would there have been a chance of winning?

He immediately shook his head. Forget it. He had a clear understanding of himself; he had no coordination with these two. Joining in would only create chaos. Maybe he would be the weak link that was broken.

Watching like this was pretty good. He could both broaden his horizons and save some energy.

The battle lasted for over an hour, ending only when Pan and Qi voluntarily gave up.

Although the time wasn't long, they felt extremely exhausted. The greatest consumption wasn't physical strength, but mental energy. They had to concentrate every moment to pay attention to each other's coordination, to think about the next step, the next step, and how to respond. In the short sparring process, they felt a long-lost fatigue.

Originally, they thought that when both sides' physical performance was the same, they didn't believe they had no chance of winning. But Chen Chuan repeatedly struck at their loopholes and flaws, making them realize that their difference from Chen Chuan wasn't just physical fitness, but a comprehensive gap in eyesight, judgment, experience, and so on.

Fortunately, the offensive and defensive exchanges were within their comprehension. They felt that the gains from this one hour of offense and defense were more than they had gained in a year. When they went back to review and digest it carefully, they should be able to make a relatively large improvement.

Pan Xiaode was very happy and sincerely thanked him, saying, "Classmate Chen, thank you so much."

Qi Huixin nodded in agreement.

Chen Chuan smiled and said, "It's nothing."

Tan Zhi applauded from above, "Alright, alright, everyone take a break and have some drinks." He took a few bottles of energy drinks down and handed them to the three of them.

After the three of them sat back on the sofa, he took out a deck of cards and said, "The musical starts at three in the afternoon, but we need to enter early. The three of you will have lunch here. After eating, we'll play a few rounds and then go to the theater."

Pan Xiaode asked, "What's the name of this musical again?"

"The foreign name is hard to remember. Translated, it's called 'Wildlands Divine Song'."

"Right, that's it. I've heard of it many times, but I've never seen it. What's the story about?"

Tan Zhi said, "It's said to be a true love and revenge story that happened in Norland."

He explained the plot, which was about a down-on-his-luck knight in the Kingdom of Norland who found an ancient divine poem passed down in a wilderness cave while resting.

The king was furious, had the down-on-his-luck knight's limbs broken with stones, and abandoned him in the wilderness, but he was picked up and cared for by a kind mute shepherdess.

The down-on-his-luck knight was unwilling to give up. Through his efforts, he composed the divine poem into songs, singing them daily by the roadside, hoping that passing nobles and merchants could understand them.

But no one understood, no one comprehended, and they even mocked him. In the daily singing, his singing was heard by the daughter of a passing minor noble, who heard the heroic fighting skills within.

The noblewoman then took the initiative to approach the down-on-his-luck knight. She was moved by the knight's spirit and promised him that she would fulfill the down-on-his-luck knight's long-cherished wish.

After this noblewoman learned all the chapters she could understand from him, she went to the royal court alone, relying on her martial prowess to gain a title and win enough glory for her family.

But after confirming her own martial prowess, the noblewoman's mentality changed. She didn't want anyone else to understand such skills, so she sent people back to kill the down-on-his-luck knight.

She didn't know that the shepherdess who had been taking care of the knight, although she couldn't sing, had silently learned those chapters. After catching the attacking enemies, she forced the reason from their mouths. The knight, in anger and gratitude towards the shepherdess, sang the last chapters.

The shepherdess then put on the broken knight armor, carrying a rusty spear and rushing to the king's palace, where the two women engaged in a battle that almost overturned the royal court.

"Wildlands Divine Song" can be said to be a classic piece, and when it is performed, it is played by real fighters playing the protagonists and antagonists, and the performers are all selected from the competition of thousands of people.

To be honest, if the musical itself doesn't attract them too much, they are very much looking forward to the fighters fighting in the musical, and the real selling point of the musical is that it is said that the song is the original owner of the story. The song bestowed by God.

The whole play has a total of thirteen chapters, each chapter has a scene of divine song, it is said that in history, many masters have glimpsed a trace of secrets from it, so as to gain inspiration.

But so far no one can hear the real complete content from it, but the more so, the more attractive it is to watch, not to mention the fighters, it also has a strong attraction to ordinary people, after all, everyone has a dream in their hearts, maybe they are the one who can understand it?

"Many dignitaries and company executives will go this time," Tan Zhi threw out a card, "We have to go earlier, if it's too late, we might be stuck on the road."

Pan Xiaode followed with a card and said, "I hope it's really as powerful as it's said to be."

Chen Chuan glanced at the cards in his hand and took one out. He said, "Judging from the introduction, both leading actors are Third Threshold fighters, so it's worth seeing."

The three nodded in agreement, that was indeed the case.

After eating the sumptuous lunch prepared by Tan Zhi here, the four of them went out and drove straight towards the Weiguang District.

The performance of the musical this time was at the Xihui Opera House, which can accommodate three thousand spectators and often holds concerts and dance performances. Because the sound effects are very good, some large radio programs are also recorded here.

On the way, they saw more dense traffic than usual, and the advertisements on the high-rise buildings on both sides were playing introductions and advertisements about Wildlands Divine Song, and also released a section of music to show the moving voices of the musical actors.

Even if they left early, they didn't arrive here until almost two o'clock.

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