Atlas of Heaven and Man

Cheng Zitong, speaking, demonstrated the Hunyuan Force Stance in front of Chen Chuan, starting from the Embracing Qi posture and ending with the Carrying Mountain posture. It was no different from what Yu Gang had shown him that day.

He couldn't tell whose level was higher, but he felt that Yu Gang's aura seemed to be more in tune with this set of stances.

Cheng Zitong pressed his abdomen and said, "The power of Hunyuan Force originates from here. In the old days, there was a saying of 'Qi sinking to the Dantian,' which meant using the Dantian's mutated tissue as the core to drive the force of the whole body.

Maintaining this area well is also maintaining the center of gravity. The word 'sinking' explains everything, like ballast stones weighing down the body. But once it's activated, a strong force will burst forth."

As Chen Chuan listened to his explanations, he examined the major forces one by one. There weren't many, only a dozen or so; the rest were minor forces.

According to Cheng Zitong, some major forces were very difficult to master and required a higher level of mutated tissue. Therefore, the students could only start with minor forces, or simply focus on them. Usually, at least two or more forces were needed to form combat effectiveness.

But this made the combat system seem scattered. If we don't consider any external forces and only compare people themselves, then minor forces are inferior to major forces. However, people can find ways to compensate for their weaknesses, especially since people can use tools. With the cooperation of various auxiliary tools, the gap here isn't so big.

Nowadays, even those who have mastered major forces will also practice some minor forces, which can be surprisingly effective at critical moments.

Chen Chuan walked to the last row on the right. The bamboo slips placed here were relatively sparse. Only one bundle was placed on the middle layer alone. When he walked here, Cheng Zitong's gaze was particularly attentive.

He reached out and picked up the bamboo slip in the middle, took a look, and saw the words "Xuanxiang Force" written on it. Opening it, he saw densely packed diagrams of stance methods, with rows of vertical annotations from predecessors beside them.

At this moment, in the administrative office building, Gao Shi, Yue Hong, and Bian Feng were all in the recruitment office. Yue Hong said, "An hour ago, Supervisor Cheng took someone to the Wenguotang training hall, and should be preparing to formally teach force techniques."

Bian Feng said, "Will he choose that force technique?"

Yue Hong was optimistic, "He should. That's the academy's best force technique, and it also has handwritten annotations from past practitioners. Back then… I also chose this one."

Gao Shi said in a deep voice, "The best? Not necessarily. Only what suits you is the best."

At the same time, on the northern peak opposite Nanchiu, the recommended students seemed to be active together, and one of the recommended students was looking at the opposite side with binoculars.

"Lin Mian, what are you looking at?"

Behind him, several recommended students were shooting arrows at humanoid targets with crossbows. One of them noticed his actions, turned his head in surprise, and walked over. "What's so interesting to look at?"

Lin Mian stepped back a little, adjusted the lens, and said, "Do you know, I just heard that Cheng Zitong took a student to the Wenguotang training hall. He's right across from us now. What does that remind you of?"

"Wenguotang?" The student who asked the question first looked very casual, but then he froze, and then he was shocked. He suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "I remember that annoying guy was also taken there back then…" He turned his head and asked Jiang, the senior student, "Brother Jiang, Cheng Zitong took a student there? What does the school's high command want to do?"

Senior Student Jiang slowly strung his crossbow, smiled, and said, "Someone is dissatisfied with what happened two years ago, so the school management has always hoped to find such a person again. They may be pinning their hopes on this student."

The recommended student suddenly became a little uneasy and said, "Then what should we do? We were able to handle things two years ago, should we this time…"

Senior Student Jiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, let's see the result first." As he spoke, he raised his crossbow, aimed at the front, narrowed his eyes, and gently pulled the trigger. With a 'thud,' the crossbow arrow hit the red bullseye in the distance.

Inside the Wenguotang training hall, Chen Chuan flipped through the bundle of bamboo slips in his hand. Since selecting the force technique, this was the longest time he had spent reading. Cheng Zitong sat there silently without saying a word.

Chen Chuan could tell from its location that this booklet was definitely not simple. From the description above, it was indeed the case. The booklet only mentioned the cultivation method and key points, but it didn't specifically describe which part of the body's mutated tissue would grow.

Judging from the depicted human body drawings, tattoo-like patterns would appear on the practitioner's chest and back, seemingly becoming clearer and more complex the deeper they went, eventually looking like an angry human face.

After he had read it all, he said, "Teacher, this force technique is very special."

Cheng Zitong said, "Xuanxiang Force is one of the most profound force techniques in the academy. I haven't practiced it, and I've had little contact with it, so I can't say how the mutated tissue grows. I only know that this force technique has very high entry requirements. Those who have chosen it in the past have all achieved something. Before you, about three years ago, a student also chose this force technique…"

He seemed to be deliberately bringing up this topic, but Chen Chuan didn't ask anything. Instead, he put the bundle of force techniques back and walked to the soft cushion, sat down, and asked, "Teacher, are there any other force techniques?"

"What?" Cheng Zitong said in surprise, "You don't want to learn Xuanxiang Force?"

Chen Chuan said very frankly, "I don't think it suits me."

Cheng Zitong's expression suddenly became very complicated, as if he was a little regretful, but also as if he was relieved. After a while, he said, "If it doesn't suit you, then forget it. But after looking at so many force techniques, haven't you taken a liking to any of them?"

Chen Chuan looked at the bookshelf and said, "Are all the academy's force techniques here?"

Cheng Zitong shook his head and said, "That's not true. There are some that don't have any special characteristics and are more common, so they don't need to be placed here. Tell me, what kind of force technique do you want? Teacher will help you find it."

Chen Chuan thought for a while and asked, "Is there any force technique that encompasses all kinds of characteristics?"

"A force technique that encompasses all kinds of characteristics?" Cheng Zitong was stunned, his expression a little subtle. He said, "Is that what you're thinking?"

Chen Chuan nodded.

Cheng Zitong thought for a while and said hesitantly, "There is one called 'Zhouyuan Force,' which does meet your requirements. But you need to know that although this force is all-encompassing, it also means that it's mediocre in everything."

His expression became a little more serious. "Past knowledge tells us that a good fighter needs to specialize in strengths and constantly strengthen them, because people will use tools, and some weaknesses can be completely compensated for with tools. People also have limited energy, and even if they have mutated tissue, they can only fully strengthen certain strengths. Such a choice will only lead you to become distracted and without any characteristics."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Thank you, Teacher, for the correction. Can I see this force technique?"

Cheng Zitong sighed and said, "Alright, I knew you were a student with your own ideas. You wait a moment." He stood up and went into the side door. After a while, he came out with a printed book that looked old and yellowed, and handed it to him.

Chen Chuan took it and flipped through it. As Cheng Zitong said, this force technique was all-encompassing, emphasizing comprehensiveness. The mutated tissue was not specialized, but formed smaller parts attached to every corner of the body.

If one knows various techniques, in theory, any force can be imitated, but the effect is vastly different. After all, any major force is supported by mutated tissue, and being all-encompassing may not even support a minor force. Indeed, as Cheng Zitong said, pursuing comprehensiveness too much will only lead to mediocrity.

However, he knew one thing: the foundation of any technique lies in physical fitness, and even mutated tissue can be classified as part of physical fitness.

If a person's physical fitness far exceeds the normal limit, then everything can be established. And with the second self, he firmly believed that he only needed to continuously strengthen his foundation, which would far outweigh everything else.

And he could feel that the second self was still growing and had even greater potential to be discovered in the future.

Thinking of this, he raised his head and said seriously, "Teacher, this force technique is exactly what I want."

…

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