Chang Ba watched Chen Chuan walk over from the beach, casting a long shadow under the rising sun. His demeanor was relaxed and natural. Chang Ba couldn’t help but mutter, ’He really did it.’

There really was a difference between people.

’But can the gap really be this wide?’

Once the car came to a complete stop, He Xiaoxing stepped out.

He saw that Chen Chuan was maintaining his internal breathing, not using his mouth or nose, and appeared perfectly natural. He knew Chen Chuan had mastered it.

He said, "That’s good. Today, we begin the next phase of training. Pack your things. We’re going to another location."

Chen Chuan agreed. He went back to pack, grabbed his things, and got in the car. The vehicle slowly started up and soon left the area.

After getting into the car, although he no longer needed to repel foreign matter, he didn’t switch to external breathing.

After finding the right method yesterday, he had discovered that this internal breathing technique was also effective for guiding his mutated internal organs, and in a more targeted way.

If the previous Breathing Technique had used his original organs as a base to stimulate his other Mutated Organizations, now, whenever he used internal breathing, it was the reverse—his mutated internal organs took the lead.

This allowed him to gain a deeper understanding and mastery over the use of his mutated internal organs. Moreover, doing so also accelerated their growth.

He was still in the preliminary stages, however. Besides, guiding them during daily practice and using them in combat were two completely different matters.

He needed more time to master it.

In fact, even if this was all he learned, he felt the trip was already worthwhile.

After driving north for half an hour, they arrived at a location with a bizarre landscape. The ground here was dotted with pits of various sizes. The smaller ones were about one to two meters wide, while the larger ones spanned ten to twenty meters across.

These pits were filled with a red liquid that seemed to share the same source as the waters of Dan Lake. However, the surface of the water in these pits bulged upward, making them look like crimson eyes embedded in the earth when viewed from a distance.

Though not far from Dan Lake, the atmosphere here was completely different from what they had just seen. If the former was magnificent, this place was eerie.

Chang Ba must have known what they were here to do and was familiar with the area. Without waiting for instructions, he picked a spot and stopped the car. The three of them got out.

He Xiaoxing said, "Some of these pits formed naturally, while others are man-made. Beneath them are underground shafts of varying depths. The shallow ones are only about ten meters deep, while the deep ones can extend for several kilometers, and we can’t rule out the possibility of even longer ones."

"Next, you need to choose one of these shafts and enter it. You’ll use the unique properties of the water and the pressure within the shaft to train your endurance."

"Underwater, you can only use the internal breathing technique. You will also need to use your other Mutated Organizations to counteract the pressure and sustain yourself. This will train your mutated internal organs in a comprehensive way, letting them know your desperate need for them to become stronger and more active. Therefore, the longer you can last, the better."

As he spoke, he walked to the edge of a pit and tapped it with his foot. "Start with this one." He then turned to Chang Ba. "Give him the equipment."

"Right away, Uncle He."

Chang Ba ran back to the car, pulled out a new, still-packaged diving suit, and laid it on the ground. He said, showing it off, "This ’Swimming Carp’ diving suit is top-of-the-line tech from Central City. When you’re swimming, you can barely feel it. It’s also super breathable, and if you hit a sharp corner while moving fast, you don’t have to worry about getting scratched. This is the good stuff. I’ve never even gotten to use one myself."

Of course, he couldn’t admit that the real reason he’d never used it was because he couldn’t last long enough in this training to need it.

Chen Chuan walked over to the diving suit. "Thanks, Brother Xiaochang."

Chang Ba chuckled. ’No matter how amazing Chen Chuan gets, he still has to call me ’brother’,’ he thought happily. He trotted over. "Here, let me help. You open it like this... and this part goes here..."

After changing into the diving suit, Chen Chuan moved his arms and legs. It was surprisingly comfortable, without the constricting tightness he had expected. It felt light and breathable, almost like a second skin.

Expecting this to take a while, he drank some water and ate a nutrition bar before positioning himself at the edge of the pit.

The opening was less than two meters in diameter, which was rather narrow for him.

He crouched and dipped his hand in to test the water. It felt viscous, and the buoyancy was incredibly strong, as if it could push his palm right back up. He could also sense the Stone Algae within, meaning that if he submerged himself, he would have to constantly fight off their attempts to latch onto him.

’This won’t be easy.’

He stood up, took a moment to compose himself, then stepped back a few paces. With a leap, he executed a graceful dive and entered the pit.

Once underwater, he paddled with his hands and feet, fighting the buoyancy as he slowly descended. The pit didn’t seem particularly deep, perhaps only about twenty meters, but he could feel an omnipresent pressure closing in on him.

This was only the beginning. Recalling that He Xiaoxing wanted him to last as long as possible, he settled into a cross-legged position on the bottom and began to maintain his internal breathing. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Above ground, Chang Ba walked to the edge of the pit. The ripples from Chen Chuan’s dive had already vanished, and the surface of the water was calm once more.

He remembered his own attempt in a different pit, one that was only about ten meters deep. ’How long did I last back then? Twenty minutes, maybe? Yeah, probably...’

He coughed. ’Well, that was just a trial run for me,’ he rationalized to himself. ’My Mutated Organizations aren’t specialized for this, so it was pointless to train them this way. Lasting longer would have only proven my physical fitness, nothing more.’

But he also knew that the real test wasn’t the external pressure. It was the internal struggle—that was the truly torturous part.

At the bottom of the pit, Chen Chuan had only been sitting still for a moment, yet it felt as if a long time had already passed.

The omnipresent pressure was secondary. The crucial part was the complete sensory deprivation—he couldn’t hear any sound or see any light. It was pitch-black. The narrow confines felt claustrophobic, creating an exceptionally oppressive environment.

The only thing he could do was focus on his internal breathing.

He had no choice. Being underwater was completely different from being on land; capturing oxygen was extremely difficult. He had to pour all his concentration into it, fully and efficiently utilizing every available Mutated Organization in concert to sustain himself for as long as possible.

This time, He Xiaoxing didn’t leave. He waited by the edge of the pit.

Chang Ba watched for a while before pulling out a folding stool and a comic book, settling in to read while he waited. After reading through it a dozen times, he couldn’t help but glance at the pit and mutter to himself, ’It’s been almost two hours and he’s still not out. Did something happen?’

But he knew he was overthinking it. Even though He Xiaoxing was just standing there, he likely had a perfect grasp of the situation, both above and below the water. If there had been a problem, he would have pulled Chen Chuan up long ago.

Seeing that Chen Chuan wasn’t likely to surface anytime soon, he went and set up a barbecue grill. He took several lamb skewers from the vehicle’s cooler and started grilling.

Before long, a fragrant aroma filled the air. The lamb began to SIZZLE, its fat rendering out. He expertly turned the skewers, sprinkling them with seasoning.

Once they were cooked, he handed a dozen or so skewers to He Xiaoxing before happily starting on his own share. "If you don’t come out soon, I’m going to eat them all," he mumbled to himself between bites.

But more time passed than he’d expected. It was four hours later when He Xiaoxing finally gave him a signal. Chang Ba quickly got up and slowly lowered a weighted rope into the pit.

Deep underwater, Chen Chuan was completely motionless. He had minimized all unnecessary energy expenditure, doing nothing more than maintaining his existence and fending off the encroaching foreign matter.

When he felt something descending toward him, he seemed to awaken from a state of deep tranquility. He stirred, grabbed the rope, and began his slow ascent.

The moment he emerged from the pit and set foot on solid ground, he felt as if he were seeing the light of day for the first time.

Simultaneously, a wave of exhaustion and weakness washed over him, a result of the immense physical energy he had just expended. However, now that he was out of the water, the combined effect of his internal and external breathing flooded his blood with oxygen, and his strength began to recover rapidly.

He went over, took out his Nutrition Paste, and squeezed down more than ten tubes before he finally felt himself recovering.

At present, only this stuff could replenish his energy. Regular food was low in nutrients and time-consuming to eat; other than satisfying his palate, it was essentially useless.

This made him think about the Fighters of the old era. They must have consumed an extraordinary amount of resources. Without the backing of a major power, it would have been impossible for them to sustain themselves.

He Xiaoxing waited for him to recover a little before asking, "Did you feel like you reached your limit?"

Chen Chuan thought for a moment before answering honestly, "If I wasn’t there, I was close."

If he had used his Second Self, he could have held on for much longer. But in his normal state, he had been on the verge of collapse. He didn’t know how He Xiaoxing had managed to accurately judge his condition from the surface and pull him up just in time. ’It must be a skill one can only master at a much higher level,’ he thought.

He Xiaoxing said, "The purpose of training isn’t to wring out every last drop of your potential, but to foster growth. You can continue this training indefinitely and adapt to it over time. But you must have a clear awareness of your own limits."

"Once you know them, your Mutated Organizations will know them too. Then, with sufficient nutrients and medicinal stimulation, they will constantly adapt to raise that ceiling."

Chen Chuan mulled this over and couldn’t help but ask, "Teacher He, are you saying that a Fighter’s willpower plays a role in this?"

"It’s good you thought of that on your own," He Xiaoxing said. "A Fighter’s willpower is extremely important. Firm belief in oneself can unearth more latent power. Externally, this often manifests as the ability to create seemingly impossible miracles."

"But there is a logical reason behind everything. The ability to erupt with power far beyond one’s norm is simply because the full potential of the Mutated Organizations hasn’t been developed. Most of it lies dormant."

"Only by using special methods and techniques can you awaken them and bring them under your command. Willpower is a crucial part of this process. Under normal conditions, it’s often insufficient to drive them; for many, this potential is only forcibly activated in a life-or-death crisis."

"We, however, don’t need to resort to such extremes. We start by using external influences and stimuli to gradually activate more of the body’s Mutated Organizations, consciously mobilizing them step by step until they are completely under your control."

Chen Chuan nodded. Now he understood. "Teacher He, how long do I need to endure this training to pass?"

He Xiaoxing said in a low voice, "You’ve more or less met the requirements to move on. From now on, find time to practice this on your own. I’m arranging your next training now."

...

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