’Can I move on to the next training session?’

Chen Chuan’s spirits lifted. He easily realized that every training exercise he underwent was connected; only by meeting the requirements of the previous one could he proceed to the next.

’But it will undoubtedly be more difficult. Still, only this kind of training can truly improve me.’

He Xiaoxing said, "Some of the well shafts here aren’t sealed at the bottom; they’re interconnected. Since you already have the ability to remain submerged, your next task is to swim quickly between the shafts.

"I will sink tags to the bottom of most of the shafts. I won’t tell you beforehand which ones will have them. You need to collect a sufficient number of tags within the time limit."

After listening, Chen Chuan’s expression grew much more serious. The difficulty had just skyrocketed. Moving was completely different from staying still. Not only would it drastically increase his stamina consumption, but traversing unfamiliar underwater passages would also present many unforeseen difficulties and dangers.

And judging by the time limit, he couldn’t afford to be slow. He had no idea how well he would be able to perform.

Chang Ba swallowed hard. ’Are they starting the underwater swimming already?’ He had mustered the courage to try it once but had given up quickly.

Swimming in those deep, long underwater tunnels, with no idea where they began or ended, meant one wrong move could leave you unable to find the right way out. If your stamina gave out or you couldn’t maintain your internal breathing just as you entered a narrow passage, there was almost no hope of getting back up. The psychological pressure was immense.

The one time he’d briefly tried it, he felt like he had returned from hell upon surfacing. He had never realized how beautiful the world was.

Fighting Skill, his family fortune, his girlfriend—he didn’t care about any of it anymore. All he wanted then was to lie down quietly, to breathe the air freely, to feel the warmth of the sun. He had never imagined that the simple things he experienced every day were so wonderful.

And that was after just ten minutes or so of swimming down there. Based on Chen Chuan’s performance just now, who knew how long he would be under? Chang Ba truly didn’t dare to imagine it.

He Xiaoxing said, "I’ll give you another half hour to rest and adjust."

Chen Chuan nodded solemnly. He checked his watch, moved to the side, and sat down cross-legged to regulate his condition. This time, he used the Inner and Outer Breathing Method to recover as much stamina as possible.

’Damn,’ Chang Ba thought. He was starting to get it. He Xiaoxing had called Chen Chuan out just before he reached his limit precisely to leave a little in the tank, allowing him to continue with the next phase of training. ’It was all calculated from the start.’

’He’s really cranking up the intensity.’

’But this isn’t even the hardest part. I don’t think anyone within the First and Second Limits could pass the most difficult stage.’

「Half an hour later.」

Chen Chuan glanced at his watch, slowly stood up, and said, "Teacher He, I’m ready."

He Xiaoxing pointed to a specific shaft ahead. "Start from there. I’ll give you one hour. The more tags you find in that hour, the better. Pay attention. When the time is up, I’ll call you back up."

Chen Chuan nodded. He walked to the edge of the shaft and leaped in without hesitation.

This time, after swimming all the way to the bottom, he felt around for a moment, found a passage, and swam forward into it.

But these underwater tunnels weren’t smooth and straight; they twisted and turned, with varying elevations. Trying to speed through them was almost impossible, as it would inevitably lead to collisions and scrapes.

Brute force was not an option. Throughout the process, he had to focus his mind to sense the direction and speed of the water current, while simultaneously maintaining his internal breathing and resisting the intrusion of foreign matter. It was extremely difficult from the very beginning.

He Xiaoxing was standing on the surface, but he was also on the move. If anyone could see Chen Chuan below, they would discover that He Xiaoxing was almost always moving directly above him, not far away.

Just then, he held out his hand. Chang Ba hurriedly passed him a metal tag with a rope attached. He Xiaoxing tossed it into one of the shafts. As it pulled the rope down with it, he threw another one into a nearby shaft.

Chen Chuan felt he had passed through a tunnel, but from below, he couldn’t intuitively tell if there was a shaft leading to the surface above him, or if it was just an upward-sloping waterway.

He swam around in a circle and suddenly felt a rope. Following it, he found a metal object. His heart steadied, and he realized the tag also served as a guidepost. It told him there was a shaft above, providing a direct way back to the surface if he couldn’t hold on any longer. It subtly reduced some of the danger.

He didn’t need to bring it with him, so he gave it a couple of tugs to show he had found it, then swam quickly toward another waterway.

The most dangerous part of navigating these passages was that he had no idea how long they were. If his stamina suddenly failed midway, or his internal breathing faltered, he would be in immediate trouble. He needed to keep his mind on high alert and do his best to memorize the path he had taken.

Normally, it would be easy to lose one’s sense of direction while moving through a place with no light. However, for one, the tags had raised numbers on them, so by touching them, he could roughly know if he had been there before.

For another, likely an effect of his Mutated Organization, he had a strange intuition. It seemed he could clearly determine whether he had swum through a location before not through conscious thought, but through muscle memory alone.

He went on to find several more tags. By now, he had completely lost his sense of time, conscious only of swimming endlessly toward the next location.

After touching another tag, he suddenly felt a series of tugs on the rope and knew it was the signal to surface. He followed the rope, climbing upward. When he saw the light from above, he gave a powerful kick, broke through the surface of the water, and propped himself up on the edge of the shaft, sitting there.

He wiped his face and caught his breath for a moment before dragging his heavy body to its feet, gasping for the fresh air outside.

In that moment, he had never felt the world to be so vast, so refreshing.

He Xiaoxing waited for him to recover a little before speaking. "One hour and seven minutes. You went over by seven minutes and touched a total of four tags. That’s barely a passing grade. Rest up. We’ll go again in half an hour."

Chen Chuan took a breath and nodded. He hadn’t used his Second Self this time either, relying purely on his own Mutated Organization. He wanted to train his own body as much as possible. Even so, he had met He Xiaoxing’s minimum requirement. It was clear that even his physical body alone was now quite strong.

Half an hour later, he leaped into the shaft once more. This time was better than the last; he found two more tags and came up early, within the hour.

Seeing he still had ample time, he rested for another half hour and made a third attempt. However, his performance wasn’t as good as the second time. He only found four tags, the same as his first try.

This showed that his condition was already declining, and the effectiveness of the training was diminishing.

He Xiaoxing decisively called a halt. "Within three days, you must find twelve tags in one hour. Only if you can do that will we move on to the final stage of training. That’s all for today. Go back, use medicine to repair the damage, and don’t do any extra training. Get a good rest. We’ll continue tomorrow."

Chang Ba also let out a sigh of relief. He had been pacing on the surface, feeling even more nervous than if he were down below. His attitude toward Chen Chuan was completely different now. He said, "Brother Chen, you rest a bit. I’ll go get the car."

He ran off and returned with the car a short while later. By then, Chen Chuan had taken off his wetsuit and changed back into his previous clothes. After getting in the car, he leaned back against the soft seat cushion.

To be honest, he was extremely tired today. It was a kind of exhaustion he hadn’t felt in a long time, but it was also fulfilling.

He felt as if he had returned to the time when he knew nothing, just starting to learn Fighting Skill from Yu Gang. There was a sense of novelty and urgency, like starting all over again.

Back then, he needed to pass a re-examination; now, he had to face pressure from the Mutual Aid Association. Although the goals were different, both were undeniably tied to his future and destiny—things he had to forge for himself.

After returning to the inn, he took a shower and glanced at his Second Self. He saw quite a few signs of fading, mostly concentrated within his body.

This indicated significant damage, but he didn’t remove it directly. This was the key to supercompensation. Natural rest would be best. For any lingering hidden injuries that wouldn’t go away, he would let his Second Self bear them.

After coming out, he took some medicine to help his body recover. Because of He Xiaoxing’s instructions, he didn’t do any extra training. Instead, he just moved around a bit, practicing his Saber Techniques and Orthodox Scattering Hand just enough to maintain his muscle memory.

By now, the sky had grown dark. After settling into a chair, he turned the knob on the radio sitting on his desk.

He had originally just wanted to relax a bit, but he soon discovered that many of the programs were related to Luoya Ancient City. Some people had even created adventure stories, some true and some false, based on past events.

He felt like he’d hit the jackpot. He listened straight through until around nine o’clock before twisting the knob off and going to bed.

「A night passed, and a new day arrived.」

Chen Chuan opened his eyes. In the faint light, he glanced at the time. It was exactly four o’clock.

It felt as if he had just closed his eyes. Even in the past, he had rarely experienced such a deep sleep. This proved just how exhausted he had been yesterday.

But he now felt completely recovered, his spirit full. He checked his Second Self and saw the signs of fading had almost completely disappeared.

This meant that after a night of sleep, his body’s injuries had all been repaired.

He got out of bed, washed up, ate a Nutrition Paste, and left with his things. Just as he reached the door, he saw Chang Ba had already parked the car there. Chang Ba waved him over. "Brother Chen, morning. Hop in."

Chen Chuan greeted him back and got right in the car. The town was still quiet at just past four in the morning. The car’s headlights illuminated the road ahead as they drove up the mountain. After picking up He Xiaoxing, the vehicle turned and headed back down, once again arriving near the shafts from yesterday.

But strangely, the car didn’t stop this time. It kept going, finally arriving at an area enclosed by wooden stakes and a wire fence.

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