Atlas of Heaven and Man

By the end of May, Chen Chuan was already prepared for the assessment. He had informed his aunt's family in advance, explaining that he would be going on a special training exercise with Cheng Zitong, possibly wandering in the wilderness for a while, so communication might be difficult.

He had already written some letters, which he would ask Cheng Zitong to mail, both to reassure his family and to create the illusion that he was staying in one place.

These letters included not only family members but also acquaintances from the company, classmates from the academy, and even old classmates like Ding Jiao. However, to avoid being too obvious, these were only prepared and would not be sent unless necessary.

He had to be so cautious because of what happened to Shen Zheng back then, not to mention that the latter had already obtained the Infinite Defense Certificate. He hadn't obtained it yet, so he naturally had to be extra careful.

As for the familiar students, he had inadvertently mentioned in his conversations that he would be following his instructor for training, so the students already had some vague idea about it. Now that he brought it up, it didn't seem abrupt at all. Many wished him success in his training.

On the evening of the thirtieth, around eleven o'clock, Chen Chuan, carrying a suitcase and the Snow Sovereign Saber in a box, got into Cheng Zitong's car.

Once he arrived there, he would need to go to the examination location on his own.

After getting out of the car, he said to Cheng Zitong, "Teacher, please go back. I must walk the next part of the road myself."

Cheng Zitong looked at him and said with some emotion, "You, my student, have grown taller than last year. Time really flies." He stepped forward and said, "Focus on the assessment. The school and family matters are in my hands, so you don't need to worry too much. Also, be careful outside. I'll be waiting for your news in Yangzhi." With that, he patted Chen Chuan's shoulder heavily.

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "I will keep that in mind, Teacher."

"I'll be heading back now. Oh, right, I left something in the suitcase for you that you might need. You can take a look when you have time."

Cheng Zitong waved at him and got back into the car. As the engine started, he drove back the way he came. Chen Chuan watched him leave, adjusted his hat, and turned to walk towards the train station square not far away.

He looked at his watch. Although it was only a little before six in the morning, the road was already filled with people carrying large and small bags. The sunlight shone from behind him, landing on the square, and most of the train station's thick walls were illuminated.

He looked around and found a row of roadside phone booths at the edge of the square. After walking over, he found a place with a shorter line. When the person inside came out, he went in, picked up the receiver, inserted a coin, and dialed the number the assessment team had given him. After waiting for a while, it was connected.

He said, "I have arrived at the designated station."

The voice on the other end said, "Wait there." Then, with a click, the phone hung up.

Chen Chuan came out of the phone booth. As he passed a newsstand, he casually bought a newspaper and two story magazines and sat down on a waiting chair in the square.

Half an hour later, an ordinary-looking man sat down next to him, naturally handing him a train ticket and saying:

"The train ticket is for 7:50 AM. After arriving at the station, call the number below. Before entering the Chaotic Lands, someone will check your belongings and see if you have any help or followers. Do you have any questions?"

Chen Chuan took a piece of paper from behind the ticket, with a string of numbers written on it. He thought for a moment and said, "If the phone number is wrong, or if I can't contact the personnel after arriving at the territory, what should I do?"

The man replied, "You can call me again, and I will rearrange things for you. The delayed time will not be counted in your assessment, but you will have to pay for any additional expenses incurred. The assessment team is not responsible."

Chen Chuan nodded, "Then I have no questions."

The man rolled up the newspaper in his hand, stood up, and walked straight away, soon disappearing into the crowd.

Chen Chuan didn't leave immediately but read the newspaper for a while before getting up and walking into the station.

After entering the waiting hall, he looked at the timetable and chose a seat by the side to sit down. More than an hour later, the broadcast announced that the train he was taking had arrived at the station and he could board.

He stood up, lined up, and successfully passed through the ticket gate. After walking out, a black train was already parked there. He let a trolley selling snacks pass by and walked up from the narrow entrance. After walking a few carriages, he found his seat, put his suitcase and Snow Sovereign Saber on the luggage rack above, and sat down.

It seemed that the assessment team had a tight budget. He had to sit on the train for almost a whole day, but the ticket he was given was not a sleeper, but a seat.

However, he didn't care. As a physically resilient fighter, his requirements in this regard were not high. He could rest even if he was standing.

He took out a nutritional bar, tore it open, and ate it, continuing to read the newspaper.

This was his first time traveling far. The news and newspapers in Yangzhi City were all about the local area, with very little news about the outside world. It was still the same here, with the most news about Shangbu City itself. However, since it was a transportation hub, there was still some news from cities along the railway line.

At this time, a small man came over with a ticket. After checking it, he knew he had found the right seat, but his luggage bag seemed a little heavy. He tried to lift it several times on tiptoe, but it kept sliding down. He said to him with a bitter face, "Hey buddy, can you give me a hand?"

Chen Chuan looked up, stood up, and with a gentle lift, put the luggage bag inside.

"Thanks, buddy! I tell you, buddy, you're really tall. This physique, you must be a martial artist, right?" The man looked at Chen Chuan enviously, glanced at the box containing the Snow Sovereign Saber on the luggage rack, took out a cigarette, and offered it to him.

Chen Chuan indicated that he didn't smoke and sat back down. The man didn't mind, but he was obviously a natural conversationalist. After sitting down, he asked Chen Chuan where he was going. Chen Chuan casually answered a few times, and then he was the only one talking, from his family to what kind of business he was going to do this time, and how the road was always uneasy and business was not easy to do.

He spoke on and on, but his eyes kept glancing around. Chen Chuan didn't show any impatience, and just read his newspaper.

At this moment, several people with unfriendly expressions walked over. Seeing him talking here, they glanced at Chen Chuan across from him, hesitated, whispered a few words, and then left.

The man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

After a while, with the sound of several whistles, the train finally began to move slowly. The man also fell silent, watching the scenery outside.

But after only three stops, this person seemed to have reached his destination. He neatly put on his hat, jumped up, grabbed his luggage bag, and whispered as he left: "Thanks, buddy."

Chen Chuan looked up at him and nodded.

As the train continued to travel from station to station, the passengers across from him also changed constantly, and the sky outside changed from bright to dark, before plunging into darkness.

Seeing that it was about time, Chen Chuan went to the bathroom to wash up briefly, and then returned to his seat to close his eyes and rest.

At this moment, he also discovered that after the viscera were mutated, the two were not simply merged into one. The mutated tissue was like another set of organs, which could alternate with the original organs to rest.

When one set was dormant, the other set could continue to be active. This could be said to be an organ system born to adapt to combat.

Therefore, as long as there was a slight disturbance around him, or something inconsistent with the environment appeared, his senses would immediately give him a warning, and then he would react quickly.

However, perhaps because he looked like he was not to be trifled with, and because of the inherent invisible aura of a fighter, even in a place as crowded as a train, he didn't encounter any fools who came to provoke him. Some people who were obviously pickpockets consciously avoided him from a distance, obviously having the sense to know better.

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The next day, when the first ray of sunlight appeared from the horizon behind him, Chen Chuan also opened his eyes. He looked outside and saw that the scenery outside the car had become unusually desolate. There were only a few scattered passengers left in the carriage, and they were all silent. A few people clearly had a foundation in fighting.

He understood that these people were very likely to have the same destination as him, and were also going to the chaotic lands, because going there required the ability to protect oneself.

At six o'clock in the morning, the train finally arrived at the last stop of his journey. The sound of the wheels rubbing against the rails gradually weakened, the train slowly stopped, the steam valve opened, and with the release of the remaining steam, a long puff of air came from the exhaust pipe, and the surrounding sounds became clear.

Chen Chuan took his luggage, picked up the box containing the Snow Monarch Blade and carried it on his back, and got off the train. When he walked out of the station, he immediately felt a gust of cold wind. There was residual snow on the ground, and many people around were wrapped in thicker clothes, but he felt very comfortable. However, in order not to be too conspicuous, he also took out a scarf and put it on.

The passengers coming and going here were all walking in a hurry, and few gathered together. On both sides of the station were security personnel with guns, each with sharp eyes, scanning the crowds coming and going in the square from time to time.

After looking at it for a few times, he found a phone booth on the edge of the square, put a coin in, dialed the number given by the man, and said after it was connected: "I have arrived at the station," and reported a number on a piece of paper.

A husky female voice came from the other side: "Coming right away."

He waited for less than a quarter of an hour, and saw a modified off-road vehicle driving over and stopping not far in front of him. The person in the driver's seat flicked his head at him and said, "Get in the car."

Chen Chuan saw that this was a woman in her late twenties, wearing a short coat, with goggles on her forehead. At first glance, she was quite pretty, but there were many traces of wind and frost at the corners of her eyes, and her eyes were very sharp, making her look like someone not to be trifled with.

He walked over, opened the door and got in the car. After sitting down, the person spoke first, "You are Chen, the little brother in this assessment?" Chen Chuan nodded and asked, "May I ask your name?"

"No need to be polite, my surname is Hu, Hu Qian."

Chen Chuan said, "So it's Ms. Hu. Thank you for picking me up. Is Ms. Hu also a member of the review team?"

Hu Qian said casually: "That's right, I am the reviewer. I am also responsible for providing you with intelligence, weapons, and logistical support, and of course, including..." She glanced at the rearview mirror, "Collecting your corpses for you."

When she said this, she stared at Chen Chuan, seeming to want to see something on his face, but Chen Chuan's eyes were very calm. She said, "It can be seen that you are experienced, but every year there are trainees who are seriously injured or die in this assessment. I hope you don't become one of them, so as not to cause me more trouble."

Chen Chuan asked: "Has Ms. Hu been here for a long time?"

"It's just a job. No one else wants to come to this broken place, and I don't have any connections, so I can't transfer back. Besides, after being here for so long, the higher-ups think I'm doing a good job every time they change the boss. They take a look at my file and think, hey, she's an old employee, and she's never made a mistake. Okay, you just stay here."

Hu Qian mocked herself a few times, slammed on the accelerator, and the off-road vehicle drove very fast, stopping at an old-fashioned旅社 in about ten minutes. She led Chen Chuan in and asked the pretty woman at the front desk for the key, and threw it to Chen Chuan.

"I run this旅社, it's my private property. The first three days are free, and you have to pay after that. If you need anything, talk to Lao Wan, that big bearded guy who guards the door. Don't look at his rough appearance, he's very careful. How should I put it, he can run horses on his elbows and embroider flowers on his fingertips, you can entrust anything to him."

Chen Chuan followed her to the second floor, entered a room. The living room floor was covered with a thick carpet, with a chandelier hanging above, and a raw wood long table in the middle. A dartboard hung on the wall.

Hu Qian walked over and pushed open the window, "The view here is okay, and the sun shines in. Of course, if you don't like it, you can change it, but the conditions here are like this, this room is already the best."

Chen Chuan looked at it and nodded, "No need to change it." He put down his suitcase and gestured, "Do you need to check it? The person who told me to come said there's this procedure."

Hu Qian glanced at it and said indifferently, "No need, how much stuff can you bring? What can't you get in this place? Wait for me." She turned and went out, and came back after a while, throwing a stack of booklets on his table, and said, "Your assessment targets."

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