Atlas of Heaven and Man

The terrain here was relatively high, backed by a rolling mountain. The top of the grey-blue mountain was capped with white snow. A wide chain-link fence enclosed everything within sight.

However, the off-road vehicle didn't drive in. It stopped outside, revealing irregularly distributed pits nearby.

He Xiaoxing said, "Yesterday, you became familiar with the underwater route there. We don't need to repeat it. Today, we'll switch locations."

Chang Ba couldn't help but look at Chen Chuan with sympathy.

Chen Chuan didn't care. As long as it genuinely helped him and allowed him to improve, the nature of the training didn't matter. He just needed to do his best. Besides, although the location had changed, the core elements remained the same, so it wasn't a big deal.

After the three got out of the car, Chen Chuan put on his wetsuit, adjusted it, nodded to the two, and dove into the pit. Once in the water, he began to descend.

He quickly realized that the underground well wasn't just a change of location; its complexity had greatly increased.

First, the pit leading downwards was no longer mostly straight like yesterday. Instead, it presented various bends, widths, and depths, creating a complex situation. Even the water flow changed from rapid to slow due to the terrain and water pressure differences, requiring extra caution.

He Xiaoxing walked above, dropping tags attached to ropes. It was clear he was very familiar with the underwater pit routes, anticipating Chen Chuan's possible direction each time.

An hour later, Chen Chuan successfully swam up. This time, he touched eight tags, a good improvement compared to yesterday.

He Xiaoxing said to him, "Reduce the rest time by five minutes. Continue in twenty-five minutes. Now, let's go to the car and change locations again."

Chang Ba immediately returned to start the car, heading to the next location. This area was vast, with thousands of Lake Dans, both large and small, and countless pits scattered around.

The first pits Chen Chuan encountered showed some signs of artificial excavation, but the later ones were entirely natural formations.

That night, they didn't leave. Instead, they lit a bonfire in the wilderness and prepared to spend the night there. Chang Ba took out lamb to show off his barbecue skills again.

Honestly, it felt like a farewell dinner.

Chang Ba skillfully turned the roasting meat, glancing at Chen Chuan. He was a little worried for the latter because if he failed again tomorrow and didn't meet He Xiaoxing's requirements, he wouldn't be able to proceed to the next stage of training, and the entire training would end.

Having come this far, being blocked by a single tag felt unfair, even to him.

Although he thought it was almost impossible to pass the next stage of training, he still hoped to see a miracle. Moreover, Chen Chuan was only one step away from this goal, so stopping now would be a real shame.

Chen Chuan sat there calmly, showing no signs of depression or discouragement because if he still failed tomorrow, he would use his Second Self to overcome this hurdle.

But if possible, he preferred to use his original abilities to overcome it. It wasn't that using the Second Self was bad; the Second Self was himself, a part of himself. There was no need to separate them. Using his own abilities was the most normal thing.

His only consideration was that the stronger the main body, the stronger the Second Self. Therefore, training and breaking through with the main body's power would bring the greatest benefit.

He Xiaoxing then said, "There are many ways to awaken and guide dormant aberrant tissues. Besides forced activation in life-or-death situations, secret societies in the past used incantations and scriptures to achieve their goals. Disciples trained in long-term secret society rituals could easily be guided."

"Ordinary people can do it without such methods by releasing the restraints on their emotions because suppressing emotions also limits a portion of the aberrant tissues."

He said in a deep voice, "Emotions can be released, but not indulged. You must identify your goals and clarify your beliefs to integrate your spirit and body, allowing the aberrant tissues to hear your requests, not just superficial manipulations. They won't fully respond to you. Without external intervention or help, you usually get what you put in."

Chen Chuan thought about it seriously and realized that this was indeed the case. The second limit required self-restraint to subdue various emotional disturbances. If he let it go, he might have problems himself. Yes, Zhuo Bao might be one of these, but perhaps he felt he had no problem?

Such a person sacrifices reason but gains more power.

From his personal experience, while subduing emotions, he did suppress a part of his potential, because in addition to the differentiated tissue that produced emotions, he also needed a part of his power to subdue it, restricting himself.

But this was not useless, because his fighting style was to remain calm, to think, to look for opportunities, instead of blindly indulging and fighting wherever he landed.

So, letting him release the restraints on his mind was indeed very difficult. Instinctively, there was a kind of resistance. A self that was not controlled by oneself was not a self.

But on second thought, He Xiaoxing's words were probably not that simple, because he specifically cited the example of the Esoteric School. The Esoteric School's rituals were actually a kind of restraint, so the meaning here might be that only those who can take back their emotions after releasing them have truly restrained themselves.

This was a higher level of control.

Thinking this way, the logic was right. Fearing that he could not control himself was simply because his restraint was not enough and his ability was insufficient.

So, how should this be solved?

He Xiaoxing also gave the answer.

That was an unshakable belief rooted in the depths of the body and mind.

As long as his own belief in constantly surpassing himself and breaking free from all constraints existed, then he would inevitably be able to subdue those chaotic emotions.

Turning his thoughts to this point, Chen Chuan's expression became much more serious. He changed to a cross-legged posture and slowly closed his eyes.

After He Xiaoxing saw this, he stood up from the spot and walked into the distance.

Chang Ba looked at him, thinking that Chen Chuan might have thought of something, and didn't disturb him. He took a few skewers of almost grilled mutton and carefully left.

The black night passed by inadvertently.

The newest novels are first published on 69shu.com!

The next day, when the cool morning breeze blew across the wilderness and the light of dawn first appeared on the horizon, Chen Chuan opened his eyes, looked at He Xiaoxing who was walking over, and said, "Teacher He, I want to try again today."

He Xiaoxing said, "If you think you can do it, then do it. I will be waiting above."

Chen Chuan nodded vigorously. He changed into his wetsuit, came to a pit he had never been to before, stretched his limbs against the golden-red morning light, and then jumped in with a vigorous movement.

After entering the water, he quickly dived to the bottom of this place, but for the first five minutes, he did not move, but adjusted himself, completely releasing his body and mind.

That part of the differentiated tissue suddenly had no suppression of will. For the first time, the shackles were removed, and it seemed that they were cheering and jumping for joy. At the same time, with the activity of this part of the tissue, various emotions and chaotic thoughts filled his mind, as if to guide him to vent and rush.

But he did not lose his mind because of this, because a voice in his heart told him that indulgence at this moment would only bring unpredictable consequences, would only destroy his training results, and he might not be able to realize the vision of truly breaking free from all constraints.

Under the suppression of this firm belief, his eyes still maintained clarity.

At this moment, he felt as if he had become two people, one was emotionally high and seemed to be reckless, and the other was examining himself, calmly watching every change in his body.

The water flowed, he stepped with his feet, separated his hands forward, and suddenly swam forward.

This time, the underwater environment seemed to become much clearer than before, and the gas exchange guided by internal breathing was more efficient. It seemed that a new force filled his whole body, making his swimming speed faster and more refined.

He kept swimming in those underwater pits, looking for the signs that fell from above.

On the ground, Chang Ba found that He Xiaoxing's pace was accelerating at this time, which undoubtedly meant that Chen Chuan's swimming speed below was also accelerating.

He kept counting the ropes that were shaken afterwards. In just over half an hour, ten signs were touched one after another. At this time, a trace of tension and expectation could not help but appear in his heart.

There are two more left, and there are still more than twenty minutes left. Is there enough time?

Soon he found that this worry was unnecessary. Before long, the eleventh sign was touched, and then it seemed that only a while had passed before the rope shook again.

"Twelve!" Chang Ba couldn't help shouting excitedly.

Chen Chuan had already reached the requirements set by He Xiaoxing, but this was not the end. Only three minutes later, he touched the thirteenth, then the fourteenth, the fifteenth…

Chen Chuan was swimming fast below. There was still a little time before an hour. If he continued, he should still have a certain possibility to increase the upper limit of the number of signs, but he stopped there.

He swam directly out of the underground tunnel, gently propped up with one hand, and with a splash, brought himself out of the water, stood firmly on the edge of the pit with both feet, and then straightened his body very naturally.

He Xiaoxing looked at him and nodded, saying, "Being able to release and also take back, you did not indulge yourself simply to pursue the goal, and you overcame your desire to win. It's good to stop within the stipulated one hour. You have already reached the training requirements of this stage."

……

……