Yeah, yeah. I know I said I wasn’t going to translate until the weekend… To be honest, I just didn’t want to study. There’s nothing fun about studying topology, okay?! Anyways, this was a pretty short chapter so that’s mainly why I bothered to translate it. I think I spent more time researching about idioms and whatnot than actually translating. This chapter is pretty much more world building and adding even more mysteries into the mix…
Enjoy!
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Chapter 4: Body’s Secret
“Hm?” Ji Yuhua, who was in the living room, put the book in her hands down and gazed towards the training room with her deep eyes in slight shock.
“Two hours and twenty-five minutes.” She muttered softly, with a smile of satisfaction emerging onto her picturesque face, “Thirty-five minutes faster than expected. Descendants of my Ji[1] clan who can complete the first layer《Nine Dragon Sutra》in two hours can be considered a rare talent; those who can finish it in one hour can be considered geniuses.”
“In comparison to the exceptionally talented members of the Ji clan from the previous generations, Feng-er’s apt.i.tude isn’t inferior at all.”
Motherly affection could be seen in Ji Yuhua’s beautiful eyes, “Your hard work will not go to waste, my child. I believe you’ve already discovered your body’s secret; it’s one of the reasons for your brain region depth’s degeneration. Its existence is not to bring you suffering; rather, it will become your weapon. With it, your journey on the path to become an ancient martial artist will become much faster, and you will be able to reach much further.”
“The fragrance of the plum blossom comes from the bitterness of the cold.”[2] Ji Yuhua picked up her book and smiled faintly.
.…
Training room.
With the naked eye it wasn’t visible, but if one used their mind to sense it, it would be clearly visible to the mind’s eye. At this moment, Lin Feng was like an enormous, awakened dragon, greedily absorbing all of Heaven and Earth’s energy. The rich energy converged from all directions, rushing into Lin Feng’s body at an extremely fast pace.
Absorbing Heaven and Earth’s energy!
This was the cultivation method of ancient martial artists.
With the mind as the source, communicate with Heaven and Earth to strength the body. The higher the grade the mind cultivation skill is, the more difficult to comprehend—but at the same time, the more results from cultivation.
“What is this?” With the first layer successfully understood, Lin Feng was presently curious and bewildered. Accompanying the endless energy from Heaven and Earth rushing into his dantian, Lin Feng suddenly found something strange inside his dantian. Using Inner Sight, he could clearly see that in the centre of his dantian, there was unexpectedly a strange “small sphere”.
In comparison to the dantian, this small sphere didn’t even reach ten-thousandth of its size; yet, it was extremely special.
It seemed like it had a life of its own as it was revolving on itself, in fact…
It possessed a distinct aura of energy.
So strong!
“Even stronger than the aura from Heaven and Earth’s energy.” Lin Feng shivered slightly. With his mind like a mirror, he viewed the small sphere seemingly absorb energy. Accompanying its revolution, an aura of energy was being seeped out from the small sphere, and slowly, it entered into his bone, his muscles, his meridians…
It functioned extremely similarly to the dantian!
It played the role of an “axis”, the dantian is also like this. Gathering external energy and converging into the dantian from all directions. Then, from the dantian, the energy is diffused into all parts of the body. Isn’t this small sphere doing the same thing? The only difference being that the type of “energy” between the two were not the same.
Wait a minute!
Lin Feng felt his heart stir.
This past year, my physical capabilities strengthened from that of an average initiate genetic warrior to that of an superior one. It couldn’t be…that it was because of its existence?
The probability is extremely high!
“Maybe, my brain region depth’s degeneration is related to it.” Lin Feng had an intuition.
Although that was what he was thinking in his mind, Lin Feng knew he had no means of dealing with the small sphere. It was completely operating independently, almost like a parasite in his body.
But, this wasn’t completely a bad thing.
“Well, thanks to that, at least my physical capabilities improved to the next level.” Lin Feng said softly.
Originally, my physical capability amongst people of my age was cla.s.sified as first-rate, but now…it should be at the “peak”.
Ever since he opened up the door to become an ancient martial artist, Lin Feng never took one step out of the training room.
“Ah Feng, you don’t know if you have any innate talent. But, you already possess two very precious traits: one is perseverance, and the other is the ability to try harder than anyone else.” The words of his brother, Lin Zhan, were deeply engraved in his heart. Lin Feng had always done just that. Even when he was at rock-bottom, he still persevered,
November 1st. Still two months before graduation.
“Hua~” The training room’s door opened and Lin Feng stepped out.
The cla.s.ses for Blazing Sun’s Primary Genetics Inst.i.tute were rather liberal, students were not required to attend. However, the first of each month was the day genetic fluids were handed out. Adding onto the bottle left from October, Lin Feng would be able to receive two bottles of genetic fluid.
“Whoosh!” Suddenly throwing a punch, a brilliant light flashed across Lin Feng’s eyes.
So fast!
Even though it was just a casual fist, but no matter the speed or power, he felt that there was a significant improvement. Looking at his right fist, Lin Feng couldn’t conceal the excitement in his mind, “It got stronger again. Didn’t expect that my physical capability that was at a bottleneck would be able to increase again.”
This was an unexpected surprise.
Lin Feng understood his own body very well. Back then, the him, who had a brain region depth nearly reaching 10%, should have already had his physical capabilities strengthened to the limit. Even if his brain region depth degenerated, his physical capabilities did not. There was no reason for it to possibly improve, the only explanation would be——
That.
“It’s the small sphere inside the dantian.” Lin Feng quietly said.
This one month, he continued to train the first layer of the《Nine Dragon Sutra》, but at the same time, he was observing the small sphere and trying to get a feel of it.
Just like his conjecture, with the strange energy seeped out from the small sphere during its rotations diffusing into all parts of his body, it did indeed provide a similar effect as the energy of Heaven of Earth——Strengthening. The strengthening of the body; the strengthening of the cells. In fact, this one month…
The small sphere got a lot bigger.
“Nearly three times, four times bigger than originally.” Lin Feng wondered to himself. Even though it still felt very small, being but a speck of sand within the dantian, it did in fact grow bigger. Along with the increase in size, not only did its speed of rotation increase, but also, it became to absorb and emit more energy.
However, to him, this small sphere’s existence was still a mystery. Moreover…he had a lingering fear.
Because, his brain region degenerated once already.
Blazing Sun District’s Primary Genetics Inst.i.tute.
“Isn’t that the 10th rank genius?”
“Shh, be more quiet. It wouldn’t be good if he heard.”
“What a pity. I heard he was once the future star of our Blazing Sun District. Unfortunately, his genes got damaged in an accident and just like that, he fell from grace.”
Walking along the Inst.i.tute’s gravel path, Lin Feng stared at the novel and dazzling school buildings; the Magnetic Levitation Fort; the Capsule Room. A hint of nostalgia could be sensed in his eyes. Regarding all the idle gossip in the background and all the gazes directed at him, Lin Feng completely ignored them. Having gone through that one year, he had long chased away his inner demons.
“Still two months left.”
“Another two months and I’ll have to leave this place…”
How lamentable.
Lin Feng gazed over the school grounds, their were many twelve, thirteen year old youngsters running around full of youthful spirit. From their bodies, he felt like he could see the him from the past; running after his brother’s footsteps, slowly growing up from an ignorant youth. Very soon, he would have to leave the Inst.i.tute and enter into the Wilderness and the Wastelands, battle with elemental beasts, and become a real man.
“Ah Feng!” A surprised voice came from behind him, breaking his train of thought.
He turned his head around to look. It was his good bro, Ah Li, speeding over from afar like a howling gale.
“Slow down.” Lin Feng said with a laugh.
“Haha!” Yang Li laughed candidly as he stopped and wrapped his arm around Lin Feng’s shoulders, “I finally see you, Ah Feng.”
Lin Feng laughed, “In a good mood?”
“How could that be possible,” Yang Li’s face suddenly turned sour, “Don’t even bring that up. My pops is so stingy; flattered him for half a day and he only gave me enough money to buy a small bottle of genetic fluid. Ah Feng, you tell me, how could there be such a stingy father in this world. I’m beginning to suspect if I’m even his real child…”
Listening to Yang Li’s grumblings, Lin Feng’s heart was actually stirred up.
Father…
What a luxurious word. Ever since he could remember, he had never seen his father before. He didn’t know what his name is, let alone where he is, or even if he’s alive. He once asked his mother and brother, but never got an answer.
“Pa!” Just as Yang Li was in the middle of his enthused speech, he suddenly noticed Lin Feng’s expression and quickly covered his mouth.
As Lin Feng’s best friend, he knew some of Lin Feng’s secrets.
“Ha…ha, ha.” Yang Li laughed awkwardly, quickly changing the topic, he asked with a serious face, “Right, Ah Feng, what are your plans after graduation?”
Plans?
Yang Li’s question abruptly brought Lin Feng back down to earth.
This one month, he thought a lot about his future. With the 《Nine Dragon Sutra》he no longer needed to enter the Blazing Sun Dojo, instead, he could choose one of the sects inside Sunset City. After all, no matter from the scale or development, and even challenge, sects suited him much more than dojos.
But, sects were not easy to enter.
“I still haven’t decided, my goal is to enter into a sect. But…the City Guards aren’t bad.” Lin Feng answered.
Each has its pros; entering a sect would give him a better prospects in the future, while enlisting into the City Guards was more safe and much more secure. But, no matter what, whether he enters a sect or enlists into the Guards, he must first breakthrough the limit and become an ancient martial artist.
“Ambitious!” Yang Li’s eyes lit up, “When the time comes, us brothers will form a tiny adventure group and explore the Desolate Lands!”
“You don’t want to live?” Lin Feng laughed cheerfully.
“There’s only a bowl-sized scar even if I lose my head, nothing to be a afraid of!”[3]
[1] The “Ji-姬” family/clan that she mentions here is not the same “Ji-纪” as her name. I speculate that she is hiding under a pseudonym.
[2] This comes from a poem written during the Tang Dynasty by Huangbo, a Zen Buddhist monk. The gist of it is: there can be no results without going through challenges.
[3] He’s basically saying, even if he gets decapitated, at most there’s just a bowl-sized scar. Which I guess is true? The size of your neck is probably around the size of a bowl… In any case, he’s just saying he’s not afraid and it’s no big deal.
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