Celestial Human Diagram

The Fusion Boundary Company’s convoy drove up a gentle slope, passing through a complex tunnel of interwoven vines before returning to the Upper City District.

Once outside, Chen Chuan looked up at the bright sky.

Although the Lower City District was not without light, the unique warmth could only come from the sun, and only a clear, pure sky could offer such an unobstructed view.

After arriving in the Upper City District, he had Tang Zhang drop him off at the Flask Bar, where he found his parked Gard Car. But just as he was about to open the car door, he froze and glanced in a certain direction. In that instant, he felt as if someone was spying on him.

On a high-rise in the distance, a man abruptly pulled the curtains shut and lowered his binoculars. "Did he just see us?" he asked, startled.

His partner said with annoyance, "I told you, people like him have incredibly sharp senses. Don’t fucking stare at him. Who knows if we’ve alerted the target. Whatever, let’s just report this along with everything else."

Chen Chuan stared for a moment. There was only a cluster of high-rises in that direction, and he couldn’t see anything specific. He retracted his gaze, his mind racing. He contacted Wubei. "Brother Wu, yes, I’m back. Help me check a location and see if there are any suspicious people coming or going."

He used his Realm Token to mark a specific spot. After Wubei confirmed he had it, Chen Chuan opened his car door, got in, and quickly started the engine, driving away.

After returning to his dorm at Wuyi, he drafted a report. He listed the Fusion Boundary Company’s decision, the situation in the Lower City District, and some suspicious points he had discovered, then sent it to the Processing Bureau.

This information wouldn’t necessarily attract the Processing Bureau’s attention. They had too much to monitor. As long as there were no extremely difficult incidents or special circumstances, they generally focused on surveillance rather than taking immediate, preventative action—because there were too many things to prevent.

Since he was still on leave, he rested easy in his dorm for a while. During this time, he used the special medicine once every three days to improve himself.

If one ignored the medicine’s aggressive side effects, its benefit to his training and power growth was undoubtedly immense.

However, the resulting improvements needed to be integrated through actual combat, so he chose to spar with Hong Fu every day.

He also watched combat recordings left behind by past teachers and seniors, stored at the academy. It cost money, of course, but it was well worth it.

For most Third Limit Fighters, there seemed to be no precise standard for classifying power levels.

The comparison between strong and weak wasn’t absolute; it changed constantly depending on the combat environment, the conditions of the fight, and the Fighter’s mental state.

Examples of Fighters with weaker on-paper stats defeating stronger opponents were commonplace. In the end, it all came down to performance in the heat of battle.

Among these recordings, an instructor named Han Zheng was a classic example. He had worked at Wuyi over twenty years ago and had since been transferred to a government department.

When he was a student at the academy, his initial evaluation upon entering the Third Limit was only fifty percent. He had barely scraped by to achieve it.

He practiced ordinary Freehand Force and used common Long and Short Spears. Yet, whenever he faced an opponent whose stats were far superior, he always managed to win.

Watching his recordings, every fight looked incredibly risky. You’d always think he was the one about to lose, but in the end, he would always win.

He never gave off the impression of being particularly strong, but statistically, his win rate was terrifyingly high.

Through observation, Chen Chuan discovered that Han Zheng often launched his counterattack at the very moment his opponent’s victory seemed all but certain. And more often than not, he seized the opportunity.

He greatly admired this ability to seize the opportune moment in battle. It looked simple, but it was actually the result of leveraging his own strengths and characteristics to their absolute limit.

It was very instructive, but he had no intention of becoming like that.

Ultimately, a fight was still a contest of raw power. That kind of move was just a choice born of necessity—a way to compensate for inherent deficiencies by elevating one’s technique.

’If I can knock someone out with a single punch, why would I need to get into a drawn-out fight?’

He always remembered the goal he had set for himself: to reach, and even surpass, the theoretical limit of what a nearly perfect individual could achieve.

In the Third Limit, he had the opportunity to make up for all his past shortcomings.

’It seems that goal isn’t too far away now,’ he thought.

The ample supply of medicine provided by Fusion Boundary was sufficient for the current stage. What should have been enough for several, or even a dozen, Fighters was now concentrated on him alone. All of it would become the nourishment for building his body’s foundation.

But besides this, there was another important matter: finding an instructor who could guide him to a higher level.

He had only just entered the Third Limit and was still in the stage of consolidating his foundation, so he could train on his own for now. But he would need a guide to show him how to reach the next limit.

He had looked into this at the academy. There were teaching channels available, but according to the relevant government regulations, only those who had participated in the World Ring Defense were eligible to apply.

This was already part of his plan, so he took this time to review the notes the Processing Bureau had sent him about the defense plan.

After resting until the end of the month, he used his Realm Token to contact the signal the Defense Department had left for him. After a moment, a pleasant female voice sounded:

"Hello, Mr. Chen. How can I help you?"

Chen Chuan recognized the voice of the woman who had received him before. "Hello," he said. "I’ve considered the World Ring defense mission, and I’ve made a decision."

The female voice said, "One moment, Mr. Chen."

A moment later, a serious, deep voice came from the Realm Token. "Mr. Chen, this is Liang Guanghai. Since you’ve contacted us, I presume you’ve thought it through?"

Chen Chuan said, "Yes, I’ve thought it through. I agree to join the World Ring Defense plan."

Liang Guanghai said, "Welcome aboard, Mr. Chen. If it’s convenient, please come to the Processing Bureau. We have some matters to discuss."

Chen Chuan said, "Alright, I’m on my way."

After ending the call, he left Wuyi and drove his Gard Car to the Processing Bureau. Greeted by the same woman who had received him last time, he was shown into the same reception room.

The woman handed him a document. "Mr. Chen, this is the agreement for participating in the defense plan. It’s different from the confidentiality agreement. Please take a look."

Chen Chuan took it and read it carefully. It mostly detailed rights and obligations.

For instance, anyone participating in the defense plan must accept a summons from the Defense Department in an emergency, but this would count toward their national conscription duty.

Furthermore, participants’ salaries would be increased from their original base pay.

Those who performed meritoriously would receive preferential treatment in the provision of special medicine and would be prioritized for rank promotions.

The rank granted to him by the Processing Bureau was not useless; it was recognized throughout the entire Dashun Government. Many influential officials in various enforcement agencies were Fighters who had come up through the orthodox system.

He also saw a clause stating that for all Third Limit Fighters participating in the World Ring Defense, barring special circumstances, after completing at least three years of service, they could secure Central City citizenship for their family members if they didn’t already reside there.

If the Fighter had no family, they would be granted one or more recommendation slots for citizenship based on their merits.

This was a citizenship slot for Central City, something extremely difficult for people from the Edge Cities to obtain.

He couldn’t help but think that if his cousins could come to Central City for school, the opportunities and educational resources they would receive would be far beyond anything Wuyi could offer. And if they wanted to become Fighters, they wouldn’t even need to go through the local Wuyi assessment.

’But this is only fair,’ he thought. ’They’re asking us to risk our lives. How could they retain anyone without offering such benefits?’

It was also worth noting that although Central City was on the front line, directly facing the world collision, its defensive capabilities were also the strongest.

It could be said that, at least before the Great Collision arrived, the resources available to the Edge Cities were absolutely no match for Central City’s. He even had a feeling that when the Great Collision did come, this place might be safer than the Edge Cities.

But even without this agreement, he would have signed.

Before the Great Collision, as the two worlds drew closer, entities from the other side would surely infiltrate relentlessly. He would have to face them sooner or later.

Rather than waiting passively, it was better to prepare early and accumulate more experience in dealing with these things. Not to mention, this was also related to his search for an instructor for the next stage.

So after reading it, he picked up the pen and signed his name on the agreement.

The woman waited for him to finish, took the agreement, and looked it over. Then she looked up and said, "Please wait a moment, Mr. Chen. Specialist Liang said he would come over to meet you." She gave a small smile. "It seems the Specialist holds you in high regard, Mr. Chen."

After just seven or eight minutes, Liang Guanghai entered the conference room. "Mr. Chen, thank you for waiting," he said to Chen Chuan. He then waved a hand, dismissing the woman.

He walked behind the table, first glancing at the agreement lying there, then looked up at Chen Chuan and said seriously:

"Mr. Chen, because you are joining as an Executioner from the Processing Bureau, have previously participated in a national conscription mission, and have a high internal evaluation, you are considered a trustworthy individual. Therefore, we have a task to entrust to you. This is not a mandatory order, but something we need you to pay attention to while carrying out your defense duties."

...

...