Celestial Human Diagram-Chapter 136 - 123: Mutated

The Maka Student holding the Oak Leaf hesitated, his face a mask of conflict. After another glance at Teacher Duma’s determined expression, he turned and fled with the leaf, several companions following close behind.

However, a good number of Maka Students chose to remain, their gazes fixed warily on Guan Xinyin, Luo Kaiyuan, and the others.

Duma didn’t try to persuade them further and simply sighed.

Chen Chuan watched them leave without moving. The Oak Leaf didn’t concern him; besides, with Duma blocking the way, he wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Guan Xinyin and Luo Kaiyuan also held their ground, their eyes locked on Duma and the remaining Maka Students.

Chen Chuan didn’t press the attack. If Duma and his cohort were willing to engage in a standoff, there was no need to be hasty. The longer this dragged on, the more reinforcements would arrive. The Maka side should be the ones feeling the pressure.

Once the students behind him had run a good distance and sped away on motorcycles, Duma decided he could wait no longer.

He spread his arms wide, like a bird unfurling its wings. His muscles rippled in a rhythm that matched the gesture, the sheen on his skin flowing like water. His fingers, in particular, twitched gently, as if plucking tangible yet invisible strings.

His every breath and movement followed a peculiar rhythm, as though his body were an instrument playing a song.

At that moment, both Guan Xinyin and Luo Kaiyuan were struck by an unsettling feeling. As Duma moved, the beat of each flexing muscle landed perfectly in the lulls of their own breathing.

A Fighter’s key to Emitting Force lies in their breathing. By precisely targeting the transition between breaths, an opponent could launch an attack during that vulnerable moment.

This forced them to instinctively try and adjust, but no matter how they altered their breathing, Duma’s rhythm immediately locked onto it. The effort only threw their own respiration into chaos, a suffocating tightness building in their chests.

Duma paid them no mind, his eyes fixed solely on Chen Chuan. A key tenet of Karma Vein Study was to sense, guide, and ultimately control an enemy’s changes.

The blood flow, respiratory rhythm, and even the direction of power of everyone present were all within the perception of his Mutated Organization. It was as if his opponents were completely transparent to him, allowing him to rationally allocate his techniques and strength to control the flow of battle.

Sometimes, if the disparity in skill was great enough, he could injure an opponent simply by disrupting their breathing, without even laying a hand on them.

Chen Chuan, however, was an exception. Though Duma had tried to influence his rhythm, Chen Chuan remained unaffected, his breathing steady and unchanged. This, in turn, placed a strain on Duma; it was like trying to grasp a line drawn on paper—he could see it, but he could never quite take hold of it.

By now, the earlier gunshots and ensuing brawl had cleared the street. It was utterly deserted from one end to the other, save for the combatants. From the buildings lining the road, however, hidden eyes watched the scene unfold through cracks in doors and gaps in curtains.

Seeing he couldn’t control Chen Chuan, Duma knew he couldn’t drag this out any longer.

They were only a ten-minute drive from the city center. The Patrol Bureau had surely been alerted by now and would be dispatching officers. What’s more, teachers from Wuyi Academy could arrive at any moment.

He was running out of time.

He had no desire to be captured. He needed to eliminate the obstacles before him, and quickly. And so, he started walking toward Chen Chuan, deciding to settle things with his fists.

Seeing him approach, Chen Chuan didn’t back down. He strode forward to meet him. As they closed the distance, Chen Chuan struck first, lashing out with a kick. It was incredibly fast; even to Duma’s experienced eyes, it posed a significant threat.

Duma ducked, attempting to evade while simultaneously preparing to charge forward. But he immediately realized it was a feint. He twisted his body slightly and raised an arm to block, instantly feeling a powerful force transfer from Chen Chuan’s leg.

He blocked the attack, but the Power behind it seemed to seep through his guard, a persistent force pressing against him. Resisting it locked him in place, preventing any follow-up.

Having pinned Duma with the kick, Chen Chuan stepped forward as he brought his leg down. He reached out and clamped his hand onto Duma’s raised forearm. Normally, this would be the setup for a grappling Wrestling Takedown, but Chen Chuan didn’t follow through. Instead, his five fingers squeezed tight!

The Curtain-Tearing Force of Orthodox Scattering Hand wasn’t limited to an opponent’s face; his five fingers could rip through flesh and blood. But as he applied the force, the muscles on Duma’s arm tensed, becoming slick and resilient like a suddenly inflated tire. Chen Chuan’s fingers were actually repelled.

Immediately after, Duma’s other hand shot out, fingers pressed together, jabbing at his chest like a striking viper. The attack was blindingly fast. Seeing he couldn’t block in time, Chen Chuan shifted slightly, used Force Application, and slammed his own body into the attack.

Sensing something was amiss, Duma’s jabbing fingers instantly splayed open into a palm, bracing against Chen Chuan’s charge to halt his momentum. With his other hand, he slapped away Chen Chuan’s renewed attempt at a grab and seized the front of his shirt. Just as he was about to pull Chen Chuan off-balance, a kick to his ankle forced him to lift his leg.

But dodging nullified the force he was about to apply. At the same time, Chen Chuan’s hand darted out again, this time for his fingers. Having just witnessed the Power in Chen Chuan’s grip, Duma knew that any part of him caught without the support of muscle and his Mutated Organization would be crushed instantly. He hastily let go and fell back.

As Duma retreated, Chen Chuan pressed his advantage, his hands arcing toward his opponent’s ears. Duma ducked back, employing some kind of technique to instantly create two steps of distance. He pulled his elbows in, bent his knees, and coiled his entire body like a spring before explosively releasing the tension, unleashing a spiraling, drilling strike upward.

Chen Chuan turned sideways, meeting the blow with a deflecting arm. It was the first direct, head-on exchange of the fight. A dull THUD echoed out, like two dense objects colliding.

The outcome of the impact, however, was that Chen Chuan stood his ground, while Duma stumbled back several steps. This drew expressions of utter disbelief from the spectating Maka Students.

’Teacher Duma was one of the strongest young teachers in their academy; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been leading this mission. How could he be forced back in a head-on clash with a Wuyi student?’

They couldn’t accept the outcome. Something had to be wrong. The clash between reality and their convictions plunged them into a maelstrom of anxiety and panic. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Guan Xinyin and Luo Kaiyuan had no such conflicted thoughts. Having just personally experienced or witnessed Duma’s terrifying skill, they were simply amazed that Chen Chuan had managed to force him back. A sense of profound admiration welled up inside them.

Chen Chuan watched Duma retreat, knowing he hadn’t truly won the exchange. A large portion of his Second Self’s shoulder had just dematerialized, whereas Duma had simply used the backward momentum to bleed off the force, suffering no real damage.

The only difference was that, on the surface, he had come out on top.

’But that clash told me what I needed to know. In terms of pure strength, I might not match this Second Limit teacher. But my reflexes and speed are just as good, if not better.’

’If that’s the case, I can use my superior reflexes to go on the offensive, trading blow for blow—injury for injury.’

And so, he straightened his posture and started walking forward again. In the eyes of the onlookers, as he advanced on Duma, he exuded an undeniable, oppressive aura.

Duma stared, shocked and amazed, at the unscathed Chen Chuan. ’Is it... talent?’ he thought.

It wasn’t just that final collision. Throughout their entire exchange, both had been constantly applying Power. Logically, the body of a normal First Limit individual would have buckled under the strain of unleashing that much Power.

This was one of the main reasons a First Limit individual could never defeat a Second Limit Fighter. Setting aside the vast improvements in physical conditioning, the sheer frequency with which they could apply Power was on a completely different level.

Yet Chen Chuan seemed to defy this rule entirely. The only explanation was that he possessed a talent far beyond that of an ordinary person.

A bitter feeling settled in his heart. To think such a talent could be found in a mere Wuyi Branch of the Dashun Republic, while they had scoured their entire nation and found no one comparable.

After taking two steps, Chen Chuan suddenly accelerated, throwing a punch. Duma saw it coming clearly and retreated slightly to create distance, simultaneously kicking at Chen Chuan’s head. But Chen Chuan simply ignored the kick, allowing it to connect as he continued his advance, his other fist slamming violently into Duma’s chest.

A tightness seized Duma’s chest, cutting off his breath. He knew this was bad. He frantically raised his arms to block and parry, deflecting the relentless barrage of punches, elbows, and knees that followed, forced back step after step.

Meanwhile, Nali, who was engaged with Zhuang Zhi, took a punch in order to force his opponent back. In the opening he created, he glanced over and saw Duma being overwhelmed. He grew anxious and confused. ’Why isn’t Teacher Duma using his specialty, the Maka Karma Fist? Why is he using fighting styles that resemble those from Dashun? Isn’t he giving up his greatest advantage?’

In truth, Duma felt helpless. If he could use his usual methods, he would have. He could sense Chen Chuan’s aura, his blood flow, even the relative strength of each attack, but the actual power and speed Chen Chuan displayed were completely disconnected from what he sensed. It made it impossible for him to make accurate judgments.

It was an agonizing situation. After twenty or thirty years of training, he was conditioned to use his senses to coordinate his Force Application and control his opponents. Now, faced with someone whose perceived state was completely divorced from his actual performance, his mind knew what to do, but his body would instinctively react first with what it deemed a ’rational’ response. This forced him to consciously correct his own ingrained habits with every move, making him a fatal fraction of a second too slow.

To make matters worse, while Chen Chuan’s strength might be slightly less than his, it wasn’t by much, and his reflexes and speed seemed even faster. So, even though Duma hadn’t expended much stamina and was uninjured, to any observer, he was clearly the one getting pushed around.

’I might not be able to escape,’ he realized. ’But my students don’t deserve this fate. I have to give them a chance to get away. Maybe... maybe that’s the only way. I’ll bear all the blame myself.’

At this thought, a look of desperate resolve filled his eyes. He chose to clash head-on with Chen Chuan one last time, using the impact to propel himself far back. Then, he took a deep breath, crossed his arms before his face, and the muscles all over his body began to writhe.

In a mere moment, bulging veins surfaced all over his skin, resembling the fine vascular network of a leaf. His body turned crimson and began to radiate intense heat, giving off a palpable sense of danger.

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