Chapter 8: The True Power of Destiny Patterns

The end of the seventh month of martial training at the Martial Hall.

The training ground under nightfall.

Lin Chen was practicing fist forms; Gu Fei trained beside him, swinging punches haphazardly, clearly not putting in real effort.

After finishing another round of Warm Sun Fist, Lin Chen glanced at Gu Fei but said nothing.

Gu Fei didn’t work in the mess hall, so he could train longer on the training ground, while Lin Chen was making up for lost time.

People grow tired; Gu Fei was currently in that state.

Lin Chen never explicitly told Gu Fei that training five watch-hours daily increased blood qi by one point, because he couldn’t explain the existence of his panel—instead, he simply dragged Gu Fei along every day to complete the full five watch-hours.

After finishing five watch-hours of fist training, Lin Chen summoned his panel.

【Name: Lin Chen】

【Profession: Martial Artist】

【Blood Qi: 1402/3000】

【Destiny Pattern: [Water Finds Its Channel]: In the First Stage of Martial Path, perseverance, steady progress, and momentum lead to unstoppable advancement, free from bottlenecks.】

With the leftover beef from the mess hall each day, his blood qi continued to grow by ten points daily.

At this blood qi level, he could now lift a two-hundred-and-eighty-jin stone dumbbell.

Gu Fei, who had been training beside him, looked puzzled as Lin Chen walked toward the two-hundred-and-eighty-jin stone dumbbell.

Then, when he saw Lin Chen crouch down, grip the handles, and lift the dumbbell effortlessly, his mouth hung open wide enough to fit a goose egg.

“Chen… Chenzi, your strength reached two hundred and eighty jin?”

“What’s the problem? I hit two hundred and twenty jin last month—you know that.” Lin Chen was puzzled; why was Gu Fei so shocked?

“Of course it’s a problem—that’s sixty jin! Once you hit two hundred jin, you either increase your food budget or your strength gains slow down. Look at me: three months ago I was already at two hundred jin, and now I’ve barely cleared three hundred.”

Hearing Gu Fei’s explanation, Lin Chen fell into thought.

Previously, all his focus had been on passing the two-hundred-jin test; after that, no one had paid close attention to how strength gains slowed. He’d heard Gu Fei complain occasionally about the slowdown, but never realized it was this severe.

“Do you work in the mess hall? Do they give you Qi-Nourishing Soup there?” Gu Fei speculated.

Lin Chen didn’t answer directly, only warned: “Don’t tell anyone about my strength gains—for now.”

“I get it. Yu Jiaoxi treats you so well—if others found out, they’d be jealous.”

Gu Fei winked, then added: “Can you ask Yu Jiaoxi to assign me to the mess hall too? I’ll wash the vegetables, you wash the bowls—we’ll be a dynamic duo and rule the mess hall together.”

“Sure, go ask Yu Jiaoxi yourself.”

“I wouldn’t dare—I get nervous just seeing him.” Gu Fei shrank back, waving his hands frantically.

Lin Chen understood Gu Fei’s fear of Yu Jiaoxi; since ancient times, no student ever feared their teacher less. Though Yu Jiaoxi never shouted or scolded, he wasn’t the cheerful type either—he still commanded respect in the students’ eyes.

“Let’s head back to the dorm.”

On the way back, the night concealed Lin Chen’s thoughtful expression.

He felt he had overlooked something.

…

…

Another month passed.

The end of the eighth month of martial training at the Martial Hall.

Dawn was breaking.

It was Frost’s Descent; a thin layer of frost coated the training ground’s stone slabs, but as the boy moved continuously, the frost gradually melted away.

Lin Chen stood still, swinging his fists in Warm Sun Fist, the movements fluid as flowing water. He could feel the flow of his blood qi—each punch sent a warm current through his abdomen, only for it to vanish once he finished the stance.

“This sensation began after my blood qi reached 1500. So 1500 is a threshold—only then does the body’s strength truly diverge from that of an ordinary person.”

Though Warm Sun Fist wasn’t a combat technique, merely a method to accelerate blood qi circulation, increased blood qi still improved all physical metrics.

In earlier months, though his blood qi had grown, his bodily changes were barely noticeable beyond his height. But since reaching 1500 blood qi, he could now clearly feel his physical strength improving.

Strength gains aren’t as simple as one plus one.

A three-hundred-jin punch landing on the body is not the same as three separate one-hundred-jin punches.

This involves the body’s limit of damage tolerance.

Right now, he could knock out his own self from a month ago with a single punch.

He finished his stance and looked at his panel.

【Name: Lin Chen】

【Profession: Martial Artist】

【Blood Qi: 1702/3000】

【Destiny Pattern: [Water Finds Its Channel]: In the First Stage of Martial Path, perseverance, steady progress, and momentum lead to unstoppable advancement, free from bottlenecks.】

His strength had reached 340 jin—already surpassing Gu Fei.

But what delighted Lin Chen most wasn’t reaching 340 jin—it was finally understanding the true meaning of the [Water Finds Its Channel] destiny pattern.

A month ago, when Gu Fei mentioned that strength gains slowed after two hundred jin, Lin Chen had formed a hypothesis.

All students at the Martial Hall began eating meat regularly after reaching two hundred jin, yet their strength gains still slowed—except his own, which remained unchanged.

After this month’s verification, he confirmed his suspicion: the [Water Finds Its Channel] destiny pattern was far more complex than he’d originally thought.

[Water Finds Its Channel]: In the First Stage of Martial Path, perseverance, steady progress, and momentum lead to unstoppable advancement, free from bottlenecks.

Water finds its channel: when water first flows over the ground, some is absorbed, slowing its progress. But as more water accumulates, its speed increases, eventually forming a stream, then a river—once the current is established, nothing can stop it, not even elevated terrain.

This was his original understanding of [Water Finds Its Channel].

Previously, he’d focused only on the final phrase; now he realized each phrase represented a distinct state.

Perseverance: this means consistent, unrelenting martial training without slack.

Steady Progress: incremental, gradual advancement.

Momentum Like a Bamboo Splitting: rapid, unimpeded breakthroughs.

Only because of this momentum can there be no bottlenecks.

Lin Chen now truly understood the [Water Finds Its Channel] destiny pattern.

The [Water Finds Its Channel] destiny pattern divides his martial training into three phases: the first, Perseverance, needs no explanation; the second, Steady Progress, ensures his growth never slows, unlike Gu Fei and the others.

If so, then when he enters the Momentum Like a Bamboo Splitting phase, his blood qi growth rate will accelerate further.

Lin Chen’s eyes burned with intensity. With the [Water Finds Its Channel] destiny pattern, even without the wealth of men like Lu Yongfeng, he could steadily catch up—not just gain an advantage during bottleneck phases.

(End of Chapter)