Chapter 295: Growth and Sedimentation

The increase in strength is not an instantaneous endpoint.

The immense strength brought by the breakthrough to sixty‑four‑fold in the Jinzhou decisive battle is like a newly tamed wild horse, still needing constant day‑and‑night adjustment and familiarization.

Chen Wen understands this well.

While Fortune Momentum settles and the dynasty's operations gradually return to normal, he has not slackened in the slightest regarding himself.

After handling the heavy governmental affairs each day, he always sets aside a fixed time to train alone in the deep training grounds of the forbidden garden, tempering himself and familiarizing with the power after his leap.

The training grounds at night are vast and silent.

No guards, no eunuchs—only he himself.

He used no weapons, only the most basic fists and kicks.

Yet every punch thrown and every kick delivered carries a low, mournful wail as if tearing the air.

As his figure flickers, afterimages stretch out in the moonlight, his speed far surpassing before.

Strength, speed, endurance, reaction—a comprehensive enhancement that forces him to re‑adapt to this familiar yet unfamiliar body.

He deliberately controls the output of his force.

Sometimes he draws his power back to the level before the breakthrough, savoring the feeling of controlling great weight as if it were light;

Sometimes he erupts suddenly, feeling the terrifying might where, under sixty‑four‑fold base ability, the edge of his fist seems to compress and pierce even the air.

He attempts to exert finer control over 'Ability Granting'.

With a slight thought, an intangible wave spreads outward from him as its center.

A row of standard‑issue sabres on the weapon rack beside the field trembles slightly, emitting a fine buzzing.

Along the blade, a faint sheen flickers indistinctly.

He is trying to bestow the faint multiplier effect upon these lifeless objects.

This is harder than granting it to living beings, and it consumes even more mental energy.

The sabre trembled for roughly three breaths, then returned to calm.

Chen Wen also beaded fine sweat on his forehead.

"Indeed not easy."

He murmured softly to himself, yet felt no discouragement.

This is merely a preliminary attempt.

He believes that as his mastery of power deepens and his understanding of the nature of Ability Granting advances, its scope of application will undoubtedly broaden.

Besides tempering his body, he spends more of his time on 'Silent Contemplation'.

It is not seated meditation and qi cultivation, but reflection, organization, and digestion.

Reviewing every detail of the Jinzhou decisive battle;

Organizing the gains and losses from the moment he began chopping wood in Jiao Tu Zhen all the way to now;

Digesting the insights brought by that decisive breakthrough.

He clearly feels that the intangible 'Growth Progress Bar' within him has already been reset.

New accumulation, in the diligent daily handling of governmental affairs, body tempering, and silent contemplation, advances slowly but firmly.

Although the next crucial breakthrough point (one hundred twenty‑eight‑fold) seems far off, he can sense that each effective accumulation makes his foundation more solid and deepens his understanding of his own power a bit more.

However, amidst this steady growth and sedimentation, there are always some discordant noises that quietly surface when his mind is most relaxed.

Those 'information fragments' from the faceless leader.

"Node."

"Deviation."

"Cleanup Agreement."

"Variable."

"End."

These cold, unfamiliar words, seemingly devoid of any emotional fluctuation, are like bone‑deep maggots, lodged in the depths of his consciousness.

They are incongruent with this world's cognition.

They seem unrelated to the dynastic hegemony and governing the people that he understands.

Yet they faintly point toward some unsettling truth.

He has tried to interpret them, tried to link these fragments to the Iron Crow Army he knows and their actions of maintaining the 'historical trajectory'.

"Variable" likely refers to his own existence that has deviated from their preset course.

"Cleanup Agreement" may be the Iron Crow Army's operational guideline for purging himself and any other possible "variables".

"Node" and "Deviation" may represent history's critical points, as well as his actions that cause those points to change.

These are still barely comprehensible.

But what about "End"?

What exactly is the "End" that the master of the Iron Crow Army madly screamed before his collapse?

Is it an ultimate destruction?

Or is it some… predetermined ending?

Whenever his thoughts reach this point, he feels an inexplicable irritability and… a chill.

It seems as if all his efforts and struggles, in the face of these cold words, could lose their meaning.

This cognitive impact consumes more mental energy than when he faces tens of thousands of troops.

It shakes some deep‑rooted beliefs, bringing profound confusion.

Who exactly am I?

And what, ultimately, is this world?

Those historical processes that appear random, driven by the will of countless people, could they really have been scripted in advance by some invisible force?

And I am merely a piece that has gone off track by accident?

He shook his head hard, forcibly suppressing those chaotic thoughts.

Cannot think deeply.

At least not now.

He knows that, given his current abilities and understanding, he absolutely cannot truly grasp the meaning these fragments represent.

Blindly probing deeper will only disturb his mind and may even invite immeasurable danger.

The vision of the Iron Crow Army's master suffering backlash for "deviation" remains vivid before his eyes.

He needs strength, needs to make Great Chen stronger.

Strong enough to face any unknown challenge, strong enough that even when facing the so-called "End," he still has a fighting chance.

He buried these fragments, these confusions, deep in his heart.

Just as he would handle the most classified state affairs, he set up layer upon layer of mental defenses.

For now, this is not a problem he needs to prioritize.

Consolidating strength, developing the dynasty, and responding to the immediate internal and external challenges—that is the urgent priority.

He refocused his attention on his own tempering.

The fist wind rose again, his figure like lightning.

Sweat flew, his muscles remembering a new limit of strength.

Growth, under the dual refinement of body and spirit, continues.

That reset progress bar, in a dimension unseen by anyone, meticulously records every bit of his effort and accumulation.

And the mist surrounding the truth remains thick.

But he knows that only by constantly moving forward and becoming stronger can he earn the right to dispel the mist.

Now, what he needs is time, patience, and to steadily walk each step before him.

The moonlight over the training field is cold and bright.

It reflects his calm and resolute figure, and also reflects the unseen waves and determination deep within his heart.