Chapter 49: Weapons Permit
Wei Changan sent Chen Chuan back to the residential area for the constables’ families. When Chen Chuan was about to get out of the car, he asked, “By the way, I forgot to ask: Who’s your mentor?”
“Cheng Zitong.”
“Cheng Zitong? Him?” Wei Changan had a strange look on his face.
“What’s wrong? You don’t think he’s a good mentor?”
Wei Changan shook his head rapidly. “Since the university assigned him as your mentor, that means that he’s a good match for you. I just wasn’t expecting him to mentor anyone. I always thought that he was just the vice director of the Logistics Department.
“But that’s pretty good. It means that you will never be lacking training resources. This is the vice director of the Logistics Department we’re talking about! I might end up having to ask you for stuff later. Anyway, I’m off.”
He waved goodbye to Chen Chuan before starting the engine and heading away.
Chen Chuan went into an alley and soon reached home. Since he had called ahead, Yu Wan was waiting for him. She was delighted to see him back home so early and immediately started fussing over him in concern. In order to ease her worries, Chen Chuan chose to only tell her about the good things that happened in the university.
Since Yu Wan had something cooking over the stove, she went into the kitchen to continue. As for Nian Fuli, he still had some matters to take care of in the Constabulary. His holidays were not fixed, so he could only come back at night. Chen Chuan went to the living room and called Ding Jiao. After talking to him for a while, he played with his cousins until noon, then had lunch with his family.
In the afternoon, he decided to visit the Domain of Fists and deliver the medicine to Lu Ke. He told Yu Wan about it and left.
On the way, he stopped to visit Wei Dong, but he was not around. Since it was a holiday, he asked Wei Dong’s neighbors about where he was, only to learn that he had been moving his stuff out of his place recently. Chen Chuan laughed and did not stay any longer. He headed straight to the Domain of Fists.
When he walked out of the alley, he saw a group of children practicing martial arts on the field. Lu Ke was teaching them patiently while occasionally going over to correct their stances. While the children were still young, they executed each move with methodical precision.
Chen Chuan smiled at that. “Lu Ke.”
Lu Ke turned around, and his face lit up in joy. “Chen Chuan?”
He settled the children around him and ran over to give Chen Chuan a high-five. “What brought you here?”
“I have a break today, so I decided to visit you and Mr. Yu,” Chen Chuan answered with a smile.
Lu Ke scratched his head. “You’re out of luck. Master Yu went out. He has some business to deal with these few days, so I don’t know when he’ll be back.
“By the way, you’ve been studying at Martial Valor University for a few days now. How is it? What’s it like studying there?”
“How should I put this? Some parts are exactly like I expected them to be, but some parts are different. I did manage to learn some things, though. Let’s find some time to talk about this in detail later,” Chen Chuan answered.
“I’m so jealous of you for being able to study there.”
Chen Chuan gestured at the children. “Who are they?”
“They’re children of the members from the Chain Links Gang. Mr. Qi sent them over to learn martial arts. The guy who fought against you last time also asked about you, but I didn’t tell him anything.”
Chen Chuan removed his bag and took out the First Training Powder from it. “I bought this for you at Martial Valor University.”
“You remembered it?” Lu Ke asked bashfully.
“I used your stuff, so of course I have to give it back. By the way, I was told that this one is really strong. Apparently, this is two people’s worth. Don’t use too much of it in one go,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.
“Got it. Thanks, Chen Chuan,” Lu Ke said.
Chen Chuan noticed two men coming out from within the building. They observed him, seemingly wary, but when they saw him laughing and chatting with Lu Ke, they returned inside.
“They’re from the Chain Links Gang and are in charge of dropping the kids here and picking them up later. By the way, let me finish teaching the kids. Wait a minute,” he apologized to Chen Chuan and went back to teach the children for around ten more minutes before he let them have some free time.
"Come on, let’s head upstairs and talk," he said when he returned.
They went to the roof, and Lu Ke popped open a soda bottle. He poured two glasses and immediately began asking about Martial Valor University.
Chen Chuan gave him a general idea of the university’s environment but did not tell him much about his training. After hearing about it, Lu Ke’s eyes filled with longing. He was eager for every detail but paid special attention to Spring-Autumn Lake.
“We only have groundwater at Smoked Hills, no lakes, not even streams. The water also isn’t nice. It’s bitter and has an indescribable, strange taste.”
He did not seem to want to talk about Smoked Hills, since he stopped after describing it a little. Instead, he asked, “Are you still practicing the throwing art I taught you?”
“I practice it when I’m free, but it’s not easy to do while in the university. Still, it’s really useful, so I’ll certainly keep at it,” Chen Chuan answered.
If he had not had the throwing art, he would not have been able to defeat Zhai Wu in Big Guo’s place, much less capture Qiu Huzi. Besides, the old Chen Chuan had died from a stone throw, so he wanted to understand more about this art.
Chen Chuan stayed at the Domain of Fists until past 4 p.m., then bade farewell to Lu Ke and went back. While he was passing by the residential area in the alley, he looked up at a certain balcony, but still found no one there. He had a feeling that he was going to run into Wei Dong in the university sooner or later, so he did not mind it.
At night, Nian Fuli came back from work, so all the family aside from Nian Qian were home. While they were having dinner, Chen Chuan told Nian Fuli about his university life and Wei Changan.
“At least Wei Laohu has a good son,” Nian Fuli huffed.
After some careful consideration, Chen Chuan decided not to ask about the mop. In any case, that was between Nian Fuli and Wei Laohu, so he should not stick his nose into it.
Chen Chuan slept at home that night. The next morning, he washed up and returned to the university. It was only a little past 7 a.m., so Chen Chuan went to his training room until Cheng Zitong’s arrival.
Once he grasped the basics of the Respiration Node Breathing Technique, each of his punches and kicks contained a lot more power. He could also control his movements with greater ease.
He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the mutated fascia was a great help to him, but at the same time, it was also growing faster. If he did not keep them in check, they were going to become dangerous soon. It was necessary to master refined force as soon as possible.
When it was almost 8 a.m., he heard knocking and went over to open the door. Just as he expected, it was Cheng Zitong. He greeted him and let him in.
Cheng Zitong went inside and sat down on the sofa. “Let me share something with you first.”
He took out some papers from his briefcase. “The screening test for the weapons permit is about to start. Since there is only a limited number of slots, strict rules are placed on who can apply for it.
“First, you must have gone on at least three important dispatch missions and received outstanding results. Second, the minimum requirement for application is to have mastered refined force. Augmented force and subtle force also count.”
His expression became stern. “The weapons permit test is tied to the mid-term and end-of-term exams. If you get the permit, you won’t have to sit through them, but if you fail, you will be demoted to a second-class student. There are also some additional requirements for taking the test. They’re written on the papers. Decide for yourself whether you want to take it.”
Chen Chuan took the papers and looked through them before asking, “What are your thoughts on this, Mr. Cheng?”
“I don’t want to decide for you, but I can lay things out for you. Here’s my thoughts on it: this permit is really, absolutely, unquestionably indispensable to you! If I were you, I’d do everything in my power to get it!” Cheng Zitong said.
Since you stressed its importance like that, then it must truly be important. Chen Chuan nodded inwardly.
Cheng Zitong continued, “Since this is a screening test that only happens once every two years, you only get one chance to take it. You can’t take the test during your senior year. If you don’t do it now, you’ll have to slowly accumulate evaluation points through dispatch missions.
“If you’re successful in all of them, you will be able to get the weapons permit in around two years or so. But if you get the weapons permit now, you’ll be able to use the evaluation points from the dispatch mission to get an armor permit. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Chen Chuan agreed with that. The papers had the same information that Wei Changan had told him. With the permit, he could carry a weapon wherever he went in the future, and it could be used globally.
He could already imagine how impactful it would be to have a weapon during dispatch missions. The difference between carrying a weapon and not was like night and day. Besides, if a client saw that he had a weapons permit, they would prioritize him over others, and he could get more dispatch missions, which would thereby increase his success rate, and get him even more missions.
The people who got the weapons permit would be able to leave their cohort and even some upperclassmen in the dust, so Chen Chuan could not miss this chance.
He looked up and said seriously, “Mr. Cheng, I’ll try to get the weapons permit.”