Chapter 3: Past and Present Are Both Me

Words : 2533 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 3 of "Atlas of Heaven and Earth" opens with: Although Shan Xiong had a poor character, his year at the Wuyi Academy was not... Find out what happens!

Although Shan Xiong had a poor character, his year at the Wuyi Academy was not spent in vain. This kick was concealed and swift, landing solidly on Chen Chuan's ear before anyone could react. Seeing this, the teaching assistants were ready to have someone carry him away. If this kick had landed solidly, not to mention an ordinary examinee who had never been trained, even a Wuyi Academy student who had undergone strict anti-beating training would be knocked to the ground, and in severe cases, it could be fatal. However, what happened next was quite unexpected. Although Chen Chuan was kicked, his head merely tilted to the side, and his foot only stepped out half a step. Then he slowly turned his head back and stood straight again. In a place no one could see, at the moment he was kicked, the head of the boy who looked exactly like him blurred slightly. Shan Xiong was stunned for a moment. He knew how heavy his kick was, but Chen Chuan's eyes were clear, and it seemed like nothing had happened to him. Sitting in the middle of the long table was a middle-aged teacher with thick arms, whose muscles almost burst through his shirt. He had been silent, but suddenly spoke up: "Name?" "Ah? Oh!" The teaching assistant next to him snapped back to reality, picked up the list on the table, looked at it, and said, "Chen Chuan." "What's his background?" "Local from Yangzhi City, just graduated from junior high school, no record of joining a boxing club or receiving training..." The teacher looked at Chen Chuan and said, "Got it." Sёarch* The nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Shan Xiong failed to knock Chen Chuan down with his kick, but he heard the whispers and light laughter around the training ground. He felt that these people were mocking him, and his blood boiled. With a fierce roar, he turned around and delivered a powerful spinning back kick! Chen Chuan was not one to take a beating without fighting back, nor was he intimidated by the fact that his opponent was a Wuyi Academy student. He also kicked back at Shan Xiong without any sign of weakness! This move was somewhat similar to Shan Xiong's whip kick, but anyone could see that it was a simple imitation. Due to the lack of standard posture in exerting force, the speed and power were insufficient. Both of them kicked almost simultaneously, but the teaching assistants and students watching had no doubt that Chen Chuan would be the first to be hit! The result was as they expected. Shan Xiong's kick landed on Chen Chuan's head first, but the outcome was the same as last time. Chen Chuan was not knocked down, and this time, he didn't even sway.As for Chen Chuan's kick, it landed on Shan Xiong's neck at the same time! Almost simultaneously, the phantom figure behind him suddenly moved to the position where he was standing, and the two figures overlapped in an instant! At this moment, his speed and strength suddenly increased dramatically! Bang! A dull sound exploded on the training ground, and there was even a slight echo, which could be imagined how powerful this kick was. Shan Xiong's eyes lost focus, and his body fell to one side, then with a thud, he lay sprawled on the ground. Liu Cai's mouth was slightly open, looking at this scene in disbelief. The other students present were also stunned, their minds a bit confused, what was going on? Shan Xiong was a second-year student at Wuyi Academy, and he was actually knocked out by a candidate who obviously hadn't practiced much? And then, they all gloated, Shan Xiong was a troublemaker in the academy, and he wasn't popular, this time seeing him embarrassed and humiliated made them cheer inwardly. The teacher sitting in the middle of the long table took the application form from the teaching assistant, picked up a pen, quickly signed it, and stamped it, saying: "This student has passed." Chen Chuan heard this and couldn't help but look at the teacher, wanting to confirm if it was about him. The middle-aged teacher said: "Student, your ability to withstand hits is good, I am lecturer Bian Feng, you have now passed the assessment. But I remind you, you have only passed the entrance exam, but whether you can stand firm in Wuyi will depend on the entrance re-examination more than two months later." Chen Chuan showed a happy smile and bowed to Bian Feng: "Thank you, teacher!" "Clap clap..." The surrounding teaching assistants and students then lightly clapped their hands, such an interesting exam was really rare, they were looking forward to the performance of this student, and they also remembered the name of this student, as for Shan Xiong lying on the side still dazed, it seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally ignored. When Chen Chuan walked out of the training ground, facing the dazzling sunlight outside, looking at the road extending from under his feet, a surge of excitement and joy welled up in his heart. "Student Chen Chuan." A crisp voice came from behind. Chen Chuan turned his head to see that it was the senior female student he had seen when filling out the form calling him, he politely walked over and asked: "Senior, is there something?" The female student walked over, generously extended her hand, "Student Chen, congratulations on passing the exam, formally meet, my name is Zhen Ping, currently a second-year student at Wuyi."Chen Chuan also extended his hand and shook hers, "Chen Chuan, hello senior." He noticed that Zhen Ping's hand was very soft and smooth, without any calluses. He could feel a certain resilience beneath the skin, giving him the illusion that if she just tightened her fingers, she could crush his hand. Zhen Ping said, "Student Chen, you need to be careful. Shan Xiong is very petty and knows some unsavory people outside. Although there are academy rules to restrain him within the campus, outside is a different story. So, be careful yourself." Chen Chuan thought for a moment, realizing Shan Xiong must be the name of the tall student from earlier. He didn't understand why this person had targeted him, as if they had some grudge. However, many things in the world don't need a reason, as there are plenty of people who cause trouble just because they don't like someone. He sincerely thanked her, "Thank you, senior. I will be careful..." "Zhen Zhen!" As they were speaking, a girl not far away waved towards them. Zhen Ping also waved back and then said, "Student Chen, I hope you can successfully enter the academy. Work hard, goodbye." After saying this, she waved at Chen Chuan and then ran off lightly. Chen Chuan also said goodbye. He stood for a moment before turning and leaving the old teaching building. This time, he didn't take the original path but followed the signs to take another route, avoiding the flow of people still coming to apply. When he arrived at the bicycle shed to get his bike, he found many flyers stuffed on the rear rack. Taking them out, he saw they were advertisements for various boxing clubs, arenas, and training gyms. After thinking about it, he decided not to throw them away but folded them simply and stuffed them into his bag. Then, he pushed his bike out of the school gate with light steps, got on the main road, mounted his bike, and pedaled home. On the way, he was also thinking that Wuyi Academy provides free accommodation and meals for official students, which would temporarily solve his food and lodging problems after moving out from his aunt's family. And as long as he achieves sufficiently excellent grades, part of the tuition could be waived, and he might even get a scholarship. The latter was uncertain, but he was confident about the former because... He looked towards the street corner ahead, where the figure identical to him stood, silently staring back at him. And after going out a few dozen meters, at the next intersection, the figure appeared again not far away, as if it was a ghost he couldn't shake off.But to let him speak for himself, apart from the lack of self-awareness, this figure seems like another self of his located in the illusory, so he named it "Second Self'. "Second Self" appeared along with him when he occupied this body. Interestingly, his original name was also Chen Chuan, and apart from age and experiences, their appearances were almost identical. Therefore, he speculated that the emergence of "Second Self" was likely caused by the connection being opened between "parallel selves" or "selves from different worlds'. "Second Self" can, according to his needs, actively or passively take over part or all of the pain he suffers. Therefore, Shan Xiong's kick earlier was not ineffective; it was just that "Second Self" bore it. Under normal circumstances, "Second Self" and he are separate from each other, but once they overlap, his strength, reaction speed, endurance, etc., will greatly increase, as if at that moment, there really was another "self" overlapping with him. However, he believes that if "Second Self" is indeed himself, then all of this is quite reasonable, because whether it's bearing damage or exerting force, in the end, isn't it still him? It is precisely because of the existence of "Second Self" that, even though he has never undergone combat training, he still has some confidence to apply for Wuda[-]. But "Second Self" also has undeniable flaws. First, it cannot be used without limits. Currently, the maximum time he and "Second Self" can overlap each day does not exceed thirty seconds. Of course, he can split the time for use, but once the total time limit is exceeded, the power of "Second Self" can no longer be borrowed. Another thing is, although "Second Self" can bear damage for him, it also has a bearing limit. Once the limit is exceeded, it will need time to slowly recover. The manifestation of bearing damage is usually a partial appearance of a virtual state. If the damage reaches an unbearable level, it will disappear like dispersing mist and will reappear only after two to three days. Based on his previous experience, after taking such heavy kicks today, it might require... Huh? He suddenly noticed that there were no signs of virtualization on "Second Self', and the damage suffered this time seemed to have already recovered, and the connection with himself seemed to have become closer? In his surprise, he thought back and a guess emerged in his heart. Could it be that the reason was because he knocked down Shan Xiong just now? No, it's not the act of knocking down the opponent itself, but the pleasure and satisfaction he felt after knocking down Shan Xiong. And satisfying him was equivalent to satisfying "Second Self'. This kind of spiritual resonance further deepened the connection between them, bringing "Second Self" a step closer to reality.The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was true. It seems that the overlapping time limit between the two might also increase, which he could try after returning home. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel invigorated, and the speed of his pedaling increased. The way back was very smooth, and he arrived home in less than half an hour. At this time, there was no one in the house. Yu Wan should have taken his cousins to the nursery of the patrol bureau. He washed his face outside, tidied up a bit, and then returned to his room, hung up his satchel, changed out of his outer clothes, sat on the edge of the bed, took an alarm clock, checked the time, closed his eyes to overlap with Second Self, and tried to count. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at the alarm clock, his gaze revealing joy and excitement. As he guessed, the overlapping time with "Second Self" had increased, roughly by twelve seconds more than before, which was a significant improvement. But is it just about defeating an opponent to increase the time? Thinking carefully, it might also be because Shan Xiong was much stronger than him. If he defeated an opponent of the same level, perhaps he wouldn't gain as much pleasure, and thus not improve as much. Of course, whether this is really the case can be verified slowly in the future. He calmed his emotions, went outside to pour a glass of water, drank a few sips, put it down, rolled up his shirt sleeves, bent down to feel around, and pulled out a brown leather suitcase from under the bed. He carried the suitcase to the table, dialed the correct combination, pressed the lock, and slowly opened it. Inside were several notebooks, pages clipped with various contracts, a stack of wrapped photos, and a black metal card similar to an invitation. He picked up the metal card. The things in the suitcase were left by his parents in his previous life, and he originally didn't know what this thing was. But today, after going to Wuda[-], he found that it looked very similar to the "recommendation certificate" he had seen for admission, except the color was somewhat different. In that case, should he take it out? After all, there is still an admission re-examination coming up, which is as important as the entrance exam, and besides being exempt from the exam, the "recommendation certificate" might have other benefits? But after thinking about it again, he decided to wait. Because his uncle's family was very secretive about the cause of his parents' death, while it might bring convenience, it could also bring trouble. Moreover, this recommendation certificate is black, not the silver he had seen before, possibly serving another purpose. If he really needs to use it, he should first understand the specific situation. He had to be careful because this world is not as safe as it appears on the surface.He put down the metal card and fished out a smooth, glossy pebble from the bottom of the suitcase, looking at it with a deep gaze. His previous life's parents had an old house in the suburbs. On the day he went back to organize things, on his way back, he saw a blue luxury car pass by, and then he lost consciousness. Afterwards, he could confirm that his previous self was precisely hit in the heart by this tiny pebble, dying on the spot. When he woke up again, it was him who had taken over the body, and "Second Self" appeared at that time. But who was the murderer, and why did they target his previous self? "Ring ring ring..." Just as he was pondering, the telephone in the living room suddenly rang. ... ...

Chapter 3: Past and Present Are Both Me

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