Chapter 19: Chapter 19: The Echo of Strong Luck
CLICK!
With a soft click, Fang Can pushed open the door and stepped inside.
He discreetly scanned the room. The furnishings were exactly as he’d left them, with nothing out of place.
But Fang Can’s gradually heightening intuition was screaming at him that a ferocious beast was hiding inside—the kind that could kill him in an instant.
Fang Can’s physical fitness was already more than three times that of an ordinary person. Only those with superpowers could exude such a threatening aura.
’I’ve been keeping a low profile since I got back. There’s no reason for someone with superpowers to come after me. And this method of concealment... it doesn’t seem like the government’s style. Which means...’
Connecting this to the pillar of fire he’d seen rising over the city earlier today, Fang Can understood. But then, another thought surfaced.
’Why would the defeated super-powered individual end up at my house of all places? Theoretically, in my Reversal of Fortune state, my luck should be far from this bad...’
In the Reversal of Fortune state, all of Fang Can’s hidden attributes were enhanced, including his luck.
He had been in this state multiple times today. With his current luck, that super-powered person should have ended up at anyone’s house but his. Unless... that person was carrying something of value...
Recalling the familiar oppressive aura and entertaining a certain suspicion, Fang Can pulled three one-hundred-yuan bills from his pocket, his expression unreadable.
Staring at the bills, he silently thought:
’Let’s test my luck. If they land heads up, my theory is correct. Tails, and I’m wrong.’
As he thought this, under the watchful gaze of the hidden presence, Fang Can tossed the bills into the air.
The notes fluttered through the air for a moment before all three landed face-up.
Seeing the result, Fang Can nodded as if it were only natural. He then tossed his backpack aside, not bothering to bend down and pick up the money, and began his martial arts practice.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He had to cherish every moment.
Since the surveillance from this unknown entity had triggered his genius state, he might as well use it to practice his Cultivation Technique a few more times.
And so, despite knowing someone was there, Fang Can acted as if he were alone. He assumed the opening stance of the sixty-six-move Tiger’s Hunger Fist Skill and began practicing, completely engrossed.
’Is there something wrong with this guy’s head?’ From the shadows, through a narrow crack in the wardrobe door, a pair of bright eyes watched the boy practice.
She could tell at a glance that he was a novice Martial Artist who had just achieved the Transcendent Body, but his every action was completely beyond her expectations.
First, he had paused abruptly upon entering, as if he’d noticed something was wrong, yet he still came inside.
Then he’d bizarrely tossed three banknotes, only to suddenly start practicing his martial arts. The three events were completely unrelated.
’His form is quite standard, though.’ Peering through the wooden wardrobe, Jiang Ning’an silently praised Fang Can’s movements.
Although the boy was quite old—eighteen and still hadn’t achieved the Transcendent Body—his dedication to the forms was evident in every single move.
Aside from two or three openings that appeared when he transitioned between moves, the rest of his performance was textbook perfect.
Meanwhile, Fang Can was thinking to himself:
’First, I’ll deliberately reveal a few flaws. If the person in the shadows is who I think she is, she’ll probably act like a wise senior and offer some pointers.’
’Then I can play along, give her an opening to save face, and everything after that will be much easier to handle.’
With this plan in mind, Fang Can forced his near-perfect movements to become flawed, deliberately giving the person in the shadows a chance to play the role of a senior.
Sure enough, as he finished the first run-through of the fist skill, a cool female voice came from behind him. "Your fist skill has seven flaws. They all stem from imperfect transitions between moves. You still need to polish them patiently."
Hearing her words, Fang Can paused his finishing move and turned, his expression calm, to face the uninvited guest.
As he turned, he saw a coolly detached young woman dressed in plain white, her hair cascading down her back. She was sitting upright on the sofa, watching him from a distance.
The woman’s lips were pressed into a thin line. She studied the young man before her with a scrutinizing gaze and frowned slightly. "You’re not surprised by my presence?"
Fang Can nodded lightly, relaxing a bit. The fact that she was willing to talk meant she wasn’t about to kill him outright. That meant he could try some of his more aggressive gambits.
"I knew someone was in the house the moment I got back."
"You were the one fighting those people with superpowers today, weren’t you."
"If I’m not mistaken, you arrived here about fourteen hours ago, right? Did you also come from the Great Derivation? Or the neighboring Great Zhou?"
Fang Can watched the young woman’s expression and concluded, "So it’s the Great Derivation."
Having her entire background exposed in just a few sentences by Fang Can, the woman’s expression immediately turned wary.
Her slender, pale fingers tightened around her longsword, ready to strike at any moment.
"Don’t worry, I’m not with the government. If I were, you never would have gotten away."
Seeing her reaction, Fang Can, looking anything but the weaker party, waved a hand to placate her.
"If you don’t want the authorities to find you, I’d advise you not to make a big scene. Because, unless something unexpected happens, we’re going to be living together for a considerable amount of time."
"We’re in the same boat. You saw the Cultivation Technique I just performed—it’s genuine Great Derivation stuff. If I get discovered, I won’t be able to escape either. So for now, you can rest assured that I won’t sell you out."
Jiang Ning’an stared intently at the expression on Fang Can’s face, pondering in silence for a long while before finally speaking:
"What’s the deal with those people outside? Where is this place? Why did I come here? What are these ’superpowers’? How can those people command the heavens when they haven’t even achieved a Transcendent Body?"
"That’s a lot of questions. One at a time, please." Fang Can frowned slightly. Explaining all this to someone who had never experienced modern society was going to be a bit of a hassle.
Moreover, he suspected that, like other Martial Artists he’d known, she might be completely illiterate, which would only make the explanation more difficult.
"To put it simply, you can think of this as another world, separate from the Great Derivation. The concept of martial arts doesn’t exist here. There are only ’super-powered individuals,’ born as divine beings with the ability to control elements from birth."
Jiang Ning’an murmured thoughtfully, recalling the people she had encountered at noon, and nodded in agreement with Fang Can’s explanation.
"As for why you came here, I don’t know either. I myself suddenly arrived in the Great Derivation seven days ago, and only after seven days of martial arts training did I..."
"You’re lying!" Before Fang Can could finish, the sharp edge of Jiang Ning’an’s sword was already pressed against his neck.
"With your level of martial skill, it’s impossible that you only arrived in the Great Derivation seven days ago. That can only mean you’re lying."
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