Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Correct Way to Package Yourself
"Me?"
Fang Can pointed to himself.
"Of course. That is, if you’ve truly never practiced martial arts before."
Li Fengtian sized up Fang Can, his gaze like that of a master artisan appraising a piece of uncut jade.
He had witnessed most of Fang Can’s fight. To be able to take down five armed men with his bare hands, unscathed, while outnumbered five to one... this was the mark of a martial arts prodigy, one in a million.
"Martial arts? Does regular fitness count?" Fang Can raised an arm and flexed his bicep.
He did a certain amount of anaerobic exercise every day to keep his body fat percentage down and stay in shape.
But this gesture immediately drew a scornful laugh from Li Fengtian.
Not enough strength to lift a cauldron, not enough power to crush a skull. A body this weak couldn’t even compare to the low-level thugs in his sect who had only trained for a year or so.
"What I mean is, your movements were impeccable. The timing and rhythm of your power generation... they don’t quite match your physique," Li Fengtian said.
He was just holding back from saying, ’These moves aren’t something a scrawny weakling like you could pull off.’
"Techniques?" Fang Can said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Isn’t technique something you just grasp by looking at it? It’s as simple as a bird knowing how to fly or an apple falling when it’s ripe."
’Hah, what an arrogant brat.’ Li Fengtian was amused. A desire to cherish this talent sprouted in his heart.
Suddenly, without any warning, his right fist shot out like a cannonball, smashing toward Fang Can’s forehead.
He wanted to test him, to see if Fang Can was truly the genius he claimed to be.
The air around them seemed to solidify. Li Fengtian’s fist was so fast it created a wall of heavy resistance in the air.
The speed and power of this punch were enough to embed his entire fist in a steel plate.
If it landed, Fang Can’s head would explode like a watermelon.
But in the next moment, his fist stopped dead, just inches from Fang Can’s forehead. The force of the punch swept Fang Can’s bangs backward.
Li Fengtian looked at the young man, who stood as still as a mountain and hadn’t even blinked. He couldn’t help but ask, "Kid, why didn’t you dodge?"
Fang Can said calmly, "Because you weren’t going to kill me."
Li Fengtian couldn’t fathom the kid’s train of thought. He really didn’t even try to dodge. "Where do you get this courage? You really think I wouldn’t kill you?"
"Because I’m a genius!"
Fang Can stated it as a matter of fact. "You’ve obviously taken a liking to my talent. You wouldn’t kill me so casually."
After saying this, Fang Can didn’t even spare him another glance. He turned around and started looting the bodies of the five thugs he had knocked out, while also swapping into one of their outfits.
Watching the kid casually "looting gear" as if he were at home, Li Fengtian couldn’t help but laugh.
As an unconscious smile tugged at his lips, he thought to himself that this fellow was indeed perfect material for a gang.
It was just that his age was a bit of a concern; he had missed the optimal window for starting martial arts training.
If he started training at eighteen or nineteen, by the time he was skilled enough to be useful in a real fight, he’d be at least twenty-five.
Of course, Fang Can wasn’t as fearless as Li Fengtian thought. He had simply deduced the man’s intentions by observing his micro-expressions and behavior.
As for where a high school student learned to read micro-expressions?
From TV shows, of course. It’s not like he learned it in Hawaii.
Right now, Fang Can was still under the effect of his buff. His brain was operating like a computer, allowing him to access all his previous knowledge at will.
Although his knowledge of expression analysis was somewhat superficial due to a lack of in-depth study, these skills were more than enough to use on these ancient natives.
This guy was clearly not someone to be trifled with. Based solely on that punch, which was too fast to see, Fang Can judged him to be on par with a "County-level" super-powered individual from his previous world.
A person of that caliber wouldn’t even bother to hide his thoughts from a scrawny weakling like Fang Can, who had potential but no real power. It was easy to read him.
And most importantly, his Reversal of Fortune ability hadn’t fully activated, which clearly meant the man had no killing intent.
’This guy mentioned martial arts... Does that mean in this world, one can achieve the same level of destructive power as the super-powered individuals from my previous world, just through specific, repetitive physical training like martial arts?’
As Fang Can rummaged through the items, his heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster. He felt a sliver of longing for that possibility.
After all, back in his old world, awakening superpowers was entirely a matter of luck. There was no telling what kind of ability you would randomly get.
With his original superpower, he could have easily registered for and obtained a "City-level" position, which would have granted him a considerable degree of social status.
But because his ability was uncontrollable, he had always suppressed it and pretended to be an ordinary person.
But now, an opportunity presented itself: this world offered a path to superhuman levels through training. Who wouldn’t be dizzy with excitement at that prospect?
With these thoughts in mind, Fang Can had already finished looting everything of value from the men.
It only amounted to a few coins that looked like copper plates. They were bottom-rung thugs, after all, and didn’t have many valuables.
Fang Can picked out the cleanest set of clothes from the five men and put it on. Cradling his discarded pajamas, he looked at Li Fengtian and said, "Alright, let’s go."
"Go where?" Li Fengtian was clearly taken aback.
"To the Tiger Slaughter Sect you mentioned, of course. Where else?"
Seeing how quickly Fang Can made himself at home, Li Fengtian found himself inexplicably pleased by the fellow and burst out laughing.
"You kid... Hahaha, good, good! Just follow me. From now on, you are a Disciple of my Tiger Slaughter Sect."
"What about these guys? Should we take care of them? To stop them from reporting this to the authorities?"
Fang Can pointed to the unconscious thugs on the ground and made a throat-slitting gesture.
He had been wondering whether he should eliminate them to get rid of the problem at its root. But he wasn’t exactly a cold-blooded killer, so he hesitated.
He was about to decide with a coin toss, but then Li Fengtian showed up.
Li Fengtian said proudly:
"Just as I thought, a kid from out of town. Don’t worry about trash like them. You’re with the Tiger Slaughter Sect now. Here in Yanggu County, no official would dare step into the Tiger Slaughter Sect to demand a person."
As he spoke, he turned and strode out of the alley without looking back. Watching his retreating figure, Fang Can quickly picked up his pace to follow.
Outside the cold, dark alley, the warm morning sun shone on their faces. Fang Can squinted slightly, enjoying his first sunbath since arriving in this Otherworld.
With the crisis completely resolved, the effect of his Reversal of Fortune ability faded completely, leaving behind only the soreness of overexerted muscles.
"Kid, I still don’t know your name, or where you’re from. The Tiger Slaughter Sect doesn’t support freeloaders. What can you do?"
Outside the alley, Li Fengtian glanced sideways at Fang Can’s short hair and asked.
He figured the boy was probably a young monk who had returned to secular life somewhere amidst the chaos of war.
As for his clothes, which were completely out of place, he didn’t know where they came from and didn’t care to ask.
Hearing what sounded like a manager from his new "company" conducting an in-person interview, Fang Can snapped back to reality and began to pitch himself:
"My name is Fang Can. I was an avid scholar in my youth, having studied diligently for over ten years under the guidance of dozens of renowned teachers. I read for at least eight hours a day, and my studies are vast and wide-ranging."
"Reading for eight hours a day?"
Hearing this, Li Fengtian couldn’t help but stop, a look of astonishment on his face. In this day and age, anyone who could afford to study had to come from a well-off family.
To be able to study full-time without working... if that were true, he had to be the scion of a prominent family, at the very least. So how did he end up in such a state?
Thinking this, Li Fengtian asked with a hint of suspicion, "What books have you read? What field have you studied?"
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