Chapter 35: Chapter 35: [Heart Image · Martial Soul Avatar · Cosplay · Superman Punch]
Arrogant! Utterly arrogant!
Faced with Fang Can’s confident taunts, the surrounding disciples were absolutely livid.
Every one of them had painstakingly dedicated years to the Martial Dao, training through the harshest winters and most scorching summers. How could they possibly lack a warrior’s spirit?
After witnessing the last three fights, it was especially clear to them that Fang Can’s raw strength might not have even reached the Profound Gate First Layer.
Combat could be broken down into three dimensions: mechanics, stats, and execution.
Yet, their opponent had won three consecutive battles, relying entirely on his superior technique to scrape by. None of them could ever hope to replicate such a feat.
"I refuse to believe it!"
A furious shout erupted from the crowd. A fierce-looking young man with a silver spear stepped forward, his eyes filled with indignation.
"This is my Liaoyuan Spear Skill. I ask for your guidance, Junior Brother." The young man assumed a fighting stance, his long spear angled downwards, his gaze so sharp it seemed capable of piercing through anything.
But his impressive display didn’t last long. A dozen or so breaths later, Fang Can executed a Dragon King’s Rupture into a Fury of the Raging Tides, using his own spear to lift the young man off his feet and sweep him out of the ring.
With that, he had proven his supreme skill with the spear.
But it was far from over. After the spear wielder’s defeat came challengers with nunchaku, dual blades, broadswords, katanas, gauntlets...
Disciple after disciple came up to challenge him, but not a single one could last for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn.
And every single one of them was defeated by Fang Can—in his seemingly frail body—using their own weapon, their own techniques, but with far more skillful execution.
Every dozen or so breaths, another disciple was sent flying, only for the next challenger to take their place.
Because Fang Can was holding back, the defeated disciples were left with little more than sore bodies, a fact that only further stoked their competitive fire.
Fists, kicks, palms, sabers, spears...
Swords, halberds, staffs, clubs, hooks...
After more than twenty consecutive Martial Artists were knocked off the stage, they all stared at the perfectly composed Fang Can in the center of the crowd, and a question began to form in their minds:
’Does this guy ever get tired? How is he not tired? WHY isn’t he tired?!’
After defeating over twenty people in a row, Fang Can hadn’t even broken a sweat, and his breathing remained steady. It completely defied their understanding.
After all, while Martial Artists had great stamina, combat consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
The high-intensity fighting, with dozens of clashes every few seconds, meant their endurance wasn’t much better than that of an ordinary person.
But Fang Can was different. His Great Sun Undying Demon Body made any place touched by the scorching sun his domain.
Sunlight restored his stamina and strengthened his body, allowing him to fight all day long, just like Captain America.
Standing in the center of the crowd, Fang Can waited quietly for a moment. When no one else stepped forward, he sighed. "Senior Brothers, I’ll say it again: you’re welcome to attack me all at once."
"If one-on-one doesn’t work, try a group assault. If a group assault doesn’t work, try a sneak attack. If that fails, you could always try poison..."
Provoked by Fang Can’s arrogance, someone finally snapped. "Fang Can, don’t be so damn cocky! Do you really think beating us one-on-one means you can take us all on at once?"
"I’m telling you, with this many people here, it doesn’t matter how good your technique is! There’s no way you can defeat all of us before you run out of energy."
"Senior Brother Li is right! Let’s go together and teach him a lesson! There’s no way he can take all of us down by himself!"
Faced with the incensed crowd, Fang Can shook his head inwardly, sighing. ’The moment you start talking like a loser, you’ve already lost half the battle.’
Finally, Fang Can’s arrogant attitude thoroughly enraged everyone. It’s unclear who yelled it first, but a voice roared, "Beat the hell out of him!"
WHOOSH! The crowd in the training grounds surged toward Fang Can like a tidal wave, threatening to drown him.
But Fang Can’s heart remained serene, without a trace of joy or sorrow. The teachings of Jiang Ning’an surfaced in his mind.
...
In the villa several days prior, watching Fang Can use his Heart Image in a crude and brutish manner, Jiang Ning’an couldn’t help but offer some guidance.
"This fighting style of yours is far too crude. You aren’t even bringing out one ten-thousandth of the Heart Image’s true power."
"Oh? Please, enlighten me, Elder Jiang," Fang Can asked, his curiosity piqued.
"A Heart Image is the material manifestation of your will. But aside from influencing the hearts and minds of others, it cannot so much as lift a single grain of sand."
"Before one walks the Heaven-Ascending Road, the physical disparity between Martial Artists isn’t that pronounced. In most cases, a Martial Artist at the Profound Gate Ninth Layer is merely nine times stronger than one at the Profound Gate First Layer."
"When facing a massive number of opponents, in theory, two well-coordinated Eighth Layer Martial Artists could entrap and kill one at the Ninth Layer. If dozens of Fourth or Fifth Layer Martial Artists attack together, even a Ninth Layer expert would have to temporarily retreat."
"But that’s only if they aren’t using their Heart Image. A Heart Image is an extension of the body itself. While it can’t move a grain of sand, it can strike terror into the hearts of men."
"You can’t just crudely project it outward. You must treat the Heart Image as an extension of your own limbs, using your techniques to unify body and mind."
"Before you throw a punch, you must first construct an image of the devastation it will cause. Unleash the greatest destructive force you can possibly imagine, and the world itself will part before you."
Listening to Jiang Ning’an’s earnest instruction, Fang Can nodded thoughtfully and committed his words to memory.
「Two days later.」
Watching the hundreds of disciples swarm him like a zombie horde, intent on breaking his limbs, Fang Can’s expression turned grim. He took a sharp, deep breath.
A powerful current of air, almost visible to the naked eye, was sucked into his lungs. His body, tempered like refined steel, finally began to move.
He used no weapon. Instead, he slowly raised his right fist. In that moment, the disciples thought they could faintly see a towering, majestic figure materializing behind him.
"That’s a Heart Image!" In the distance, Yang Lie, who had been watching the spectacle while remaining ready to intervene, felt his hands tremble violently. The wine gourd he’d been gripping tightly slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
He had trained bitterly for more than a decade, stuck at the Profound Gate Fifth Layer without any progress, yet he was now witnessing the very Heart Image he’d failed to grasp on a young man who hadn’t even reached the First Layer.
At that moment, within a ten-meter radius of Fang Can, everyone could vaguely perceive a magnificent figure, a projection of Fang Can’s own mind upon theirs.
It was a man with short black hair, dressed in a tight, deep blue suit with a red cape flowing behind him. Emblazoned on his chest was the letter ’S’.
Though the attire was different, the face they saw was unmistakably Fang Can’s.
The man’s powerful arms, sculpted like a statue from Ancient Greece, were raised high just like Fang Can’s. His gaze shone with a benevolent light, as if he were a god looking upon mortals.
As everyone knows, the longer the name of a martial technique, the more powerful it must be.
Therefore!
Of all the martial arts in existence, this is—
[Heart Image: Martial Soul Embodiment: Cosplay: Superman Punch!]
In that instant, the right fist of Fang Can’s Heart Image embodiment came down. To everyone watching, it was like a volcano erupting as a massive cloud of dust and earth was thrown into the air.
In a single moment, a crater several meters wide was blasted into the hard stone pavers. A violent dust storm erupted, swirling like a tornado and sweeping every single person off their feet, sending them flying backward.
The Tornado, sweeping through them like a storm scattering clouds, tore at their flesh like a meat grinder.
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