Chapter 38: Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law

Inside the Tiger Fiend Sect, Fang Can followed behind the man, hurrying toward where the Sect Master was, while secretly studying the figure ahead of him.

He could only say the man lived up to being the Tiger Fiend Sect Master's bodyguard—the impression he gave Fang Can was at least the level of the seventh or eighth layer of the Mystic Gate.

As for that Sect Master, according to the disciples, he had reached the path's realm of Ascending Heaven, already a man among the immortals, not to be spoken of in the same breath as the Tui Fan Qu Body.

The whole way passed in silence as the two rushed through the sect.

And those along the way who saw Fang Can's back—the disciples of the Martial Practice Hall who had just been beaten—looked at one another wordlessly, the man's words from this morning echoing in their minds.

"Right now is the closest the gap between you and me will ever be."

"It's also the moment when your odds of defeating me are at their highest."

"Miss this chance, and from today on, all you can do is gaze up at my back and struggle forward along the steps I have already trod."

Thinking of this, though the disciples were full of unwillingness, they also knew clearly that those words were not wrong.

……

Stopping before a residence of red walls and green tiles, Fang Can saw three experts of the same seventh or eighth layer of the Mystic Gate standing guard at the gate, and understood in his heart that this was probably the so-called Sect Master's office.

"Go on in, the Sect Master is waiting for you inside." The leading man spoke, then stood guard at the gate with the other three, clearly intending to let only Fang Can enter.

With a slight nod, Fang Can slowly walked in under the gaze of the four men, and behind him the great gate slammed shut with a bang.

'Why does this feel like a Hongmen Banquet?'

Fang Can muttered to himself, ignoring the carefully tended exotic flowers and rare plants on either side, and walked toward the pavilion at the very back through terraces and towers.

Pushing open the great door, what greeted him face-to-face was a towering figure two meters and two centimeters tall.

Since arriving in this world, every martial artist Fang Can had seen was bigger than the last, their builds even more absurd—everyone a Schwarzenegger.

And as the great door was pushed open, the big fellow turned around, stared at the newcomer, and said: "You're Fang Can?"

Seeing Fang Can nod, the big fellow finally let slip: "Too skinny and weak."

Fang Can:???

The big fellow said coolly: "Skinny arms, skinny legs—far too different from what I had in mind. How could you fight and kill enemies in the martial path like that?"

Looking at the dumbfounded Fang Can, the tall, sturdy man explained: "In the Tui Fan Qu Body realm, flesh and blood are power. At the same first layer of the Mystic Gate, a heavy body fighting a light one—the former can take on at least three of the latter."

Fang Can understood the theory as well: with equal muscle mass, the heavier side has the advantage, much like the weight classes in boxing matches.

Of course, sheer strength alone couldn't represent everything, but it was already enough to make up for a great deal.

The man continued: "A pity you're already eighteen, your frame set. Otherwise, with secret medicines to build you up from childhood, getting you to grow to two meters would be no problem."

Hearing this, Fang Can finally couldn't hold back: "Are you the Sect Master?"

"That's right, I am Yang Duan, Master of the Tiger Fiend Sect." The man gave a slight nod, acknowledging his identity.

"There are only three days until the next Heavenly Mechanism Tower ranking. Time is short—how much you can learn from here on out will count as your own ability."

"Thank you, Sect Master." Fang Can offered his sincere gratitude.

Yang Duan looked at Fang Can with an unreadable gaze and said: "No need for thanks. I only hope that when you bring trouble upon yourself in the future, you won't drag the Tiger Fiend Sect into it."

Fang Can: 'Wait, what is what here? Why can't I understand a word of this?'

Not understanding Yang Duan's thoughts at all, Fang Can was completely baffled, but Yang Duan offered no explanation and simply spoke:

"I have two techniques here—'Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law' and 'Crouching Tiger, Subduing Dragon Golden Body.' Which one do you wish to learn?"

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Can said: "... I'm a genius. Can I have both?"

Yang Duan was briefly taken aback, but then nodded: "Though biting off more than you can chew is unwise, there's no problem."

After speaking, Yang Duan waved his hand lightly, and from the wooden table behind him, two wooden boxes flew out on their own, caught neatly by Fang Can.

"These contain the cultivation methods derived from the inheritance, within which is the martial true meaning transmitted by my heart-image. They can only be comprehended by the first reader for half an hour."

"What you can grasp from them, and how much, depends entirely on your own comprehension."

'Is this book some kind of experience tome or Devil Fruit—usable by only one person?' Looking at the experience tome before him, Fang Can grumbled inwardly, then gently opened one box.

Jin Guang—a blinding golden light pierced into Fang Can's brow like a sword, transforming into a stream of true meaning.

When Fang Can came back to himself, he discovered that the wooden box held a sheepskin scroll. Unrolling it and using the script he had learned these past days, Fang Can made out the large characters at the beginning—"Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law."

But actually, not recognizing the characters didn't matter, because as Fang Can's gaze fell upon the words, Yang Duan's voice had already automatically risen in his mind.

The man had actually used a heart-image left in advance within the wooden box to transmit the art.

And it was only now that Fang Can resolved one puzzle: in this world everyone was illiterate, so how did experts learn martial arts manuals from one another?

Now he understood—turns out you just use the heart-image directly.

After all, how could the expression of words ever be as clear and precise as communication through the mind?

However, this method was something Fang Can was currently incapable of doing; he would probably have to wait until he became an expert of the Ascending Heaven caliber to perform it.

According to Yang Duan's heart-image instruction, this "Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law" was a burst-power technique that damaged one's foundation and consumed blood and qi, similar to Heavenly Demon Self-Destruction—not to be used lightly unless facing a certain-death situation.

'Wait, wait, wait, wait.' Seeing this, under Yang Duan's strange gaze, Fang Can hurriedly pulled a handful of arsenic from the inner layer of his collar and swallowed it.

Feeling his aptitude multiplied more than tenfold, Fang Can let out a breath of relief. Now this felt right.

Without hesitation, he then opened the other box. The "Crouching Tiger, Subduing Dragon Golden Body" within was an external hard-body technique that could transform the surface layer of the skin until it was harder than steel.

Looking at the contents of the two scrolls before him, Fang Can sank into them completely, beginning to comprehend their essence with enlightened heart.

And on the panel, the description column also began to display the corresponding information.

Description column:

The host's mind gathers, taking "Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law" as its anchor, flesh and blood as the altar, will as the fixation, heart-image as the sacrifice—beginning visualization and materialization.

Beginning materialization of 【Evil Tiger Body-Devouring Great Law】

—Estimated time: 5 minutes 16 seconds—

The host's mind gathers, taking "Crouching Tiger, Subduing Dragon Golden Body" as its foun…

As the heart-image flickered continuously, ten minutes later Fang Can had already risen from the ground and let out a long breath—he had thoroughly mastered the contents of the heart-image.

But although he had learned it, the heart-image in his mind still rigidly wailed on and on, transmitting the information of these two techniques again and again, as if it would not stop until it had recited for a full hour.

At this, Fang Can's mind stirred, and he took the initiative to release his own Heart Image to counter it.

In an instant, as if flame had met butter, Fang Can's mind cleared; that ceaselessly clamoring Heart Image power had been melted away entirely.

"You've learned it?" Watching Fang Can rise, even knowing the other's heaven-gifted talent, Yang Duan could not help but be astonished.

"Mm, it took me ten minutes, but I finally finished learning it." Fang Can smiled and casually bragged.

"Very good." Yang Duan smiled, clapped his hands, and said:

"Guards, Fang Can has stolen and learned a secret method of the sect. Strip him of his disciple identity immediately and throw him into the dungeon."

Fang Can: Huh???

(End of chapter)