Chapter 7: A Small Opening Isn

“Crazy?” Fang Can stared in disbelief.

Yang Lie nodded seriously: “That genius read too many books and started doubting the existence of Wu Gong—he claimed the human body has no meridians, that the world is governed by a downward force, and that his master could never have floated midair without any support.”

“In the end, he even tried to get his master to cooperate with his research to uncover how humans could fly—this enraged the Grand Master of Profound Heaven Sect so much he was expelled from the sect.”

“After leaving the sect, according to rumors, his cultivation level began to slowly decline until it collapsed entirely, reducing him back to an ordinary mortal.”

“I heard his fiancée later broke off the engagement—just because he read a few too many books. Isn’t that terrifying?” Yang Lie spoke with absolute conviction.

‘Damn, this world turned a promising scientist into a brute of Wu Gong.’ Fang Can couldn’t help mentally grumbling.

“So there’s no need to learn to read—just have those weak, bookish scholars read the secret manuals for you. To avoid being tricked, get several to cross-check. All you need is to believe in your own strength.”

After speaking, Yang Lie waved his hand: “Go memorize your acupoints. If you don’t sense Qi after a month, you’re not cut out for this—report to the Labor Courtyard on your own.”

With that, Yang Lie turned, hands behind his back, and strolled away slowly, leaving Fang Can alone, staring blankly at the iron man before him.

‘Why does it feel… like everyone here has a heart of ice?’ Fang Can murmured inwardly.

Why do those with the purest sacred bodies always surpass others in Wu Gong? Wouldn’t the top Wu Gong genius then possess a Xiantian Ding Zhen Sheng Ti?

Through just Yang Lie’s few words, Fang Can understood: Wu Gong in this world was the exact opposite of scientific research.

Science is a method of exploring natural laws—repeatable and falsifiable.

But Wu Gong here is, in a sense, a fanatical, idealistic religion: once past beliefs are proven wrong, the Dao heart shatters and all power vanishes.

“Fuck, a bunch of lunatics.” Fang Can cursed under his breath, yet still stepped up to the iron man to memorize the eighty-eight acupoints.

After a quick glance to identify each acupoint’s location, he stopped looking and turned his gaze to the other disciples nearby, each displaying their own skills.

Footwork, palm techniques, fist styles, sword forms, spear methods…

A variety of Wu Gong techniques were on display among the Tiger Fiend Sect disciples—each fierce and overwhelming, including some practicing the Tiger Devouring Thirty-Six Fist Method.

After silently watching for several minutes, Fang Can took a quiet breath—he was ready to take the pill.

Thinking thus, he pulled from his person a sealed bag containing seven transparent, colorless pills.

The pill’s scientific name is arsenic trioxide; in the martial world, it’s known as arsenic or crane-top red—ingesting just 0.1 grams is enough to kill.

Each pill in Fang Can’s bag contained at least double the lethal dose; once swallowed, the outer capsule dissolves in the stomach, and death is certain.

As a superhuman, he needed to develop and utilize his ability.

Fang Can’s ability—turning misfortune into fortune—only activated under adverse conditions; otherwise, he was no different from an ordinary man, aside from being good-looking.

So the question became: how to safely and rationally trigger his ability?

If there was no danger, then he’d create danger to trigger it.

This small bag of arsenic was something he, as a former rich kid, had paid someone to make.

Each pill was wrapped in edible, digestible soft gelatin, dissolving in about an hour—once it reacted with his body, Fang Can would die in agony, bleeding from all seven orifices.

But though it might kill him, the closer he came to death, the more his ability would be amplified.

As death drew nearer, his talent would progressively rise to heights beyond ordinary human reach.

To guard against emergencies, he’d always carried these pills, ready to become a genius when needed.

And during this reincarnation, these pills had come with him, tucked inside his pajamas.

‘So surge forth—my talent.’

Fang Can’s lips curled slightly as he pulled a transparent pill from its plastic casing and slipped it into his mouth.

“Gulps!” As he swallowed, the arsenic entered his body.

In that instant, as the probability of death increased, his passive ability activated.

In a flash, Fang Can felt a tingling numbness in his neural endings—the world suddenly came alive.

As if a blind man could see, a cripple could run—his body pulsed with vitality, while his mind remained unnaturally calm.

Laziness, lust, and other bodily-driven negative emotions were suppressed; replaced by pure rationality dominating his thoughts.

His accelerated heartbeat, distant weapons swinging, shouts—all were forcibly fed into his brain, and long-forgotten memories became effortlessly retrievable.

As he absorbed and processed this flood of information at superhuman speed, his genius state had already locked the positions of the eighty-eight acupoints he’d only glanced at moments before.

‘This is the gap between genius and ordinary people,’ Fang Can muttered.

But he knew this was only the beginning—this was not yet his peak state.

Over the next hour, as the gelatin capsule in his stomach further corroded, his talent would evolve step by step.

Until the moment of death’s arrival, his talent and fortune would reach their absolute peak.

Of course, if he induced vomiting early and expelled the arsenic from his stomach, the danger would vanish.

Fang Can stared coldly at the disciples practicing before him: ‘So let’s see… how deeply idealistic is your so-called Wu Gong?’

‘Or will my talent and fortune prove superior?’

As these thoughts surged, the Tiger Devouring Thirty-Six Fist Method he’d only skimmed moments ago was now fully memorized.

And the cultivation methods of the disciples before him began to unravel one by one in Fang Can’s eyes.

Notes:

Detected host in adverse environment… Triggering Talent 1… Hidden attributes increasing…

[Tiger Devouring Thirty-Two Fist Method] Learned

[Unknown Staff Technique] Analyzed 3%

[Unknown Spear Technique] Analyzed 1%

[Unknown Palm Technique] Analyzed 5%

[Unknown Leg Technique] Analyzed 2%

…

Unknown to all, in the eyes of this new disciple, the techniques they practiced were effortlessly mastered.

(End of Chapter)