Chapter 8: Will as Iron, Visualization Manifested!

In the training ground, Fang Can, in a state of bodily overdrive, did not rush to practice martial arts but scanned every person present with his gaze.

After more than twenty minutes of observation, he had already absorbed most of the martial arts on display.

Fists, kicks, palms, knives, spears…

Swords, halberds, staves, clubs, hooks…

Except for a few whose movements were too fast to register clearly on his retinas, leaving afterimages he could not replicate, all other techniques were fully learned.

After all, the martial arts displayed here were merely stacked physical movements.

No different from painting, dancing, or running—one principle understood, all principles understood.

After spending a brief moment, Fang Can closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let his mind calm.

Limited by his body’s hardware, he could only crudely steal and memorize these martial arts for now.

And even that was impossible—he could not perceive any so-called internal Qi merely by observing appearances.

‘Indeed, merely watching cannot reveal the secrets of the Mind-Only Martial Path. I must test it myself.’ Fang Can resolved within.

The next instant, he assumed the opening stance of the perfectly standardized ‘Thirty-Six Tiger Devouring Fist’ from the manual.

‘According to Yang Lie, the most important thing is unwavering belief—only a steadfast mind can reflect upon the flesh.’

Fang Can silently recited, attempting to imagine a warm current flowing from the heart’s acupoint, pouring into the next acupoint below.

Under the hypnosis of his mind, he truly felt a warm current surging.

But Fang Can knew this was merely a placebo effect, like shamanic dancing—just the brain deceiving itself, a mere fantasy.

His will did not waver; he moved his posture and unleashed the second technique of the Tiger Devouring Fist, while meticulously imagining the warm current flowing through three major acupoints.

Far away, Yang Lie sipped his strong liquor, squinting at the scene, watching for any mishaps.

‘Oh, already practicing the fist form? Not bad—but if you can’t even remember the acupoints, what’s the point? Greedy and reckless fool.’

Yang Lie made this assessment, then casually drained his cup.

Due to Fang Can’s advanced age, he held no hope for this disciple and taught him only half-heartedly.

He mentioned only the main taboos and omitted other crucial details, clearly treating the newcomer with condescending neglect.

Three minutes later, after completing the full Thirty-Six Tiger Devouring Fist form, Fang Can felt nothing except his brain’s self-deception—his muscles, however, ached from the full exertion.

Without the slightest discouragement, Fang Can, like the most devout worshipper in prayer, stared with eyes so resolute they could join the Party.

If the first round produced no supernatural effect, then he would do it again.

In his genius state, every passive trait—rationality, perseverance, focus, inspiration, luck, intuition—was uniformly elevated.

It forced Fang Can to suppress all retreat and doubt.

‘As long as you believe, it doesn’t matter what you believe…’

‘If so, I don’t care about this Mind-Only Martial Path—I believe only in myself…’

‘Others can do it—I will do it better…’

‘If this Mind-Only Martial Path is correct, then my belief aptitude is certainly no lower than anyone else’s.’

…

As Fang Can swung his fists repeatedly, a faint thread of thought rose from his mind.

Unlike ordinary cultivators, who hesitated, doubted their talent, Fang Can possessed absolute confidence in himself.

This stemmed both from his enhanced aptitude in genius state and from the societal climate of his previous life.

In Fang Can’s past life, cosmic storms swept the globe, and mutated monsters emerged endlessly.

Yet among humans, some lucky ones awakened superpowers and rebuilt order.

Since the state was founded by superpowered individuals, all upper-tier authority was monopolized by them—laws, Huayuquan , wealth, manufacturing—all controlled by them.

Under their subtle influence, the consensus became universal: superpowered individuals were inherently superior.

Fang Can, born into such an environment as a superpowered individual, naturally developed his psychological state.

He never knew doubt or questioning—only absolute confidence, because superpowered individuals were fundamentally different from ordinary people.

As Fang Can trained relentlessly, no one knew that, on a higher dimension, his thoughts gradually gathered and coalesced.

And on the closed interface, the description field began to change.

Description field:

The host’s thoughts converge, using the ‘Thirty-Six Tiger Devouring Fist’ as a foundation, the flesh as altar, will as anchor, and blood-qi as offering—beginning visualization manifestation.

Manifesting [Tiger Wraith Eighty-Eight Caverns]

Manifestation progress: 1% → 2% → 3%…

—Estimated time remaining: 73 minutes 21 seconds—

…

As Fang Can repeated the Thirty-Six Tiger Devouring Fist, the manifestation progress on the description field steadily climbed, bit by bit.

Yet Fang Can paid no attention to these changes on the attribute panel—he focused solely on visualizing internal Qi flowing through specific acupoints across his body.

Finally, after the thirteenth round, Fang Can halted his movements.

Because every technique had been executed with full force, his muscles had nearly reached their limit and needed rest.

Squatting on the ground, he massaged his muscles, kneading away the congestion to prevent tomorrow’s soreness.

While relaxing his muscles, he also manipulated his stomach muscles, slowly regurgitating the arsenic on the verge of dissolution.

‘Yue~tui!’

He spat the arsenic aside, instantly feeling the sensation of omnipotence vanish.

In its place came laziness, fatigue, hunger, drowsiness, and aching pain flooding his mind.

‘That’s enough for today’s cheat.’ Fang Can thought wearily.

He pondered he must find a new stimulant before consuming the remaining seven pills—otherwise, he’d have to resort to self-harm to artificially boost his aptitude, blood and gore everywhere, like he’d wandered onto the set of ‘Flame Fist.’

Muttering to himself, he unconsciously opened the interface he’d ignored earlier—and immediately noticed the change in the description field.

Forgot the front… forgot the back…

In any case, [Tiger Wraith Eighty-Eight Caverns] visualization manifestation: 89.2%

—Estimated time remaining: 21 hours 52 minutes 17 seconds—

Looking at the progress bar, Fang Can recalled Yang Lie’s words: if one could sense Qi within a month, they were considered gifted.

Thinking of this, a flicker of respect rose in Fang Can’s heart:

‘No wonder he’s considered gifted—he can bridge the gap I’ve cheated through in an hour with just a month’s effort. Truly, heroes abound like fish crossing a river—never underestimate them.’

(End of Chapter)