A huge crowd stood packed together in front of Fang Can's villa.
Nearly a tenth of Z City's population had gathered there. At a glance, the crowd stretched farther than the eye could see.
Because of Fang Can, the people were fairly quiet. They all gathered seven or eight meters away from him, not daring to approach and disturb him.
Fang Can took a key from his pocket and deftly unlocked the door. Without paying any attention to the people behind him, he walked inside and firmly shut the door.
As soon as the door closed, a plaintive female voice sounded beside Fang Can.
"What exactly are you trying to do? How did you end up bringing so many people here?!"
Looking at Fang Can's unruffled face, Jiang Ning'an almost clutched her head and let out a piercing shriek.
She had detected the sound of tens of thousands of people moving together from hundreds of meters away.
And when she realized they were heading this way, it only made her already uneasy state of mind, unsettled by her harsh surroundings, even worse.
If the sounds hadn't told her that most of the people coming were ordinary people, and that they wouldn't be stupid enough to kill her like this, she might have had a panic attack.
Looking at the innocent-looking boy before her, Jiang Ning'an was so angry she wanted to beat him up.
"They followed me on their own," Fang Can said casually. "Don't worry, Senior. They wouldn't dare come inside. As long as you don't leave, nobody will know you're here."
After saying that, Fang Can nonchalantly hung his schoolbag on the rack and began exercising, looking completely at ease.
Looking at the boy, who seemed oblivious to everything, Jiang Ning'an gritted her teeth in frustration. But with a crowd blocking the way, she couldn't leave now even if she wanted to. She could only give an exasperated snort and return to the room on the second floor to meditate in silence.
But before she left, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, then turned back to study Fang Can in disbelief. "Your Heart Manifestation Manifestation has already begun to take shape!"
"You mean that aura?" Fang Can thought back.
"It felt uncomfortable keeping it bottled up during class, so I gave it a try and let it out in front of everyone."
"Heh... heh-heh. You just gave it a try." Jiang Ning'an's cool expression stiffened a little. She was already at a loss for words over this fellow's talent.
Outside, when the crowd saw that the Superpowered person had gone inside and still hadn't come out after ten minutes, they began to panic, like people who had lost their leader.
"What do we do now? What should we do?"
"I don't know. The Superpowered person hasn't given us any orders. We gathered here on our own."
"We can't just leave, can we? It's dangerous to split up around the city."
The crowd outside grew restless in the silence. Someone couldn't hold back and tried to knock on the door to ask Fang Can what to do, but the Royalist Faction stopped him before he could get close.
"Superpowered people have their reasons for doing things. You just have to wait. But Master Fang Can has a lot more to consider." Fang Can's classmates glared at the ordinary people who were trying to overstep their bounds.
They had spent three years in the same class as Fang Can. Being close to him, they might be the first to benefit, so they had already begun taking it upon themselves to protect his interests.
With the house blocked off, the crowd had no choice but to sit down on the ground one by one and wait for whatever new instructions Fang Can might give.
Before long, two middle-aged men hurried through the crowd on foot and arrived, panting as they called out, "Who's the Superpowered person? Where is the Superpowered person?"
"Principal! Mayor!"
The people around them cried out in surprise when they saw the two, wondering,
"Hey! So you two didn't manage to get out of here either?"
Under the students' astonished gazes, the two men looked a little uncomfortable.
The incident had happened too suddenly. They hadn't received any warning beforehand, and they couldn't get in touch with any of the Superpowered people the city had kept well-fed and comfortable.
But now they'd heard that the last remaining Superpowered person was here, so they'd rushed over without delay.
Unable to bear everyone's stares, they could only repeat their question.
A student proudly pointed toward the house. "Master Fang Can is resting inside. It's best if nobody disturbs him."
Even when facing the mayor of Z City, the students refused to back down. The mayor, for his part, nodded cooperatively.
"Understood, understood. But did the Superpowered person leave any message for us?"
"Well..." The students hesitated. In the end, the history teacher relayed Fang Can's last words before he went home.
"Let us use his name to get things done?" The two shrewd men exchanged a glance, their hearts stirred. Was there really such a good opportunity?
"I understand. Since Master Fang Can said that, he clearly wants us to take it upon ourselves to maintain order throughout the city. We mustn't disappoint him." The mayor spoke first, his gaze resolute.
"Exactly, exactly. These are extraordinary times. Since Master Fang Can has authorized us, we have to do our duty," the principal added.
They might not be good at fighting, but people who had risen to their positions understood management. And if they didn't understand something, they could leave it to their subordinates and delegate the responsibilities.
Now that Fang Can had made his position clear, they immediately understood what needed to be done.
As if by instinct, they put on stern expressions and began addressing the seated crowd in Fang Can's name. Although the law had lost its power, the backing of a Superpowered person lent them credibility. Before long, some former police officers and discharged soldiers in the crowd had been organized, and order began to return.
From beginning to end, Fang Can never even left the villa. Just by invoking his status as a Superpowered person, everything settled down on its own.
In a sense, perhaps order in human society was Idealism too. As long as people believed in it, it naturally held sway.
Ignoring everything outside, Fang Can continued exercising in an orderly fashion. This time, however, he didn't spit out the arsenic. He let his stomach digest it.
As his body grew stronger, arsenic could no longer do serious damage to him. If he didn't take the drug, he would have to accept a slower rate of cultivation.
The night passed, and under Jiang Ning'an's numb gaze, Fang Can's aura had grown stronger again compared to the day before.
Looking at Fang Can, Jiang Ning'an made an estimate. "At this rate, you should be able to pass the First Mysterious Barrier in no more than seven or eight days."
"The First Mysterious Barrier? What's that?" Fang Can asked.
Convinced that the boy before her truly was a martial arts prodigy, Jiang Ning'an explained, "The Mortal Shedding Realm has nine Mysterious Passes in total. Each time you advance by one, the proportion of new blood in your body increases by ten percent."
"When your mortal body has completely shed its former state, you'll have reached the peak of the Mortal Shedding Body."
Fang Can glanced at the panel, which showed a Flesh Alienation level of 5.2%, and nodded in understanding.
In other words, every time his alienation level increased by 10%, he would pass another Mysterious Pass. Once it reached 100%, he would attain Great Perfection at the peak of the Mortal Shedding Body.
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