In the half rotten city, a large man could be seen standing proudly.

His back was firm and his musculature was vast. His whole appearance radiated an aura of power, that gave the man an awe inspiring bearing without being angry.

Suddenly, Ba Qigang laughed.

Ba Qigang smiled and said,” Senior, you don’t need to be so suspicious! I am harmless to you!”

Who could laugh when facing a vastly superior opponent, and simply say that he was weaker?

It is common sense to act tougher than you are when afraid. Yet to be able to admit to being the weaker party without any apprehension was utter foolishness!

Either foolishness or true courage!

To be a naive fool is to not recognize the danger, and to be courageous and brave is to recognize the danger and dare confront it!

And what was Ba Qigang but brave?

He might not like touching disgusting things, yet that didn’t mean he was afraid of them!

But in Ba Qigang mind, the reasoning was simple.

What else should he do but be himself?

Death comes to all! So why let it chain you up?

Instead, embrace it as you might a friend and give it a smile!

So, Ba Qigangs heart was filled with curiosity and on his face was a smile.

For some people, only their mouths smiled, for others it was their eyes.

Yet for Ba Qigang it was not merely his mouth that was smiling, but his eyes and the whole face as well!

So, suddenly a man appeared in front of Ba Qigang.

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A short and elderly man in blue clothes stood in front of a tall and burly one.

In a normal situation, it would be the burly man who would seem more powerful.

And most people would prefer to fight the elderly man to the burly one.

Yet the situation was merely visual, and the situation was not normal!

Had it been a normal one, the burly man whose whole body radiated with power and vitality would of course seem stronger.

But the elder was the one from whom even the untrained eye could sense danger!

Human instinct is a powerful thing, after all. And to a normal man, the elder’s mere appearance would cause shock.

Shock, and a desire to survive!

Should any mundane person be here, not only would they give up an arm and a leg to escape, but would immediately convince their partner to commit sexual intercourse.

If not, they would enter a brothel!

Why?

It was the desire to survive and reproduce that would drive them to that point!

So, the two men stood each other up, neither of them budging an inch, even though one was clearly weaker than the other.

But… only one of them had a grin on his face!

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Of course, it was Ba Qigang who grinned.

It was much better to grin and laugh than to be afraid! After all, if Ba Qigang ended up afraid it would not be very good for him.

To be courageous is the biggest delusion. It is to acknowledge that there are things you cannot control nor fight, yet still dare stand up to them!

Not only stand up, but look them straight into the face and laugh!

So it is the most important delusion for a martial artist to have.

But that delusion, once broken, was very hard to bring back into existence! So Ba Qigang had no choice but to be courageous, for if he was not a brave man he would be a coward.

Yet as for the elder who had a serious expression on his face… he secretly wondered if he had met a fool.

It was clear to him that Ba Qigang was strong enough to kill the ugly demon. Yet the fact that Ba Qigang ran away surprised him.

At first, he thought Ba Qigang was afraid. After all, if one is not afraid of something, why would he run?

But it surprised the elder that Ba Qigang was not afraid of him. Because, only a fool would not fear a man who radiated far greater danger than any previous fear.

So, the elder spoke,” You could have killed the demon rather easily, so why didn’t you?”

Ba Qigang slightly raised his eyebrow, and said,” I could have killed it, yes. But it was far too ugly to touch.”

The elder said,” So, just because it was ugly, you chose not to kill it?”

Ba Qigang said in response,” Yes.”

The elder was slightly taken aback,” So, if it was pretty, you would kill it?”

Ba Qigang nodded and said,” I would kill it in a second.”

Then the elder asked,” What if there were civilians in the vicinity, yet the creature was far uglier? Would you spare it because its ugly still?”

Ba Qigang laughed,” What sort of question is that? I would kill it even if I had to give my life up!”

The elder was surprised. While he didn’t have a lie detecting ability, he still had a lot of experience in the world.

So he could see that Ba Qigang was honest and truthful.

The elder stroked his beard, and thought for a second before he asked,” If I asked you to fight me, would you dare to?”

Ba Qigang didn’t even think before saying,” Yes!”

The speed with which he said so surprised the elder.

Even a person of equal strength to him would not so readily dare fight him.

But, for a moment he thought that it was merely the case of a young calf not being afraid of a tiger.

So, the elder asked,” What do you think the outcome would be?”

Ba Qigang laughed and said,”The outcome cannot be determined before we fight!"

The elder was thoroughly surprised by this answer, for it meant that Ba Qigang believed he could win, and couldn’t help exclaiming,” Are you really a fool?”

Ba Qigang simply smiled.

His smile simply said it all.

Ba Qigang could indeed be described as a fool, yet only a fool would be able to become such a great hero of the rivers and lakes such as Ba Qigang was.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After all, a normal person would be sad after a loss, would keep a grudge when someone attacked him, and would easily lose heart.

Yet Ba Qigang would be happy whether he won or lost, would cuss somebody out one moment and call him to drink together another, and would not lose heart.

It was only a fool who could gain a great level of skill in martial arts and not bother building a sect or becoming a local hegemon.

Because a local overlord would become a big fish in a small pond, grow arrogant, and wouldn’t advance!

So, the elder also gave a smile, seemingly unsuited to his old face, and said,” Good! Good! Good!”

Then the elder continued,” I, Shangguan Ding have not seen many men of your caliber. Would you like to join my group?”

Ba Qigang was surprised slightly, but he smiled and said,” I don’t mind… But there is a bit of a problem I am facing.”

Shangguan Ding asked,” And that is?”

Ba Qigang said,” Not only do I not have no legal papers, but I do not know where am I either.”

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Some time had passed, and Ba Qigang couldn’t be happier.

Shangguan Ding was a powerhouse of the human race who took time to patiently explain the basic things of this world to Ba Qigang.

Thus, Ba Qigang came to know about this world that he was transported to.

It was a world with an ancient heritage in the practice of martial arts, where a grandmaster of martial arts could project his Qi and Blood outside of his body.

That was the peak of combat power.

Yet one day, a strange thing happened!

People and non-humans suddenly gained various abilities, far more supernatural than martial arts could be!

Shangguan Ding was an example of a person who had awakened a high level innate ability.

Shangguan Ding didn’t explain his ability in depth though, nor how he cultivated it.

It was not due to being secretive, but rather due to not seeing it as important to the conversation. After all, he was merely explaining the world to Ba Qigang, who was clearly uninformed.

Shangguan Ding did however say what his innate ability was in general.

It was a mighty innate ability that allowed him to rise to the top. Yet it was also his intelligence in using it that allowed for his rise.

But at any rate, far more important to Ba Qigang was the fact that Shangguan Ding commanded one of the best groups in the country.

It was the Shangguan Group, created by Shangguang Ding’s grandfather, Shangguan Ling.

The story of the group was rather interesting, as Shangguan Ling, Shangguan Ding’s grandfather, created the group in his pursuit of Shangguan Dings grandmother.

But the group started it rise from being a second rate provincial group in the hands of Shangguan Ling, to becoming a third rate group in the imperial capital in the hands of Shangguan Dings father, Shangguan Hao.

One might think that becoming a third rate in the capital was a downgrade from second rate in the provinces, but that was false!

A third rate group in the capital was as strong as the top three groups of a province combined! At least that was the general rule.

So, to Shangguan Hao, it was better to be the tail of a phoenix than the head of a chicken!

And that thinking allowed Shangguan Ding, who was far more talented than his father or grandfather, to build up the group into a first rate force in the imperial capital!

Indeed, it is most certainly true that the greatest benefit come to people who sacrifice!

Shangguan Hao spent most of his life for his son to rise to even greater heights!

It was like men in the great depression, who fought tooth and nails for some dirty pennies, so that their children could become wealthier.

Such is the nature of great men! To put the possible suffering of the future, and to experience it in the present!

It is from flames of suffering that great men are tempered and succeed!

For if a man does work and sacrifice time, money and such things, there is no way that his work will bear fruit!

Such is the nature of the world!

And Ba Qigang had nothing but respect for the honored elders who built up the Shangguan group.

Thus, after seeing Ba Qigangs respone to his words, Shangguan Ding was also satisfied.

In his eyes, Ba Qigang was worthy of joining the Shangguan group.

So, Shangguan Ding made an offer.

Shangguan Ding said,” I noticed one thing about you, and so I need to know, would you like me to help you awaken your power?”

Ba Qigang was surprised, but in his surprise he smiled,” Didn’t you say that people naturally awakened their power if they had them?”

Shangguan Ding explained,” That was only in the beginning. Now, there are objects that are meant to help people awaken their latent talents, and you seem to have a talent that is quite strong. But due to some reason you’ve yet to awaken it.”

Now this was interesting!

Ba Qigang wondered what would happen if he awoke his innate power! What kind of power would he gain.

Would it compliment or disrupt his inner energy?

Yet Ba Qigangs curiosity forced him to make a choice.

As the saying goes, ‘Curiosity killed the cat…”, but unknown to many it continued with a ‘… But satisfaction brought it back!’

So why would Ba Qigang refuse?

Ba Qigang laughed and said,” Of course! Why wouldn’t I want to at least have a go at it?”

Shangguan Ding smiled, and said,” Very well! I will take you to my group!”