Chapter Nineteen: Latent Ability

  A "Hey-Ha" shout came from beside my ear, and I slowly woke up from my daze. Opening my eyes, I found myself lying on the floor in the corner of the fighting arena. Cowboy was sitting next to me, rubbing his shoulders, and when he saw me wake up, he gave a greeting: "Hey! Xing Tian, how are you feeling?"

  "It feels like a train just ran over my face!" I covered my face and sat back against the wall.

  On the fighting arena, a little cat is competing with a devil, both using Taekwondo. The back-and-forth fight looks extremely good. No wonder the little cat is so agile, and when paired with the strong male devil, she doesn't fall behind. Upon closer inspection, it seems that the devil has never actually hit the little cat. Every time his fist is about to touch her, she dodges it with her soft body, then immediately counterattacks with a flurry of quick punches aimed at the eyes, throat, and groin - the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Watching them fight with such ferocity, one might think they have a deep-seated vendetta against each other.

  While others are working out, without looking at the numbers on their dumbbells, just by looking at the bent shape of the dumbbell rod, you can feel the weight of that thing. The big bear is even more terrifying, I don't know where he got a tree trunk that two people can hug together, with two holes drilled in the middle and his hands inside doing push-ups. That thing weighs at least half a ton, the big bear is really a monster!

  "What's wrong with your arm?"

  "We were just playing around with Assassin, and I accidentally dislocated his shoulder!" Cowboy said casually.

  Dislocation! A sudden flash of inspiration in my mind! Looking at the cowboy's robust physique, although not comparable to Butcher and Big Bear, it's still impressive. In contrast, the assassin is only 175 cm tall and weighs less than me, yet he was able to dislocate the cowboy's joint. This suddenly reminded me of what my grandfather, a bonesetter, once said: "No matter how strong a person is, there are two places that can't be trained - acupoints and joints!" I don't know much about acupoints except for the major ones on the human body, but thanks to my grandfather's influence, I'm quite familiar with human joints. Most joints have weak points, making them vulnerable to dislocation. With accurate force, it's easy to dislocate a joint. I once saw my grandfather easily dislocate the limbs of a drunkard in his 30s. Perhaps this is a good way to take down Butcher - I'll have to study it further.

  I touched the dry blood scab on my face, went to the edge of the changing room to wash my face, and walked out. I twisted my sore waistbone, I knew that Butcher's hand had already shown mercy, otherwise, just one knife on my neck could have broken my trachea. It seems what he said was right, my physical strength is still not good enough...

  Standing in front of Da Xiong's gym and watching him lift that big wooden stake up and down, I curiously asked: "Da Xiong, how heavy is this piece of wood?"

  The big bear put down the wood and panted to me: "Not too heavy! Less than 1 ton!"

  "Isn't this already very serious?"

  "Want to give it a try?" The big bear pointed at the wooden beam for me.

  "Thanks! But I'm not going to!" I haven't reached the point of being ignorant of heaven and earth yet.

  "Come on! Let's play!" The big bear dragged me in front of the wooden thing.

  "Alright! Alright! I'll give it a try!" Looking at his enthusiasm, I couldn't refuse either.

  I inserted my hands into the two holes, inside which were two handles. I grasped the handles, shook my arms, took a deep breath, and with all my might, I lifted upwards, but the wooden stake in my hands seemed to have taken root, no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't budge. Before long, the air I had held in was exhausted. I exhaled, relaxed my muscles, turned my head to smile at the big bear: "No use, I couldn't lift it! Forget it!"

  The big bear hastily pressed down on my shoulder: "No, no, Xing Tian, it's not that your strength isn't great, but rather your method is incorrect. You must learn to use the power of the earth!"

  "What's this 'power of the earth'?" I looked at the big bear in confusion, wondering how it could be so mysterious.

  "It's not possible to lift such a heavy wooden stake just by using the muscles in your arms, you need to use the strength of your shoulders, waist and legs combined to make it work. When all four strengths are connected and working together, you'll feel a sensation as if the power is coming from the earth into your body, straight to the point where you're applying force. Pay attention to the feeling of your feet being firmly on the ground! Believe in yourself! Try again!" Big Bear explained to me in detail.

  "Down-to-earth? The power of the earth? Believe in yourself!" I thought about these two sentences, which are very similar to the Chinese martial arts saying "power comes from the ground".

  I stood in front of the wooden stake again, re-gripped the handle, shook my arms, took a deep breath, stomped my feet, and exerted force from my waist to suddenly straighten up. I used both hands and legs to push against the ground, and suddenly I had a strange feeling, just like what Big Bear said - a surge of power drilled into my legs from the soles of my feet, then into my waist, shoulders, and arms. The wooden stake in my hand was no longer as heavy as it was before; I could feel my strength seeping into the wood through the handle, acting on every fiber of the wood... 10%, 20%... 50%, 90%... Suddenly, I felt the stake loosen and leave the ground.

  "I can do it, I can do it!" I kept telling myself, and like a miracle, strength kept pouring out of my body. I stared wide-eyed as the wooden stake got farther and farther away from the ground, and slowly, I lifted it up to my chest. But when I tried to flip my wrist upwards, I just couldn't muster up any more strength. I could feel my body breaking out in a cold sweat, and my legs were trembling with exhaustion. I wanted to put down the wooden stake, but my body wouldn't listen to me. Just then, Big Bear came over and gave the wood a big hug, then slowly pried open my hands and had me back away.

  Watching the big bear put the wood on the ground, I held up my hands that were holding the firewood and muttered to myself: "I did it! I did it! Big bear, did you see? I did it! I did it!..."

  "Awesome! Xing Tian!" "Impressive! Xing Tian!" "Wow - cool!" Before I knew it, everyone had gathered around me.

  The doctor and butcher rushed over from outside just as I raised the wooden stake!

  "Doctor! Did you see that? I did it. I lifted the wooden stake!" I exclaimed excitedly.

  "I saw it! I saw it! Xing Tian, calm down! Calm down! Sit down, sit down!" The doctor said while helping me sit down, then kept massaging my whole body non-stop. After an hour, I slowly felt my arms again, and only when I put my hands down did he slowly stop.

  Then, "Bang! Bang!" gave me and Big Bear two slaps.

  "Are you out of your mind?! Who told you to do that?! The doctor shouted loudly: "Do you know how dangerous it was just now? If it had gone on for one more moment, you would have been done for! Jian Tian!"

  "What's wrong? It's just overexertion, at most a muscle strain!" I wanted to touch my head, but a sharp pain shot through my arm, making me abandon the idea.

  "Muscle strain? You think it's that simple? Do you know how heavy that thing was just now? 565 kilograms. That's half a ton. Did you ever think you could lift something that heavy?"

  "I couldn't lift it! But Big Bear taught me the power of the earth. I told myself I could do it, and I did!" I exclaimed excitedly.

  "The power of the earth? To hell with the power of the earth! You know, you were just able to do that not because of any power of the earth, but because you used self-hypnosis and tapped into your own potential!" The doctor shouted.

  "What's wrong with that?" I think it's great to tap into potential!

  "There's nothing wrong with being able to exert 2-3 times the normal amount of strength, speed, and doing things that only superheroes can do! However, you need a body that can withstand such power. Normal training is for gradually digging up one's potential and tempering one's body to adapt to the excavated power.

  But sometimes, under certain mental states, one can also tap into their potential, such as in times of danger or hypnosis. The potential unleashed in such situations is explosive, like a hand grenade, with tremendous force, but what about after it explodes? Nothing is left! Your muscles can't withstand the massive energy and burst, including your heart.

  The doctor pointed at my chest and said: "Everyone has heard stories like this - a 60-year-old grandma saw her grandson being crushed by a tractor and lifted the several-ton tractor to save him. How unbelievable is that?! But did everyone notice what happened to that old lady afterwards...?"

  The doctor's words reminded me of an incident that happened in China. A young mother who had just bought vegetables on her way home, when she was still over 50 meters away from home, saw her toddler who had just learned to crawl climbing onto the balcony of the 17th floor and was about to fall off. The mother's maternal love triggered all her potential energy, and in three or four seconds, she rushed downstairs and caught her son who fell from the 17th floor. However, the young mother died on the spot due to a heart attack. Think about it, running over 50 meters in 4 seconds is not something even an Olympic champion can do.

  "And you! You don't have that kind of physical strength, yet you lifted such a heavy log. The muscles in your body are already at their limit. If I hadn't given you a massage in time, your hands would have been crippled! And another thing, what's with letting him lift logs and talking about earth-shaking power!" The doctor said excitedly and gave Xiong Da a punch again.

  "But doctor, I really did feel the power that Da Xiong mentioned!" I raised my hand and spoke up.

  "That's because anyone can feel it as long as they use their whole body in a coordinated way. It has nothing to do with whether or not you can lift 1 ton of wood!" The doctor explained to me, "What the big bear taught you is the correct method of using your strength, and you've learned it! But can you move objects that weigh 2 tons like the big bear? He has a strong physique to back him up, so he's fine, but do you understand?"

  "2 tons?! Good heavens, Big Bear, you should enter the World's Strongest Man competition!" I exclaimed.

  "Haha! He's the champion of the 95th First Term!" The wolfman beside him laughed.

  "Mr. Xing Tian, now! I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad, which one do you want to know first?" the doctor said with a mysterious tone.

  "Know first, then act!" I'm an optimistic person.

  "The good news is that you have grasped the method of stimulating potential, which will allow you to quickly grasp great power and speed in the future."

  "What's the bad news?"

  "Because you overexerted yourself, your muscles will ache for a whole week!" The doctor looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

  "Is it?" I waved my hand, it's just a little sore, not that exaggerated!

  "You'll know tomorrow!" The doctor smiled and left!!

  "Congratulations to you, Xing Tian, you are the fourth person after Butcher, Werewolf to be able to lift this wooden stick!" Kuai Dao grasped my hand and congratulated me.

  "Thank you!" I said

  "Xing Tian, I'm sorry! I didn't know it was so dangerous!" said Da Xiong.

  "It's nothing! I'm fine, and I still haven't mastered the power of the earth yet! Don't worry, Big Bear!" I patted Big Bear on the shoulder.

  I glanced at the butcher, this guy's eyes were still bright and I reckon I wasn't much better. The butcher saw me looking at him, stuck out his thumb, I thought he was praising me, didn't expect him to stick out his thumb and then make a slashing motion across his neck... damn! I gave him the middle finger!

  Lying in bed, I feel a numb pain all over my body like ants crawling. I know the doctor didn't lie, and it's probably going to hurt even more tomorrow. Looking at my roommate Fast Knife who just came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. Fast Knife is thin and has long limbs, not as strong as Big Bear and Butcher, but still quite sturdy. It's just that seeing him running in and out with his butt exposed makes me feel very uncomfortable.

  "Sorry! I forgot that I had a roommate!" Quick knife grabbed the towel to cover up my body which he had already seen several times.

  "No big deal! Why did they call you Fast Knife? Do you like playing with knives? I like it too!" I said.

  "Of course! The knife is my second life!" A flash of white light, and he somehow produced a KA-BAR military knife that quickly rotated between his fingers, flying back and forth between his two hands, dazzling me with its speed.

  "Awesome!" He exclaimed: "That's amazing! Teach me!" I suddenly became interested and forgot about the pain all over my body.

  "This is simple, the knife mainly relies on wrist flexibility, not finger movement... That's right, pay attention to feel the knife, don't look at it." The quick knife was wiping a head of golden hair while pointing out my knife skills.

  It seems like a simple technique, but I've done it dozens of times before I got a little feel for it.

  "Practice makes perfect! Techniques are easy to learn, but the most important thing is to be proficient! When drawing a knife, you shouldn't think twice, your instincts will tell you when to draw it, and all you need to do is react as quickly as possible based on your instincts."

  Kuaizao's excitement grew: "On the battlefield, a military knife is just like a gun - indispensable. As mercenaries, we're not part of a regular army, so we're like special forces, doing covert operations. Therefore, it's crucial to take out enemies silently, and knives are far more effective than silencers. Where's your military knife? Let me see!"

  I drew out my mighty Tiger Blade and handed it over to Swiftblade.

  "Mighty Tiger Knife, this is a mass-produced item from Strider Company. You'd better get a custom-made knife that suits you, rather than adapting to an unsuitable one. Our knives are all bespoke!" Fast Knife said, playing with the knife in his hand.

  "But where am I going? America is too far! Let's talk about it after completing the task!" His words made me very moved.

  "No, no, let's go find Tiancai tomorrow! He can make any knife for you. His craftsmanship is extremely good!!" Kuai Dao recommended: "He also modifies guns, if you feel that the gun in your hand is not cool, you can ask him to modify it for you! Guaranteed to be powerful and will shock you!"

  "Genius? I haven't seen him yet! Where is he?" I asked Kuai Dao.

  "He went to the branch base to install a new defense system and just came back today! You were having a great time with Butcher. Maybe you didn't notice!" Kuai Dao wiped his hair dry and lay on the bed.

  "Then take me to see him tomorrow! I also want to customize a few knives!" I said excitedly.

  "Alright! No problem." Qiao Dao adjusted the bedside lamp to a smaller light, preparing for sleep.

  "Xing Tian!" Quick Blade calls me

  "Huh?"

  "Are you still a virgin?"

  “。。。。。。”

  Click to view picture link: M11 bayonet