This High Martial World is Too Crazy!!!

’Divine Revelation Soup?’

Inside the cafeteria, the serving lady’s words made Fang Can pause for a moment. "What’s Divine Revelation Soup?"

"This is it." The serving lady smiled, pushing a wooden bowl in front of Fang Can.

Fang Can looked it up and down. The wooden bowl before him was filled to the brim with a pure white liquid, like milk. He reached out and touched the outside of the bowl—it was cold.

"Ma’am, what is this Divine Revelation Soup made of? And why is it cold?"

Fang Can looked up and asked with a polite smile, but his expression froze when he saw what the lady pulled out.

"It’s mushrooms," the lady said amiably, holding a vividly red, glistening mushroom in her hand.

"Instructor Yang just told a few of us to juice these mushrooms raw and mix it with cold water. He said that if you Disciples from the Martial Hall drink this Divine Revelation Soup and use it with that... Acting Method, your cultivation speed will more than double."

As she spoke, the lady looked at Fang Can’s handsome face with a motherly smile and said, "I’ve taken a liking to you, kid. Newcomers get all the food they can eat for the first month. Drink up. If you have plenty of this Divine Revelation Soup, you’ll definitely be able to stay in the Martial Hall after your first month."

"Uh... thank you, ma’am." Fang Can forced a smile, his eyes landing on the several baskets of red mushrooms visible behind her.

"I think I’ll pass. You can save the Divine Revelation Soup for my fellow disciples. Just a portion of what I had yesterday will be enough for me."

"Oh, all right." Rejected by Fang Can, the lady sighed softly. She couldn’t very well force him.

She gave Fang Can a look of disappointment, as if chiding him for his lack of ambition, then turned and served him a portion of rice, stir-fried pork with green beans, and another scoop of rice.

"Thank you, ma’am." Fang Can said his thanks and quickly scurried away with his bowl, a wave of fear washing over him as he walked. It was a good thing he’d asked.

’Just as I’d expect from an ancient crime syndicate. They actually put eating wild mushrooms right on the cafeteria menu. That’s terrifying.’

Fang Can carried his meal to a corner and began shoveling food into his mouth, all while keeping an eye on the cafeteria’s serving window.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before another Disciple went to get his meal. After a brief chat with the serving lady, he walked away gleefully with a bowl of Divine Revelation Soup. Then a second followed, and a third, and a fourth.

Watching them leave one by one with their bowls of Divine Revelation Soup, his heart pounding in alarm, Fang Can was at a loss for words. He could only admit to himself, ’Just as I’d expect from an ancient crime syndicate. They really play rough.’

’If these people had modern technology, they’d probably start injecting themselves with syringes just to practice martial arts.’

With a lingering sense of fear from being in a den of thieves, Fang Can subconsciously began to eat faster. He planned to practice a few more sets as soon as he finished lunch.

But as he was eating, trouble arrived.

Fang Can shoveled rice from his bowl with an indifferent expression. Three fellow disciples had already sat down beside him.

One of them was someone Fang Can had seen before: the odd-looking disciple from the Martial Hall who had been practicing the Acting Method by proposing to an imaginary person.

"Junior Brother, you look new. Did you just join yesterday?" the odd-looking youth tried to start a conversation, but Fang Can completely ignored him.

He knew exactly what they wanted. It was all about the monthly allowance of a few taels of silver.

Earlier that morning, when he’d agreed to let that refined-looking senior brother slap him, he had learned some information about what to expect after joining.

For example, newcomers get as much food as they want for the first month. After that, apart from the three fixed basic meals per day, any extra food had to be bought with your own money.

And since the monthly allowance was just enough to get by, it was only natural that some people would get crooked ideas.

’This is a crime syndicate, after all. What’s wrong with "borrowing" a little money from a fellow member to spend?’

Of course, that senior brother had also mentioned that new members have a one-month novice protection period. Attacking newly joined Disciples was forbidden, though normal sparring was allowed afterward.

So, knowing that these people didn’t dare lay a hand on him, Fang Can couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge them, continuing to wolf down his food in big mouthfuls.

In the distance, a few other Disciples looked over with mocking gazes, whispering to each other, "Li Qunfan and his crew are at it again, ’borrowing’ money. I wonder if this new guy can handle the pressure."

"I doubt it. Even if we can’t hit him for the first month, what’s he going to do after that?"

"A bet, a bet! I’ll wager 50 copper coins that the kid won’t be able to take it."

...

Ignoring the betting that had started up, Li Qunfan grew furious at Fang Can’s continued silence. "Kid, is that any way to treat your senior brother?"

Fang Can: ...

"Kid, don’t think you’re safe just by acting like a coward. Watch out, I’ll be looking for a ’spar’ with you in a month."

Fang Can: ...

"Are you mute, kid? Or were you born unable to speak? With your kind of aptitude, you probably won’t even be able to generate a sense of qi. When you end up as a servant, remember to bring me my foot-washing water."

...

Inside the dining hall, Fang Can continued to calmly eat his food. Restrained by the sect’s rules, Li Qunfan and his lackeys didn’t dare attack him and could only resort to verbal insults.

The Disciples watching from afar knew that verbal insults could sometimes be more devastating than physical attacks.

Because if a seed of self-doubt was planted in one’s heart, their cultivation could become twice the effort for half the result, preventing someone with decent talent from ever generating a sense of qi within the first month.

The three of them surrounded Fang Can, relentlessly hurling insults. But two full minutes passed, and as the food in Fang Can’s bowl dwindled, he still hadn’t paid them any mind from start to finish.

He gently swallowed his last bite of food, then very, very slowly raised his head. Looking at Li Qunfan, he spoke his first words to them: "You know something?"

The trio, who had been on the verge of giving up on their "loan," were taken aback. A smile spread across Li Qunfan’s face; he thought the kid had finally cracked.

Looking at Li Qunfan, Fang Can recalled his performance in the Martial Hall and said coldly, "She was never in love with you."

"What did you say?!"

The devastating effect of Fang Can’s softly spoken sentence was greater than all of Li Qunfan’s previous attempts to get a rise out of him combined.

Li Qunfan’s eyes blazed with fury, and he looked ready to punch the boy who dared to deceive him to death on the spot.

Almost instantly, he began shaking his head, trying to deceive himself. "Impossible! Xiaofang definitely loves me! You’re lying, kid! Yes, you’re definitely lying! As long as I can become a Hall Master—no, a steward—she’ll be with me."

Fang Can didn’t answer. Instead, he pursed his lips and said in a singsong, taunting tone, "Aww, looks like I hit a little too close to home. I wonder who’s getting all flustered now?"

"You little brat." In that instant, his Acting Method shattered. Li Qunfan clenched his fists and lunged forward, ready to fight, but he was immediately held back by his two lackeys.

"Don’t do it, Brother Li! Don’t! You’ll be breaking the sect rules!" The two lackeys, one on each side, grabbed Li Qunfan’s arms to hold him back.

But in the next moment, a fair-skinned fist had already smashed viciously into Li Qunfan’s face, followed by a taunting remark.

"Clown. The rules only say *you* can’t hit me. They never said I can’t hit *you*."