"Thank you for purchasing from Gao Fei Toy Company, dear, please give us a like, yeah!"
Fang Xing opened the express box and took out several drones and surveillance equipment from inside.
A round and sweet voice rang out and then returned to silence.
At Fang Xing's request, all these drones were designed to imitate various birds, and the surveillance equipment was also equipped with camouflage capabilities.
"My wallet..."
He silently mourned for his wallet for three seconds, then immediately got ready to cross over!
A flash of silver light.
Otherworld.
Temporary Camp.
At this time, the camp had already been camouflaged, shrouded in a layer of camouflage, indistinguishable from the surrounding jungle from high above.
Fang Xing had taken these measures after being startled by a flying monster before, hurriedly upgrading the camouflage of the camp.
'After all, it's just a temporary camp, not secure enough...'
'I need to consider setting up a permanent camp, either in a rock cavern or by digging underground... the deeper, the better.'
For Fang Xing, there was no such thing as being trapped with no way out.
Therefore, the deeper the cave, the safer it was, as it would grant him three seconds of fleeing time!
'Wait a minute! Does that mean... I'm going to become a burrowing mouse?'
'No, a hamster seems a bit cuter...'
Fang Xing commented to himself and looked towards the monitoring screen.
"Hmm?"
After scanning for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Following the previous group of four's route, he sent the drones to scout in the direction they had come from, to the east, and sure enough, he found something.
"One hundred li to the east, signs of human settlements appeared!"
Fang Xing looked at a photo that showed the contours of farm ridges.
Surrounding the ridges were houses built of wood and straw, with people seemingly farming the land.
"Farms?"
"It seems these monitors will come in handy."
"These farmers, even if they are Martial Artists, are probably all old, with insufficient vitality, and may well be blind or deaf... It's unlikely that they'll immediately discover the surveillance, so I can send out the bird-like drones to drop monitors disguised as stones, beetles, and the like..."
Fang Xing figured that only the leader of the previous quartet, the Rough Jade Realm Martial Artist, might possibly detect the surveillance equipment.
After all, Martial Artists in the Rough Jade Realm generally have an Innate Spiritual Sense, which is adept at detecting various hostile gazes.
Although the surveillance equipment resembles inanimate objects more, there was still a chance of being discovered.
'If it were a Rough Jade Martial Artist from the Blue Star Federation, the chances of discovery would be greater...'
'The native Martial Artists here probably don't understand technology and lack interference and scouting devices, so the likelihood of discovery is lower... Let's do it!'
Fang Xing set the program and commanded the bird-like drones to take off.
If one looked carefully, they would notice that these imitations were carrying small things like stones and beetles in their claws.
These bird-like drones would traverse a hundred li to reach that farming area, then drop the tiny stones and beetle monitors.
Thereafter... they would silently collect data and information...
...
Ten days later.
Yucai High School.
Fang Xing silently stood in stance, his consciousness focused on the attribute panel:
[First Realm: Skin and Flesh (Refine Skin: 99/100)]
[Military Boxing Twelve Styles: 9/100 (Skilled)]
[Great Dragon Stance: 29/100 (Skilled)]
"Just a bit more, and I'll have Perfect Skin Refinement!"
Looking at his Martial Arts Realm, Fang Xing was quite satisfied: "It's just that Great Dragon Stance hasn't entered the next level, which is the Third Stage that Teacher Xia Long mentioned. I'll probably only achieve Copper Skin... Fortunately, Skin and Flesh are in the same realm; after refining the flesh, if Great Dragon Stance reaches the Third Stage, it will also silently refine the skin membrane and turn Copper Skin into Jade Skin."
Just then, his gaze caught a pair of eyes that did not hide their hatred.
These eyes were bloodshot, belonging to a tall, white young man.
"Cole..."
Fang Xing revealed a slight smile: "What, fancy another sparring match?"
"No, let's wait until the final exams."
Cole withdrew his gaze and answered politely.
This type of restraint actually impressed Fang Xing, causing him to become slightly more cautious.
"Ah Xing, be careful with that Cole. I heard his family has some money, and after losing to you last time, he hired a personal trainer and spent a lot of money on blood-boosting medicines..."
Liu Wei approached Fang Xing and whispered a warning.
Practicing Martial Arts is all about steady progression; there are no instantaneous breakthroughs that massively increase one's Divine Skills overnight.
Even with a mentor's guidance and ample resources, it still takes time to materialize the benefits!
Fang Xing could even sense that Cole's strength was in a period of rapid growth.
By the time of the final exams, he might surprise everyone!
"Rest assured, in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy and trickery are ineffective,"
Fang Xing confidently responded.
He had an entire Otherworld as a resource base and a cultivation environment akin to a Cosmic Secret Realm; his pace of becoming stronger would only be faster than Cole's!
After all, Cole's family background wasn't that impressive, probably not even as good as Gu Yun's!
If the other party really planned to make a move during the final exams, Fang Xing wouldn't mind showing them what true despair was!
"Ah Xing, you've changed a lot."
Liu Wei couldn't help but fall silent.
"People change."
Fang Xing replied.
"Yeah... people do change. I hope I can become stronger too... I don't have resources, and my talent isn't as good as Ah Xing's, so now all I can do is pray that one day I'll awaken suddenly and become a Superpower User."
Liu Wei said it almost jokingly.
"A Superpower User? That evolutionary path isn't very promising..."
Fang Xing shook his head.
The so-called 'Superpower Users' could also be referred to as 'Mutants', and their origins were somewhat mysterious.
While most scientific research indicated that the abilities of Superpower Users were varied and often stemmed from genetic mutations, the process was very random.
But it could not be denied that the emergence of Superpower Users did not occur after humanity entered the space age, but after the 'Great Catastrophe Day'!
Although genetic mutations are naturally possible, and it's logical for humanity to begin evolving upon encountering the vast universe, the Blue Star Federation's projections suggested that such genetic evolution should occur over tens of thousands of years.
However, after the Great Catastrophe Day, this 'process' seemed to have been accelerated by a certain existence by thousands of times.
Some sects also claimed that Superpower Users were the favored children of Outer Realm deities and represented the 'new humanity'!
For this reason, locating the suspected 'Superpower User' with 'Evil God' authorities was one of the Blue Star Federation's key strategic priorities.
"Due to the unclear origins of Superpower Users... suddenly awakening to superpowers might not necessarily be a good thing."
Fang Xing continued to speak.
"I think superpowers have nothing to do with Outer Realm Evil Gods; it's just a normal result of genetic mutation, and the probability is so small, it's merely gossip... Besides, last year's top scorer in the college entrance exam from Chuying Star was a Superpower User, and they didn't face any regulation or discrimination..."
Liu Wei appeared indifferent, yet his feelings were complex and hard to articulate.
He thought of the black-robed cultist who had approached him out of the blue, offering to lure him into the sect, with the promise of awakening a flesh-related superpower!
Whether it be 'Steel Physique', 'Super-speed Regeneration', or even the lowest-tier 'Power Amplification,' any of these could be greatly beneficial to a Martial Artist!
Once acquired, one's Martial Arts progression could leap forward dramatically in a single day!
After all, even a low-level superpower like 'Power Amplification' would be regarded as 'Innate Divine Strength' in ancient times, akin to a Martial Arts prodigy with exceptional talent!
He was indeed hesitating…
After all, compared to a natural awakening of superpowers, these artificially induced awakenings were undoubtedly tied to the Outer Realm Evil God.
Once involved, it meant falling into the Abyss.
'But… if I can't awaken a superpower, how can I surpass Ah Xing?'
'If I can't even surpass Ah Xing, how can I succeed in college entrance exams? How can I escape from the battlefield of flesh and blood?'
'How can I... make Lian Yi take me seriously?'
Liu Wei clenched his fists in secret.
"Why bring this up all of a sudden; could it be… you've awakened something?"
Fang Xing suddenly looked at Liu Wei with suspicion.
"If only I had awakened…"
Liu Wei responded frankly.
He was still in a state of indecision and hadn't gone to receive the 'blessing', so he was quite at peace.
Even if he went for a genetic test in the infirmary, it certainly wouldn't detect anything.
"True… while awakening a superpower on one's own can be dangerous, for people like us who want to succeed, we have to take the risk…"
"Being a Superpower User is still better than cannon fodder."
"What's more, perhaps the emergence of Superpower Users is natural, and the Federation is overthinking it."
Fang Xing thought his classmate might have really awakened some superpower, and shifting his tone, he offered some consolation.
Yet this very consolation somewhat stung Liu Wei's pride.
"Yeah… it would be great if I had one."
Liu Wei muttered.
Originally, he was somewhat hesitant, but seeing his classmates progress rapidly,
Especially since Fang Xing, who came from a similar background, had overtaken him, finally made up his mind.
'Even if it means falling into the Abyss, I wish to witness a moment of brilliance!'