Chapter 73: Use Your Brain

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Use Your Brain

’My build again...’

A surge of irritation washed over Fang Can as he listened to Liu Qingmeng’s description.

Ever since he started practicing martial arts, countless people had told him he was too short, too thin, too weak...

It seemed just about everyone told him he was too frail.

Even though his 1.8-meter height and chiseled, sculpted muscles were aesthetically pleasing, he just didn’t measure up in front of those hulking Martial Artists, all of whom were two meters tall and up.

At this thought, Fang Can glanced at Liu Qingmeng’s figure—curvaceous despite being wrapped in her dress—and asked:

"Then with your and Elder Jiang’s physiques, why not train to become like those male Martial Artists instead of maintaining your current forms?"

"Me?" Liu Qingmeng’s blue hair swayed gently as she replied calmly, "Because I don’t wish to. My path does not lie solely in the Martial Dao, so I have no need to devote everything to it. If I were to stubbornly insist, it might do more harm than good."

"But you are different." Liu Qingmeng stared into Fang Can’s eyes.

"I see ambition in your eyes. You want to become the strongest, and you happen to have the talent for it. One who pursues perfection must be ever-victorious, fearing no hardship, because a single defeat would shatter your martial heart."

"I have a Secret Technique that can help you overcome your Innate shortcomings. With your talent, it would be enough to make you grow to two-point-two meters within a month, barely reaching a level of strength where you could contend with Xiang Longtao."

As Liu Qingmeng spoke, she watched Fang Can, awaiting his decision. But the young man before her simply shook his head firmly. "There’s no need."

"Are you sure? This is the plan with the highest chance of success," Liu Qingmeng pressed. "Even if it means you might get beaten so badly your martial heart shatters?"

Fang Can smiled and cupped his fists. "Thank you, Elder Liu, but I’ll pass. As for taking first place in the grand competition, I’ll rely on my own ingenuity. And if it comes down to a contest of strength, I already have an idea or two."

"So be it. Since you’re determined to go your own way, I won’t try to persuade you."

Liu Qingmeng didn’t insist, instead continuing, "Then let’s move on to the next item: your plan to transform your entire body into thinking flesh and blood."

"I must admit, your idea is quite revolutionary. But blazing a new trail is always the hardest part, especially when it’s based on nothing but theory."

"It’s not just theory." Fang Can pointed to his head. "My body has neurons and brain cells. I just need to spread their properties throughout my body, like cellular replication or an infection. That will be enough."

"Enough? In that case, let me ask you: how do you confirm the existence of a brain in your body?" Liu Qingmeng asked abruptly.

Fang Can found her question utterly baffling.

’How does one confirm the existence of a brain? Biology textbooks and X-rays can prove it.’

’Besides, it’s not as if he hadn’t opened up another Martial Artist’s skull before. He’d seen the color of their brain matter with his own eyes.’

Seeing Fang Can’s taken-for-granted expression, Liu Qingmeng shook her head in exasperation. "You blockhead. If you want to remake your entire body in the image of the brain, then you must personally experience your own mind at work."

"So let me ask you, have you ever seen the color of your own brain? Have you reached out and felt the texture of your own brain matter, or smelled the scent it gives off with your own nose?"

"Uh, so what you’re saying is..." Fang Can asked, completely bewildered.

Liu Qingmeng softly uttered two words: "Skull opening."

"Feel the weight of your brain with your own hands, trace its folds, observe its color."

"Open my skull? Won’t I die?" Fang Can’s expression flickered.

"Does a person die without a brain?"

"Of course they do... uh, wait, I guess I wouldn’t." Fang Can subconsciously scratched his head.

"Haven’t you already enabled your heart to think?" Liu Qingmeng said, looking at him. "You’re trapped by conventional thinking. A person dies without a brain, but you are different."

"The very reason you made your heart think was so you could continue to fight even if your brain was destroyed. In that case, why can’t you be the one to do the damage yourself?"

"This line of thinking..."

Fang Can felt as if his mind had been struck by lightning. His eyes widened in disbelief. ’Is this the thought process of someone at the Fourth Layer of the Heaven-Ascending Road? It’s absolutely brilliant!’

Seeing Fang Can hesitate, Liu Qingmeng wasted no more words and took matters into her own hands.

The next moment, a blue electric current flashed, piercing straight through Fang Can’s forehead and blowing the top of his skull clean off.

Fang Can felt a sudden coldness on his head, followed by a sharp, searing pain that erupted from his scalp.

"Suppress the urge to heal. I have opened your skull. The rest is for you to comprehend on your own."

Without lingering after she spoke, Liu Qingmeng turned and drifted away. With that flash of electricity, however, her apparent age had once again grown younger by several years.

Hearing Liu Qingmeng’s words, Fang Can subconsciously reached for his head. His scalp felt cool, and his self-healing abilities were already kicking in, stopping the bleeding and dulling the pain as the wound began to close.

’Well, my head’s already open,’ he thought. Fang Can forcibly suppressed his body’s urge to absorb sunlight and began to mentally resist the healing process.

The next moment, clutching his head to keep his brain from jostling out, he jogged over to a mirror.

One look and he immediately saw that Liu Qingmeng’s control over her power had been perfect. She had only removed the top of his skull without causing any significant damage to his brain.

’So... this is what my brain looks like.’

Fang Can stroked his chin, staring at the brain exposed to the open air. Since it was his own, he didn’t find it particularly disgusting. In fact, he felt an odd sense of intimacy with it.

As he observed it, personally witnessing his own brain, the rate at which the neural "infection" spread through the cells of his body suddenly more than doubled.

He was both shocked and delighted by this rate of progress. ’As expected of a prodigy at the Fourth Layer of the Heaven-Ascending Road. A single casual pointer from her led to such a huge improvement!’

Then, he recalled her earlier words: feel the brain’s weight, smell its scent, listen to its vibrations, feel its texture...

To be honest, Fang Can was starting to panic.

After all, even though he had trained to the point where his very heart could think, this would be the first time he removed his brain from his skull. And doing it with his own hands... he was, to put it mildly, terrified.

’What if I fail? I’ll look like a complete fool.’

’But... all my current thoughts are coming from my brain. It’s such a strange feeling. Am I really the one thinking this, or is my brain making me think it?’

A strange smile crept onto Fang Can’s lips as his hands slowly reached up toward his head.

"I... I’m touching it. It feels like tofu pudding, but a little firmer."

Even though he was touching it, Fang Can felt no pain.

The brain itself has no nerve endings to transmit pain, so he wouldn’t have felt anything even if it were rotting away.

The next moment, as he exerted a bit of force with his arms, Fang Can felt like a computer that had just been unplugged. His eyes rolled back in their sockets, and his entire being began to shut down.

Then, the backup power kicked in.

With his brain—the main power source—disconnected, his heart began to think in its place. Consciousness flooded back into Fang Can’s vacant eyes, and he stared intently at his own reflection.