However.

To Lin Fan's surprise.

The expected response of unanimous support was completely absent.

There were no thunderous applause or cheers.

The scene was dead silent.

The dozen or so people in front of him were still busy with their own tasks. The middle-aged monk continued to chant with his prayer beads, while the scholar Mo Buzhi kept flipping through the pages of his book.

The burly middle-aged man, Wang Hu, was as usual sprawled on the table, snoring loudly.

Gongshu Ming was gently stroking the wooden bird perched on his shoulder.

"Ah~"

The girl in tight black clothes, Xingye, stretched and yawned, looking utterly uninterested.

For a moment, Lin Fan was dumbfounded.

"Is this... your reaction?"

"Yeah." Xingye, the girl with a personality, looked up at Lin Fan, seemingly trying to provoke him, and said plainly, "What else did you expect?"

"At least... show some reaction!" Lin Fan was on the verge of losing it. Their reactions were nothing like what he had imagined!

He knew.

In his previous life, when Lin Fan met these people, they were all without exception full of passion, ready to sacrifice for Great Xia!

Xingye was the first Guardian God of Great Xia to die in battle!

Lin Fan still remembered how this woman, facing the towering Dark Moon God, stood proudly with her sword despite being gravely injured.

Her fierce shout, "If you give me another five years, not even a deity could set foot in Great Xia!" and her figure rushing towards the night sky like a single star.

That battle was known as the Battle of Star and Moon.

It was also during that battle that the Mo-Hidden Starfall Sect, which had been passed down for millennia in Great Xia, was completely annihilated.

That night, the stars fell.

Since then, the sky over Great Xia no longer had countless stars, only a dim red moon hanging in the sky, like a silent mockery from the gods.

Back then, everyone present was so full of zeal! They wished they could fight the deities to the death!

But now, why were they so unmotivated?

Suppressing his anger, Lin Fan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Perhaps you don't realize, in three months..."

"In three months, the Descent of the Gods will happen, alright, alright, we know all about it." Xingye, with one foot on the table, replied coldly, "The National Leader told us so much when he brought us here that our ears almost grew calluses."

Lin Fan was slightly taken aback, "Then since you know, why..."

"Why are we not motivated?!" The burly man who had been pretending to sleep, Wang Hu of the Xingyi Sect, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Lin Fan, shouting with a strong voice, "Then can you tell us, what does the Descent of the Gods have to do with us?"

"Can you tell us how we're supposed to deal with the deities?"

"With these iron fists?!" Wang Hu slammed his fist, as big as a sandbag, onto the table.

"Bang!"

A dull sound echoed.

But the table didn't shatter like in the movies; it just shook a bit and then went still.

"Why don't you first tell me why, after practicing Xingyi Fist for thirty years, I'm still not as strong as those who have never learned martial arts but suddenly put on those brass knuckles sold online?"

Wang Hu pointed at the unchanged solid redwood table and shouted.

"So, how are we supposed to fight the deities? Are we relying on this?" Wang Hu's expression was grim.

The old Taoist Dao Wanqian coughed, glanced at Wang Hu, and signaled him to sit down with his eyes.

Only then did Wang Hu sit down, pouting. Although he was frustrated, it was clear he had a lot of respect for the old Taoist.

"My young friend," Dao Wanqian stroked his beard, looking at Lin Fan with a complex expression, "Don't overthink it. Wang Hu means no harm; he's just practiced external martial arts for years without a method to cultivate his temperament, so his temper is inevitably a bit volatile."

"Yes." Lin Fan nodded, "What is your opinion?"

"Opinion is too strong a word." Dao Wanqian sighed, "It's just as Wang Hu said."

"Though we are all heirs of Great Xia's martial arts and somewhat stronger than ordinary people."

"But martial arts are just martial arts. I admit, martial arts are indeed killing techniques. But they're not the mystical arts you see on TV now, like walking on walls or stepping on air."

"Now, the times have changed."

"Just like Wang Hu said, he practiced Iron Tiger Claw for thirty years, diligently waking up at dawn every day."

"He can break a stack of bricks with one punch."

"In the past, that would indeed be considered a master."

"But now... any young person can buy brass knuckles online, and without any training, they can break a stack of bricks with a punch, and those knuckles are even harder than Wang Hu's fists!"

"I, too, once practiced lightness skill diligently. In my youth, I could cover eight hundred miles in a day, as the ancients said, but... have you heard of high-speed trains?"

The old man's face was full of lament.

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Lin Fan: "..."

Dao Wanqian was silent for a moment, then looked at Xingye and continued, "This young girl has mastered the Starfall Slash, and her Mo-Hidden technique is truly inherited, making her movements as elusive as ink."

"In the realm of martial arts, whether in terms of speed or explosive power, she has reached the pinnacle of human capability. Within ten steps, she can take a person's head, and that person's head would still be blinking, unaware they've been decapitated."

"But."

"It's only ten steps."

"Do you know the range of modern firearms? With a sniper, a headshot can be achieved from a kilometer away in the blink of an eye. If precision missiles are used... well, that's truly a battle fought from a thousand miles away."

The old man glanced at the Venerable Compassion, who was still chanting with his eyes closed, and said in a low voice, "This Venerable Compassion is even more unfortunate. Do you see that Refined Iron Demon-Subduing Staff beside him? His staff technique can split mountains and crack stones."

"In the old days, it was a powerful weapon for subduing demons."

"But a few days ago, a young man challenged him to a duel, and before he could make a move, he was already on the ground, howling."

At these words.

The previously serene Venerable Compassion suddenly stopped chanting.

His fingers, clutching the prayer beads, tightened, and his knuckles cracked.

Opening his eyes, Venerable Compassion said expressionlessly, "That young man... had no martial arts skills. If it were a normal fight, he wouldn't be my match."

"Venerable surely had compassion for all beings, so you didn't want to take a life!" Lin Fan quickly clasped his hands together, "Buddha is compassionate, Venerable's heart of compassion, how virtuous."

However.

Faced with Lin Fan's praise, Venerable Compassion's face showed no hint of a smile.

After a long silence, Venerable Compassion sighed, scratching his bald head, "Actually... the main issue was that guy didn't follow the martial code. We agreed to compare staff techniques, I used the Refined Iron Demon-Subduing Staff, and he used... an electric baton!"

"Amitabha."

"This world is full of tricks; the temple is still better."

Venerable Compassion recalled how he hadn't even made a move that day before he was twitching and rolling on the ground, and he softly chanted the Buddha's name.

That day.

The usually indifferent Venerable Compassion learned a piece of modern basic physics that the Buddha never taught.

Iron conducts electricity.

Similarly.

A staff made of iron can also conduct electricity.