The Human Giant

"Evi, don\'t discount yourself, for White Crimson City to send as their delivery man is still very important. Without people like you who are willing to risk their lives, all the cities and regions would be completely isolated from each other." Yoze smiled when he saw Evi\'s embarrassed face and wanted to laugh but held it in.

"I am risking my life, but the City doesn\'t have that much trust in a weak scholar like me sending out this information, so at least two other people are delivering the same information. In the grand scheme of things, me and you are insignificant." Evi coughed to regain his image as an intellectual, but it was easy for Yoze to see in his eyes that he truly believed he was insignificant.

"Ah, whatever. If you are thinking in such a large scheme, then every individual human is insignificant compared to the world. Even humankind is insignificant compared to the world at large."

"So don\'t let this affect your confidence and worldview. This will not only affect your cognitive ability, but it will also negatively affect your future opportunities." Seeing that his friend was having self-doubts, Yoze quickly tried his best to squash it.

"...I guess you are right. If I keep thinking of myself as unimportant, I will never be important. The world is so big that thinking that everything is insignificant does nothing but harm the present and future."

After hearing Yoze resolve his doubts, Evi felt like a heavy rock had fallen off his shoulders and felt much better.

"That\'s the way to think about it." Yoze smiled before turning his sights to the other people besides Evi.

"By the way, who are these people you were traveling with? Are they your friends and companions?" 

"Who?" Evi\'s eyes flashed with confusion until he turned around and saw several naked, fat men tied up beside him.

"Oh yeah, I had forgotten about them because we were having such a good conversation. These are the merchants I was traveling with, so I guess you could call them my travel companions." 

Hearing that Evi had forgotten about them, the several naked fat men felt as if their hearts had been stabbed with a knife. After traveling together for more than a month, they were so easily forgotten.

However, when they saw that handsome and beautiful, really, really, really tall scholar didn\'t forget about them, they felt much better. It would have been bad if Evi and Yoze truly did forget about them and left them tied up in the forest.

"Mmmham!"

Unfortunately, their mouths were tied up earlier because of how much they were crying and begging, so they could only beg Yoze and Evi to mumble through the rope. 

"Evi, can you explain why they are naked? It shouldn\'t be because their clothes were made out of gold and silver, right? So why would the bandits harm their eyes by stripping these merchants naked but not you?"

"Well, it wasn\'t like the bandits had a choice; they had stripped off their clothes on their own when our guards had died. I think they thought that by showing that they no longer had any valuables anywhere in their bodies, they would have been let go." The disgust in Evi\'s eyes and voice was evident as he didn\'t want to look at them.

They really didn\'t look good in both physical and intelligence aspects.

"...I see. They must not be very experienced in being robbed, or else they wouldn\'t have stripped themselves naked voluntarily."

"Bandits don\'t usually strip people when taking their valuables. Plus, it only makes it seem that you are not important or hide the real valuables inside your body." Yoze\'s eyes twitched when he saw the stunned looks in the merchants\' eyes when they realized their mistake.

"It is not their fault. The martial arts sects have more control over the region than here, so there are fewer bandits." 

"Evi, how much do you know about martial arts sects?" Yoze asked curiously.

"Probably less than the person who worked at two Martial Courtyards. But after a few years, I learned some basic information." Evi bit his lips to try and remember what he had read over the years.

"I read that there are ten powerful martial arts sects who have extraordinary influence on politics and resources of the region they are in. From what I can remember, these sects, from strongest to weakest, are The Human Empire, The Crimson City, The Lost Lake Sect, The Sword Sect, The Fire Sect, The Grand Empire, The Demon Children Sect, The Honey Sect, The Ice Sect, and lastly the Charred Sect."

"In this region, the Charred Sect is the only major Sect, while all the other sects are not notable. While the Lost Lake Sect dominated the Jade Mountain region."

"Interestingly, no major sect controls the Imperial Region, so the other notable sects are thriving. Like the Devil-Be-Not Sect, which is ranked in 14th place, and the Holy Spear Sect, which is ranked in 12th place."

"But other than that, I don\'t really know a lot about the martial arts sects. Sorry if I am just repeating information that you are more knowledgeable in." Evi said with a nervous smile.

"What the hell? How does he know so much? I only became aware of all that information after leaving the Jade Mountain region with Jewel. And I had to be scammed to get that information." Yoze thought to himself while keeping his smile.

"Don\'t worry about it; I didn\'t know much about martial arts sects until I left the Jade Mountain region. So, the fact that you know so much is very impressive."

"In fact, I was thinking about establishing a sect of my own." Yoze slowed down his speech as he tried to pique Evi\'s interest.

"You are thinking about starting your own martial arts sect! Wow, for that, you have to have gotten incredibly good at martial arts."

Evi felt stunned when he heard Yoze wanted to establish his Sect. Establishing a sect wasn\'t as simple as it sounded. It required not only a lot of resources to start, but it also required the sect leader or the founder to have a deep pool of knowledge on a type of martial art and great leadership.

If the newly established Sect was missing any of these aspects, then it would amount to nothing but an aspiration. So the fact that Yoze showed so much confidence revealed that he really might have what it takes to make a martial arts sect.

"Well, my idea is a bit different from traditional sects," Yoze said mysteriously.

"What is so different about it from other sects?" Evi asked.

"Okay, since you asked, my sect is going to teach a special kind of martial art called Martial Formation, the superior version of martial arts and the key to breaking past the limit of Martial Grandmaster!"

"Of course, that isn\'t all of it. I will also teach everyone who joins the secrets of Human Spiritual Body Cultivation. A unique path that controls a special energy that all living beings possess."

"Evi, imagine it with me: In the future, you will have the power to destroy mountains with a single punch, have the ability to walk on water, and transform yourself into a giant that is more than 80 feet tall. All while being able to transform a mountain into a volcano with a single thought or fight demons head-on without fear!"

"Doesn\'t that sound amazing! It is an irresistible opportunity that no one else can provide. Does that pique your interest in joining?" Yoze earnestly asked Evi.

"That sounds amazing! If I were someone you were recruiting, I would like to join your Sect."

"But that sounds a bit far-fetched, don\'t you think? It might make people begin to doubt your credibility if you say something so grand but show no proof." Evi slowly said as he carefully picked his words, hoping not to deflate Yoze\'s ego.

Even though Yoze\'s proposal sounded grand and inspiring, it was a bit too much. When something sounded too good to be true, then it usually was.

As Yoze\'s best friend, Evi didn\'t doubt that Yoze was lying to him about his being revolutionary, but it would not be the same for other people. When it came to normal people, they wouldn\'t be able to understand even half of the words Yoze was saying, so they would most likely think he was a scammer.

As for martial artists, they would think he was lying since he had no credibility or solid proof that his ideas and new paths were real. Even if it was real, what is to say that they would get the chance to break past the limits of the Martial Grandmaster realm when they were stuck as first-rate martial artists?

"That makes sense; I should continue to work on my speech. But while I figure that out, how about you become the first person to join my Sect?"