To Be A Man Is To Be Ruthless To Yourself (1856)

"I hope you realize who you're dealing with. It would be pointless for me to make a serious move lest I use too much force and accidentally kill someone."

"But…since you guys insist. My master always said that it was impolite for the disciples of Hidden Dragon Palace not to welcome challenges."

"Come." Dugu smiled mysteriously, the corner of his lips bringing the faintest grin.

Dugu Yun leisurely waved his arms and motioned to the opposite that he was ready.

Special Skill · Buffing Activate!!!

Heh, he might not have learned anything from his "master" in terms of martial arts but for other skills…

[Little Dugu, you must remember. Although you are a child prodigy, should one day you come across an opponent you can't face…Dont confront him head on. But if you must…Make him doubt himself first! Doubt himself, doubt you, doubt your background. This is the art of winning without a fight!!] 

--Hidden Dragon Temple, Master Falkor

Dugu Yun could still faintly recall that day several years ago when his "master" lectured him under a bridge. Opposite to the two, master and apprentices, were a group of bandits waiting to rob them. Under the young Dugu's admiring eyes, the master was able to successfully convince the bandits that they were some "important people". Needless to say they were able to get away without a conflict.

Witnessing Dugu's bluffing momentum and 'expert' demeaner, the figures of the approaching gangsters stopped for a second time.

They frowned under their masks and glanced at each other. Raising an eyebrow, several people curiously asked around.

"Ehh, who are we dealing with? Does anyone know who this brat is?"

Sorry, they really didn't know. The Central Plains were vast and Dugu's reputation had only spread within Su Harbor.

They, the Overlord Gang, were not locals anyways. If not for their boss insisting on running to a large market in order to run a fruit stall….

At first glance, this boy was not easy to mess with. Dugu's long glossy black hair and the white silk tunic swayed in the cool summer breeze. Coupled with the one hand behind his back and his serious(expressionless) face, he somewhat reminded these gangsters of…their boss.

Judging from his words, it also appeared that this boy had a big background too. They didn't want to offend some big shot and have their wanted posters pasted all over the streets. How could they follow the boss and peacefully sell fruits like this?

What was his background again? Oh, Hidden Dragon Temple. Well, never heard of it.

The various gangsters look at each other through their masks in confusion. The scene was filled with a bunch of sock heads, fruit peel heads, trashcan heads, underwear heads, melon heads, and etc each bobbing their heads around looking for an answer which amused some people.

If he really was someone important, then forgive them for being ignorant, but why have they never heard of it?

Should they still carry on with this commission?

"Who is he?"

"I don't know, do you know?"

"Damn, I thought you knew, so I asked you?"

"Why would I know?"

"That makes sense. So who is he?"

"Isn't he just some kid that guy asked us to beat up?"

Suddenly the atmosphere went silent. Several heads turned to look at that last speaker. A person wearing a box for a mask froze. Oops! It seemed that he said something that shouldn't be said!

In the end the gangsters simply gave up and all unanimously turned their hands to another gangster wearing a banana peel mask. 

This was their second in command. He was the most educated person in the gang so the boss made him responsible for all the intelligence work.

They had just received the commission on one foot and found the other person on the other foot. It left them no time to investigate their target. But the banana head should know right?

Even the melon/pumpkin head who was originally silent turned to banana peel man.

Scar, who was under the banana peel, was instantly under pressure. So he desperately racked his brains and decisively reported to the boss.

"Boss, I've heard rumors before but it was too ridiculous so I didn't pay it any attention."

"Apparently several years ago, there was a famous child prodigy in this city who could do many things at a young age."

"In the end he caught the sight of a passing hermit and was accepted as a disciple."

"Apparently his name is also Dugu…So should we…"

"So this is that prodigy?" Under his melon/pumpkin helmet, Luke Anchoovy was interested. He narrowed his eyes and carefully observed Dugu Yun with a glint in his pupils.

Perhaps today was the day he could finally have a hearty skin to skin connection with a real man!

A real confrontation between two martial artists! 

At this point Luke Anchovy had completely thrown money out of his mind. What gold pounds? Never heard of it!

A real martial artist doesn't rely on fancy tricks but a real fisting competition 

Feeling the collision between bones fisting at each other until one side could no longer stand!

Their blood boiling, adrenaline soaring, chasing the thrill between each punch!

This was a real man!

To Luke Anchovy this was no longer just a commission but a potential martial arts competition. A challenge to their limits!

(Suddenly in the next moment! Dugu pulled out an Ak47 and railed Luke Anchovy in several places! Luke Anchovy, the real protagonist, dies! The story ends. Jk- author.)

No he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to see what this "prodigy" was made of. But first he had to pass the test of his brothers. Otherwise if this prodigy was really just talk wouldn't he accidentally kill him competing seriously with his innate level strength?

"Go." Luke Anchovy(Pumpkin boss form) nodded and upon his signal the gangsters were immediately relieved. 

Their boss wasn't afraid so what were they afraid of?

The distance between Dugu and the surrounding ruffians was slowly being narrowed.

20 steps away…

19 steps…

18 steps…

Dugu inwardly sighed helplessly. Guess it didn't work after all. Was the difference between him and his master so big?

Well, if that's the case…no matter.

His master had his own creed and he naturally had his own way of survival.

And that is…be ruthless!

It's hard to accomplish great things without being ruthless. It didn't matter whether he was truly merciless or not but packaging was very important. At the very least he had to come across as someone not easy to mess with.

Only in this way could he…go down with dignity and elegance!

Dugu gritted his teeth and coldly stared forward. His savage eyes on his unfeeling face scanned the approaching gangsters back and forth eventually landing on the tallest.

Pumpkin man.

Luke Anchovy nodded back at Dugu admiring his courage.

Between the two beefy men there seemed to be lightning flashing between their gazes.

14 steps away….

13 steps…

12…

The atmosphere was getting intense. Gunpowder and smoke seemed to fill the air. 

It seemed that a fight was inevitable.

Dugu Yun took a small breath to steel his mind. If only he had that bluffing momentum of his 'master' then maybe the outcome could have been different. He could afford to lose his reputation but he couldn't afford to place his family in danger.

But he was not planning on begging for mercy.

As an esteemed internet writer, ex-cult leader, and someone who had experienced death once…his will was not weak.

A man stands between heaven and earth not bowing to anyone except his parents, his partner, and the sky!

Come on! Be ruthless! 

In his past life, he was cruel enough to sacrifice his dignity as a man and wizard, using his handsome looks to hook up with the prison warden's wife. In order to escape prison for writing illegal novels, he gritted his teeth and flirted with that ugly woman.

It's not that Dugu was being mean calling her ugly, but that was objectively the case. In fact, he was already being lenient enough. 

Ugly was an understatement. 

That woman had greasy oily skin, weighed more than three hundred pounds, and there were some pus filled abscesses festering on her face. 

There was often strange black and yellow goo stuck under her long fingernails which stuck on Dugu whenever the two held hands. It seemed like the word hygiene was foreign to her.

Oftentimes he would wonder what kind of special hobbies this prison warden had. To put up with such a person, it almost made him believe love existed in this world. 

In the end, through the prison warden's wife, he was able to successfully be placed on bail, steal a spaceship, and flee the planet. 

Anyways, Dugu Yun was determined to go down fighting! And it must be done handsomely.

Strength was only a temporary matter but being cool was a lifetime thing.

There was steel in his bones and a raging fire in his blood!

8 Steps away…

7 steps..

6…

Talent ● Unity Activated!

An astonishing momentum like a wild beast instantly burst forth from Dugu! His aggressive eyes scanned his opponents, rapidly calculating all possible outcomes.

On the opposite side, Luke Anchovy was extremely delighted. This boy was the real deal!

Interesting!! Today was finally the day he had a connection with a real man! 

Come! Let's fist at each other! Let… huh?

He suddenly caught notice of something.

Wait a minute…why's this kid still holding on to his groceries?

This boy….Seemed to have forgotten to put them down!

In the distance, Dugu got into a fighting stance but the grocery bags from all the shopping earlier were still hanging on him.

Under the pumpkin mask, Luke Anchovy narrowed his eyes. Not bothering to put down his bags…did he really forget? Perhaps a unique fighting style? 

Or.…contempt for his strength?

Maybe a hidden weapon? After all, he himself did sometimes use fruits as weapons….

Anyways it was impossible for a normal person to forget to put his groceries aside during a fight right?

The fruits inside would break after all. 

To be honest, Dugu had indeed completely forgotten about the bags.

After holding onto the groceries for almost an entire day, he had already gotten used to the feeling of bags hanging on him. Coupled with the sudden appearance of gangsters that distracted his attention…It was completely an honest mistake. 

Right now Dugu was completely focused on the fight and no outside inferences could disturb him. All outside disturabacnes had lowng faded away???

"Wait you…" Luke Anchovy tried to reach out and warn Dugu about the bags he was still carrying but it was too late!

Before he could say anything, Dugu had already taken action.

-----AN: the ugly wife of the warden is actually a really nice women. dont judge dugu and her yet heheh! the story is based on mary ann bevan who i chanced upon browsing wiki (yes i do random shit lolz). there will by a side story later!-----