A set of seemingly ordinary Wild Ball Fist techniques actually combines ‘Basic Fist Techniques’, ‘Basic Palm Techniques’, and ‘Basic Finger Techniques’—three sets of foundational martial arts. Moreover, it includes methods for using them in coordination. You could say that if Wild Ball Fist is practiced well, it directly lays the groundwork for William Foster to learn hand-based martial arts.

Having played countless games, studied countless theories, and read countless novels, William Foster naturally understood the importance of fundamentals. So from start to finish, he applied himself diligently, afraid he might miss any of Charles Bennett’s instructions and end up practicing incorrectly.

In this process of learning, nearly ten hours passed in the blink of an eye, and William Foster was surprised to find that he didn’t feel tired at all.

“Could it be that training here doesn’t make you tired?”

Setting the question aside, Charles Bennett finally watched William Foster perform the moves a few more times, then sighed lightly: “Although you’re not stupid and have some natural talent, your body is too weak and your bones are just average. Fortunately, you’re willing to work hard. As for how far you’ll go in the future…”

Before he finished speaking, Charles Bennett’s figure slowly faded away. At the same time, William Foster felt a sudden dizziness, his vision blurred, and he found himself back in his own room, still holding the posture of merging the iron plates together.

Looking down, he saw that the two iron plates had actually fused into one, with not a single seam visible, as if they had always been that way.

Just as he was about to take a closer look, suddenly someone stumbled in, shouting loudly, “Something’s wrong! Something big has happened!”

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Chapter 3 Something Big Has Happened!

Just from the voice, William Foster knew the person was Sammy Clark. That shout startled him so much he jumped, thinking the Demon Sect had found him and was coming to silence him.

Luckily, William Foster wasn’t that muddle-headed, and his courage held up. He quickly came to his senses: “No way it’s that fast!” At the same time, he was annoyed at Sammy Clark for scaring him, so he snapped, “What are you yelling about? What big thing could possibly happen in this little place? Has the sky fallen or the earth caved in?”

Henry Brooks took a deep breath, not at all bothered by William Foster’s scolding. Instead, sweating profusely, he hurriedly said, “A few days ago, the neighboring village was looted by a gang of bandits. They stole a lot of things, killed quite a few people, and several women were violated—you know about this, Rocky, right? That gang of bandits has sent a team our way, and they’re almost at the entrance to our village!”

“Bandits?”

William Foster was startled too—this really was a big deal!

Seeing William Foster’s expression change, Henry Brooks grew even more anxious: “Forget about the stuff, as long as they don’t kill anyone, at worst we just give it to them. But those bandits also violate women—if they see Annie…”

In that instant, he felt a powerful sense of crisis.

He finally realized that he truly wasn’t on Earth anymore, but in a very dangerous world. Here, even if you stayed quietly at home, ruthless bandits could show up at your door looking for trouble.

In fact, when he learned about Edward Grant, William Foster hadn’t felt much sense of danger, because it all seemed too far removed from him. Or maybe, deep down, he subconsciously understood: if Edward Grant really wanted to kill him right away, he’d have no way to resist, so his mind just ignored the issue.

But this was different—the bandits were already at the doorstep, and from what had happened in the nearby villages, it was clear these people had no humanity. The only thing that could stop them was force—overwhelming force.

For example, the patrol officers stationed nearby: the Great Zhou Dynasty was well aware of the impact martial artists had on the country, so they established the Divine Constable Division specifically to deal with these high-level threats.

The Divine Constable Division’s local branches were the Prefecture Patrol Halls; at the town level, there were Patrol Offices. Since there were countless villages around each town, every town was further divided into several ‘pavilions’.

Each pavilion was responsible for patrolling, investigating, and apprehending criminals in the surrounding villages. Of course, if they encountered a problem they couldn’t handle, they could request help from the Patrol Office above them. If the Patrol Office couldn’t handle it either, the matter could be reported up the chain, all the way to the highest level—the Divine Constable Division, which was directly under the imperial court!

At the same time, patrol officers in Great Zhou held a highly respected status, which was quite different from the ancient environment William Foster was familiar with—probably because martial artists here were much stronger, leading to this difference.

Of course, with higher status and better treatment came much greater risks. Patrol officers in Great Zhou really had to risk their lives. In situations like this, as soon as they got word, they had to rush to the scene immediately—they could request reinforcements, but while waiting for help, they couldn’t just stand by; they had to head straight to the trouble spot.

“Has anyone gone to the pavilion to call the constables?”

“Third Uncle already sent Billy!”

Billy was a few years younger than the two of them, only thirteen this year, but the kid had great legs and could run like the wind. Right now, he was the perfect choice to deliver the message and call for help.

“No matter what, we can’t let these bandits harm the villagers!”

William Foster wasn’t some righteous hero. In his previous world, he was just an ordinary person who hadn’t had much luck, and his bad temper had even gotten him in trouble with his bosses at work more than once.