Tang Lan was sure that if it wasn't for Wang Feng's talent, which he looked so highly upon, he would have beaten this kid to death for this question.
Did I not sense that? Don't you know the answer? If I had truly sensed that, why would I have ended up beaten so badly that day? Aren't you asking a question you knew the answer for?
"No," Tang Lan snapped.
Chen Feng's face was filled with doubt. "If so, then what's the point of learning this thing?"
Tang Lan: "…"
He studied Wang Feng attentively. Jin Dian glanced at Wang Feng as well. Only at this did they realize that even though Wang Feng had been listening, in fact, he hadn't really been convinced of the so-called arcane studies. Rather than doubting Tang Lan, he doubted arcane studies. Was learning this thing truly useful?
If this was someone else, Tang Lan wouldn't have been bothered. They could choose to believe or not to believe as they wished. However, this guy here was Wang Feng, one of those he looked most highly upon. As such, he had to continue his lecture.
Tang Lan laughed bitterly. "Senior Mu was too strong. As such, it is natural for me to not be able to sense what he's about to do. However, if it was someone else—for example, Jin Dian—that wanted to kill me, I would definitely be able to sense it in advance."
Jin Dian glared at him. "…Do you believe that I won't cut you down right here and now?"
"Hence..." Chen Feng pondered and continued, "I will be able to sense the actions of those weaker or who possess strength similar to mine. As for those stronger than me, I won't be able to sense them. If so, what's the point of learning this thing?"
"Fate is an extremely important thing."
"I'm aware."
"Luck is very important as well."
"I'm aware."
"Arcane studies are capable of improving your fate and luck."
"I don't believe that."
"…"
At this, the conversation halted. Jin Dian and Tang Lan looked at each other. What could they do when encountering a person like this?
In truth, though, it was quite simple to solve this. Tang Lan was aware of Wang Feng's hidden meaning. Since he claimed that arcane studies were powerful, he only needed to prove it. But then, something like this couldn't really be proven. Tossing a coin to prove his luck? But then, almost everyone knew a coin trick nowadays. In this genetic era, experts with all sorts of abilities existed. As such, at a glance, arcane studies might not appear particularly useful. There existed abilities out there not only capable of influencing the result of a coin toss but that could potentially even transform the coin into a gold coin.
Tang Lan inhaled deeply. "Fine. Let us discuss properly."
As a youth with exceptionally good luck, how could this Wang Feng think this way? Even if the advantages of arcane studies couldn't be demonstrated in a clear-cut manner, Tang Lan had to convince Wang Feng.
"What is your opinion of my combat power?" Tang Lan asked.
Chen Feng answered honestly. "Quite ordinary." Among class warriors, Tang Lan was truly quite lacking in combat power.
"Correct." Tang Lan wasn't the least bothered by this and lectured earnestly. "Therefore, it would be extremely easy for Jin Dian to kill me. However, what if I have extremely powerful sensory capabilities? If my luck is reinforced, giving me the ability to sense what he's about to do to me, I would definitely be able to prepare myself accordingly before it comes. With that, Jin Dian killing me becomes a nearly impossible feat. In fact, up until now, I have survived an extremely huge number of dangers thanks to arcane studies. Granted, I was indeed beaten up that day, but then, that was because Senior Mu is too powerful. Moreover, back then, we were in the internal area of the Mysterious Organization. At a place like that, even if he were to beat me up, he would not truly kill me. Therefore… do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
Chen Feng glanced at Jin Dian, who nodded slightly.
"Only useful for sensing danger?" Chen Feng asked.
"Naturally, it's not only limited to that." As Chen Feng seemed somewhat convinced, Tang Lan breathed out in relief. Next, he started telling Chen Feng various benefits of luck improvement. To summarize what he was telling Chen Feng, he was educating Chen Feng about how the probability of occurrences with a low chance of happening would increase greatly after learning about arcane studies. As for occurrences with a high chance of happening, the probability of them happening could be enhanced to 100%. This was the true function of arcane studies.
Chen Feng merely listened quietly to all of this. Arcane studies… this thing was truly not particularly useful to him. When he needed to alter the probability of something occurring, he could do that with his Luck Aura. Hence, while listening, he maintained a facade of someone lacking interest. This facade fit the character of Wang Feng he was playing as well. However, toward the end of Tang Lan's speech, Chen Feng was abruptly startled.
Tang Lan ended his speech passionately. "I believe that when one's prowess reaches a certain level, one can control even luck itself. When one improves their luck to the limit, one might even turn omniscient, knowing everything."
Chen Feng frowned. "That shouldn't be possible, right?" He was too experienced in the control of luck. Even now, he already had a rough grasp on the basic usage of his Luck Aura and was able to use his Luck Aura to obtain certain information he required.
For example, using his alarm system, he was able to find out if there were any enemies within a certain range of him. His Luck Aura would give him a "yes" or a "no" as an answer. Another example was his ability of locating the enemy's coordinates using his Luck Aura. These were all things the present Chen Feng was capable of doing. He believed that, with sufficient luck value, he could even form letters in the world of his Luck Aura to find out what his target was talking about. He had indeed attempted that, but the consumption of luck value had been extremely huge. As such, it was impossible for the present him.
Theoretically, to form a single word, a countless combination of letters would be required. Every possible combination would have a different probability of appearing. When all these probabilities were added up, the resulting amount was unimaginably high. To form a single word, the final probability would probably be one in several hundred thousand. To form a full sentence…
Indeed, luck value was theoretically capable of achieving anything related to probability. However, there was a limit to it. When using Luck Aura to do something exceeding the limit, the actual consumption of luck value increased. This was something Chen Feng wasn't too experienced with.
Even when using his Luck Aura to affect reality, Chen Feng was only able to roughly estimate the amount of luck value required through the world of his Luck Aura. When it came to pure information gathering through the power of luck, he lacked experience. Was this truly possible?
"Why not?" Tang Lan proudly stated, "Granted, the maximum information I can gather is limited to two words, and it only works in certain circumstances, but based on my calculations, it is definitely possible."
"By guessing the letters before forming words with the guessed letters?"
"Why is there a need to even guess the letters? We can directly guess the words themselves."
Chen Feng was speechless. "But then… based on the dictionary, there are nearly 100,000 words in existence at this time, right?" To get a single one of those words right, the probability was 1 in 100,000. That seemed like a bottomless abyss.
Tang Lan shrugged. "So what? Among the 100,000 words, almost 90,000 of them are words we don't require. The number of commonly used words on a daily basis is in fact lower than 3,000. With this, the amount of information we need to actually gather is much lower."
Shua!
Chen Feng's eyes shone. Three thousand! This reduced the probability by more than tenfold! If so…
Chen Feng felt doubtful, though. "Within a single set of information, too many words are contained. If so, how are we supposed to determine which of these words are the truly important words?"
Tang Lan was excited. It hadn't been easy to get Wang Feng engaged in this discussion. "Haha. To know this, you will have to learn my arcane studies." Soon, he started tossing his various theories regarding arcane studies at Chen Feng. And with this, Chen Feng's course in arcane studies officially began.
Learning about arcane studies had indeed dispelled a lot of the doubt Chen Feng had had all this while. Although Tang Lan did not possess the terrifying Luck Aura Chen Feng possessed and he wasn't as talented as Chen Feng when it came to controlling luck, he had dedicated his whole life to this. Therefore, he was absolutely the most experienced person at this. Chen Feng also learned a lot through their conversations.
What was it exactly that the arcane studies could accomplish? They could increase probability. Yes, the increase wasn't too high. It might be a mere 10% or 20%, but if this increase was applied to every single word, how much would the total increase be for one whole sentence? With the probability of 1 in 3,000, every single enhancement of arcane studies on their probability would have an outstanding effect. This method of information gathering that Chen Feng had never dared to attempt previously due to the huge luck value consumption had now seemingly been unlocked for him.
These days, Chen Feng was extremely serious in his studies. Apart from that, he was also learning how to better estimate his luck value consumption. Due to Tang Lan's limited strength, using the power of luck, he had to first guess what the full sentence was before using the power of luck to reveal the correct words. Finally, Chen Feng understood the reason those fortune tellers only ever said either one or two words at a time.
Now, Chen Feng had transformed this into an ability to estimate his luck value consumption.
He did not need to estimate the number of words his ability could gather, nor did he need to estimate the total length of the sentence. The only thing he needed to focus on was completing his own guesswork.
Shua!
Light started swirling before his eyes. Chen Feng entered the world of his Luck Aura.
What will Wang Lan say next?
Shua!
Estimated luck value consumption: five points
To display or not?
Display!
Shua!
These words appeared on the screen in the world of his Luck Aura: "Wang Feng, have you mastered this?"
In the real world, after confirming the contents of Chen Feng's studies, Tang Lan asked, "Wang Feng, have you mastered this?"
Bang!
Chen Feng's heart jolted.
It had worked! He had finally succeeded! This was the very first time he had been able to use his Luck Aura to display information of any substance.