Chapter 49: Creating Gods, Destroying Gods!

The Greatest of All Time?

The Greatest of All Time!!!

Upon reading the final evaluation on the Rising Dragon Roll, Ye Qingshi stood dumbfounded, completely at a loss for words.

Suddenly, she recalled her earlier remarks, where she had mockingly teased Fang Can for harboring delusions of making it onto the Heavenly Secrets Roll.

Yet now, as if a legend had stepped out of the realm of myth and into reality, a youth evaluated as the greatest of all time had quietly yet overwhelmingly upended her state of mind.

"This... is this you?" Ye Qingshi asked.

A myriad of doubts and suspicions welled up in her heart—she wondered, for instance, if the so-called Heavenly Secrets Roll was a forgery concocted by Yan Zhi in an attempt to play an excessively cruel joke on her.

However, as she looked up, the expression on Yan Zhi's face—the very person who had delivered the roll—had also turned utterly horrified; the skin on his face was scrunched up in shock as his eyes scanned the list.

Therefore, the young girl sought confirmation, wanting Fang Can to verify whether the list before them was true or false.

"...Ah, it's not me." Fang Can snapped the pages shut, refusing to read any further.

"You're lying." Almost instantly, Ye Qingshi voiced her skepticism, instinctively and groundlessly convinced that Fang Can was being untruthful.

"If Miss Ye believes it is, then so be it." Fang Can stood up from his wheelchair, and with a flick of his wrist, crumpled the entire booklet into a tightly compacted paper ball.

He raised his eyes toward the sky, where the clear, warm sunlight entered his vision, instantly dissipating the irritation in his heart.

Scarcely had he turned back when he spotted a sturdy-looking man with a pair of thin mustaches standing behind him.

Sighing softly to himself, Fang Can cupped his fists and said, "Master Ye, did you come here to stop me on this trip?"

Ye Yonglie gazed at the young man before him with a complex expression. He had already harbored some slight suspicions that Fang Can's identity might be somewhat complicated, but he had never imagined the hidden secrets to be so terrifying.

Stepping through the profound gate and awakening a mental form—these two feats had manifested in the same person simultaneously, and that too within less than a month of martial arts practice. He truly deserved the title of the greatest of all time.

"I merely wished to ask Young Master Fang to continue guiding us with your mental form," Ye Yonglie said with a smile.

"Oh?" Fang Can countered, "Master should have seen the Heavenly Secrets Roll as well. Even so, you aren't expelling me? Aren't you afraid of falling out with the Fierce Tiger Sect?"

"Why would I expel Young Master Fang?" Ye Yonglie replied. "As long as we don't speak of it, besides the Heavenly Secrets Tower, who else knows you are here?"

"It's akin to hiding in plain sight. Everyone would assume that Young Master Fang, a deserter of the Fierce Tiger Sect, would flee as quickly as possible. But as long as we do the exact opposite, who could possibly guess?"

Fang Can furrowed his brows slightly, staring fixedly at Ye Yonglie without uttering another word.

"The only ones who heard Young Master Fang's name yesterday were the dozens of disciples within the martial arts hall. As long as we mutually agree to keep it a secret, Young Master Fang naturally has nothing to worry about in the future."

Hearing Ye Yonglie's words, Fang Can's initial urge to take action faded away. He looked at Ye Yonglie and asked:

"Is this your decision? Even at the risk of having your entire martial arts hall wiped out, you still want to shelter me? What are you plotting?"

"Because I am willing to believe that Young Master Fang can become the strongest." A ferocious smile split the corners of Ye Yonglie's mouth as he said, "I am prepared to wager everything I have spent half a lifetime learning in martial arts on Young Master Fang!"

"I am prepared to worship Young Master Fang as a god!" Ye Yonglie's eyes locked onto Fang Can as he spoke with resolute determination.

"Worship me as a god?"

Fang Can tilted his head, failing to understand the other man's intent. But as he turned his gaze aside, he caught the expressions of profound shock on the faces of both Yan Zhi and Ye Qingshi.

"I've only been practicing martial arts for a short while. This matter of... worshiping a god—is there some special significance to it?" Fang Can asked doubtfully.

"Of course. So-called god-worshiping means treating a living person as a deity to be revered, viewing oneself as the most zealous devotee of that god, dedicating everything to them, and holding the deity above all else."

Ye Qingshi took the initiative to explain, casting a worried glance at her father, never expecting that he would be willing to pay such a heavy price.

"Then what is the use of worshiping a god like this?" Fang Can asked, uncomprehending. If things were as Ye Qingshi described, the price paid seemed far too exorbitant.

"Naturally, it is useful. Pious worship allows one to cultivate through reliance on faith in the deity. The closer one gets to the deity, the more divine miracles one witnesses, and the firmer one's faith becomes—which greatly benefits cultivation."

"Devotees need to worship piously, while the deity only needs to do one thing: keep winning continuously."

"Creating a god is easy, and naturally, destroying one is just as easy."

"A devotee constructs a flawless deity in their heart to adore. But if the deity they serve is defeated and tainted, the shattering of the devotee's faith may even drive them mad with obsession."

Ye Qingshi spoke with utmost gravity. This was both an explanation for Fang Can and a reminder to her father, urging him to think twice before acting.

After all, where was there any such thing as an undefeated victor? Every single defeat of the worshiped deity dealt a massive blow to the devotee, until the deity's golden statue crumbled into mud, and the devotee inevitably met a tragic end.

*What kind of fandom-style cultivation method is this?* Fang Can thought speechlessly, before asking:

"Since real-world deities can fail, why not build a statue of a god in one's mind and worship a virtual deity instead?"

*For instance, a future Buddha Luo Tianyi or something similar. An image like that surely couldn't suffer a public scandal,* Fang Can mused with wandering thoughts.

"Because virtual deities possess no divine miracles; they are like flowers in water or the moon in a mirror—rootless duckweed," Ye Yonglie said solemnly.

"What is a divine miracle? A deity walking among mortals is a miracle in itself. False deities may be undefeated, but they are all built upon lies, shattering at the slightest poke."

"Only a true deity who defeats opponents in martial combat time and time again—crushing enemies with the most formidable might and the most overbearing words—can foster the growth of a devotee's mental resolve," said Ye Yonglie.

*Understood. Virtual idols won't cut it, but internet idols manufacturing a persona is acceptable,* Fang Can finally grasped the concept.

"Therefore... I wish to worship Young Master Fang as a god, and offer everything I am to you."

Ye Yonglie spoke with utmost sincerity. Upon finishing, he dropped directly to his knees and said, "Please grant this grace, O Deity."

"This..." Looking at the martial arts hall master kneeling before him, Fang Can felt momentarily lost, unsure whether he should accept.

"Young Master Fang, just agree to the Master's request," Yan Zhi urged from the side. "All gains and losses only affect the devotee. The deity merely needs to accept and enjoy the devotee's offerings."

"Every expert with even a sliver of renown is followed by a throng of fanatic believers. In the future, the number of people wanting to worship you as a god will only grow."

"This..." Fang Can hesitated briefly, then slowly nodded and said, "Very well."

As the words fell, the furrowed brows of Ye Yonglie visibly relaxed. With an expression of supreme piety, he kowtowed three times to Fang Can, then raised his head and asked, "How shall we address the Deity's sacred title?"

"Then just call me... Heavenly Emperor Fang," Fang Can said, feeling rather guilty and losing confidence in his own choice.

Hearing this, Ye Yonglie respectfully kowtowed three more loud times. As he kowtowed, he silently chanted in his heart about divine miracles.

What was a divine miracle? What was written on the Heavenly Secrets Roll was precisely a divine miracle!

Just look at the evaluations on the Heavenly Secrets Roll—which of those lines could ever have been achieved by anyone in the past?

The only one worthy of being called the greatest of all time was naturally a deity.

Accompanied by this thought, a profound wave of emotion welled up from the depths of his heart, followed immediately by a tranquil aura that enveloped the minds of everyone present.

With merely a few light kowtows, within Ye Yonglie's sea of consciousness, his mental form spontaneously took shape.