Chapter Fifty-Eight: Breaking Through the Heavenly Barrier

“You're injured.”

Pushing open the door, Ye Qingshi stared in surprise at the four deep purple bruises from fist marks on Fang Can’s chest.

“It’s just a minor injury; it won’t take long to heal,” Fang Can replied calmly, sitting cross-legged.

Indeed, under the protection of the Tiger-Subduing Dragon-Descending Golden Body technique, with its soft yet solid force and energy-dissipating qualities, most of the impact was deflected or nullified.

A blow that should have shattered his sternum only left several dark bruises. After hours of self-repair, the skin color shifted from black to bluish-purple, and by the next morning, it would return to its fair tone.

“Do you want me to apply some medicine?” Ye Qingshi couldn’t help but ask, immediately regretting her softness.

“No need. It’s late; just lighting a few candles will suffice,” Fang Can said lightly.

As Ye Qingshi lit the candles, Fang Can could feel his cells gradually absorbing the excess heat under the candlelight, converting it into pure life energy to heal his wounds.

Watching his handsome profile flickering in the candlelight, the girl inhaled softly and leaned closer to Fang Can. “I’m going to sleep now. You can continue your cultivation peacefully.”

After speaking, she slipped off her delicate embroidered shoes and obediently curled up under the covers, leaving her back turned to Fang Can. The entire process felt so natural that she almost found it uncanny.

Once the unfamiliar became familiar, Ye Qingshi no longer felt the earlier panic and unease throughout the night. She simply treated Fang Can beside her as a handsome piece of wood and drifted off to sleep after wandering thoughts.

The night passed quietly. At dawn, Ye Qingshi woke to find the figure by the bed gone.

“Where is he? Has he changed?” She stretched out her arm from the warm bedding, rubbing her eyes in confusion.

Meanwhile, over three hundred miles west of the city, atop a towering mountain peak, Fang Can walked along a narrow winding path.

This place served as a joint training ground for several martial arts schools. Before he had walked far, a hearty laugh echoed from a distance, growing closer.

“Hahaha, you must be Fang Can, the disgraced disciple of the Tiger Fury Sect,” a bald man dressed in loose martial attire jumped in front of him. “I’ve heard there’s a genius nearby—bold enough to come knocking on our door.”

“Today, over thirty Heart-Phase fighters from the Tiger Fury Sect have gathered here, myself included. I was lucky to win a challenge, so I came to stop you.”

“If you can’t get past me, prepare to have your limbs broken and be taken back to the Tiger Fury Sect to answer for it.”

‘Feels just like a side-scrolling beat ’em up game,’ Fang Can thought, locking eyes with the bald man. “Since our eyes have met, let’s begin the fight.”

Three minutes later, Fang Can stepped over the unconscious bald man’s body and continued up the mountain. At the next moment, a sharp-featured middle-aged man blocked his path.

“You managed to defeat ‘Limitless Fist’ Zhao Liansheng, so you must have some skill, but you won’t be so lucky this time,” the middle-aged man said confidently. “I am Li Guanfeng, the eighth gatekeeper of the Mysterious Pass. I’ve heard your stamina is impressive, but do you need to recover your Heart-Phase? Otherwise, I might be accused of an unfair victory.”

“Enough talk,” Fang Can interrupted. “If you want to fight, then start. Stop wasting time.”

One minute later, Fang Can, panting slightly after stepping on Li Guanfeng’s body, continued upward.

He still had to face at least thirty more Heart-Phase fighters. Even one-on-one, it would be a formidable challenge.

Sure enough, after defeating the fifth fighter, Fang Can’s Heart-Phase energy was completely drained. He had to rely purely on physical combat to resist his opponents.

Though their attacks were physically blocked, in the illusory mental realm, Fang Can repeatedly experienced the illusion of being utterly destroyed by his enemies, which inflicted tremendous mental strain.

Yet, he showed no fear or hesitation, enduring the intense mental assault with sheer willpower.

After dying seventy-five times in these mental illusions, Fang Can’s brain became numb to pain.

This mental exhaustion weakened his punches, loosened his steps, and scattered his thoughts.

However, this also led him to a profound detachment from the boundary between life and death, allowing the false illusions to churn within his consciousness without disturbing him.

Simply put, these illusions were fake. At the Mortal Transcendence stage, a martial artist could not allow their will to be entirely extinguished by illusions.

Therefore, as long as he ignored the terrifying pain his body sent to his brain, he could keep his body moving even when facing countless illusions of dismemberment, decapitation, and mutilation.

After being slain over seven hundred times in the mental realm, Fang Can unleashed a punch that shattered the chest bone of the warrior before him, embedding the man’s entire body into the mountainside.

“Pfft...” The warrior spat blood in disbelief. “How could you resist my Heart-Phase?”

“The first lesson in cultivation: martial arts come from the heart. Nothing is impossible. You’ve trained yourself into foolishness, you old stick-in-the-mud,” Fang Can said coldly. With a slight shake of his arm, he reattached the dislocated joint of his right arm.

After defeating the sixth Heart-Phase fighter, Fang Can pressed on, though his steps were slightly faltering this time.

He still had over twenty fighters ahead.

Damn it—when will my fortunes turn?!

Where is my supreme talent and foundation? Hurry up and flood out all at once!

With a roar from within, Fang Can’s steps grew slow but resolute as he ascended.

Night fell, and the sun dipped westward. Ye Yonglie and others stood anxiously outside the martial arts school’s gate.

Fang Can had not returned since his early morning departure.

‘Could it be that the Master has...’ Ye Yonglie’s thought rose briefly, only to be quickly dismissed.

Because the gods are omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent; failure was impossible.

At this moment, Fang Can must have already defeated all thirty-plus warriors.

Yet, aside from Ye Yonglie, the others looked worried. Without the buff of blind faith, they did not share Ye Yonglie’s certainty.

As they waited patiently, four figures approached from afar.

No! There were five!

Because one man carried a blood-stained white-clad youth in his arms.

Thanks to good eyesight, Ye Yonglie recognized from hundreds of meters away that the four approaching figures were Heart-Phase warriors, and the youth they carried was Fang Can.

However, the five looked battered—clothes bloodied, bones broken, and muscles torn.

In an instant, Ye Yonglie rushed forward, disregarding the risk of exposing his follower status, and took Fang Can from the warriors.

Seeing that, aside from dozens of broken bones, Fang Can was otherwise unharmed and breathing steadily in deep sleep, Ye Yonglie sighed in relief.

Raising his head, Ye Yonglie eyed the martial arts school heads with suspicion. “What brings you here?”

“To return our Master to his room to rest,” one school head said devoutly.

“Your Master?” Ye Yonglie’s voice tinged with doubt.

“Yes. We have already worshiped Fang Tian Emperor as our deity,” several warriors said in unison.