Chapter Sixty-One: The Rule-Based Strange Tale of the Martial Tournament

"Young Master Fang Can, the stone tablet has been brought here."

From a distance, Yan Zhi came before Fang Can, carrying a one-ton stone tablet.

As a martial artist of the Second Realm of Profound Pass, carrying a blank stone tablet weighing tons was by no means a difficult task.

Looking at the huge blank stone tablet erected before him, Fang Can raised his index finger and began to carve upon the stone.

Having spent a few days reading, Fang Can was long past being the illiterate person he once was.

*Crack, crack, crack!*

As stone dust continuously fell from the monument, clear and regular characters began to emerge upon the stele inscription.

Seeing this, Yan Zhi beside him felt a surge of respect. He himself could carve words into stone by hand, but to carve characters this neat with his bare palms required a mastery of force that reached the absolute pinnacle.

Ever since his location had been exposed, Fang Can no longer bothered to hide and directly laid out his demands on the stone tablet.

The monument detailed the rules of the duels: within the allotted time, there was no restriction on the number of challengers, no restriction on the methods, and anyone could use any means whatsoever.

After spending several joss sticks' worth of time writing down the rules of combat consisting of over a hundred characters, Fang Can hoisted the massive stone tablet with a single hand and set it upright at the main entrance of the martial arts hall.

With a heavy thud, he dropped the stone tablet into place, turned around to close the main gates once more, and the surrounding crowd of onlookers gathered close.

Given the innocent and simple nature of this otherworldly ancient era, most people remained illiterate.

However, a literate scholar was quickly found, who read out and described the contents of the stone tablet to everyone.

"Welcome to challenge me (Fang Can)."

"Please abide by the following rules."

"Remember, Fang Can requires rest; do not challenge during rest periods."

"Those who have not reached the Heart-Aspect Realm are not qualified to challenge."

"During the challenges, all means are permitted, including but not limited to assassination, poisoning, underhanded tactics, sneak attacks, and gang beatings."

"During the challenges, please try to minimize damage to the environment."

"The following are the challenge times permitted by Fang Can. Grouping up for concentrated challenges is recommended."

...

"What is this?" As the scholar finished reciting the entire set of challenge rules, everyone was baffled, followed immediately by a sense of novelty.

Such a thing was truly unprecedented to them; to boldly and blatantly hang up the challenge rules and demand that everyone play by the book was simply too arrogant.

In an ancient era devoid of the internet, entertainment was exceedingly mundane, and the primary topic of conversation was usually the shifting rankings of martial artists on the Heavenly Secrets Board.

Yet the nearby residents discovered that ever since the appearance of Fang Can, newer and more exciting spectacles kept emerging. Every single day offered fights to watch, and the topics of conversation changed endlessly. Life had become utterly thrilling.

Having cast the stele inscription aside, Fang Can walked back into the martial arts hall, only to see from afar that the Heart-Aspect Realm martial artists he had just defeated were already gathered around Ye Yonglie.

Seeing Fang Can return, Ye Yonglie proactively stepped forward to explain, "Lord, these individuals are also pious believers reformed by your divine miracles."

Following Ye Yonglie's words, the several Heart-Aspect Realm martial artists who had just been defeated by Fang Can piously began to pray.

Looking at the few believers before him, Fang Can felt somewhat awkward; he had never expected the identities of these people to transform so rapidly.

Seemingly sensing Fang Can's puzzlement, Ye Yonglie took the initiative to say, "Lord, with your rising fame, there are many who wish to assassinate you, but there are also no shortage of those who wish to worship the divine."

"This is merely the beginning. As time goes on, believers from the Dayand Dynasty and even neighboring countries will rush here to prostrate themselves at your feet."

"Those who wish to worship deities are as numerous as the stars, but these martial artists possess limited knowledge and have no inkling of who they ought to worship as their god, forcing them to judge purely by fame."

"Every single martial artist who appears on the Heavenly Secrets Board commands such a following; even the martial artist ranked at the very bottom enjoys the devotion of at least thousands of believers."

Whenever those heretical evil gods worshipped by other factions went into battle, piles of believers would show up to cheer them on, persisting until the deity's battle concluded even if they were killed by the aftermath of the fight.

"As for you, Lord, who holds the supreme honor of ranking first on the Rising Dragon Board and whose renown shakes the nations, the believers gathering here are countless. They must all be riding on horseback toward this place even as we speak. You need only wait a short while to see for yourself."

At this, Ye Yonglie paused briefly before adding, "This morning alone, I have already received membership invitations from at least a thousand believers, and the majority of them have expressed a willingness to contribute all of their family assets simply for the sake of joining our church."

Though he was seasoned in countless battles, Fang Can still couldn't help but find this situation utterly absurd.

It seemed that even in an idealistic world, traffic and clout were king, and the Heavenly Secrets Board functioned much like a popular trending list in another world.

Once you built up your reputation—even if you only stayed on it for a single month—gushing torrents of wealth would flow in, impossible to stem, and you would never again have to worry about the expenses of martial arts cultivation.

Moreover, having at least a thousand subordinates who worshipped you as a god and obeyed your every command—the sensation of that goes without saying.

Some martial artists were directly corrupted by this immense psychological indulgence, consequently abandoning the martial path and giving up cultivation to spend their remaining decades living lives of unbridled hedonism.

"Therefore, Lord, go forth and conquer without worry. Even if we must stand against the entire world, we pious lambs will follow closely behind your footsteps," Ye Yonglie bowed his head and said.

"......Why would I want to stand against the world?" Fang Can asked in puzzlement.

"Because in the future, Lord, you are destined to rule this world, bringing down the sword upon the earth, while we shall serve as the soldiers under your command."

Looking at the group of religious fanatics before him, Fang Can was utterly speechless.

He only hoped that in the future, clashes between different fandoms wouldn't lead to fanwars that triggered a grand war between idols.

"Right, what is 'loss of heart-sanity'?" Fang Can suddenly asked, recalling the martial artist he had defeated earlier.

"Loss of heart-sanity occurs when a martial artist's martial heart shatters, causing them to suffer a cultivation deviation where their actions lose all previous logic and descend into chaos," Ye Yonglie explained.

"For instance, the legendary Hegemon of Western Chu back in the day was a classic example of loss of heart-sanity. Due to suffering seven consecutive defeats, his extreme yang transformed into yin, turning him from an unrivaled fierce warrior into an peerless beauty. I hear even his martial heritage underwent a complete transformation."

Having roughly grasped what the other meant by a loss of heart-sanity, Fang Can turned around and walked deeper into the martial arts hall.

"Master, where are you headed?" Ye Yonglie asked, watching Fang Can's retreating back.

"To deal with a traitor within the sect. Gather all the disciples in the martial arts hall right now," Fang Can said in a flat tone.

"A traitor!" Hearing Fang Can's words, Ye Yonglie's brows instantly bristled in anger.

For he too had suspected that the leakage of Fang Can's whereabouts was the work of a disciple inside the martial arts hall, yet he had been unable to find the culprit.

"Yes, Lord. I shall go and summon them immediately," Ye Yonglie said in a low voice.

...

Inside the martial arts hall, Yuan Dang was mingling among the disciples, practicing his martial arts alongside them, yet his mood was far from as calm as his expression suggested.

Suddenly, Yan Zhi ran over from a distance and shouted to everyone, "Hey, everyone gather around! The divine being has matters to announce, come over here together."

Hearing this news, Yuan Dang's steady hands gave a violent jolt, but he quickly maintained a poker face and melted into the crowd as they headed toward the cafeteria together.