Chapter 345: National Destiny Duel Arena [4000-word single chapter]

Back again…

Reappearing in Ying Han’s cave dwelling, Fang Can’s expression was calm.

When he first saw this cave, Fang Can had seen the palace rotate in sync with the orbit of the stars below.

But when he returned to outer space with the power of half-step Five Transcendence, the Six Transcendence palace was nowhere to be found.

After circling the planet once, he concluded the palace had vanished of its own accord.

“Finally back, you damn cheat—already reached half-step Five Transcendence?” Ying Han’s voice drifted in.

Ying Han leaned against the edge of a bronze ancient coffin, left knee slightly bent and drawn up, slender jade arms loosely hugging her knees, right leg dangling carelessly over the coffin’s rim.

Her snow-white gauze robe flowed like mist along her waistline, emitting a cold luster unique to ice-silk under the glow of blue spiritual fire; her chin rested lightly on her knee, her moon-silver hair cascading like a river of stars.

The woman’s gaze lingered on Fang Can, her eyes threaded with faint threads of envy.

Only a month passed since she last saw him—he leapt from Peak Third Transcendence to half-step Fifth Transcendence. Is this even fair?

How many years did it take her to go from Peak Third Transcendence to half-step Fifth Transcendence?

Two hundred? Three hundred?

Unmoved by the girl’s envy, Fang Can replied: “Is this even cheating? You only see my half-step Fifth Transcendence—why ignore the hundred years of my yang life I lost?”

“That’s your cost?” Ying Han scoffed. “Aren’t you going to check on your harem? You’re heartless.”

“I’ve forcibly pushed them onto the Ascension Path—they’ll be safe for at least a hundred years.”

Fang Can stated plainly: “I won’t need a hundred years to grow strong enough to retrieve them. Let them live peacefully in your realm for now.”

“So you want me to manage your harem, Haji Can?” Ying Han ground her teeth, displeased.

“What about Liu Qian… Qingmeng?” Fang Can asked.

“Still in seclusion. Consolidating Fifth Transcendence isn’t as simple as you think—a month isn’t enough. She’ll need more time.”

“But you’ve got your hands full now. You left behind a lineage in this world,” Ying Han said, twirling a strand of hair, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

“What’s wrong with that? Can’t I leave one?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” the woman explained coolly. “But this universe’s structure is entirely different from the Martial World.”

“Each Sixth Transcendence can link to an external universe, turning it into a star in the heavens—each universe’s laws are self-contained.”

“As for my universe,” Ying Han grinned, revealing a sliver of porcelain-white canine, “it contains past, present, and future all at once.”

“So?” Fang Can raised an eyebrow slightly.

“So, everything you do now will simultaneously affect both ends of the river of time.”

“You’ve left immense renown in this universe. When this civilization eventually escapes Earth, countless future human civilizations will traverse the stars.”

“Think about it—how terrifying will the karmic energy be that flows toward you, the progenitor of modern civilization, the sovereign of the Sacred Age? You’re already entangled in thick karmic threads.”

Ying Han’s gaze fixed on Fang Can’s crown, where a massive karmic thread was coalescing above his head.

Remember, his actions used the accumulated achievements of an entire civilization to propel that civilization’s evolution.

It’s as if every breakthrough in modern physics, chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, quantum mechanics… bore his name.

If there were divine positions, Fang Can’s legend would be revered by future generations as the Omniscient One, the Holy Father of Humanity, the God Who Opened Civilization.

The weight of this karma? In the Primordial Chaos, it would be enough to ascend to sainthood through merit alone.

“Now, every person in this universe’s future is chanting your name.”

Ying Han smiled. “Guess what—if modern humans gain time-travel ability, won’t they go to watch Einstein discover relativity—or remotely observe the Hiroshima atomic bomb?”

“Time travel?” Fang Can’s expression turned strange. “You mean people in the future have already invented time machines?”

“Of course not. It’s just that countless humans have channeled their karmic devotion into you. Soon, this karmic thread will explode above your head.”

“As for the result…” Ying Han shrugged with a carefree laugh, “I don’t know!”

“I’m just a mere…”

The girl lounged lazily:

“You’ve got the reversal of fortune—you won’t die. At worst, you’ll look a little messy. What’s there to fear?”

‘She really trusts me,’ Fang Can thought, yet he felt no fear toward this so-called karma—if it came, he’d simply crush it all.

Though the sin of arrogance had been fully purged, a residue of the trait called confidence still clung to him.

“Enough talk,” Fang Can urged.

“I feel something’s off. Send me back to the Martial World. We’ll deal with this karma when I return.”

“You’re truly heartless,” Ying Han rolled her eyes, then lightly pointed a slender finger at the boy.

In the next instant, both vanished from the ancient hall.

…

Billions of years later, the Beidou Star Region.

A girl awoke from slumber, her eyes clouded with confusion—then a flood of memories surged into her mind.

“Did I reincarnate? Is this still the Imperial Court?”

As her consciousness returned, her head throbbed, and a man stood before her:

“Li Longyun, the National Destiny Duel is about to begin. Are you ready?”

As he spoke, a card flew toward the girl; his expression was icy:

“Our Great Zhou Empire has been pushed back to our ancestral planet—this is our final chance.”

“The nation teeters on extinction. We cannot lose our dignity in this last battle.”

As the man spoke, Li Longyun, having processed her memories, realized where she had come.

This was millions of years in the future—the once-serving Empire had been destroyed, replaced by countless divine kingdoms ruling the galaxy.

These nations cultivated the Path of Faith!

Through the countless devotions of this galaxy’s stars, they turned fiction into reality, summoning past beings into the present, becoming gods through collective belief.

Thus, the people of this era no longer cultivated martial arts—they followed the collective inheritance known as the Book of Ages.

Through memory, Li Longyun discovered this era’s faith was rooted in artistic works from Fang Can’s Golden Age in another world.

Because those works were incomplete and lost, the interstellar humans of this age believed them to be true history, allowing them to summon them through faith.

Like the Norse pantheon worshipping the invincible Thunder God, the Greek pantheon’s Zeus…

The Three-Body pantheon’s [God of Darkness and Trees] Luo Ji, the Death Note pantheon’s [God of Death and Wisdom] Light Yagami…

The Book of Ages held National Destiny Duels at intervals—those summoned by faith could descend from fiction into reality to fight; the victor gained territory and rewards!

“What about Fang Tian Di?” Li Longyun wondered inwardly.

Logically, the more powerful a god’s authority, the stronger his power in these National Destiny Wars.

This being—the one who founded and ended the Golden Age, the origin of all faith, the Creator of All—should be invincible if manifested.

Why couldn’t she find any trace of him in the Book of Ages? No matter how hard she searched, his name was nowhere to be found.

Then, from her past memories, she uncovered the reason.

After the Serving Empire fractured, the people fused faith with history to create the divine artifact known as the Book of Ages.

The result: the Book of Ages was born—but all memories and texts related to history vanished entirely from the universe.

The only record of history remained: the Book of Ages itself!

Now, one could only excavate hidden memories buried within its historical text through archaeology.

To summon a god for battle, one had to speak the god’s true name and recite his glorious epic—only then could the summoning succeed!

Instantly, Li Longyun’s heart began racing.

Because before her reincarnation, she had read every historical text—her major was ancient artistic appreciation, and her knowledge of the Golden Age was unmatched.

As her thoughts raced, the boy before her sneered:

“I see you’re scared. Pick your task and choose an ancient battlefield quickly—finish your nation’s collapse, and I can rest easier.”

“I’ve got a Grade-C god from the Golden Age—Gojo Satoru! Great Zhou will perish today!”

The boy’s words stirred outrage among Great Zhou’s citizens—insults flooded the air—but they knew victory was nearly impossible.

Facing the boy’s arrogance, Li Longyun sneered: “Watch closely.”

As she spoke, numerous options appeared before her:

1. Fang Can

2. Land God of Journey to the West

3. General Lingling

4. Kamen Rider Dragon Knight

…

Seeing the figures before her, Li Longyun nearly stopped breathing—among them was a name she knew intimately.

‘It’s Fang Tian Di? No need to choose!’

Instantly, Li Longyun shouted: “I choose Fang Can!”

The crowd erupted in chaos, murmuring: Who is Fang Can?

“Are you insane? Why not pick General Lingling? He has a hundred billion believers—a hilarious god!”

“Exactly! Who even is Fang Can? No one knows his history—you’ll summon a half-baked version!”

“At least pick the Land God of Journey to the West—he’s got ‘god’ in his name!”

…

Similar comments flooded the comment stream; countless citizens sighed, convinced Li Longyun had acted recklessly.

But Li Longyun said nothing—her expression solemn, she recited the passage from history textbooks:

【Fang is a celestial exile sent from heaven.】

A nation of servitude rose from the ruins, selecting beautiful maidens as divine attendants and granting official titles to solidify its foundation.

It created the Mind Net to connect all people, allowing thoughts to be heard, nothing hidden;

It bestowed upon the people the arts of a hundred trades, steam-powered rails, ever-changing day by day.

It took warriors beyond the heavens, freeing them from shackles to roam the star seas; it unified orthodoxy and heresy under one sect, striking fear into all heroes.

It built the Tower of Karin piercing the heavens, gathering stone from the Moon Palace to forge a celestial ladder; it forged steel so strong it shook mountains and valleys, embedding nanocrystalline cores with profound mysteries.

It established the Halls of Thought to remove all grudges, making all people open and pure as infants; it rained down the dew of knowledge to enlighten the ignorant, causing the common folk to suddenly comprehend the weave of the cosmos.

Though his body departed, his Dao endures; though stars shift and things change, the sacred flame never dies. This is what is meant: with a sweep of his sleeve, he changed heaven and sun and moon; with a snap of his fingers, the sea turned to mulberry fields.

Fang Can’s achievements shake antiquity and outshine the present; even immortals and gods cannot match them.

At these words, Li Longyun bowed deeply and said: “Disciple Li Longyun bows before the Source of All Faith, the God who began and ended the Golden Age—Fang Tian Di!”

…

At these words, the entire hall fell utterly silent, then erupted into a flood of clamor.

“What nonsense? The source of the Golden Age?”

“How audacious! Is Li Longyun mad?”

“If true, that figure must be more terrifying than the Annals of Time, forged by the faith of the entire Interstellar Age!”

…

Though the people in the crowd had not lost their memories, they still had only a partial understanding of the Golden, Silver, and Iron Ages.

Thus, they could not accept Li Longyun’s claim that the God who began and ended the Golden Age existed.

But unfortunately, Li Longyun was right.

The next moment, the Annals of Time erupted with boundless light, attempting to forge from myth the hero named Fang Can.

The result was… impossible.

For Fang Can’s existence is the source of all faith since the Golden Age.

The literature of this world—Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Doupo Cangqiong, Death Note, The Three-Body Problem…

All of these beliefs originated from Fang Can.

And the Annals of Time was born from these literary works and the faith of all beings.

One might say the Annals of Time is Fang Can’s offspring, half his creation.

A geyser cannot rise higher than its source; the Annals of Time naturally cannot create its own creator.

If Fang Can, the God who began and destroyed the Golden Age, were to be granted a baseline level, it would be Ninth Transformation.

Thus, it was utterly impossible to manifest Fang Can’s existence within the virtual realm.

Then!

Only one other choice remained.

In the next instant, time within this universe twisted and warped.

The immense power of the Annals of Time surged through time, flowing backward into the past.

Since it could not create Fang Can, it would simply seize the real Fang Can from the past and bring him into the present as the future!

Because in this spacetime, past, present, and future coexisted simultaneously.

Thus, the Annals of Time and Fang Can were already within the same temporal loop.

But just as that terrifying power was about to seize Fang Can, Ying Han and Fang Can had vanished entirely from this universe.

Due to a tiny deviation in fate, the Annals of Time’s power passed by Fang Can like a whisper.

But all of this was not over—because the power transmitted into the past had not vanished.

All that remained was to wait until the next time Fang Can returned to this universe to sever his karmic ties.

What awaited him would be the realm’s Grand Tournament of National Destiny!

(End of Chapter)