Chapter 345

Back again…

Reappearing inside Ying Han's cave dwelling, Fang Can's expression was calm.

The first time he saw this cave, Fang Can had seen the palace rotate together with the orbits of the stars below.

But when Fang Can returned to outer space with the power of half-step Five Transcendence, he could no longer find any trace of the Six Transcendence palace.

After circling the planet once, he could only conclude 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, her left knee slightly bent and drawn up, her slender jade arm loosely wrapped around it, her right leg casually dangling over the coffin's rim.

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

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

In just one month, her power leaped 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 calmly: "Is this even cheating? You only see my half-step Fifth Transcendence—why ignore the hundred years of my yang lifespan I lost?"

"That's called a cost?" Ying Han scoffed, then asked: "Aren't you worried about your harem? Aren't you heartless?"

"I've forcibly pushed them all onto the Ascension Path—they'll be safe for at least a hundred years."

Fang Can stated plainly: "I won't even need a hundred years—I'll grow strong enough to retrieve them myself. Until then, let them live peacefully in your mystical realm."

"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—one month isn't nearly enough. She'll need more time."

"But you've got your hands full ahead of you. You left behind a lineage in this world," Ying Han said, twirling a strand of hair, a mischievous grin on her face.

"What's wrong with that? Can't I leave one?"

"Nothing's wrong—just that this universe's structure is completely different from Dongfang Wujie."

The woman explained coolly: "Every Sixth Transcendence can link to an external universe and turn it into a celestial star; each universe's laws are self-contained."

"As for my universe," Ying Han grinned, revealing a sliver of porcelain-white tiger tooth: "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 behind immense renown in this universe. As the future civilization leaps beyond Earth, countless future human civilizations—numberless as sands of the Ganges—will journey among the stars."

"Think about it—how terrifying will the karmic force be that flows toward you, the progenitor of this 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, what Fang Can did used the accumulated achievements of an entire civilization to propel the entire civilization's evolution.

It's as if every achievement in modern physics, chemistry, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, quantum mechanics… were all credited to him.

If there were divine positions, the legends left by Fang Can would, to future generations, be equivalent to the Omniscient One, the Holy Father of Humanity, the God Who Opened Civilization.

How immense is this karma? In the Primordial Chaos, it would be enough to become a Saint 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, will they go watch Einstein invent relativity, or remotely observe the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion?"

"Time travel?" Fang Can's expression turned strange: "You mean future people have already invented time machines?"

"Of course not—they've merely concentrated their karmic prayers onto you. Before long, this karmic thread will explode above your head."

"As for the outcome…" Ying Han said with a carefree laugh: "I don't know!"

"I'm just a mere…"

The girl lazily added:

"You've got the reversal of fortune—you won't die. At worst, you'll be a little embarrassed. 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 just kill it all.

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

"Enough talk," Fang Can urged:

"I've got a bad feeling. Send me back to Dongfang Wujie now. We'll deal with this karma when I return next time."

"So heartless," Ying Han rolled her Bai Yan, then gently pointed a slender white 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, as a flood of memories surged into her mind.

"Did I time-travel? Is this still the Imperial Court?"

As the girl's consciousness returned, her head throbbed, and a man stood before her:

"Li Longyun, the National Destiny Duel Tournament is underway—are you ready?"

As he spoke, a card was tossed before the girl, his expression icy:

"Our Great Zhou Empire has been pushed back to our ancestral planet alone—we have one final chance left."

"The nation teeters on extinction; we cannot lose our final dignity in this last battle."

Hearing the man's words, Li Longyun, having processed the memories in her mind, finally understood where she had come to.

This was millions upon 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!

They could transform the intangible into reality through the sands-of-the-Ganges faith of the stars, summoning past beings into the present, becoming gods through the devotion of the masses.

So, the people of this era do not cultivate martial arts; instead, they possess a collective inheritance known as the 【Chronicle of Ages】.

Through these memories, Li Longyun discovered that the faith of this era was actually the literary works of another world given by Fang Can during the Golden Age.

It seemed that because those works were incomplete and no longer existed, the interstellar humans of this era believed them to be the true past, allowing them to be summoned through faith.

Such as 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...

This Chronicle of Ages holds a National Fate Arena every few worlds; these beings worshipped by their respective faiths can descend from the virtual realm to become reality and fight, and the victorious nation can obtain corresponding territory and rewards!

"What about Fang Tian Di?" Li Longyun could not help but think in her heart.

Theoretically, the more powerful the authority of a god, the stronger the power they can exert in this National Fate War.

Then this deity who founded and ended the Golden Age, the source of all faith, the creator of all things, should be invincible as soon as he is manifested.

Why could she not find any trace of him in the Chronicle of Ages? No matter how hard she tried, she could not find this name.

Following this, she discovered the reason within her past memories.

It seemed that after the Servant Empire split, all living beings fused faith with past history to create a divine artifact named the Chronicle of Ages.

The final result was the establishment of the Chronicle of Ages, but everything in the entire universe and history related to it, whether memories or text, completely vanished.

The only thing recording history was the Chronicle of Ages within that universe!

Now, one can only excavate all the memories hidden within the historical inscriptions through archaeology.

And to summon a god for battle, one must actively speak the god's true name and recite his glorious epic; only then can he be summoned!

Almost instantly, Li Longyun's heart began to beat at a frantic pace.

Because before she transmigrated, she had read all of history; her major was the appreciation of ancient literary works, and her understanding of the Golden Age was second to none.

Just as her thoughts were flying wildly, the youth before her began to mock:

"I think you are afraid. Quickly choose a mission, then choose the Ancient Battlefield to fight and complete the mission; finish it early so your nation can be destroyed and your family lost, and I can relax a bit."

"I have a Grade-B god from the Golden Age here—Gojo Satoru! Your Great Zhou must perish today!"

The youth's words made the people of Great Zhou surge with indignation; various curses swept over like a storm, but they also knew deep down that the possibility of victory was infinitesimal.

Facing the opponent's arrogant words, Li Longyun let out a cold sneer and said, "Just watch."

With her words, many choices appeared before Li Longyun:

1. Fang Can

2. Journey to the West Earth God

3. General Lingling

4. Masked Rider Ryuki

Looking at the figures appearing before her, Li Longyun almost held her breath, for she saw an incredibly familiar name among them.

'It is actually Fang Tian Di? Does this even need choosing?'

Almost instantly, Li Longyun shouted, "I choose Fang Can!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene erupted in a clamor, with everyone discussing: Who is Fang Can?

"Are you crazy? Why not choose General Lingling? This is the God of Comedy with a hundred billion faiths."

"Exactly, who exactly is Fang Can? No one knows him at all; you don't even know his experiences, you can only summon a half-finished product."

"If you really can't, the Journey to the West Earth God will do; at least the name sounds like a deity."

Similar words kept appearing in the bullet comments; countless people sighed along with Li Longyun's choice, feeling that Li Longyun was far too rash.

But Li Longyun did not speak; instead, with a solemn expression, she recited the content that was a must-know in the history book:

【Fang is a celestial immortal descended from heaven.

He established the Servant Empire upon ruins, chose beautiful women as divine attendants, and granted official titles to solidify the nation's foundation.

He created the Mind Network to connect all people, allowing thoughts to be heard with no hiding;

He taught the people the skills of a hundred crafts, steam trains, advancing day by day.

He led martial artists to ascend beyond the heavens, breaking shackles to roam the starry sea; he unified the righteous and the wicked into one sect, aweing and subduing all heroes.

He built the Karin Tower piercing the sky, mined stones in the Moon Palace to forge a ladder to heaven; he refined fine steel into tools that shook mountains, and nanocrystal chips harboring profound mysteries.

He spread the Hall of Thought to remove grievances, making all people as open as innocent children; he brought down the sweet rain of knowledge to enlighten the ignorant, causing the common folk to suddenly comprehend the universe.

Though his body departed, the Dao remains, leaving a legacy for a thousand ages; even as stars shift and things change, the holy fire never extinguishes. This is called: waving a sleeve to change the heavens and the sun and moon, snapping a finger to turn the blue sea into mulberry fields.

Fang's great achievements shake the past and shine on the present; even immortals and gods cannot reach them.】

With these words spoken, Li Longyun bowed her body and said, "Junior Li Longyun pays respect to the source of all faith, the god who founded and ended the Golden Age, Fang Tian Di!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue suddenly fell silent, followed immediately by a massive uproar.

"What is this? The source of the Golden Age?"

"What arrogance! Has this Li Longyun lost her mind?"

"If it is true, that status would probably be even more terrifying than the Chronicle of Ages worshipped by the masses in the Interstellar Era!"

Although the people at the scene had not lost their memories, they still had only a vague understanding of the Golden, Silver, and Iron Ages.

Therefore, they could not accept what Li Longyun said about the god who founded and ended the Golden Age.

But unfortunately, what Li Longyun said was correct.

In the next moment, the Chronicle of Ages began to burst forth with endless light, attempting to create this hero named Fang Can from mythology.

The result was... impossible!

Because Fang Can's existence is the source of all faith since the Golden Age.

The literature circulating in this world: Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Battle Through the Heavens, Death Note, The Three-Body Problem...

All faith in these things comes from Fang Can.

And the Book of Time and Years was nurtured from these literatures plus the faith of all living beings.

It can be seen that the Book of Time and Years was nurtured by Fang Can, counting as Fang Can's half-child.

A fountain cannot rise higher than its source; naturally, the Book of Time and Years cannot create its own creator.

If the tier of the God who founded and destroyed the Golden Age, Fang Can, is truly used as a safety net, that safety net is at the Eighth Turn.

Therefore, there is absolutely no way to manifest Fang Can's existence within the virtual realm.

Then!

Only one other choice remains.

In the next instant, time in this universe began to change and distort.

The great power of the Book of Time and Years began to pierce through time, flowing upstream toward the past.

Since Fang Can cannot be created, then simply grab the real Fang Can from the past to serve as the present of the future!

Because of the reason that past, present, and future exist simultaneously in this space-time.

Thus, the Book of Time and Years and Fang Can actually exist simultaneously within a single time loop.

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

Due to a tiny deviation in fate, the power of the Book of Time and Years brushed past Fang Can.

But all this did not end, because the power transmitted to the past did not vanish.

As long as one waits for the next time Fang Can returns to this universe to sever karma.

What awaits him is the National Fate Arena Tournament of this universe!!!

(End of this chapter)