Chapter 61: The Strange Rules of the Duel

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

In the distance, Yan Zhi, holding a one-ton stone stele in his hands, approached Fang Can and said.

As a martial artist of the Second Realm of the Profound Gate, directly carrying an empty stone stele weighing over a ton was no difficult matter.

Looking at the huge empty stone stele standing before him, Fang Can raised his index finger and began carving into the stele.

Having read books for several days, Fang Can was long no longer the illiterate person he once was.

"Crack, crack!"

As stone powder continuously fell from the stele, clear and regular characters began to appear on the inscription.

Yan Zhi, standing aside and witnessing this scene, felt admiration; to say he could carve characters on stone with his hands was true, but to carve characters so regular with a bare palm, controlling the force with such exquisite precision, was beyond him.

Since his position was exposed, Fang Can no longer pretended, directly describing his demands onto the stone stele.

The stele detailed the rules of the duel: within the specified time, no limit on numbers, no limit on methods; anyone, any means, was allowed.

After spending the time of a few incense sticks writing over a hundred characters of the duel rules, Fang Can directly held the huge stone stele with one hand and set it upright at the main gate of the martial arts hall.

With a "Boom," he set the stele down, turned around, went back inside to close the main gate, and the crowd watching behind him surged forward.

Relying on the pure simplicity of the ancient otherworld, most people were still in a state of illiteracy.

But soon, a scholar who could read was found, who described the content on the stone stele to everyone.

"Welcome to challenge me (Fang Can)."

"Please observe the following rules."

"Remember, Fang Can needs rest; do not challenge during rest time."

"Martial artists without a Heart-Image do not possess the qualification to challenge."

"During the challenge, no means are restricted, including but not limited to assassination, poisoning, ambush, surprise attack, and group beating."

"During the challenge, please try to minimize damage to the scene."

"Below are the challenge times Fang Can permits; teaming up to challenge together is recommended."

'What is this?' As the scholar read out the entire challenge rules, everyone was confused, followed by curiosity.

Because they had truly never seen such a thing before; to openly hang the challenge rules like this, requiring everyone to act according to the rules, was truly too arrogant.

In the ancient times without the internet, entertainment life was very ordinary; the biggest topic usually was the change in the martial artist rankings on the Heaven's Ledger.

And the nearby residents discovered that since Fang Can's appearance, new activities had appeared more and more frequently, and there was a fight to watch every day; the topics changed too fast to keep up, and life was extremely enjoyable.

After throwing the inscription out, Fang Can walked into the martial arts hall, but from afar saw the Heart-Image martial artist he had just defeated already gathered around Ye Yonglie.

Seeing Fang Can return, Ye Yonglie actively stepped forward to explain: "Lord, these are also devout believers converted by your miracle."

Following Ye Yonglie's words, the few Heart-Image martial artists just defeated by Fang Can devoutly began to pray.

Looking at the few believers before him, Fang Can felt somewhat awkward, not expecting the transformation of these people's identities to be so rapid.

Seeming to see through Fang Can's confusion, Ye Yonglie actively said: "Lord, as your fame grows, many wish to assassinate you, but many also wish to worship the deity."

"This is only the beginning; as time passes, believers from the Great Expansion Kingdom and even surrounding countries will rush to prostrate themselves at your feet."

"Those wishing to worship the deity are as numerous as stars, but these martial artists have limited knowledge and simply do not know whom to worship as a deity; they can only judge based on fame."

"Every martial artist appearing on the Heaven's Ledger is like this; even the martial artist at the very bottom has at least a thousand believers offering worship."

Whenever they, those heretics, fought against the evil gods they believed in, piles of believers would arrive to cheer, persisting until the gods' battle ended even if they were killed by the aftermath of the combat.

"And you, Lord, as the top of the Ascending Dragon List, famous across nations, the believers gathering are countless; they should all be on their way riding horses now; you only need to wait a while and you will know."

Speaking to this, Ye Yonglie paused and said: "Just this morning alone, I have already received membership applications from at least a thousand believers, and most of them expressed willingness to contribute all their personal assets, only seeking to join our church."

Although battle-hardened, Fang Can could not help but feel this situation was absurd when he heard it.

It seems that even in the Mind-Only World, traffic is king, and the Heaven's Ledger is even more like a popular list in another world.

As long as one makes a name, even if staying for only a month, the rolling wealth is impossible to stop, and there is no need to worry about the expenses for practicing martial arts anymore.

Moreover, having at least a thousand servants below who worship you as a deity and obey all your commands, that feeling naturally needs no words.

Some martial artists were directly corrupted by this immense mental enjoyment, then abandoned the martial path and ceased cultivation, spending the remaining decades living a life of unrestrained indulgence.

"Therefore, Lord, please go forth boldly; even if you make enemies of the entire world, we, these devout lambs, will follow behind you," Ye Yonglie said, bowing his head.

"... Why would I make enemies of the world?" Fang Can asked, puzzled.

"Because Lord, in the future you will surely rule this world, causing swords and spears to rise upon the earth, and we will serve as the soldiers under your command."

Looking at this group of fanatic believers before him, Fang Can was completely speechless.

He hoped that in the future, fan circles colliding due to bashing other fans would not lead to a great war between idols.

"By the way, what is 'Heart-Loss Madness'?" Fang Can thought of the martial artist he had just defeated and asked immediately.

"'Heart-Loss Madness' is when a martial artist's martial heart shatters, leading to demonic deviation; their actions lose their previous logic and fall into chaos," Ye Yonglie explained.

"For example, the Great Chu Overlord from the past was a typical representative of Heart-Loss Madness; due to seven consecutive defeats, extreme Yang generated Yin, transforming a peerless strong man into an unparalleled beautiful woman; it is said even his inheritance underwent a complete change."

Having roughly understood what the other person meant by Heart-Loss Madness, Fang Can turned around and walked into the martial arts hall.

"Master, where do you wish to go?" Seeing Fang Can's back, Ye Yonglie could not help but ask.

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

"Traitor!" Hearing Fang Can's statement, Ye Yonglie's eyebrows suddenly shot upward.

Because he also suspected that the exposure of Fang Can's information was done by a disciple within the martial arts hall, but he could not find out who.

"Yes, Lord, I will gather them immediately," Ye Yonglie said in a low voice.

Inside the martial arts hall, Yuan Dang mixed among the disciples practicing martial arts, but his mood was not as calm as his face appeared.

Suddenly, Yan Zhi ran over from a distance and shouted to everyone: "Hey, everyone gather; the deity has something to announce; come over together."

Hearing this news, Yuan Dang's steady hands suddenly trembled, then he, expressionless, blended into the crowd and walked toward the canteen together.

(End of this chapter)