Chapter 50: Nurturing-Style God
「Within Liangzhou of the Great Yan Country, on Jiejian Mountain.」
Jiang Ning’an was dressed in white that outshone the snow, her figure graceful and elegant, like a Celestial Immortal descended to the mortal world.
At this moment, she held the latest issue of the Celestial Secret List. When she saw the top name on the Ascending Dragon List, not a hint of surprise touched her features, for it was exactly as she had expected.
"The Tiger Slaughter Sect in Yunzhou? That’s quite a distance from Liangzhou... But to think he’s with that sort of riffraff. No wonder he didn’t want to mention it to me," Jiang Ning’an murmured to herself, her features as lovely as a painting.
As she muttered, the young woman’s gaze subconsciously drifted to the "Number One Cauldron" entry in the composition section. A thought then crossed her mind, causing a faint blush to spread across her face, and she let out a soft "Pah."
"So this is the genius you were talking about?" Suddenly, a calm voice materialized behind Jiang Ning’an as Liu Qingmeng’s gaze fell upon the booklet in her hands, her words spoken slowly.
"Master." Hearing the voice behind her, Jiang Ning’an closed the booklet, turned around, and greeted her.
"His talent is indeed not bad, but his will is unknown. If he only has raw talent, he’ll stop at the Third Turn at best," Liu Qingmeng commented objectively.
After all, once a Martial Artist reaches the Heaven-Ascending Road, they become synonymous with miracles. Innate shortcomings can be overcome with acquired effort; pure aptitude alone does not dictate everything.
Thinking of this, Liu Qingmeng chuckled. "However, a future expert destined for the Third Turn is more than enough to make those old fools restless. Very well. I shall personally pay a visit to their sects."
"At the very least, I won’t let those old fossils at the Heaven-Ascending Road Realm bully the young."
With that, Liu Qingmeng’s figure slowly faded away, leaving only the echo of her voice reverberating through the valley.
...
Inside the main hall of the Lieyang Martial Arts Hall, Ye Yonglie sat upon a Grandmaster’s Chair, his gaze sweeping over the assembled disciples.
All the disciples who had been present yesterday had been forcibly gathered. Though no one spoke, the shocked looks they exchanged revealed a great deal.
After just a few exchanged glances, they all understood the purpose of this gathering.
"I imagine you all know why I’ve called you here today." Ye Yonglie picked up his warm teacup and took a light sip.
"This gathering is about Young Master Fang," Ye Yonglie said in a calm tone. "I won’t waste words. I have officially begun to worship Young Master Fang as a god."
As soon as he said this, everyone was first startled, but then a feeling of it being perfectly natural rose from the bottom of their hearts.
This method of deification was widespread. Nearly every Martial Artist famous enough to be on the Hidden Dragon and Ascending Dragon Lists had their own large following of believers.
It didn’t matter if the base personalities of those on the lists were evil, righteous, greedy, arrogant, lustful, or ugly...
As long as they had the power to make a name for themselves, fanatics would naturally flock to them from all over the world, seeking to worship a god.
Legend has it that the first Great Derivation Divine Monarch was undefeated from the day he debuted, moving from one myth to the next. He supposedly had hundreds of millions of followers, and at one time, all citizens of the Great Yan Country were his fanatics.
There were two main difficulties with this deification method.
The first was to maintain the god’s undefeated image. The second was to meet the god and gain their permission to serve.
But Fang Can’s combat record was terrifyingly impressive, and his future was boundlessly promising. If they didn’t invest now, what were they waiting for?
"Ma... Master..." one of the disciples at the side stepped forward. "I also want to worship Young Master Fang as a god! I desperately want to improve!"
"That’s right, Master! I know why you’ve gathered us. Aren’t you just afraid we’ll snitch?"
One of the disciples said with righteous indignation, "Why don’t we all just keep the secret together, worship Young Master Fang as a god together, and grow alongside him? Wouldn’t that be great?"
As he spoke, the other disciples all agreed in their hearts.
They thought about the benefits of being the first wave of followers, the servants of a god walking the earth...
"Insolence! What gives you the right to even think you’re worthy of growing alongside a god?"
Yan Zhi stepped forward, shattering their delusions. "You come here motivated by personal gain, your hearts insincere. Even if you worship him, you will gain nothing."
"You can fool others, but don’t fool yourselves. You lot are always half-hearted and lazy in your training. Your talk of worship and training is just lip service. No matter how hard you try, it’s nothing more than opportunistic speculation."
Yan Zhi’s tone dripped with intense contempt, utterly disdainful of these disciples.
Having lived with them for so long, he knew their dispositions all too well.
Ye Yonglie was stuck at the Profound Gate Sixth Layer because no matter how hard he tried, his aptitude capped out at the Sixth Layer. That was why he needed to rely on other methods to advance.
But these disciples were always slacking off, content with "good enough" in their training. They hadn’t even reached the limits of their own talent, yet they were already trying to take shortcuts.
This kind of trash were just small fry who would be washed away instantly if they ever set foot in the River of Adversity.
Worshipping a god requires abandoning everything of the self and treating the god’s commands as absolute. These people couldn’t even hold true to themselves, so what right did they have to worship any god?
If a god told you to get into Tsinghua University, a true fanatic would just study as hard as they could, giving it their all even if they might fail. That is the true essence of worship. As for these disciples...
Amidst the scolding of their Senior Brother Yan Zhi, the disciples all lowered their heads, somewhat resentful but at a loss for a rebuttal.
But then, they heard Yan Zhi’s tone soften. "Although your natures are incorrigibly bad, it’s not as if they cannot be changed. It just requires us to guide you a little."
"Innate flaws can be overcome with acquired effort. Though your hearts are insincere now, you can gradually become devout by chanting the name of the Celestial Emperor Fang."
"In that case, let’s start with the first step. Everyone, sit cross-legged with me. Together, we will chant the revered name of our lord, Celestial Emperor Fang."
Yan Zhi’s words seemed to carry some unknown Magic Power, compelling the disciples on a subconscious level to follow his words, to act, to worship the god.
Watching this scene, Yuan Dang felt a strange, unsettling feeling rise in his heart, as if...
’This is bad... it’s a Heart Image!’ In that instant, Yuan Dang bit the tip of his tongue, the sharp pain jolting him back to his senses.
Feeling his own state of mind waver along with Yan Zhi’s words, he grew extremely wary. Yan Zhi was actually using a Heart Image to influence the minds of all the disciples present.
The influence of this Heart Image wasn’t strong, similar to psychological suggestion, so none of the ordinary disciples could detect it.
He sat down along with all the other disciples, watching them chant the great name of Celestial Emperor Fang in unison. A chill rose in Yuan Dang’s heart.
’Something’s wrong. Completely wrong. The future has been totally altered. In my past life, Celestial Emperor Fang should have been mired in a bitter struggle by now, but now...’
While he struggled to keep his mind calm, the sound of everyone chanting Fang Can’s name rose in a neat, orderly chorus, gradually becoming solemn.
’But where is Fang Can right now?’ Yuan Dang wondered.
What he didn’t know was that in Ye Qingshi’s chambers, Fang Can was staring at the young woman who had been trussed up by Hall Master Ye, his expression one of utter bewilderment.