Chapter 59: Awakening
"You’re worshipping him as a god now?"
Hearing the four hall masters say this, Ye Yonglie’s eyes widened. He suddenly felt like a member of a niche subculture that had unexpectedly blown up.
"Yes." The hall master of Fenglei Martial Arts Hall clutched his nearly severed right arm and remarked with reverence:
"Lord Fang Can, at the Profound Gate Second Layer, single-handedly defeated thirty-five Heart Image Martial Artists in a single, unbroken streak. Such prowess is far beyond our reach."
The hall master of the nearby Chaotic Beast Martial Arts Hall nodded in agreement.
"The techniques we spent decades honing were completely mastered by him in less time than it takes two incense sticks to burn. Such innate talent is unparalleled. I am utterly and wholeheartedly convinced of his superiority."
From the hall masters’ accounts, Ye Yonglie and the others pieced together what Fang Can had gone through that day.
With his Heart Image depleted, he broke through the barrier between life and death at the Profound Gate Second Layer, enduring relentless Heart Image attacks to defeat dozens of Martial Artists without a single break.
With such a stunning combat record, it was no surprise that after the battle, four of the defeated Heart Image Martial Artists had switched their allegiance and begun to worship Fang Can as a god.
"Then... is Lord Fang Can..."
Yan Zhi looked at the man Ye Yonglie was carrying. Fang Can’s body was drenched in blood, with large sections of shattered bone. His exposed skin was a dense patchwork of black, blue, and purple bruises. One particular puncture wound went clean through his chest, visible from his back.
But despite his gruesome appearance, his breathing was remarkably deep and even. He was in a deep sleep, his expression utterly serene.
"After Lord Fang Can defeated us, he just leaned aside to rest and told us to bring him back here," said Hall Master Feng Lei.
Ye Yonglie nodded lightly. After telling the men to rest inside the hall, he handed the unconscious Fang Can to Ye Qingshi and commanded, "You will bathe and dress the Lord."
"Me...?" Ye Qingshi was incredulous. ’Is my father out of his mind?’
"Should we have a man bathe the Lord?" Ye Yonglie’s thick brows knitted together. "Are we even worthy?"
"Although you are also unworthy, my daughter, circumstances are what they are. For now, we’ll just have to impose upon the Lord," Ye Yonglie said.
At this, Ye Qingshi could only grit her teeth and agree. After all, she knew it was completely impossible to reason with her father right now.
Ever since he’d begun this "god-worshipping," her dad had become a complete Fang Can fanatic. He couldn’t string a sentence together without mentioning him. Counting on her father was a lost cause.
Ye Qingshi looked at the people in the room.
Fang Can was unconscious. Yan Zhi was a spineless yes-man who would mindlessly side with her dad. The other five were all Fang Can devotees. She had no choice but to give up protesting. ’A bath is just a bath, what’s the big deal?’
Gritting her teeth, she hauled Fang Can to an old-fashioned boudoir, a room undetectable by any modern scanner. Inside, a large wooden tub had already been prepared, courtesy of Ye Yonglie.
Clumsily, she stripped off Fang Can’s tattered clothes, revealing a dense, shocking tapestry of wounds covering his fair, firm muscles.
The sight made her marvel at how monstrous Martial Artists were. ’How could he still be alive with injuries like these?’ And from what she’d overheard from her father and the others, these were supposedly just superficial wounds.
’His physique is pretty good, though.’ Looking at Fang Can’s firm muscles, the young woman subconsciously pressed a finger against them.
As she felt her slender finger sink slightly into the firm muscle, a crimson blush spread across her cheeks. The sensation was so satisfying it felt almost addictive.
’This body isn’t just "pretty good," it’s perfect! He’s solid MUSCLE all over ♡!’
’Wait a minute...’
Suddenly, a thought struck her. Her gaze traveled down from Fang Can’s pale chest, past his chiseled abs, and settled on a very... significant feature.
’D-Don’t tell me... I have to... wash *that* by hand too?’
A series of images involuntarily flashed through Ye Qingshi’s mind: eating a hot dog, licking a hot dog, swallowing a hot dog.
Just thinking about such scenes made the young woman feel like her mind was being corrupted.
"Aargh! Whatever! Off with them!"
With absolute resolve, Ye Qingshi grabbed both of Fang Can’s pant legs and yanked hard.
"Gah!"
With a low cry, Fang Can sat up in bed. Outside, the sky was already bright with daylight.
In his sleep, he’d had a vague dream about being subjected to the ultimate humiliation by four lesbians.
They were gently kneading, slowly twisting, and stroking every muscle on his body—his "hot dog" included.
’Damn it, was that a nightmare or a wet dream?’ Fang Can was speechless.
"You’re awake." A voice like silver bells chimed beside his ear. Fang Can turned his head to see Ye Qingshi glaring at him, her face beet red.
"Yeah," Fang Can grunted, sensing that his battered body had mostly recovered after a night of rest.
More importantly, his power had taken a great leap forward after yesterday’s battle.
Name: Fang Can
Body: 5.8→6.2
Spirit: 5.8→7.3
Qi: 5.8→6.2
Description:
Flesh Transformation: 21.8%→37.5%
Manifested Cultivation Technique: Bedrock Contemplation
Great Sun Undying Demon Body 1.1
...
Lightly clenching his fist, Fang Can could feel his body thinking.
This was no illusion. After yesterday’s battle, Fang Can had successfully caused the flesh and blood around his heart to begin taking on the properties of neurons.
In other words, even if his brain were to shut down, as long as his heart was still pumping, he could transmit his consciousness throughout his body via his bloodstream.
Unless his two vital points, the heart and the brain, were destroyed simultaneously, he would keep fighting like the Terminator.
’The next step is to go further, to transform every cell in my body into flesh with neuron-like properties, until every single cell possesses the traits of all cell types combined.’ Fang Can mused.
’And then there’s the Bedrock Force...’
"Hey! Don’t ignore me!" Ye Qingshi complained plaintively as Fang Can was lost in thought. "I’m the one who bathed you last night, you know."
"Yeah, thanks. I’ll return the favor and wash you sometime," Fang Can said offhandedly, then got out of bed and walked away, leaving the young woman staring after him in stunned silence.
"Hey... wait, what’s wrong with you?"
Ye Qingshi was completely exasperated. If she hadn’t... personally taken his measurements last night, she’d suspect this guy was a eunuch.
As Fang Can stepped out of the residence, he saw several of the hall masters walking toward him, their expressions grim.
"What happened?" Fang Can asked.
"Someone leaked the news that the Lord is here. Now, the word on the street is that Fang Can is at the Lieyang Martial Arts Hall," Hall Master Feng Lei said, his face dark.
With Fang Can’s fame now spreading across the nations, countless Martial Artists were already rushing here, eager to make a name for themselves by crushing a prodigy.
Exposing Fang Can’s location now thrusts him directly into the eye of the storm.
After all, for many, the chance to eliminate a genius destined for the Heaven-Ascending Road while they were still in the Transcendent Body Realm was the ultimate thrill.
"So, you’re saying a whole new wave of enemies is about to swarm this place?" The corners of Fang Can’s mouth curled into a slight smile.