Chapter 109: Fang... Young Hero Fang

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Fang... Young Hero Fang

’Flashy?’

Standing before a carriage that could rival the emperor’s own—one that artisans were still putting the finishing touches on—several Martial Artists looked on in confusion.

This was the god’s first official outing, after all.

Had circumstances permitted, they would have wanted to make it even more luxurious and grand.

"My Lord, all of this is quite necessary," Ye Yonglie added from the side.

"Your daily cultivation absolutely cannot be interrupted. If you were to travel in a simple sedan chair, the space would be too cramped. How would you be able to properly stretch your limbs?"

"Besides, this is nothing. When you go on a long journey, you can’t be expected to brave the elements."

"We’ll need to assign eight to ten serving maids for the journey. We’ll also need chefs for the daily chilled fruits and vegetables, and we’ll have to arrange staff to handle the fresh ingredients caught and delivered to us along the way."

"There will also be an orchestra and a choir on both sides of the road, chanting *The Sutra of the Supreme, Exalted, Brilliant, and Resplendent Divine Emperor* day and night to spread the divine will, as well as scribes to record all that you see and hear on your journey."

"Then there’s the matter of handling the displaced people..."

"Enough, enough, enough. Stop droning on," Fang Can said, exasperated. "Just give me a rough total of how many people we’ll need."

"The standard is 50,000 people, but since you’re in a Rush, we can only mobilize 10,000. Only seventy percent of them are Martial Artists," Ye Yonglie replied.

"Ten thousand! Are you going to war?" Fang Can was speechless. "Are our funds really that plentiful? Can we afford to squander them like this?"

"You don’t need to worry about that. This is nothing," Ye Yonglie assured him.

"Since you don’t pay attention to these matters, you may not know that the number of our followers has been growing. We now have over ten thousand, and all of them are at least Profound Gate First Layer Martial Artists."

"The donations from these people are piling up so high we need warehouses to store the money. It takes more than a dozen accountants working day and night just to inventory all the new properties and farmlands. We estimate this entire trip won’t even cost one percent of our wealth."

"And that’s not even counting the wealth we’ll continue to accumulate."

"Once we’ve finished cataloging all this wealth, we’ll assign people to manage it professionally. We’ll also take a portion of the surplus and give it back to our poorer followers, ensuring a state of equality where every believer can eat their fill and drink heartily."

Fang Can frowned as he listened to Ye Yonglie’s explanation. "You’re acting so blatantly," he couldn’t help but say, "collecting rent, accumulating property... Doesn’t the Great Yan government get involved?"

"Why would they? Everyone does it," Ye Yonglie said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What do you mean, ’everyone does it’?"

"About a hundred years ago, the Great Yan tried to subjugate the Martial World and bring the Martial Artists to heel. The result was a massive backlash."

"In the name of freedom, it wasn’t just the Great Yan Martial Artists. Even Martial Artists from the neighboring Great Chu and Great Zhou came to lend their support."

"In the end, after a great battle that cost the lives of several hundred Heaven-Ascending Road Martial Artists, the Dayan Army—once millions strong at its peak—was slaughtered, leaving only tens of thousands of survivors."

"The conflict was only quelled when the previous Sect Leader of the Supreme Profound Sect pledged his life as a guarantee in the capital of the Great Yan Country."

"After that war, the imperial court stays out of the Martial World’s affairs. What’s the Martial Artists’ is the Martial Artists’, and what’s the court’s is the court’s. And since then, the Great Yan Country has declined day by day," Ye Yonglie said matter-of-factly.

"Besides, every group that worships a god is like this. If we don’t put on a grand display, the followers of other Evil Gods will think we can’t afford a proper procession."

Hearing that everyone did it, Fang Can could only accept this world’s bizarre customs. He then asked:

"But it was just an army of a few million. Was the battle really that devastating? How did several hundred Heaven-Ascending Road Martial Artists die?"

The question immediately raised a red flag for Fang Can. ’With my current power,’ he thought, ’if I went all out, I could slaughter an army of several million mortals in just a few days.’

’And if I wanted to leave, there’s no way mortals could stop me on foot.’

’So how did hundreds of Heaven-Ascending Road Martial Artists, people even stronger than me, end up dead?’

"I don’t know." Faced with this question, Ye Yonglie shook his head in confusion.

After all, he was only a Martial Artist who had just reached the Heart Image realm. He was practically illiterate and could barely recognize a few characters, so he wasn’t qualified to know such secrets.

Fang Can’s questions were far beyond his depth.

Another Heart Image Martial Artist nearby spoke up. "Rumor has it that every soldier in the Dayan Army was a Profound Gate Ninth Layer Martial Artist."

"But that must just be a rumor. I’ve met a few retired soldiers, and they were frail, no different from ordinary people."

"Furthermore, each of them signed an agreement with the government forbidding them from revealing military secrets in any way. If they did, they would die instantly from a backlash."

"And ever since that war, the Dayan Army, once the greatest among the nations, has become a shadow of its former self, growing weaker by the day. It’s anyone’s guess when the country will finally collapse."

The Martial Artists chimed in one after another, speaking what amounted to treason, but none of them saw anything wrong with it.

Ever since that war, government officials would act like cowards whenever they saw a Martial Artist, letting them come and go as they pleased.

Besides, if it weren’t for the numerous Sects now established within the Great Yan Country, who knows when the nation would have been conquered by the Great Chu. The government’s own strength, without the help of the Martial World, wouldn’t have been enough.

So, in reality, it was the emperor who needed them.

Fang Can nodded thoughtfully. He was beginning to understand the situation in the Great Yan Country. It was like the end of a dynasty, with warlords on the rise, everyone just trying to survive one day at a time.

"If that’s the case, then do as you will," Fang Can said quietly, letting the artisans continue hammering away at the carriage.

「Meanwhile, within the Tiger Slaughter Sect.」

Yang Duan sat in a grandmaster’s chair, his calm gaze fixed on the tall, sturdy young man standing before him with his fists cupped in salute.

The youth was incredibly tall and powerfully built—it was said a man could stand on his fist and a horse could run on his arm. Right now, his face was a mask of righteous indignation.

"Master, that Fang Can is taking things too far! He’s an expelled disciple, yet he has the gall to arrogantly linger on our territory, refusing to leave. He’s treating the Tiger Slaughter Sect as if it’s nothing!"

"It’s a slap in our face! Now, the likes of the neighboring Transformation Sect are laughing at us. Every day he stays is another day we lose face."

"I just wanted to go teach him a lesson myself. Why did you have your personal guard order me back?"

Looking at his indignant disciple, Yang Duan shook his head with an inward sigh. ’Did I put on too good of a show?’ he wondered. ’Have I completely duped all the disciples in my own Sect?’

"Although I expelled Fang Can from our Sect, he has a new master now," Yang Duan stated plainly.

"On the day the Celestial Secret Tower released its new rankings, the Sect Leader of Jiejian Mountain sent out a message, welcoming all Transcendent Body Martial Artists in the world to challenge Fang Can as they pleased."

"Isn’t the meaning obvious? It’s a warning for those at the Heaven-Ascending Road Realm not to bully someone beneath them."

"That’s a Fourth Turn expert! He could flatten all of Yanggu County with a wave of his hand. Even if you’re looking to die, that’s not the way to do it."

"Back when he was in the Sect, he called me Sect Leader Yang, and I didn’t find fault with it."

"But now he’s the Disciple of a Fourth Turn Immortal. What should we be calling him?"

The sturdy youth hadn’t grasped the crux of the matter. His lips trembled as he slowly stammered, "Fang... Young Hero Fang?"