Sweeping both worlds: Starting from idealistic martial arts

Chapter 461 The Most Steadfast Self!
Sitting cross-legged indoors, as the first rays of dawn shone through the window onto Li Shan's body.

Propaganda Minister Li Shan opened his eyes, a hint of dissatisfaction with the current efficiency flashing in them:
'The normal cultivation speed is too slow. At this rate, it would take at least thirty to forty years to advance from the peak of the first stage to the second stage.'

The propaganda minister slowly stood up, feeling the surging power within him.

At this moment, he could easily blast the hundred-story building beneath his feet into pieces and turn it into ruins with just a wave of his hand.

This terrifying destructive power was something he had never dared to hope for in the past. Although the gap between him and the gods was still vast, it at least gave him a glimmer of hope.

'I can become a god too!' A hint of greed, deep within human nature, surfaced in the propaganda minister's eyes.

Thinking this, he looked up and saw his wife's concerned eyes beside him: "Are you alright? You've been meditating on the floor all night, and you didn't answer when I called you. It's already nine o'clock, and you're late."

Upon hearing that he was late, Li Shan was startled and got up to leave for work.

But he quickly realized the problem, slowed his movements, and thought to himself:
"Go to work? What's the point of going to work now? I'm practically an immortal! Going to work is a waste of time!"

"With my talent, even with diligent cultivation, it would normally take me thirty or forty years to reach the second stage of cultivation. If I were to work, with intermittent cultivation, it might take seventy or eighty years to break through."

'But if I don't go to work, I won't be able to complete the tasks assigned by the gods, and I can't delay the gods' grand plan.'

For a moment, Li Shan was torn, hesitating between cultivation and work, wondering which one to choose.

Seeing her husband's absent-minded appearance, the wife said worriedly, "What's wrong with you? You don't answer when I talk to you. Are you sick? Maybe you should take a day off."

The words of his bedmate startled Li Shan awake. He instinctively prepared to voice his concerns, but stopped himself as soon as he opened his mouth.

'Should I tell her about the cultivation technique? If everyone could practice it, wouldn't society be no different from before?'

'With my talent, I'm afraid I'll never possess the power of a god in my lifetime, but if I keep this a secret, becoming a demigod among mortals shouldn't be impossible.'

'No, this cultivation technique was given by the gods. They couldn't possibly have given it to only one person. Even if I resist, it's useless. Therefore, I should have those around me cultivate this technique as well; only then can we create the greatest advantage.'

In a short while, Li Shan's mind raced, and he understood why the gods were promoting this technique so vigorously. He then completely calmed down.

He handed the booklet that Fang Can had given him to his wife and said, "You'll understand once you look at this. It was given to me by the gods. Try practicing it first. I'm going to work now."

Meanwhile, in the office, Fang Can sat on the sofa, propping his cheek with his right hand, observing the every move of Li Shan, the head of the publicity department, with a hint of speechlessness in his eyes.

Even the slightest movement of Li Shan, his every action, and even his inner thoughts, cannot escape his observation.

It's not just the ministers of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Finance who have all begun practicing their own "Solid Divine View" yesterday.

He wanted to first conduct a pilot program to spread the cultivation method among the upper echelons of the Great Zhou Dynasty to see how it went, but the results were far from what he expected.

After observing for a while, he understood what these people were thinking.

Human nature is greedy; even his followers still harbor ulterior motives.

Or rather, when one absorbs and assimilates the faith and returns the emotions to these people, these people are no longer just fanatical believers who only know how to worship gods.

Even though Li Shan knew that spreading the martial arts technique was his own intention and an inevitable trend, he would still obstruct its spread because of his own selfish motives.

Although they dared not openly resist, they still had the ability to manipulate things, such as deciding who would cultivate first and who would cultivate later.

Even as a god, he could not completely escape his selfish desires towards the Great Zhou.

Even a deity like myself has selfish motives; my initial intention in spreading this technique was to harvest faith.

If he can't even manage the selfish desires of the believers within the Great Zhou territory, how can he possibly spread this cultivation technique to those who don't believe in him and aren't under his jurisdiction?
In the end, the technique will likely be completely banned by the divine kingdoms outside of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and only the highest levels of each country will be able to cultivate it.

'This is a bit troublesome.'

Fang Can was somewhat conflicted, pondering how to persuade the high-ranking officials of those countries to voluntarily spread the cultivation technique.

After all, we cannot expect everyone to act on their own initiative. We should use morality to drive these people to spread the word, but rather be guided by pure self-interest, so that these people spontaneously feel that spreading the word is beneficial.

'Difficult, difficult, difficult...' Fang Can tapped his forehead, feeling that things were getting complicated.

There are quite a few prerequisites for achieving the fifth level of faith in the entire star sea.

Not only must we allow these people to spread their inhumane practices on their own, but we must also devise a method to quickly strengthen the will and accommodate the beliefs of all beings.

But as soon as one problem is solved, another one pops up. It's unbelievable.

There's a saying that goes, "Success is like pregnancy."

Everyone knows you've succeeded, but nobody knows how many hardships you've endured behind the scenes.

'Since we can't make everyone a moral saint, let's motivate them with pure self-interest.'

Thinking this through, Fang Can decided to modify his strategy and change the way these people cultivated.

……

With the entire Zhou Dynasty's relentless and cost-insensitive promotion, another month has passed.

Yesterday, they produced a standee of Fang Can; today, they released Fang Can's personal biography; and tomorrow, they will release a feature film about a deity.

The claims of the Great Zhou Lighthouse Nation and Fang Can as the most ancient god have spread far and wide.

However, since there was only praise and no evidence, apart from attracting Xinghai's attention, not many people believed it and just watched it as a joke.

Soon after, another message spread throughout the Star Sea.

Ten days later, the large-scale virtual reality game "Sweeping Across Two Realms: Starting from the Martial Arts of the Mind," based on the autobiography of the god, is ready for official release.

When the overwhelming publicity campaign made it to the top of the StarNet trending searches, the entire interstellar society was shaken!
At that time, everyone will be able to defeat powerful enemies from a third-person perspective and turn the tide together! Resilience will never falter!
Rise from humble beginnings, witness historical battles firsthand, and comprehend the supreme mysteries of martial arts! Take control of your powerful enemies' destinies and watch the world unfold with a smile!

The game will be available for pre-order in 5 days.

To promote the game, the god Fang Can will hold an offline demo event in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

We cordially invite top game reviewers, livestreamers, and veteran players from across the universe to join us for a sneak peek at the core storyline and thrilling battles!
There will also be an offline game disc sign-in event.

The great and ancient god, His Majesty Fang Can, will be present in person!
The first 1,000 people to arrive will have the chance to receive a limited edition collectible game disc personally signed by His Majesty!

Regardless of one's stance, the entire intergalactic world's attention was completely drawn to the contrasting and sensational combination of "the most ancient god" and "a large-scale VR game."

The topic's popularity skyrocketed, with discussions taking place across every star system. The moment the pre-sale link opened, servers tens of thousands of light-years away were overwhelmed and instantly crashed.

Keywords such as "Da Zhou Games", "Fang Can's autograph session", and "Weixin Martial Arts Game" have consistently ranked among the top ten most popular topics on various platforms.

"What the hell!" Li Yan stared at the advertisement on the Great Zhou's official website, his eyes widening instinctively.
"Are gods really becoming internet celebrities?"

As he gained a deeper understanding of the relevant events over the past few days, Da Zhou and Fang Can completely piqued his curiosity, making him want to know what was behind the gods.

But now, despite the complaints, since there's an opportunity, we should definitely seize it.
He originally planned to take his annual leave and travel to Da Zhou, but unexpectedly Da Zhou completely closed itself off to the outside world, ruining his travel plans.

Suddenly, an offline trial version was released, which not only allows you to travel to the Great Zhou Dynasty, but also lets you meet the gods and get their autographs!

Why don't we just go and expose it?

This is also the perception of many citizens of Xinghai.

Most citizens of the Starsea have believed in God their whole lives, but they have never even seen the face of the gods once in their lives; they can only watch the national wars from behind a screen.

Although Fang Can is now a god in another divine kingdom, the mere fact that he can meet the god in person is a very precious opportunity.

Not only the gods, but also many online bloggers are eager to try.

The Great Zhou Dynasty is currently closed off from the world, making it impossible for outsiders to know what is happening inside, which is a huge source of traffic.

If we enter the Great Zhou Dynasty and then do a live stream, wouldn't we be raking in rice like crazy?

Therefore, although some people have reservations about the gods' manipulation of online traffic, they still honestly wait in front of their computers and snatch up all the available spots the moment they appear.

Those scalpers who controlled the distribution channels were quick to sense the business opportunity.

The limited spots for the demo sessions and autograph sessions were almost instantly sold out after the official launch.

Subsequently, its price was driven up on the dark web to a terrifying level unimaginable to ordinary interstellar citizens, enough to purchase a respectable property on a top-tier resource planet.

Amidst a sea of ​​people, hundreds of thousands of sightseeing slots were snapped up in an instant thanks to various means and technologies, and scalpers then sold the slots at exorbitant prices.

Meanwhile, the high-ranking officials and deities of the other divine kingdoms watched with amusement, observing the Great Zhou stirring up trouble, unaware of what the other side was up to.

……

The Great Zhou Capital Building, the private domain of the gods.

Fang Can's gaze calmly pierced through the thick alloy walls, crossed the barrier of the starry sea, and landed on each individual who was fervently vying for a "signing opportunity".

As the one who started all this hype, there was no hint of pride in his eyes. Instead, it was as if he were examining a meticulously arranged large-scale experimental data panel.

The publicity effect was outstanding. Using games, a format most accessible to the general public, to spread information was far more efficient than empty announcements and historical retellings.

"After these days of modifications and adjustments, all the conditions have been met. Now, we just need the enthusiastic welcome of the people of Xinghai to lure us into their trap."

Fang Can murmured to himself, his eyes flashing with unprecedented determination, and at the same time, another cultivation technique appeared on his attribute panel.

Description section:
The host's thoughts converge, relying on cells, using flesh and blood as an altar, intention as an anchor, and qi and blood as offerings to begin visualization and manifestation.

The Manifestation of the [Soul Shaping Sutra in This Life] Begins

Progress achieved: 0.01%

—Estimated time: 3 days and 6 hours—

……

Looking at the [Soul Shaping Scripture in the Present World] category on the attribute panel, Fang Can's gaze remained calm and unwavering.

In order to solve the problem of wavering will after absorbing faith, Fang Can abandoned those green hat cultivation methods, as well as cultivation methods that mainly involved self-torture, such as "True Explanation of Soul Refining", "Heart Fire Forging God Technique" and "Myriad Phenomena Visualization Method", and chose to create his own.

In Fang Can's view, those methods of tempering one's will by self-torture and suffering are simply too inferior.

Who is the most determined person?

Those who are truly steadfast and unwavering in their will are those who explore themselves and possess an absolutely firm sense of self!

The person with the strongest will possesses the strongest sense of self, and even if everyone advises and tells him that this sense of self is wrong, he will still stick to his own opinion.

At the same time, I have both stayed true to myself and chosen to accept every choice I made in the past.

Because every bite of food you ate, every book you read, and every person you met in the past has subtly influenced you to become the person you are now.

Any tiny variable or slight deviation in the past will shape a completely new self, one that is entirely different from who you are now.

Therefore, a person who absolutely insists on being themselves, and who is absolutely satisfied with themselves at this moment, should also choose to accept every mistake and every misfortune they have made in the past.

The above ideas constitute the general outline of the "Soul Shaping Scripture in This Life" as manifested by Fang Can.

How can Fang Can's short memories of a dozen years rival the life experiences of those ancient monsters who have lived for thousands of years?

It's very simple, just repeat the year.

Just like watching a short video that's only a few minutes long thousands of times, the total playback time of that song can exceed that of a two-hour movie.

Fang Can's [Soul Shaping Scripture in the Present World] allows Fang Can's will to return to the past and retrace the path he came from.

This is not a rebirth, but rather following the same path again.

Every choice, every action, every challenge is experienced again from a completely new perspective, with the same operations repeated.

When others are reborn and return to the past, it's because they want to change it.

But for Fang Can, it's about replicating his initial choice, and each cycle is an affirmation of himself.

Compared to those who try to change the past, Fang Can, who has experienced a turnaround, doesn't feel that there's anything in his past life worth changing.

Because he is the best now, he doesn't envy or feel jealous of anyone!

He has no regrets about his past, so he should embrace it, stay true to himself, and stride forward!
(End of this chapter)