A civilization's crystalized wisdom over five thousand years, explored and innovated by generations of predecessors—how could it possibly be a superficial routine?
In an instant.
All of these successors of ancient martial arts felt their hearts stirring deeply!
This was what ancient martial arts were truly meant to look like!
Seeing that the atmosphere had been built up nicely, Lin Fan quickly got to the point: "I wonder if everyone is now willing to learn the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique and join my God-Slaying Army?"
At this moment, everyone's blood was pumping with excitement. Hearing Lin Fan's question, they nodded one after another.
"Hah, of course we are!" Wang Hu, the most hot-tempered of the lot, grabbed Lin Fan by the hand. "It was my fault just now, little brother, please don't take it to heart... But let's get one thing straight first: once I join, you have to teach me that so-called divine martial art. And hey, I didn't study much, so you better not try to trick me. That god-devil art has to be just like you said, strong enough to let this pair of iron fists—"
"Alright, alright, Wang Hu." Dao Wanqian brushed Wang Hu aside with a sweep of his horsetail whisk, saying in a deep voice, "If what you say is true, and this God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique can really revive the glory of ancient martial arts, then of course it is our unshirkable duty to join!"
You must know.
These successors of ancient martial arts, who had long considered themselves discarded by the times, had been dreaming every single moment of reviving the glory of ancient martial arts!
Now, how could they possibly be unwilling?
"If that really is the case, I, the Mo Sect Yin-Star-Falling Clan, am willing to join the God-Slaying Army!"
"My Mo Sect is also willing to join the God-Slaying Army, to revive the puppet mechanism arts of our founding master!"
"To make enemies of the gods... Heh, sounds a bit interesting." Mo Buzhi of the Confucian School chuckled, stepping forward as he cradled a stack of books. "Then let the gods witness the scholars' unyielding aura of righteousness!"
Only Dao Wanqian paused slightly: "Wait, since our predecessors cultivated internal energy, that means... divine power once appeared in this world?"
As soon as these words were spoken.
Everyone was stunned.
Lin Fan smiled: "That's right. For a period of time, the gods had already descended upon Daxia."
"It's just that those human heroes and mythological figures drove them away."
"And it was precisely during that period that those human heroes used Eastern martial arts to beat those gods so badly they dared not enter again!"
"Only... right now, they are temporarily unable to protect us."
"And we, in turn, must protect them!"
There was one more thing Lin Fan didn't say out loud.
In fact, as the cracks in the God Realm continued to widen, the scattered divine power on Blue Star would only grow denser and denser.
Even without the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique, these ancient martial arts successors would eventually have cultivated various forms of internal energy on their own.
The God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique was actually tailored specifically for ordinary people to absorb divine power, simply lowering the difficulty. But now, with the divine power scattered in the air being far too thin, this technique had instead become an excellent method for these martial artists to absorb it.
As for how to promote the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique in the future, Lin Fan already had a plan in mind.
For the time being, however, the focus still needed to be placed on these martial artists who had already laid a solid foundation and only lacked the absorption of divine power into their bodies, because ordinary people would need at least half a year to build that foundation from scratch.
And right now, what Daxia lacked most was time!
"Very well, congratulations to you all on becoming members of my God-Slaying Army," Lin Fan said in a solemn tone. "Enlistment formalities can wait; for now, everyone cross your legs, close your eyes, follow my instructions, and circulate your inner breath!"
At long last.
The first batch of members of the God-Slaying Army had finally enlisted.
The God-Slaying Army—this sharp blade meant to oppose the gods—had taken its initial shape.
And just as Lin Fan was teaching these ancient martial arts successors the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique, a wave of public opinion had already begun to form!
Chapter 23: Daxia, utter nonsense!
At this moment.
Following the conclusion of Daxia's press conference, a massive uproar had already broken out across the international internet!
"Is what Daxia said true? Are gods really about to descend?"
"It seems to be true, they even released video footage, and there are bone fragments too..."
"Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter. No way, you guys aren't actually taking this seriously, are you?"
"It's already 2201, don't tell me there are still people who haven't seen the Avengers? Videos like that—special effects companies can churn out five of them a day for you!"
"Exactly, what can some crappy video prove? And that resolution, tsk tsk, just filming some broken bones at the bottom of the deep sea—give me Photoshop and I could draw that myself!"
"And those bone fragments, haha, don't tell me anyone is actually that naive? Freedom Country already used the washing powder trick ages ago!"
"Right, Daxia is so uncreative. At least put out some solid evidence. I bet those crappy bone fragments were just picked up casually off the street."
"No, you guys shouldn't talk nonsense. I actually believe in the existence of gods. I believe in Jesus! That's it, I'm going to pack my bags and get ready to welcome the gods!"
"Totally. Even if gods really exist, they must be as kind as the ones in fairy tales, how could they possibly invade us? And talking about some kind of disaster... Daxia people just love to monger panic."
"We in White Elephant Country have been saying it all along, Daxia people just love to lie and boast..."
On the international internet, public opinion surged.
It was mostly divided into two factions.
One faction refused to believe it no matter what, convinced that Daxia was lying.
The other faction consisted mostly of the religious.
They believed in the gods Daxia spoke of—though rather than believing Daxia, it was more accurate to say they believed in the benevolent and loving gods of mythology. Some were even packing their bags to welcome the descent of the gods.
As for the disaster Daxia warned about.
They didn't believe it at all!
How could gods possibly exist?
Even if they truly existed, they ought to be as kind and loving as in the myths—that righteous and indomitable God of Strength Lisi, that all-embracing, all-forgiving Jehovah...
Daxia must be lying!
Inside Daxia's Supreme Command Center.
"It looks like this young man has already started planning his next steps."
Through the glass window, Elder Jin watched Lin Fan guiding the martial artists in cultivating the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique, his gaze complex. "Sometimes, I really feel like this kid doesn't seem like a young man at all. He has none of a young man's impatience."
"Hah, you shouldn't think of him as a young man. The things this fellow has been through probably outweigh everything we've experienced," Chen Yan said with a helpless, bitter smile, then lowered his head to check his phone, his expression instantly turning ugly.
"Are these people all idiots?" Chen Yan handed his phone to Elder Jin. "We laid the facts right in front of their faces! We showed them the evidence—videos, bone samples, and we even provided the coordinates of that skeleton so they could go explore it themselves!"
"We even sent them the analysis data on those bone samples, down to the very last detail!"
"And yet, why are this bunch of people so stubbornly thick-headed?"
"They refuse to believe anything!"
"They claim the video is fake, and say the bone samples are just a pig bone we picked up off the ground."
"Even," Chen Yan said, his face full of disbelief, "some people went to check those coordinates, and their filming boat actually saw the skeleton, yet they still insist we threw it into the ocean ourselves and staged the whole thing!"
"And as for the analysis data, anyone with eyes could see that the hardness of those bones was extraordinary, yet those guys in Freedom Country would rather believe it's some new material researched by Daxia than believe it belongs to a god."
"Do these people really want to die at the hands of the gods?"
"We kindly and sincerely reminded them, so how did we end up being the ones with ulterior motives trying to trick them?"
"There are even people mocking Daxia, saying we've all gone mad... It's utterly unreasonable!"
Chen Yan clenched his fists.
As someone dedicated entirely to scientific research, he simply could not comprehend the malice of human nature, nor could he imagine that those countries could openly distort black and white and play dumb.
Daxia had clearly acted out of good intentions, warning the world of the danger in advance.
As a result, not only did they show no appreciation, but they actually turned around and hurled insults and mockery?
"Heh, if they refuse to believe, then let them be," Elder Jin said, unbothered, though his voice was cold. "As Lin Fan said, a living Buddha cannot save ghosts hell-bent on dying."
"For Daxia to present all the evidence to them word for word is already pushing benevolence and righteousness to the limit."
"To be honest, given the things they've done to Daxia in the past, we could easily have kept our mouths shut and let them suffer a massive blow when they were completely unprepared."
"It's just that Daxia has always been lenient toward others since ancient times, which is why we did something akin to returning malice with virtue. If it were them, they'd never do the same for us."
At this point, Elder Jin paused for a moment before continuing, "Let them keep mocking, let them keep cursing; we only need to do our part and prepare."
"When three months are up."
"I'd like to see who is still laughing at Daxia!"
"I'd like to see how many countries come crawling back, humbling themselves to beg Daxia for help!"
Hearing Elder Jin say this, Elder Chen stopped brooding and instead nodded: "I'll go arrange the next steps right now. Shang Weitian from the Ministry of Commerce has already told me about the plan to secure iron resources, and I'm going to assist him!"
Only once the iron resources were in place could construction on the Steel Great Wall begin.
This admitted of not a moment's delay!
With that, without waiting for Elder Jin's reply, Elder Chen turned and strode out.
Right now, every single second was exceptionally precious!
Meanwhile.
Ten minutes after Daxia's press conference concluded, a top-level remote meeting was urgently convened!
"Everyone, you've all watched Daxia's press conference, haven't you?" Freedom Country President Puchuan, sitting at the head of the table, looked at the meeting members on the screen and asked in a deep voice, "What do you all make of what Daxia said?"
The moment he finished speaking.
The people on the screen immediately expressed their stances one after another.
"Daxia is talking utter nonsense!"
Chapter 24: Daxia harbors malicious intentions!
"Daxia has truly gone mad, do they actually believe in the existence of gods?"
"Right, I think those laughable pieces of evidence were completely fabricated by them from start to finish!"
"No, we in India Freedom Country believe that gods certainly exist, but absolutely not in the way Daxia claims. The gods we worship are all benevolent and loving..."
For a time.
The high-ranking officials of the major powers were all buzzing with discussion.
Their attitudes were largely the same as international public opinion; after all, objectively speaking, things like gods simply did not exist.
Even taking ten thousand steps back.
Even if they truly existed.
How could they be as dangerous as Daxia claimed?
If those gods really possessed the formidable power Daxia described, why would they want to invade Blue Star and conquer such weak humans as themselves?
Yet in truth.
They had forgotten.
Daxia back then had not been strong either, yet these great powers had still invaded Daxia and plundered its people before they grew strong.
In this world, the strong never truly pitied the weak.
And the God Realm would not pity Blue Star either.
In the not-too-distant future, these great powers would discover how naive and self-righteous their mockery had been.
Whereas Daxia, due to its historical background, had long since perceived the cruelty of this world.
To be backward is to take a beating!
This was a truth everyone in Daxia knew!
The strong beating the weak needed no reason whatsoever.
And if a reason truly was required, it was nothing more than a test tube of washing powder!
This was why domestic public opinion in Daxia was completely different from foreign public opinion.
Once the people of Daxia learned of the existence of gods, they had only one thought.
We are in danger!
Yet right now, these Western powers were still holding meetings to mock and analyze Daxia!
This truly was failing to see the forest for the trees.
"Alright, everyone." Listening to the speeches of the various presidents, Puchuan, who was chairing the meeting, nodded. "Actually, my view is the same as yours."
"But the main point of this meeting is: why would Daxia tell such a lie, going so far as to claim that gods are descending?"
"What kind of malicious intentions are these cunning Daxia people hiding?"
"And why on earth are they drafting fifty million soldiers?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the leaders of the various countries fell into deep thought.
It really was rather hard to figure out.
Everyone was living their lives peacefully and comfortably when Daxia suddenly came out of nowhere with a fifty-million-strong military draft, followed by a fraudulent press conference claiming the existence of gods.
"Are they whipping up a terrifying atmosphere to scare us?" Great Britain Prime Minister John frowned. "Still, what good does doing this do for them?"
Kameda Country Prime Minister Kameda sneered, "Hah, do Daxia people even need a reason to benefit themselves? They are just a bunch of people who love to harm others without benefiting themselves! Even if they gain nothing, being able to harm us is enough to satisfy them."
"My Kameda Country has clearly never invaded them, yet they keep splashing dirty water on us. Does that do them any good?"
At this, Kameda slammed his fist heavily on the table, as if a sudden realization had struck him. "I get it!"
"Daxia is trying to drag us down with them!"
"To make us believe it, they didn't hesitate to draft fifty million troops and proclaim the existence of gods."
Puchuan was slightly startled: "Mr. Kameda, you mean..."
"What I mean is," Prime Minister Kameda said, a gleam of profound wisdom shining in his eyes like a sage who could see through everything, speaking in a low voice, "As long as we believe it, we will end up just like them—drafting troops on a massive scale and running ourselves ragged following their calls!"
"If we keep this up."
"We'll end up dragging down our own national strength instead!"
"This is the sinister intention of the Daxia people! They're putting on a show to deceive us! To make fools of us!"
"The moment we believe them, then... we will fall right into Daxia's trap. By then, every country on Blue Star will be tricked into making a huge fuss over nothing, halting their development and even seeing their national strength regress!"
"And all they have to do is put on an act. Suppose they suffer a loss of five hundred, every other country will lose ten thousand!"
"When that happens, taking advantage of everyone else being hoodwinked into chaos and having their national power damaged, Daxia will seize the chance to rise!"
As Prime Minister Kameda finished speaking.
Puchuan drew a sharp breath, his gaze filled with shock: "This move is enough to reshape the current global landscape!"
"These Daxia people are hiding so deep... Daxia truly harbors malicious intentions!"
Chapter 25: Daxia wants to buy steel from us?
In an instant.
Through the discussion of these "masterminds," they had "thoroughly" uncovered Daxia's conspiracy and perceived the "truth"!
"In other words." Puchuan's expression was unsightly as his plump little hands trembled slightly, "Daxia claiming the descent of the gods is nothing more than alarmist panic-mongering!"
"Their draft of fifty million soldiers is just an act!"
"They actually just want to make us panic as well, follow their example, and put ourselves through the same chaos!"
"Once we believe it."
"Then when Daxia says our Freedom Country is about to face danger, that we need to draft fifty million troops, and build something with the entire strength of the nation... we'll become puppets manipulated by them, dragging down our national power purely based on their empty words!"
"Therefore."
"No matter what, we must not believe it!"
"As long as we don't believe them, the Daxia people are just tossing and turning for nothing! In the end, they'll only wear down their own national strength."
Hearing this, the high-ranking officials of the major powers in the communication conference nodded in agreement.
Only Australian Prime Minister Tom frowned slightly, feeling that something was not quite right. "However, will the Daxia people really go that far? They've already genuinely gone ahead and drafted fifty million troops..."
"Hah, the Daxia people have always been like this!" Kameda Country's Prime Minister sneered. "Never mind harming others to benefit themselves, they have an old saying over there: *Better to shatter the jade than keep the tile intact*—wait, no, *injure the enemy a thousand, damage yourself eight hundred!*"
"As long as they can drag down our national power, what does suffering a few losses of their own matter?!"
"Those Daxia people are just that despicable and shameless. Heh, thinking such petty tricks can fool us—in truth, we've seen right through it all."
Great Britain Prime Minister John sneered, "Exactly, these self-righteous Daxia people."
"Still trying to pull a fast one on us and play military strategy—what do they even count as?"
As he spoke.
John instinctively flipped through Sun Tzu's *The Art of War*, which he kept on his desk like a treasured heirloom.
Suffice to say,
trying to play military strategy with them.
The Daxia people were their ancestors...
Puchuan pondered for a moment, then rapped his knuckles on the table in a summarizing gesture, enunciating every single word.
"Since that's the case, our overall strategy is set."
"No matter what Daxia says or how they put on a show, we must not believe them!"
"Even if they get down on their knees and beg us to believe that gods are about to descend, we will never believe it!"
"Even if they prepare for war with their entire country, even if they use the nation's full strength to build whatever, we must not believe them."
"We must constantly bear in mind that those are all just performances!"
"Let them toss and turn, let them labor in vain all by themselves. As long as we don't believe it, their scheming will completely fall flat, and in the end, only they will be draining their national strength for nothing!"
Puchuan's voice was full of confidence.
"Agreed!"
"I agree!"
"We simply won't believe Daxia, and let them waste their own effort!"
Just at that moment.
"President Puchuan, the Daxia leadership has sent a message." An assistant strode over, his expression nervous as he whispered a few words into Puchuan's ear.
At the same time,
"Prime Minister John, the Daxia leadership has sent a message."
"Prime Minister Kameda, the Daxia leadership has sent a message."
Inside one top-spec office after another, the leaders of every single country received a message from Daxia!
"What, Daxia wants to buy steel from us?"
"That's strange, Daxia wants Great Britain to sell them steel too, a total of eighty million tons!"
"Italy received a notice as well, hoping to buy fifty million tons from us!"
In an instant, all the top leaders cried out in astonishment during the communication conference.
Chapter 26: A sudden surprise
"You received a message too?"
"What, Daxia is asking you for iron resources as well?"
"What's going on? Daxia has always been an exporting country, they're vast and rich with abundant iron resources themselves, so why would they..."
For a time.
All the high-ranking officials participating in the meeting were utterly bewildered.
They had received the messages sent by Daxia almost simultaneously.
Although the quantities differed, without exception, every single one of them was proposing to purchase steel!
"Strange," Puchuan was completely befuddled by this news. "What on earth are those Daxia people trying to do? I received a message here too, hoping to purchase one hundred million tons of steel from our Freedom Country."
"Purchasing such a massive quantity of steel..."