Chapter 102
While the Chenxing Empire’s reputation plumted, another figure gained significant attention on the Extraordinary Forum, receiving a flood of exaggerated praise. This figure was none other than the “Flower Speaker.”
Leiyin’s description of his savior was filled with an endless stream of flattery. He spoke of redemption in tis of despair, light descending in the darkest hour, and an unnad deity who bestowed hope and blessings upon the desperate in exchange for their misfortunes. His praise knew no bounds, pouring forth without pause.
Most importantly, many believed him.
Previously, there had been rumors about the Flower Speaker on the Extraordinary Forum. Many knew of this mysterious extraordinary being, but few had actually encountered him. Those who hadn’t t him couldn’t fathom the feelings of those who praised him so fervently on the forum, often dismissing their words as exaggerated, false, or fanatical, as if they had been brainwashed by a cult.
However, this ti, the events surrounding Leiyin had captured global attention. His firsthand account of being rescued from hell by the “Flower Speaker” naturally brought fa to this figure worldwide.
Leiyin’s emotional retelling of his experiences – the despair in the laboratory and the sudden hope upon eting the Flower Speaker – was deeply moving. It was easy for others to empathize with his story. As a result, developing an admiration for this “deity” who saved the suffering from despair and misfortune beca a natural progression.
While others were busy condemning the Chenxing Empire in Leiyin’s thread, he was feverishly posting new threads praising the Flower Speaker, voluntarily attracting followers for Him.
His actions left other Shadow Council mbers perplexed.
The Extraordinary Forum itself originated from the Shadow Council. Apart from the elusive Council President, the other two administrators were core mbers of the Shadow Council, or rather two of the Four Pillars. Below the administrators, those responsible for various forum tasks were carefully selected mbers absolutely loyal to the Shadow Council.
Most of these mbers knew that Leiyin had beco part of the Shadow Council, though they were unaware of his status as one of the Four Pillars. Many assud he was just a newly recruited ordinary mber.
Now, instead of trying to recruit for the Shadow Council, this newly inducted mber was neglecting his duties and lavishly praising another extraordinary being on the Shadow Council’s “territory.” He had effectively cultivated a group of fans for the “Flower Speaker,” seemingly poaching potential mbers from right under their noses.
After all, as the Shadow Council’s domain, every user on the Extraordinary Forum was a potential future recruit for them.
Leiyin’s actions were seen as stealing from their own, unmistakably treasonous behavior. He was promptly reported.
Thus, shortly after logging onto the Extraordinary Forum, Tian Yin received multiple reports from her subordinates about a certain individual poaching from the Shadow Council for soone else.
She imdiately let out a cold laugh.
If she rembered correctly, hadn’t she recently reminded soone to remain loyal to the Council President? Well, well, it seed he had forgotten her words as soon as she’d uttered them.
Was there any reason to keep such a person around?
Eliminate him! Right now!
She furiously clicked on the forum thread link in the report, already scheming how to deal with this despicable traitor and the one behind him who dared to offend the Council President. Her thoughts had progressed to considering whether to have them captured and cooked, fried, boiled, or eaten alive when she suddenly froze upon seeing the person ntioned in the post.
“Flower Speaker?”
This unexpected na stirred her mory.
Wasn’t it because of his blessing that she had been fortunate enough to catch the Council President’s eye and had the opportunity to join the Shadow Council?
“Hmph, I’ll let it slide this ti,” Tian Yin withdrew her hand that was about to order the elimination of the supposed traitor. She initially intended to ignore it, but seeing the lines of exaggerated praise and the various comnts expressing admiration for the Flower Speaker in response to the flattery, she couldn’t help feeling annoyed.
If it weren’t for the Council President taking him in, this guy would have been a stray dog by now. Even his chance for revenge against the Chenxing Empire was entirely thanks to the Council President’s help. How could he only rember to thank the Flower Speaker and not the Council President?
“… Damn it!”
Selectively forgetting that the Shadow Council President didn’t want to expose himself publicly, which was why Leiyin had omitted ntioning him, Tian Yin massaged her temples and suddenly had a good idea.
She acted on her thought imdiately, swiftly sending Leiyin a ssage. Her previously gloomy face once again broke into a smile.
……
Not long after, Bai Yi, enjoying his vacation at ho, casually opened the Extraordinary Forum. After browsing the public external forum accessible to everyone, he clicked into the internal forum specifically created for the Shadow Council. Instantly, he was bombarded with a flood of posts.
[Another day of showering the Council President with praise…]
[I’ve never seen anyone as brilliant and mighty as our Council President…]
[Counting down the Council President’s top decisions, part three…]
The forum’s first page was filled with posts whose content could be guessed just from their titles. An outsider might have mistaken it for a fan club dedicated to soone called “Council President.”
Bai Yi: ???
For an ordinary person, this would have been mortifyingly embarrassing.
Although Bai Yi’s ntal agility and thick skin far surpassed that of ordinary people, he still found it difficult to comprehend this outrageous scene. What had happened? He hadn’t logged into the Shadow Forum for just a few days, and the entire forum’s atmosphere had changed?
He casually scrolled through these posts, discovering that the posters were diverse, encompassing everyone from the Four Pillars to ordinary mbers. The most prolific posters were Leiyin and Tian Yin. Had soone organized so sort of flattery competition while he was away?
The only two who hadn’t participated were likely Song Chi and K, the latter being his own alias. So strictly speaking, the forr was the only normal person in this dramatically changed forum.
Bai Yi poked him with mixed feelings.
Soon, he received a reply.
[Recently, Leiyin has been frantically praising the Flower Speaker on the forum, attracting many admirers. 02 was very angry about this, so she imposed a rule on him: for every complint he gives to the Flower Speaker, he must praise you ten tis on the internal forum. For every post flattering the Flower Speaker, he must make ten posts praising you on the internal forum. Moreover, 02 herself has posted many similar threads, perhaps to demonstrate how to praise you with the most sincere words? Then, due to their actions, others might have misunderstood sothing, so in the past few days, they’ve been competing to post similar threads…]
Bai Yi: Ah, this? It’s really unnecessary.
He remarked, “Has the world beco so internally competitive?”
The Flower Speaker and the Puppet Master were both his aliases, were they now going to compete for subordinates and followers? …There was really no need to compete so earnestly in this aspect.
At the sa ti, a question that had occurred to him many tis before resurfaced – did each of his aliases co with an innate multi-level marketing skill? Why were there always so many people voluntarily becoming followers?
Especially this kind of #I’m poaching from myself but I don’t even know it’s actually the corner actively coming or maybe it’s mutual poaching but actually it’s all on the sa wall# bizarre operation…
He didn’t understand, but was greatly shocked.
“Can’t there be more sincerity between people! These praises don’t feel genuine at all!” After flipping through all the posts and disappointedly comnting on all posts except Tian Yin’s, Bai Yi exited this internal Shadow Forum filled with lies and returned to the normal Extraordinary Forum.
The ferntation of public opinion on the forum satisfied him considerably. He summoned the system. “Has this random reality mission been completed?”
[The random reality mission has been completed. Do you want to settle it now? It is suggested to wait for a while, as the completion rate will be higher, and the rewards the player receives will be more substantial.]
“Alright then, let’s wait.”
Since he hadn’t used the Principle of All Things fragnt he had luckily drawn before, Bai Yi wasn’t in a hurry even though he knew this mission reward might contain a new fragnt.
After all, he had done most of what needed to be done. The subsequent developnts no longer required much of his intervention.
In the coming days, the Chenxing Empire would experience considerable turmoil, but far from reaching a level that would shake its foundations. In the end, it would likely result in so people being thrown out as scapegoats, so losing a portion of their interests, and others rising to power in their place.
A gentle breeze blew outside, and a pair of eyes gazed through the transparent glass window, as if seeing through everything.
****
“Since you knew I was coming back, you should have been more sensible. How dare you continue to deceive people in Yong City?”
“Running into
today must be fate.”
Consciousness rose from the deep sea, seeing daylight again amidst brilliant starlight. These words drifted into his ears.
When Bai Yi fully awoke, he found himself floating like a ghost above an ancient-style street. People had gathered around, and below him was an imposing red-painted gate with two fierce stone lions crouching on either side.
In the center of the crowd, at the red gate, two people stood facing each other, seemingly in confrontation.
The person on the left was tall and thin, appearing to be in his early twenties. He wore a plain cyan Taoist robe with unbound long hair cascading down his back. His features were picturesque, fresh and handso. Just standing there, he exuded an otherworldly Taoist aura, quite impressive in appearance.
However, his face was slightly pale, with a flickering light deep in his eyes. His posture clearly showed that he had just been driven out from behind the gate. Although he maintained the air of a transcendent master, he was already at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
The person who had driven him out now stood opposite him.
Compared to the young Taoist’s ethereal aura, this one was dressed in fine silks and jade, like a wealthy young master. Yet, he carried an air of having long left the mundane world. Although similar in age, his appearance fell far short of the other man’s.
Looking at the young Taoist who had fallen silent, seemingly thinking of how to quibble, this ethereal yet richly dressed youth shook his head and sighed. However, his words were far from polite.
He looked around and loudly addressed the onlookers. “Everyone, see clearly, he’s not so divine master or fortune-teller, he’s just a charlatan! He’s been deceiving you all for so long with his tricks, and today, I, Su Huaijia, will expose his fraud in public!”
Amidst the crowd’s jeering, Su Huaijia stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the young Taoist before him.
“— Do you dare to accept the challenge?”
Ti seed to freeze at that mont.
No, the entire world seed to be solidified by so magical force, with all people ceasing to move.
The loading of the instance was complete. A virtual panel, invisible to others, appeared in mid-air.
As the basic panel appeared, Bai Yi, who had been floating like a ghost, slowly descended.
Bai Yi opened his eyes in his new vessel.
Simultaneously, twisted and blurred words appeared in this frozen world, forming a narration.
[This world has immortals, gods, demons, and monsters.]
[They can move mountains and fill seas, capable of anything.]
[Mortal dynasties suffer from the invasion of demons and monsters, developing under the protection of myriad gods and immortals. Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries flourish.]
[So travel thousands of miles to seek masters and learn the Dao, so return after their studies to slay demons and monsters, receiving imperial titles. So demons and monsters wreak havoc in the countryside disguised as humans, while so transcendent beings hide in the mortal world to play with the lives of common people.]
[— But none of this concerns you.]
[You are but an ordinary person among the masses, a commoner among commoners, with no earth-shattering mysterious background, nor any miraculous stroke of luck.]
[You are just an ordinary small Taoist.]
[Your only skill for making a living is the traditional charlatan technique of smooth-talking, honed from traveling far and wide with your fraudulent master since childhood, able to say the right things to both humans and ghosts.]
[With good self-awareness, you’ve always developed your trade in backward, remote small counties, never going to places where you might encounter true masters, nor taking on tasks clearly beyond your abilities.]
[This has allowed you to maintain your charlatan business and continue to earn a living by your wits even after your master’s death.]
[Now, your charlatan career is facing a severe crisis.]
[In this backward, remote small county, a disciple who has returned from studying at a distant immortal sect has appeared!]
[Even though his aptitude is diocre and he hasn’t been taught true thods, appearing as a re novice in the eyes of real immortal masters, he’s still capable of seeing through your pretentious act at a glance.]
[Faced with his public questioning, you’re left speechless.]
[The greatest crisis has arrived! Your reputation is on the verge of collapse, your image as a profound and mysterious divine master in the eyes of the county residents is about to be destroyed, and your livelihood is hanging by a thread… You’ve reached the most dangerous and crucial mont of your life!]
The blurry text in mid-air kept changing, and this narration, in Bai Yi’s eyes, beca increasingly impassioned, as if a synchronized voiceover was sounding in his ears.
[— Make your choice!]
[Will you lie down and accept the mockery, or will you rise up and fight back?]
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