The Divine Flower Society's forum was currently dead silent.
Once, a post published by the Blood-Robed Sword God had stirred up immense waves across the forum.
Yet as the Blood-Robed Sword God was muted and the post vanished without a trace, those rippling waves had settled into stillness.
At that moment, within a chat group named the "Blood-Robed Sword God Fan Club," Little Li of Fox Cave was speaking with impassioned fervor.
"What Senior Blood-Robed Sword God said must be true! The cultivation arts we practice are definitely tainted!"
This group chat had been established under the hints and guidance of Senior Blood-Robed Sword God.
By now, roughly a hundred cultivators had joined.
This was the core group; other chats held far more cultivators, but without passing the trials, none could enter.
By this point, Little Li of Fox Cave had become the head fan of the Blood-Robed Sword God.
"Indeed! What Senior Blood-Robed Sword God said has to be true, or why else would everything he posted inexplicably vanish?
"When others spoke up later to ask about it, their posts disappeared into thin air as well!"
"We have enemies within the Divine Flower Society, and they hold immense power!"
"Do you think... could it be the Head Society Master?" one cultivator ventured a reasonable guess.
The Divine Flower Society's branch master in the Eastern Lands had long since been beaten into submission by the Blood-Robed Sword God and would never dare mute him.
Those who had both the authority and the nerve to mute the Blood-Robed Sword God could be counted on one hand.
"If it's him, we're in serious trouble!" another cultivator said.
While the Blood-Robed Sword God was indeed a Yin God senior—and quite strong even among Yin God Venerables—he was still a junior compared to a colossus like the Head Society Master of the Divine Flower Society.
"There is a Yin God senior in my main clan. He once said that the disparity between each layer of the Yin God realm is greater than the gap between every major realm beneath the Yin God stage!
"Offending the Head Society Master puts the Blood-Robed Sword God in grave danger!"
"Damn it, I can't reach Senior Blood-Robed Sword God at all right now!"
"I hope Senior stays safe!"
"The Canglan Realm has enemies, and the Divine Flower Society harbors villains, but only the Blood-Robed Sword God possesses a pure and loyal heart!
"All the bad people in the world have teamed up to bully Senior!"
"If only I weren't so useless, unable to do anything for him!"
"Sigh, my heart aches so much for Senior. I wish I could bear that suffering in his place. Senior must be having such a hard time right now."
"Does anyone have connections to contact the Head Society Master? We could apologize on Senior's behalf!"
"No way! We cannot bow our heads to evil forces!"
In any case, the chat group was overflowing with worry for Qi Yuan, carrying all the fervor of diehard fans.
Right then, someone suddenly exclaimed,
"Look, quick! The Blood-Robed Sword God has reappeared!"
"What? Senior is back?!"
"Ahhh!"
The throng of fans hurriedly logged onto the forum to check the post made by the Blood-Robed Sword God.
Little Li of Fox Cave looked both pleasantly surprised and anxious.
She knew that the Blood-Robed Sword God being muted was a monumental affair.
A single misstep could plunge him into eternal doom.
At that moment, a post that looked pinned to the top caught everyone's eye:
[I, the Blood-Robed Sword God, Wrathfully Slew the Lackey Head Society Master of the Divine Flower Society to Unmute Myself!]
"Some time ago, I exposed a grand secret of the Canglan Realm right here—that our cultivation arts are tainted.
"The result was that I suffered a tragic muting.
"I was furious.
"Living in the Canglan Realm, every brother and sister of the Divine Flower Society has the right to speak!
"Silenced and indignant, I investigated and discovered that it was that old scoundrel, the Head Society Master of the Divine Flower Society, who had muted me.
"I was very angry.
"This old scoundrel sided with evil and acted as their accomplice—something I could not abide!
"Thus, holding high the banner of justice, I rushed ten thousand li to the Youtian Domain.
"Numerous Yin Gods in the Youtian Domain were in cahoots with the Head Society Master.
"More than thirty Yin Gods banded together; they had betrayed their faith to serve the darkness.
"So, fighting entirely alone, I slaughtered every single one of those Yin Gods!
"Justice has triumphed over evil, and I can finally speak freely on the forum once more.
"By the way, today is Crazy Thurs—wait, no, evil has not been completely eradicated yet. I need everyone's support: upload cultivation arts to aid me in defeating the Great Tribulation!"
Qi Yuan had written at length, feeling thoroughly invigorated.
Having published the post, he waited for the replies below.
"Senior killed the Head Society Master???"
"This writing quality seems kind of poor. Could this be a fake Blood-Robed Sword God?"
Seeing this reply, Qi Yuan instantly bristled with annoyance. "Slanderous lies! Muted!"
He immediately muted the user who had criticized his writing.
Even though he had just championed free speech, he had muted them using the Head Society Master's account. What did that have to do with the Blood-Robed Sword God?
His Blood-Robed Sword God persona remained pure and spotless, a saintly white lotus.
Meanwhile, Qi Yuan's post completely stunned the members across the Divine Flower Society.
The Divine Flower Society was a faction no less formidable than the Dao Seeking Palace.
It spanned more than twenty domains and boasted tens of thousands of members.
Most importantly, numerous Yin Gods and their juniors could be counted among its ranks.
After all, the Divine Flower Society was merely a loose organization. Many Yin Gods were members, though out of concern for their status, they rarely exposed their alternate identities on the forum.
Now, as the Blood-Robed Sword God's post caught the eyes of many Yin God Venerables, they were all left utterly flabbergasted.
At this moment, how could they care about exposing their identities?
"Is this real or fake? That was the Head Society Master of the Divine Flower Society!"
"Senior Sword God, didn't you go to the Dark Sun?"
"Could it be that you destroyed the Head Society Master first?"
"Senior, the divine arts in the Origin God Sharing Society are too expensive. Even if I offered up all my arts, I still couldn't exchange for one."
These Yin God Venerables chimed in with inquiries.
Many of them knew that the Blood-Robed Sword God had traveled to the Youtian Domain to confront the Dark Sun.
They had not been optimistic about his chances.
After all, there were Mythological-tier entities within the Dark Sun.
The Blood-Robed Sword God had never carved his name onto the Mythological Stele and was not a Mythological-tier powerhouse.
Qi Yuan glanced through the replies and picked a few to answer:
"I personally went to the Dark Sun. Fortunately, the Head Society Master happened to be there as well, so I offed them all while I was at it."
"It was alright. The Dark Sun's strength is pretty mediocre. There were only about four Mythological figures and thirty-some Great Venerables at the Six Steps of Sky Treading. Weak as can be!"
"How is that not weak? Compared to Great Sage Blood Sun and his daughter, the Dark Sun was complete trash!"
"What you said makes a lot of sense. How about this: if a thousand Heaven-grade arts are pooled together through the Divine Flower Society within twenty days... and the progress bar hits 100%, the divine art will be given away for free!"
Reading the Yin God's comment, Qi Yuan came up with an idea.
While there weren't that many Yin Gods in the Divine Flower Society, there was strength in numbers. Many members came from prominent clans and could grit their teeth to produce a single Heavenly art without much issue.
If they crowdfunded a thousand Heavenly arts alongside a massive heap of Profound-grade arts, what harm was there in releasing the divine art to them?
With that in mind, Qi Yuan used the Head Society Master's jade slip to make a few simple modifications to the forum.
The modification was straightforward: whenever someone uploaded an art through this interface, a progress bar would advance below.
As soon as the overall progress bar reached 100%, Qi Yuan would release the divine art.
In essence, he was dangling a divine art to reap the cultivation manuals of the Divine Flower Society.
"People are selfish by nature. What if some sit on the fence, waiting for others to contribute?"
Thinking it over, Qi Yuan felt the plan was slightly flawed.
A divine art was certainly enticing, but some people would inevitably bank on luck, thinking, 'They don't need mine.'
"So, everyone needs their own personal progress bar too!" Qi Yuan muttered.
Ideas flashed through his mind, and following the same pattern, he promptly added another small function to the society's jade slip.
Submitting arts through that page would add to the grand collective pool, but it would also contribute to one's dedicated pool, granting each user an individual progress bar.
Furthermore, Qi Yuan thoughtfully set reward tiers at thresholds like 1%, 5%... 20%... and 100%, incentivizing people to upload arts for immediate gratification.
Only then would the society's members participate with greater enthusiasm.
For example, reaching 20% granted a Jade-grade art, 40% yielded a Profound-grade art, and so forth.
"Even this isn't enough. I'm pressed for time, and cultivators love going into seclusion. What if someone retreats for a year or two before seeing this message? The opportunity will have long passed by then."
Qi Yuan racked his brains.
An inch of time was worth an inch of gold.
His time was precious; it couldn't simply be squandered like this.
"Wait, I've got it! To claim the rewards, merely uploading arts won't do—you have to get friends to boost you and help slash a cut off the requirement!"
Qi Yuan felt he was truly a little genius.
Want to claim rewards? Simple: invite others to boost you and slash a cut for you!
Moreover, inviting people would also advance your progress bar to a certain degree.
Of course, each person could only boost one other person!
"Splendid, that's how we'll do it!"
After another round of contemplation, Qi Yuan began tinkering once more.
Before long, he had hammered it out.
Then, Qi Yuan switched over to his Origin Celestial Venerable account and tossed five Jade-grade arts into the pool.
Next, he sent the boost link to his Blood-Robed Sword God account, boosting himself.
Instantly, his personal page displayed 21% completion, and several arts—such as the Rain Bone Technique and the Grand Art of Close Combat—were uploaded to his jade slip.
These arts spanned introductory, intermediate, and advanced tiers, along with Jade grade.
"Nice, test passed." Qi Yuan tested it with his own accounts, found it remarkably smooth to use, and felt quite pleased with himself.
"Looks like I do have talent for this. If I went to Blue Star to apply for a programmer job, I'd probably earn over ten thousand a month...
"A pity I never worked at Pinxixi. Otherwise, copying their algorithms over would make this even more effective."
Letting his thoughts wander, Qi Yuan took out the Origin Celestial Venerable account and put up another post:
[Shocking! Blood-Robed Sword God Distributes Welfare, Giving Away Divine Arts for Free!]
"No need for 999, nor 998! Just gather the arts mentioned by the Blood-Robed Sword God, and he will give away a divine art for free!
"I've already donated several arts and actually received an invincible, mind-blowingly powerful manual.
"Why couldn't I have discovered this sooner?!
"Want to know how to play? Hurry and boost me—help me slash a cut!"
Qi Yuan had resolved to act as his own shill.
First, he would build a persona for himself:
Born into poverty, working tirelessly; bullied by senior brothers, unloved by elders; scorned by the goddess senior sister, given a hard time by sect deacons.
Yet by redeeming arts through the Divine Flower Society, he finally struck it rich, obtaining a Heaven-grade art that earned him the favor of the sect master's daughter—the junior sister—and won him the respect of the clan elders!
When the time came, sharing daily updates would surely tempt countless people to join the exchange.
"Many hands make light work.
"Pinxixi was wildly popular in my past life.
"With so many people in the Divine Flower Society, crowdfunding a single divine art shouldn't be an issue, right?"
After submitting the post, Qi Yuan felt thoroughly refreshed.
"Everything is set!"
His haul in Wind Thunder Valley had been bountiful indeed.
First, he had obtained the Head Society Master's jade slip, and later he had scavenged a mountain of cultivation arts.
The Dark Sun possessed abundant manuals as well; Qi Yuan had gathered hundreds of Heaven-grade arts alone,
including upper-tier Heavenly arts.
Naturally, Qi Yuan funneled these arts into the reward pools of both the Origin God Sharing Society and the Divine Flower Society.
Even if a Yin God took action, rallying their entire clan to frantically invite people for boosts and drive their progress bar to 100%...
Sorry, above 100% lay 1000%.
"Time to leave."
Having wrapped up his business, Qi Yuan departed Wind Thunder Valley.
***
Divine Light Sect, Seven Colors Peak.
Jiang Lingsu took a sip of fish soup and couldn't help letting out a satisfied burp.
"I can't eat anymore. I have to watch my weight and figure!"
Through diligent cultivation, Jiang Lingsu had finally broken through to middle Foundation Establishment.
Even among the siblings of her clan, that pace was considered swift.
"I wonder how Eldest Senior Brother is doing right now?" Jiang Lingsu thought of Qi Yuan, missing him dearly.
Just today, people from her clan had contacted her through Sister Jiang Ya.
The purpose of the message was simple: they wanted her to return home.
After all, in the eyes of the Jiang family, the Divine Light Sect was merely a petty sect, while Jiang Lingsu was a member of the direct lineage.
The instruction she received at the Divine Light Sect could never compare to what the Jiang family could provide.
Thus, the clan urged her to return.
Not only that, they had also thoughtfully selected a humble-born, handsome, exceptionally talented... prospective son-in-law to marry into the family.
Indeed, a matrilocal son-in-law for the Jiang family.
This showed just how much the Jiang family doted on Jiang Lingsu.
The clan had even stated that this handsome youth possessed extraordinary talent, with good hopes of stepping into the Divine Infant realm within a century, and perhaps even a sliver of hope to reach the Purple Mansion!
Jiang Lingsu had refused outright, tossing out a parting remark: "My Eldest Senior Brother is already a Divine Infant! That guy isn't worth a single hair on his leg!"
This had sent her father into a frantic panic.
His daughter was merely sixteen years old, yet her eldest senior brother was a Divine Infant True Monarch?
In a tiny place like the Great Shang Kingdom, which Divine Infant True Monarch wasn't an old geezer nearly a thousand years old?
Judging by his daughter's tone, she seemed quite fond of that eldest senior brother.
How could this fail to infuriate Jiang Zhihua?
He himself was still a handsome fellow in his three hundreds. To think some creepy old coot in his thousands wanted to pluck his precious cabbage—how could he not be furious? He was already rushing toward Great Shang through the night!
After all, could he not know what kind of intentions a thousand-year-old Divine Infant True Monarch had when taking a sixteen-year-old girl as a junior sister?
Jiang Lingsu's mother had also been his junior sister back then.
At the time, he was already a hundred years old and a Golden Core True Monarch,
while his junior sister had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Could he not see through his daughter's eldest senior brother's intentions?
He was definitely going to teach that shameless old bastard a lesson!
At this moment, Jiang Zhihua was hurrying toward Great Shang.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Jiang Lingsu sank her consciousness into the Divine Flower Society's jade slip.
Her expression quickly grew lively.
"A divine art?"
She looked at the overall progress bar showing 1%, feeling little reaction.
A divine art was far too distant for her.
Her attention was entirely drawn to the personal progress bar.
"Eldest Senior Brother lacks cultivation arts. If I redeem some and give them to him, he'll surely be thrilled!"
Moreover, the sensation of offering arts and claiming rewards felt genuinely wonderful.
Yet in the very next breath, she caught sight of a post, and her expression shifted slightly.
[Brothers, I've redeemed another art!]
Chapter 270