98: Chapter 98: Live Stream Warm-up

Night fell, but the lights on Hengchuan Peak remained bright.

Yet, this light was not from Spiritual Qi, nor was it moonlight; it came from countless oil lamps and torches, illuminating a bustling... construction site.

On the Martial Arts Arena, a round of high-intensity Formation combat drills had just concluded.

The Disciples lay sprawled in the mud, gasping for air, their bodies covered in a mixture of sweat and mud.

They still gripped the charcoal pencils used to record battle damage tightly, fearing that the scores they had just calculated would be blown away by the wind.

"Alright, stop!"

Senior Sister Xie Handeng shouted coldly, "Everyone stand up! We are starting the 'post-battle review' now! You only have five minutes! Anyone who doesn't finish won't get chicken legs tonight!"

"Wail—"

Amidst a chorus of miserable shrieks, the Disciples struggled to crawl up from the mud pit as if they were rising from the dead.

On a giant rock at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, Su Ciyao sat cross-legged, holding a Formation Plate that emitted a pink fluorescent glow.

A smile of someone watching a good show hung on her lips, and her other hand gently brushed across the surface of the Formation Plate.

"Start the broadcast."

She said softly.

Hum—

An invisible large Formation light orb quietly expanded over Hengchuan Peak.

The image was not the majestic and domineering God's-eye view, but...

It was very strange, even some "tricky" close-up shots.

The camera first gave a close-up of a Disciple's face covered in mud spots; his expression was one of life-weariness, muttering to himself: "Is this even cultivating immortality? This is even more tiring than farming back in my hometown in the mortal realm..."

Then the camera pulled back sharply, aiming at Senior Sister Xie Handeng, who was roaring nearby: "Move faster! What are you dilly-dallying for? How did you lose that arrow? Points deducted!"

[Channel: Daily Life of Working at Bankruptcy Peak]

[Status: Pre-heating/Test Broadcast in Progress...]

...~

Meanwhile, in the living quarters of the various peaks of the Qingheng Sect.

Many people, during their free time, boredly opened the Sect's public communication channel, wanting to see what this so-called "official livestream" actually was.

After all, tomorrow was the final assembly before The Grand Exam.

"Eh? Which channel is this?"

An Inner Sect Disciple of Tianjian Peak, chewing on a Spiritual Plant in boredom, suddenly saw a strange link pop up on his Jade Slip.

"Daily Life of Working at Bankruptcy Peak? This name..."

He couldn't help but click it.

As soon as the image appeared, he almost spat out the Spiritual Plant in his mouth.

On the screen, there were no Immortals in white robes riding swords, nor were there any heart-stopping Yao Beast battles.

It was just a group of... mud monkeys.

Filling out forms.

"This... is this Hengchuan Peak?"

The Disciple widened his eyes, "What are they doing?"

"Who is that female Cultivator holding a whip and yelling at people? So fierce."

"Hey hey hey, look behind! Who is that Revered Master sleeping on the recliner? That's the War God Peak Master Luo Qingyi, right? Is she at Hengchuan Peak?"

The barrage comments began to scroll sparsely.

[Barrage (Tianjian Peak Inner Sect Disciple): Damn, Peak Revered Master Luo is actually retiring on a trash peak?]

[Barrage (Artifact Refining Peak Apprentice): This art style is wrong, right? What kind of Sect makes people fill out forms and clock in?]

[Barrage (Outer Sect Servant): That fat Disciple is crying so miserably, hahaha, they are really calculating points.]

Soon, Hengchuan Peak's "internal social death" spread throughout the Sect.

Originally, everyone thought Hengchuan Peak was just poor and weak.

Now, everyone realized that Hengchuan Peak was not only poor and weak, but also... crazy to the core.

They had perfectly replicated that "corporate slave" life from the mortal realm into the Immortal Sect.

Shen Xingzhou stood in the distance, looking at the Formation Plate in Su Ciyao's hand, and then looked at the System panel in the Void Realm.

That was the newly unlocked [Public Opinion Monitoring].

[Public Opinion Monitoring · Internal Channel]

[Current Viewer Count: 120 (Mainly Disciples from various peaks of the Qingheng Sect)]

[Real-time Keyword Analysis:]

"Miserable" (Mention rate 40%)

"Serious" (Mention rate 25%)

"Corporate Slave" (Mention rate 20%)

"Want to laugh but dare not" (Mention rate 15%)

[Current Evaluation Trend:]

Mockery: 60% (Mainly watching for fun)

Curiosity: 30% (Feeling novel about this new mode)

Sympathy: 10% (Mainly bottom-tier Outer Sect Disciples)

...~

Just as the livestream reached its climax—that is, the "anonymous venting time".

The camera aimed at a crude wooden Formation.

Disciples lined up, cursing wildly at the Formation's aperture:

"This is just a stupid Grand Exam! Who invented this stupid rule!"

"I want to eat meat! I don't want to eat vegetable buns!"

"That Elder Zhao is an old stubborn! Bah!"

"Hahahaha..."

The atmosphere in the livestream room suddenly changed.

The original mockery turned into an inexplicable sense of relaxation.

It turned out that high-and-mighty Cultivators, when cursing, were also so down-to-earth.

At this moment, Su Ciyao moved.

She edited a clip from the livestream, added a few colorful special effect texts, and then quietly sent it to several Loose Cultivators from merchant caravans she frequently interacted with via the Sect's public network.

As the "social butterfly" of the cultivation world, she knew where the traffic code lay.

The next moment.

The data on the System panel began to jump violently.

[System Warning: External Data Access]

[Source: Nine Provinces Loose Cultivator Network Node]

A Loose Cultivator doing business near the Qingheng Sect received the forwarded link from a Qingheng Sect Disciple.

"《When you think cultivating immortality is lying flat, it's actually 996》?"

This Loose Cultivator was squatting on the side of the road gnawing on dry rations, and curiously clicked it.

Then, he laughed until he sprayed.

After laughing, he felt a bit sour in his heart.

"Isn't this us?"

He muttered to himself, "Whether it's the mortal realm or the cultivation world, aren't the people at the bottom suffering?"

"But this bunch of Hengchuan Peak Cultivators... actually dare to talk about 'suffering' so righteously, and even created a bit of 'finding joy in suffering'."

He casually forwarded the link to his "Nine Provinces Corporate Slaves Exchange Group".

"Look quick! There's a proper Sect livestreaming 'suffering at work', it's too real."

Boom.

Traffic poured in like an avalanche.

[Channel Tags Automatically Updated]

[New Tags:]

#CultivationAsWork#

#PerformanceHell#

#StrangeSenseOfHappiness#

[System Evaluation:]

Estimated growth potential: Medium → High (Because it touched the resonance of the bottom layer of the cultivation world).

Estimated risk: Internal high-level dissatisfaction (Medium); External spread speed (Unpredictable).

The barrage in the livestream room exploded instantly.

The original uniform "Qingheng Sect" IDs were instantly drowned out by various strange names.

[Barrage (Nine Provinces · X City Loose Cultivator): Damn, what kind of Immortal place is this? They actually dare to do 'cursing the boss KPI'?]

[Barrage (Guest House Corporate Slave): Tears, the form in that guy's hand is exactly the same as what I used to do.]

[Barrage (Certain Sect Outer Disciple): Stay strong brothers, our Sect doesn't pay, but they don't give food either.]

[Barrage (Passerby A): Followed, followed, this streamer has some stuff, this is the real cultivation world.]

[System Public Opinion: External Loose Cultivators]

[External Viewer Count: Broke 1000 (Still skyrocketing)]

[External Favorability: +30 ("These people are quite honest")]

[Subscription Count: 520... 550... 600...]

Shen Xingzhou looked at the skyrocketing numbers, feeling his eye twitch.

He originally thought he would need to rely on "showing off" or "killing enemies" to gain recognition.

Never expected.

What finally made them famous was... "comparing misery" and "corporate slave resonance".

"Wonderful."

Su Ciyao looked at the backend data, smiling until her eyes curved into crescent moons.

"Peak Revered Master, look, everyone says we are the 'most conscientious' Sect."

"Because we really treat Disciples as people... as 'people' who get tired, get hungry, and curse."

In the shot, Peak Master Luo Qingyi turned over, seemingly disturbed by the noisy livestream.

She pulled the bamboo hat covering her face a little lower and muttered: "So noisy... this bunch of monkeys."

This scene was captured by Su Ciyao just right, and then she added a line of fancy text:

[This is the legendary protective boss lady (Misunderstanding)]

The barrage instantly flooded the screen: "The boss lady is so beautiful!" "I'm a fan of this peak!"

The night grew deep.

The pre-heating livestream ended.

Shen Xingzhou sat in the Immortal Cave, feeling conflicted.

He originally just wanted to survive and protect Hengchuan Peak.

As a result, accidentally, he seemed to have turned this peak into the "internet celebrity check-in spot" of the cultivation world.

At this moment, a long-awaited prompt popped up on the bottom bar of the System interface.

But following this prompt was a meaningful sentence.

[Side Quest Progress]

[Title: First Wave of Traffic]

[Subscription Count: 640 / 500 (Achieved!)]

[Reward Distributed:]

Public Opinion Monitoring accuracy +10% (Now you can see the deeper mindset of the audience).

Unlocked "Barrage Interaction" function (Can directly fish for Karma through the livestream).

[New Prompt:]

"Congratulations."

"Your every move is being seen by more people."

"Among them, there are those watching for fun, those who sympathize, and also..."

"Hunters sharpening their knives."

Shen Xingzhou looked at the line "sharpening their knives", and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

Becoming famous meant exposure.

Exposure meant danger.

These 640 subscriptions were not just 640 followers.

They were 640 pairs of eyes, staring at this fragile pilot project of theirs.

"Hunters, huh..."

Shen Xingzhou clenched his fists.

"Come on."

"Just right, I also lack prey to practice on."