Chapter 5: Featured Post

Momu is a veteran.

He once served as a knight’s squire. After retiring due to injuries, he didn’t choose a leisurely job in the city. Instead, he returned to the perilous village to teach children how to read, write, and cultivate Battle Qi.

Life in the village was harsh.

It was a lonely settlement at the edge of the Elk Forest, surviving by clearing land, farming, hunting, and gathering.

Although the forest was full of deer, there were even more wolves, tigers, and leopards.

Hungry beasts often burst out from the forest’s edge to attack farmers tending the fields.

In the village, it could be said that every household had been attacked by wild beasts, and over half of the families had lost relatives to them.

Momu himself had witnessed over a hundred attacks—there were not fewer than two or three cases each year!

Just last month, a spotted black wolf attacked the village again.

Poor Old Tom only managed to retrieve a single shoe, while his son was bitten by the wolf. It looks like he won’t be able to work for ten days to half a month.

Momu had just rushed out of the village and could only watch as Old Tom was dragged into the forest, powerless to help.

He was filled with hatred, hating his own helplessness, hating his poor talent!

He hated even more that he had wasted his youth on play, wine, and that he hadn’t earned enough money to buy a better Battle Qi technique.

Now, he’s left to cultivate the most basic technique, and the children he teaches can only squander their talents on it. It’s truly heartbreaking.

If only he had a better technique, the children in the village could become stronger.

Whether they stayed or left, life would be better for them.

Sometimes, he often pondered whether the legendary evil gods, who supposedly love to tempt humans by exchanging souls for power, might come to him.

Why wouldn’t they tempt him?

If they did come, he would absolutely trade his soul for the power to kill all the surrounding beasts and protect the village.

But alas, no evil god came to tempt him.

Thinking about it, even gods might favor the rich and despise his aging soul.

However, all of this changed three days ago.

At that time, a hunter in the village pulled a Mithril Ring out of a beast’s stomach and brought it to him, asking what it was.

When he focused his attention on it and activated the Mithril Ring, a massive shock overwhelmed his heart and soul!

He vividly remembers how his face was flooded with tears, and how he shouted in excitement!

Many villagers even thought he’d been possessed and were ready to douse him with golden water to wake him.

He hadn’t awaited an evil god but instead welcomed a benevolent deity—the Internet God.

Through the miraculous Internet Divine Magic, all cultivation knowledge was now available for people to study. Although the deeper knowledge needed special methods to unlock,

even the free portions were enough to greatly benefit him and his village.

These past two days, he’s been busy testing the children in the village with the basic magic mentioned.

They were truly lucky, as one of the thin children in the village turned out to have magic talent.

After studying for just one day, she managed to use soul power to etch the Fireball Rune, summoning a small fireball on the spot.

When that weak little fireball appeared out of thin air, the entire village was in uproar!

Momu was moved to tears once again.

He knew that the village’s future was now full of hope!

Today, he slaughtered a pig and a sheep, took out the best the village had to offer, and according to experiences from his youth, made an offering to the Internet God, swearing his loyalty.

He reported to the God that he would gather all the village’s wealth to custom-make a batch of Mithril Rings engraved with Internet Divine Magic, allowing literate villagers to wear them, spreading the God’s glory and enabling everyone to cultivate.

After the ceremony, Momu instructed others to guard the offerings, preventing any greedy children from stealing them, and he left to organize more knowledge from the Internet Library.

He planned to transcribe and back up everything.

Although, for now, he could only transcribe the free knowledge, even that had immeasurable value for their village!

The entry-level techniques from the various cultivation systems aside, just the free-to-public herbal remedies, formulas, metals, wild vegetables… and so on, contain enough miscellaneous knowledge to elevate the village’s living standards significantly.

Returning home, Momu spread out the precious white paper, grabbed his ink-filled glass pen, and activated the Internet Divine Magic.

“Clank!”

The glass pen suddenly slipped from Momu’s fingers, scattering ink drops on the white paper.

But Momu paid no heed to the precious glass pen.

He stared wide-eyed at the Phantom Scroll as his vision grew blurry.

He saw in the upper-left corner of the Phantom Scroll, next to his soul mark, an unexpected 1,000 points appear.

Momu knew that the Internet God had noticed him.

He didn’t have time to wipe his tears and dropped to the ground in awe, loudly praying in gratitude.

Yu Sheng’an saw this and ended the God’s perspective, feeling a complex and unspoken emotion.

Is this the feeling of self-realization?

The feeling… it’s really not bad!

Loxia also looked at Yu Sheng’an in amazement. She finally understood why Internet Divine Magic could spread explosively in such a short time.

It was because it resonated with people’s deep desires, because it stood by the side of the largest group—the poor!

Yu Sheng’an took a small breath and looked at Loxia, saying, “Did you see that? Most users of Internet Divine Magic are farmers who have never left their mountain settlements in their entire lives. What I’m about to tell you is connected to this.”

“Master, your wish is my command!” Loxia nodded.

“I want you to take some time each day to monitor the Forum. Whenever someone asks about cultivation knowledge, answer them if you know the answer.”

Yu Sheng’an added, “Of course, other topics besides cultivation knowledge are fine too. Answer anything you know and want to respond to. Also, anything you want to know, feel free to ask in a post on the Forum. But remember, anything related to the Shrine must not be disclosed to the outside world. Understand that?”

“Yes! Loxia understands.”

“Go on then!”

Loxia bowed and humbly prepared to leave.

However, just as she turned around, she mustered up the courage to ask, “Master, may I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“May I ask… who is Sadako?”

“Hmm? A very famous grudge spirit,” Yu Sheng’an responded, stunned. He thought for a moment and added, “But she’s very beautiful.”

Loxia was taken aback… Was Master complimenting her?

Why did her heart feel like it was holding a little deer that wouldn’t stop trying to leap out?

“Thank you, Master!” Loxia replied, her steps a bit flustered as she floated out.

It wasn’t until she was far from the Alchemy Chamber that she finally took a deep breath, lightly biting her lip as she thought. Why did Master need to add that explanation?

Was he praising that Sadako?

Or was he implying something else?

Loxia couldn’t figure it out, but she suddenly found the scenery in the Shrine Castle to be far more vibrant and lively. Even the magic golems engraved on the walls no longer seemed menacing but rather adorably clumsy!

Returning to her quarters, she eagerly activated Internet Divine Magic and enthusiastically began posting as ordered.

In truth, she had already been dying to respond to posts before this.

Especially the one about “airplanes”; she knew every character but couldn’t understand them as a whole!

Before, she had only dared to silently observe, fearing the Master’s displeasure.

Now, however, she could post as commanded, and she felt incredibly joyful!

She sometimes answered others’ questions;

Sometimes she watched others’ stories unfold;

Sometimes she posted her doubts;

And sometimes… she even got into a fight.

Someone had dared to question her explanation of a certain magic! Other things aside, when it came to magic, Loxia was taught by her old master Tang En. She was absolutely confident in that area.

This argument went on for more than half the day.

The post accumulated over a thousand comments, attracting many spectators.

It wasn’t until someone proved Loxia was right and helped her denounce the opposition, who might have tested it themselves, that the fight died down.

With this heated dispute, Loxia felt a sense of exhilaration.

From the initial questioning, to anger, to logical rebuttals, to the support of fellow users, and finally, the other side conceding.

The feeling was absolutely amazing!

To the point where Loxia rewatched the argument two or three times, reflecting on it and secretly wishing for a repeat!

She promised herself that if it happened again, she would definitely argue with the pride befitting a contract servant—no, the Internet God’s maidservant!

After a while, Loxia finally left the post, still unsatisfied.

As soon as she exited the post, her eyes widened, resembling those of a cat!

She saw that at the top of the Forum, a special post had appeared, though she wasn’t sure when.

In front of the first post were two bold tags labeled ‘Pinned’ and ‘Featured’.

The post title read:

Forum Rules and Navigation—Featured Posts Rewarded with 10 Points!

And the second post was the very one where she had argued with someone. At the very beginning of its title was a new tag—’Featured’.

“Esteemed readers, please stop by the comment section and leave your thoughts! Let’s get the conversation going!”