Chapter 44: Eastern Cliff

He turned the camera toward himself and continued: "Let me show you the magnificent sea—it's high tide now."

As he spoke, the drone took flight, circling the Eastern Cliff's sheer face, capturing breathtaking scenes in the lens.

Likes and red hearts poured in endlessly.

After the scenery passed, Qin Yun stood: "Alright, let's keep going."

No sooner had he spoken than a Carnival flashed across the livestream—startling him instantly, for one Carnival cost three thousand yuan, and even after Douyin's cut, he'd still get fifteen hundred.

Qin Yun checked the donor's name and immediately thanked: "Thank you, Mu Ge, for the Carnival. This is my first livestream—I'm stunned by such a generous gift. Thank you."

He showed no exaggerated emotion; his expression was almost calm. After thanking him, he stepped onto the ridge, gripping the rock blades on either side with both hands, maintaining upright balance.

Thanks to that one Carnival, viewers surged to three thousand; likes hit twenty thousand, and simple red hearts reached nearly fifty thousand—people on Douyin simply didn't feel the cost of spending.

As his livestream's popularity rose, the traffic pool naturally ascended to a higher tier.

DJI staff were ecstatic—they'd hit the jackpot. They'd expected maybe a hundred viewers; now they had over three thousand, with incredibly high retention.

He immediately reported the livestream stats upward, and soon received a reply.

"Boost the flow. Increase the boost!"

Qin Yun refocused, concentrating as he gripped the rock blades and climbed higher. But when he reached the ridge's end, his foot slipped—he instantly tilted left, his left fingertips digging desperately into the rock blade. This perilous moment hit the livestream, triggering countless screams from viewers.

Qin Yun adjusted his center of gravity, found a new foothold with his right foot, his voice still steady: "That was dangerous—I nearly died. No mistakes allowed on the ridge. One misstep means falling into the sea."

Using a gap in the wind, he quickly drove the final rock plug into a tiny fissure on the ridge's inner side—the last protection point before the summit.

"This is the final anchor. Now comes the final push to the summit. Look how sharp these rock blades are—I just got a slight cut on my palm, but it doesn't hinder me."

On her phone screen, Xia Qingqing watched the man—his calm voice, the HD footage even showing sweat dripping down his neck.

Xia Qingqing had merely been scrolling Douyin as usual today, but unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure. She looked closer—it was Qin Yun, the man she'd met twice in Beijing and Hebei.

After watching just a few moments of the livestream, she was breathless, stunned.

On screen, the man moved effortlessly across a near-vertical cliff—every motion, in her eyes, was a breath-stopping feat.

Yet Qin Yun, within moments, kept climbing upward while speaking, interacting with viewers—moving as naturally as if strolling through his own backyard. It was utterly terrifying: this wasn't just a cliff—it was a sea-walled precipice.

Shen Hu, far away in Beijing, was recommended the livestream via his contacts. He sat with his mouth open, still unable to close it.

He simply couldn't reconcile the man on screen with the Qin Yun he knew.

"I must be dreaming. That kid Qin Yun—he's fit, sure, but not this fit? This is insane."

One acquaintance, then another, stumbled upon the livestream—and his viewer count kept rising. New viewers, once explained by others, quickly understood the streamer's goal.

Some Douyin MCN agencies immediately ordered their managers: "Sign Qin Yun. Get him under contract."

Such a powerful streamer would bring massive profits. If they signed him, each livestream plus ads could equal ten others.

Compared to those who only flirted and showed skin, this kind of premium streamer was the real deal—sustainable, lasting.

Su Huan knew Qin Yun was strong—he'd climbed Fanzi Cliff barehanded, unprotected, even more dangerous. One mistake meant death.

But now it was livestreamed—live, immersive, the unknown outcome made it even more thrilling.

Su Huan abandoned work, booked a meeting room, locked the door, and fixed his gaze on the screen.

To boost the livestream's popularity, he spent a fortune, frantically tapping red hearts—one diamond per tap—he could tap until tomorrow morning and still not finish.

Qin Yun suddenly exerted force with his left hand—the camera zoomed in on his left arm, the bulging muscle lines radiating undeniable power.

He ordered the drone to ascend, positioning it over a rock anchor—the slick surface demanded even greater strength.

"See that Meteor Sea Platform? That's our goal. I'm about ten meters away now. The closer you get, the less you can slack off—so many climbers fail just before success."

The drone pulled back instantly—his figure shrank to a tiny dot; the entire Eastern Cliff lay bare.

His voice still echoed through the microphone.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, an outdoor enthusiast. This is my first livestream—thank you all for tuning in, and thanks to everyone for your gifts. The final ten meters—I'll complete them in one go. Ten-second countdown."

No sooner had he spoken than viewers on the drone's screen typed: 10…9…8…

Qin Yun zoomed the camera in, watching the numbers. When it hit 0, he gripped the cliff with his left hand, pushed off hard with his right foot—and his body shot sideways. As he began to fall, his right hand snapped out and seized a rock ledge.

Instantly, his right arm exploded with power—his entire body rose with just one arm's strength. Imagine a one-arm pull-up.

Qin Yun pulled himself up with one hand, his left hand grabbed the platform's edge, then his right followed—he climbed upward.

"Final five meters—Yunhai Platform is right above. The ledge rocks are loose—step lightly when summiting."

As he spoke, he flipped onto the ledge—suddenly, the sound of loosening rock echoed through the microphone. Everyone stared, hearts nearly stopping.

Qin Yun instantly shifted his center inward, avoiding the loose rocks: "As I expected—no need to explain. Lucky I reacted fast."

As his words ended, he flipped upright onto Yunhai Platform, turned toward the drone's lens, spread his hands—coated in chalk—sea wind lifting his clothes, below him roared the furious sea and endless cliffs.

"Hahahaha! Everyone, we've summited the Eastern Cliff's Dragon-Slaying Cut!" He laughed into the mic, voice brimming with triumph. "Seventy meters. Traditional climbing. All protection points placed manually. Drone recorded the entire journey. From Shuiren Slope to Sword Spine Abyss—every step was a gamble. This is the charm of climbing."

Watching Qin Yun's triumphant smile, everyone in the livestream sighed in relief—then—

"666… Streamer is awesome, followed."

"Master, bowing to the master. Sure, seventy meters doesn't sound like much—but this is the sea, bro, legendary!"

"Followed. This streamer's lane is unmatched—no one can replicate this."

"Such beautiful scenery. I'm going there."

Seeing Qin Yun's successful summit, both Su Huan in the meeting room and Hu Fen in the bathroom exhaled deeply. Hu Fen especially felt drenched in sweat—tension sweat.

"That brat… too dangerous…"

Qin Yun glanced at the drone's display. After the skill infusion completed, he continued: "I checked the viewer count, likes, and gifts—I think my first livestream was a success?"

"Success? Absolutely success."

"If this isn't success, what is?"

"Streamer is so humble."

"Hahahaha." Qin Yun laughed at the comments. "That's it for this livestream. I'll edit the full video and upload it to my Douyin account—hope you all support it. Again, thank you DJI for sponsoring this entire livestream. That's all for today. Looking forward to meeting you again. Goodbye."

While Qin Yun was saying this, the comments in the livestream chat were flooding in densely.

"Big shot, don't mess around, I haven't seen enough yet, you just got up there, you can't go down."

"Don't end it, just keep streaming like this, better take your clothes off, covered in stinky sweat, isn't it sticky?"

"Holy shit, I just got here and you're about to end the stream."

"When's the next livestream, I'll follow first."

Qin Yun didn't reply to any of these. He tapped the drone, and his figure immediately disappeared from the camera; the drone's view switched to a vast, boundless sea surface.

He turned off the microphone, paid no more attention to the camera, checked the safety rope, and began his descent.

……

Leaving the area of East Cliff, Qin Yun carried his things back to the car one by one, then opened WeChat and found that the commercial order group chat had already been flooded with countless messages.

The contact person's messages were brimming with excitement between every line.

Qin Yun read through them one by one, then called his mother first.

"Son, done streaming?"

"Mom, didn't you watch?" Qin Yun was stunned; he had assumed his mother would watch his livestream.

"I didn't dare to watch, I'd get dizzy."

Qin Yun was speechless: "Alright, just finished streaming, I'm in the car now."

"How many people watched your stream, did it reach a hundred?"

"Mom, you really underestimate your son." Qin Yun laughed, "The peak concurrent viewers hit five thousand, I earned five hundred thousand diamonds, after the platform cut I get about twenty-five thousand."

"That much?" Although Hu Fen had watched the whole thing and seen many people sending little hearts, she really hadn't realized that in just one hour, the earnings could be that high.

But thinking about it carefully, her son was risking his life for this, so that amount of money suddenly didn't seem like much.

She had repeatedly wanted to say maybe he shouldn't do this anymore, but held herself back each time.

Everyone wants to live a different life; why should she interfere with her son's life? It was the same when he chose to marry before, and now the same with his career change.

"Mom, I'm coming home tomorrow, I'll chat with you later."

"Mm, be careful out there."

After hanging up, Qin Yun started a video conference right there in the car, pulling in the DJI contact person and Su Huan.