Chapter 589: The Qimen Art and Zhang Jie

Zhang Jie stepped down calmly, and then the contestants for the second and third rounds took the stage in succession.

By afternoon, the preliminary round of the Luotian Da Jiao had already ended.

After all, although all participants in the Luotian Da Jiao were young occultists confident in themselves,

their cultivation time was still short, their foundational energy shallow, insufficient to sustain a three-day, three-night evenly matched battle,

most matches were decided within thirty to forty moves, at most a hundred.

The thirty-two contestants who advanced to the second round entered the public eye as contenders for the championship and runner-up.

If those who dared to step onto the stage were confident in their abilities,

then these thirty-two victors were unquestionably the elite among the younger generation of occultists,

the future of the occult world belonged to them!

Among these thirty-two victors, several attracted particular attention;

such as Zhang Lingyu, who strolled as if in his own courtyard, using the Longhu Mountain secret technique, the Golden Light Spell,

and employing the secret method of shaping golden light to effortlessly defeat his opponents;

and Zhu Ge Qing, who, with a mere gesture, set up the Zhuge family’s feng shui Qimen array, causing three opponents to withdraw in despair;

Jia Zhengliang, from the northwest village of Jia, whose twelve Zhanxian Flying Knives dazzled the entire arena and ended his match with lightning speed,

widely regarded as possessing the potential of a sword hero.

But the two who attracted the most attention were those whose reputations vastly diverged from their actual performance—Zhang Jie and Zhang Chulan.

First was Zhang Chulan: this fellow had learned the Longhu Mountain secret Golden Light Spell,

even mastered the Thunder Method, which only the Celestial Master and the High Priest could transmit,

not to mention he was suspected to be the heir of one of the Eight Marvelous Techniques, Qi Ti Yuanliu.

Everyone had held great expectations for him, believing him a top contender for the championship.

But during the preliminary round, he first put on the facade of a mighty warrior,

deceiving three opponents into fighting each other with the lie that “only the strong deserve to battle me,”

then launched a surprise attack while the victor was recuperating, pushing his shamelessness to the extreme,

and afterward, far from feeling ashamed, he wore an air of pride,

earning the contempt of all, unanimously given the nickname “No Shame.”

The other was Zhang Jie, a lay disciple of Longhu Mountain who had trained for years, believing he had achieved modest success,

went to challenge Master Lingyu, only to be defeated in three moves and forced to slink away from Longhu Mountain,

now drifting aimlessly, scraping by at the North China Regional Branch Office, waiting to die.

Before the competition, he was unknown, presumed merely a cannon fodder to fill the ranks—Zhang Jie.

He directly absorbed two opponents’ strongest attacks with the Golden Light Spell, then instantly obliterated both with mysterious means,

and finally struck a Quanzhen disciple who had manifested his Yangshen back into his body, ending the entire battle in under three minutes,

without even taking a single step forward—he was the dark horse even more surprising and dazzling than Jia Zhengliang.

Especially after the match ended, when the crowd regarded Zhang Jie with new eyes, thinking “a man changes in three days, one must look anew,”

an anonymous insider leaked that this new dark horse, this championship hopeful,

was in fact an unashamed online “edge-pushing” male who sold flesh on the internet!

Instantly, news about Zhang Jie exploded, overshadowing even the contempt for Zhang Chulan’s “No Shame.”

Countless spectators pulled out their phones, logged into the website and account generously shared by the anonymous insider,

eager to see what on earth was going on.

Was this the corruption of human nature, or the decay of morality, that led such a promising young man astray?

Some moral guardians decided to publicly scold Zhang Jie on his account,

to guide him back onto the righteous path and restore clarity to the occult world.

But the comments under Zhang Jie’s account were unusually harmonious, serene.

Seeing Zhang Jie’s eight-pack abs after training and his satisfying face,

every young female occultist was captivated—what a male bodhisattva!

Even several male occultists, watching Zhang Jie’s daily training posts, had strange glints in their eyes.

In no time, Zhang Jie’s follower count surged, trending toward becoming the first internet celebrity of the occult world.

Meanwhile, the fanbase of Zhu Ge Qing, the former top handsome young occultist, faced a major test;

not because Zhang Jie’s fans launched attacks on Zhu Ge Qing’s account,

debated fiercely with the female fans, silenced them, and forced them to unfollow Zhu Ge Qing and defect;

but because Zhu Ge Qing’s female fans spontaneously defected en masse, switching allegiance from Zhu Ge to Zhang.

Zhu Ge Qing’s diehard fans who remained also flooded his account with comments, sounding bitterly disappointed.

You, constantly wearing long overcoats or full-length pants,

almost like you’re wrapping yourself in a dumpling with gloves and a hood.

In this internet age, is that any future?

Only by actively embracing internet trends can you avoid being left behind by the times!

As for the male occultists with normal sexual orientation who didn’t speak up,

one reason was that men, being men, were naturally quieter, disliking to speak out.

The flood of “fighting” rhetoric online proved this.

Do people truly believe those kung fu masters driven mad by fighting are right?

It’s merely that the silent majority makes the vocal minority seem louder.

Another reason was that, through Zhang Jie’s following list,

they could find dozens of female occultist accounts that remained stunning even after disabling beauty filters and face slimming.

This kid had excellent taste—the video quality on his following list was superb,

like winter snowfall blanketing the earth in silver, pure white everywhere;

like the rolling, rugged Hengduan Mountains, full of deep gullies and ravines;

after browsing, they felt dizzy, overwhelmed, utterly unable to take it all in!

For such a treasure… wait, no—a wicked account,

one must follow it fiercely, to criticize it thoroughly in the dead of night!

Thus, most young male occultists with raging blood also joined Zhang Jie’s fan club.

…

“Hello, contestant Zhang Jie, what are your thoughts on the widespread criticism that you’re pushing the boundaries online?”

A reporter from Yaoxing Society, which controlled the occult world’s newspapers and online information, keenly tracked down Zhang Jie for an interview.

He wanted to break a major story!

Zhang Jie didn’t answer directly; instead, he pulled out his phone, opened his account, scrolled through the comments,

then displayed them before the reporter desperate for a scoop.

———Good people live long and peaceful lives.

———+1.

———+2.

———+3.

…

———+999+

———Some past posts were accidentally deleted,

is there any kind soul willing to share? Please, save the child!

———I have them!

———Thank you, kind soul, I’m fine now.

———I have a collection of Master Zhang’s past posts, HD quality!

If you want it, just add my V197*** (note: link expired due to excessive time).

———Link expired, could that kind soul please repost? Please!

———Brothers, the girl in the third row is absolutely stunning,

she’s streaming tonight—don’t miss it!

———Good people live long and peaceful lives.

“Where’s the criticism? Aren’t these all positive reviews?”

Compared to the fan wars under Zhu Ge Qing and Zhang Lingyu’s accounts—

you say Zhu Ge is gentle as jade, a refined young man, I say Zhang Lingyu is a cold, divine god, a celestial being;

you call him a dark-eyed, scheming man, not a good fellow; I call him an icy mountain waiting to be sunk!

Or the fan accounts of combat-focused occultists wildly shouting stats and possibilities:

“The Celestial Master is invincible!” “The Celestial Master is a rotting corpse,

only the two supreme ones hold the future!” “I, Zhu Ge Qing/Zhang Lingyu, will be the pillar of the occult world!”

the furious bickering—Zhang Jie’s comment section remained serene.