Chapter 255: Lin Bai is an Intruder

Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin made up and were as good as before.

Only then did Jiang Qingqin bring up the purpose of her visit: the Heavenly Descended of the Lin Bai Support Group were strongly demanding that Lin Bai hold a fan meeting, and she had come to invite him.

"I won't see them," Lin Bai said decisively.

Jiang Qingqin was stunned: "Why? You don't know how obsessed they are with you. The first thing they did after descending into this world wasn't to look for suitable cultivation techniques, but to demand that the Alliance customize a uniform outfit for them. They have even prepared many portraits of you."

As she spoke.

She took a stack of sketches from her bosom, which contained many drawings of Lin Bai—some normal, some chibi-style, some in women's clothing, some as a child...

Xu Longyun looked at those portraits, then looked at Lin Bai, the corners of her mouth curling upward involuntarily: "Senior Sister, the people in your support group are truly interesting. You should have them draw another set of these; I would like to keep a set as well."

"Master, they came into this world for you. They are keen on discussing every single thing about you. Every person who sees me asks me to help them meet you," Jiang Qingqin said. "They are too enthusiastic. The Heavenly Descended are all Baimaicutong; such a group of people who like you has a much higher level of Loyalty than the Beggar Sect and the Alliance Army. If you mobilize their enthusiasm, it won't be long before they become a powerful fighting force, serving you completely."

"Then I must see them even less," Lin Bai said.

"Why?" Jiang Qingqin asked, puzzled.

"Distance creates beauty. The reason they are so obsessed with me is because they have heard stories about me; even if I have any flaws, they wouldn't know," Lin Bai explained.

"You don't have any flaws," Jiang Qingqin said. "I believe that once they meet you, they will be even more crazily obsessed with you. If you encourage them a few words, they will definitely work hard at their cultivation. One word from you is more effective than ten from me."

"That's because you don't understand what an idol and a fan are," Lin Bai said.

"Fan?" Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin asked in confusion.

"You can understand it as me being a star in the sky, and them being a group of star-chasers," Lin Bai smiled and explained. "The reason a star in the sky makes people yearn for it is precisely because it is untouchable. But if a star falls into the Mortal World, you might discover that it is just an ugly rock, no longer shining. Would you still like it then? Just like the cultivators who were once high and mighty—people once held them in such awe, but the Justice Alliance dragged them into the Mortal World. Now that the common people know they also fight for power and profit, and eat, drink, and defecate, do they still revere them like before?"

"I understand," Xu Longyun said, as if she had realized something.

"I understand too," Jiang Qingqin nodded. "I will go and turn them down now."

"No need to turn them all down." Lin Bai thought for a moment, took a few sketches from Xu Longyun's hand, picked up a pen from the table, and wrote on the sketches:

"May you be warm in the three winters, may you not be cold in spring, may you have a lamp when it's dark and an umbrella when it rains, may you have a good person to accompany you on your journey; Lin Bai"

"May you be loved all your life, open and at ease, without illness or worry; may you be like the wind, like the rain, like the sunshine; may you never lose your innocence or your Faith; may all your wishes come true; Lin Bai"

"You must do something different so that you will be different from others; Lin Bai"

In a short while.

Lin Bai had written his blessings on all the sketches and signed his name.

Jiang Qingqin looked at those sentences that were like love letters, and in a daze, she felt as if she had returned to that moonlit forest. She stole a glance at Lin Bai and sighed inwardly; it had been a long time since he had said such affectionate words to her.

Xu Longyun, meanwhile, recalled the "Magpie Bridge" poem, "If the two hearts are joined forever, why do they need to be together day and night?", and felt an inexplicable pang of jealousy toward those fans.

However.

Remembering the admonitions of the Nine Ancestors of the Justice Sect, she pulled her thoughts back. If she did her own work well, one day, Lin Bai would feel her affection.

Both of them made up their minds simultaneously that they must intercept one of these signed sketches later.

Lin Bai looked at his signed blessings with satisfaction and said: "Qingqin, choose a leader from the support group, and select some deputy leaders and directors. Let them manage themselves, and these signed blessings can be distributed to them as rewards. Tell them that the cooking competition is approaching, and I am going into seclusion to practice my culinary skills, so I will not be meeting them for the time being."

"Mm." Jiang Qingqin nodded.

"Tell them to cultivate hard," Lin Bai thought for a moment and continued. "The Justice Alliance will experience many battles in the future. If they want to keep up with my pace, they must possess sufficient cultivation. I look forward to the day when I can fight side by side with them."

"Mm." Jiang Qingqin nodded again.

"When there are major events in the Alliance, the leaders and directors of the support group can follow by my side and help with some things," Lin Bai looked at Jiang Qingqin and said. "The members can participate too, but the quotas must be designated by you; this can establish your leadership position in the support group."

Jiang Qingqin's eyes gradually brightened; she seemed to understand the trick to being a leader.

To tell the truth, when she had just established the support group, facing the chaotic crowd, she had been overwhelmed and had no idea how to deal with them.

Many Heavenly Descended even said to her face that she was not worthy of Lin Bai, that she was just a lucky vixen, and demanded that she stay far away from Lin Bai...

She had been so furious at the Heavenly Descended that she was filled with suppressed anger, which was why she had been ignited with rage when she heard Xu Longyun wanted to disband her support group.

With Lin Bai's guidance, she finally understood that the crux of the matter still lay with her.

In the final analysis, she had not yet transformed from the identity of a Disciple of the Hundred Flowers Valley who followed orders everywhere.

"Xiaoyun." After giving Jiang Qingqin some pointers, Lin Bai's own train of thought opened up. He turned to Xu Longyun, pointed at the chibi version of himself, and said, "Notify those people at the Heavenly Dao Review and have them take the time to make a set of comics using my image, turn them into a series of books, and publish them..."

"What is a comic?" Xu Longyun asked.

"It's images like this combined with a story. Tell them, and they will understand," Lin Bai said. "Also, notify the people at the Spirit Tool Pavilion and the Lianbao Pavilion, and have them craft some detachable and assemblable toys based on these chibi images and send them to the Artifact Refining Workshop to be sold. If these toys have a protective effect after being assembled, that would be even better..."

"We can also have the Cultivators of the Hundred Flowers Valley make some dolls; there must be many girls in the Mortal World who would like them," Xu Longyun's eyes lit up as she said.

"Right, let's do exactly that." Lin Bai snapped his fingers and looked at Xu Longyun with appreciation.

The number of fans required by the Super Idol System was getting higher and higher; relying solely on players was no longer possible.

Then the natives of this world were the best targets for development. Comics, autobiographies, toys, dolls—a one-stop rollout to make his image deeply rooted among the people. He didn't have to worry about no one liking him; wasn't popularity what a star needed?

Ordinary natives might not have enough cultivation, but if they gathered enough numbers, once he received the rewards, he could also strengthen the player fan team.

Jiang Qingqin looked at Xu Longyun with envy and secretly encouraged herself. What she lacked was this flexibility to draw inferences about other cases. She had to change her thinking in the future and could no longer rely solely on her beauty to seduce people like before.

Among the Hundred Flowers Valley, the Illusion Valley, and the Heavenly Descended of the Lin Bai Support Group, there was not one who was ugly. If she couldn't stand out among this group, she probably wouldn't even need Xu Longyun; she would be too ashamed to quit this battle for love herself.

"You few, including the series of books for Deng Li Buduo, doll images, you can also have them help with the design," Lin Bai looked around at the two and said. "This is also a means of publicity. The Justice Sect cannot have only me becoming famous; as my Disciples, your reputations must also resound throughout the universe."

The Haoweirenshi System System System required Disciples to make a name for themselves in trials. In Lin Bai's view, helping them hype up their reputations first was also acceptable.

In the future, he could casually arrange a few trials, and with a bit of publicity through comics, their reputations would rise accordingly.

Reputation, after all!

Who said it had to be based on solid personal strength?

Zhenguo Duke Mansion.

The staff were reporting the situation in various regions to the Zhenguo Duke. Thanks to the phone function that the players brought with them, the transmission of information in various places was now quite fast.

"... The Heavenly Descended who descended into each Basic City did not stop for even a moment before they were snatched away by the people stationed there by various sects. They didn't even give the Heavenly Descended any room to choose. They acted this way, yet no divine punishment descended; the gods of the other world must have tacitly approved of their behavior."

The aide said, "The City Lords of every Basic City are completely unable to stop them, nor can they keep the Heavenly Descended from serving the Taiyi Kingdom. The Righteous Seven Sects now want to cultivate the Heavenly Descended to oppose Lin Bai, but there is no guarantee that one day, these Heavenly Descended cultivated by the Righteous Seven Sects won't become another blade held against the nation; the cultivation speed of the Heavenly Descended is too fast."

The Duke of the State sat upright in his chair, sipping his tea in a leisurely manner, yet his face was as dark as water: "These cultivators are becoming increasingly indifferent to the existence of the nation. Does Lin Bai truly possess the cultivation of the Great Vehicle Realm?"

"My subordinate once sent people to investigate; three thousand li northwest of Zhen City, a hundred-li radius of forest was destroyed by Lin Bai. His strength is indeed equivalent to the Great Vehicle Realm, but Lin Bai's public claim is Fazhe Zhidao," the aide said. "Combined with Lin Bai's history, this strike also conforms to the theory of Fazhe Zhidao; no one can grow that fast, not even the Heavenly Descended."

"What about the County Princess?" the Duke of the State asked.

"The day Lin Bai revealed his Great Vehicle Stage cultivation, Yunyang County Princess met with him in Zhen City," the aide looked at the Duke of the State cautiously and said, "The County Princess, in your name, joined the Justice Alliance and ordered City Lord Feng Jing to cooperate with Lin Bai in holding a culinary competition. The day the County Princess entered the Justice Alliance, she issued all sorts of political decrees and carried out drastic reforms on the Justice Alliance, integrating the loose Justice Alliance. It can be said that the County Princess currently holds a position in the Justice Alliance equivalent to your position in the Taiyi Kingdom—one person below, ten thousand above..."

"Lin Bai has no objections?" The Duke of the State was finally moved.

"None," the aide said. "Lin Bai focuses more on cultivating his Fazhe Zhidao; he... he seems to have quite a bit of partiality toward the County Princess..."

"Partiality?" The Duke of the State pondered.

"Duke, should we send someone to notify the County Princess and ask her to restrain herself a little?" the aide said. "She is acting in your name, which I fear will cause the Righteous Seven Sects to misunderstand. In the future, if the Justice Alliance fails, the Righteous Seven Sects might hold you accountable. At that time, His Majesty might push you out to take the blame in exchange for the peace of the Taiyi Kingdom."

"No need," the Duke of the State said decisively. "The Righteous Seven Sects and the Demonic Five Sects monopolize the Heavenly Descended at the root; the Taiyi Kingdom no longer has peace. Once the Heavenly Descended of those sects grow up, the power we have accumulated over many years will be vulnerable. So-called peace is nothing more than living a more lingering existence; rather than that, it would be better to die."

"Duke..." The aide looked at the Duke of the State, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.

"To think that I, a dignified Duke of the State, am not as bold or insightful as my own daughter," the Duke of the State laughed at himself and said, "Pass down my order: all towns and cities are to focus on cultivating the Heavenly Descended who have joined previously. There is no need to restrain them anymore, and when necessary, you may use them to win over more Heavenly Descended. Stop refusing the bans related to the Justice Alliance; when appropriate, you may help Lin Bai promote Fazhe Zhidao."

"Duke, doing this can almost be seen as declaring war on the Righteous Seven Sects and the Demonic Five Sects at the same time," the aide's expression changed drastically.

"The world is about to fall into chaos; if we don't declare war now, when will we?" The Duke of the State glanced at him and said, "With Lin Bai's Justice Alliance in the lead, the Righteous Seven Sects cannot attend to us for the time being, but once Lin Bai falls, we will truly have no way out. Don't worry about so much; just pass the order down. I will go to His Majesty myself to explain the situation; the Taiyi Kingdom has reached its most critical moment..."

"True Person Zhang, your way of using the Heavenly Descended is wrong. All along, you have been led by the rhythm of Lin Bai and his Justice Alliance. If there really is a Justice Sect behind him, then you will not win in this war," the 【Visionary Eagle】 of the Xinlong Group found the leader of the Heavenly Dao Sect and said bluntly.

"What high opinion do you have?" True Person Zhang's cultivation was not high, only at the Spirit Transformation Realm. He was sent by the Heavenly Dao Sect to snatch people from the Basic Cities and did not take the words of this person called 【Visionary Eagle】 to heart.

The Heavenly Dao Sect did not have many Heavenly Descended, but those Heavenly Descended were exceptionally active, constantly offering them ideas, yet none of the ideas were useful.

"Before we talk, let me introduce myself. You should know that the Heavenly Descended come from another world. In our world, I belong to a group called Xinlong," 【Visionary Eagle】 looked at True Person Zhang confidently. "The status of the Xinlong Group in our world is similar to that of the Righteous Seven Sects. Every one of our decisions has the potential to trigger global turmoil and change the situation of the world."

"A group similar to the Righteous Seven Sects?" True Person Zhang finally put away his perfunctory attitude. He looked at 【Visionary Eagle】 and asked, "Why do you say our way of using the Heavenly Descended is wrong?"

"First of all, you shouldn't treat the Heavenly Descended as enemies," 【Visionary Eagle】 smiled, "but as partners. The collision of two worlds should not be about mutual guarding and exploitation, but cooperation—integrating the strengths of both sides to achieve a win-win situation. We have the foundation of a world's civilization, yet you do not seek to draw nourishment from that civilization, but only think of using the Heavenly Descended as thugs. If this isn't wrong, what is?"

"..." True Person Zhang fell into silence.

"All along, no one has told you that Lin Bai's Justice Sect might also come from another world, right!" 【Visionary Eagle】 said something shocking, "His behavioral theory, his laws are incompatible with this world. His Recording Pen and Color Printer, to be precise, should not be called Dharma Treasure, but should be called technological products. Lin Bai keeps calling himself a Jiusheng, but in reality, he should be the invader..."

(End of chapter)