Chapter 442: Chen Wants to Get on the Trending List Too

The fourth day of the third lunar month, cloudy, with a breeze.

In the small courtyard, there were traces of clouds being blown away by the wind.

Taozi felt puzzled by the rapidly changing light and shadows on the ground; it couldn't help but stop, crouching low in a vigilant posture, looking down at the ground one moment and up at the clouds and sun in the sky the next, its eyes like jewels, like abysses, and like the starry sky.

The swing swayed leisurely, with two people sitting on it.

One person was holding a book, and one person was holding a Mobile Phone.

Yujing News: Power increased by over 700%? A Yujing student's graduation thesis brings the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon into a new era.

Imperial Capital Broadcast: Graduation project directly classified as a military secret, the professors couldn't ask a single question during the defense; have you heard his name?

Yujing Youth: The Heavy Spirit Power Cannon ushers in the era of the Reverse Rune Principle! It is no longer a demolition cannon!

Yuanzhou Observer: Students from our province...

It was all impassioned, grand music, followed by a few changing pictures, either photos of Chen Shu's defense scene or things that looked like posters.

It seemed most official media outlets were like this.

The news had come out last night.

The Spirit Power Explosion Rune Group, which guaranteed a power increase of at least 700%, was clearly worth the attention of many, both for its significance to High-level Practitioners and its application value in the military; thus, in just one day, it had surged onto the trending topics.

This was no longer just shocking the ancient cultivation academic world.

It could be called shocking the world.

Originally, in military terms, the Pure Spirit Power Cannon was a high-cost-performance firepower weapon; although it was difficult to undertake assault missions due to its weak penetration, its ultra-low cost made it widely used among various countries' weapons, being very useful for personnel attrition and clearing areas, and also very useful for composing short-range defense systems.

The Individual Spirit Power Cannon, Vehicle-mounted Spirit Power Cannon, and Spirit Power Rapid-fire Cannon were all considered common weapons in the military, used as cheap firepower to pave the ground.

Especially on the battlefields of small countries, they were particularly useful.

But the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon had always been a bit awkward.

For the same reason that the Tracer Technique performed poorly at high levels, the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon did have a power increase compared to Light-medium Spirit Power Cannons, but compared to the technical difficulty, Spirit Power cost, and increased manufacturing cost of the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon, it seemed quite inadequate.

The cost-performance ratio had invisibly dropped quite a bit.

Moreover, due to the inherent drawbacks of the Pure Spirit Power Cannon, its assault capability still could not compare to physical cannon shells engraved with Penetration Runes and embedded with Spirit Crystals; on the battlefields of major powers, it could only be used to cause larger-scale personnel attrition, building destruction, or firepower cover.

Hence the name "demolition cannon."

The awkwardness lay in the fact that the volume of one Heavy Spirit Power Cannon was comparable to several medium Spirit Power Cannons, yet the effect was not necessarily better than several medium Spirit Power Cannons.

Now that this Rune Group of Chen Shu's had come out, although it still could not give the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon the same assault capability as physical heavy artillery, it could at least make the power of the Heavy Spirit Power Cannon match its size, power consumption, and cost, regaining the cost-performance ratio of the Spirit Power Cannon and letting it return to its proper status.

Perhaps there was still room for improvement.

The military significance was great.

Chen Shu also saw news from other countries today reposted by a marketing account; other countries were also paying attention to this matter.

The comment sections under every video were also very lively; some were offering their knees in worship, some were reminding the country to protect its talent well, and some recognized him as that Seventh Stage powerhouse who responded to the country's call to fight in the global counter-terrorism efforts last year, the one who suppressed Zhang Suannai in the Martial Body competition.

Most importantly, there were also people praising him for being handsome.

Clicking into them one by one to check, there was no lack of pretty young ladies.

"..."

Qingqing beside him was holding a book, but she was expressionlessly glancing at his actions; watching him frequently search for himself and revel in his highlight moments, she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.

This person...

If it were anyone else in a relationship, perhaps no matter how smug the boy was, he would have to restrain himself a bit in front of his girlfriend, pretending to be someone who didn't care, on one hand to avoid making people think he was getting carried away or arrogant, thereby leaving a bad impression in front of his girlfriend, and on the other hand, not writing "come worship me" on his face to better reap the worship of others; yet this person was the opposite—he restrained himself in front of others, but was even more smug in front of her.

He was just short of laughing out loud.

And he seemed completely unconcerned about this, and never hid his true emotions in front of her.

This wasn't because he knew she could see through people's hearts; it had been like this since they were small.

"Qingqing, look!"

Yes, he even wanted to share it with her.

At a loss for how to describe it...

Ning Qing only silently glanced at his Mobile Phone.

National News: Our country's university student has independently developed the 'Fat Boy' Reverse Rune Group, increasing the explosive power of high-quality Spirit Power by several times or more, and it has a stronger destructive effect on Spirit Power structures; it may have significant value in military terms and has currently been classified as a military weapon technology secret...

When she raised her gaze again, she saw this person with a joyful face:

"Even the national news has stepped in."

"Show-off."

"Quick, be a little excited." This person nudged her with his elbow, "Cast a look of worship at me."

"..."

"By the way, I took you to the defense scene yesterday; guess what Professor Shi Qian said?"

"What did he say?"

"He said I even brought a parent to my defense." This person held the Mobile Phone, "It infuriated me."

"How so?"

Ning Qing slanted her eyes to glance at him: "You can be my parent, so why can't I be your parent?"

"That's different."

"?"

"I am your parent to begin with!"

"..."

Ning Qing rolled her eyes and lowered her head to read her book.

"The day after tomorrow is your defense; I'll go with you too, to be your parent, and see the performance of the one I raised by hand during the defense."

Ning Qing silently read her book, ignoring him entirely.

Chen Shu shrugged, not caring, and opened the school forum again.

The forum was also very lively.

At a glance, there were already several posts about him on the front page.

【Our school has produced a genius this year...】

【Does anyone still remember how smug the school next door was after Zhang Suannai's defense last year?】

【Our school has finally held its head high this year!】

【Brother Chen is awesome! (I am a loser)】

【High-level Tracer Spell, Reverse Rune Principle, not only benefits all high-level Spirit Cultivators, but can also be used as the core Rune Group for military Spirit Power Cannons. Isn't this way more awesome than those Traditional Sword Cultivator techniques against Wangting Sword Sect?】

Chen Shu clicked into the last post casually.

He discovered that the poster had actually used several comments below to argue that Chen Shu's design was indeed superior to Zhang Suannai's thesis in every aspect; not only did they receive many likes, but there were also suspected students from Ling'an Academy who had mixed in to voice opposing opinions.

It even sparked a debate.

Shouldn't he support the original poster?

Ningcaichen: The original poster is right.

Half a minute passed.

Message +1.

Chen Shu thought it was some noob student from Ling'an Academy coming to refute him, and was just preparing to argue with them, but when he clicked to look—

I Am A Carefree Traveler In This World: I see you again! Why did you lie to me last month saying Chen Jiaoshou's lecture hadn't started yet? You made me waste a trip! /Anger

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu silently closed the forum.

Beside him, Qingqing also withdrew her gaze from his Mobile Phone, stared at her book for two more lines, and then asked, "What does Ningcaichen mean?"

"A meme."

"What meme?"

"Not telling you."

"..."

Ning Qing turned around and punched him.

Chen Shu chuckled, swinging his legs.

The swing swayed higher and higher along with him.

The clouds in the sky were still being blown about by the wind, the light and shadows on the ground shifted frequently, and a few flowers had already bloomed; this year Qingqing didn't use any pesticides or miticides, relying entirely on a few green ladybugs the size of mung beans flying diligently in the courtyard to hunt pests.

Taozi followed them, spinning around on the ground.

Yujing, Extreme Sword Hall.

Zhang was dutiful and conscientious, using her Sword Dao attainments, which were a hundred and eight thousand miles beyond those of ordinary coaches, to provide the students with guidance they couldn't understand at all.

Zhang felt quite helpless about this—

Although this was a Sword Hall, in reality, neither the students nor the coaches could be considered Traditional Sword Cultivators, nor were they Wangting Sword Sect; the vast majority were just ordinary Martial Artists or Cultivators holding a Sword, and only a few coaches could barely be called ordinary Sword Cultivators.

Roughly equivalent to Martial Cultivators who use a Sword.

So it wasn't that Zhang didn't understand or wasn't willing to explain the basics, but that the gap between the two sides was simply too large.

If they had even the slightest connection to Traditional Sword Cultivators, no matter how poor their level was, Zhang could have provided them with guidance that would benefit them for a lifetime, but instead, no matter what she said, they acted as if they were listening to a fairy tale—confused but feeling it was profound, just babbling away.

Moreover, limited by national laws, even if she wanted to teach them how to flick out some Sword Qi, she couldn't; she could only teach things about self-cultivation that were completely useless.

Learning the Sword can also be for self-cultivation?

Sword Sect Disciple would just laugh upon hearing that.

However, many people still came to her for guidance.

This is a society that looks at faces and figures.

If words are unreasonable, one can be reasonable by appearance.

Zhang was also dedicated and never lazy.

You do the work you're paid for, after all.

Jianghu rules.

Just then, the owner of the Sword Hall ran over in a flurry: "Zhang, Zhang, someone is here to challenge the hall!"

Zhang's eyebrows immediately shot up.

The Divine Sword inside her body almost unsheathed itself automatically.

But in a flash, she remembered that she had promised to treat her neighbors and little sisters to Court Cuisine this month, and that stuff was expensive as hell, so she forcibly suppressed the agitation in her heart and instead asked:

"What's up?"

"Please help deal with it."

"This... I, a Sword Sect Disciple, have always been law-abiding while traveling abroad and never get into fights... Is there a bonus for winning?"

"That's a must! There's always one!"

"How much?"

"Usually four thousand."

"What stage is the opponent?"

"It's a Fifth-tier Sword Cultivator."

"Hiss!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang gasped in a cold breath: "It's actually a rare Fifth-tier Sword Cultivator!"

"Add another two thousand!"

"Going right now!"

Zhang grabbed a training Sword and stepped onto the Arena.

The opponent had brought a whole crowd of onlookers, and the students inside the gym had all gathered around as well; Zhang thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention, immediately dispatching that Fifth-tier Sword Cultivator with two quick swipes, even showing off a bit, which drew a chorus of Surprise; this feeling of being worshipped and held in awe left her intoxicated.

After stepping off the Arena, she felt wonderful.

That exhausted me to death, I need to rest for a bit.

Zhang sat down and took out her Mobile Phone.

Marketing Account Too Lazy to Name: "The strongest university graduation thesis in history has been released! Lanya has already dispatched a beautiful spy overnight!"

The video cover was a photo of a young man standing in front of a Wall Projector, but it only appeared for a few seconds before changing into the marketing account's explanation and boasting.

"What the hell?"

Zhang was stunned for a moment.

Not watching, not watching! Swipe to the next one!

Another marketing account with no name: "Another big event in Yujing University City! Last year, Ling'an Academy produced Zhang Suannai, whose paper 'A Study on the Combat Tactics of Traditional Sword Cultivators Against Wangting Sword Sect' shocked the domestic ancient cultivation academic world; as Ling'an's mortal enemy, Yujing Academy has immediately produced another genius this year, whose improved High-level Tracer Spell has shocked the world. Who is actually more awesome between the two of them?"

This stupid platform! Why is it only pushing marketing accounts to me?

Is my usual taste like this?

Zhang frowned and continued to swipe down.

A silly video.

Hey, that's right! This is what she loves to watch.

The next one—

National News: Our country's university student independently develops 'Fat Boy' Reverse Rune Group...

"???"

Even the National News is getting involved?

They didn't even report on me last time!

Zhang felt a bit sour for a moment, and looking at the related trending topics below, it had already reached the top of the daily list, which made her realize—

If she kept swiping, she didn't know how many more posts she would see today.

"..."

How can one play on a Mobile Phone during work hours?

Zhang turned off her Mobile Phone and stuffed it back into her pocket.

"Coach Zhang, not resting anymore?"

"No, I love working."

Zhang called her students over to break down the moves of the challenger from earlier for them.

However, over the next few days, she kept swiping across news about Chen Shu, which seemed to have even higher popularity than hers from last year, and that group of idiots in the silly chat group kept kissing up to Chen Shu; she felt sour inside watching it, yet her curiosity was so strong that she couldn't help but want to see what they were saying.

Even though she had already graduated, she couldn't suppress her curiosity about "what those people on the school forum would say," so she even went to browse the school forum.

Seeing everyone comparing her to him made her feel even more sour inside.

But she just couldn't control herself.