Chapter 271.1: A New Plan
The Divine Flower Society forum was extremely quiet. The Blood-Clothed Sword God had caused quite a stir when he posted his thread. However, after he was muted, the post disappeared and peace gradually returned.
At this moment, inside a group chat called Blood-Clothed Sword God Fan Group, Fox Den Xiao Li was passionately giving a speech.
Fox Den Xiao Li: What the Blood-Clothed Sword God said must be true. Our cultivation methods definitely have issues!
The group chat had been established under the hint and guidance of the Blood-Clothed Sword God himself. Now, roughly a hundred cultivators had joined. This was the core group. There were many other related group chats with more cultivators, but since those members had not yet passed screening, they were not allowed into this one.
As for Fox Den Xiao Li, she had already become a superfan.
└Right! What the senior Blood-Clothed Sword God said must be true. Otherwise, why would his post disappear for no reason? And when people later tried asking about it, those posts also vanished!
└There are enemies inside the Divine Flower Society, and they hold high positions!
└Do you think it’s the president?
One cultivator guessed reasonably. The Eastern Lands branch leaders had long since been beaten into submission by the Blood-Clothed Sword God. They wouldn’t dare mute him. Among those with the authority to mute him, only a few would dare.
└If it's him, things are really bad!
Even among Venerables, the Blood-Clothed Sword God was considered rather strong. However, he was still a junior compared to the enormous figure that was the president.
└My clan has a Yin Spirit senior. He once said that the gap between each level of the Yin Spirit realm is even greater than that between the major realms below. If the Blood-Clothed Sword God offended the president... That's extremely dangerous!
└Damn it. I can't even contact the Blood-Clothed Sword God right now!
└I just hope Senior stays safe!
└Not to mention the enemies in Canglan, there are villains inside the Divine Flower Society too. Only the Blood-Clothed Sword God has a sincere heart! All the bad people in the world have joined together to bully him!
└Too bad I'm useless. I can't do anything to help Senior!
└*Sigh*... I feel so bad for him. I wish I could bear the pain for the Blood-Clothed Sword God instead. Senior must be suffering terribly right now.
└Does anyone have connections who can contact the president? We could apologize on behalf of Senior!
└No! We cannot bow our heads to evil forces!
The group chat was full of concern for Qi Yuan, with the atmosphere of extremely fervent fans.
At that moment, someone suddenly sent a chat.
└Quick! Look! The Blood-Clothed Sword God has appeared again!
└What?! Senior is back?!
└Aaah!
The fans hurriedly logged into the forum to check his post. Fox Den Xiao Li was also filled with both excitement and anxiety. She knew that the Blood-Clothed Sword God being muted was a huge issue. One wrong step, and he could fall into eternal doom.
At that moment, a pinned-style post appeared before everyone's eyes.
***
I, the Blood-Clothed Sword God, Have Slain the Running Dog[1] President of the Divine Flower Society in Anger and Unmuted Myself!
Some time ago, I exposed the great secret of the Canglan World here: our cultivation methods are tainted. As a result, I was muted. I was furious.
Living in the Canglan World, every brother and sister of the Divine Flower Society has the right to speak!
After some investigation, I discovered that the one who silenced me was that old bastard, the President of the Divine Flower Society.
I was very angry.
That old bastard had sided with evil and acted as its accomplice. I could not tolerate it!
So, I raised the banner of justice and traveled thousands of miles to the Secluded Heaven.
Many Yin Spirits there were in collusion with the president. More than thirty Yin Spirits had joined together. They betrayed their faith and served the darkness.
Thus, I fought alone and eliminated them all! Justice has triumphed over evil, and I can now finally speak freely on the forum again.
Oh right, today is Crazy Star—no, wait. Evil has not yet been completely eradicated. I still need everyone's support. Upload your cultivation methods and help me defeat the Great Calamity!
Qi Yuan felt quite pleased with himself for writing such a long, flowing post. He waited for the comments to come after posting it.
└Senior killed the president???
└The writing quality seems a bit poor... Could this be a fake Blood-Clothed Sword God?
When Qi Yuan saw that comment, he immediately became furious. "Slander! Muted!"
His fervent speech about freedom of speech aside, the muting was done through the president’s account, so it had nothing to do with the Blood-Clothed Sword God. His persona remained pure and innocent, basically a holy white lotus.
At this moment, his post completely shocked the members, including many Venerables.
Though the Divine Flower Society was merely a loose organization, its force was not inferior to the Seeking Dao Palace. It spanned nearly twenty domains and counted tens of thousands of members, including a significant number of Yin Spirits and their juniors. However, because of their status, they rarely exposed their identities on the forum.
Now, these Venerables were so shocked, they made no effort to hide who they were.
└Is this real? That was the president, you know?!
└Senior Sword God, weren't you going to the Dark Sun?
└Don't tell me you destroyed the president first?
└Senior, the Divine Methods in the Yuan God Sharing Society are too expensive. Even if I offered all my cultivation methods, I still couldn't redeem one.
They even began asking questions. Many already knew he had gone to Secluded Heaven to confront Dark Sun, and had low expectations. After all, the Dark Sun had Mythic-level beings, whereas Sword God’s name wasn’t even on the Mythic Stele.
Qi Yuan read the comments and selected a few to reply to.
└Senior Sword God, weren't you going to the Dark Sun?
└Blood-Clothed Sword God: I went there, yeah. Luckily, the president was also there, so I killed them all while I was at it. It was fine. The Dark Sun's strength was pretty average. Only four Mythics and about thirty Step Six Great Venerables. Quite weak, actually.
└That's not weak at all!
└Blood-Clothed Sword God: Compared to the father and daughter duo of Blood Sun Great Sage, Dark Sun is ridiculously weak.
└Senior, the Divine Methods in the Yuan God Sharing Society are too expensive. Even if I offered all my cultivation methods, I still couldn't redeem one.
└Blood-Clothed Sword God: You make a good point. How about this? Anyone who collects a thousand Heaven-tier techniques through this forum in twenty days and fills the progress bar will earn a free Divine Method!
When Qi Yuan saw a certain Yin Spirit's comment, he suddenly had an idea. Although there were only a few Yin Spirits in the Divine Flower Society, the organization had many members from large clans. If they gritted their teeth, they could probably contribute one Heaven-tier method. If they crowdsourced a thousand Heaven-tier methods, plus a bunch of Profound-tier ones, Qi Yuan wouldn’t have any issue giving them a Divine Method.
With that thought, Qi Yuan used the president's jade slip to add a progress bar to the forum. Now, when someone uploaded a cultivation method through the interface, the bar would be filled. Once it was full, Qi Yuan would do as he promised.
Then, it hit him. People are selfish. What if some just watch and wait for others to contribute?
That was when he realized the plan required improvement. Even though Divine Methods were attractive, it didn’t stop people from sitting back and doing nothing.
Qi Yuan muttered to himself, "Everyone must have their own progress bar."
1. The Chinese phrase for "running dog" is 走狗 (zǒugǒu), pronounced "tso-go". It literally means "running dog" and is a highly derogatory term for a servile follower, lackey, or someone who unprincipledly serves a powerful master. The phrase was popularised as an insult in Maoist political rhetoric. ☜
