Chapter 377: Fell Before Even Exerting Any Strength

Sure enough, trouble soon appeared.

“Thank you to Zhou Yi Dao Eat My Big Dick for the...” Before he could finish his sentence of thanks, Zhou Yi Dao’s face suddenly darkened.

Only trolls trying to stir up trouble would use such nicknames when sending gifts. This was a deliberate attempt to humiliate him. He immediately banned that fan with the offensive nickname. But soon, more similar nicknames started to appear.

User Zhou Yi Dao ED sent a bomb...

User Lu Qiang is Zhou Yi Dao’s Grandfather sent a pathetic gift.

User Beat Up Zhou Yi Dao’s Dog Head sent a brick.

Messages like these flooded the top of the livestream from the gift system.

Zhou Yi Dao's livestream was set in the Ancient Desert City template, with a capacity even larger than Li Xiaofei’s stream. It included features like a tea stand and snack shops. Clearly a lot of thought had gone into it.

At this moment, all the fans and visitors could see these messages floating across the screen. Zhou Yi Dao, being an experienced figure in the martial world, reacted swiftly. After realizing this was an organized and premeditated attempt to disrupt his stream, he quickly notified his moderators behind the scenes, instructing them to silence any trolls with a ban.

In the blink of an eye, six to seven hundred people had been muted. But it was nothing more than a drop in the ocean. The barrage of insults and provocations floating across the live stream did not decrease; instead, they multiplied.

At this point, many of the fans started to notice. A full-blown argument was on the verge of breaking out. Zhou Yidao decisively turned off the comment feature in the live stream. However, the number of people flooding into the stream continued to grow wildly. In the blink of an eye, it had already reached one million. It was nearing the maximum capacity his live stream could hold.

At the same time, the system showed that complaints targeting his stream were rising at an alarming rate. Even the site's super administrator sent Zhou Yidao a warning message.

According to the system settings of Longya Group’s website, if a certain number of complaints were filed in a short period, the light core system would automatically shut down the stream to inspect the content and data fluctuations.

Just then, a paid connection request popped up. It was from Martial Arts You Ba. Zhou Yidao hesitated for a moment before choosing to accept. A white beam of teleportation light flashed as a somewhat shy-looking middle-aged man who resembled an old farmer appeared in the stream.

This was Martial Arts You Ba. He had a bold name, but a timid face.

“What are you here for?” Zhou Yidao asked harshly.

Martial Arts You Ba replied, "I’m here on behalf of Brother Dao to ask you one question: do you submit?"

Zhou Yidao chuckled. "I submit to your mother."

"Alright, you've got guts." Martial Arts You Ba nodded. "I hope you keep that tough mouth of yours till the end."

He left immediately. In the next instant, the live stream was forcibly shut down as the system sent Zhou Yidao a message.

Due to receiving complaints from over 100,000 users in a short period, your live stream has been temporarily closed.

The forced shutdown caused all of the fans to be booted out instantly. Additionally, the stream became unsearchable and could no longer be re-entered. Even Zhou Yidao, the host, was kicked out of his own stream.

“Damn it.” Zhou Yidao punched the stone wall of his virtual base.

This kind of situation dealt a heavy blow to a streamer’s fanbase. If it happened a few more times, it could absolutely destroy a well-known streamer’s career, leaving them ruined and homeless.

Ten minutes later, after undergoing review, the stream was finally allowed to reopen. Zhou Yidao returned with a grudge and worked to console his fans. But not even ten minutes had passed before the stream was forcibly shut down again due to another flood of complaints.

This cycle repeated itself. In just one hour, Zhou Yidao went live, went offline, and went live again four times. By the time he went live for the last time, his stream, which originally had over 40,000 viewers, had dwindled to less than 2,000. It was a scene of utter desolation.

Zhou Yidao was so furious that he almost spat blood. After all the back-and-forth, the popularity he had spent months building had been completely shattered. Shortly after, a large number of tourists flooded into the stream again. These tourists all had the same Hejia Army fan badge and their usernames followed a similar format, starting with HejiaXXX.

Within seconds, the number of viewers in the stream shot up to over 200,000 again. A single connection request popped up.

Zhou Yidao glanced at the name of the applicant, and his heart skipped a beat.

Invincible Below the Dao!

After some hesitation, he finally accepted the request. With a flash of white teleportation light, a pale young man dressed in athletic wear appeared in the stream.

Yes, Invincible Below the Dao was actually a young man, who was seemingly only around twenty years old. His skin was fair, and his features were clean and proper, giving him the appearance of a well-mannered college student. But Zhou Yidao knew all too well how terrifying this Brother Dao was.

Rumors in the martial world said that Brother Dao hailed from a prestigious Saint family in Xiajing. It was said he had used the resources of his family to become a master in the Golden Body Realm. In real life, he was known for his arrogance and overbearing personality.

Streaming was just a hobby for Brother Dao. Even so, he had become the top streamer in the martial arts section of the Longya Group platform. Since he was a rich young master, he was domineering and wouldn't tolerate anyone defying him. He enjoyed stirring up trouble, and no matter whether it was in the virtual world or the real world, he could easily resolve any issues.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Dao... Brother Dao," Zhou Yidao’s tone softened considerably.

Brother Dao replied indifferently, "You've been acting pretty wild, huh?"

"I..."

How could I ever be wilder than you?

But in the end, he didn’t dare say it out loud.

"I’ll give you two choices." Brother Dao's voice was commanding and left no room for negotiation. "Kneel, knock your head on the ground three times, and curse ‘Grandmaster of Heaven is a bastard’ three times. If you do, I’ll forgive you and let you continue scraping by in Longya Group. If you don’t, I’ll keep bombing your stream for a month, and you’ll vanish from the streaming world."

Zhou Yidao gasped. For a moment, his knees almost buckled, ready to drop to the ground. But when he saw the undisguised mockery and contempt in Brother Dao’s eyes, something inside him snapped. Zhou Yidao suddenly stood firm. If he knelt now, he would never be able to rise again.

"Heh... heh heh..." Zhou Yidao let out a light chuckle, his face pale as he said, "My reputation may not be great, but not just anyone is deserving of me kneeling. I knelt to my master yesterday, and I don’t feel like kneeling again today."

A flicker of surprise appeared in Brother Dao's eyes. He nodded slightly. "Very well, you’ll soon understand what you’ve chosen."

Brother Dao teleported out of the stream. Zhou Yidao let out a long breath of relief. He raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

Damn. Why did I have to play the tough guy at a time like this? Great, now I‘ve completely offended Brother Dao.

There was no doubt that Brother Dao would do everything in his power to crush him. If his stream kept getting bombed like this for another dozen days, he would truly be left with nothing but a barren channel.

Losing his streaming job meant his income would plummet. How would he continue to afford sending his two sons to their private aristocratic school for cultivation? Would he have to return to the dangerous life of hunting star beasts in the wilderness again?

Sigh, pretending to be tough is going to cost me dearly.

Zhou Yidao mulled it over and concluded that the only option left was to stay on this path, no matter how dark it got, and seek help from his master and fellow disciples. But when he got in touch with Guo Zong'ao, known as Three Fists Shaking the Heavens, he found that his senior brother was just as desperate.

"My stream’s been bombed as well," Guo Zong'ao said bitterly. "I can't continue streaming."

"Was it Brother Dao?" Zhou Yidao asked.

Guo Zong'ao nodded.

Zhou Yidao then asked, "Why didn’t you bow your head and apologize?"

Guo Zong'ao scoffed and retorted, "That's a question I should be asking you."

The two locked eyes silently. Yes, they had always been bowing and scraping. Why couldn't they just lower their heads this time?

"Should we try asking Master for help?" Guo Zong'ao suggested.

Zhou Yidao agreed, "If Master is willing to step in, this can surely be resolved."

They both instinctively felt that Li Xiaofei, who possessed so many true legacy martial arts and was generous enough to teach them for free, must be an influential figure from one of the top martial families.

"Do you have any contact info?" Zhou Yidao asked.

Guo Zong'ao shot back, "You don’t?"

The two exchanged bewildered glances. They had been so absorbed in the excitement of receiving the true legacy of ancient martial arts that they had completely forgotten to ask their master for his contact details.

Now what?

The two decided to try contacting Li Xiaofei in the virtual world of the light-network. But they soon realized he wasn’t online. After some thought, they reached out to their junior sister, Su Qianni, through the light-network.

"Master’s contact info?" Su Qianni smiled bitterly and said, "I’ve been trying to find him too, but I don’t know how to reach him."

It turned out her stream had also been bombed twice by Brother Dao. If it weren't for the fact that she knew a mid-level manager in Longya Group's real-time monitoring department and had managed to pull some strings, her situation might have ended up the same as her senior brothers, with her channel nearly destroyed.

Now, both Zhou Yidao and Guo Zong'ao were feeling the pressure.

"This won’t do, we need to reach Master as soon as possible," Guo Zong'ao said. "That dog, Brother Dao, is obviously targeting Master. If we don't prepare, he'll definitely bomb Master's stream tomorrow. Master won’t see it coming."

Su Qianni glanced at him and said, "Second Brother, Senior Brother is right."

Zhou Yidao nodded repeatedly, "Exactly. Master is new to the streaming world and doesn’t know all the ins and outs of the rules. If he’s hit with a sudden attack, he won’t be able to defend himself. He’ll suffer a huge blow tomorrow, so we have to warn him."

Su Qianni agreed, "Senior Brother and Second Brother are right."

Both of her brothers turned to look at her and said, "Aren't you connected to someone in the real-time monitoring department? Can you ask them to help us contact Master through that manager?"

Su Qianni shook her head and said, "It’s no use. I already asked. They can't reach him. Master’s identity information is protected by an extremely high security level. As long as he doesn’t log into the light-network, even the head of the real-time monitoring department can’t contact him."

Holy crap.

Both Senior Brother and Second Brother gasped in unison, their emotions a mix of shock and relief. They were both thrilled and anxious at the same time.

They were thrilled because it confirmed that their master truly had an impressive background. But they were anxious because, despite knowing this, they still couldn’t reach him. It seemed their sect was destined for a crushing defeat tomorrow.

Just as they were all feeling dejected, they suddenly received messages from the admins of their respective streams.

Instantly, the three of them were shaken.

“No way! Did that really happen?”

“You guys know about it too? Spill it.”

“You go first.”

Excitement flickered in all their eyes.

Su Qianni spoke first, "Brother Dao's stream got bombed four times, and he was forced to quit."

Zhou Yidao added, "Master’s fans bombed him."

Guo Zong'ao chimed in, "They did it to avenge us."

After that, the three of them burst into laughter, laughing so hard they almost clutched their stomachs. It felt incredibly satisfying.

Brother Dao, who had always been the one hunting others, had finally been brought down by his own prey. Master hadn’t even needed to step in; this so-called king of the martial arts had already been taken down.

Who could have imagined that Li Xiaofei’s fan base would be so powerful? They hadn’t even waited for his command before charging in to take Brother Dao down. Moreover, this was Brother Dao, the notorious bully who had never been on the receiving end before!

After their laughter subsided, the three of them decided to return to their respective streams and continue broadcasting. Even though they had lost a significant number of fans and their popularity had plummeted, this was no time to give up. If they acted quickly, they might just be able to salvage something.

So, after exchanging LightChat contact info, they each returned to their own base. But soon, they were stunned again.

"Senior Brother, Second Brother, my stream's online viewer count has surged past 30,000."

"Senior Brother, Junior Sister, my stream’s viewer count has already reached over 40,000."

"Second Brother, Junior Sister, my fans have all come back to my stream too."

The three of them exchanged updates on their situations. It was unbelievable. In the past, no matter how popular a streamer was or how large their fanbase, if their stream got repeatedly shut down, even if it was only for ten minutes at a time, it would severely damage their popularity and require a massive effort to regain it over time.

But this time, in less than half an hour after reopening their streams, all of their fans had returned. It was nothing short of a miracle.

"My fans are asking me to teach them the Great Strength Vajra Fist."

"My fans just want to see me perform the Five Tigers Door-Cutting Blade."

"My fans don’t even care about my looks anymore. They’re all asking me to explain the first four moves of the Falling Blossom Divine Sword Palm."

After exchanging the general sentiment of their fanbases, the three of them understood at once. Why were the fans so loyal? It wasn’t because of their personal appeal. It was because of the true legacy ancient martial arts they possessed.

This was truly something unprecedented for the countless martial arts cultivators across the country. These ancient martial arts legacies, which were so rare that people would bankrupt themselves to obtain, were now suddenly being taught for free. How could the fans not seize such an opportunity with both hands?

Since Patriarch Grandmaster of Heaven wasn’t streaming, the recorded streams, along with the live streams of his three disciples, had become the only channels for people to learn these martial arts legacies.

Yet, at a time like this, someone dared to stir up trouble and shut down those three vital channels? That was practically the same as murdering their parents! Outraged, the crowd had rushed into Brother Dao’s stream and utterly destroyed it.

This was the power of the masses! In the face of such furious strength, the so-called king of the martial arts stood no chance. Some of the people who stormed his stream might very well have been his own fans.

***

“Damn it, how did this happen?” exclaimed an enraged Brother Dao as he smashed the light core in his hand.

Tonight had been a disastrous loss for him. Not only had his stream been bombed four times in a row, forcing him to quit in disgrace, but his fan subscription count had also plummeted by over 500,000 in less than an hour.

More than half a million people had unfollowed him. These had included some of his most loyal fans with high-level fan badges. It was the perfect example of trying to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead. It had been a complete and utter failure.

Of course, these losses were manageable for him. The real issue was that his pride had taken a massive hit, and he couldn’t swallow this humiliation.

Grandmaster of Heaven!

He gritted his teeth.

This isn’t over between us.