Chapter 408: Declaration Of War (2)

The light-network virtual world. In the livestreaming room of the Grandmaster of Heaven.

The number of online viewers had surpassed six million. The ten floating mountains were crowded with people. Numerous figures practiced cultivation on the training grounds within the central ancient martial arts arena. In a short span, the livestream had attracted over a million ancient martial arts experts from various major base cities across the country.

In terms of popularity and cohesion, it was undoubtedly the number one live stream on the Longya Group platform. However, the Grandmaster of Heaven had a strict policy: no PK battles, no exploiting fans for money, no gifts or rewards, and no miscellaneous profit-driven activities like selling products.

The live stream did not engage in the typical fan economy, so despite its enormous traffic and audience, the daily revenue flow of the Grandmaster of Heaven Live Room was not impressive and did not rank among the top ten on the Longya Group platform. If it had been any other live stream, such a high level of popularity and audience without a proportional profit would have led to warnings or restricted traffic by the Longya Group officials.

But this time, the Longya Group officials took an unprecedented stance. Their support for the Grandmaster of Heaven had never wavered. The stream continued to receive traffic support that was far greater than even the most profitable super streamers. This stirred discontent among some of the top streamers.

“I wonder when Master will return,” Zhou Yidao sighed, “My blade techniques have already been honed to perfection, and many fans in the live room have also mastered them well. Although the Five Tigers Door-Cutting Blade is an authentic ancient martial art, the novelty will eventually fade. If only we had a new blade technique.”

The Five Tigers Door-Cutting Blade that he had received was the least powerful among the disciples. Though it was easy to learn and wield, it was ultimately not as formidable as techniques like the Falling Blossom Divine Sword Palm or the Dog Beating Staff Technique. If he wanted to grow stronger, he needed new techniques.

Unfortunately, Grandmaster of Heaven had remained in seclusion these past few days and not shown himself. Even if Zhou Yidao wanted to rely on his master’s support, he had no idea where to find him.

“Second Junior Brother, don’t worry.” Guo Zong'ao, known as Three Fists Shaking the Heavens, said, “Before going into seclusion, Master said that as long as we fulfill the mission of spreading ancient martial arts and complete the tasks he assigned, he will return with new techniques to teach us. We just need to follow his instructions diligently and not worry about anything else.”

“Second Senior Brother, First Senior Brother is right.” The third disciple, Su Qianni, added.

“There’s something unusual happening lately.” Brother Dao leaned in and said, “I’ve heard some news: the new martial organization Mechanical Eternity from the Longya Live Stream platform is planning a challenge against Master.”

“Mechanical Eternity?”

The others’ expressions changed drastically. The conflict between ancient and New Martial Arts was intensifying within Great Xia, and especially in Xiajing City. Many New Martial Arts factions had risen rapidly to become mainstream in society. They were supported and promoted by powerful conglomerates and backed by extensive advertising campaigns.

This overwhelming wave of publicity had allowed New Martial Arts to become increasingly accepted among the populace. New Martial Arts hospitals, medical centers, cosmetic surgery clinics, training institutions, specialized centers for upgrading and maintaining new martial prosthetics, and services for replacing and enhancing Inscribed Treasure Bones were becoming more widespread.

Many ordinary people, after undergoing New Martial Arts surgery, experienced meteoric rises in strength and influence. Some were even willing to go to extreme lengths to afford the cost of these surgeries, taking out high-interest loans or opting for sixty-year mortgages. Though they gained immense power, their fates were now controlled by others.

The challenge with New Martial Arts lay in the exorbitant post-surgery maintenance, upgrades, and astronomical upkeep costs. Most new martial artists did not become strong overnight, since their procedures required continuous ‘updating.’ Each update was also a significant expense. As a result, many new martial conglomerates made fortunes. However, with wealth came resources and the power to influence.

The conflict between ancient and New Martial Arts was now tilting in favor of New Martial Arts. This was because New Martial Arts leveraged immense financial resources to pave the way, dominating mainstream discourse and gaining the backing of more and more powerful conglomerates.

Even the Great Xia authorities had begun to support New Martial Arts initiatives. As such, Mechanical Eternity was an alliance formed with the backing of four major New Martial Arts conglomerates and was the most powerful and well-known group within the mechanical faction of New Martial Arts.

Flesh is weak; machines are eternal.

These six words were their core tenet. This faction advocated for the replacement of human limbs or organs with mechanical parts to grant immense combat prowess. The top ten super streamers on the Longya Live Stream platform were almost all backed by major conglomerates, guilds, or factions.

Ranked first was Eternal Precision, a streamer promoted by the Mechanical Eternity alliance. Ranked third was another of their streamers, Mythical Heavy Industry. These two streaming teams, supported by the resources of Mechanical Eternity, sold prosthetics and mechanical organs through the live-streaming market, providing prosthetic upgrade and maintenance services. They were veteran New Martial Arts streamers with a combined following of tens of millions.

Unlike regional streamers like Brother Dao, Mythical Heavy Industry and Eternal Precision were true professional streamers. Every aspect, from production, scripting, advertising, persona, content, products to pacing, was professionally designed and managed.

It was no exaggeration to say that in the light-network virtual world, either the Mythical Heavy Industry or Eternal Precision live room alone was equivalent to a publicly listed company in a highly lucrative industry.

“This was bound to happen.” Ren Woyou stepped forward and said, “Master’s sudden rise with Grandmaster of Heaven’s ancient martial arts has been brilliant and has captivated countless people, especially those from the lower classes. The combination of true legacy ancient martial arts and herbal prescriptions has proven incredibly effective. This has not only siphoned away the popularity and traffic of various New Martial Arts streams but has shaken their very foundation. Why would lower-tier martial artists undergo expensive New Martial Arts surgery when they can grow stronger without it? Who would want to go into massive debt for those surgeries anymore?”

The usually quiet university martial arts prodigy Ding Mingya said, “Exactly. The clash between ideologies and interests is harder to reconcile than a blood feud. Sooner or later, they’ll make a move against our stream.”

Guo Zong'ao said, “If such major conglomerates and powerful forces decide to act, they will strike with thunderous force only after meticulous planning. How should we respond when that happens?”

“We can’t even figure out what their tactics and objectives are, making it impossible to guard against them,” Zhou Yidao said with some concern.

Brother Dao said, “I’ll do my best to gather some information and see if I can uncover any inside news.”

At that moment, the six-member bald-headed group approached them.

“Senior brothers and sisters, there’s no need to worry too much. The saying goes, if soldiers come, we fight; if water rises, we build a dam. We aren’t as weak as you think. If they really attack our live stream, heh, wouldn’t that be the perfect opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves?” said the bald-headed man confidently.

The steady blond-haired man added, “Exactly. We’ve learned Master’s true legacy ancient martial arts, but we’ve never had the chance to show them off. If they dare come, we’ll just fight back.”

These guys were notorious for their fearlessness and troublemaking. They thrived on chaos. But their words did lift everyone’s spirits.

Su Qianni nodded and said, “First Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, the juniors are right.”

The atmosphere gradually lightened. At that moment, Zhang Zhihong joined them.

“I’ve heard everything you said.” He said, patting his chest and smiling warmly. “Don’t worry, we’re not without countermeasures. If it comes to the worst, Grandmaster of Heaven will step in himself. Even a slight move from him would be unmatched in this field.”

Guo Zong'ao said, “But we don’t know how long Master will remain in seclusion... If only we could notify him in advance.”

As things stood, none of the disciples had Li Xiaofei’s personal contact information, which was quite embarrassing. They could only reach Li Xiaofei through the light core virtual world system when he logged in; otherwise, in the real world, he was out of contact.

“I’ll think of something,” Zhang Zhihong said.

With their plans settled, everyone returned to their respective small floating mountains and resumed teaching their disciples. The bald-headed group went back to their own floating mountain.

Before long, a piece of news reached the man with glasses. What he read left him stunned.

“Boss, we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“See for yourself. The Tan family has turned upside down.”

“Damn... is this for real?”

“Shit, no wonder we couldn’t reach that Tan family guy today. He’s probably been killed by the new family head.”

“Damn it, our money is gone.”

“The cooked duck flew away.”

“Is the new Tan family head insane? To actually kill the Ouyang family head’s son... This is the end for the Tan family, and we won’t see our money either.”

The six brothers of the group were shocked after reading the news. The realization that the huge sum of money they were about to claim was now lost sent waves of pain through them.

The bald-headed man thought for a moment and angrily said, “We practically sold ourselves and became disciples under Master to work for the Tan family. While Master has treated us well, that’s because he’s kind-hearted. It has nothing to do with the Tan family. The Tan family owes us this money, dead or alive.”

“Exactly.”

“We brothers have never suffered such an injustice.”

“Boss, what should we do?”

“Go to the Tan family and demand our money.”

“Alright, let’s go together.”

“Log off now. We’ll meet outside the old Tan family estate. We need to collect what’s ours before the Ouyang family wipes them out.”

“Third Brother, don’t forget to bring the contract the Tan family guy signed. We’re not bandits; we do things by the book.”

“Got it, don’t worry, Big Brother.”

The six brothers logged off immediately, ready to take action.

At this moment, countless media outlets, streamers, websites, microblogs, and LightChat moments both inside and outside the light-network virtual world in Xiajing City were ablaze with news of Ouyang Shengyi’s death.

Those who first heard the news thought their ears were playing tricks on them.

Has the struggling Tan family gone mad? They actually killed the son of the Ouyang family head, who had come to propose! How was this not a move that would tear the heavens asunder?

There had been no such open act of hostility among the circle of Saint families in Xiajing City for over fifty years. Then, yet another piece of news sent shockwaves throughout Xiajing City. Tan Qingying, the new head of the Tan family, had declared war on the Ouyang family.

Declared war! This was a war between Saint families. There had been nothing like this in the past century. The situation had escalated beyond just tearing the heavens apart. The highest levels of the state were alarmed!