Chapter 1056: A Certain Lu Among the Onlookers

Publishing a newspaper was, after all, a monumental undertaking, far beyond Lu Yang’s sole authority to decide.

Although Lu Yang had already smoothed over every logistical hurdle, he still required the Eldest Senior Sister to make the final call.

"A newspaper? A fine idea, I support it." Yun Zhi grasped its significance upon a brief reflection; it was an excellent conduit for enlightening the populace and disseminating knowledge.

"Do we need Guan Shanhai to employ his rubbing ability? I can threaten him into it," Yun Zhi inquired, also realizing that Guan Shanhai possessed a pivotal role in the manufacturing of the newspaper.

In her memory, Guan Shanhai was an exceedingly unyielding prisoner who refused to confess no matter how severely he was beaten.

"Guan Shanhai has already agreed to help."

Yun Zhi nodded in mild surprise. "Quite sensible of him; that saves us a great deal of trouble."

"Then, have you thought of a name for the newspaper?"

"Considering this is the first issue to be produced and distributed, and we cannot predict the commoners' reaction to its contents, it should not be published too rapidly. For now, it is set to be a monthly publication. What do you think of naming it the 'Cultivation Monthly'?"

Lu Yang still needed to make timely adjustments to the content based on the feedback from the populace to adapt to their needs.

Yun Zhi raised no objection. Her little junior brother’s naming standard had always been thus; there was no need to judge him harshly.

"By the way, Second Chief, could the newspaper be called the 'Soybean Monthly'?" Yun Mengmeng suddenly remembered that she was not only the Third Chief of the Immortal Lineage, but also the Minister of Rites for the Soybean Dynasty, bearing the responsibility of propaganda.

"Ah, that is a marvelous name." The Immortal Fairy clapped her hands in sheer delight; this was a spectacular opportunity to promote their Soybean Dynasty.

Seeing this, Lu Yang hastily tucked his hands into his sleeves and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty exhausts mind and body for the prosperity of the Dynasty; we, your subjects, are filled with boundless admiration."

"However, the Dynasty has only recently been established. Since antiquity, which rising power did not first bide its time and nurture its strength before raising its banners in rebellion? At present, the official posts of the Soybean Dynasty remain vacant, personnel are scarce, and military forces are insufficient. To aggressively publicize the Soybean Dynasty might be too hasty. This matter still requires meticulous planning to await an opportune moment. I pray Your Majesty reflects upon this carefully!"

The Immortal Fairy listened until her head spun, entirely failing to comprehend Lu Yang’s true meaning. "Then we shall proceed according to your wishes, Little Yang."

Overjoyed by her words, Lu Yang bowed once more. "Your Majesty is truly wise."

Yun Zhi, who had been listening from the side, wanted to ask what office her little junior brother actually held within the Soybean Dynasty, but she worried that if she inquired, the senior Fairy might remember her and assign her a post as well. Thus, she could only set this doubt aside for the moment and turn her focus back to the matter of the newspaper.

"Little junior brother, have you decided on the contents of the newspaper?"

On his way here, Lu Yang had already formed a rough outline of the newspaper. "I hear that even now, many people have not yet grasped the levels of cultivation. I am thinking of detailing the knowledge regarding cultivation in the first edition, accompanied by a few lines of Qi-nurturing mnemonics."

The commoners most frequently encountered cultivators of the Qi Refining stage; as for the Foundation Establishment stage and Golden Core stage above that, they merely knew of the concepts but understood very little about the power and disparity of each realm. Since they were to tell cultivation stories, it was naturally imperative to first let the commoners understand the foundational concepts of cultivation.

"Furthermore, there are the major events of the cultivation world, such as the recent Battle of the West Heaven Temple."

"If there are any good stories, they can also be serialized in the newspaper..."

Lu Yang explained the function of each section of the newspaper in meticulous detail. Yun Zhi nodded repeatedly as she listened; it appeared her little junior brother had given this matter profound thought.

Yun Mengmeng also gazed at Lu Yang with deep admiration; the Second Chief was indeed thoroughly considerate, whereas she could never think of so many facets.

Afterward, Lu Yang sought out Senior Brother Ji Hongwen, the eldest disciple of the Third Elder. Senior Brother Ji Hongwen specialized in the Dao of Painting, and Lu Yang requested him to design the layout and typesetting for the newspaper.

Ji Hongwen readily agreed.

"Oh, right, leave a gap in the middle of the newspaper; I intend to use it to place an advertisement for Junior Sister Tao." Lu Yang raised a small request.

In any case, this was the first edition of the newspaper, and no one else was seeking him out for advertising, so it was better to benefit one of their own.

With the production process of the newspaper roughly sorted out, the problem Lu Yang now faced was how to describe the Battle of the West Heaven Temple fairly and objectively without exposing his identity.

A flash of inspiration struck Lu Yang, and he thought of a solution. "Right, the commotion of the battle back then was so massive that the people of West Heaven City all witnessed the course of the fight. It can be narrated from the perspective of an onlooker; I shall simply treat it as interviewing myself."

Torrents of literary inspiration surged within Lu Yang, and he quickly penned a report on the Battle of the West Heaven Temple, with the remaining sections supplemented by other contents as well.

Thereafter, he handed the original copy of the newspaper to Guan Shanhai. Guan Shanhai truly lived up to being the holder of the Rubbing Dao Fruit; in the blink of an eye, he replicated the newspaper tens of millions of times, even duplicating the voice-playback arrays along with it, drastically reducing the production cost of the newspaper.

With production costs lowered, the price of the newspaper plummeted, making it affordable for mortals.

Lu Yang did not publish the newspaper for profit, but rather for propaganda.

Through spatial channels, the various disciples of the Daoist Sect distributed the first edition of the 'Cultivation Monthly' to every corner of the Great Xia.

...

"...According to investigations, at the inception of this Battle of the West Heaven Temple, there were two combatants in total. One side was the Deity of Sichen of the Great Qi, while the identity of the other side remains a mystery. This newspaper deduces from scattered fragments of speech that the individual is suspected to be a mysterious ancient immortal, for whom it was inconvenient to strike."

"According to a certain onlooker surnamed Lu, the mysterious immortal originally intended to spare the life of the Deity of Sichen. However, upon meeting the mysterious immortal, the Deity of Sichen's words were filled with provocations, and he even questioned the mysterious immortal's literacy, asking if the mysterious immortal knew how to write."

"Compelled by circumstances, the mysterious immortal struck, and a battle ensued between the two sides."

"The mysterious immortal's Daoist methods reach the heavens, and his sword Dao penetrates the profound. The Deity of Sichen was no match for the mysterious immortal and was defeated in an instant. The mysterious immortal commanded him to kneel, and the Deity of Sichen complied, begging for his life."

"The avatar of the Emperor of Zhongtian appeared. Disregarding right or wrong, he directly stated, 'What the Deity of Sichen did was wrong,' hoping the mysterious immortal could spare the Deity of Sichen's life."

"Subsequently, the avatar of the Emperor of Zhongtian believed that although the mysterious immortal was plagued by karma and unable to exert his full strength, he remained formidable, and the Emperor was uncertain if he could match him."

"In order to battle the mysterious immortal, the Emperor's avatar devoured the Deity of Sichen, leaving the Deity of Sichen's life or death unknown, and he remained nowhere to be found even after the battle concluded."

"During the clash between the mysterious immortal and the Emperor's avatar, an explosion of unknown origins occurred. The scene was utterly chaotic, making it impossible to determine which side triggered the explosion. According to the onlooker surnamed Lu, the Emperor's avatar was heard laughing wildly amidst the explosion, shouting words like 'self-detonation'."

"Following the explosion, the West Heaven Temple was reduced to ruins, the Emperor's avatar vanished, and the mysterious immortal departed elegantly."

"Subsequent investigations by this newspaper revealed that the Deity of Sichen had lurked within the West Heaven Temple for over a century, hiding only by the side of little novice monks. It remains unclear whether he possesses any particular predilections."

Inside the Celestial Palace, the Emperor of Zhongtian sat upon his celestial throne, holding the newly delivered newspaper. As he finished reading it word by word, his entire body trembled with rage; he had not been this infuriated in a very long time.

Grinding his teeth, the Emperor of Zhongtian tore the newspaper to shreds and slammed his hand furiously against the celestial throne, his wrathful voice echoing throughout the Celestial Palace.

"Which bastard wrote this!"