Chapter 570: Livestream, Video, and Proposition Design

Chapter 570: Livestreams, Videos, and Design Propositions

Within the hallowed halls of Wanfa University.

Deep inside Ye Xingli’s laboratory.

Zhang Yu had been invited by his senior sister to join her in a livestream.

Initially, Zhang Yu was reluctant, but Ye Xingli persuaded him: "In the pursuit of the Immortal Dao, one must always earn money. Whether you are selling goods, dabbling in finance, or seeking investments, a high profile is always an advantage."

"Accumulating fans and fame early on will be of great benefit to your future path in the Immortal Dao."

Fu Ji added her own encouragement: "Zhang Yu, she is right. Your strength is growing, and you have even broken into the school’s top 50, yet you have no fans. Your reputation hardly matches your prowess."

"Starting to build a following now will at least provide you with a reserve fund for the top ten league matches."

Thus, Zhang Yu finally decided to spare a few hours to join Ye Xingli’s livestream in her lab.

The primary purpose of this broadcast was to promote the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument designed by Ye Xingli.

She had already finished crafting the product, and a level 10 Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument now sat on the workbench, serving as the centerpiece of her presentation.

While introducing it, Ye Xingli made sure to keep her long, starlit legs in full view of the camera, claiming it was a tactic to attract students from vocational and junior colleges.

"This is my junior brother, Zhang Yu, a student of artifact refining at Wanfa University, ranked 44th in the school."

"The Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument in my hands incorporates many of his suggestions."

Zhang Yu glanced at the scrolling barrage of comments, seeing fans react to his ranking with messages of worship, envy, and admiration.

Though most of Ye Xingli’s fans were vocational or junior college students, they held the elite scholars of the top ten universities in high regard.

But soon, a comment appeared: "Isn't this Zhang Yu the one who practices dual cultivation?"

"He participated in the Yin Artifact experiments."

As more fans checked the Spirit Realm and discovered news of Zhang Yu’s participation in the Yin Artifact experiments and his rapid progress through dual cultivation, the chat room flooded with messages.

"Please, can you make Ye Xingli leave after the stream ends?"

"No! Don't do dual cultivation!"

"Look at Ye Xingli’s knees..."

"Which elite scholar from the top ten lacks dual cultivation resources? You don't really think the streamer isn't dual cultivating, do you? Why would she cut off a path to higher scores?"

Watching this, Ye Xingli felt a surge of annoyance: "A bunch of pathetic vocational and junior college students, why are they so obsessed with this?"

"Typical of junior college students, they can dwell on this for ages. If you lot don't attend junior college, who will?"

Despite her irritation, she glanced at the text appearing on her "Poor Man’s Simulator" and forced a smile: "Everyone, please don't misunderstand. Zhang Yu and I share a purely professional relationship as senior sister and junior brother."

"As for myself, I am focused on artifact refining and have no interest in dual cultivation."

Ye Xingli paused, then added: "My college entrance exam scores were high enough for any of the top ten universities. The admissions director of Hehuan University even sought me out personally, offering me my pick of any major."

"But to me, artifact refining is a much broader horizon."

Although the chat had been stirred, her explanation managed to dampen the controversy.

Seeing a few persistent comments asking for dual cultivation videos or speculating about how much "dharma bone wear" would occur tonight, Ye Xingli kept her smile, though she was seething inside.

"Since when is the dharma bone I craft so easily worn down?"

With a flick of her eyes, she blocked and muted the unruly fans.

Once the stream ended, Ye Xingli looked at the day’s orders for the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument and felt a flicker of joy: "102 units sold? And this was without any prior traffic redirection. The sales figures are quite decent."

"It seems I can consider expanding the promotion."

Beside her, Zhang Yu noticed that his social media account had gained a few followers from the stream.

He had opened the account long ago but rarely managed it; most of his followers were students from the civil engineering and artifact refining departments of Wanfa University.

He had started with a few hundred, and now he was nearing a thousand.

"Growth is so slow."

Zhang Yu looked at Ye Xingli’s sales figures, a hint of envy rising in his heart.

"Influencer marketing really is a fast way to make money."

But Zhang Yu knew he lacked the time and energy for such things, nor did he have Ye Xingli’s fan base. Starting from scratch would take forever to reach her level.

"Should I just sell my extra design blueprints to Senior Sister?"

He recalled the works he had prepared for the competition: besides the Wind God Semi-Dharma Bone Power Boots, he had designs for an Artificial Feces Machine, Student Skin, an Automatic Ad-Watching Machine, a Hemorrhoid Cultivator, and a Student Simulator.

These blueprints were gathering dust; selling them for cash would be ideal.

Most companies wouldn't touch these designs unless they were targeting the vocational college market.

And Ye Xingli happened to be doing exactly that.

Zhang Yu proposed the idea and sent the blueprints to Ye Xingli for review.

At first, she was indifferent, but as she looked through them, her eyes brightened: "I never imagined you had designed so many products during this time?"

"I find them all quite intriguing."

"But whether I buy them or not, I must consult with the company. Wait for my word."

Zhang Yu knew that ever since Ye Xingli was selected for the school team and received key cultivation from Wanfa University, her company had been partially acquired by the school, which explained the subsequent investments and training.

Not long after, Master Mosha received a message from Ye Xingli. As a teacher at Wanfa University, he was primarily responsible for the school’s investment affairs, holding positions in many student-run companies to supervise their financial operations.

He knew nothing of artifact refining, but he was well-versed in streaming, publicity, finance, and accounting. He frowned as he read the message.

"Design works from a senior student?"

"Is Ye Xingli trying to pull her junior brother along?"

After some thought, Master Mosha offered a package price of 10 Spirit Coins for Zhang Yu’s blueprints.

In his view, this was a generous price for a senior student’s designs.

Ye Xingli: Zhang Yu’s designs are brilliant. This price is too low; he won't sell.

After all, these weren't outdated products from the Great Library. In Ye Xingli’s eyes, Zhang Yu’s designs could be sent to the production line with only minor tweaks. They were commercial copyrights, and she felt embarrassed to even mention a measly 10 Spirit Coins to him.

Master Mosha: How much do you want?

Ye Xingli: These designs clearly incorporate technologies from many mature products, and there are many cost-cutting features, showing he has a deep understanding of the market.

Ye Xingli: For this batch of designs, I believe he won't sell for less than 50 Spirit Coins.

Master Mosha: Then let's not buy them for now. The stream is currently focused on the Chaos Soil-Eating Instrument, and we have no capacity to connect with other production lines.

Ye Xingli: Zhang Yu just lacks fame, which is why his designs are hard to sell. If we buy them today, even if we don't produce them and just license them out, we will definitely profit.

Ye Xingli: These products are truly excellent...

Master Mosha: The company’s funds are limited. I cannot risk the school’s money.

Seeing Ye Xingli’s persistence, Master Mosha even suspected she was colluding with her junior brother to siphon money from the company.

Ye Xingli looked at Zhang Yu, her expression apologetic: "The company still needs to discuss it. I will urge them to reach a conclusion quickly. I will definitely get you a satisfactory price."

Zhang Yu replied calmly: "It's fine, I'm not in a hurry."

Once the broadcast concluded, Zi Yunzhen and Su Yunni had the materials prepared, and Zhang Yu began the forging of the second Taihao Sacred Law flying sword.

Not long after he resumed his work, a new video notification flickered within his ocular implant.

"It is Shui Haiyu from Shanhai Vocational University again."

Recalling the man's previous vow to uncover evidence against the Dual-Rest Cult, Zhang Yu curiously tapped to play the footage.

Fast-forwarding through the clips, the video revealed a montage of Shui Haiyu tracking, investigating, and scouring for leads.

Yet, in the end, he was cornered by members of the Dual-Rest Society, on the verge of being coerced into taking leave and joining their cult.

"Forcing people to rest like this," Shui Haiyu roared, "how is that any different from forcing them to die?"

"Your incomes are plummeting, aren't they? Jobs are becoming harder to find. Are you truly going to sink this low?"

The cult leader replied, "If everyone joins the Dual-Rest Cult, if everyone insists on resting, then the practice will spread across the world..."

"The entire school will be ruined!" Shui Haiyu retorted furiously. "How will we compete with other schools and corporations then?"

"Then let the whole world join the Dual-Rest Cult," the leader declared.

"You lunatic," Shui Haiyu spat, trembling with shock and rage.

At that final juncture, Shui Haiyu crushed a poison capsule hidden in his stomach, choosing to take his own life.

The video spun into a dizzying blur, accompanied by the panicked cries of the cultists.

"No!"

"Do not let him escape into the Spirit Realm!"

"His soul has been claimed!"

Watching the video come to an abrupt end, Zhang Yu let out a long, heavy sigh.

"He has become a soul cultivator?"

"If he has ascended as a soul cultivator, he surely must have reported everything to the True Gods by now."

Zhang Yu checked Shui Haiyu’s profile, only to find the avatar dimmed and gray.

"Offline? Is his account frozen due to a lack of funds?"

"Or is he currently under interrogation by the True Gods, his connection severed?"

Unable to discern the truth, Zhang Yu simply forwarded the video to Zhang Pianpian, wondering if his sister might have an interest in dealing with such cultist affairs.

As for himself, he lacked the capacity to involve himself in such matters.

...

Several days later.

"Student Zhang Yu, congratulations on officially being selected for the top ten of this year's design competition."

"To finalize the specific rankings of the top ten, we invite you to participate in an impromptu test."

"Upon arrival, you will have six hours to complete a design based on a set prompt..."

Staring at the invitation from the competition, Zhang Yu felt no surprise; after all, the Magnetic Pole True Monarch had already warned him to prepare for testing upon receiving word from the String-Sound True Monarch.

He was already aware that fifteen candidates had been nominated for the top ten, and this test was designed to eliminate five of them.

Yet, Zhang Yu made almost no preparations; his expertise was etched into his own mind, a product of his profound foundation—why should he fear any test?

Zhang Yu boarded his skiff and set off for the testing grounds.

(End of chapter)