Online Flame War

Master Tongtian, under the name "Supreme Purity Sword Master," ascended to the title of "No. 1 Sword Immortal of the National Server." This event was like a massive boulder cast into a calm lake, stirring up a colossal storm within the gaming community of Realms Expedition. With honor came not only admiration and adoration but also endless doubts, jealousy, and hidden attacks.

Initially, Master Tongtian scoffed at the speculations on the forums about "abnormal win rates," "inhuman controls," and "suspected cheating software." How could a Sage's mind be bothered by the chirping of ants? He even found it somewhat amusing that ordinary mortals, unable to comprehend his micro-manipulations and awareness derived from his profound understanding of the Great Dao, could only attribute it to unorthodox methods—a true case of frogs in a well.

However, when registration for the "World's First Martial Arts Tournament" officially began, and the organizers announced the list of seeded players, ranking "Supreme Purity Sword Master" as one of the favorites to win, this undercurrent finally erupted into open, turbulent waves.

A 10,000-character post titled A Deep Dive into 'Supreme Purity Sword Master': Divine Skill or Technological Assistance? quietly appeared at the top of the game's largest forum, "Expedition Camp." It was quickly hyped up and marked with a "Explosive" tag.

The poster, ID "Data Emperor Conan," claimed to be a veteran game data analyst. The post appeared objective, citing a vast amount of "Supreme Purity Sword Master's" combat data—such as skill cooldown intervals, pixel-perfect movement accuracy, and reaction time calculations—and comparing them to known top professional players and even theoretical human limits. The conclusion pointed to "abnormalities." The post was filled with statements like, "According to model analysis, this operation cannot be stably replicated by humans," and "Reaction speed continuously exceeds the limit threshold, inconsistent with biological laws." While it didn't directly accuse him of cheating, the implication was overwhelmingly clear.

Even more insidious, the latter half of the post began to resort to personal attacks and speculation about motives, hinting that "Supreme Purity Sword Master" was either a tool cultivated by a major guild for hype, a loser with psychological issues seeking validation through cheating, or even suggesting possible "improper dealings" with other players to disrupt the competition.

This post was like fresh meat thrown to a pack of wolves, instantly igniting the entire forum.

"I knew it! How could anyone be this strong? Turns out he's a cheater!"

"Support Data Emperor! The officials should ban his account and investigate! Give the game back its fairness!"

"Heh, No. 1 Sword Immortal of the National Server? More like No. 1 Sword (referring to tech sword) of the National Server!"

"Seconded! This 'Supreme Purity Sword Master' is probably 'Supreme Purity Cheat Master,' right?"

"Trash! Get out of the game! Boycott cheaters from participating in the Martial Arts Tournament!"

Foul language spread like a plague beneath the post. Countless players, either unaware of the facts or swayed by the narrative, began to follow suit with insults and reports. Some small streamers, looking to gain popularity, even started analyzing "Supreme Purity Sword Master's" "conclusive" actions out of context during their streams, with extremely mocking tones.

Villa, living room.

Master Tongtian had just finished a satisfying ranked match and was leisurely sipping on a "fat house happy water" (a recent favorite) with ice, prepared by Lin Fan for him. He casually opened the game forum, intending to see if the officials had posted any new news about the Martial Arts Tournament. Then, that glaring pinned post and the surging malicious comments below it unexpectedly slammed into his view.

At first, he merely frowned. But as his gaze swept over the so-called "data analysis" and the unspeakable insults below, the contentment on his face quickly vanished, replaced by an extreme coldness. The knuckles of his hand gripping the phone turned white from the force, and the temperature of the air around him seemed to drop several degrees, even causing a fine layer of condensation to form on the outside of the cups on the coffee table.

Lin Fan, lounging on the sofa nearby scrolling through short videos, suddenly felt a chill down his spine and shivered. He looked up in confusion, only to see Master Tongtian's profile, as cold as ten thousand years of ice, and a murderous intent flickering in his eyes, almost solidifying.

"Mas-Master?" Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat, a bad feeling creeping in. "Are... are you alright?"

Master Tongtian didn't answer. He simply turned the phone screen towards Lin Fan, his voice terrifyingly low, like a volcano on the verge of eruption: "Little Lin, how should such foul language and baseless accusations be dealt with in this world...?"

Lin Fan leaned in and his scalp tingled. He had glimpsed that post before but hadn't dared to mention it to Master Tongtian, fearing that if the master got upset, he might trace the poster through the internet and "annihilate" them. He never expected him to see it himself.

"Well... Master, please don't be angry!" Lin Fan quickly tried to placate him. "The internet is just like this, all sorts of people! They're just jealous! Envious of your skills! You mustn't mind them! The innocent will remain innocent!"

"The innocent will remain innocent?" Master Tongtian let out a cold snort, his sword energy surging around him, blowing Lin Fan's hair backward. "Why should This One need to prove anything to these ants?! Yet they dare to accuse This One of cheating! Insulting This One's Dao heart! How can such karma be easily forgiven?!"

He grew angrier as he spoke, suddenly standing up, a sharp glint in his eyes: "When This One's divine sense sweeps over and finds these slanderers, they will know what the wrath of a Sage is, and that it cannot be lightly provoked!"

"No! Absolutely not, Master!" Lin Fan was terrified, his soul scattered. He couldn't care less, grabbing Master Tongtian's waist (it felt like hugging a rocket about to launch). "The internet is virtual! IP addresses can be hidden! You won't be able to find out who it is! And... and casually using divine sense to search mortals is... it's an invasion of privacy! It's illegal! It will attract punishment from this world's enforcers... uh, the 'Heavenly Dao Rules'!"

In his haste, he even brought out "Heavenly Dao Rules."

Master Tongtian's movements paused, his brow furrowed. While he didn't fear the so-called "rules" of this world, he knew that forcefully using power beyond this world's limits would inevitably attract unnecessary trouble, possibly even exposing their existence. Gong Gong's near-destruction of the dam earlier was a cautionary tale.

"Are you saying we should just let these rats yap and tarnish my pure name?!" Master Tongtian's anger remained unabated, feeling a tightness in his chest. He had roamed the Primordial Era for countless eons, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? Even when he fought the Four Sages back then, he had openly set up the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation. He had never been slandered behind his back with such base methods!

"Of course not!" Lin Fan saw a glimmer of hope and quickly said, "We can fight back! Using... using their methods!"

"Their methods?" Master Tongtian narrowed his eyes.

"Yes! Online arguments... uh, that is, reason with them on the forum! Refute their rumors!" Lin Fan explained. "We can post a clarification, speak with facts! Or... I can help you register a small account and argue with them!" He said the last part with a lack of confidence.

"Reasoning? Arguing?" Master Tongtian seemed to hear the world's biggest joke, laughing in anger. "Reasoning with these foul-mouthed, ignorant individuals? It's like playing the lute to a cow! As for arguing... Hmph, This One disdains to lower himself to that level!"

He sat back down, but his expression remained so grim it could drip water. Having him argue with mortals was indeed beneath his dignity, but if he didn't vent this anger, his thoughts wouldn't flow smoothly!

Just then, Lao Tzu, who had been resting with his eyes closed nearby, slowly opened them. He glanced at the murderous Tongtian and said calmly, "The Great Dao is simple, evolving into complexity. This world's 'internet' is also a place where the thoughts of all beings converge, chaotic and mixed, which is not surprising. Fellow Daoist Tongtian, your heart is disturbed."

"Lao Tzu! Stop speaking platitudes!" Master Tongtian was already angry, and hearing this made him even more irritable. "If someone slandered your alchemy as fame-stealing deception, what would you do?"

Lao Tzu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said nonchalantly, "The clear will remain clear, the turbid will remain turbid. Time will prove everything."

Master Tongtian: "..." He felt he simply couldn't communicate with this serene and detached fellow!

Gong Gong, putting down his Handbook of Geological Disaster Prevention, interjected in a deep voice, "If you ask me, why bother with them! Just find the source directly and smash them into dregs with one punch, then who would dare to make noise!" This was very much in line with Gong Gong's usual style.

Goddess Nüwa, who was using a tablet to design a new "Shan He She Ji" (Mountains and Rivers Painting Scroll) pattern for nail art, looked up and frowned. "On the internet, the evil in people's hearts can be amplified to this extent? Truly ugly. Fellow Daoist Tongtian, why not study nail art with me to calm your mind and not get angry over such filthy matters."

Jumang poked his head in from the backyard, still holding a small shovel with some spiritual soil on it. "Do you need me to purify the turbid energy here with the fragrance of grass and trees?"

Lin Fan looked at these "ancestors" offering advice, each more unreliable than the last, and felt utterly exhausted.

Master Tongtian's expression shifted as he listened to everyone's suggestions (except Lao Tzu's). Gong Gong's method was straightforward but had endless future troubles; Goddess Nüwa's method... forget it; Jumang's method was even more like scratching an itch through one's boot. He irritably ran a hand through his hair, his gaze falling back on the post and the insults below.

Suddenly, a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

"Enough!" He took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision. "Since you wish to use your tongues as swords to tarnish my Dao heart, then do not blame This One... for using your own methods against you!"

He picked up his phone again, but instead of registering a new account, he directly logged into his main account, "Supreme Purity Sword Master"!

"Master! What are you doing?" Lin Fan had a bad premonition.

Master Tongtian ignored him, his fingers flying across the virtual keyboard. He didn't start cursing as Lin Fan imagined. Instead, with an extremely calm, almost condescending tone of academic critique, he began... to refute the "expose post" point by point!

"Regarding skill cooldown intervals: The so-called 'human limit' you speak of is merely the sky seen by frogs in a well. Have you not heard, 'When the heart and sword are one, the thought is the action'? This is the initial stage of the sword Dao. If you mortals cannot comprehend it, you attribute it to external factors. How laughable."

"Regarding movement accuracy: Pixel-level? Hmph, do you know of the 'Microscopic' realm? With divine sense covering everything, every detail is visible, and evading attacks is instinctual. Why bother with deliberate calculation?"

"Regarding reaction speed: Biological laws? You presume to measure the speed of a Sage's divine sense with mortal bodies, no different from mayflies discussing the speed of a Kun Peng, or summer insects talking about ice."

His replies contained no vulgarities, yet each word was like a sharp sword, incomparably incisive, carrying an absolute sense of superiority and disdain stemming from a difference in life and knowledge levels. He devalued the opponent's "data" as worthless, while attributing his own strength to the gap in "realm," a height that they could never reach.

The moment this reply was posted, the entire thread fell silent for a moment, then erupted like cold water hitting hot oil!

"Holy crap! The main character is here!"

"This tone... is way too arrogant, isn't it?!"

"Still 'Sage's divine sense'? 'Sword Dao initial realm'? Late-stage chuunibyo, much!"

"LOL, a cheater pretending to be cultured?"

"Reported, reported! Not only cheating, but also spreading feudal superstition!"

The mockery and insults didn't stop; instead, they intensified because of Master Tongtian's "high-and-mighty" response. In the eyes of those players, this "Supreme Purity Sword Master" not only refused to admit fault but also played coy, acting all mysterious and supernatural, which was simply an insult to their intelligence!

Master Tongtian's face turned ashen as he looked at the surging malice on the screen. He had thought his "reasoning" would deter these petty individuals, but it was like playing the lute to a cow, only provoking a stronger backlash. The feeling of being unable to explain himself, surrounded by countless ignorant remarks, made him so stifled he almost spat blood.

"Stubborn fools! Unreasonable!" He gritted his teeth, and sword energy uncontrollably leaked from his body again, causing fine cracks to appear on the phone screen.

Seeing this, Lin Fan knew he couldn't let Master Tongtian handle it personally anymore, or he'd get seriously ill, and the phone wouldn't survive either. He quickly snatched the phone, "Master! Leave it to me! I'll handle it! Please calm down!"

He quickly stuffed the "otaku's happy water" into Tongtian's hand and then took the phone, retreating to the side to ponder a solution.

Going head-to-head wouldn't work; Master Tongtian's "Sage theory" would only be seen as showing off and provocation online. So, he could only... use magic to defeat magic?

Lin Fan thought for a moment, logged into his forum account, which he hadn't used in years, and began to organize his thoughts. Instead of directly arguing, he opened a new thread titled Rational Analysis of 'Supreme Purity Sword Master's' Operations: Perhaps We've Encountered a One-in-a-Million Gaming Genius?.

In the thread, he avoided the vague "realm" talk and focused on the game itself. Using relatively simple language, he analyzed some of "Supreme Purity Sword Master's" brilliant gameplay clips (which he had secretly recorded), pointing out the top-tier game sense, psychological tactics, and micro-control possibilities involved. He cited examples of real people with reaction times and hand-eye coordination far exceeding the norm (like certain professional athletes). He admitted that "Supreme Purity Sword Master's" operations indeed surpassed the understanding of ordinary players but attributed it to "extreme gaming talent combined with unbelievable effort." He urged everyone to remain rational and avoid personal attacks without concrete evidence.

This post indeed attracted a group of relatively rational players for discussion. Although there were still many doubts, at least it was no longer a one-sided barrage of vulgar language. Lin Fan also secretly contacted some gaming friends he was close to, asking them to help boost the post and guide public opinion.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan began collecting information on "Data Emperor Conan's" past misdeeds. He refused to believe that someone who liked to stir up trouble had a clean record. After some searching, he indeed found traces of this person being paid to write sponsored posts and maliciously smear competitors. Lin Fan organized this evidence, preparing to release it at an opportune moment.

This online storm, triggered by a exposé post, temporarily entered a stalemate and standoff under Lin Fan's covert mediation and guidance. Supporters and opponents argued fiercely, keeping the forum's popularity high.

As for the instigator, Master Tongtian, after the initial rage and setback from his personal involvement, seemed to have calmed down. He stopped looking at the frustrating posts and simply logged into the game on time every day, responding to all the doubts with a series of clean and decisive victories.

His moves became sharper, and his record more dazzling. It was as if he were pouring all his anger and frustration onto his opponents in the game. The name "Supreme Purity Sword Master," amidst the controversy, carried a resolute aura of unwavering determination, awaiting the arrival of the "World's First Martial Arts Tournament."

He knew that only by crushing all opponents with absolute strength in the highly anticipated official competition and winning the title of "World's First" could he completely shatter all rumors and silence those barking madly.

The online battle had temporarily come to an end. But a greater storm was quietly brewing in the skies above the "World's First Martial Arts Tournament" arena.

In the villa, Lin Fan secretly wiped a bead of sweat as he looked at Master Tongtian, who was no longer exuding a low-pressure aura but was fully focused on preparing for the competition.

Dealing with a Sage's online public opinion was more exhausting than Gong Gong controlling the floods!