A Man-Eating Monster

One in the morning.

At this moment, in the River City section of the Martial Artist Forum.

"High School Student Beats Up Martial Artist" had already risen to fifth place on the daily ranking, only two spots behind the third-ranked "Ye Qiu Refines Thorn Demon Dragon."

Thanks to that post, Yage, Lin Feng's ex-girlfriend, had also seen her post, "River City's Most Beautiful Demon Spirit Master," leap straight from thirteenth place into the top ten, landing at ninth.

In particular, their former relationship had sparked immense curiosity and discussion among netizens.

A young man who had failed on Awakening Day but possessed outstanding combat talent.

A beautiful young woman with ordinary talent who had refined an Eighth-Rank Charm Butterfly on Awakening Day and signed with Juxing Club.

Childhood sweethearts, Anbian Residential Area, breakup...

There were simply too many talking points, gossip elements exploding everywhere, even touching upon modern society's emotional and value-related issues.

That was also one reason why the post had climbed to fifth place on the daily ranking in just one night.

Though it was already late, there were still plenty of netizens who represented the night-owl crowd.

Every ten seconds, dozens of new comments appeared beneath the post "High School Student Beats Up Martial Artist."

Dozens of comments every ten seconds meant hundreds in a minute. Though that sounded like a lot, compared to the comments that had previously surged forth like mountains collapsing and seas roaring, it was already pitifully few.

Though the comments had decreased, the heat had not weakened in the slightest. Netizens were still engaged in fierce debate.

After casually scrolling through several comments, Yang Fan would occasionally reply in furious rebuttal whenever he came across one that distorted the facts.

Ding-dong!

Just then, a faint notification sounded. Yang Fan lightly clicked his mouse and opened a group chat.

It was a group chat called Jianghu News Agency.

Yang Fan was the group owner. There were sixty-seven members in total, with fifty-seven currently online.

Little Mushroom: "Brother Fan, are you there? I've finished writing the story and sent it to you. Take a look?"

Sharp Brother: "It's about time at this hour. Any later and the effect will actually be worse."

Winter Melon: "I'm about to fall asleep. Any later and I won't be able to hold on."

Call Me Beauty: "Start already. My great blade can't be held back any longer."

Zhang Xiaokai: "Sleep my ass. Tomorrow, this post might just blow Ye Qiu away. Just thinking about it gets me excited."

Watching the lively messages from the group members, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Yang Fan's lips.

This group had been created two years ago, but its membership had always remained at four.

Those four were the four core members of Jianghu News Agency, himself included. To avoid trouble, none of their other informants had joined the group.

But now that they intended to establish the Jianghu Martial Arts Society, Yang Fan naturally had no more concerns. He added all the informants he had maintained at school over the past three years.

Yang Fan moved his mouse and accepted the file Little Mushroom had sent.

The file was named "Love Story."

It was a love story over a thousand words long.

The story described a couple who had lived in Anbian Residential Area and grown up together as childhood sweethearts, only to finally go their separate ways.

The story was so melodramatic and winding that even Yang Fan, who knew the truth, was left somewhat speechless.

Just then, a ding-dang notification sounded.

Little Mushroom: "Brother Fan, how's the writing?"

Yang Fan: "The writing's good, but does the plot really have to be this melodramatic?"

Little Mushroom: "Didn't you say the core principle of gossip was that, aside from not twisting the facts, the more melodramatic the better? I don't care anymore. I spent three hours writing this. If you want to change it, change it yourself."

Yang Fan: "Fine. I'll just revise the title and post it."

As he chatted, Yang Fan began writing a comment. As an old hand who had prowled the Martial Artist Forum for eight years, Yang Fan knew full well how important a title was.

What netizens looked at was the title. What they looked at was the key point.

If it could not seize their attention at first glance, there would be no chance of them taking a second look.

After some revisions, Yang Fan changed the comment to: "There Is a Kind of Love Called Lin Feng! This is the most melodramatic love tragedy I've ever heard in my life." He then copied the content and posted it on the Martial Artist Forum.

After posting the comment, Yang Fan replied in the group: "Alright, everyone cooperated well tonight. Get some sleep early. Tomorrow, we'll see how the battle goes."

Having said that, with no intention of continuing to chat, he went offline directly.

Tonight's forum post had been Lin Feng's assignment for him.

Those photos had also been provided by Lin Feng.

The objective of the assignment was simple: let everyone know that Lin Feng was a peerless genius.

As for how to carry it out, Lin Feng had not said. He had told Yang Fan to think of a way himself.

And Yang Fan's method was a melodramatic love story. Once the post had been published, it was no longer something he could freely control.

But Yang Fan believed that the moment this post truly exploded was about to arrive.

Anbian Residential Area.

Like Yang Fan, though it was already past midnight, Lin Feng had not gone to sleep.

Curled beneath his blanket, he lay on his side, scrolling through his phone and browsing the Martial Artist Forum.

Lin Feng wanted to attract advertisers, so he needed fame.

His purpose in posting on the Martial Artist Forum was also to stir up publicity.

Aside from television news, where else could one build a reputation more easily than on the Martial Artist Forum?

The Martial Artist Forum had three hundred million registered members. Even in the River City section alone, tens of millions of people browsed it every day.

Only with fame could he attract advertisers' attention, and only then would his advertising fees be worth money.

However, Lin Feng also knew that although his combat talent was indeed strong, and he might truly be able to beat up martial artists, he could not refine demon spirits. With only the strength of Body Cultivation Seventh Stage, he was destined to find it difficult to draw everyone's attention.

Therefore, Lin Feng wanted the people of River City, even the entire nation, to know that he was a genius—a peerless genius capable of challenging those above his rank, refining Earth Ranking demon spirits, and possessing exceptional martial arts talent.

He wanted his name to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ye Qiu's.

By then, he would draw the attention of the Glory Professional League. If luck was on his side, he might even enter the Glory Rookie Ranking.

As long as he entered the Glory Rookie Ranking and obtained Blue Moon Guardian, then in River City, under Blue Moon's protection, no one would dare harm him.

The task Lin Feng had given Yang Fan was for the post to enter the River City section's daily top ten within three days. Now, Yang Fan had exceeded the assignment.

That meant that millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of people already knew the name Lin Feng.

Though they were not Lin Feng's fans, at the very least, they knew there was someone named Lin Feng. That was enough.

"Still not asleep?"

Lin Feng's ears twitched slightly. It seemed that someone had bumped into the tables and chairs in the living room, producing a creaking sound.

The house's soundproofing was poor. In the stillness of night, even the slightest noise carried loudly.

Perhaps today's news had been too unbelievable and too delightful. Even his family, originally exhausted, seemed to have lost sleep, and sounds of drinking water or bumping into things occasionally came from the living room.

"It's time to change houses," Lin Feng thought.

As soon as he sold the advertising slots, he would move and let his family live a truly happy life.

Living in Anbian Residential Area was not only inconvenient, but would also become troublesome as his fame continued to grow.

Lin Feng slowly climbed out of bed, switched on the bedside lamp, and adjusted its brightness to the faintest level.

He crouched down and stretched his entire upper body beneath the bed. He held that position for several seconds, seeming somewhat hesitant, but in the end, he still took out a black iron box from the very innermost spot beneath the bed.

It was a rust-covered iron box.

The iron box had a lid, and on that lid were more than a hundred tiny holes. Looking at this seemingly ordinary iron box, even fear flashed through Lin Feng's eyes.

As though there were a man-eating monster inside!