The sect leader sighed. "Though you lost this match, you did so with honor. Rest and recover in peace. The future of this world belongs to you young people, after all."
Outside, the wind picked up, rustling the bamboo leaves.
Early the next morning, mist shrouded Mount Qingcheng. Xu Yunda stood on the stone platform by the mountain gate, practicing his forms. His movements were slow, each one like walking through water.
This was the Mount Qingcheng Sect's health-preserving exercise. He practiced it once every day, rain or shine, and had kept it up for over a decade.
Hurried footsteps came through the mist. It was his junior sister, Little Zhou.
"Senior brother—senior brother!" Little Zhou ran up, gasping for breath, the phone in her hand nearly flying out of her grip.
Yet her face was alight with sheer excitement. "You've gone viral! You've gone viral! You're trending!"
Xu Yunda frowned and smiled bitterly to himself, assuming his junior sister was trying to comfort him.
His voice was calm, with a trace of self-mockery. "Viral? I suffered a crushing defeat. The entire martial arts world must be laughing at me. Of course I'm 'viral.'"
Little Zhou shoved her phone right in front of Xu Yunda. The screen displayed Doule's trending page. "See for yourself! Videos of your match with Miss Yang are all over the internet! You've gone straight to the top of the trending list!"
Little Zhou handed him the phone. On Doule's trending list, the top entry, marked "Exploding," was—Xu Yunda of the Mount Qingcheng Sect.
Second was—mysterious female martial arts expert Yang Wanqing. Third was—Chen Hao's disciple. Fourth was—running across rooftops and up walls is real.
Even the official accounts of renowned sects such as Wudang, Shaolin, and Emei had reposted the videos with the caption, "Huaxia's