Over the next few days, life on both sides remained calm and uneventful.
Gu Zhao ordered another batch of cinnabar, ink, and yellow paper online. Like a hamster stockpiling food for winter, he did nothing but cultivate and draw talismans, wishing he could save up enough of every kind to fight an entire campaign.
Drawing talismans, cultivating to restore his energy, then continuing to draw talismans.
After all, drawing talismans consumed Mana, while using them required very little Mana.
I may not be able to cast Meteor Fire Rain, but wouldn't ten thousand Fireball Spells serve as a substitute?
It was only when Gu Zhao discovered that, as his cultivation improved, the power of the same talisman also increased that he finally stopped, rather than continuing to stuff his warehouse full.
The white fox did not leave either. She remained in the village to recover from her injuries, occasionally tagging along with Gu Zhao for free food and drink. She ate until her mouth gleamed with grease, and every time she saw Gu Zhao, her first reaction was actually to drool.
Yet the person she was closest to was Xiuniang. Every night, she insisted on sleeping beside Xiuniang.
Still, Gu Zhao noticed that the white fox behaved rather contradictorily. At times, she seemed extremely intimate with Xiuniang; at others, there appeared to be a barrier between them, and she acted neither too close nor too distant.
The happiest one was Xiuniang. Since her parents had passed away, she had not lived such happy days in a very, very long time. The white fox kept her company during the day, while her waiting bore fruit at night. Every day was filled with anticipation and hope.
Of course, beneath that happiness lay worry as well. She did not know when Gu Zhao would leave, and once the white fox recovered, she might leave too.
But Xiuniang hid her unease deep in her heart and faced each day with a bright, radiant smile.
That day, Gu Zhao returned from the other world during the daytime and received another call from Zhang Hang.
"I haven't seen you at school for days. Are you really not looking for a job?" Zhang Hang asked from the other end of the call.
"I'm not." Gu Zhao sprawled on the sofa beneath the air conditioning. "I'll pick up my diploma from school in June. Even if graduation means unemployment, I'm ready to live off my parents."
"Great!" Zhang Hang cheered. "Come make videos with me!"
"You want to press me into service again!" Gu Zhao raised a brow and could not help asking, "You're this excited—did your video get a good response?"
"More than good!" Zhang Hang laughed smugly. "I gave it a little push, and it got tens of thousands of likes. There are over a thousand comments too, all asking for more."
"Oh, right. I tagged you in the video, and it got you a few hundred followers too. You didn't know?" Zhang Hang asked.
"I didn't. I haven't looked at my phone much these past few days." Gu Zhao shook his head.
"What have you even been busy with these past few days?" Zhang Hang asked incredulously. "Can anyone in modern society really live without their phone?"
Gu Zhao replied solemnly, "Cultivating. Ascending on rosy clouds."
"Give me a break. These days, every Daoist priest has a video account—some recruit students, some preach the Dao, some make skits, and some chase pretty women. But not a single one talks about ascension." Zhang Hang mocked, "What era do you think this is? Believe in science. That corpse-liberation and pill-refining stuff went out of fashion long ago."
Gu Zhao stretched out a hand and pulled over a water cup from some distance away through the air. After taking a sip, he said blandly, "I don't know whether corpse liberation and pill refinement are real, but Spirit Cultivation and qi refinement, drawing talismans and casting spells, are absolutely not fake."
Zhang Hang chuckled disdainfully. "Come on. You've practiced for ten years, and I haven't seen you make anything of yourself. Your Doukuai account only has three hundred followers, while one video from me got you two hundred more. If you're so capable, do something real and gain some followers."
Gu Zhao felt a breath catch in his chest, leaving him speechless.
Even if he cultivated the Dao and tempered his heart, he was still a young man. What young man did not enjoy showing off? If he did not want to show off, why would he start a short-video account?
So when he had registered on Doukuai and uploaded his insights into Daoist cultivation, he had been full of hope. He had wanted to attract a wave of followers with mysterious Daoist mysticism and establish himself as some lofty master.
Who could have expected that, with the country's development and the revival of traditional cultural aesthetics, native Daoism had caught the tailwind as well? Doukuai was flooded with accounts like his, displaying hand seals and incantations while explaining the principles of Daoist cultivation.
Gu Zhao had been directly swallowed by the vast ocean of Daoist short videos. Besides, what he displayed was far less interesting than those tales of legends and wonders.
But while he could lose face, he could not lose momentum. Gu Zhao still responded to Zhang Hang with disdain. "If I wanted followers, I could get them in minutes."
Zhang Hang clicked his tongue, his tone irritatingly smug. "You're a Daoist—you need to establish Dao resolve. If you can't reach one thousand followers within three days, then obediently come shoot videos for me. Big brother will carry you to the sky!"
"You carry me to the sky? I'll blast you into the sky!" Gu Zhao hung up and stared at his account, his gaze flickering.
When he had first returned from crossing worlds, he had considered displaying his holiness before the masses. As the saying went, returning home in splendor without showing off was like walking through the night in embroidered robes. Now that he was so powerful, would it not be a pity not to flaunt it a little?
But reason told him that this was not yet the time to run wild.
It was not that he worried about being dissected. This was not a few decades ago; he still had that much trust.
What worried him was that once exposed, his freedom would probably be affected to some extent. He would inevitably have to deal with the authorities as well, bringing even more troublesome matters.
Not to mention that once he was exposed, the news might very well spread overseas.
If the domestic authorities could still be trusted, and domestic capitalists had the heart of thieves but not the courage to act recklessly, then Gu Zhao had no confidence in foreign countries whatsoever.
The filter had shattered far too thoroughly, and boomerangs were flying everywhere.
So Gu Zhao did not intend to expose himself for the time being, but... who said that not exposing himself meant he could not show off?
When he had used Palm Thunder to strike a car, had no one come looking for him?
Gu Zhao:
Thus, he took his phone and went to the other world to record a video. After carefully checking it over, he crossed back and uploaded it.
Very soon, users following [Guang Zhao Ri Yue] came across a new video. It had been filmed in a dense forest. The blogger did not show his face, only extending both hands before the camera. Naturally, a customary line of small text was marked at the bottom of the screen.
[Special effects, for entertainment purposes only]
The next moment, the blogger began his demonstration.
"In my previous videos, I explained various Daoist arts and incantations. Starting today, I'll be giving practical demonstrations."
"This incantation is called Palm Thunder, a foundational lightning art of the Daoist tradition."
"Form the Heavenly Thunder Seal with the left hand, shape the thunder glyph with the right, take Yi of the Heavenly Stems and Wu, Wei, and Shen of the Earthly Branches, then chant: Lightning pursues lightning, heaven and earth are the eyes. Righteous qi of the eight directions, electric light flickers."
"At this point, the thunder has gathered in your palm. Then aim your palm at the target of your spell—such as that tree ahead—and release the lightning."
"Edict!"
"Boom!"
In the video, purple light flashed and vanished. A tree as thick as a thigh was struck, snapping in an instant and turning charred black. Then the screen went dark as well, and the video ended.
Viewers: ???
Before you continue