The Urban Cultivation Grandmaster

Chapter 37: Launching a Social Media Platform

“Wow, wow, wow! Master, you’re just so cool!” “Standing alone at the pass, invincible against ten thousand men—punching the dojo master, kicking the heroes to the ground—it was truly like a god descending from the heavens...” “Master, how did you just defeat those three top-tier experts at the seventh level of the Meridian Condensation Realm? Why didn’t I understand what happened, and why didn’t many of the highly accomplished elders on stage figure it out either? Master, please explain it to me—exactly how did you...” After Mu Tian received his share, the conference was drawing to a close, so he took his disciple Yang Chun back to school. Mu Tian had originally planned to find Lu Yue and bring her and the others back as well, but unfortunately, they couldn’t leave just yet—after all, volunteers were still needed to clear out the venue and wrap up the event. On the way back, Yang Chun didn’t stop talking for a second. Like a curious little kid, he asked question after question, his face beaming with excitement, as if it were he—not Mu Tian—who had just put on a spectacular display at the conference. Faced with this barrage of questions, Mu Tian felt a bit exasperated and just gave half-hearted answers the whole time. “Here, go make some formula! Xiao Hei is hungry again—just look at those pitiful little eyes.” Mu Tian held up Xiao Hei’s front paws, and the little bear played along perfectly, immediately lighting up with starry eyes and adopting a pitiful expression—it was absolutely adorable. Yang Chun quickly replied with an “Oh,” cast an apologetic glance at Xiao Hei, then scratched her head, pulled the formula and a thermos from her bag, and set about mixing the formula with practiced ease. “Finally, it’s quiet!” Mu Tian sighed to himself, stroked the soft fur of Xiao Hei, and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Master.” Yang Chun called out again, instantly giving Mu Tian a headache. At first, he’d really enjoyed Yang Chun’s adoration and flattery, but after more than ten minutes of him acting like a curious little kid the whole way, he was starting to find it a bit much. “By the way, Master, why don’t you join social media? Hmm, it looks like you haven’t verified your account—you have so few followers!” Yang Chun asked curiously, clutching his phone. “Huh?” Mu Tian looked up just in time to see Yang Chun scrolling through his phone; the screen was paused on Mu Tian’s Weibo homepage, which had very few followers—no more than a hundred—all of whom were people Mu Tian knew in real life. “Master, look at mine!” Yang Chun quickly tapped open his Weibo page. Mu Tian took one look and saw that his apprentice Yang Chun’s Weibo was bustling with activity. Every post had tens of thousands of comments, and older posts had tens of millions of views and over a million comments—a world of difference compared to his own quiet, deserted Weibo account. Weibo Followers—12,035,647. Mu Tian checked it several times to make sure he hadn’t misread it—he really did have over ten million followers. He looked at Yang Chun in confusion, a strange expression on his face. “Yang Chun, is it really that easy to make it as a ‘cross-dressing influencer’ these days? Just by wearing women’s clothes, you can rack up ten million followers and become a famous internet celebrity?” Yang Chun was instantly at a loss for words, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood: “Master, I didn’t gain these followers by wearing women’s clothes—don’t talk nonsense! I’ve only worn women’s clothes once, as you know from last time. The reason I have so many followers is actually because I’m riding on your coattails. Look at my verified profile: ‘Chief Disciple of Master Daowen!’ ” “And take a look at my bio: Master Mu’s only authorized live-streaming channel. If you want to watch Teacher Mu Tian’s Daowen courses, follow me on Weibo—I’ll bring you the latest and most comprehensive Daowen instructional videos from Master Mu right on time!” Yang Chun said with a smile. Hearing Yang Chun say this, Mu Tian realized that Yang Chun likely played a significant role in the astonishing growth of his Star Sea Radiance. Just through Yang Chun alone—every time he gave a lecture, at least ten million people listened to his lessons and learned Daowen knowledge—his Star Sea Radiance was growing at an incredibly rapid pace. “So, should I go get verified on Weibo too?” Mu Tian nodded and asked Yang Chun. “Absolutely, Master. You’ve been devoted to your training at Tianhai Academy and aren’t familiar with these things, but don’t worry. Once you get verified, your follower count will likely skyrocket to a staggering number. And it’s not just Weibo in China—you should also get verified on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. With your popularity, Master, you’ll probably become the most-followed influencer in the world!” Yang Chun was actually quite reliable. Once they arrived at Mu Tian’s residence, the two of them began the verification process. Soon, they had completed the verification process on one social media platform after another. Once that was done, Mu Tian paid little attention to his social media accounts. Many people dream of fame, of being the center of attention, and of living a glamorous life, but Mu Tian had little interest in any of that. Compared to all that, he preferred peace and quiet—spending an afternoon observing ants or gazing up at the beautiful starry sky at night. What could be more soothing to the soul than that? Therefore, after Mu Tian had taught Yang Chun the essence of “Seamless” and answered some of his questions, he went alone to the Sanjang Pavilion to meditate in silence. The little Black Bear, clutching its bottle, lay sprawled across Mu Tian’s back, clinging to him as firmly as an octopus. From a distance, it looked less like a bear and more like a bear-shaped backpack or keychain. For the entire afternoon, Mu Tian devoted himself to quiet, deep cultivation. The Wild Ox, a thousand tides and ten thousand waves, the Three-Headed Fierce Dragons, the Ancient Demon Bear… His divine soul continuously visualized these forms, while spiritual energy was constantly channeled into his body. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the radiance of the Starry Sea flowed ceaselessly, shimmering brilliantly upon the great stone steles. As his cultivation and spiritual realm advanced hand in hand, Mu Tian was completely immersed in his practice. The two giant pythons beneath the waters of the Three Lakes Region also benefited greatly from his visualization of the three-headed ferocious dragons during his cultivation. Moved by this, the waters of the Three Lakes Region churned and surged, sending waves crashing and roaring. While the Three Lakes Region was far from calm, the outside world was even more bustling. Shortly after Mu Tian received his verified “V” badge, Weibo administrators learned of the news, and even the platform’s top executives were informed. “Promote it! Integrate all channels and go all out with promotion!” Driven by the full force of Weibo’s senior management, various channels immediately began promoting Mu Tian’s Weibo account. Even though Mu Tian’s Weibo account was completely empty—containing only the automated welcome post from when it was first created—his follower count was indeed growing at a staggering rate. In this era, due to transportation barriers, the “Earth village” had become a thing of the past. The internet had become the only option for communicating with people around the world. Consequently, over the past three years, the number of internet users worldwide had skyrocketed, and even many people who previously disliked going online had begun spending a significant amount of time on the web. Three years ago, wealthy celebrities and bigwigs from the tech and political worlds were the ones who attracted the most followers. But in this era, it is the powerful cultivators who are the objects of worship for countless ordinary people. These powerful cultivators boast enormous fan bases; countless people worship these mighty figures with fanatical devotion—especially the legendary super-powerful cultivators said to have transcended the Pulse Condensation Realm. Every major figure active on social media has at least 100 million followers. Compared to these figures, Mu Tian—who had only entered the public eye a month ago—surpassed them all. While people viewed those super-powerful cultivators as if they were gods, Mu Tian was different: he taught Daowen scriptures and spread civilization—matters that were closely tied to everyone’s lives. So, to put it bluntly, there wasn’t a single person on Earth who could match his popularity. Less than half a day after Mu Tian launched his accounts on Weibo and Facebook, his follower counts across major social media platforms began to skyrocket. One million, ten million, over 100 million... And this was all in just half a day—his follower count across all platforms had already surpassed 100 million.