The Urban Cultivation Grandmaster

Chapter 38: Hundreds of Millions of Followers!

“Wow, wow, wow! Master, your follower count has exploded! Oh my gosh, this is insane!!!” “Master, log in quickly and chat with your fans.” Just as Mu Tian was quietly contemplating the profound mysteries of various cultivation techniques, his disciple Yang Chun’s loud shouts interrupted his solitary practice. Fortunately, this was just routine cultivation—not a critical moment—otherwise, Mu Tian would have been in a real bind. Seizing the moment, Mu Tian said sternly, “Yang Chun, why are you making such a fuss? Be a little more composed.” “Oh, oh, oh,” Yang Chun nodded silently, realizing his behavior had indeed been a bit rash. He suspected he’d disturbed his master’s cultivation and felt uneasy, so he stood there speechless. Mu Tian shook his head and said, “Never mind, it’s fine. Just be more careful next time. This applies not only when I’m cultivating, but also when others are—don’t disturb them. This is a major taboo in the cultivation world. If you interrupt someone right when they’re having an epiphany or at a critical moment, you might end up making a powerful enemy.” Yang Chun took the lesson to heart and quickly agreed. “By the way, what was on your mind just now that had you so worked up?” Mu Tian remembered that Yang Chun must have had something on his mind. Yang Chun snapped out of his daze; the embarrassment on his face faded considerably, and he immediately beamed with joy. “Master, your follower counts on all major social media platforms have broken records. In such a short time, you’ve topped the global charts!” “Oh,” Mu Tian nodded slightly. “Um…” Yang Chun was at a loss for words. Seeing his master’s completely unperturbed expression, he suddenly felt a sense of helplessness. Master, oh Master, could you at least show some reaction? “Master, do you know how many followers you have?” Yang Chun wasn’t ready to give up and continued to drop the bombshell; he was sure he’d finally see a look of surprise on his master’s face. “How many?” Mu Tian was a bit curious, but that was all. “200 million on Weibo!” Yang Chun stole a glance at Mu Tian as he spoke, hoping to catch a look of surprise on his face. “Hmm,” Mu Tian replied nonchalantly. “400 million on Facebook!” “Oh.” “Twitter: 100 million!” After Yang Chun finished speaking, he didn’t see the reaction he’d hoped for for quite a while, so he asked, “Master, aren’t you surprised? Every platform has over 100 million followers. Aren’t you even a little surprised?” Mu Tian feigned “surprise” with a hint of amusement: “Are there really that many internet users now? I remember three years ago, back in those peaceful and stable days, even the top influencers on these social media platforms only had tens of millions of followers—the highest barely broke 100 million. Why am I suddenly jumping straight to hundreds of millions? Could it be that the platforms are inflating my numbers with bots!?” Yang Chun was instantly at a loss for words and said helplessly, “Master, what era are we in now? With transportation cut off and the world cut off from communication, the internet is the only way to connect, so the number of internet users has definitely risen. The group of people who spend a lot of time online is constantly expanding. It’s not just your fan count that’s staggering—in fact, the fan bases of many other big influencers have also ballooned immensely. Breaking the 100-million mark is quite common.” “Oh, I see,” Mu Tian nodded. Come to think of it, over the past three years, he’d been so immersed in exploring the civilization of the Xuan Realm that he’d fallen a bit out of touch with the outside world. “Master, why don’t you log into your account and interact with your fans? Answer some questions or something. See if these crazy fans are bots or not. Hehe, Grandmaster Daowen is famous throughout the world and a global sensation—tsk, tsk, tsk—the response is sure to be explosive.” Mu Tian thought it over and agreed with his disciple’s suggestion. Of course, this wasn’t about checking for bots or fake followers—Mu Tian wasn’t that bored—but he’d suddenly realized something. Mu Tian’s detachment from the world had limited his thinking, but he certainly wasn’t a fool. He hadn’t realized it before, but now that he understood the situation, it would be a massive loss not to do something with such a massive fan base. In the past, there was a concept known as the “fan economy.” Mu Tian didn’t have time to make money, but he could teach *Glory of the Star Sea*—it was the foundation of his livelihood. These nearly one billion followers were all students eager to learn about the Xuan Realm civilization. One side wants to learn, the other is willing to teach; one gains knowledge, the other earns “Starlight Glory”—it’s a mutually beneficial, win-win match made in heaven. Mu Tian also realized that this platform might bring him immense profits—profits that could even far exceed what he earned teaching at Tianjiang Cultivator Academy in the short term. After all, that massive amount of white Star Sea Radiance from before spoke volumes. “I wonder if teaching cultivation techniques online will earn me crimson Star Sea Radiance. If it does, what about teaching alchemy, herbal medicine, and beast taming?” Mu Tian pondered this quietly, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt the prospects were vast—a broad and prosperous path lay ahead. Having decided to take this path, Mu Tian naturally had to devote some effort to managing and maintaining his social media accounts. Without further ado, he immediately logged into various platforms. Once logged in, he posted a greeting on each platform. “Hello everyone, I’m Mu Tian. It’s great to meet you all!” In the mere minutes it took Mu Tian to log in and post on various platforms, his posts garnered over ten million views and more than a million comments—the response was overwhelming. “Wow, I finally get to see the real person.” “Honey, come quick—Master Daowen’s here!” “Getting to see the big shot up close—so exciting!” “Me too!” “When is Teacher Mu starting class again? Classes have been suspended for several days now.” “Master Mu, Daowen’s class is truly amazing—I’ve learned so much from it!” Mu Tian was quite taken aback. He hadn’t expected the response to be this overwhelming—so many people had eagerly posted comments in such a short time. Just as he was marveling at this, countless people clicked to repost and comment, propelling his simple greeting straight onto the trending list. Even more people who hadn’t heard about it clicked in, making the discussion even livelier. Mu Tian selectively replied to some of the comments. For example, when people asked him when classes would resume, he replied below. [Classes are expected to officially start tomorrow. As usual, my apprentice Yang Chun @—a cute young man—will be live-streaming for everyone. Thank you all for your support! ] Since so many people were asking, Mu Tian decided to post another update right away. This caused his apprentice Yang Chun’s Weibo to explode. Hundreds of millions of netizens saw Mu Tian’s post, and an army of students flooded @IsACute Boy’s Weibo, instantly overwhelming it. Yang Chun felt both frustrated and elated. He hadn’t expected his master to post such a message—it was Mu Tian’s direct, public acknowledgment of Yang Chun’s status as his chief disciple. Previously, whenever Yang Chun claimed to be Mu Tian’s chief disciple, he was always met with skepticism, but now he no longer had to worry about that. After wrapping up these tasks, Mu Tian logged into Facebook and Twitter, where he followed the same pattern to post greetings and announcements about his lectures. Netizens abroad were equally thrilled, and the excitement there was even more intense than in China. Comments filled with praise, adulation, and fervent worship dominated the screen, but among the flood of posts, Mu Tian spotted many interesting remarks. Many international netizens mentioned that they had long been watching his free lecture videos and, having now found Mu Tian himself, asked whether his Daowen lecture videos would require a fee and, if so, how much. Mu Tian chuckled to himself; it seemed that people overseas did indeed have a stronger sense of respect for legitimate content. Of course, this has nothing to do with personal character; it’s simply a matter of environment. After all, many people overseas are also bargain hunters who’ll never buy the genuine article if pirated versions are available. With that in mind, Mu Tian shook his head and posted another message. “The Daowen course is free—everyone is welcome to watch it!” As soon as Mu Tian posted this, he was immediately flooded with praise. “Free is justice”—everyone was singing his praises.