Time flew by.
In the days that followed, Vuong Minh lived a remarkably busy and fulfilling life.
He didn’t step a single foot outside, completely isolating himself indoors.
On one hand, he was immersed in refining his spirit energy using a “compound interest” method, allowing his spiritual power to become visibly purer, denser, and more abundant day by day.
On the other hand, he didn’t dare neglect the prime opportunity to launch his personal social media page.
He really had to thank Young Master Hoang and the passing netizens who pushed his video onto the trending charts.
The launch of his “Ming Vuong” personal page went incredibly smoothly.
In just a few short days, Vuong Minh’s page had garnered over 6,000 followers.
The number was still steadily climbing, and hitting 10,000 in a few days would be a breeze.
Countless “little fairies” clicked the follow button, captivated by his face—a perfect blend of masculine handsomeness and mature, restrained charm.
They became loyal fans because of the sheer emotional value he provided.
Every day, Young Master Vuong only needed to post a few photos of himself sweating during cultivation or short clips of him ruthlessly bullying Iron and Bronze-ranked noobs in Mecha Storm, and his comment section would immediately explode with lively activity.
But that was the limit.
Hoang Gia Bao was, after all, just a small fry in the mecha community; squeezing this much “fat” out of him was enough to satisfy Vuong Minh.
The next step required him to take the stage himself and elevate his reputation to another level.
However, he hadn’t found a suitable target yet.
Uncle Binh was older and not very familiar with these digital trends, so he needed some time to figure things out.
Vuong Minh didn’t rush him, allowing everything to proceed methodically.
Days passed, and before long, it was time for the students to return to school.
Meanwhile, in Sai Thanh City.
With Vuong Minh’s sudden rise to fame, the mood of his haters naturally took a nosedive.
Playboy Hieu had been extremely irritable these past few days, steadily providing Young Master Vuong with a massive amount of Karmic Fire value.
Fortunately for him, as more people began digging into Vuong Minh’s background, some hidden “secrets” were exposed, instantly brightening Trinh Cong Hieu’s mood.
“Hehe, Sharp-beak, is this information accurate?”
With one arm around his little girlfriend, Trinh Cong Hieu, his face flushed with excitement, eagerly pressed Pham Van Hot for answers.
Sharp-beak quickly pulled out a few forum posts and projected them, eagerly taking credit:
“Young Master Trinh, it shouldn’t be wrong.
The original poster claims to be Tran Huyen My’s close friend and was right next to Hoang Gia Bao at the Tinh Ha Cyberzone that day.
The poster exposed that Vuong Minh was playing tricks.
He pretended not to know much about mecha combat, asked Hoang Gia Bao to go easy on him, and then took advantage of his opponent’s carelessness to quickly end the fight.”
“Haha, I knew it!
What right does that ‘Gay Minh’ have?
With his deeply repressed, show-off personality, if he actually had a talent for mecha combat, he would be dying to broadcast it to the whole school.
There’s no way he would keep a low profile like that!”
Trinh Cong Hieu’s stress vanished, his entire body radiating energy.
But that wasn’t all; Sharp-beak reported an even better piece of news:
“Young Master Trinh, there’s another rumor.
In the comment section, the original poster also mentioned that Minh forced a breakthrough right before the Lunar New Year.
Although he succeeded, his meridians were severely damaged, forcing his uncle to bring in a doctor from the provincial capital to treat him.
The source isn’t fully verified; I messaged to ask, but they didn’t reply.
So, I don’t know the full truth yet.”
“Hahaha, I freaking knew it!”
Despite the lack of confirmation, Trinh Cong Hieu chose to believe it without hesitation.
As the old saying goes, the one who understands you best is your enemy.
Having fought for so many years, how could Trinh Cong Hieu not understand Vuong Minh’s character?
So this was the reason!”
“Young Master Trinh, the news isn’t confirmed yet.
Are you sure about this?”
Pham Van Hot was afraid his boss was taking a risk and that he would be implicated, so he felt the need to remind him.
But Trinh Cong Hieu was absolutely certain:
“Sharp-beak, you don’t get it.
That ‘Gay Minh’ is proud and loves to flex, and he’s completely obsessed with getting into the Top Ten Academies.
If he had broken through half a year ago, he would have announced it to the entire school.
Put yourself in his shoes: if you were a seventeen-year-old at the Fourth Stage of the Spirit Channeling Realm, wouldn’t you show off?
Wouldn’t you want the major academies knocking on your door?”
Even if I broke through to the Fourth Stage at twenty, I’d still want to show off, Pham Van Hot weakly retorted in his mind.
Meanwhile, the “little fairy” clinging to Trinh Cong Hieu didn’t miss a single chance to act spoiled:
“Honey, you’re amazing!
You saw right through the truth at a single glance.”
“Hahaha, this Young Master is amazing in many other ways too, haven’t you already experienced it?”
“Hmph, stop talking about it, I’m dying of embarrassment!” Remembering his absolutely trash-tier “combat power of 5,” the little fairy’s face flushed red, playing the part of a shy, pure, and teasing maiden perfectly.
This sight stirred the lecherous heart of our “Playboy,” making him want to renew his “one-minute subscription” right then and there.
But considering the fairy would have to waste time cleaning up again, she hurriedly changed the subject:
“Young Master Trinh, LV has new models on display today.
You’ve promised me so many times, can we go tonight?
Tonight I will…”
Who knows what she whispered into Little One-minute Hieu’s ear, but his already flushed face turned a sickly red, looking as if he was about to climax on the spot.
Speechless, Pham Van Hot looked at the adulterous couple before him and weakly asked, “Young Master Trinh, school starts tomorrow.
Are we heading back?”
With a beauty in his arms, Trinh Cong Hieu didn’t hesitate for a second and flatly shook his head.
“No rush.
Since we’re in Sai Thanh City, let’s just play to our hearts’ content first.
Waiting a few more days to go back and teach that Gay a lesson won’t be too late.”
…
Quang Quang Binh City.
In the era of global SkyWeb coverage, a highly developed network in the year 2319, information was always the fastest thing to spread.
In just a few short days, following the “exposure” by a certain little fairy, the rumor that Vuong Minh had forced a breakthrough, damaging his meridians, and had to rely on the Trinh family’s help, had secretly spread throughout Quang Quang Binh City.
Naturally, it also reached the ears of Mr.
and Mrs.
Vuong.
That evening, after having dinner together, Vuong Minh was about to return to his room to cultivate when his old man suddenly called out to him.
“Son, come to the study with me.
I have something I want your opinion on.”
Not knowing what his old man was up to, Vuong Minh obediently followed his parents into the study.
After Uncle Binh poured each of them a cup of tea, under Vuong Minh’s curious gaze, Vuong Thanh carefully began speaking:
“Son, Principal Ngo informed me the other day that there will be a martial arts exchange between your school and Tai Viet Private School in a few days.
He wanted me to ask if you’d be interested in participating.”
Tai Viet Private School was also highly renowned in Quang Binh City.
But unlike First High School, it was established by financial syndicates to scout for grassroots talents—students with great aptitude but no cultivation resources.
Of course, nothing in this world is free.
Entering Tai Viet meant signing a contract with a sponsor. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
After graduating from university, they either had to return and work their lives away for the sponsor or pay a massive breach-of-contract fee.
Because of this, wealthy families absolutely never considered sending their kids there.
However, it couldn’t be denied that the school opened a door for the poor.
Countless hidden talents had been unearthed from private schools like this.
Just like Tai Viet, in recent years, they had produced a kid named Lam Phong.
He had high-tier aptitude, having not only broken through to the Fourth Stage of Spirit Guiding but also proving himself a computer prodigy capable of independently programming AI and designing simple formations.
Last year, he was granted early admission by the Hidden Dragon Academy in Panda Nation, the world’s number two academy.
He only needed to graduate to enroll, a feat that caused quite a stir at the time.
And today, Old Vuong’s business happened to involve Lam Phong:
“Lam Phong will be representing Tai Viet.
Over at First High School, Principal Ngo originally wanted to ask the Trinh family’s kid, but when he heard you had broken through, Old Ngo called me, and I agreed to the proposal.”
As soon as he finished, afraid that Vuong Minh might hesitate, he quickly added, “Don’t worry, son.
I’ve already spoken to Lam Phong’s side.
He specializes in formations and isn’t very proficient in martial skills.
As long as you get on the stage, winning won’t be difficult.”
Vuong Thanh spoke very vaguely, afraid of hurting his son’s pride.
Little did he know that his son’s face was now thicker than a city wall and his heart darker than pitch; Vuong Minh was countless times more scheming than his father.
Vuong Minh didn’t feel the slightest bit of resentment.
He just smiled and asked,
“Old man, how much did you pay that kid Lam Phong?”
Seeing Young Master Vuong’s calm demeanor, Vuong Thanh felt much more relieved and frankly confessed:
“Uncle Binh already gave him 100,000 Stellar Credits upfront.
After the match, we’ll give him an extra Low-grade Spirit Stone.”
100,000 Stellar Credits + 1 Spirit Stone.
This price had already surpassed 200,000 Stellar Credits in total value.
Compared to the current average income in Viet Nation, it was equivalent to a year and a half’s salary for a normal person.
And that wasn’t even counting the Spirit Stone, which was hard to come by—even with money, you couldn’t always buy one.
Seeing Vuong Minh remain silent, Nguyen Ngoc Linh hurriedly comforted him,
“Baby, it’s just a little bit of money.
Lam Phong has already been pre-selected by Hidden Dragon.
As long as you beat him, it will be a massive bonus on your evaluation record.
We aren’t losing out.”
In truth, Vuong Minh wasn’t regretting the money.
He was just thinking that with his current cultivation base and martial skills, even without cheating, he was more than capable of beating Lam Phong into the dirt.
Just a measly Fourth Stage—could he overturn the heavens?
There was really no need to waste money.
But looking at his parents’ concerned faces, and thinking about how “Little Phong” was willing to risk his life and trade his reputation for cultivation resources just for money—proving he was a good, rare seedling—he forced himself to nod:
“Alright, then you can arrange it, old man.
Uncle Binh, don’t forget to have someone record it in high definition and throw it onto SkyWeb for promotion.
We can’t let the money we spent go to waste.”
“Understood, Young Master, rest assured, I will arrange everything perfectly!”
Having reached a satisfactory conclusion, the family happily chatted for a while longer.
Afterward, Young Master Vuong strutted back to his room to pack his bags for the first day of school tomorrow and begin his cultivation.