Half an hour later, after listening to Lu Jinzhao explain everything about Xie Zhiyu’s livestream, Hu Song wore a dazed expression.
His face showed the shock of hearing something astonishing, as well as the joy of an ordinary person suddenly seeing hope.
He turned to Xie Zhiyu, his gaze becoming slightly cautious.
“Xiaoyu.” He called out to her, his throat bobbing as he swallowed nervously. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Can your livestream really sell spiritual roots?”
Xie Zhiyu nodded. “Yes. Uncle Hu, if you guys want to cultivate, you can keep an eye on my livestream when the time comes.”
Lu Jinzhao chimed in, “Don’t hesitate. My beloved streamer sells all kinds of things. Since there aren’t many people in her livestream right now, you might actually be able to grab one. Once she streams a few more times, they’ll probably be impossible to get.”
He spoke with absolute confidence.
It was rather amusing. He himself had never managed to grab a spiritual root from the livestream, yet he had complete faith in the products Xie Zhiyu sold.
With Lu Jinzhao’s guarantee, Hu Song and the others completely believed her.
They quietly glanced at Xie Zhiyu.
She was the little girl they had watched grow up. They had never imagined that the child who had once been barely knee-high would one day give people like them, who couldn’t cultivate, hope.
Hu Song’s expression was especially complicated. He raised his hand, originally wanting to ask Xie Zhiyu how she was able to sell spiritual roots, but the words reached his lips before he swallowed them back down.
After a moment of silence, a smile appeared on his face.
In the end, he said, “All right. Xiaoyu, you’ve really grown up. Your Uncle Hu may not be able to help you with much right now, but if you ever need anything from me, just say the word. Your Uncle Hu will always be here.”
“Thank you, Uncle Hu.”
Noticing his thoughtfulness, Xie Zhiyu felt a warmth in her heart, and a genuine smile spread across her eyes.
The trouble here had been resolved, so Xie Zhiyu didn’t linger. After saying goodbye to Hu Song, she picked up the carnivorous flower and headed back.
The passage she had used when coming here hadn’t been taken over by any new vines. The vines seemed to understand her words, because they never came out to bother her on the way back.
It only took Xie Zhiyu a few minutes to reach the building where she lived.
She was just about to enter when she suddenly seemed to sense something. The hairs all over her body stood on end.
She stopped and instinctively dodged to the side.
—Bang!
A dark shadow came crashing down from above.
Xie Zhiyu lowered her head and looked.
Right where she had been standing moments ago, an unfamiliar flowerpot had suddenly smashed onto the ground, almost like a miniature explosive. Ceramic fragments were scattered everywhere.
The instant she saw this scene, Xie Zhiyu felt a sudden chill of terror.
She remembered what the system had told her when she first bound herself to it—the plot of the novel.
According to the predetermined plot, she had been killed by a flowerpot falling from above. Even though the original point in time had already passed, the same plot event had happened again.
The system, which had witnessed the scene through her eyes, was so shocked that it was rendered speechless.
“How could this happen…? Didn’t you already get several points of your luck back? How did you almost get killed by the plot again?”
It had also noticed how strange the situation was.
Xie Zhiyu said nothing.
She looked upward toward where the flowerpot had fallen but couldn’t see any household that appeared to be growing such a plant.
It was probably the power of the plot at work.
The sense of security she had gained after successfully circulating spiritual energy into her body over the past week disappeared completely.
Xie Zhiyu walked around the spot from the side and went upstairs as though nothing had happened.
However, she now understood that what had happened was a warning.
If she couldn’t become stronger, something similar might happen again.
No one liked the feeling of having their life hanging over a cliff at any moment.
Her silence frightened the system.
“Host, are you okay? Are you angry?”
“I am angry,” Xie Zhiyu answered calmly. “But I’m angry that I’m still not strong enough.”
If she became so powerful that even the consciousness behind the novel’s plot could do nothing to her, then how could something like this happen to her now?
She had to become stronger.
And currently, the fastest way for her to become stronger was through the system.
Xie Zhiyu made up her mind.
After returning home and greeting her father, she immediately went into the study and started her second livestream.
This time, she started streaming very suddenly.
Compared with the handful of viewers she had during her first livestream, the number of people in her room instantly surpassed one hundred as soon as she went live.
[An’an Eats Watermelon: Streamer, you’re finally live! Where have you been all this time? I’ve been waiting for you for a whole week!!]
[Langlang Mountain: Good afternoon, streamer! Ten-year veteran fan reporting in!]
[Autumn Will Definitely Come: The streamer is live?! I wonder what she’ll say this time. Rubbing my hands in anticipation.]
[Sincerity Brings Miracles: Just arrived. Did the streamer just start? Are the spiritual roots you sold last time still available? I want to buy another one.]
…
The people sending comments were mostly viewers who had stayed until the end of her previous livestream.
Xie Zhiyu glanced through them and discovered that they were all familiar usernames.
“So many people?” Xie Zhiyu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
The system immediately chimed in, “Of course! Host, don’t underestimate your livestream. After all, the things you sell aren’t ordinary.”
That was true.
A livestream capable of selling spiritual roots was probably the only one of its kind.
Xie Zhiyu checked her current popularity points.
She had had 300 popularity points remaining when her previous livestream ended. With another 200 or so viewers gradually entering the livestream, she thought for a moment before making a grand gesture and having the system put up a product link.
“Everyone, I know you all want to buy a spiritual root. Since there aren’t many people here right now, I’ll put one more in stock. If you want one, you can grab it directly—”
She hadn’t even finished speaking. In fact, she had barely gotten a word or two out when the product window that had just appeared instantly turned gray.
She swallowed the rest of her sentence.
The comments exploded.
[An’an Eats Watermelon: ??? Who has such fast fingers?!]
[As If We First Met: I’m speechless. The product link disappeared in less than a second. Are you all octopuses or something? How did you grab it so fast?]
[Sincerity Brings Miracles: I’m done. Why didn’t I get it again?! Aaaaaah, I’m crying.]
[Langlang Mountain: ? Above, looking at your previous comments, weren’t you one of the people who got one last time? Why are you competing again this time?]
[Sincerity Brings Miracles: Well, I did get one last time. But there are a lot of people in my family, so I wanted to grab another one. Unfortunately, my luck wasn’t good this time T-T.]
[Langlang Mountain: …If even your luck is bad, then what does that make those of us who haven’t gotten one from the beginning? Are we unlucky people who just crawled out of a swamp?]
…
Because of Xie Zhiyu’s sudden move, the livestream’s popularity instantly surpassed 500, and quite a few new viewers appeared in the comments.
[Huaihuai: Just arrived. What kind of livestream is this?]
[Tears Won’t Fall: Why is the chat so lively? I checked the products in the livestream, and there’s only one link related to spiritual roots. Is this livestream really that bare-bones?]
[Lin Linglin: This livestream sells spiritual roots? Seriously? Isn’t this streamer a scammer who’s just here to swindle money? Everyone, don’t fall for it. Quickly click the report button in the upper-right corner.]
[An’an Eats Watermelon: You guys are obviously new here. Don’t you know? Everything the streamer sells is real. I bought a water spiritual root last time, and I’ve already started cultivating.]
[Huaihuai: ? You’re a shill, right?]
…
With the sudden surge in popularity, the livestream also became increasingly chaotic.
The veteran fans who had watched her first livestream knew that everything shown in the livestream was real. But the newcomers who had just entered thought they had stumbled upon some gigantic scam livestream designed to fleece people.
[Round and Round: LOL. It’s already been a week since the revival of spiritual energy. Who doesn’t know that something like a spiritual root can’t be installed into your body through external means and can only be awakened naturally? Everyone knows this basic fact, yet you people still fall for scams. There really are a lot of idiots in this world.]
Xie Zhiyu hadn’t even reacted yet when the veteran fans immediately fired back.
[An’an Eats Watermelon: If you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense. The streamer accurately predicted the exact time when spiritual energy would revive during her previous livestream. The spiritual root she sold worked on me, and I’m already cultivating. If you’ve never bought one, how do you know she’s a scammer? I think you’re the one who’s blind.]
[Round and Round: Heh.]
Seeing that the two sides were about to start arguing, Xie Zhiyu hurriedly spoke up to stop them.
“All right, all right. Everyone, say a little less. I didn’t start today’s livestream so that you could argue.”
Someone in the comments promptly changed the subject.
【Langlang Mountain: What are you livestreaming today?】
Xie Zhiyu answered, “I’ll probably teach you some cultivation incantations.”
The moment she said this, both the old and new viewers flooded the comments with question marks.
【Like Our First Meeting: ? What? You’re teaching it for free? Seriously?】
Xie Zhiyu nodded. “Yep.”
【Three Days Without Sleep: Which hidden sect are you a disciple of, streamer? Your sect’s elders actually allow you to teach it for free?】
Upon hearing that the streamer intended to teach cultivation incantations for free, the livestream’s popularity immediately surpassed 1,000 viewers.
Whether they were old fans or newcomers, everyone was extremely shocked by Xie Zhiyu’s words.
It wasn’t for any other reason. Over the past week, they had already witnessed far too many hidden sects and hidden families recruiting disciples under the guise of teaching cultivation techniques.
At first, quite a few people had fallen for it. But after joining those sects, they discovered that they were merely the lowest-ranking servants within them. If they wanted access to cultivation resources, they had to work like slaves for the other members of the sect.
Quite a few people regretted it and wanted to leave on the very day they joined, only to discover that the sect had made them sign contracts. The more merciful ones made them sign contracts to serve as servants for several years, while the more unscrupulous ones would trick them into signing lifetime servant contracts.
Even the so-called incantation from the Longxiao Sect that Xie’s father had previously seen had recently been exposed as a heavily watered-down version that they were barely willing to teach for free.
As for the genuine incantations and movements, one had to become a core disciple of the sect before being allowed to learn them.
These unscrupulous practices had caused an uproar online, with countless people condemning the hidden sects.
Unfortunately, most people had no way to do anything about these hidden sects and hidden families.
They were merely ordinary people and simply did not possess the strength to contend with those sects.
Xie Zhiyu had also come across quite a few videos from people recounting similar grievances.
That was the main reason she had decided to teach the incantations.
If she hadn’t had the system, even if she had managed to avoid being killed by the plot, the amount of her fortune that had been stolen might have prevented her from awakening a spiritual root on her own. She would have had no choice but to be deceived and exploited in an increasingly unfair society.
Especially after she had just witnessed Tiger Shu and the others getting injured.
Just because they were ordinary people, they had nearly been killed by a mutated plant.
Thinking about all this, Xie Zhiyu let out a soft sigh. But then she remembered that she was livestreaming and immediately changed her expression.
Everyone in the livestream only heard her let out a quiet shh.
“It is indeed a cultivation incantation, but mine is also a simplified version. It’s not because I’m unwilling to give you the original version. It’s mainly because you wouldn’t be able to withstand the original, so I had to simplify it before giving it to you.”
“But don’t worry. My incantation should be more powerful than the others.”
“There’s just one rule you have to follow.”
“After learning my incantation, if you ever develop even the slightest intention of harming me, all your cultivation efforts will be reduced to nothing.”
“Whether you want to learn it or not, think it over carefully yourselves.”