【Truth-Telling Talisman: A single-use item. Duration: 5 minutes. During its use, the user cannot tell lies. Otherwise, they will receive severe punishment.】
“Truth-Telling Talisman?”
Seeing the description, Xie Zhiyu immediately raised an eyebrow, realizing that the system had given her a little special advantage.
“Thanks, System.”
The corners of her lips curled upward. The system excitedly urged her to use the Truth-Telling Talisman on the man opposite her.
System: “This person is so annoying. He’s only at the peak of Qi Refining, so how dare he act so arrogant?”
Although there was a screen between them, it could still see the man’s cultivation level at a glance.
He was just an immature brat who hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment. Sooner or later, he would fall into a pit.
And its host would be the first person to push him into that pit.
Full of confidence, the system urged her on.
Xie Zhiyu raised her head. This time, she pointed the camera at herself and stared straight into the phone.
This action simultaneously gave the people in both livestreams the illusion that she was staring directly at them with an intimidating gaze.
Her delicate features were filled with seriousness.
She took out the Truth-Telling Talisman.
A sheet of yellow talisman paper appeared in the livestream, covered with dense patterns that no one could understand.
“This is a Truth-Telling Talisman.” She looked at the man on the right side of the screen and said calmly, “With the Heavenly Dao as our witness, let’s see who the real fraud is. How about it?”
“You wouldn’t dare, would you?”
When he heard her final sentence, Zou Mu immediately sneered and answered without hesitation, “Sure. I’ll send you my name through private message. Then we’ll see who’s really faking things.”
Xie Zhiyu glanced at him and refused.
“No need. I can see your ID.”
Her Truth-Telling Talisman wasn’t some fake imitation. As long as she knew the other party’s ID, even if it was merely a virtual name, the Heavenly Dao could still locate the actual person.
But when Zou Mu heard this, he sneered again.
As a disciple of a reclusive sect, he had never heard of any Truth-Telling Talisman. He had initially hesitated because of how seriously Xie Zhiyu had introduced it, but after hearing what she said, his suspicion that she was a fraud became even stronger.
It was ridiculous.
Even after the world’s spiritual energy had revived, a talisman capable of directly having the Heavenly Dao serve as its witness was not something that could possibly appear at this stage.
Moreover, just a few days ago, the woman in front of him had been an ordinary person. What ability could she possibly have that could compare to the thousand-year foundation of the Sanquan Sect?
He hadn’t expected that this woman would still try to fake things even with death staring her in the face.
Zou Mu felt contemptuous.
He said nothing, merely watching calmly as spiritual energy gathered at Xie Zhiyu’s fingertips. Using her spiritual energy, she wrote both their names on the talisman paper.
The instant her writing was completed, a flash of golden light appeared.
The contract was established, and the talisman paper automatically disappeared.
There wasn’t even any ash left behind, as though the talisman paper they had just seen had merely been an illusion.
Everyone was stunned.
Xie Zhiyu’s livestream:
【Sincerity Brings Miracles: Is this Truth-Telling Talisman really that powerful? There isn’t even any trace of it being burned, yet it disappeared on its own.】
【Dead 2.0: Is this what they call a Talisman Cultivator in cultivation novels?】
【Lanlan: Talisman Cultivator? What’s that? We haven’t even successfully mastered Qi Attraction yet, and there are already Talisman Cultivators?】
【Huaihuai: So what exactly does the streamer cultivate? Talismans? Honestly, aren’t Talisman Cultivators a little weak?】
……
The viewers in the livestream calmly discussed the talisman she had just taken out, seemingly not worried in the slightest that Xie Zhiyu might lose.
Some people who had secretly come over from the other livestream couldn’t hold back.
【Muyan: Wait, aren’t you fans worried that the streamer might lose? You’re actually sitting here discussing Talisman Cultivators and such. This is really something I never thought I’d see.】
【Erkang’s Thigh: +1. The person on the other side is the chief disciple of a reclusive sect. This is the first time I’ve seen a livestream being forcibly dragged into a PK where everyone is this relaxed.】
【Celestial Beauty Treads the Galaxy: Maybe they know their streamer is going to lose, so they’re pretending not to care? Heh, birds of a feather flock together. They’re just like this fake streamer.】
……
Those words didn’t sit well with the old fans.
They immediately transformed into keyboard warriors and fired back.
【An’an Eats Watermelon: Whether we’re relaxed or not is none of your damn business. Worry about your own affairs. Seriously, what a bunch of busybodies.】
【Zhou Er Fu Shi: Here’s a joke. We think Work Sis is going to win, but apparently you guys think we’re just pretending. I really don’t understand your logic.】
【Langlang Mountain: Don’t bother replying to them. These people are just like the streamer on the other side. They don’t have brains. Responding to them is a complete waste of time.】
……
The old fans traded a round of sarcastic remarks with them and directly shut down the other side’s obnoxious viewers.
Zou Mu’s livestream.
Quite a few people who had gone over to Xie Zhiyu’s livestream and then returned angrily posted comments.
【Hard to Say: Streamer, streamer, the people in that livestream are so damn pretentious. You have to teach them a good lesson.】
【Blade of Grass: Exactly. Those people even said we’re pretending and claimed their streamer would win. What a joke. She’s just an ordinary streamer. How could she possibly compare with a disciple of a reclusive sect?】
【Jiong Tu: I saw what they said too. Everyone, don’t bother with them. We’ll know the result in five minutes. Just trust our streamer’s strength.】
……
The livestream moderator stepped forward to stabilize everyone’s morale. Even A Fleeting Encounter, the person who had started the whole conflict in the first place, came forward.
【A Fleeting Encounter: Senior Brother, good luck! If you win, I’ll give you one million yuan.】
Normally, if Zou Mu saw such a comment, a brilliant smile would appear on his face.
But right now, his brows were tightly furrowed as he continued confronting Xie Zhiyu.
Compared with his serious demeanor, Xie Zhiyu appeared much more relaxed.
There was nowhere to sit on the rooftop, so she simply sat on the ground, leaning her back against the thick trunk of the vine behind her.
She spoke casually.
“The Truth-Telling Talisman only lasts five minutes in total. How about this? You ask me questions for the first two and a half minutes, and I’ll ask you questions for the remaining time. What do you say?”
“Fine.”
Zou Mu agreed readily.
The next second, a barrage of sharp questions poured out.
“Before the world’s spiritual energy revived, you were just an ordinary person, weren’t you?”
Xie Zhiyu: “That’s right.”
“So after cultivating for only a few days, you became so arrogant that you immediately started a livestream to deceive other people?”
The malice behind his words was obvious, but it was also within expectations.
Xie Zhiyu: “It’s clearly because your mind is filthy, so everything you think about is filthy too.”
Zou Mu frowned. “Just answer the question. Is it or isn’t it?”
“No.”
She denied it immediately.
“If I were the kind of person who deceives others, I swear that my cultivation will never advance another step.”
“You should know that I’ve already embarked on the path of cultivation. For cultivators like us, lying brings punishment.”
Zou Mu didn’t deny this.
Just as Xie Zhiyu had said, once someone began cultivating, their words and actions needed to conform to the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Lying was one of the forbidden acts that could not be violated.
However, compared with Xie Zhiyu, who strictly followed the rules, Zou Mu was much more lax.
When he had first stepped onto the threshold of cultivation as a child, he had also heard the elders mention this matter. But so many years had passed, and he had come to believe that these rules didn’t actually exist.
To him, they were nothing more than restrictions and conventions. Cultivators should instead hold firmly to their own beliefs.
That was what he thought, but he didn’t refute Xie Zhiyu’s statement. He merely nodded indifferently, while his impression of the woman dropped another notch.
He could sense the naivety of someone who had only recently embarked on the path of cultivation. She actually believed such nonsense.
His tone became increasingly contemptuous.
“Fine. Even if you deny everything, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just ask you one thing.”
In front of everyone in both livestreams, he opened the product page of Xie Zhiyu’s livestream on his phone. His finger stopped over the product at the very top, which was marked “Sold Out.”
It was the Spiritual Root product Xie Zhiyu had sold during her first two livestreams.
After it sold out, she had originally intended to remove the link, but since she would have to put the link back up later anyway and doing so was troublesome, she had simply left it in the livestream.
Now, it had become Zou Mu’s ammunition against her.
“You claim that you don’t lie, yet your livestream sells Spiritual Roots needed for cultivation. Everyone knows that Spiritual Roots only exist in people with exceptional innate talent. They cannot possibly be extracted.”
“So I can say with one hundred percent certainty that this product of yours is a scam.”
His words were forceful, and his expression was extremely serious.
Many viewers in his livestream who had never visited Xie Zhiyu’s livestream before also vaguely realized what he was talking about. They immediately opened the product page and looked through it.
The new viewers were also swayed by his words, and the balance of public opinion instantly tipped toward his side.
【Hundan: Honestly, although I don’t like people from reclusive sects, what he said makes sense.】
【Nanyue: Exactly. Spiritual energy only revived a few days ago. How could there possibly be Spiritual Roots that can be obtained by purchasing them? If that were really possible, wouldn’t everyone be able to cultivate?】
【666 Branches: Yeah. Even if it were real, what the streamer is doing would be unfair to those who naturally awakened Spiritual Roots.】
…
Even Xie Zhiyu’s livestream was affected, with many similar comments flooding the screen.
【Zhou Er Fu Shi: 666, getting desperate already? Everyone knows that awakening a Spiritual Root is highly random. Didn’t you ever consider how unfair it is to ordinary people when some people awaken Spiritual Roots?】
【Sincerity Brings Miracles: Leaving everything else aside, just look at how chaotic things have become lately because of cultivation. How many cultivators who awakened Spiritual Roots have caused trouble or even killed people, according to the news?】
【Guozi: Exactly. In my opinion, all of you who support this are beneficiaries of the current situation. I bet you’ve been using your Spiritual Roots to bully ordinary people whenever you get the chance, haven’t you?】
……
The atmosphere in both livestreams was extremely heated. Seeing the popularity of his livestream steadily climbing, Zou Mu, having achieved his goal, wore a satisfied expression.
The number of viewers in his livestream represented his future income. In just a few seconds, he was already imagining wealthy ordinary people kneeling at his feet, handing over their money just for the chance to obtain the qualifications to cultivate.
While he silently indulged in his fantasies, Xie Zhiyu, who had previously been sitting casually, suddenly straightened up.
It wasn’t the grievance of being falsely accused, nor the guilt of being exposed.
Instead, her face was filled with excitement and exhilaration. Even the way she looked at Zou Mu had become gentler.
There were now nearly 50,000 viewers combined in the two livestreams.
On the surface, the man seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for her. But in Xie Zhiyu’s eyes, how was this making things difficult?
He was practically handing her money!
Think about it. What streamer would openly mention the products being sold by the other streamer in front of nearly 50,000 people across two livestreams?
Wasn’t this basically free advertising?
And it was completely free advertising at that. She didn’t have to spend a single cent, yet he had successfully directed everyone’s attention toward her products.
How was this targeting her?
The man was clearly a genuinely good person!
With that thought, her gaze became even gentler.
Of course, she still had to argue back.
She first responded to his question.
“You say I’m inexperienced, but from where I’m standing, you’ve cultivated for so many years and are still nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well. You casually accuse people without distinguishing right from wrong. I imagine you’ve done this sort of thing quite often, haven’t you?”
“Since you brought it up, let me respond directly. Every product I sell is genuine. Although the products are currently marked as sold out, customers who previously purchased them have left comments in the review section. They aren’t shills.”
“As for your understanding of Spiritual Roots, that’s nothing more than a shallow understanding of them.”
“Please keep in mind that it’s the 21st century. Don’t use outdated cultivation knowledge to mislead your fans.”
“Of course, if you don’t believe me, you can open the product page and take a detailed look at the reviews. I’m only selling a lower-grade Earth-rank Spiritual Root for 198 yuan. If I really wanted to scam you, why wouldn’t I set the price higher?”
She directed those final words at the nearly 50,000 viewers across both livestreams. Her tone was sincere, causing some of the people who had been worked up by Zou Mu’s provocation to calm down.
Indeed, just as this streamer said, if she really wanted to scam people, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to claim she was a disciple of a reclusive sect and then casually swindle them out of their money?
Why would she bother selling a product that cost less than 200 yuan?
Compared with the prices quoted by those disciples of reclusive sects, her products were practically dirt cheap.
It simply didn’t make sense.
Most people realized this, and their impulsiveness began to cool. Doubts once again surfaced in their minds.
Even now, they still didn’t know whether the product was actually real.
Although Xie Zhiyu had written both their names on the Truth-Telling Talisman, most of the viewers were ordinary people. How could they tell whether the talisman was genuine?
However, they had personally witnessed the talisman automatically disappearing on camera. As a result, the scales of public opinion wavered back and forth before ultimately tipping toward Xie Zhiyu.
Zou Mu’s face turned red from being refuted. A vicious look appeared in his eyes, and he was just about to speak when Xie Zhiyu, who had already warmed up and was now completely in her element, immediately interrupted him.
She waved her hand dramatically and deliberately raised her voice.
“How about this? To prove that my products are genuine, I’ll put five more lower-grade Earth-rank Spiritual Roots up for sale right now. Whoever manages to grab one is getting a bargain. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!”
She deliberately drew out the final words, and the system immediately put the products up for sale in coordination with her.
The product page, which had originally displayed “Sold Out,” suddenly lit up.
Before even a second had passed, it went dark again.
The barrage of comments stopped for several seconds.
Then, completely unexpectedly, the old fans in Xie Zhiyu’s livestream suddenly exploded.
【Langlang Mountain: ??? Weren’t we supposed to not believe her? Why are they gone again?! They sold out even faster than before!】
Why? Why?!
Why was this happening?!
The old fans’ mental states completely collapsed.