Chapter 181: Instant Fame Spreads Like Wildfire

Chapter 181: Instant Fame Spreads Like Wildfire

Even though more than an hour had passed since the incident at the Tian Qin Stadium, the online fervor surrounding it showed no signs of abating; on the contrary, it was escalating.

All platforms and media outlets were covering the story.

Such is the nature of the information age.

News of the "Opening Ceremony Incident" spread worldwide, and regardless of location, anyone who went online was immediately bombarded by this explosive story.

Out of the global population of over 42 billion, at least half were already aware of what had transpired.

The remaining half were either asleep or had limited access to information, but within the next several hours, they, too, would be inundated with this news. From news programs to live streams, forums to virtual worlds, it seemed everyone was discussing the incident, as if it had permeated every corner of the digital realm.

The total views for videos related to the opening ceremony battle had already surpassed a trillion!

People rewatched the videos over and over, analyzing the strengths, profession templates, and equipment of the combatants, as well as speculating about the underlying causes.

Countless self-media outlets scrambled to ride the wave of popularity, offering their own interpretations of the videos.

As various analyses emerged, a series of questions arose, with the most intriguing one being the identity of Ji Xinghuo.

The "Opening Ceremony Incident" topped the trending list.

Closely following in second place was the question, "Who is he?"

The "he" referred to none other than Ji Xinghuo, and there were numerous other aliases attributed to him, such as "Mysterious Stranger," "Gunslinger," "Victim of the Opening Ceremony," and "The Stabbed One."

Initially, everyone was still speculating, and no one could provide a definitive answer.

However, over half an hour ago, an article had been pushed to the third position on the hot search list: "Exclusive Expose: Unveiling the Identity of the Individual Involved in the Opening Ceremony Incident!"

Ji Xinghuo hadn't even opened the article yet, but he already guessed the outcome.

His classmate groups, from elementary school to university, were in an uproar. In each group, classmates were constantly tagging him, and the number of group messages was growing rapidly, not stopping for even a second. Friends and classmates sent him private messages one after another, causing his phone to buzz incessantly.

Fortunately, he had set up a white list, allowing only family and a few friends to call him, or his phone would have been bombarded with calls as well.

Without checking the messages, Ji Xinghuo opened the article first.

His name is Ji Xinghuo, born in 2201, a native of Changan, a graduate of Fengming Language University, a publicly recognized prodigy, a high-level Cultivator, and ranked 10,000th on the Heavenly Ladder!

"Holy sht!"

Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but curse aloud.

Who wrote this? It was simple, crude, and yet precisely exposed his identity.

He glanced at the author of the article, a self-media account named "Secretly Interesting," specializing in exposing strange events from various industries and sectors. Previously, it had only enjoyed moderate popularity with a following of just over two million. But in the past half-hour, its follower count had skyrocketed to over thirty million!

Ji Xinghuo continued reading, and the content took him by surprise.

The article's entry point was a screenshot from the previous competition's broadcast, taken during the second game. The live camera had happened to pan over the area where he was seated.

The process lasted less than a second.

But in that fleeting moment, "Secretly Interesting" had found a clue.

In the screenshot, a family of five sat in a row, with Ji Xinghuo in the middle. On his left was Liang Qiu Feiyan, whispering something to him, indicating an unusual relationship.

Next to her floated a hovering camera, live-streaming the event.

As a public figure, the host's appearance would not be altered, and her true face would be revealed online.

The article's author had located Liang Qiu Feiyan's live stream room.

They then scoured through years of recordings, confirming that Liang Qiu Feiyan and Ji Xinghuo were siblings. Additionally, they heard the name "Xinghuo" from the mouths of other family members.

The rest was straightforward.

Although the name Xinghuo was relatively common in the Asia-Pacific Collective, with hundreds of thousands of people sharing the same name, there was only one person who matched the description: a recently emerged powerful Cultivator ranked last on the Tian Ladder—Ji Xinghuo. The information from the Tian Ladder archives also aligned perfectly.

Moreover, over the past few months, Liang Qiu Feiyan had mentioned in her live streams several times that her third brother was an unparalleled genius with formidable strength.

During today's competition, spectators sitting nearby had inadvertently captured him in their recordings as well.

Key phrases could be heard in those videos.

The entire article was logically structured, with ample and conclusive evidence, supported by numerous videos, screenshots, and photos. Anyone who read it would be left without a doubt, knowing that it was undoubtedly the truth.

At this moment, the article's view count was surging by several million per second.

Millions of people left comments underneath.

Ji Xinghuo saw his classmates and friends among the commenters. Their comments were pinned to the top, with some verifying his identity and others providing additional information about him.

Details such as his age, birthday, educational background, and past achievements in school were all exposed.

His social media accounts were also inundated with countless new followers!

The number of followers had already surpassed fifty million, and with each refresh, several tens of thousands more joined, while the number of comments continued to surge.

"Hahaha..."

"You may be strong, but wanting to pursue a relationship with the Sword Immortal is just a pipe dream!"

"Jester."

"You're too late to the party, what a pity."

"The Sword Immortal already has a boyfriend. You gained fame too late; now, you're left speechless, aren't you?"

"So even geniuses indulge in fantasies."

This post was screenshot and turned into a meme with AI-generated art, spreading like a virus across the internet. Some even went to Zhao Manying's social media accounts to leave comments, hoping for a response, all while reveling in her embarrassment.

Ji Xinghuo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

When he had just returned from the Star Realm and didn't know Zhao Manying yet, this post had indeed made him feel ashamed, and he had wanted to delete it.

But now that his fame had grown, this post had become more widely known.

Just like one of the comments said: a jester!

However, now that Zhao Manying was his girlfriend, Ji Xinghuo's mindset was completely different, and he even felt like an amused bystander.

These trolls were currently having a field day, taking pleasure in mocking him and calling him a jester. But when the truth came out, every one of their mocking comments would boomerang back at them.

Ji Xinghuo's lips curved up unconsciously.

Of course, not everyone was ridiculing him. Some also speculated: "I wonder if the Sword Immortal's boyfriend is you?"

"Maybe he's that shy guy."

"Yeah, the timing seems to match up too..."

However, those with such speculations were in the extreme minority. As soon as they voiced their thoughts, they were drowned out by a flood of mocking comments and didn't attract much attention.

Ji Xinghuo didn't read further and closed his social media account.

He then opened his family group chat and found that Liang Qiu Feiyan had sent dozens of messages, continuously apologizing to him.

"Third Brother, it's all my fault."

"I didn't do it on purpose. If I had known, I wouldn't have streamed, and your identity wouldn't have been exposed."

"Sigh, I won't stream anymore from now on. Anyway, I don't have much of a future in that field."

"Boo hoo hoo..."

Family members in the group chat comforted Liang Qiu Feiyan, but she still felt guilty and was currently at her second brother, Zhong Ming's, house.

Ji Xinghuo shook his head and sent a message: "It's fine."

His phone immediately started ringing.

After answering the call, Liang Qiu Feiyan appeared on the screen, with their siblings by her side. Sobbing, she asked, "Third Brother, is everything okay on your end?"

"It's all good," Ji Xinghuo smiled. "Why are you crying so much? It's a minor issue, and I don't even mind it. You shouldn't take it to heart either."

"But you said before that you didn't want people to know your identity..." Liang Qiu Feiyan still felt guilty.

"People's thoughts change all the time, and this matter is beyond my control," Ji Xinghuo said with a relaxed expression. "Hiding talent is like hiding a pregnancy; eventually, it will show, and people will find out. I just wanted to delay gaining fame, but now that it's out, it doesn't affect me."

Liang Qiu Feiyan immediately stopped crying and smiled through her tears.

The other three siblings also laughed, and Ye Dongyun teased, "Xinghuo, what kind of comparison is that? How can you compare this to being pregnant?"

Zhong Ming leaned in and said, "Xinghuo, about you and Zhao Manying..."

"I don't think we can keep it a secret for much longer," Ji Xinghuo shook his head.

The siblings exchanged glances, and Zhong Ming sighed, "If your relationship is exposed, you'll have to face immense public pressure. I thought we could keep it hidden for at least a few months or even a couple of years. I never expected it to come out so soon. Sigh..."

Ji Xinghuo shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Anyway, they don't know what I look like, so they can't harass me in real life."

He looked at the screen, "On the contrary, it might cause trouble for you guys."

Since those reporters and paparazzi couldn't find him and had no way to interview him, they would target his family and friends instead. Most of them had their online privacy settings like his, but a few had public accounts, and they would undoubtedly face harassment in the coming days.

"We'll keep a low profile and won't accept any interviews," Ye Dongyun quickly said.

Wang Zichen didn't have such worries. He spent most of his days in the virtual world, and as long as he didn't go out, no one could find him.

Zhong Ming and Liang Qiu Feiyan, as public figures, would have a harder time avoiding the spotlight.

"Third Brother, I'll stop streaming for a while and change my residence. I'll take this time to focus on training and strive to become an Extraordinary as well," Liang Qiu Feiyan had already made up her mind.

"Okay."

Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Resume streaming after the fuss has died down."

Zhong Ming also said, "The new season of the Beta League has started. I can't refuse interviews from the club. When they ask about you, I'll just say that I have no comment."

"Second Brother, do as you see fit. If they keep pestering you with questions, it's fine to reveal a little," Ji Xinghuo said.

Ji Xinghuo hung up the phone.

Zhao Manying's matter at the club was not over yet, so he continued to wait while browsing through his phone.

Moments later, the article exposing his identity had surpassed 100 million views, and his social media accounts gained over 20 million new followers. At the same time, more and more people were sharing the post, and the number of comments had already exceeded 5 million.

In an instant, almost everyone knew about it, and screenshots and memes were everywhere as countless netizens rejoiced in the drama.

Ji Xinghuo gained another nickname: Joker!

"Hehe..."

He remained calm and composed, as if he were a mere bystander to the online frenzy.

Scrolling through the news on his phone and watching some experts analyze his combat videos, he occasionally replied to messages from classmates and friends. As for the countless people demanding a response on his social media accounts, he ignored them all.

Suddenly, a brand-new trending topic surged in popularity: "Ji Xinghuo is Zhao Manying's boyfriend!"

Ji Xinghuo's eyes narrowed.

So, the secret was out after all. He clicked on the topic and found that it was all speculation.

The sources of these rumors were a bunch of gossip media outlets, Super League bloggers, and veteran entertainment journalists, also known as professional paparazzi.

Although there was no concrete evidence, and the rumors all started with phrases like "I heard" and "it is said," these people all sounded convincing and consistently mentioned one thing—Zhao Manying had just admitted her relationship with Ji Xinghuo to the club's management and teammates.

These rumor-mongers were all big-time bloggers with millions of followers, and some were even authoritative media outlets with over 100 million followers, known for their accurate reporting.

Their posts were all published within a minute or two of each other.

Ji Xinghuo snorted.

If he wasn't mistaken, someone had deliberately leaked the information to these media outlets, and that person was one of those present in the private box.

Yu Meiling was the most suspicious, followed by Shi Renzhong.

Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility of it being someone else who was there.

The news spread like wildfire.

More and more people saw the trending topic, all of them incredulous.

The more the rumor spread, the more believable it became, and the club didn't deny it either. Those who had just mocked Ji Xinghuo as a jester were now panicking.

Soon after, a post by "Wuwang" Shi Renzhong all but confirmed the rumor as he tagged both Zhao Manying and Ji Xinghuo on his social media account.

Although he didn't say anything, it felt like he had said everything.

The comments below his post erupted.

Before people could react, a few minutes later, a social media post directly set the entire network ablaze, and it was from Zhao Manying herself.

She reposted the content: "If Zhao Manying asked me to be her boyfriend, although I'm not interested in women, but considering that she's beautiful and strong, I might consider it.

Then she added: "Request accepted."

Along with this, she attached a photo of the two of them from the night they first met at the revolving restaurant.

Although the photo only showed two people leaning against each other with their backs to the camera, the vibrant and colorful night view of Changan could be seen outside the window, and everyone could recognize that the woman leaning her head on the man's shoulder was none other than Zhao Manying herself.

Her hand was intertwined with the man's, reminding people of the photo she had posted when she announced her relationship, which was also taken in the same location.

In an instant, Zhao Manying set the entire network on fire!

Countless people were left stunned.

The events of this evening were too magical, full of twists and turns, like an annual grand drama. First, there was the life-and-death battle at the opening ceremony, which had to be halted and rescheduled. Then, the identities of the participants were exposed, revealing a genius.

After that, everyone thought that this genius was a jester, and they ridiculed and enjoyed themselves immensely.

But then, everything was turned on its head, and they were slapped in the face.

Those who had just been reveling in the drama, spread across the globe in various countries and corners, as well as Zhao Manying's numerous male fans, were all left shattered.

"I don't believe it!"

"Sword Immortal, you must be joking, right? How can the first-ranked on the Heavenly Ladder date the last-ranked? That's too far-fetched!"

"Ahhhhh..."

"This can't be true! I refuse to accept it! Am I the real jester here?"

"So, it was you, kid!"

"You've stolen my wife, and I shall never forgive you!"

Ji Xinghuo laughed out loud in the parking lot, feeling as refreshed as if he had just taken the first sip of ice-cold cola on a scorching summer day.

He opened his social media account and searched for a while before posting something new for the first time in six years.

There were no words, just a big joker emoji.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end