Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 470: Chapter 66 Community Operation, Ruoxi Ningning
 

Yan Yu effortlessly dealt with Zhao Yuanzhen and then made his way up the stairs to the study where he saw Xie Ruoxi and Lin Ning sitting side by side, pounding away on the keyboards of their two computers like close sisters.

“A new Black Piece has appeared!” Xie Ruoxi suddenly exclaimed, “I sent you the link!”

“Got it!” Lin Ning responded, “What’s our counterattack?”

“Pretend we’re bystanders, just go along with me!” said Xie Ruoxi.

“Which account are you using?” Lin Ning asked.

“The one named ‘I Speak No Lies’,” Xie Ruoxi revealed.

“Right, right!” Lin Ning began to type, fluently reciting, “Pure passerby, neither fan nor hater, what you’re saying does make sense…”

Yan Yu, listening from behind, was speechless and asked:

“Are you guys playing the social media army game again?”

“Please don’t interfere with our regular work, thank you.” Lin Ning wouldn’t give him the time of day, but Xie Ruoxi stood up, eager to report:

“Captain! We’ve figured it out!”

“What’s the situation?” asked Yan Yu.

“It’s because of an account called ‘Wang Zhaojun Beyond the Borderlands.’ It posted on a forum yesterday afternoon,” Xie Ruoxi explained, “Analyzing the strengths of all the Cultivators from Zhenhai, Dragon Cavalry, Huofeng, and Qing An Teams.”

“Hmm,” mused Yan Yu, considering how easy it was to perform a comprehensive analysis with so many live broadcasts and video recordings available online, “And then?”

“It seems like it’s run by one of your brain-dead fans,” Xie Ruoxi said cautiously. “The analyses of others were fairly objective, but when it came to you, it was all exaggerated praise of your combat power, saying your face-off with Huofeng Team was like a college student in a kindergarten, so it sparked a lot of debate and quarreling in the comments. Some people got so irritated by his comments that they started taking his posts out of context and spreading them around, turning many clueless bystanders into haters against us.”

“I see,” Yan Yu nodded, “Where’s the original post? Show it to me?”

“The post got clamped, but I have screenshots of the reposts here,” Xie Ruoxi said as she went back to her computer, pulled up the screenshots, and Yan Yu leaned in to take a closer look. The title of the post was:

“Why Yan Yu is the Strongest in This World.”

He inhaled silently without changing his expression and continued to read the content.

As Xie Ruoxi had mentioned, the analysis from Wang Zhaojun was normal for other Cultivators, each point made was reasonable, with no exaggeration. But the tone changed dramatically when it came to Yan Yu: praising his unparalleled swordsmanship, robust True Yuan, precise positioning, and god-like reactions. In The Secret Realm of Li Palace battle, he alone could hold an entire lane, rendering many superheroes unable to advance even an inch. Now, with only a few people on the Huofeng Team, Yan Yu could take care of the opposition all by himself without even needing his teammates to step in.

There were people in the comments who refuted this point, saying there were two reasons for the outcome in The Secret Realm of Li Palace: first, the staircase passageways were narrow, with deep pools on both sides, which made it difficult for superheroes to deploy their formations and utilize their numerical advantage; second, at that time, they were all too eager to enter Li Palace and didn’t have the mindset to surround and finish off Yan Yu, allowing him to grandstand.

Wang Zhaojun replied, saying some people love to mock others for showing off, not realizing they are the real fools. There are three sets of stairs in front of Li Palace; why was it that only Yan Yu could perform superbly while other Cultivators were just huddling together taking a beating from the Onmyoji?

It must be admitted, this person really had a foul mouth. With such remarks, not only did Huofeng Team’s fans start getting uncomfortable, Dragon Cavalry Team’s fans were already furious.

Many lashed out at him for being blind, saying that the Cultivators were obviously working together and stopping the enemy shoulder to shoulder; was it that only a One Man Army counted as a hero, and that without exceptional prowess, one is a rookie?

Wang Zhaojun said that while all of you are stopping the enemy together, only Yan Yu is a One Man Army; doesn’t this prove the weight behind Yan Yu being the strongest in this world?

“I have to say, he does make some sense,” Yan Yu murmured, chin in hand.

“That makes no sense at all!” Lin Ning couldn’t help but retort, “Just because of this brown-nosing post of his, how many people’s perception of us has worsened?”

“What does their perception have to do with us, even in the slightest?” Yan Yu was amused by her, “What, if someone doesn’t like you, does your strength decline? Does your endocrine system get disturbed? Does your matchmaking plan fall through? Can’t find a partner?”

Lin Ning stepped on Yan Yu’s foot and twisted it around vigorously, grinding it to vent her frustration.

Unfortunately, she was too light to cause any harm to Yan Yu.

“Since it’s not the work of organized trolls, let’s not worry about public opinion for now.” Yan Yu spoke solemnly, “Let’s focus on preparing for the battle.”

“Oh,” Lin Ning said.

“What, you’re not convinced?” Yan Yu glanced at her sideways.

“Of course I’m not,” Lin Ning said, “There are still so many people who haven’t had the chance to insult me. If I keep quiet now, won’t they think I’m afraid of them?”

“In that case, you focus on managing public opinion,” Yan Yu nodded and said, “This time, you won’t be going on the field.”

“No way!” Lin Ning was visibly shocked, grabbing Yan Yu’s arm and saying, “I have to go on the field! I must! Don’t joke with me like this!”

“Speaking of which,” Xie Ruoxi looked at Lin Ning and suddenly grasped the sleeve of Yan Yu’s other arm, asking, “Has the competition format been decided? Is it only five people allowed to compete, no more?”

“That’s not exactly it,” Yan Yu replied, “Specifically speaking, it’s a batch system with an advance and a follow-up.”

“Divide the team into an advance and a follow-up formation. In the order of the home team’s advance, the visiting team’s advance, the home team’s follow-up, and the visiting team’s follow-up, no more than five people can enter in each batch. In other words, everyone can’t enter all at once, simulating a scenario of holding ground and reinforcing.”

“I see,” Lin Ning pondered, “So it’s possible to have one person in the advance and five in the follow-up, or two in the advance and three in the follow-up… Does this sound a bit like Tian Ji’s horse racing?”

“Exactly,” Xie Ruoxi also had a flash of insight and asked curiously, “If we only send one person in the advance, and the opponent sends five, and they run into each other before the follow-up even has a chance to enter, isn’t that very disadvantageous to us?”

“The entry location to the Mysterious Realm is constantly changing, so it’s not that easy to bump into each other,” Lin Ning tried to analyze, “It’s possible that neither advance team encounters each other in the Mysterious Realm, but our five people in the follow-up meet the other team’s one person in the follow-up, which would turn the tide of battle, wouldn’t it?”

“You all make good points,” Yan Yu said, “But you’re overlooking something.”

“What?” Lin Ning asked.

“If it’s me meeting five others, it’s still the others who are at a disadvantage,” Yan Yu said, “So, ultimately, it’s not about numbers, but about strength.”

“Pfft!” Both girls were at a loss for words.

However, this new competition format really favored the Zhenhai Team, as Yan Yu always stood apart from the rest of the team’s tactical system, so the batch entry system hardly affected the others.

In contrast, the Huofeng Team relied on the command of their vice-captain Zhang Huaide, so the batch system would lead to some team members being cut off from the command system. Without joining up with their own team, whether they faced Chen Lingyun leading the main force or Yan Yu, the One Man Army, they were likely not to fare well.

Hmm? If Yan Yu really entered alone and encountered the main force, resulting in defeating all five opponents, what would the post-match public opinion be like then?

Lin Ning and Xie Ruoxi exchanged glances, suddenly feeling excited.

Wouldn’t that be the best way to slap those trolls in the face?