World’s End: My Keyword is One More Than Others

Chapter 277: Mitigate the impact

After showing off, Du Ge pushed past the reporters and dove into the Jingming Grand Hotel.

Zhao Hongmei directed the security to keep the reporters outside.

Ever since Du Ge began speaking on behalf of the cultivation world, his and Zhao Hongmei's phones hadn't stopped ringing—with bells, calls, and all sorts of notification sounds incessantly chirping.

Once inside the hotel and with the reporters blocked outside, the world finally quieted down.

Seeing Daoist Priest Qingsong's name on the incoming call, Du Ge answered the phone with enthusiasm, "Senior brother, why are you calling me right after coming down the mountain?"

"..." Qingsong choked, "Give me your address, I'll come to you right away. Don't interact with anyone before I get there."

"Okay." Du Ge readily agreed and disclosed his location.

Meanwhile, Zhao Hongmei also picked up a call: "Manager Wu."

"Let Cheng Yu take the call," Manager Wu's frantic voice came through the receiver.

Zhao Hongmei glanced at Du Ge, walked aside with the phone, and while walking, she explained the bizarre events that had occurred from yesterday to now, concluding with, "...Manager Wu, I'm afraid the contract might not be able to restrain Cheng Yu anymore."

"Can't restrain my ass, do you know how much trouble he's caused?" Manager Wu roared, "Calls from city and provincial leaders have reached me, demanding I quickly mitigate the impact. With such a mess, not even Suwen himself, let alone the Heavenly King, could save him. If we don't handle him, I'm the one who's going to suffer."

"Does Manager Wu mean to disassociate from him?" Zhao Hongmei was also thrown into disarray.

"Disassociate? If I did that, I'd be dead. I don't even dare to close his Weibo account right now," Manager Wu said, "You go on Cheng Yu's Weibo now, release new movie promotions, tell them everything Cheng Yu is doing is for promoting a new film, in collaboration with a magician."

"Our new movie isn't related to cyber violence, should we add another one?" Zhao Hongmei asked.

"Add it, I'm not really going to shoot it," Manager Wu gritted his teeth, "Include all the elements he talked about. Tell his fans not to believe or spread rumors, there's no such thing as Daoist magic in the world, everything Cheng Yu has done is the company's promotional tactics for the film, in cooperation with a magician. Zhao Hongmei, Cheng Yu won't be able to jump around for long. Once he's dealt with by the authorities, we'll issue a statement to disassociate from him. For the next few days, just keep him stable and prevent him from causing more trouble."

"What about the reporters?" Zhao Hongmei asked.

"We don't need to worry about that," Manager Wu said, "Someone will handle it. Damn it, how could there be Daoist magic in this world? I need to find somewhere to get a protective talisman..."

Muttering to himself, Manager Wu hung up the phone.

Du Ge, with his sharp ears and eyes, overheard the entire conversation but didn't take it to heart. As long as there wasn't a complete ban on him, he wasn't afraid of any underhanded tricks.

He had already memorized all the talismans from the "Compendium of Talismans."

With his formidable skills, even using basic talismans in combat was quite fierce, not at all like what Yu Ming said about the talisman sect being weak in battle.

Currently, Du Ge couldn't draw high-level talismans like "Bean Soldiers" or "Great Seal of the Supreme Clarity."

After all, those talismans were too powerful.

The Great Seal of the Supreme Clarity was engraved on a seal, equivalent to borrowing the power of the Supreme Clarity, and could be used directly as a seal. Even the mightiest Ghost King would be subdued by it.

It was said that the "Demon-Sealing Cave" of Tianshi Mountain used nothing more than the Zhang Tianshi Seal to suppress all evil spirits.

However, Du Ge was multitasking, constantly running his concentration technique. As long as he kept improving his attributes, he believed it wouldn't be long before he could draw talismans like "Bean Soldiers" with his own power.

...

Following Manager Wu's orders, Zhao Hongmei logged into Cheng Yu's account and posted two new movie trailers, explaining Du Ge's unusual behavior over the past two days.

The reporter who originally interviewed Du Ge reported expectations for the movie and amazement at the magician.

However.

With news being deleted and live streams being blocked, no one believed the debunking anymore.

Rumors were spreading like wildfire.

Of course.

It could also be keywords like "manipulation" that were fanning the flames behind the scenes.

In short, aside from public groups and forums where discussing the Heavenly Demon was forbidden.

In private groups and obscure little forums, discussions about the Heavenly Demon, ghosts, and Daoist magic were rampant, with all sorts of experts analyzing and eyewitness accounts...

Regarding this.

The officials let it be.

They knew that no matter what, the fervor was only temporary.

Get a few experts to stir things up, find some new hot topics, lead the public through a few cycles, and the direction of public opinion would naturally change.

Maybe the netizens would even start arguing among themselves...

The more bizarre the stories, the faker they seemed. Without seeing with their own eyes, who would really take them seriously?

As for those who did witness, few would believe them.

...

Du Ge had Zhao Hongmei buy a large amount of cinnabar and yellow paper and locked himself in his hotel room to draw talismans all day.

He needed to prepare for the battle that evening. Ordinary people used them to boost attributes, but the cultivation world was the main battlefield against the candidates, and he had to win the friendship of the cultivation world.

Zhao Hongmei, unaware of Du Ge's learning process and his challenge to the younger generation of the cultivation world, didn't realize the seriousness of the situation. She obediently bought the talisman paper and let Du Ge practice while she busied herself cleaning up after him.

In her view, Du Ge had only followed Daoist Priest Suwen for one day, so he couldn't possibly draw talismans himself. Those Thunder Talismans and Rain Talismans must have been given by Daoist Priest Suwen for protection.

As long as Du Ge obediently practiced Daoism and didn't stir up trouble online, that was the biggest success.

...

In the afternoon, Qingsong found Du Ge, but as soon as he entered, he was immobilized by a talisman Du Ge threw on the ground.

Then, he could only watch as Du Ge smoothly drew one talisman after another like an assembly line worker, unable to utter any words of persuasion. After breaking free from the immobilization talisman, he silently began to mix cinnabar for him.

At this moment.

He understood why his master had gone into seclusion.

Why his little junior brother was so boastful, challenging all the young cultivators?

After just one day, he could draw talismans non-stop, his spiritual power seeming endless. If he had such talent, he would have been insufferably arrogant long ago.

Compared to his little junior brother, Qingsong felt like his lifetime of cultivation had gone to the dogs.

Comparing oneself to others will only lead to frustration!

If it weren't for the need to watch over his little junior brother and prevent him from being too harsh on the other sects.

Qingsong would have wanted to go into seclusion like his master and never show his face again.

"Little junior brother, try to restrain yourself tonight when fighting those from the other sects, and don't harm their lives," Qingsong advised while mixing cinnabar, trying a different approach with his junior.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Qingsong, I know my limits," Du Ge smiled and drew another immobilization talisman, "And thank you for coming to support me. You're different from Senior Brother Yu Ming; he's too timid, only wanting me to apologize to those trash. How proud am I? Even master said I'm a cultivation genius, destined to achieve the Golden Elixir. How could I possibly apologize to those beneath me..."

I didn't come to support you!

Qingsong sighed silently and said, "Little junior brother, you don't need to draw so many immobilization talismans. I was caught off guard just now, that's why you immobilized me. In a real fight, immobilization talismans aren't very useful."

"Thank you for the tip, Senior Brother," Du Ge smiled, "Anyway, I have plenty of time, so I might as well draw more to practice my hand."

Immobilization talismans weren't like Dan Cong's "Ban" character; they might immobilize ordinary people for a minute or two.

But against cultivators, they could at most immobilize them for a few seconds, and those with higher cultivation might only pause their actions momentarily.

The prerequisite was that the talisman had to hit the target, which required high skill. This was one of the reasons why the talisman sect was not good at combat.

But for Du Ge, even a momentary pause was enough for him to launch a powerful offensive.

After all.

Besides talismans, he also had the formidable martial power brought by Keywords.

Most talismans were for suppressing evil or exorcising ghosts, and the offensive ones were either Thunder Talismans or Divine Fire Talismans. With no grudges, he couldn't just kill all these young cultivators.