Chapter 21: The Senior Brother in Tatters, the Junior Sister Mends and Patches

A few sizzling sounds echoed, and the Repository Pavilion, along with the entire Celestial Extremity Sect, was plunged into darkness.

Lu Qingfei blinked in confusion, but soon understood what had happened.

—it was time to pay the electricity bill.

She reached for her phone on the table, when suddenly a cold, clear voice sounded from outside the door:

"Junior Sister."

Lu Qingfei looked toward the voice and saw Xie Yunji standing in the doorway, holding a bamboo lantern, a solitary beam of light amid the darkness.

She was momentarily stunned. "Senior Brother."

Xie Yunji strode in, the lantern's glow illuminating his features, casting half-light and half-shadow across his sharply handsome face.

"Master sent me to bring you a candle lantern."

He hung the lantern on the corner of the table, his gaze sweeping over the six paper ingots on the table, his eyes flickering between Lu Qingfei and the paper offerings twice before he calmly remarked, "Don’t stay up too late."

Lu Qingfei replied lightly, "Alright. You should get some rest too, Senior Brother."

After he left, Lu Qingfei, aided by the lantern’s light, found her phone.

She wanted to pay the electricity bill online, but realized she didn't know how. She had always paid in person before.

She’d go to the power bureau tomorrow to ask.

Her phone battery was running low, so Lu Qingfei opened the Whale app and messaged Liu Zhenyan V.

Then, lazily reclining in her chair, she pondered for a moment and posted an announcement on her profile:

"Apologies, due to force majeure (power outage), today’s livestream ends here. Thank you!
While others clown around, I cultivate immortality, carefree and cheerful!
Fasting pills nourish beauty and warm the stomach, while calligraphy soothes the soul!
Sitting amid towers of books in the Repository Pavilion, power’s out, so no stream today!"

Livestream copywriting is a crucial part of attracting viewers and marketing; a good copy is indispensable. Sure enough, after the post went out, comments flooded in.

Heart at Harvard, Mind with Miro Buddha: [Power outages still happen these days? Is the streamer trying to fool us?]

I Have Special Slacker Skills: [This copy is so passionate, you deserve a Literary Prize!]

Melancholy Little Salted Fish: [I feel for your experience, but your words never lose power.]

Even If I Don’t Study, I’ll Be Top of My Grade: [Immortal Sister, if you don’t stream, I’ll have to study. Can you bear it? Are you willing?]

Quack Quack Quack: [Normal streamers are important, but eccentric ones are truly brilliant. Come back, streamer, I can’t handle this normal world alone~~]

...

The netizens were truly amusing, tossing all sorts of memes under the announcement.

Regardless of the reason, abruptly ending a livestream is seen as unprofessional and irresponsible.

Lu Qingfei’s announcement was her attempt to salvage what little professionalism she had left.

Before long, she noticed her account had gained a small gold badge labeled:

【Top 9 Comedy Streamer】

Lu Qingfei opened her message inbox and found 999+ system notifications.

"Ding, Happiness Value +1!"
"Don, Happiness Value +1!"
"Ah, Happiness Value +1!"
"Yo..."
"Happiness Value +1+1+1+...+stopped."
"Too much joy! Congratulations, streamer, you’re about to make Little Whale laugh itself to death!"

Because viewers kept spamming happiness points, Lu Qingfei shot up to Top 9 in the comedy streamer rankings.

Lu Qingfei: "???"

I’m here to cultivate immortality seriously, not to be funny.

Spiritual energy surged in her mind, and suddenly Lu Qingfei felt that being funny wasn’t so bad after all.

Livestreaming was a mode of cultivation more suited to modern sensibilities.

Lounging lazily by the lantern’s glow, Lu Qingfei checked her streaming stats.

Thanks to the celebrity effect and the talented netizens, her follower count leapt from three digits to five.

27,921, and still rising.

With over 20,000 followers, she could apply for yellow V verification, increasing her exposure.

Without hesitation, Lu Qingfei clicked through and followed the process to apply.

When she reaches a million followers, Whale Platform will assign a professional manager to help run her account.

The Whale Platform staff was astonished; it was the first time they’d seen a streamer end a broadcast with viewers still spamming happiness points.

And this streamer was categorized under the skills track.

The skills track, as the name implies, is for sharing knowledge and letting viewers experience the endless sea of learning.

Bitter, not joyful!

While happiness points aren’t valuable, they shouldn’t be spammed like this!

The staff felt the world had gone mad.

*

Calligraphy Research Institute.

Lian Qi stared at the darkened livestream page, feeling as if his own world had gone black.

He hadn’t succeeded in connecting for an interview either time.

Was she reenacting the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage?

Lian Qi: My whole life is walking on thin ice, my heart’s cold as ice!

The Head of the Publicity Department called out, "The streamer sent a private message."

Lian Qi snapped back to attention, cold sweat dotting his brow as he glanced at the computer screen.

I’m Livestreaming Cultivation in the Mortal World: [Apologies, power’s out, can’t connect today. If you have any questions about calligraphy, feel free to ask anytime; I’ll reply as soon as I know. Bow.jpg]

His pupils contracted behind his glasses, and he slammed the table: "Ask for her contact info! Arrange a face-to-face meeting!"

The head complied, and soon obtained Lu Qingfei’s contact. Lian Qi had never felt so happy.

This day, full of ups and downs... finally turned up again!

Lian Qi added Lu Qingfei on WeChat, requesting several photos of her calligraphy works.

The calligraphy sold to Lady Fortune Xi Yun hadn’t been delivered yet, so Lu Qingfei sent those photos.

She had benefited from the other’s fame, so fulfilling this simple request was easy enough.

Lian Qi hurriedly sent the high-resolution calligraphy images to Liu Zhenyan.

Liu Zhenyan, experiencing being "stood up" for the first time, felt frustrated and gloomy, his face dark, the atmosphere oppressive.

"Power’s out, couldn’t connect, but we’ve got her contact info," Lian Qi spoke carefully. "When Miss Lu is free, we can invite her to the Calligraphy Research Institute."

Liu Zhenyan’s stern face softened a little when he saw the high-res calligraphy on the screen.

While others’ brushwork hinted at aggression, Lu Qingfei’s exuded a subtle aura of immortality, calming the mind.

After a long pause, Liu Zhenyan nodded.

"The young lady is very promising. Be mindful in your dealings, don’t scare her off."

"Understood."

Lian Qi breathed a sigh of relief and wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.

Streamers nowadays are truly something!

His whole career was at her mercy.

**

Morning.

Lu Qingfei, as usual, went to her third senior brother’s room to check his seven souls and six spirits.

Spiritual veins appeared in his divine sense, so she could use the soul-consolidating technique. She formed a hand seal and recited:

"Heavenly Firmament, the one hundred and first path, Soul Technique."
"With spirit as guide, the gathering of divinity."

The collected demonic energy, tinged with faint red light, slowly merged into Yan Guilai’s body.

Senior brother was battered and broken; junior sister stitched him together.

After tending to her disabled and ailing third senior brother, Lu Qingfei set out to pay the electricity bill at the power bureau, consulting staff about the process for paying online.

As she left the bureau, her phone pinged with two messages.

Lady Fortune: [Calligraphy Sale Contract.pdf]
Lady Fortune: [This is the first draft, please review]

Lu Qingfei opened and read through it, found no issues, and set a time with Xi Yun for an in-person transaction.

Last time at the police station, Lu Qingfei had exchanged contact info with Jin Yu.

After finishing the matter with the multicolored dragon-patterned porcelain jar, Jin Yu persistently sent her pictures of ceramics-making—soil gathering, clay processing, forming, glazing, kiln firing, and so forth.

All to persuade Lu Qingfei to learn traditional crafts.

A very determined elderly lady.

Lu Qingfei mailed out fasting pills and paper cuttings, and checked the delivery status of her previous fasting pills and calligraphy works.

They were expected to arrive at the netizen’s place tomorrow.

Both fasting pills had sold; what should she sell next?

As she pondered, something caught her eye, and Lu Qingfei abruptly stopped.