Merging with Demon Spirits

Chapter 104: Chapter 93: Nationally Renowned

At eight o’clock the next day, Lin Feng walked along the bustling main street, heading toward Senhai.

”Ding!”

His phone vibrated slightly in his pocket, and Lin Feng took it out for a look, the corners of his mouth lifting in a faint smile.

A text notified him that his bank card had an extra one billion New Coins. Lin Feng had thought it would take two days for the money to arrive, but it had arrived in less than a day. Dong Xiuxian was much faster than he expected—though, in a way, it was no surprise.

For a Ninth Grade Demon Spirit Master, one billion isn’t a small amount, but as the vice president of the Demon Spirit Master Association, even if he doesn’t have the money on hand, it’s not hard for him to borrow it.

This is a guaranteed, risk-free deal. Dong Xiuxian had no reason to refuse.

[With more than ten Purple-winged Spirit Insect bites, the agony verges on living death, but will yield a body tempering effect, with no side effects at all.]

Lin Feng sent this message to Dong Xiuxian. A while later, he got a reply: ”Keep this confidential. Otherwise, suffer the consequences.”

Lin Feng put down his phone and didn’t reply.

Making a billion in one go, Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With this money, he wouldn’t be short of food for Nightmare for at least two years. Plus, he still had three thousand Purple-winged Spirit Insects on hand, which meant that after Dong Xiuxian made the special effects of the insects public two months later, he could still make another three hundred million.

To make 1.3 billion in half a month had already exceeded Lin Feng’s expectations.

But Lin Feng wasn’t satisfied. This money seemed like a lot, enough for decadence for ages, but in truth, it wasn’t even enough to buy a single Ninth Grade Demon Spirit.

Some rare and powerful Ninth Grade Demon Spirits go for billions. Take Dong Yunan’s refined Eighth Grade Sea Demoness—even though it’s only Eighth Grade, being a healing-type demon, Lin Feng estimated it would go for at least five billion.

And that’s just a Ninth Grade Demon Spirit. As for Earth Chart Demon Spirits, they start at ten billion and up.

Truly powerful Demon Spirit Masters are money-eating monsters; this money never lasts long.

”Reputation really is a great thing!” Lin Feng sighed a little.

The smoothness of this whole thing depended almost entirely on his fame.

If it wasn’t for his big name on the Martial Artist Forum, his advertisement endorsements, making the Glory Rookie Chart, and earning Blue Moon Guardian status, he wouldn’t have been able to get Dong Yunan to join the Martial Arts Club.

Without Dong Yunan’s help, he couldn’t have gotten the Demon Spirit Master Association to work so hard collecting Purple-winged Spirit Insects for him. Much less met the big shot Dong Xiuxian.

And again, fame was what stopped Dong Xiuxian from just taking what he wanted by force, choosing to go through with the deal instead.

If he was just a student, people would have come knocking to threaten and squeeze him a long time ago.

Fame is a good thing; it solves so many problems. Having tasted the perks of reputation, Lin Feng decided he wanted his name to always stay in the public eye.

Not long after Dong Xiuxian wired the billion over, Gao Hai’s call also came through.

”Brother Feng, Old Ji asked me to tell you—the school has agreed to your request.”

Gao Hai brought more good news—another hundred million added to the account. But after earning a billion before, Lin Feng couldn’t get too excited.

”Gao Hai, let Yang Fan know to announce my Ninth Rank Body Cultivator breakthrough on the Martial Artist Forum,” Lin Feng said.

He did this to keep the heat up.

Lin Feng hadn’t yet refined a demon spirit, and Demon Spirit Masters stand above martial artists.

In people’s eyes, even a martial arts prodigy who can’t refine a demon spirit and lacks Demon Spirit Master talent doesn’t have much value.

Even though Lin Feng had already refined Nightmare, Nightmare had mutated—he couldn’t reveal it for the time being.

As for his second demon spirit, Lin Feng had already made up his mind.

His second demon spirit, as far as everyone else was concerned, would be a wasted demon spirit.

Once he became a martial artist, Lin Feng would refine a second demon spirit, and he could already picture it: as soon as he did, he’d be knocked off the genius pedestal straight into the pit.

So, before refining his second demon spirit—the moment before his ”fall from grace”—Lin Feng had to keep the public attention, to make sure he didn’t fall off the Glory Rookie Chart.

Before he really became powerful, Blue Moon Guardian status was his protective talisman, and fame could bring him convenience and benefits. If he could snag a few more ad endorsements and make another round of cash before refining that second demon spirit, all the better.

”And also, our class teacher Xu Wei—tell Yang Fan to find a way to get her to leave Jiangxin First Middle School, as soon as possible. Get her a good job somewhere else, use money or connections or whatever.”

”Alright, got it.” Gao Hai felt it odd that Lin Feng wanted Xu Wei to leave, but didn’t press for details.

Meanwhile, on the Martial Artist Forum, the once-hot ”High Schooler Beats Up Martial Artist” thread, which had climbed to number one, had slowly sunk. It had slipped out of Jiang City’s daily top ten, and was now at No.31.

But when the forum owner—a user named ”Call Me Jianghu All-known”—posted a new comment: ”Twelve days! From Seventh to Ninth Rank Body Cultivator! Now this is a peerless genius!” the thread once again exploded in attention.

The post, previously ranked 31, began surging at a frightening speed. Two hours later, it had rushed up to No.17 daily, and was heading straight for the top ten, with tons of users manically commenting.

”Fake! Absolutely fake, someone’s just showing off—police, come quick!”

”I don’t think it’s fake; this Jianghu All-known is probably Lin Feng’s classmate, and every time he’s been right.”

”Seriously? Don’t scare me, it took me a whole year to go from Seventh to Ninth Rank Body Cultivator.”

”Are you bragging? Took me two years, and I ate thirty Qi and Blood Pills.”

”Impossible, no way—even Ye Qiu couldn’t train that fast, let alone Lin Feng.”

”My Lin Feng is way better than Ye Qiu! Who says it’s impossible.”

Most users just couldn’t believe it; after all, this training speed was downright demonic. Seventh to Ninth Rank Body Cultivator—even a martial arts genius usually needs at least a year. Twelve days? Who are you kidding?

”Don’t forget: Lin Feng’s always been hiding his talent, lying low to pull ahead big-time later. Plus his Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques have reached the 21st form—equal to a Fourth Grade martial artist! The body tempering effect is over ten times that of a typical Body Cultivation Realm. With resources and support, it’s not impossible.”

”He’s got endorsement deals—he’s definitely not short on resources, must be popping Qi and Blood Pills like candy.”

”Pissed myself! So basically, Lin Feng really is the god!”

”So, if he keeps up this pace, could he make martial artist before the college entrance exam?”

”If Lin Feng becomes a martial artist, the top college exam score’s basically in the bag.”

”Yeah, he’s pre-booked the champion slot. Who’s going to stand in his way?”

”Looks likely! Lin Feng’s the type who can beat up actual martial artists—he’d ace practicals easy. He becomes a martial artist, and Jiang City is definitely getting the top spot this year!”

”Jiangxin First Middle School is gonna have a field day—looks like City No.1 is about to lose the crown.”

Netizens went wild. When they started to guess Lin Feng just might become this year’s top scorer, the thread rocketed back into the daily top ten, and was still shooting up out of control—even making it onto Jiang City news.

Top scorer in the college entrance exam!

No way TV news would let a headline like that slip by.

Demon Spirit Master Association!

Dong Xiuxian watched the TV reports, a bit of surprise in his eyes.

”Top scorer in the entrance exam. Looks like I still underestimated him.”

Dong Xiuxian muttered to himself. Just a day ago, Lin Feng had left a deep impression on him.

A sixteen-year-old boy, with zero backing, had dared to strike a deal with him, and held his own in their meeting—he hadn’t expected that this boy, born in the slums, was about to become the whole nation’s top scorer of the college entrance exam.

Dong Xiuxian had been a bit put out about that billion—after all, it’s no small number. If not for his daughter’s involvement, and the fact that Lin Feng had Blue Moon Guardian status, he’d have probably used other means to get what he wanted...

But now, Dong Xiuxian actually felt lucky he hadn’t lost his mind.

”Never underestimate a young man down on his luck—it’s totally true,” Dong Xiuxian sighed.

Every year, the entrance exam is the focus of the whole society.

There’s still more than two months to go, but as soon as news leaked that the champion might already be decided, not just Jiang City but the other eleven base cities nationwide started paying attention to the Martial Artist Forum’s posts—really starting to notice the name Lin Feng.

Before this, Lin Feng already had some fame, but nowhere near Ye Qiu—his reputation was mostly local to Jiang City.

But now, Lin Feng was making his national debut.

Every year, the top scorer is always an uncertainty—no one can guarantee the title, which is why people are so curious what kind of person dares to ”pre-book” it.

Soon enough, the media dug up every detail of Lin Feng’s background.

Shore District, slum background, no resources, no connections.

From junior high, had only above average grades and talent—not a genius.

At sixteen, failed on Awakening Day, didn’t refine a demon spirit. His girlfriend, Ya Ge, however, refined an Eighth Grade Enchanting Butterfly and signed with Ju Xing.

After breaking up, Lin Feng went into madman mode, beating up martial artists at Eighth Rank in Thunder Martial Arts Dojo, made his name on the forum, and exposed that he hid his talent for love—that Awakening Day ”failure” was just a cover because he wanted to refine an Earth Chart demon spirit.

Endorsed an ad, got an 18 million fee, turned down three S-class clubs, and supposedly isn’t even interested in Earth Chart demon spirits.

Made the Glory Rookie Chart, won Blue Moon Guardian status, and in just over ten days, went from Seventh to Ninth Rank Body Cultivator.

From the day he broke up with his girlfriend, Lin Feng’s story has been a wild fantasy-drama, making those hearing it for the first time gasp in disbelief.

Can this get any more dramatic? After the shock and mockery, people could only admire and gossip about him everywhere.

But this time, Lin Feng had truly made a name for himself in front of the whole country.