Chapter 261 - 259: News Leaked

The title "Yanhua’s #1 Genius" was quite the accolade.

It began by naming the most powerful nation on Cyan Blue, and then declared him the number one genius of that very nation.

But it was easy to see why.

Yang Shen was the Champion Scholar of Jianghuai. Given the depth of Jianghuai’s Martial Arts resources, winning that title was practically the same as being the "National Champion Scholar."

The only reason it wasn’t official was due to minor regional differences in scoring and policy. Besides, Jiang Xin had been the only Innate-level examinee in the entire country in recent years, and Yang Shen was even stronger than him.

His status as Champion Scholar alone cemented his position as number one among his peers.

Looking back over the last seven or eight years, no one had come close to Yang Shen’s level of excellence.

If burning the River of Calamity and Pestilence had only made Yang Shen seem "special," then single-handedly killing the Early-stage True Gang Luo Sheng made him seem like a "freak of nature."

Yang Shen was only eighteen years old.

Given these accomplishments, there were simply no comparable feats on record. Thus, calling him "Yanhua’s #1 Genius" of the last few years was no exaggeration.

Now, the Yanhua teenager’s name had spread across the globe.

It had landed on desks everywhere.

In Magna, in Tianzhu, in Europe...

No one was omniscient. Everyone could only make judgments based on the available information.

’But it’s not like they’ve found anyone else, have they...?’

’If you’ve got someone better, then show them!’

’If not, we’ll just assume he’s number one!’

If Yang Shen had simply stuck to his studies at Jiangti, it would have been nearly impossible for him to earn such a grand title, no matter how good his grades were.

But for his fame to explode out of Harmony Island—an event involving multiple nations that had captured the attention of the entire Cyan Blue planet...

That was tantamount to a globally recognized endorsement.

————

In the backyard of the Yang Residence, Yang Shen was instructing his family’s core members in Body Forging after school when his phone buzzed softly.

He glanced at the screen. ’Jiang Xin?’

’I regret this so much...’ Back before the semester started, during the Champion Scholar’s tour of Jiangti, Wu had goaded everyone into exchanging contact information.

’And that’s how this psycho got my number.’

"Hey, Yang Shen, I’m passing along a message. Are you married?"

Yang Shen held the phone a little further away from his face, making sure he wasn’t mistaken about who was on the line.

"Whatever you have to say, spit it out."

On the other end of the line, lounging in a century-old mansion in the Yellow Dragon District, Jiang Xin wasn’t the least bit annoyed as he kept his legs crossed.

"Someone wants to arrange a marriage with you! It’s the Liu Family from Jianghuai—they’re pretty powerful. We’re talking about their second daughter, from the direct family line."

Yang Shen’s expression grew vacant, like an old man on the subway squinting at his phone without his reading glasses.

"What is this nonsense?"

"Hah, of course they weren’t this direct. I’m just giving you the simplified version, translating their fancy talk into plain language. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand the roundabout ways of these Martial Arts Families."

"The process would be, first they’d feel you out, then they’d have their daughter ’casually’ get to know you, and finally, she’d ’thoroughly’ get to know you. Anyway, that’s the gist of it. If you’re interested, I can send you a picture!"

Yang Shen hung up.

A few minutes later, a new number called in.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yang Shen answered it.

"It’s me again. I switched to a different number. My bad, my bad! I forgot you and Xu Bamboo are a couple. You didn’t have that on speakerphone, did you?"

Yang Shen: ...

"But it’s not a problem. Martial Arts Families have an unspoken rule that anyone at the Jade Viscera Realm or higher can engage in ’plural marriage’ to pass on superior genes. The law may not recognize it, but we all do. That’s why there’s a distinction between direct and non-direct lineages."

"I haven’t met her myself, but they say she’s a beauty over 1.9 meters tall. By the way, have you heard of the ’Queen of Cross-Training Jiangti’? This is her younger sister."

Yang Shen hung up again.

Xu Bamboo looked over curiously. "Who was that?"

Yang Shen replied, "A spam call."

After that, he ignored all incoming calls, a sense of unease creeping into his heart...

’It feels... like something is happening, but I’m out of the loop.’

He was just about to complain to Xu Bamboo when Cao Wei from the Outer Courtyard came jogging over. "Master, you have a visitor."

"A visitor? Who is it?"

"He says his name is Fan Jing."

...

Ten-odd minutes later, in a lush courtyard of the Outer Courtyard, Yang Shen sat across from Fan Jing, drinking tea. He hadn’t seen the man in a long time.

Cao Wei dutifully stood to one side, pouring tea for her master.

Her soft, pink knees secretly brushed against her master’s chair again.

Fan Jing sized up the stately Yang Residence. As a business manager for Qilin Media, he was the one who had signed Yang Shen to commercialize his Champion Scholar title.

The two were quite familiar, having spent most of the summer vacation together.

Fan Jing remarked with a sigh, "I can’t believe it’s only been a few months. Yang, you’ve already built such a grand estate."

’Not just a residence, but a handmaiden, too.’

’And what a high-quality handmaiden! Judging by her bearing, she could be the young lady of some wealthy family!’

’How much money and effort must it have taken to cultivate someone like that?’

Yang Shen smiled. "I couldn’t have done it without your help, Fan."

That crazy wave of endorsements was what had provided the seed money for the Yang Residence.

Get out of the car for a photo op, get back in to sleep, then go home and count the cash.

’It was a pretty sweet deal.’

Fan Jing didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"You might not have heard the news yet, but word of your exploits on Harmony Island is gradually spreading."

"You mean...?"

"Burning the River of Calamity and Pestilence, killing an Early-stage True Gang expert..."

Yang Shen raised an eyebrow. Although Qilin Media was influential, developing the Exotic Realm was ultimately a matter of national importance.

’For even them to know about it, the news must have really spread far and wide.’

It was almost certainly the foreign Martial Artists who couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They had no obligation to keep secrets for Yanhua. It was a classic case of news from the outside leaking back in.

The Yanhua Official probably guessed it would be impossible to contain. With Harmony Island’s existence, it was inevitable that the outside world would eventually find out, so they hadn’t bothered with much information control.

Fan Jing murmured, "You might not believe this, but you’re already being called ’Yanhua’s #1 Genius’..."

Yang Shen asked, "And?"

Fan Jing: ...

’Aren’t you supposed to feign some humility?’

’What do you mean, "and"?’

"And that’s just in terms of public reach. Based on our experience, you’ve definitely appeared on the radar of various national agencies, multinational conglomerates, old-money families, and aristocrats. After all, the title ’Yanhua’s #1 Genius’ is simply too resonant."

"This isn’t even a rumor that started among the common people; it’s a consensus among the top echelons of various nations. The value of that is immeasurable!"

"As a media company, there are other things we can’t touch, but one thing is certain..."

A shrewd glint flashed in Fan Jing’s eyes as he handed over a partnership agreement. "Yang, your commercial value is about to skyrocket again!"

"And I’m guessing your time is limited now, with your studies being the priority. You can’t possibly take on high-intensity endorsements like you did over the summer. But if you think our previous collaboration went well... how about we renew our acquaintance?"

Yang Shen’s partnership with Qilin Media had only been for that summer, but they had once again scented a massive business opportunity.

"This time, we’ll only approach you with truly top-tier endorsement contracts. A single one could be worth tens of millions. Three to five of those a year would be plenty. Same as before: you get out for the photo op, get back in to sleep, and leave the rest to us. What’s more, Qilin Media’s commission will be lowered to 10%, which is the lowest in the industry."

"You’ll no longer be appearing as the Champion Scholar, but as... ’Yanhua’s #1 Genius’!"

Yang Shen took the agreement from him and looked it over for a long moment.

’This money...’

’I could take it or leave it...’

He wasn’t opposed to endorsements. To this day, "Source Energy Forest" drinks with his face on them were still hot sellers. It was certainly easy money, but the Yang Family wasn’t facing any financial difficulties at the moment.

This kind of one-time income wouldn’t be counted toward his system’s "Monthly Earnings" mission.

Focusing on improving their strength was the top priority—for all his core family members and for himself.

"I’ll have to think about it. As you know, I just got back from the Exotic Realm and haven’t had a chance to recover properly."

Seeing Yang Shen’s lack of interest, Fan Jing thought for a moment and decided he had to sweeten the pot.

He had originally planned to present his next point as a "condition," but seeing Yang Shen’s current disposition, he knew this young man couldn’t be swayed by conditions.

It had to be framed as a "gift."

So, he said, "It’s perfectly normal for you to think it over, Yang. But I have another piece of good news for you."

"Given that the news of you single-handedly killing an ’Early-stage True Gang’ expert has been confirmed... and adding in your concrete achievements like meritorious service in the development of the Exotic Realm..."

"...we intend to make an exception and add you to the ’Qilin List’ once you reach the Late-stage Innate realm."

He raised his eyebrows as he spoke, as if to say, ’You catch my drift?’

Given that the Yanhua Official would never publish such a ranking, the "Qilin List" was the most authoritative, famous, and influential list in the entire nation.

The top one hundred Martial Artists in all of Yanhua under the age of thirty...

Making it onto the Qilin List, for any reason, was a source of immense prestige for a Martial Artist and served as a Ballast Stone on the path to fame.

And the 100th-place cutoff for the Qilin List was precisely the Early-stage True Gang realm. Yang Shen had a kill record acknowledged by multiple nations, meritorious achievements from the Exotic Realm’s development, and was even recognized as "Yanhua’s #1 Genius"!

With a small push from Qilin Media, it would ignite a sensational star-making campaign!

But after hearing Fan Jing out, Yang Shen merely frowned slightly.

"And?"

Fan Jing was stunned. ’Why is it "and" again?!’

"What do you mean...?"

Yang Shen said flatly, "I’m saying I’m already at the Late-stage Innate realm. So, and?"