Now that he had a conjecture, Xero needed to validate it.
Despite being who he was, he had to admit that his omnipotence was only reflected in being able to use all skills, known and unknown as well as big and small. In terms of experience, however, he was in the end still too young.
Cultivation wikipedias and encyclopaedias, thousand year old cultivation epics, unsolved mysteries of the ancient cultivation world, and other literary works in these libraries… to supplement his lack of experience, Xero had already memorised all of these at a young age.
However, most of these works were passed down orally before they were finally compiled for progeny, so he couldn't be sure whether those historical facts were reliable or not. When he encountered any difficulties, he would visit the qna cultivation forums to look for guidance from the veteran seniors there.
At the age of seven, he had been looking for ways to suppress his strength, so he signed up for a cultivation forum account. There were many talented experts there, and gossip would be shared occasionally.
But Xero rarely went online and most of the time he was a lurker. The online ID of the owner of the cultivation forum was "Rocket Launcher Sage Immortal," a mysterious rouge cultivator who frequently travelled around the world. Xero felt a lot of resentment at this "Rocket Launcher Sage Immortal," because he was the one that pressured him to eventually obtain the counsellor position in the Qinghai Magical Essence Special Forces Team for those four days.
Recently, in order to integrate some old users' forum contacts and connections, Rocket Launcher Sage Immortal had specially set up a group chat in order to organise online activities. And somehow, Xero had been forcibly added to the owner's cultivation group chat…
He had initially wanted to make his account anonymous and post a picture of the spirit mask, asking if anyone knew about it. But who would've known the moment he went online, it would he displayed on the chat window for everyone to see like on those porn websites when your subscription runs out —"User: Zhang Zhizhen is now online."
Xero knew it was too late to log out — the group chat immediately exploded into an anarchy.
"Wait f**k! Zhang Zhizhen? I'm not seeing things, right?! Isn't this The Ten Thousand Lurking King?!"
"Nope, you're not seeing things… it really is Zhang Zhizhen! The legendary grandmaster has finally remembered his password! I'm so emotional…"
"Lolololol! The online reminder system set up by the owner is genius! Even The Ten Thousand Lurking King fell for it!"
"…" Xero looked at the IDs of these people; he only recognised some of them, but among them were the rescuers that were present eleven years ago. And the female cultivator "Qinlian Zhenren," who had squeezed Xero to her ample bosom back then.
However, Qinlian Zhenren had no idea of Xero's real identity; in this group, the only person who had seen him was the owner Rocket Launcher Sage Immortal. Even then, what the latter knew was only roughly similar to Old Yu.
They all felt that Xero was a four to five thousand year old monster who just looked very young and had disguised himself as an high school student in order to pursue an incognito lifestyle…
Xero was silent for a while, but then sent four words. "Is the forum owner present?"
Immortal Tianya: "Zhang Zhizhen, Call him group owner, it's better this way. You haven't come online for a long time, you probably don't know how it operates here."
This Immortal Tianya was also a senior in the group and was a metallurgist. He would usually share gossip about pills and even share videos of his pill refinement process, and each time his furnace exploded, he would beg tremendously before receiving virtual gifts.
Qinlian Zhenren sent a shrugging emoji. "Guess I'll explain it plainly."
Xero sent a question mark, "?"
It had indeed been a long time since he logged on, but it hadn't slowed down to any extent. So why did the people here seem so miserable?
Qinlian Zhenren sent a string of crying emojis. "It's not that the forum isn't doing well — in fact, it's very well known… but once its reputation took off, these ignorant junior cultivators started raiding the damn group! So in a nutshell, the group isn't so harmonious…"
"Exactly!"
Immortal Tianya also said, "Not long ago, a public flame post was instituted on one of the platforms by someone with the ID Yang Clan Yang Shuotian, requesting to break off an engagement with Murong Zhi. Scattering money in tens of thousands creating lords who shape the sea, filling the forum with mischief… what a shame of an atmosphere! Actually even openly speaking about such a matter… I'm starting to think the youth these days are getting more and more retarded!"
When Xero saw this, he basically understood the situation. The cultivation forum wasn't more than ten years old and had started to make its mark in the last few years, relying on its wealth to create engaging cultivation content to attract a large number of users. The problem with large numbers, however, was the spotty performance of the users, which caused the said atmosphere to be less harmonious.
"It's just like Immortal Tianya said. So we asked the owner to make a group chat to reunite old forum users. The forum will deal with its own problems there and we'll do our own thing here! If you want to sum it up in one sentence: seal the gates, guard the truth!"
"So from now on, if Zhang Zhizhen needs something, you can discuss it with us!" Someone with the ID Nine Stars Beneath The Mountain said.
Xero didn't know who this person was; in fact, everyone here was unknown to him, out of all the people in this group, he only knew one tenth of them.
Seeing no response from Xero, Nine Stars Beneath The Mountain sent a salute emoji. "Nice to meet you, Senior Zhang Zhizhen! You can call me Nine Stars! I've heard so much about senior. I joined the forum four years after you did, and I've learned a lot! I've always wanted to ask you for advice!"
"Nine Stars, don't try to crack jokes. Senior Zhang Zhizhen is an existence even the owner acknowledged is stronger than his. If you want to make jokes, don't get too comfortable!"
"I'm obviously serious! What's so funny about the Orchid Manuscript I'm cultivating from?!" Nine Stars sent a rolling eyes emoji.
Xero: "…"
Just then, someone with the ID Storm Sovereign couldn't help but lecture Nine Stars. "Nine Stars, how many times have I told you, the martial arts of the Orchid Manuscript have long been lost! This book which you bought online is definitely a fake. If you cultivate fake arts and want to fight a duel with Senior Zhang Zhizhen, he can pluck one of your pubic hairs and stab you to death with it!"
Xero: "…"
Hearing the Orchid Manuscript he purchased online come into question, Nine Stars was unconvinced. "Hell f**king no. What makes you think mine is fake?"
Storm Sovereign sent a "hehe" emoji. "Do you dare read out the first line of the martial art star sutra?"
Xuelang Sword Immortal: "I heard that the first line of the sutra is that if you want to practice this art… you must first castrate yourself! Nine Stars… don't tell me you…"
"Is that so? The first line of my Orchid Manuscript is…"
Nine Stars's eyes were already wet. "… Little Mommy Orchid, are you there…"
Xero, Qinlian, Xuelang Sword Immortal, Immortal Tianya and Storm Sovereign: "…" SB!