**Title: The Sect is Going Bankrupt, So I Created Internet in Immortal World**
The Jade Cloud Sect's main courtyard had never been so full.
Not with disciples.
Not with elders.
But with **spectators**.
Thousands of spiritual projections—ghostly, shimmering figures from across the Nine Provinces—floated in the air, their eyes fixed on a single point: a cracked stone platform where **Disciple Li**, the former bandit, stood shirtless, covered in glowing runes, and holding a **spirit tablet** like a sacred relic.
On the tablet's screen, a video played:
**Title: "I Tried the 'Golden Core in 7 Days' Challenge (Spoiler: I Almost Died)"**
**Streamer: Li the Unbreakable**
**Views: 2,847,309 (and rising)**
**Live Donations: 12,450 Spirit Stones**
Lin Feng stood at the edge of the platform, arms crossed, a grin spreading across his face.
"Told you it would work," he said to Xiao Mei, who was frantically adjusting the **Spirit-Transmission Array** to handle the influx of viewers.
Xiao Mei wiped sweat from her brow. "I didn't think *Li* would be our first viral star!"
Lin Feng chuckled. "Neither did I. But desperation breeds content."
---
### **The Birth of a Cultivation Influencer**
It had started three days ago.
The sect was still reeling from the **HeavenNet War**, the near-collapse of the Virtual Dao World, and the sudden influx of **demonic users** after the cross-realm integration.
JCN's revenue was up, but so were costs—server maintenance, soul-backup expansions, and the new **Underworld Gateway Project**.
And then, disaster struck.
The **Spirit Stone Reservoir**, the sect's last major energy source, cracked during a peak traffic surge.
Power dropped to 30%.
The Virtual Dao World flickered.
Users screamed.
And worst of all—**the ads stopped loading**.
No ads meant no revenue.
No revenue meant no food.
Again.
Lin Feng called an emergency meeting.
"We need a miracle," he said. "Something so big, so *unforgettable*, that the entire immortal world can't look away."
Mo Shan adjusted his cracked spectacles. "We could livestream the fox spirit eating a sacred herb again."
"No," Lin Feng said. "We need *authenticity*. Real struggle. Real breakthroughs."
Then Disciple Li stood up.
"I'll do it," he said.
Everyone turned.
Li, the burly ex-bandit with a face like a smashed gourd and a cultivation style based entirely on yelling, pointed at the **"Golden Core in 7 Days"** course on JCN Premium.
"I'll take the challenge. Full stream. All failures. All pain. If I break through, we win. If I die… well, at least the views will be good."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
"Li… you're a genius."
---
### **The Challenge Begins**
The next morning, **#GoldenCoreChallenge** trended across JCN.
Li's stream went live:
**"Day 1: I Ate 10 Spirit Herbs. My Stomach is on Fire. Send Help (and Donations)."**
He documented everything:
- The agonizing meditation sessions where his dantian felt like it was being stabbed by ice needles.
- The failed alchemy attempts where his pills exploded in his face.
- The moment he tried to copy Monk Bai's "Breath of the Cosmos" technique and accidentally inhaled a butterfly.
Viewers *loved* it.
Comments flooded in:
*"Bro, you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to breathe *through* the butterfly, not *into* it."*
*"10/10 for effort. 2/10 for technique."*
*"Donate 5 stones for a meme of Li crying."*
Lin Feng approved the meme.
It went viral.
**Image: Li, face blackened by an explosion, tears streaming, holding a broken pill mortar.**
**Caption: "When you spend 100 stones on herbs and get *this*."**
Donations tripled.
---
### **The Turning Point: The Meme That Broke the Internet**
On **Day 5**, Li hit rock bottom.
He had failed to condense his core three times.
His body was covered in spiritual backlash scars.
And worst of all—his stream had been **hijacked by HeavenNet bots**.
Pop-up ads appeared in viewers' visions:
**"HeavenNet's 'Real' Golden Core Method – 99% Success Rate!"**
**"Why waste time on a loser?"**
Morale crashed.
Donations slowed.
Even Lin Feng began to doubt.
That night, Li sat alone in the courtyard, staring at the stars.
"I'm not a cultivator," he muttered. "I'm a joke."
Lin Feng found him there.
He didn't offer advice.
He didn't preach the Dao.
He pulled out a spirit tablet and showed Li something.
A **meme compilation**.
- Li screaming as a pill exploded.
- Li trying to fly and face-planting into a pond.
- Li crying while eating plain rice, with the caption: **"My cultivation is weak, but my hunger is strong."**
Li stared. Then, slowly, he laughed.
Then he *roared* with laughter.
"I *am* a joke," he said. "But maybe… that's the point."
Lin Feng smiled. "Exactly. People don't just watch for breakthroughs. They watch for *connection*. For *hope*. Even in failure."
The next morning, Li went live again.
But this time, he didn't hide his pain.
He *embraced* it.
**"Day 6: I Failed Again. And You Know What? I Don't Care."**
He showed his scars.
He played the memes.
He even did a **dance** to a demonic drum beat from the Inferno Dominion.
And then, he said:
**"I'm not doing this to become a Core Formation expert. I'm doing this because *I refuse to give up*. And if one person watching this feels like they can keep going… then I've already won."**
Silence.
Then—
**Donation Flood.**
**"User 'MortalMom': Donated 500 Stones – 'My son gave up cultivation. Now he's watching you. Thank you.'"**
**"User 'GhostOfSwordSaint': 1,000 Stones – 'You fight like my disciple. Proud.'"**
**"User 'Kraz'thul': 5,000 Stones – 'You amuse me. Do not die. I need more memes.'"**
The support was overwhelming.
And then—
It happened.
---
### **The Breakthrough**
At midnight, during a meditation session streamed to 1.2 million viewers, Li's dantian *exploded*—not with pain, but with light.
A golden vortex formed in his abdomen.
His spiritual pressure surged.
The ground cracked.
The sky split.
And from within him, a **Nascent Golden Core** emerged—small, radiant, pulsing with the rhythm of a new heart.
The stream froze.
Then, a single message:
**"ANNOUNCEMENT: DISCIPLE LI HAS ACHIEVED CORE FORMATION!"**
**"VIEWER COUNT: 3,721,009"**
**"TOTAL DONATIONS: 47,821 SPIRIT STONES"**
The sect erupted.
Disciples cheered.
Elders wept.
The fox spirit howled in joy.
Li opened his eyes.
He didn't smile.
He didn't shout.
He simply raised his fist and said:
**"I told you I wouldn't die."**
And then—
He passed out.
---
### **The Aftermath: A Sect Reborn**
The next week was chaos.
- **Li the Unbreakable** became JCN's first **Cultivation Influencer**, with his own merchandise line: *"Golden Core Energy Pills (Tastes Like Regret)."*
- The **"Li's Tears"** meme was engraved on spirit stones and sold as good-luck charms.
- JCN launched **"Reality Cultivation Streams"**, a new category where disciples documented their struggles.
- And the sect?
It was no longer on the brink.
It was *thriving*.
The cracked Spirit Stone Reservoir was replaced with a **Quantum Energy Core**, funded entirely by ad revenue and donations.
New disciples arrived—not just from the mortal realm, but from the Demon Realm and even the Celestial Realm.
Even the **Heavenly Commerce Guild** sent a polite inquiry:
*"Would JCN be interested in a co-branded 'Breakthrough Energy Drink'?"*
Lin Feng laughed. "Tell them we'll only partner if they admit we won."
---
### **The Lesson of the Viral Dao**
That night, Lin Feng gathered the disciples.
"The reason Li succeeded wasn't just his will," he said. "It was *visibility*."
He raised a spirit tablet.
"Before, cultivation was hidden. Secret techniques. Lonely tribulations. Suffering in silence."
He tapped play.
Li's breakdown streamed: *"I'm not doing this to become an expert… I'm doing this because I refuse to give up."*
"That moment," Lin Feng said, "was more powerful than any scripture. Because it was *real*."
Xiao Mei smiled. "So the Dao isn't in silence… it's in *sharing*."
Lin Feng nodded. "And the most powerful force in the universe isn't cultivation.
It's **a good meme**."
---
### **The Next Challenge: The Underworld Live Stream**
As the meeting ended, Mo Shan approached, holding a cracked scroll from the **Ancient Ruins Archive**.
"Problem?" Lin Feng asked.
"Possibly," Mo Shan said. "This text mentions a **Spiritual Necropolis** beneath the mortal realm—where souls go to *train after death*."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
"You're not thinking…" Xiao Mei began.
Lin Feng grinned.
"Oh, I am."
He turned to the disciples.
"Who wants to die… for content?"
Silence.
Then Li raised his hand.
"I'll do it. But only if we call it: **'I Died and All I Got Was This Lousy Afterlife Achievement.'"**
Lin Feng laughed.
"Approved."
---
**To Be Continued in Chapter 11: "The Death Stream – When a Cultivator Goes Live from the Afterlife"**
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