Provocative Post, Hunting Notice

Time passed, and evening arrived.

Martial Arts Department cafeteria.

Leng Ling'er sat beside an expressionless young girl and explained, "Sis, let me introduce you. This is a good friend I met during the Gu Family's annual gathering."

"Her name is Liu Mengmeng."

"She's the daughter of your brother-in-law's mother's close friend."

Liu Mengmeng glanced at Leng Qingqiu and nodded, her tone indifferent. "Hello, Sister Qingqiu."

"......"

Leng Qingqiu was speechless.

She had been worried earlier that Leng Ling'er, being unfamiliar with the place, might get bullied.

And now, out of nowhere, she suddenly had a close friend?

From the looks of it...

They seemed to get along well?

Was the connection made at the Gu Family's annual gathering?

Leng Qingqiu mentally reviewed the circle of friends around Leng Ling'er.

Then it hit her.

Huh? Was her little sister surprisingly popular?

At that moment,

A commotion broke out nearby.

"Did you see the post on the Martial Arts Forum?"

"Yeah, I went and cursed them out."

"Damn it! Those foreign bastards are shameless!"

"Everyone, quiet down and eat! Finish your meals and return to your posts!"

"Fine..."

The minor disturbance ended.

Leng Qingqiu shook her head slightly.

Tch. Losing their cool over a post—how unbecoming.

Just then,

Leng Ling'er, having noticed the commotion, pulled out her phone. After skimming through it, she muttered indignantly to Leng Qingqiu, "Sis, you have no idea."

"Western Nation netizens are spewing nonsense on the Martial Arts Forum."

"They’re saying Eastern Nation martial artists are cowards, trembling in fear over just one Night King."

Hearing this,

Leng Qingqiu raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

She opened her eyes and smiled amiably at Leng Ling'er. "Is that really what the post says?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah, pretty much..."

Leng Ling'er instinctively shrank back. For some reason, her sister suddenly seemed a little terrifying.

......

Gu Family estate.

"Young Master, should we handle this post?"

Old Gao pulled up the Martial Arts Forum on his device and showed it to Gu Yan.

The post had already topped global trending.

Gu Yan skimmed through it, a mocking smile curling his lips. "Those guys sure know how to manipulate public opinion."

"No need to intervene. Stick to the plan—release the pre-prepared hunting announcement tonight."

"Understood, Young Master."

Old Gao nodded and left.

Meanwhile, Gu Yan stretched out his palm.

Buzz!

A swirling black mist infused with Zhaozhao's cells materialized in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, one could see a miniature version of a longsword hidden within the dark fog.

The leader of the Grim Reaper Organization was a late-stage Grandmaster.

Even with Zhaozhao's enhancements and the tenfold combat boost at night, Gu Yan was only at the peak of mid-stage Grandmaster.

The higher the cultivation level, the wider the gap between stages became.

If he wanted to kill the Grim Reaper’s leader without using the dagger, he’d have to employ some alternative methods.

......

Martial Arts Forum.

This was the world’s largest and most authoritative forum after the global martial arts awakening.

It encompassed the entire population of the Eastern Nation and Western Nation—billions of users.

Every piece of martial arts-related information could be found here.

At the very top was a post with billions of engagements.

It had been posted by a Western Nation user.

The title read—

"Eastern Nation Martial Artists Are Nothing Special—Scared of Just One Night Organization?"

The moment this post went live, it sparked an uproar.

"Are you insane? Now’s not the time for nationalistic nonsense!"

"Oh God, we’re not stirring anything—just stating facts. Look at what you’ve done since the Night King emerged. Tightening security, stockpiling martial resources—isn’t that just fear?"

"And your Ancient Martial World isn’t as mysterious as the legends say! A thousand-year sect wiped out just like that!"

"What are you talking about?! We’re taking precautions to protect civilians!"

"Exactly! Meanwhile, your Western Nation’s order has collapsed since the martial awakening!"

"Hahaha! That just proves we don’t fear the Night King! You guys are the ones trembling in your boots!"

"By March, all our factions will merge into the Grim Reaper Organization!! We’ll unite the entire nation against the Night King!"

"As for your Eastern Nation and Ancient Martial World... tch, just hide behind us."

"The Grim Reaper? I’ve heard of them. They’re the strongest underground martial faction in the Western Nation, specializing in assassination contracts. Many sect leaders from the Ancient Martial World have fallen to them."

"Consolidating all underground factions... That’s just delusional."

"The Grim Reaper’s leader is a late-stage Grandmaster, but are you really that confident against the Night King?"

"Hahahaha! The Night Organization is nothing. If they dare step into Grim Reaper territory, they won’t leave alive!"

"That’s right! Everyone knows about our Blood Fiend Array. If the Night King comes, he’ll just become fuel for our formation!"

The post’s influence spread rapidly.

Eastern and Western netizens clashed endlessly.

Some claimed the Night King feared the Grim Reaper, hence why he hadn’t targeted the Western Nation.

Others argued the Night King only cared about the Ancient Martial World and wouldn’t bother with the secular realm.

Amid the heated debate,

A bombshell announcement abruptly ended the argument.

At 10 PM that night,

Electronic devices worldwide were hijacked once more by an eerie force.

And this time...

An icon of a shattered black scythe appeared on every screen.

Beneath it,

Two lines of blood-red text materialized.

[Three days later.]

[The next to perish in darkness shall be you.]

Those with sharp eyes recognized it instantly—the scythe symbolized the Western Nation’s strongest underground faction, the Grim Reaper.

A broken scythe and ominous blood text...

Didn’t that mean... the Night King’s next target was the Grim Reaper?!

In an instant,

The top trending post was deleted by its author.

Minutes later, an apology post went up.

The gist? The original poster claimed the earlier post wasn’t their idea—the Western Nation’s Martial Arts Department had forced them to write it.

But it was too late for regrets.

Netizens jeered, eagerly awaiting the show.

Soon, neutral posts emerged.

"Just an observer, but I can’t stay silent."

"As part of humanity, we should stand together against a common enemy!"

"The Night King is the real threat!!"

"Mocking each other in times like these is disgraceful!"

Opinions split into two extremes.

But one thing was clear—the Night Organization... had set its sights on the Grim Reaper!

......

Martial Arts Department.

Inside a division known as the [Special Section].

"Everyone has seen the Night King's preview footage by now, right?"

"I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts."

The head of the Special Division was none other than Bai Jun.

The role of the Special Division was to focus solely on dealing with the Night King, providing all other departments with any leads related to him.

Their job was to assess whether the information was accurate, significant, or even capable of pinpointing the location of the Grim Reaper Organization—or the Night King himself.

Calling them support staff wouldn’t be wrong.

A broad-browed man snorted coldly. "This is downright outrageous!"

"Who does the Night King think he is? Some self-righteous hero?"

"Boldly issuing a kill notice like this—does he really take us martial artists for pushovers?"

"In my opinion, we should send operatives to the Western Nation right now and ambush him!"

His words were immediately countered by a bespectacled man. "Don’t act recklessly. The Night King is being this brazen because he might be luring us into a trap—waiting for us to gather so he can wipe us out in one strike."

"Not to mention, given the state of the Martial Arts Department in the Western Nation, there’s no guarantee they’d even allow us to enter."