Absolutely Never Click Suspicious Posts
Baek Cheong trembled as she scrolled through the Moomyeongbang, her lips quivering. The pill refiners, now steeped in madness, looked no different from cult fanatics. They were ascribing meaning to her nonsense ramblings, fleshing them out, and claiming to open new horizons in pill refinement.
"A real pill inscription appeared? Must be a fluke, right?"
But seeing replies praising her drivel and offering triple bows made her stomach churn. Even in her previous life's communities, this level of excessive deification was frowned upon. Still, correcting her post and admitting it was all bullshit was tricky. She lacked the confidence to withstand the barrage of criticism and mockery that would follow the moment she revealed the truth.
Screw it, whatever. Play among yourselves.
Baek Cheong hurriedly withdrew her divine sense from the Moomyeongbang, now a cauldron of frenzy. Fortunately, her time lurking there had passed quickly—outside, darkness had already thickened. To soothe her weary body and fatigued mind, she crawled under the covers and sought sleep right away.
The next morning, Baek Cheong woke refreshed and, out of habit, logged back into the Moomyeongbang. She hoped the hype had died down overnight, but it was the same as yesterday. No—worse.
Even more pill refiners were now seriously debating based on her crap post. For Baek Cheong, who had expected funny troll threads or fight-watching, it was unbearably boring. She pondered pausing her gallery antics to observe for a while.
That's when a bizarre post appeared at the very top of the Moomyeongbang's casual chat board—one she'd never seen before. The title was smeared in red with unintelligible characters, prefixed by an unfamiliar mark.
※Dou (###): ■■■■!
Curiosity piqued, she extended her divine sense to check it—then a chill raced up her spine, halting her instinctively. Something felt deeply wrong. Cautiously refreshing, she scanned the board's mood.
It turned to chaos in an instant.
The pill refiners panicked, desperately calling for the enigmatic Board Master who managed the Moomyeongbang. Soon, the post's view count ticked up by one—then vanished without a trace. The Board Master had intervened.
"What the hell was that just now?"
Unable to contain her curiosity, Baek Cheong posted a question right away.
Why is everyone freaking out? What's this Upper Realm invasion crap?
The Dous dodged her mention like it was scripted, spouting nonsense. They reeked of fear, as if they'd glimpsed a cursed object. But a veteran kindly explained.
Reading Dou (55.19)'s explanation, Baek Cheong grasped it instantly. It was like the horrific terror posts from her past life's communities—malicious users spamming repulsive memes to ruin galleries. No different.
"Ah, True Immortal memes."
But the danger here dwarfed her past life. Soul corruption from mere awareness? If she'd opened it carelessly, she might be some unrecognizable thing by now.
Yet curiosity overpowered fear—her incurable community ghost ailment.
Dou (55.19) replied immediately.
Baek Cheong's eyes lit up the instant she heard the method. At least 10 threads? Impossible for typical Qi Refining cultivators—but not for her. Breaking through to 3-star had expanded her divine sense to 11 threads.
Ignoring Dou (55.19)'s warning, she exited the post and opened a new composition window. Channeling her divine sense into the Moomyeongbang as instructed.
Whumm.
The Moomyeongbang rippled strangely. Then, a blurry projection of her room floor appeared beyond it—like opening a smartphone camera app.
"Whoa! This exists?!"
Baek Cheong gaped in awe. But the projected image was pitifully small. Even pouring in 10 threads, it was pinky-nail sized. Her max of 11 might stretch it to thumbnail size, tops.
"That's it? Efficiency sucks."
Testing, she projected a floor pattern for a thumbnail image—then:
Shoooo!
Spiritual energy from her dantian surged into the Moomyeongbang. Her exposed dantian, still hungry, began devouring even the pure true qi in her spiritual roots.
"Gasp!"
Baek Cheong panicked, yanking back her divine sense and canceling the post. Cold sweat poured like rain from her forehead. A split-second later, and she'd have lost all true qi, her meridians withered—a cripple.
"I... I lived..."
Panting raggedly, she checked her dantian. Half her hard-hoarded spiritual energy gone, but true qi intact. She'd never imagined one image post guzzling such monstrous energy.
"Not just Core Formation divine sense—massive spiritual energy too, just for one pic."
Baek Cheong smacked her lips in regret. A snide image amplified troll power far beyond words alone. The urge to try image posting burned fiercely.
Problem: explode her spiritual energy. Natural breathing or a couple top-grade Chwi-ryeong Pills? No way. And the barrier to 4-star minor realm felt impossibly thick—no breakthrough soon.
"Filling the dantian to brim might just do it for one post..."
Chin in hand, she pondered fiercely. Then it hit her—the clan’s training chamber on the rear mountain. Exclusive to family members, it housed a powerful Chwi-ryeong Formation forcibly gathering heaven-and-earth spiritual energy.
"Gobbling a top-grade Chwi-ryeong Pill in there? Energy influx would be insane."
Absorption efficiency maximized in the dense qi—stuff to the limit, and image posting feasible.
"But will Father allow it...?"
Another issue: access required the family head's—her father's—permission. Running the formation devoured spirit stones. Fresh off 3-star, he'd want her consolidating steadily. Asking meant instant rejection as "overreach."
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's probe.
Baek Cheong stood, straightened her clothes, and headed cautiously to the family head's quarters. Brainstorming pitiful expressions to wheedle if refused.
At the quarters, she called softly to the firmly shut office door.
"Father? May I come in?"
No reply. Tilting her head, she nudged—but locked tight. A guard approached, bowing.
"Miss, the family head is out."
"Where to?"
"Inspecting the clan's defenses. Recent demon beast sightings have increased; he's strengthening precautions personally. Word is, he'll be away a few days."
Baek Cheong's eyes sparkled with joy. Father gone for days—this was prime time to monopolize the training chamber.
Just bluff the chamber keeper that Father approved.
Perfect timing to leverage her built-up reputation. Thanking the guard profusely, she bolted for the rear mountain without looking back.