After Transmigrating as an Immortal Master, I Hold a Group Meeting - Chapter 105

“Name…” The two talisman cultivators stared blankly into space, their eyes utterly soulless.

Ling Yuan murmured, “Anything’s fine.”

Wei Xi groaned, “I just want to sleep.”

Ning Mingmei pushed up his glasses. “If a man does not think, he is no different from a reed swaying in the wind. Therefore, this social network shall be called ‘Must Think’ (非思不可, Fei Si Bu Ke).”

Abbreviated as ‘FaceScroll.’

He continued, “As for the forum, it contains all manner of topics, like a library of infinite books. Therefore, let’s call it ‘Collecting Books’ (敛书, Lian Shu).”

Now that’s LinkedU.

The two talisman cultivators were too drained to object, so Ning Mingmei took their silence as consent.

FaceScroll and LinkedU were linked together with accounts interconnected. Logging into FaceScroll would grant access to LinkedU through a portal.

LinkedU was the simpler of the two: a standard online forum divided into sections. The largest one was the Cultivation Board, with smaller areas for Off-Topic Chat and Smoky-Clarity Debate Conference Discussion.

FaceScroll, on the other hand, was a social media platform. Since only two talisman cultivators were maintaining it, the capacity was limited, but still enough to support all the spectators of the Smoky-Clarity Debate Conference. Considering that the original Facebook had started among just a few universities, the name was fitting indeed.

The main server for FaceScroll was set up in a cavern beneath Misty Peak. The mountain’s year-round snow provided natural cooling. Users could browse or post through a bamboo slip; with a short incantation, the slip would connect to the FaceScroll client. Personal pages, trending topics, hashtags, rankings; every essential feature was there. It was perfectly capable of fulfilling Ning Mingmei’s grand ambition: to make the entire sect obsessed with the conference.

He even added two creative features: the first was reserved ad spaces for future sponsors and the second was continuous data collection, uploading user browsing behavior to the Misty Peak server.

Once machine learning came into being, these datasets could be used to train models, allowing for friendly, precise ad targeting in the future.

Ning Mingmei said, “How could I forget machine learning? It’s the cornerstone of every nonsense paper.”

In the real world, even Meta (formerly Facebook) had been punished under privacy laws, losing ad revenue and laying off employees due to weak ad targeting. But here, before Ning Mingmei himself imposed a privacy policy to restrict other enterprises, FaceScroll was an infinite gold mine.

The Debate Conference spectators formed a ready-made user base. The contestants were natural influencers. The five beverages Ning Mingmei had launched were built-in ads.

And once the Debate Conference was over, FaceScroll would still serve as a platform for academic outreach.

Ning Mingmei smiled. “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve won.”

The system: …

Ning Mingmei tested FaceScroll with his own client, making sure every function worked smoothly. Then, he created the first-ever account.

User 0: Ning Mingmei.

He admired the minimalist interface and chose a cat head as his default avatar. When he turned around, both talisman cultivators had already collapsed unconscious on the floor.

Great achievements demand great naps, Ning Mingmei understood that perfectly. So he didn’t wake them. Instead, he carefully moved them to the bed and left a note.

[When you wake up, remember to add a splash-screen ad feature.]

Naturally, the ads would be for Coke and Sprite.

With the preparations complete, it was time to promote FaceScroll.

Carrying the bamboo-slip client, Ning Mingmei flew straight to Heavenly Terrace Peak. The Debate Conference was already in full swing, the mountaintop bustling with people, but Qi Miancheng was nowhere in sight.

A disciple explained, “The Sect Master has gone to the Martial Arts Arena to watch today’s match.”

After so many days of work, this was Ning Mingmei’s first time visiting Radiant Martial Peak. The dueling stages were set up all across it, with competitions large and small underway. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Ning Mingmei ascended toward the summit.

The higher he went, the more prestigious the platforms became. At the very top, a duel between Qi Miancheng’s Foundation Establishment disciple and a disciple from the Smoky Cloud Tower was drawing a massive crowd.

The young sword cultivator, her long ponytail tied high, wore a cold expression. The cultivator playing the pipa faced her with lightning-fast fingers.

This was the most anticipated duel of the day and audiences packed in layer upon layer, shoulder to shoulder. Many unfamiliar faces were mixed among the Supreme Clarity Sect disciples. Seeing them, Ning Mingmei suddenly recalled what Qi Miancheng had once said.

‘Fish and dragons mixed together.’

The crowd was abuzz with commentary.

“What’s with that Smoky Cloud Tower guy?! He’s using hidden weapons!”

“Oh no, Junior Sister Chen’s getting angry!”

The long-ponytailed sword cultivator, ‘Junior Sister Chen’, was the lowest-ranked disciple of Heavenly Terrace Peak. The pipa cultivator from the Smoky Cloud Tower, on the other hand, was an obscure figure. Rumor said he wasn’t even on their original roster, but had bribed an elder to get added at the last minute.

Thus, he was determined to make a name for himself in this Debate Conference, even if it meant resorting to some vicious tricks. For instance, the flying darts hidden inside his pipa. For instance, the way he kept aiming at his opponent’s face and clothing.

Junior Sister Chen’s cheek was cut, blood streaming down, yet despite a long exchange of blows, she could not break through his defense.

Suddenly, she let out a furious shout and, abandoning all pretense of elegance, charged straight in with brute force!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—” The spectators erupted into noise.

The pipa cultivator clearly hadn’t expected her to rush headlong at him. Panicking, he raised his instrument to block. Her sword clanged against the pipa again and again until both artifacts were flung aside. Then the two simply tumbled into a heap and began trading punches.

It was, to put it mildly, a very undignified sight.

Scenes like this were actually common among Foundation Establishment duels. With cultivation still shallow, many disciples fought without much regard for image. Even among Golden Core cultivators, such chaos wasn’t unheard of.

In the end, the match concluded with the long-ponytailed sword cultivator’s victory.

Junior Sister Chen climbed to her feet, spat on the ground, and trudged off with messy hair and dirt-streaked robes. As for the pipa cultivator, he was dragged away with a swollen face and a bloody nose.

The crowd gazed at Junior Sister Chen with newfound respect.

After all, her physical toughness was no joke. Even if the fight had been ugly, strength was what truly mattered.

Everyone else turned their attention to the next match. Only one pair of eyes followed a departing figure headed toward the tents.

‘Ning Mingmei…’ the man whispered in his heart.

The speaker stood beside the head of Dark Blossom from Brilliant Blossom Valley as one of the disciples brought along as part of their delegation. He wore a plain yellow robe, his features unremarkable, his frame tall and lean.

However, beneath that disguise, he bore another name.

Bai Mian.

***

When Ning Mingmei entered the tent, he saw Qi Miancheng sitting inside. Beside him stood the young sword cultivator from before, still streaked with dirt.

The young sword cultivator, furious from her earlier match, was still sniffling. Qi Miancheng, as her master, spoke to her gently, his tone warm and patient. Before long, she stopped crying, and her senior brothers and sisters escorted her out to change clothes.

“At least you advanced to the next round. That’s something to be glad for,” Qi Miancheng said and then turned his head. “Junior Brother?” He looked toward Ning Mingmei, who had just entered.

Surrounded by his disciples, Qi Miancheng looked every bit the picture of serene grace and his white robes almost seemed to glow faintly with soft light.

He was not wearing the red and black robes today.

Just as Qi Miancheng was about to dismiss his disciples, Ning Mingmei spoke up, “No need, Senior Brother. I came today to thank you for helping me out that time. I’ve brought you something as a token of gratitude.”

“Oh?” Qi Miancheng raised an eyebrow.

“In recent days, I’ve heard many disciples complaining,” Ning Mingmei began evenly. “They say Radiant Martial Peak has too many dueling platforms and the daily schedule is far too complex. They can’t remember which match to watch or where it’s being held. Moreover, because of sudden changes, the schedule often shifts, causing great inconvenience to their plans and travel. And when the matches are over, the disciples still wish to discuss the fights in detail to improve their own cultivation, yet they have no proper platform on which to share and exchange ideas.”

Having finished reciting his ‘research background,’ Ning Mingmei said calmly, “Therefore, I’ve developed a new platform that allows disciples to easily follow competition updates and communicate with each other.

“I call it FaceScroll and the LinkedU Forum.”

The first to react were not Qi Miancheng, but the Heavenly Terrace Peak disciples in the tent. Ning Mingmei’s words struck right at their pain points.

In front of Qi Miancheng, Ning Mingmei deftly demonstrated the operation of both FaceScroll and LinkedU Forum, showing the personal homepage feature of the former, and the tournament board of the latter. The disciples watched with rapt attention, their excitement barely contained.

They could make their own profiles?

Gain followers?

Speak in their own voice and interact with other users?

Students were, after all, the group most eager to try new things and least able to endure boredom.
Their excitement was immediate and genuine, especially since most of them were tournament contestants themselves.

“Junior Brother’s FaceScroll is quite a fine creation,” Qi Miancheng said, tapping his chin. “Junior Brother?”

Ning Mingmei kept a straight face. “All for the future of the Supreme Clarity Sect, Senior Brother.” Perhaps because his disciples were present, Qi Miancheng behaved with perfect composure.
Taking advantage of that, Ning Mingmei continued, “Senior Brother, I came today to personally deliver an invitation code. I invite you to register your homepage as FaceScroll’s very first user.”

See? The moment I finished this thing, I thought of you.

Qi Miancheng gave him a deep, measuring look. Ning Mingmei remained impassive.

Registration requires real-name authentication; specifically, a wisp of one’s spiritual energy. Before the expectant eyes of his disciples, Qi Miancheng cast a spell on the bamboo slip, infusing it with his Qi to complete the registration.

User 1: Qi Miancheng.

“Junior Brother,” Qi Miancheng said with a faint smile, “so now I’m your ‘user,’ am I?” There was a hint of double meaning in his tone.

“You flatter me, Senior Brother,” Ning Mingmei replied without blinking. “The legal representative is the Fifth Disciple of Misty Peak.” A legal person, of course, would be the one pushed out to take the blame if anything went wrong.

Qi Miancheng didn’t quite understand what that meant, but it didn’t stop the two of them from exchanging a polite, insincere smile.

Once everything was done, Ning Mingmei ignored Qi Miancheng’s invitation to stay and left the tent with FaceScroll in hand to continue distributing invitation codes.

Several of Qi Miancheng’s disciples promptly forgot their master and hurried after Ning Mingmei, eager to register.

Adjusting his glasses, Ning Mingmei said smoothly, “To maintain FaceScroll’s professionalism, only the more experienced cultivators may become part of the first batch of registered users. Once the first batch completes registration, the system will switch to an invitation-only model.”

The disciples immediately looked crestfallen.

As Golden Core cultivators of Heavenly Terrace Peak, they were unaccustomed to being turned down.

Yet that very rejection only deepened their interest.

Think about it. If FaceScroll was invitation-only and only the most ‘elite’ insiders could get in first, couldn’t having an earlier user number become a mark of prestige? What an irresistible lure for pride and vanity.

“Peak Lord Ning,” one disciple asked hopefully, “what does ‘invitation-only’ mean, exactly?” He was clearly fishing for a shortcut.

“It means,” Ning Mingmei said smoothly, “for every ten new users you invite, you’ll have a chance to earn a limited-edition avatar frame.”

Another subtle trick.

An avatar frame costs nothing, just data from FaceScroll itself, but the disciples’ eyes lit up instantly.

Ning Mingmei waited patiently as they spread the word through the entire Supreme Clarity Sect, all while he continued distributing invitation codes. Once he had finished with the sect’s upper ranks (everyone except Fang Wuyu), Ning Mingmei adjusted his glasses again and took to the sky.

This time, his destination was the Smoky Cloud Tower.

There were fewer than six hours left before the Misty Peak disciples’ first appearance in the competition.