Li Mu was quite amused by these oddballs.
The means they adopted to shirk their responsibilities and shift the blame were exactly the same used by those celebrities and famous companies on Earth.
The only difference was that the people on Earth tended to pass the buck to their colleagues or thieves, while the cultivators were inclined to blame their disciples, fellows, and bandits.
After some meticulous calculation, Li Mu found that basically, more than half of the cultivators who had ridiculed and scolded him on the forum had directly admitted defeat. A small number of people directly sent an apologetic private message to Li Mu. That was probably because they figured that it would a little embarrassing to admit defeat in public.
Li Mu saw a ton of such private messages—
“Hero Li, I was so blind that I made such incorrect comments on the forum. I’m willing to offer you 10 silver-colored fairy crystals to make up for my previous remarks. Please be magnanimous and forgive me.”
It was a private message sent to Li Mu by a cultivator called “The One who Stands Firm after Being Beaten”.
Users on the Immortal Net could directly transfer money to one another. Li Mu saw that the other party had really transferred 10 silver-colored fairy crystals to him to show his sincerity.
He contemplated for a moment and flipped through the record of the previous remarks made by “The One who Stands Firm after Being Beaten”. The remarks were not particularly out of the line, so he accepted the fairy crystals, which could be regarded as a gesture of forgiveness.
There were about 100 similar private messages, most of which took the liberty to make compensation. Li Mu looked through these people’s speech records. For those who had said outrageously inflammatory and mean things in the previous posts, Li Mu would certainly not let them off the hook so easily. Instead, he directly asked for an indemnity, and the sum was set according to the length of speech those people made and their degree of viciousness.
Granted, one ought to show his sincerity when making apologies.
If one could easily be forgiven after making a verbal apology, what would the people need the police for?
After this round of “extortion”, Li Mu carefully calculated the income. “Gee, I’ve made another small fortune.”
Thousands of silver-colored fairy crystals had been transferred into his account.
Li Mu suddenly wished that there were more people admonishing him on the forum.
If so, he would immediately be able to build up a family fortune.
After giving it some thought, Li Mu decided to forgive those who took the initiative to apologize to him through private messages.
After all, they were all small potatoes. If he were to really hunt them down one by one to settle accounts, it would take ages.
Done with these private messages, Li Mu thought for a moment and posted the following post on the forum under the name “Being Forced to Keep a Pig”.
“I am the Wild Broadsword. Send me money, now!”
Li Mu also wrote the following remark in the post—
“You can admit defeat, but you need to show your sincerity. Be a lamb and send me money according to the number of posts you made and the length and content of the posts. As long as the sum of money you offer me is correct, I’ll wipe the slate clean. Otherwise… haha.”
Then, at the end of the post, he attached something titled “Payment Guidance to Show Sincerity to Apologize”.
In this guidance, Li Mu listed specific rates for making apologies, ranging from 10 copper-colored fairy crystals to one gold-colored fairy crystal. It was very detailed and elaborate.
As soon as the post was made, it immediately became a heated topic.
Many cultivators saw this post the moment it came out.
What made them burst into tears was that this time, Li Mu the Wild Broadsword finally did not charge them to view the post. He actually made the content of the post public for free.
But when they read the contents of the post, especially the “Payment Guidance to Show Sincerity to Apologize” at the end, all the cultivators were dumbfounded and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Is there such a thing?”
“I’ve never seen or heard of anyone doing something like this before.”
“Good heavens, this way of raking in profit is really sort of degrading.”
“How could a general-level expert be so shameless?”
Many people cursed in their minds, but they didn’t have the nerve to complain.
After all, now even a fool could tell that Li Mu the Wild Broadsword was not only wild but also narrow-minded and very vengeful.
If one continued to be targeted by such a crackpot, one would be as anxious as if he were sitting on pins and needles all day long. Certainly, no one wanted to live like that.
Nonetheless, that was only a minor issue.
At present, the most important issue was to decide whether one should pay according to Li Mu’s Payment Guidance to Show Sincerity to Apologize?
Many cultivators who had trashed, cursed, provoked, and mocked Li Mu before were torn between their options.
Some people couldn’t stand it and jumped out to refute. They believed that it was totally uncalled for. Many people spoke on the Immortal Net using virtual identities. Their real identities were not known to the public. Therefore, no one knew who the speaker really was. No matter how powerful Li Mu was, could he really dig up everybody’s real identity? There were at least 10,000 people who had badmouthed Li Mu, if not a million. Even if Li Mu wanted to hunt them down one by one, he wouldn’t have the time to do it, would he?
“Don’t let his trick freak you out. Haha, does he really think everyone is afraid of him? Anyway, I won’t pay. This is ridiculous. How could I be afraid of him?”
A cultivator named “Peerless Wind and Rain Sword” was the first to jump out to speak his mind. The words he used were quite strong.
Indeed, what he said had resonated with many people.
Although a large number of people feared that Li Mu would come to get even with them, they still clung to the hope that they could get away by chance.
However, Li Mu didn’t let them be stuck in the difficult position for too long.
In less than six hours, Li Mu tracked down the cultivator named “Peerless Wind and Rain Sword” in real life. He was one of the interstellar bounty hunters living in Star Wind City. Li Mu went straight to him and searched out a lot of suspicious objects. Li Mu found that this guy was not only enthusiastic to spread poison on the Immortal Net, but was also a murderer who had taken many lives and committed every crime one could imagine in real life. So, without any hesitation, Li Mu beheaded him with his broadsword.
Li Mu also recorded the whole thing with the Water Mirror Technique.
Then, it was uploaded to the Immortal Net.
Some of the cultivators who had been reluctant to admit defeat earlier almost wet themselves when they watched the video recorded by the Water Mirror Technique.
“How in the world did Li Mu find ‘Peerless Wind and Rain Sword’?”
Some people couldn’t understand it and posed the question.
But soon after, some senior “netizens” found the answer.
“Look carefully. The membership level of this ‘Being Forced to Keep a Pig’ on the Immortal Net has changed.”
Someone made such a post on the forum.
At once, people scrambled to enter the user’s center of “Being Forced to Keep a Pig” to have a look. Although most of the important personal information was not available to them, they clearly saw that the level of this user had indeed changed from the gray mark, which represented the Net Card purchased from the black market, to the silver mark, which indicated the VIP identity. This user’s privileges had indeed expanded considerably.
“Those with the silver VIP mark can pay the manager of the Immortal Net to find out the real identity and whereabouts of the cultivators at lower levels,” a senior “netizen” explained.
After learning this fact, many people panicked.
The reason why they dared to be so stubborn and reluctant to apologize was that their identities on the Immortal Net were virtual identities. Normally, no one could know who they really were through the information online. As long as they hid behind their Net Cards, they could say anything at will on the Immortal Net, however preposterous or exaggerated their remarks were. Yet, despite their deemed fail-safe scheme, none of them had anticipated that Li Mu the Wild Broadsword, who was originally using a Net Card bought from the black market, could get the sliver VIP Net Card in such a short span. Now, they were in big trouble.
No one wanted to be the next Peerless Wind and Rain Sword.
After all, to be alive was better than anything.
As a result, Li Mu’s wealth center began to send endless notices to him about the newly entered fairy crystals.
Li Mu smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into slits.
“I am probably the first person to get rich by being scolded since ancient times.”
Well, cultivators wouldn’t dare to curse those big shots that had long been famous in the universe. Nor would they dare to mess with them for no good reason. Moreover, Devil Li had to admit that most of the high and mighty wouldn’t have the face to make money by making others trash their reputations. After all, they were famous people, and they all felt honor-bound to maintain their image.
“Perhaps I do owe Mu Shun a big one. If it wasn’t for him putting in so much effort to frame me, there wouldn’t have been so many people joining in the team to curse me.”
Thinking of this, Li Mu wondered if he should send someone to Mu Shun’s place to light incense and express his gratitude to Mu Shun on the seventh day after his death.
He made a list of all the “netizens” who had rebuked him. The names of those who apologized and sent money according to the guidance had all been crossed off, while the names of those who didn’t send money had been specially marked.
Of course, Li Mu made exceptions for some people.
Li Mu would not care to make the relatives and family members of the victims on South Street apologize to him.
As for those who accused him and challenged him to a battle out of righteousness and indignation, Li Mu would not give them a hard time either.
The cold martial arts world in the universe where the law of jungle prevailed was already dark and cruel enough. Those who dared to uphold justice and speak boldly for the weak were called “fools” by countless cultivators and held up to ridicule. In this troubled and brutal time, such “fools” were already very scarce. Li Mu didn’t want to make things difficult for these people. At least, he would not want those “fools” to suffer just because they scolded or cursed him. Li Mu would like to let them continue to be this “foolish”.
As for those who had pretended to be righteous but actually just wanted to flaunt or deliberately stirred up trouble, Li Mu would not let any of them go.
After all, this was not only about holding grudges but also about making money.
Why should he give up the money he could have taken?
Li Mu took a wait-and-see approach. He wanted to see who on earth would be so stiff-necked as to stick to their original remarks to the end.
He was also picking his next target, for he needed to once again punish someone as a warning to others.
Two days passed very quickly.
The things that Li Mu had ordered on the Immortal Net began to arrive one after another.
He had purchased a load of weapons, protective devices, suits of armor, elixirs, books on Cultivation Methods, and so on.
Some of the items were what Li Mu himself needed, while most of them were bought for Guo Yuqing and Ding Yi.
Now that Li Mu had stepped into the universe, he had every right to enjoy the convenience and resources provided by the martial arts civilization in the universe. Li Mu also hoped that the people around him could quickly become stronger. At least, they should be strong enough to rely on their own strength to live or fight in the universe, instead of leaning on him all the time. After all, for Ding Yi and the others close to him—Brother Guo, in particular—the most unbearable thing was to become a burden to him.
Guo Yuqing did not say anything but calmly accepted the various resources that Li Mu had bought for him.
Ding Yi, on the other hand, was thrilled.
“Sect Master, I wish you to be blessed forever and live as old as heaven…” Ding Yi fawned on Li Mu without blushing.
He was delighted to see that he had followed the right leader.
Second Senior Fellow Apprentice, however, was quite grumpy. He demanded, “What about me? Why am I the only one who hasn’t gotten anything?”
Li Mu laughed on the spot. He then said, “You wouldn’t have enough to pay me back for all the food and drinks you’ve mooched off me even if you, a fat pig, sold yourself to a butcher. How dare you ask me to buy you gifts?”
That immediately made Second Senior Fellow Apprentice shut up.
In truth, the pig spirit didn’t need any of those things.
The divine treasures stored in his body were far beyond others’ imagination. Probably, Li Mu was the only one who had figured out part of it.
Three days later…
Li Mu decided to go deal with those cultivators who hadn’t paid the compensation or apologized on time.
In particular, Li Mu was determined not to let go of any of those who had revealed their true identities, such as Gold Sun Warlord, the head of the Divine Force Sect named Wei Murong, Feng Liusheng from the Feng Clan, Yin Chao from the Qianyuan Sect, and Lan Wuyu. Anyway, those guys were not good people in the first place.
Li Mu left Star Wind City for the headquarters of the Gold Sun Sect located on the Gold Sun Star through the Teleportation Deployment.
