Chapter 129: Too Much in the Limelight

On the internet, the pressure was unfelt, and the audience could still casually joke and banter. On the scene, however, the situation was exceptionally grim. Both Zhang Sheng and Zhou Qingyun were well-experienced, yet they had never encountered such a situation and were left somewhat stunned.

The primary reason was that the battle happened too quickly, and Zhang Feng and his group died too fast. Neither of them knew how to handle the aftermath appropriately. The media personnel from various outlets were also shaken; only the emotionless cameras remained unaffected, silently recording everything that transpired on the stage.

Seeing that Gao Wu was unscathed, Shang Qingjun breathed a sigh of relief, yet she felt troubled. So many people had died, and with various live streams going on, she couldn't imagine what a massive uproar would follow!

Zhou Hongying, clinging to Shang Qingjun’s arm, had a glimmer in her eyes; her delicate, alluring face was filled with irrepressible excitement. To her, the scene before her was thrilling, and Gao Wu’s posture as he struck down the thieves with his sword was incredibly handsome. This combat state was completely different from his usual sunny and cheerful demeanor. In this state, Gao Wu truly possessed the aura of a powerhouse, holding a charm that compelled others to submit.

Zhou Hongying loved chatting and joking with the cheerful, sunny Gao Wu, but that affection was like one feels for a friend. What she truly loved was Gao Wu’s powerhouse state—the moments when he truly displayed his strength: mysterious, powerful, cold, ruthless, and perhaps even a little cruel. This powerhouse aura intoxicated and captivated her immensely!

As for the enemies' corpses, they were merely stepping stones for the strong. Only by treading upon the corpses of formidable foes could the strong continue to ascend, reaching the peak! Zhou Hongying looked at Gao Wu with eyes full of infatuation, her face flushed and her body softening. Shang Qingjun, busy thinking about how to handle the aftermath, did not notice her close friend’s unusual behavior.

Song Mingyue, with her back to Zhou Hongying, clearly sensed the various reactions in her body. She had only one thought: This woman must have some kind of illness; she just suddenly started heating up...

Song Mingyue did not pay too much attention to Zhou Hongying; most of her focus was on the surrounding environment, observing everyone who approached. Perhaps there were still Demon God followers hiding among them; she had to be careful and cautious.

Zhou Qingyun and Zhang Sheng were filled with shock. As martial artists, they understood perfectly well how terrifying the power Gao Wu had displayed was! Two high-level warriors and five warriors—Gao Wu had slaughtered them as easily as cutting grass. Judging by the scene of the battle, Gao Wu had completely crushed the seven warriors opposing him! This wasn't just the "King of the Youth"; he was practically the "King of Warriors!"

Realizing Gao Wu’s strength, Zhou Qingyun was, beyond her shock, exceptionally excited. The sudden incident with the Demon God followers was a divine assist, as it could push the "North Province King of Youth" event to the peak of traffic!

Two patrol officers had already rushed onto the stage. They glanced at the scattered remains on the ground, and both suddenly pointed their guns at Gao Wu. One of the officers shouted, "Drop your sword!"

Gao Wu looked at the two officers calmly: "Don't be nervous, both of you—"

Before he finished speaking, the two officers opened fire at him simultaneously. Muzzle flashes erupted, and the dull, rhythmic sound of gunfire struck the ears of everyone present. The media personnel on the stage were terrified, their faces changing color; no one had expected the two patrol officers to open fire suddenly.

Zhang Sheng and Zhou Qingyun immediately sensed something was wrong, but they had no time to react. Gao Wu, however, had been prepared. He seized the gap to chant the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation again, stimulating the source power in his acupoints. Although it was far from his full-burst state earlier, it was more than enough to handle two low-level warriors.

The moment the two officers fired, Gao Wu had already drawn his sword and charged forward. The bullets, propelled by high-explosive powder, had an extremely high muzzle velocity, at least twice the speed of sound. As the gunfire roared, the metal projectiles were already slamming into Gao Wu.

Gao Wu channeled his source power, and the source power field transformed into a bright, clear light, like a suit of light clinging to his body, deflecting all the metal bullets with their immense kinetic energy. With the two parties less than ten meters apart, Gao Wu reached the two officers in under 0.3 seconds. The officers drew their own swords and slashed at him.

The four-foot blade of the Destiny Sword, stimulated by source power, vibrated at high frequency. Amidst a humming resonance, it transformed into a twisted, flowing, brilliant arc of sword light, striking directly toward the face of the officer on the left.

The officer hurriedly raised his sword to block. As the blades clashed, the high-frequency vibration of the Destiny Sword immediately deflected the opponent's weapon by several inches. The officer was stunned, his entire side numb, his protective source power field fluctuating violently. The Destiny Sword followed the gap and plunged straight in, flashing as it pierced through the opponent’s source power field and left a deep, fatal sword mark on his forehead that penetrated the brainstem.

In an instant, the officer on the left died. The twisted, flowing, brilliant sword light turned, deflected the other officer’s weapon in the same manner, and penetrated deep into his forehead. The kinetic energy carried by a twenty-two-kilogram blade was terrifying, especially when it was vibrating at high speed upon penetration. Both officers had only a single crimson sword mark on their foreheads, but their brainstems had been shattered by the vibrating blade; both died instantly.

Gao Wu’s source power cultivation was already far superior to the two officers, and with the blessing of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation, his mastery of the Destiny Sword elevated his "Dragon-Roaming Sword" technique to the realm of perfection. In every aspect, he completely crushed the two Demon God followers; the battle ended in a single exchange.

Gao Wu walked between the two Demon God followers and sheathed his Destiny Sword again. By the time he slowly turned around, the two followers had already collapsed to the ground.

The audience watching the live stream online became restless.

"Holy crap, he actually killed them!"
"Those two opened fire for no reason; they must have been Demon God followers..."
"Just like that? Shouldn't they have questioned them first!"
"The idiot above, what the hell is there to ask in such a dangerous situation!"
"Whether this guy is the North Province King of Youth is debatable, but he is definitely the King of Youth Killers..."
"Bullshit, killing Demon God followers is a deed of immeasurable merit!"

While the online audience was still in the mood to banter and brag, the live audience was not so calm. Only at this moment did the people under the stage truly react. Everyone screamed and retreated, the scene becoming extremely chaotic. Fearing a stampede, Gao Wu drew his sword about a foot from its sheath, using his source power to emit a low but incredibly sharp sword hum.

With a clear "clang," it was as if an invisible divine sword had pierced into everyone’s heart. The cold, ruthless intent to kill shattered everyone’s panic and consciousness. The scrambling, frantic crowd seemed to have been hit by a pause button; the chaotic scene solidified into a painting in an unbelievable way.

Gao Wu shouted again in a low voice: "Everyone stay calm. Do not panic, and exit in an orderly fashion."

The audience, slowly regaining consciousness, instinctively followed Gao Wu’s command and began to leave slowly and in an orderly manner. Seeing this, Zhang Sheng breathed a long sigh of relief. If a stampede had actually occurred, he, as the organizer, would definitely have been the scapegoat!

Fortunately, Gao Wu not only killed the intruding Demon God followers but also brought the chaotic situation under control, avoiding a tragedy. As for the two dead patrol officers, it was clear they were also problematic. Regardless of whether they were Demon God followers, they deserved death just for opening fire immediately. With a company as large as Longteng, such a minor matter was not a problem.

The most troublesome aspect now was the media personnel filming on site. Established media was manageable; the fear was that independent media would take the opportunity to "eat bloody buns"—twisting the facts and spouting nonsense about the accident...

After a few minutes of turmoil, the online media platforms also reacted, and all related live streams were shut down. The stream started by Shen Yue was also cut. However, these actions were a bit too slow; the online audience had realized something was wrong, and many had already started screen-recording.

Public distribution was temporarily severed, but the relevant videos spread rapidly through private traffic—group chats on Feixin and Kuaiyin were all circulating the footage. Violence, gore, and scandal are always the hottest topics. Since the video content involved Demon God followers, combat, and slaughter, it was incredibly viral. The spread of the video increased exponentially.

A few minutes later, Bai Yan, currently in Anjing, saw the video. Bai Yan was well-connected, which allowed him to see the video in private group chats. To the other group members, it was just a spectacle, but he saw something wrong. For decades, the Alliance had severely cracked down on Demon God followers; these guys had become like cockroaches and rats, only able to operate in the shadows.

For Demon God followers to appear in broad daylight, intent on killing Gao Wu, and with so many of them, this method of operation was highly abnormal. Considering the situation in Changling City, it was likely that these followers were preparing to flee and wanted to pull off one big job before leaving. From another perspective, it showed that the Demon God followers were beginning to have the courage to challenge order—a very bad omen!

As for Gao Wu killing a group of followers, there was nothing to say. After all, even Wan Canglong had been killed by Gao Wu; these few warriors didn't really count for much. Bai Yan thought for a moment and contacted Shen An, who was leading a team in Changling to investigate. Given this unexpected situation, he had to communicate with him.

Shen An was actually surprised to receive the call. He was in a meeting with his team, preparing to take action that night. To maintain secrecy, all wireless communications had been shut off; only he still carried his phone. After receiving the video via Feixin, Shen An realized what had happened, and he felt a sense of helplessness.

The two warriors who appeared in the Longclaw Peak Secret Realm had long been identified as people from Changling. After resolving the trouble in Dacang Town, Shen An had been staying in Changling to preside over the investigation. Recently, there had been a major breakthrough. To avoid alerting the enemy, Shen An had given up daytime tracking of the followers and was planning to net them in the next two days; he hadn't expected such an incident to suddenly occur.

Zhang Feng and Zhang Ye were targets he had already locked onto, but they had caused trouble while he was in a meeting. To say this was a coincidence was impossible; someone must have leaked the information! If it hadn't been for Gao Wu’s ferocious counter-kill, he would have been thoroughly disgraced!

Hanging up the phone, Shen An looked at the people in the conference room. Departments like public security, supervision, the Hunter Association, and the Garrison Corps must have Demon God followers within them, or at least individuals maintaining close contact with them. To ordinary people, the followers were heinous; to certain power circles, however, they were useful tools. They themselves might not believe in anything; they simply used whatever was useful without considering the destructive consequences.

Shen An did not release the video or say anything more, but continued to preside over the meeting...

A few Demon God followers who conducted a public attack had died, but this was not the end—it was the beginning! Did they really think they could cut ties through extreme measures? It wouldn't be that easy! He would investigate this matter to the end. The more chaotic things became, the tougher the methods had to be; only then could order be maintained as much as possible. Regardless of what happened in the future, this group of people who had poked their heads out had to die!

That night, Gao Wu was sparring with Song Mingyue on the rooftop balcony when Shen An arrived. Gao Wu was quite familiar with Shen An and was happy to see the elder.

"Uncle Shen, why are you here?"

"I heard about your heroic deeds and came to see for myself."

Shen An looked Gao Wu up and down, finding him looking relaxed and at ease, as if the day’s events had no impact on him at all. He felt a bit of admiration for the teenager's thick nerves; after such a big incident, he could still be so nonchalant!

Killing Demon God followers was actually nothing; the key was that he did it in front of thousands of people, with various live streams running. Now, the video of Gao Wu slaying the followers had spread across the entire network through private traffic; it was the hottest video of the moment, sparking all kinds of public opinion.

Some people argued that Gao Wu was overly murderous; since he was skilled in martial arts, he could have shown mercy, yet he killed everyone, proving he was cruel and bloodthirsty by nature! Some even shouted for Gao Wu to be put on trial and executed!

Such extreme rhetoric was actually only being shouted by a small minority. Most people, even if they hadn't encountered Demon God followers, had been educated for years and felt extreme disgust toward them, highly approving of Gao Wu’s actions. However, the extreme minority often shouted the loudest, which always led people to mistakenly believe their voices were the mainstream. This could also cause a certain amount of distress to ordinary people and even lead a portion of public opinion...

Shen An, of course, knew that such rhetoric was both stupid and malicious. There were nearly six or seven thousand ordinary audience members at the scene; if even one Demon God follower had lost control and rushed into the crowd, it would have immediately caused a massive tragedy. In such a situation, Gao Wu had to strike hard and eliminate all the followers. Even so, the panic had almost caused a major disaster. It was only because of Gao Wu’s capable handling that a massive catastrophe was avoided.

"You handled things very decisively today; it was excellent."

Shen An highly praised Gao Wu’s actions today. He said, "All departments recognize and highly praise your behavior. The Changling Government Office is even preparing to award you."

Gao Wu was a bit surprised. He could even get an award for this? He was pleasantly surprised; no matter the amount, a reward was always good!

"The Demon God followers are so rampant because the spatial abnormalities are accelerating." Shen An sighed and said, "Things will only get worse in the future. For your safety, let's stop the rest of the roadshow..."

Gao Wu had been in the absolute spotlight today, becoming the focus of public opinion, which was not necessarily a good thing for him personally. The Demon God followers might very well make Gao Wu a target. Considering all aspects, continuing the roadshow was very unwise.

Gao Wu understood this well. He could handle high-level warriors and even martial masters, but what if a Martial Grandmaster came?

"You are currently too much in the spotlight; staying in Dongjiang is not safe either," Shen An said. "I have communicated with Dean An; she will arrange a dormitory for you at the Azure Dragon Academy. Within the scope of Anjing University, no one dares to be presumptuous... it will also be convenient for your study and cultivation..."