Chapter 21: Buying a Weibo Trending Topic and Launching a Flash-Stream Broadcast!

Although Xu Qingfeng was no longer present in the martial arts world of the internet, his legend persisted. Despite being muted on Weibo, his supporters remained vocal under every trending topic; the "God of Wind" was everywhere.

"Big Brother," Pineapple Honey messaged him. "The plan has changed. The traffic is too high today, so we’ve decided to buy you a trending spot on Weibo. Can you stream today?"

Xu Qingfeng’s expression grew strange. *Good grief, you’re on Shanying Live, and you’re buying a trending spot on Weibo? That’s not just killing the competition, you’re dancing on their graves.*

"I can stream."

"Alright, prepping the trending topic!"

Five minutes later, [Xu Qingfeng’s Live Debut!] surged onto the trending list.

Netizens who had been frantically calling for the God of Wind to appear lost their composure.

"Wait, buddy, you can still stream?"
"666, this actually works?"
"Where are you streaming? Shanying?"
"God of Wind, I get it now. You traitor, you’ve defected to the enemy."
"Holy crap, what a masterstroke—stinking up Weibo, then turning around to stream on Shanying!"
"Damn, I’m actually looking forward to seeing the God of Wind get banned on Shanying too."
"God of Wind, oh my God of Wind, why did you run away?"
"God of Wind, say something!"
"Say something? He hasn't even 'resurrected' yet."

In just ten minutes, the comments on the trending topic exceeded 30,000. Pineapple Honey was right—his popularity was absurdly high. Without even showing his face, a single trending topic was enough to command the entire scene. Netizens were both shocked and bewildered by the news of his livestream.

Xu Qingfeng had launched a full-scale assault on the entertainment industry, becoming its public enemy, and his backhanded slap at Weibo was viewed by everyone as social suicide. Many people were watching the drama unfold with the mindset of "enjoy it while it lasts," terrified that he might be physically erased from existence one day. As expected, Weibo had muted him, and it looked like he was finished. No one expected Shanying, which had been locked in a fierce battle with Weibo, to pull off such a daring rescue.

"Wherever the God of Wind debuts, the 'Wind God Gang' will be there to show support!"
"Shanying is great; it’s full of girls with long legs."
"Downloading Shanying right now."
"God of Wind, go even harder tonight!"
"This is hilarious—why is Weibo even letting Shanying trend?"
"You’re attacking from the inside, aren't you?"

Within two hours, just as Pineapple Honey had predicted, the comments exceeded 500,000, and the traffic was terrifying. If the trending list represented his current popularity, then the surge in Shanying’s downloads gave the platform hope of becoming the industry leader.

Three hours after hitting the trending list, Shanying’s downloads skyrocketed by over a million.

"God of Wind, you’re amazing!" Pineapple Honey called him excitedly to report the good news.

"It seems my popularity is still quite high."

"God of Wind, have you decided on the content for tonight’s stream?"

"Of course. I’m going to sing," Xu Qingfeng said confidently.

"Sing? Whose song does the God of Wind want to sing? We’ll go buy the rights immediately."

Competition between platforms was fierce, and Shanying didn't have many song copyrights; Xu Qingfeng needed to ensure he had the rights to whatever he sang.

"Alright, go ahead and buy them."

Pineapple Honey said confidently, "No problem. The boss has given the word: we will support you with everything we’ve got. Send me the song title, and I’ll get on it right away."

"The Tears of the Iron Bars," Xu Qingfeng replied.

"Let me search for that... Wait, I can't find it?"

"Of course not," Xu Qingfeng said nonchalantly. "It’s a new song I wrote."

"..."

Pineapple Honey went silent for a moment before saying cautiously, "Big Brother... the platform doesn't allow plagiarism."

Xu Qingfeng was furious. "What kind of talk is that?! What kind of talk is that?! That was all Starry Brilliance Entertainment’s doing; what does that have to do with me?"

Pineapple Honey: "...Uh, how about we pick a different one?"

"No!" Xu Qingfeng insisted. "Think about it—I already had a falling out with Starry Brilliance. How could their ghostwriter team possibly write a song for me?"

"Let’s do this," Pineapple Honey said. "Send me the song, and I’ll ask my superiors."

Xu Qingfeng hung up and sent over *The Tears of the Iron Bars*. Twenty minutes later, Pineapple Honey agreed to his request and sent over a copyright usage agreement.

"Wait, I was just joking with you earlier. You don't need to buy it—it’s my own copyright, I can sing it whenever I want," Xu Qingfeng said, surprised.

Singing during a livestream required rights, but it depended on whose song it was.

"This is for other streamers to use. Our boss said that *The Tears of the Iron Bars* is highly likely to go viral tonight, and he wants to seize the opportunity to attract more users."

"Your boss is quite something!"

Xu Qingfeng was stunned; he grew curious about the superior Pineapple Honey kept mentioning. To have the decisiveness to sign him, offer an S-grade contract, and then decide to purchase copyrights for a song within twenty minutes of hearing it—that took real guts.

"Our boss admires you too," Pineapple Honey flattered him. "God of Wind, we’ve decided to use your new song as a hook to attract more users."

"No problem, you handle the details."

"You should register an account, too. We’ll start the pre-promotion."

Xu Qingfeng registered his Shanying account, and the platform immediately pushed the trending topic: #Xu Qingfeng joins Shanying!#

Trending topics existed on Shanying just as they did on Weibo. Once the topic was live, Xu Qingfeng’s follower count grew visibly, breaking the million-mark in no time.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry received news of his upcoming stream, causing a state of panic. Those who had previously kicked him while he was down felt a wave of anxiety. With him banned on Weibo, they had felt a weight lift from their chests, only to find him running over to Shanying. The celebrities were terrified that Xu Qingfeng would set his sights on them.

[Xu Qingfeng’s New Song Debut!]

Shanying ran ads across the entire internet like a madman. People who saw the news were left speechless.

"Holy crap, do you guys have any idea why that dog Xu crashed in the first place?"
"Amazing, the genius tailor is returning to the music scene?"
"Uh, buddy, I just want to see your exposés, I don't want to hear a donkey bray."
"I get it, I get it—plagiarism and lip-syncing, the same old recipe."
"God of Wind, don't get your priorities wrong!"
"Neglecting your real work, how heartbreaking."

The online sentiment regarding Xu Qingfeng singing a new song was overwhelmingly negative. Someone who had collapsed due to lip-syncing and plagiarism was now going to livestream a new song—it felt like he was treating everyone like fools.

However, despite the insults, people actually became interested in this so-called livestream. As one netizen put it, "I don't watch trashy streams, but for something this trashy, I’ve got to see it for myself."

"Guys, 8:00 PM, Shanying, let’s watch the circus."
"Hilarious, I want to see what kind of nonsense he spews."

The haters had a clear goal: "Ladies, report him!"
"Exactly, let's get him banned on Shanying too!"

The trending topic proved that even bad publicity was good publicity, as Shanying’s downloads increased by another four million. Many people who didn't usually use short-video apps decided to download it, and celebrities quietly registered accounts to observe from the shadows.

At 8:00 PM, Xu Qingfeng’s stream began on time. Shanying pushed the feed aggressively, sending a notification for Xu Qingfeng’s room to almost every user.

Xu Qingfeng didn't say a word, but the number in the top right corner surged.

One minute in: 100,000+!

A new god had descended on Shanying.