What followed was boundless anger, but almost instantly, a wave of helplessness surged in his heart. The Nangong Family's power was simply overwhelming—what could he possibly do to resolve this crisis?
Seeing Ian Song silent for so long, Blood Rose's voice rang out with a faint mockery: "What's wrong? Scared?"
Hearing Blood Rose's words, Ian's pride was stung hard. An extreme thought sprouted in his mind, and his eyes reddened slightly: "How about I just go kill Justin Nangong!"
"You think you can kill him?" Blood Rose sneered. "There are at least ten Post-Heaven Great Perfection martial artists stationed near Justin Nangong's hospital room. Forget you—even I couldn't sneak in there. Besides, if you kill Justin Nangong, you'll only bring disaster upon your family. He's the Nangong Family's only heir. If he dies, the entire Nangong Family will erupt in fury!"
Listening to Blood Rose's analysis, Ian felt even more powerless. "So what should I do?"
Blood Rose said, "There's one way. You could choose to join a world-class organization. With your heaven-defying healing ability, they'd definitely value you. If they intervene, the Nangong Family might just back down! Of course, you'd probably lose your freedom for life."
Trading a lifetime of freedom for the safety of his uncle's family! Ian hesitated, but even more so, he was unwilling to accept it.
"Isn't there any other way?" Ian asked through gritted teeth.
"There is!"
Ian's eyes lit up, like a drowning man grabbing onto the last straw. "Tell me, what is it?"
Blood Rose's expression turned cold. "Right now, the Nangong Family is hunting me. If you capture me and hand me over, maybe they'll show mercy and spare you!"
Ian was stunned for a moment, a little tempted, but quickly dismissed the idea. Blood Rose might be an assassin, but she had helped him. He couldn't bring himself to repay kindness with betrayal!
"So? Made up your mind yet? Want to catch me?" Blood Rose pressed, her eyes now gleaming with playful mockery.
"Hmph!"
With his Spiritual Power up to 97 points, Ian's mind was exceptionally clear, his wisdom greatly enhanced. Seeing the teasing look in Blood Rose's eyes, he understood—she was testing him.
"Really not going to catch me? Once this chance is gone, it's gone for good!"
Ian couldn't be bothered to deal with her anymore and turned to leave.
He didn't have time to argue with Blood Rose—he needed to focus on finding a way to resolve the crisis brought by the Nangong Family.
Suddenly, Fiona Xiang's figure flashed through his mind.
She's the mayor's daughter. If I ask her for help, would she lend a hand?
But then he mocked himself: "Ian Song, who are you to Fiona Xiang? Why would she help you? Don't forget, you're up against the Nangong Family!"
"Wait!"
Blood Rose suddenly called out.
Ian turned to look at her, waiting for what she'd say next.
Blood Rose chuckled lightly. "The National Martial League may be loosely organized, but it basically includes all the top martial artists in the Yanhuang Republic. If you can earn the recognition of the League's upper ranks, even the arrogant Nangong Family will have to think twice before coming after you or your family—they'll have to consider how the League might respond!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Blood Rose flickered through the grove and vanished from sight!
"National Martial League!"
Ian silently repeated those four words, and made up his mind. At the assessment in three days, he would hold nothing back. If he could break through to the Innate realm before the test, he'd definitely attract the attention of the League's upper ranks.
But to reach Innate, he first needed to collect one million Fame Points. Right now, he had just over 750,000—still short more than 240,000.
Tomorrow is the composition contest, but just relying on the TV broadcast won't net him 240,000 Fame Points. He had to find a way to expand his influence.
Suddenly, he thought of the internet—a pretty good channel for promotion. An idea began to form in his mind.
So he called Zach Zhang, asking him to gather Eric Xie, Leo Li, and another friend, Leo Zhang, for a meeting.
"Boss, you must have something in mind. Just say the word—if I can do it, I won't even blink!" Zach said with a grin.
Ian paused for a moment and said, "You've all seen my performance video on the Riverstone City Forum, right?"
All four nodded quickly.
"Boss, that video's already got over a million views. Your name must be all over Riverstone City by now!" Zach quickly flattered him.
Riverstone City's population is less than two million, so over a million views is actually very impressive.
"That's still not enough. I want this video to get at least another 500,000 views in the next three days. Any ideas?" Ian shook his head.
"How about I contact the forum admin and have him boost the view count for you?" Zach suggested.
"No, I need real views!" Ian rejected the idea outright.
"I've got an idea!" Leo Li suddenly said. "The Riverstone City Forum's reach is limited to Riverstone City, and the population here is small. The video's views won't climb much higher now. Why don't we upload it to several major national video sites? That should get us plenty of views."
"That might be tough. Big sites aren't like they were a few years ago—their review process for user-made videos is strict. Even if we get it uploaded, without an official recommendation, it's hard to get noticed," Zach said hesitantly.
Ian felt his heart sink.
Eric Xie suddenly chimed in, "Why don't we go for a shotgun spread? Upload the video not just to the big sites, but also to the small ones. Then hire a bunch of 'water army' to promote it in all kinds of forums. That way, we might just hit 500,000 views in three days!"
Ian's eyes lit up. The plan was a bit clumsy, but it should work. Still, he'd hold off on hiring water armies unless necessary.
So Ian said, "Alright, that's the plan! Leo, first collect a list of all the sites nationwide that allow video uploads. Once we get my performance video, we'll start!"
After making the decision, Ian called Zhen Yun to ask for his performance video.
She readily agreed, saying she'd deliver it to his school in an hour.
In less than an hour, Zhen Yun drove to Saint Night High School and handed Ian a USB drive.
6 p.m.
Ian, along with Zach, Leo, and the others, headed to the internet café together.
Thanks to Leo's research, they found over 300 video sites nationwide, with 135 allowing user uploads.
Their task was to split up and upload the video to all 135 sites. As long as about 50 sites approved it and each got 10,000 views, they'd have enough Fame Points.
After three hours of teamwork, they finally uploaded the video to all 135 sites, and more than ten sites had already passed review.