Chapter 153 Foul Atmosphere

"This... are these people out of their minds? Why are they smearing Uncle Xu like this?"
Qu Hongxiu watched in utter bewilderment, her face a mask of confusion.
The Northern Continent had been invaded by the demon race overnight—something was fundamentally wrong with this picture, yet the Bai family and the Raven Army were turning things around to hurl accusations?
How could such a thing even happen?
"This is something I hadn't anticipated either. The moment the demon army set foot into the continent, they immediately released statements like this. They were clearly prepared," Chu Xiaotong said with a solemn expression, her gaze shifting to Xu Zhe.
She had originally hoped that this victory would make Xu Zhe even more renowned, while also securing a vast amount of rare heavenly treasures from the Four Continents Council.
Never had she expected it to hand the Northern Continent an opportunity to frame him.
"It looks like a rather clumsy smear tactic, but it is indeed quite troublesome," Xu Zhe said with a casual smile.
"No, Uncle Xu, this matter is very easy to clear up."
Qu Hongxiu suddenly thought of something and said joyfully, "We have the recorded footage of the battles against the demon race at the first two defense lines. The demon race was already using intermediate battle formations back then, and Uncle Xu, you were still in the Divine Pill Grotto-heaven at that time, which can prove your innocence."
"You are thinking too simply."
Xu Zhe smiled and shook his head, "If we clarify it that way, they could easily claim that I gave this method to the demon race in advance, which is why the demon race was able to breach the first two defense lines of the Southern Continent, and that I only stepped in to save the day when it reached the third defense line."
"Ah..."
Qu Hongxiu froze. "But wouldn't that be a contradiction? If you wanted to help the demon race, why would you step in to stop them later?"
"The fact that you can point this out shows you are still relatively rational, though that might partly be due to your preconceived bias. But I'm afraid others won't think about it with such rationality. No matter what kind of explanation is given, the world will always produce all kinds of different voices," Xu Zhe said calmly.
"Surely not? Wouldn't they see the problem with such an obvious contradiction?" Qu Hongxiu asked, unconvinced.
Xu Zhe smiled faintly, "Never overestimate the wisdom of the masses. If you don't believe me, open the Spirit Network and take a look. There will definitely be people making assertive and confident deductions. Then, when you point out how full of flaws and utter stupidity their statements are and try to refute them, the other person will stubbornly refuse to listen, selectively ignore it, and continue insisting they are right, leaving you so angry your blood pressure will skyrocket."
"I'll go take a look."
With that, Qu Hongxiu produced the Myriad Phenomenon Jade Plate and opened the Spirit Network interface to browse.
It wasn't that she doubted Xu Zhe's words, but rather that his words had reminded her.
With such a major event happening now, she was very curious about how the discussions on the Spirit Network were shaping up.
As soon as she opened the Spirit Network interface, the screen was overwhelmingly dominated by a single narrative—everyone was attacking and cursing Xu Zhe.
"Dammit, and here I thought the Prodigy Xu was a good person. I never expected him to be so rotten."
"I misjudged him. Among a hundred prodigies, I never thought the last one would be so disgusting, actually betraying the human race. Hah."
"It breaks my heart! I thought with Prodigy Xu's talent, he would be the hope for the human race's prosperity, but it turns out he's the root of its destruction."
"I just don't understand, what is so good about the demon race? @Xu_Zhe, why be a dog for the demons?"
...
Most cultivators from the four major continents had almost entirely swallowed the words of those in the Northern Continent, believing that Xu Zhe had betrayed humanity.
Among them were even a few comments that made Qu Hongxiu's eyes widen in disbelief.
Cao Wu (Verified: Prodigy): "Xu Zhe, as your former classmate, I am ashamed."
Lin Chuan (Verified: Prodigy): "Xu Zhe, I am very disappointed in you."
Ma Lin (Verified: Prodigy): "Xu Zhe, I have no grudges against you. The Northern Continent is already my home; why did you have to do this?"
...
Several prodigies spoke out one after another. The weight of a "prodigy" status was by no means light, and in the eyes of outsiders, their statements were practically equivalent to confirming the "fact" that Xu Zhe had betrayed humanity.
Amidst these accusations, a small faction of rational voices also raised questions.
"If Xu Zhe betrayed humanity, why would he help the Southern Continent hold the third defense line and even heavily injure the demon army?" This simplest of questions was precisely the one Qu Hongxiu had mentioned earlier.
However, these rational inquiries were met with an almost endless torrent of abuse.
"Hah, speaking up for a traitorous dog? You must be a dog too, huh?"
"I overestimated the unity of the human race. I never expected so many people wanted to be dogs for the demons."
"Whether he betrayed humanity is still up for debate, but can't you see such an obvious conspiracy? The demon race originally didn't have the strength to push through, so Xu Zhe boosted their strength to let them break in, and then he could play the savior, winning both glory and fortune."
"Is the person above an idiot? If Prodigy Xu wanted glory and fortune, why would he let the demons invade the Northern Continent, and why would it be exposed that he taught the secret arts to the demons?"
"You have no brain upstairs. Can't you see that Xu Zhe just messed up his own game? He thought he could be the savior, but ended up having his secret arts mastered by the demons. Since the demons couldn't breach the Southern Continent, they naturally chose to attack other continents."
...
These fierce arguments made the entire Spirit Network look foul and murky.
Qu Hongxiu was so furious she saw red, a stifled ache gripping her chest, making her practically want to vomit blood.
"Are they doing this on purpose? Could anyone genuinely be this stupid?" She found it hard to believe and looked to Xu Zhe and the others for confirmation.
"This... will probably remain an eternal mystery, an unsolvable riddle," Gu Jiaer said with a helpless, bitter smile after glancing through it briefly.
How familiar this scene was; she had seen it far too many times in the past.
"Cao Wu and those people definitely did it on purpose," Chu Xiaotong said out of nowhere, her tone brimming with chilling killing intent, making it clear she had genuine anger flare within her.
"Don't lose your head, there's no need," Xu Zhe patted her shoulder and smiled.
"This trick is nothing more than using public opinion to paint me as a public enemy. Such a familiar and disgusting tactic; strangely enough, it almost feels kind of nostalgic."
"Nostalgic my foot, you... Huh? You mean..." Chu Xiaotong paused, seeming to realize something, and asked in astonishment, "You mean this trick might have come from those people on our side? Orchestrated by Cao Wu and the others?"
"Cao Wu and his crew don't have the brains for this," Xu Zhe waved a hand.
"Although this trick isn't high-level, look at the offensive and the coordinated online trolls, wave after wave, orderly and methodical. With Cao Wu and their intellect, they shouldn't be able to pull this off."
"Then who is it?" Chu Xiaotong frowned.
"I don't know either, and it doesn't matter who it is. The important thing is that among our batch of people, someone must have colluded with the Northern Continent and the demon race," Xu Zhe said in a deep voice.
There was hidden meaning in his words. The crucial point here wasn't really the Northern Continent or the demon race, but rather those who provided the intermediate battle formations to the demons—the masterminds hailing from the Azure Heaven Domain.
In other words, some prodigies might have already hooked up with the masterminds from the Azure Heaven Domain, which meant someone already knew about the existence of the Azure Heaven Domain.
And if he had used the battle formations of the Azure Heaven Domain, someone might also be starting to suspect his origins.
Therefore, this wave of mud-slinging was highly targeted, yet it also revealed a fair amount of information.
Xu Zhe wasn't too worried about his secret of coming from the Azure Heaven Domain being exposed; among transmigrators, what was so strange about someone experiencing a second transmigration?
The main issue was that his former identity in the Azure Heaven Domain was somewhat sensitive. If his mortal enemies among the Immortal Emperor families happened to discover him, the trouble would be massive.
"You might not be fully aware, but Cao Wu and that group are basically led by Zhang Yunfan," Chu Xiaotong said solemnly at this moment.
"Zhang Yunfan?" Xu Zhe paused slightly, a sudden realization dawning on him. "If it's him, he indeed has the capability to stir up a mess like this."
Zhang Yunfan was a name Xu Zhe knew very well.
After all, back in their university dorm, he had been the fourth person alongside Wang Jianguo and Li Chungang.
However, the relationship among the four was far from harmonious.
In the dorm, Li Chungang and Wang Jianguo had the best relationship with Xu Zhe, while Zhang Yunfan harbored an inexplicable resentment and jealousy toward Xu Zhe.
Back then, Xu Zhe entered university as the top scorer in the entire province, while Zhang Yunfan had been the runner-up.
Throughout various exams across their four years in university, Xu Zhe had always been first, and Zhang Yunfan had always been second.
Xu Zhe had been crowned the campus heartthrob, and even while dating Lin Keyi, he still received expressions of affection and pursuit from numerous girls every day, with people endlessly trying to add his WeChat or fish for his phone number.
Li Chungang and Wang Jianguo had even made a small fortune off this, peddling Xu Zhe's phone number everywhere and even setting up a shared public account: *taishangbuyi*, where they posted various candid photos of Xu Zhe, attracting countless girls to browse.
As for Zhang Yunfan's appearance, it could actually be considered up to the standard of a campus heartthrob as well. Yet, standing before Xu Zhe and compared to Xu Zhe's treatment, he always ended up looking dim and dull, his brilliance completely overshadowed.
Even though some girls would occasionally approach Zhang Yunfan of their own accord, in Zhang Yunfan's eyes, women were nothing more than a bunch of data points.
The number of girls approaching him was far, far fewer than those approaching Xu Zhe!
Therefore, he still believed he had lost.
Consequently, throughout those four years, Zhang Yunfan competed with Xu Zhe at every turn, making things difficult for him at the slightest opportunity and pulling all sorts of petty tricks, all of which Xu Zhe easily resolved.
When Xu Zhe woke up in this realm, he had actually considered inquiring about the whereabouts of his perennial runner-up. After all, they were former dorm mates, and no matter how poor their relationship had been back then, upon arriving in an unfamiliar place, they should have stuck together.
It was only later, sensing that everyone had changed and even Li Chungang and Wang Jianguo hadn't shown up, that Xu Zhe dismissed the thought of looking for anyone.
Hearing the name "Zhang Yunfan" again from Chu Xiaotong's lips, Xu Zhe let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh.
This former dorm mate of his still seemed relentlessly obsessed with stirring up trouble.
"That being said, Cao Wu and his group going to help the Mo family back then must have also been at Zhang Yunfan's instigation, right?" Xu Zhe recalled that when he went to the Mo family for revenge, Cao Wu had indeed shown up to stop Lu Yangyun from helping.
"Hah, far from just that. He even sent quite a few old classmates to block my path at the borders of the Southern Continent and the Western Kunlun Continent," Chu Xiaotong sneered.
"Fine then, now I know how to deal with him," Xu Zhe nodded.
"Oh? How are you going to deal with him? Did you think of a way to splash the mud right back onto him?" Chu Xiaotong asked immediately.
"That won't do."
Xu Zhe flatly refused, "We are upright people; how could we possibly use such despicable methods like them?"
"Then how do you plan to solve it?" Chu Xiaotong rolled her eyes.
On second thought, it made sense. Xu Zhe's thought process was a bit abnormal—only someone like her could put up with him. Now that this guy considered himself an upright person, getting him to play dirty and smear others was probably genuinely beyond him.
Yet, if they didn't retaliate like this, what other method could vent their frustration?
"It's very simple. Let me ask you, what is the best way to handle dirty water?" Xu Zhe blinked and asked with a smile.
"Pour it into the ocean?" Qu Hongxiu looked horrified. "Uncle Xu, that's not good, is it?"
"What are you talking about? Only animals would do that. Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility," Xu Zhe said immediately, widening his eyes in a stern manner.
Hearing this, Qu Hongxiu breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what is Uncle Xu going to do?"
"Naturally, it's filtration! As long as you filter out the filth, doesn't the dirty water become clean?"
"Filter? How do you filter it?"
"Didn't they say I betrayed humanity and colluded with the demon race? Then I'll just go cooperate with the demon race, help them take the Northern Continent together, and then I'll filter out the demons, the Bai family, Zhang Yunfan, and all the rest of those filthy things. That way, I'll be clean again."