Chapter Seven: Instruction (Part One)

As soon as she said this, the curiosity of the viewers in the livestream room was instantly piqued. Hardly anyone left; in fact, the DouShark platform even moved her stream to the top of the Outdoor section’s homepage at just the right moment. The audience swelled rapidly, soon nearing the seven-hundred-thousand mark.

Catherine scrubbed herself a bit in the water, shook herself vigorously, and most of the black grime was washed away. As a young woman, she actually had a touch of obsessive cleanliness—if she’d been this dirty before, she would have wanted to soak for hours, slathering herself in all kinds of shower gels and cleansers. This time, though, she washed herself absentmindedly, her attention almost entirely captured by the fish swimming below.

She forced herself to wash for two minutes, but couldn’t resist any longer. Taking a deep breath, she dove beneath the surface, relying on her recently enhanced physique to speed toward the bottom. The fish scattered in alarm, darting away with dazzling, unpredictable turns, but it made little difference to her—she reached out with both hands and immediately caught the two largest fish. Without delay, she shot back up to the surface, and the moment her head emerged, she bit eagerly into the plumpest part of the fish’s belly!

The taste of fresh fish meat lit up her senses—this was truly delicious! With a fish in each hand, she feasted heartily, blood splattering everywhere, paying no mind to the fish still desperately struggling in her grasp.

The fish were quickly devoured, and their bodies ceased to twitch. Just as Catherine was about to continue, Ling Mo’s timely voice called out: “Don’t eat the fish heads—especially the gill area. That’s where most disease sources gather. Your body isn’t yet immune to everything.”

Reluctantly, Catherine tossed away the fish heads and licked her lips, still unsated and eager to dive for more. But Ling Mo stopped her: “Hurry up and come out when you’re done. No matter how many of these creatures you eat, you won’t feel full. There’ll be plenty for you to eat on the road ahead.”

Hearing this, Catherine nodded, quickly got out of the water, and dressed. She summoned the Magic-Eye Sprite, aimed the camera at herself, and cheerily sang: “Ta-da! I’m done washing! Watch closely, everyone—it’s time to witness a miracle!”

She pulled the camera closer, letting her face fill the entire screen, and then adjusted the Magic-Eye Sprite’s contrast and clarity to the highest levels.

Instantly, the chat exploded.

In this ultra-high-definition close-up, every detail of Catherine’s face was revealed. But that was precisely the problem—her skin was almost unnaturally flawless. It gleamed with a creamy, pudding-like radiance, her pores were nearly invisible, not a trace of fine hair, as if her face were a work of art. And Catherine’s complexion, already fair, now looked almost impossibly pale—like frost itself. Her cheeks still held a dewy pink flush from her bath, sparkling translucently. If her natural looks had been worthy of an eight out of ten before, they now soared to a nine and a half.

The livestream chat went wild. Even habitual lurkers who never spoke were roused, and the audience split into two clear camps:

“Damn, this skin is unreal!”

“If she were in front of me, I’d lick her clean!”

“I’ll go first—*slurp*!”

“PRPRPRRRR~~~~”

“Pfft! You’re poisoning the screen!”

“What kind of high-tech skincare is this?”

“Kneeling for the brand and product line—no matter the cost, I’ll buy it all!”

“What cosmetic could possibly achieve this?”

“Clearly it’s not just skincare—must be the effect of the pill she got from that muscleman earlier, right?”

“Can anyone tell me what happened during the blackout?”

“Viewer ‘Strong Little Jasmine’ just gifted two Chaos Meteorites! Message: Does the streamer know the recipe for the pill she ate? Money is no object!”

“Viewer ‘Pure White Moon’ just gifted a Meteor Shower! Message: It’s rude to ask for the recipe right away! Streamer, I just want one pill—money is truly no issue!”

“Viewer…”

Seeing the explosive reactions and the flood of gifts, Catherine was thoroughly pleased. She let the Magic-Eye Sprite linger, carefully displaying her delicate neck, elegant collarbones, smooth arms and legs. The seventy thousand viewers in the room could hardly believe it—not just her face, but every inch of her skin seemed impossibly flawless.

Barrage after barrage of pleas for the recipe and requests for the pill swept across the screen. After showing off for a while, Catherine finally spoke: “I’m sure many of you have guessed it by now. Yes, the secret behind my unbelievable skin is that pill I ate earlier! I know you’re all interested, but I don’t have the recipe—only my master knows it! If you want to know more, keep sending gifts. If I get enough, maybe I’ll be bold enough to risk my life and ask for you!”

She was half teasing—the standard wasn’t even set, and though she called Ling Mo “master” sweetly, she was honestly still a bit apprehensive, having only known him half a day. She’d best not provoke him unnecessarily. But to her surprise, the female viewers, seeing her skin, lost all reason. No sooner had she finished speaking than she was bombarded with a barrage of lavish gifts!

“Viewer ‘Cutest in the World’ just sent two Meteor Showers! Message: Up to you, streamer! If it’s not enough, I’ll add more!”

“Viewer ‘Pride Leads to No Good End’ sent five Meteor Showers in a row! Message: I don’t need the recipe, just one pill, please!”

“Viewer ‘Middle-aged Despair’ sent five consecutive Meteor Showers! Message: I desperately need that pill—my husband’s about to run off with his mistress!”

“Viewer…”

Huge waves of Meteor Shower gifts flashed by, dazzling Catherine’s left-eye display. In just ten minutes, she received thirty-six Meteor Showers—even after the platform took its cut, it was still worth over two thousand gold coins! The sheer force of the gifting made Catherine’s scalp tingle. But it wasn’t over yet!

“Viewer ‘Forever Seventeen’ just sent an Armageddon! Message: Is this enough? Shouldn’t you go ask now?”

The room exploded. Armageddon was the name of a forbidden fire spell, and gifts named after forbidden spells carried a matching price: ten thousand gold coins! A single ten-thousand-coin gift was enough to buy a beautiful home in any bustling city on the continent.

As the dramatic Armageddon animation played, a golden notification appeared in the center of every DouShark screen, no matter which section you were browsing:

“Viewer ‘Forever Seventeen’ has sent streamer ‘Catherine’ an Armageddon! Go see what’s happening!”

Instantly, curiosity was stoked across the platform—even viewers uninterested in outdoor adventuring or wilderness survival poured into Catherine’s stream, sending the live viewer count skyrocketing toward a million.

Faced with a flood of “We want answers!” messages, Catherine realized that if she wanted to keep her place on DouShark, she’d have to ask Ling Mo. Sneaking a glance at him—seeing he was resting with his eyes closed—she hesitated for a long time, but couldn’t withstand the viewers’ urging. She finally shuffled over and asked cautiously:

“Master, about that pill I ate earlier—do you have any more?”

Ling Mo looked at Catherine with interest and replied straightforwardly, “Yes, I do.”

Excellent! Catherine clenched her fists in secret and quickly asked, “If I wanted another pill, how could I get one from you?”

Ling Mo thought for a moment, then replied, “Making the pill isn’t exactly easy. But if you want to trade for one, it’s not about objects—it’s about martial aptitude.”

Catherine was puzzled. “Martial aptitude?”

“It’s simple, really. I may not practice magic, but I imagine learning magic requires talent, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Ordinary people with average talent can only reach the level of basic mage. To go further, you need real aptitude.”

“It’s the same with martial arts. What we call ‘aptitude’ is similar to magical talent. If you have good aptitude, a pill like this will bring great changes—like what happened to you. If not, you’ll see some improvement, but nothing as dramatic as yours.”

“So,” Catherine said excitedly, pointing to herself and looking at Ling Mo with hope, “I’m one of those martial prodigies with outstanding aptitude?”

“Of course. You think I’d save just anyone if I didn’t have a good reason?”

Catherine jumped for joy. Having seen Ling Mo’s punch shatter a fifth-level magic spell, she’d already begun to believe martial arts was a path of power and promise. Now, hearing she could go far down that road, she couldn’t contain her excitement.

Meanwhile, as their conversation continued, Ling Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly—he’d just received a notification from the system:

“Detected: 779 viewers sincerely yearn for the way of martial arts!”

“Detected: 1,033 viewers sincerely yearn for the way of martial arts!”

“Detected: 1,678 viewers sincerely yearn for the way of martial arts!”

The numbers soared. The desire for beauty was truly formidable; it could cause people to yearn fervently for something entirely unknown. Even the system probably hadn’t anticipated such a situation. When the count reached two thousand, the growth slowed somewhat, and after a moment, the system issued a new mission:

“Mission: ‘To Offer Martial Arts to a Beautiful World’ has gotten off to a promising start. The system recognizes ‘Catherine’ as the key figure in spreading the martial way. New mission issued:”

“Diligent Guidance: ‘Catherine’ has been identified as the key to promoting martial arts. As her senior, it is your responsibility to nurture this budding martial flower. Guide her diligently and help her become an Advanced Martial Master!”

“Mission time limit: Six months.”

“Mission reward: Primordial Relic Claw.”

“Mission failure penalty: Host will be forcibly removed from the Monster Jungle.”