Trading system, I exchanged vegetables for golden pills.

Ye Chen chuckled and shook his head: "You still need my protection, right? You can't expect your underlings to come after you for protection money. If that day ever comes, feel free to come looking for me!"

"See that? Brother Ye is as righteous as ever!"

Amidst laughter and chatter, the group resumed their daily Tai Chi practice.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to mention how to cultivate or whether they were even capable of cultivating.

As the saying goes, "The law should not be easily passed on," and everyone understands the principle.

Although they were quite familiar with Ye Chen, familiarity was one thing, but passing on the teachings was another.

Ye Chen had already signed a confidentiality agreement, and cultivation methods should also be kept confidential, so they all refrained from bringing it up.

Perhaps they were all getting on in years and didn't have a strong attachment to cultivation.

Even if they cultivate, what good will it do? They've already missed the prime age for cultivation.

For them, it's just another spice in their lives.

This seasoning is merely an icing on the cake for their existing lives; it's probably like practicing Tai Chi for health.

They were already very grateful that Ye Chen could talk to them so much.

If you know it will put someone in a difficult position, it's best to keep quiet. This way, the relationship between the two parties can last longer and be more stable.

Even if they didn't mention it, Ye Chen knew exactly what they were thinking.

After all, they were still curious about doing it, but now they're just selectively keeping quiet after hearing about the confidentiality agreement.

Ye Chen shared everything he could with his brothers without reservation.

Finally, Ye Chen taught these old men a method for cultivating inner energy, which could be considered a simplified version of breathing exercises.

Although they cannot cultivate like normal cultivators, they can still absorb some spiritual energy to nourish themselves.

Its advantage lies in its simplicity and ease of use, making it suitable for all ages.

Ye Chen couldn't guarantee that it would prolong life, but it could reduce some of the troubles caused by illness, which would still be beneficial for people of their age.

Of course, these old men are all in good health and have a habit of getting up early to exercise.

Even without Ye Chen's Qi-cultivation method, the body will not have any problems in the short term.

But we've known each other for so long, and these guys haven't treated him like an outsider lately, so let's just say it's a way of returning the favor.

As everyone listened to Ye Chen share his methods for cultivating inner energy, they looked at each other, somewhat excited.

"Don't get too excited. This is just a simple method for cultivating qi, which can only strengthen the body. Don't think you can fly or escape into the earth!" Ye Chen told everyone honestly.

"Haha, Brother Ye, we are already extremely grateful that you can teach us something, how could we dare to ask for more!" Old Xie said with a smile.

"That's right, we're all getting on in years. Even if you teach us advanced stuff, we might not be able to learn it. I think this simple stuff is enough!" Old Zhou chimed in in agreement.

Everyone nodded.

Ye Chen has managed to reveal something, even just the basics, which should be enough for them to learn for a while!

Even if Ye Chen were to impart profound techniques to them, it would be a question whether they could understand, comprehend, and practice them effectively.

As the saying goes, contentment brings happiness. Let's practice first and deal with the rest later.

After everyone had learned how to do it, they all dispersed.

Ye Chen didn't dare to open his account, for fear that his computer would freeze.

If nothing unexpected happens, his video should go viral.

Finally, Chen Muyan sent him a message: "Senior Ye, your video went viral! It's already surpassed a million likes. I have to say, you chose a really brilliant path. But be prepared, there will probably be a lot of people trying to imitate it!"

Although Chen Muyan is self-taught in self-media, she has a pretty thorough understanding of the subject.

They even knew someone would imitate it.

Ye Chen replied with an OK emoji.

Viral videos are bound to be imitated, and this can even lead to the emergence of a group of bloggers who claim to be debunking fakes or explaining magic tricks.

Ye Chen had already thought of this.

However, he didn't think much of it, since he had just taken the picture casually anyway.

Let them imitate us; it's a good opportunity to help them build a free publicity matrix.

With more videos of this mix of truth and falsehood, people will gradually get used to it, and the results the organization wants to see will likely be achieved.

"Senior Ye, how did you get that verification done? I can't find that option."

Chen Muyan sent another message.

Ye Chen shook his head, thinking to himself, he didn't know either; this was an internal invitation...

This certification must have been specially made for him; no one else could possibly have it!

"Oh, I don't know how that came about either. I guess the platform set it up itself!" Ye Chen replied dismissively.

He finally opened his social media account and took a look!

I want to see how popular my videos are and experience being a big internet celebrity.

His account has over 500 million followers, all of whom are active and engaged.

Looking at so many fans, Ye Chen felt a sense of disorientation.

I have the feeling that my account has been hacked.

This number of followers was something you could only see on big influencers before; I never imagined he would have so many followers now.

Thank goodness he didn't go down the self-media path, otherwise his blood pressure would have reached 120 in no time!

This is no different from getting rich overnight.

All he needs to do is a few more live streams, and earning a few small fortunes shouldn't be a problem.

Even without live streaming, the revenue from his original content is enough for him to live comfortably.

His video of him flying on a sword has received 112 million likes and 58 comments, making it a truly viral video.

The most popular comment was: "Has the spiritual energy returned?! That's wonderful! Now I finally don't have to be a beast of burden anymore!"

Below that comment was another popular sub-comment: "Brother, wake up! What makes you think the revival of spiritual energy will happen to you? Even if it does, don't forget that there are also menial disciples in the cultivation world; those destined to be beasts of burden will still be beasts of burden!"

Ye Chen smiled and shook his head. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

Let's discuss it; the more lively the discussion, the better.

Ye Chen was casually scrolling through short videos when he came across one about how he had cracked the sword control technique. That was truly amazing.

He just posted the video last night, and in less than a day someone with nothing better to do has already cracked it?

That's way too fast.

They jumped on the bandwagon and caught the wave right away.

That blogger is a magician with 500 followers. Yes, only 500, there's no "W" after that.

He claimed that Ye Chen's sword control technique was a magic trick so simple that even a child could easily do it; it was just a little entertainment trick.

Don't be fooled, be rational, and trust science.

Then he began to analyze and demonstrate the magic trick.

And you know what? He actually managed to make the flying sword fly quite well, it looked like he was really doing it.

The magician claims at the end of the video: "Follow Magician Xiao Huan, and I will guide you to analyze so-called supernatural forces using scientific methods!"