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"Hey!"
Lu Chen stepped forward, clenched his fists, and suddenly exhaled as if he wanted to release all the power within him.
His clothes were already soaked with sweat, and every ounce of potential in his body was being pushed to the limit. His muscles ached to the point of numbness, yet he persevered and finished the set of punches.
Although it was exhausting, Lu Chen had grown accustomed to and enjoyed this way of exercising. In just over half a month, he could clearly feel the positive changes in his physique.
Most importantly, through this nearly self-abusive training, the negative emotions bottled up in his heart easily flowed out with his sweat, leaving behind a sense of relief and joy after persistence and effort!
"Young man, the set of punches you practiced is quite interesting."
Just as Lu Chen was finishing up, an elderly voice suddenly came from behind him. "Who did you learn it from?"
Lu Chen turned around to see a silver-haired old man with a rosy complexion. He was dressed in a white cotton and linen shirt with a lotus leaf collar and traditional Chinese buttons, and he wore flat-soled shoes with a black surface. He had a somewhat ethereal and refined aura.
He smiled and replied, "Hello, Old Mister. I just practiced randomly; please don't laugh at me."
Lu Chen had seen this elderly man, who liked to practice Taiji/Primal Chaos boxing, many times in the small park by the river where he exercised every morning. He had only nodded at him before and had never spoken to him.
The martial arts he practiced came from Mo Ran's memories.
In the dream world, Wuxia culture had flourished for a long time, producing countless classic Wuxia films and kung fu movies. The film industry also had many stars and martial artists who excelled in martial arts.
Interestingly, in Lu Chen's dream world, the international city of Hong Kong at the southern tip of the country did not return until 1997. It was the birthplace of Wuxia culture, and several master-level figures had appeared in its artistic circles.
In reality, however, Hong Kong had already returned in 1967, at the same time as Taiwan. Along with Macau, which returned in 1969, these three Special Administrative Regions all implemented the "one country, two systems" policy, leading to significant differences between the two situations.
Similar to the dream world, Hong Kong's cultural industry experienced an incredibly glorious period in the 1980s and 1990s.
A large number of films, such as those about police and bandits, ghosts and gods, romance, city life, business wars, and even erotic genres, as well as Cantonese songs, once swept through, having a profound impact on the continent's popular culture.
Mo Ran had been practicing martial arts since childhood and had worked hard to broaden his acting opportunities, making him quite skilled in this regard. Unfortunately, until the incident occurred, he had never played the protagonist in a movie or television series.
Life often works like this; just because you work hard doesn't mean you'll get the results you desire.
But Lu Chen knew that if he didn't work hard, he shouldn't even think about winning success!
Upon hearing Lu Chen's humble reply, the old man became angry and shouted, "Practicing randomly? Do you think I'm clueless? My old eyes are still sharp enough to see it clearly; if you don't want to talk, then forget it!"
With that, he huffed and turned to leave.
Lu Chen was left speechless, surprised that this old man, who seemed kind and gentle, had such a fiery temper!
Shaking his head helplessly, Lu Chen jogged back home.
Compared to his previous underground dwelling, Jincheng Garden was a bit farther from the riverside park. By the time Lu Chen had breakfast on the way back to his single apartment, it was already past 9 a.m.
Lu Chen took a quick shower out of habit and then turned on his computer to check on his preparation for the upcoming battle.
That's right, the PK theme show tonight was a battle!
As soon as he logged into WeChat, countless messages flooded in, ringing non-stop.
Lu Chen had the sharp disturbance-free function activated on WeChat, so the messages must have come from friends he had added. He opened the app to see what was going on.
To his surprise, most of the messages were from Li Bai, the wealthy one!
"Boss, are you there?"
"If you are, hurry and reply; we all need you!"
"General Lu, why is your phone off? I couldn't reach you. It's so frustrating!"
"Are you there?"
Lu Chen pulled out his phone and saw that it had run out of battery and turned off. He quickly replied to Li Bai.
"I just got back from running, and my phone died. What's up?"
Li Bai replied instantly, "Damn, Boss, you finally showed up! Our Lu family army is about to deploy; you need to come over for a pre-battle rally to boost the morale of the troops!"
Lu Chen couldn't help but check the time and replied, "Isn't it a bit too early?"
Since he announced in the WeChat group that he would participate in the 'Whale TV' PK theme show, it had immediately caused a stir among the dedicated Fish Fans in the Lu Fei Live Streaming room, which was organized by Li Bai as the Lu family army fan club.
As the founder and biggest supporter of the Lu family army, Li Bai immediately declared that he would go all out to find ways to push Lu Chen into the ranks of popular hosts on 'Whale TV', aiming for the PK Top 5 throne!
The Lu family army had now expanded to three groups, including the First, Second, and Third Divisions, all of which were supergroups with a limit of 5,000 members, making it a modestly sized organization.
Those willing to join the group and participate in activities were undoubtedly the true die-hard fans!
Regarding Lu Chen's ignorance, Li Bai was extremely frustrated: "Too early? Others have already started mobilizing! If we don't act now, we'll really fall behind!"
"Don't worry about the specifics; I'll organize and arrange everything. Just say a few words in the group!"
This wealthy individual, whose real name Lu Chen didn't even know, was definitely a die-hard fan. He treated the Lu family army fan club as his own career, taking responsibility to a degree that made Lu Chen feel somewhat ashamed.
Lu Chen had also asked Li Bai, concerned that running a fan club might affect his work and life. What did Li Bai say in response?
Li Bai replied that his job was to eat, drink, and have fun and that his life was all about racing and partying. He had already grown tired of all that and was only now finding new joys in life.
With money, one can be so willful!
To this, Lu Chen could only agree that the more wealthy and loyal fans, the better.
At the wealthy man's request, he immediately made his presence known in the fan group: "Hello everyone, I'm here!"
The three divisions of the Lu family army created by Li Bai were not only paid super groups but were also linked together as a conglomerate. As an administrator, Lu Chen had the privilege to speak across groups, meaning that any message he sent in one group would be synchronized to all groups within the conglomerate.
As soon as Lu Chen made his appearance, all three groups erupted with excitement!
"Lu Fei is online!"
"Boss, we've all been waiting for you to show up!"
"General Lu, keep it up! You must achieve a Top 5 ranking tonight; I will support you forever!"
"Forget everything else; let's see our actions!"
"Long live the Lu family army!"
"Hahaha!"
The enthusiasm from the fans moved Lu Chen deeply: "Thank you all for your support! I will definitely work hard!"
Li Bai coolly chimed in, "What's our Lu family army's slogan?"
"The army departs, victorious in battle!"
In an instant, identical messages flooded the group, resembling a waterfall, filling up a good portion of the screen!
Various emoji were mixed in as well.
Li Bai then simultaneously sent out three red envelopes worth a thousand yuan in each of the three groups!
"Chief of Staff is mighty!"
"Haha, I grabbed a 10 Yuan red envelope!"
"I didn't get any; my hands are too clumsy! Please, rich man, send another one."
"I didn't get one either; sob sob sob!"
"Do it again!"
Li Bai said, "Everyone, don't panic. Follow the planned actions. If General Lu gets into the Top 3 tonight during the PK show, I'll give out a red envelope of 10,000 in all groups. If he makes it into the Top 5, I'll give out 5,000, no empty promises!"
"We fight alongside General Lu; the Lu family army will win!"
"Victory is certain!"
Under Li Bai's command, thousands of fan group members began to take action.
Their battlefield was on the forums of major Live Streaming sites, with 'Whale TV' being the main battleground, followed by relevant third-party BBS, forums, WeChat groups, and Feixin circles, fully promoting and advertising Lu Chen's live streaming show.
Since many websites crack down on spam and will ban users or even their IP addresses for violations, the Lu family army's first large-scale action was concentrated on today to achieve the best results.
Other hosts participating in the 'Whale TV' PK theme show were doing the same thing. They also had their own fan clubs and supporters, and tonight was destined to witness a fierce battle.
''(End of Chapter)''