Chapter 176: Illya Goes Viral
Zhuang Family Residence.
Su Manqing was at home entertaining a few noblewomen when Zhuang Zhenyang walked in. The ladies politely took their leave upon seeing him.
Zhuang’s father frowned. “Why are so many people here?”
Su Manqing shrugged. “They came to ask about Illya, and also to buy some elixirs.”
The scene where Illya saved someone on stage had gone viral across major online platforms, even attracting high attention from the National Bureau of Paranormal Abilities.
Even among ability-users, there are levels. Illya’s ability was clearly extraordinary—he went from his seat to midair in under a second and then effortlessly annihilated a swarm of bees. These noblewomen were extremely curious about their “future daughter-in-law.” Ironically, Su Manqing knew less about this “daughter-in-law” than they did.
“Feixue hasn’t sold any elixirs in a long time!”
Su Manqing nodded. “Yes. Apparently, there’s a shortage of ingredients, so she can’t make any for now.”
Father Zhuang sighed in regret. If only he had stocked up back when the virility elixir wasn’t yet famous. Now, even as the supplier’s father, he couldn’t get any. Feixue probably truly had no inventory left. Chu Feng might still have some, but it felt awkward to ask.
“Where’s Chu Feng?” Father Zhuang asked.
“He already left,” Su Manqing replied with a sigh. She had rushed back but still missed him.
Father Zhuang sighed too. “Really? I was hoping to treat him to a meal.”
Su Manqing said, “Feixue mentioned that Chu Feng is very busy. He only came this time because of Xue Ying, worried about Feixue. Their relationship seems quite good.”
Father Zhuang nodded. “Yes, it really does seem that way.”
*
At the Academy.
“Anzhi, is this Illya the boyfriend of your brother?”
“Anzhi, isn’t this the guy who had dinner with you the other day?”
“Anzhi, do you know this ability-user? Can you get me his autograph?”
“Anzhi, you’ve had dinner with a celebrity! I remember thinking that guy was handsome—turns out he’s a real star, and an ability-user too!”
“Anzhi, are Illya and Miss Zhuang really dating?”
“Anzhi, are Zhuang Feixue and her brother fighting over a boyfriend?”
After Illya’s rescue of Zhuang Feixue was revealed, many gossip accounts started claiming they were a couple and that Illya was the man behind Zhuang Feixue.
But soon after, netizens dug up that Illya and Chu Feng were the actual pair—and that Chu Feng was the Zhuang family’s son. Everyone then realized that Illya was Zhuang Feixue’s “brother-in-law.”
But the narrative quickly shifted again: now people were saying Chu Feng and Zhuang Feixue were fighting over Illya, with wave after wave of so-called “evidence.”
Chu Anzhi shook her head. “Stop asking, I don’t know anything!”
Since learning Chu Feng was from the Zhuang family, she wasn’t sure how to face him. She hadn’t seen him at all lately. Looking at the news, she was also quite curious about Illya’s ability-user ability.
After Illya’s identity was revealed, Chu Anzhi couldn’t help recalling the time she was kidnapped.
Back then, she escaped only because a “hero” intervened. Thinking about it now, where would such random kindness come from? It might have been Chu Feng’s doing.
Chu Anzhi let out a deep breath, her thoughts complicated.
She had always known Illya was good-looking, but this was her first time realizing just how powerful he really was…
*
Back at the Villa.
Chu Feng and Illya returned to find Lin Zhihao teaching Duoduo and the others how to speak.
The kids knew nothing about this world—they had to learn everything slowly from scratch.
“You’re back?” Lin Zhihao looked at the two in surprise. “I saw the news.”
Chu Feng: “…”
Illya was blowing up online, with countless fangirls.
Lin Zhihao took a deep breath. “Brother Feng, the trailer for Snow Kingdom just dropped.”
Chu Feng was surprised. “Really?”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “Yeah. The fan reaction is huge. After Illya went viral, people online started digging for all his info, but there’s not much. Fans were frustrated. This three-minute teaser had tons of Illya screen time, which was a massive treat for them.”
He handed a tablet to Chu Feng. “Look at the comments—almost all of them are about Illya.”
“Love at first sight! Mom, I’m in love.”
“Awsl*! How can someone be this good-looking? Mom, I want to marry him!”
([Awsl = “Ah, I’m gonna die from the cuteness!”])
“The person above, prepare for battle—he’s mine!”
“Mom, I want to sleep with him.”
“I heard our little prince was taken…”
“The Snow Prince cured my indifference toward love and gave me a serious crush!”
“What?! The little prince has a lover? No one is worthy of our icy prince. Dump him!”
Chu Feng frowned: These fans are way too shameless—talking about sleeping with someone just like that?
Lin Zhihao glanced at Chu Feng. “Brother Feng, those fans really seem to have it out for you.”
Chu Feng chuckled. “They’ve just eaten too many lemons—jealousy, that’s all. I won’t stoop to their level.”
Lin Zhihao: “…”
Ever since Illya’s news went public, even the story about Xue Ying’s suicide attempt had been overshadowed. This was the era of rising ability-users—people were far more interested in the powerful than the ordinary.
With the teaser released, Illya’s popularity skyrocketed, even making top male idols jealous. If it had been any other star, they would’ve seized the momentum to get endorsement deals—but Illya seemed completely indifferent…
Lin Zhihao sat on the sofa, his eyes following Chu Feng’s every movement, a hint of grievance flickering in his gaze.
Chu Feng looked at him and asked, “What are you doing?”
What kind of look was that?! If someone else saw it, they might think Chu Feng had wooed Lin Zhihao and then abandoned him.
“Brother Feng, is Illya an ability-user?” Lin Zhihao asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah.”
Lin Zhihao pulled a bitter face. “Brother Feng, why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Can I take a photo with Illya?” Lin Zhihao asked. Chu Feng glanced at him, puzzled. “Didn’t you say Illya was too good-looking, and standing next to him made you look like an ugly freak?”
Lin Zhihao: “…” Did he say that? Probably… Why did he say something like that?
Lin Zhihao looked at Chu Feng again. “Brother Feng, is Illya the only ability-user in the house? Are there any others?”
Chu Feng: “…” This slow-witted guy actually noticed something? Did he figure it out? “Take a guess…”
Lin Zhihao: “…” Don’t tell me there’s more?
…
Illya came down from upstairs, and Lin Zhihao’s expression immediately turned serious.
Illya’s phone kept ringing. He looked annoyed and hung up the call. “Who was that?” Chu Feng asked.
Tilting his head, Illya replied, “A brand wants me to be their spokability-userson.”
“How much are they offering?”
“Ten million?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Too little. Ignore them.”
Illya nodded. “Oh, okay.”
Beside them, Lin Zhihao rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help but say, “Brother Feng, ten million isn’t a small amount.”
Chu Feng blinked. “We’re not short on that kind of money anymore.”
He was now worth tens of billions, sitting on a stockpile of rare treasures. Why would Illya need to go earn some endorsement fee?
Illya puffed out his cheeks. “Actually, ten million is quite a lot…”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nope. Illya, your face alone is worth at least a hundred million.”
A hundred million? Lin Zhihao swallowed hard, slightly shocked and speechless. Brother Feng’s standards were on another level now—he had truly reached the stage of “let’s set a small goal first—say, earn a hundred million.”
Illya tilted his head. “A hundred million?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright then, I’ll consider it when someone offers me a hundred million,” Illya said.
Lin Zhihao: “…”
Chu Feng took a deep breath and thought to himself: Illya is so popular right now, if he goes out, he’ll be mobbed by fangirls. He already has enough love rivals—if Illya takes a walk, he’ll attract even more. That’s definitely not good.
…
Zhuang Feixue stayed in the villa, her phone ringing nonstop.
Zhuang Cheng glanced at her in confusion. “Sis, your phone’s ringing.”
Zhuang Feixue rolled her eyes. “I heard it.”
“Why aren’t you answering it?”
“It’s probably a director.”
Zhuang Cheng blinked. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it? You haven’t had any roles recently.”
Zhuang Feixue’s face darkened. “Who said I don’t have any roles?”
Xue Ying’s incident had seriously affected her—several scripts that were originally offered to her had fallen through.
Zhuang Cheng laughed awkwardly. “Alright, then are those directors calling to offer you a role?”
“No, they’re calling for Illya. There have been several already. At first, I thought they were looking for me, but turns out they couldn’t reach Illya and wanted me to pass a message. What a joke! I’m a top actress too, you know!”
The director calling right now was the one who withdrew a script from her after Xue Ying died. And now this guy actually had the nerve to call her?
Zhuang Cheng nodded. “Illya is really popular now.”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “He’s got a lot of buzz—definitely top-tier now.”
The entertainment industry is all about hype—people will do anything for attention: scandals, feuds, fake personas. Illya’s rise to fame was enough to make anyone envious.
Zhuang Cheng smiled. “Sis, isn’t your drama Snow Country going to air soon?”
Zhuang Feixue nodded. “Yeah, it’s almost ready.”
With Illya’s current popularity, the director wanted to ride the wave and release the series, hoping it would become a hit.
Even though Illya didn’t have many scenes, the promotional campaign was treating him like the lead actor.
The director seemed to regret not giving Illya more scenes. In fact, his screen time had already been increased several times.
Zhuang Feixue crossed her arms. “I’m wondering… should I just retire?”
Zhuang Cheng looked puzzled. “Sis, aren’t you still popular? Why retire now?”
She had just said she didn’t want to retire. But after the stage accident and now that the buzz around Xue Ying’s case was fading, and public opinion was shifting, now she was thinking of quitting?
Zhuang Feixue sighed. “Being a celebrity is too exhausting.”
Although her name was still well-known, audiences were already getting tired of her.
There’s only so much room in the entertainment industry, and only a handful make it big each year.
“Lately, a lot of ability-users have been entering the industry. It’s getting harder and harder for ordinary people.”
Zhuang Cheng frowned. “But isn’t the entertainment industry all about looks? Even if there are a lot of ability-users now, there can’t be many that look as good as Illya, right?”
“Actually, many of them look pretty similar. With a bit of cosmetic tweaking and makeup, as long as their base features aren’t terrible, they won’t look too bad,” Zhuang Feixue replied.
Zhuang Cheng blinked and thought to himself, That’s true, a lot of beauties in the entertainment industry are actually just made up with makeup.
“I suddenly realized, instead of working so hard filming, I might as well focus on running the elixir business.” Last time, she sold the elixirs in a bit of a rush, and quite a few of them ended up in the hands of resellers. If she managed it properly, she could definitely sell them for a higher price.
Zhuang Cheng nodded and said, “Elixirs really do sell well. Sis, I heard that your elixir can actually boost abilities for ability-users.”
Zhuang Feixue turned to look at Zhuang Cheng and asked, “Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
Zhuang Cheng shrugged, “I only just found out! Besides, people online like to exaggerate. Whether it’s true or not, who knows?”
Zhuang Feixue thought for a moment and said, “It’s very likely to be true.”
Zhuang Cheng looked a bit puzzled. “How do you know?”
“Shen Yuxing bought a lot!” Shen Yuxing had been persistently asking about the elixirs and seemed very invested. Zhuang Feixue hadn’t understood why before, but now it made sense—if the elixir really benefits ability-users.
Zhuang Cheng looked at Zhuang Feixue. “Sis, do you think Chu Feng knows about this?”
Zhuang Feixue shook her head. “He probably does, right? He’s the one who brought the elixirs out, after all.”
Zhuang Cheng shook his head. “Not necessarily.”
Zhuang Feixue stood up and said, “I’ll give him a call and ask.”
If the elixirs truly enhance abilities, they mustn’t be undersold.
When Chu Feng received Zhuang Feixue’s call and heard about the elixir’s effects, he was surprised.
“Elixirs can enhance abilities?” Chu Feng asked Illya.
“There seems to be a slight effect. Very weak though—better than nothing. Compared to witch stones, it’s nothing much.”
Chu Feng thought to himself: People are desperate to improve their powers these days—even the tiniest effect drives them crazy. Compared to witch stones that cost tens of millions, elixirs priced at one or two million are much more affordable.
Witch stones were powerful but limited. Their energy could only be absorbed by ability-users, while elixirs could be consumed by regular people too.
“Let’s head over there,” he said.
Illya nodded. “Sure, bring more stuff this time.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright!”
Previously, the spatial portal was too small, so he couldn’t bring much each trip. He had to carefully calculate volume. But now, after cultivating with Witch Stones, his powers had increased significantly, and the spatial channel had expanded.
He could now bring anything he wanted—but ironically, there wasn’t much he wanted to bring.
Recently, he’d gone over empty-handed a few times. Even though the other side wasn’t lacking in resources, showing up with nothing probably disappointed the shaman and the others.
