Chapter 3

The appearance of the Golden Alliance ignited the enthusiasm of both authors and readers.

As the most active forum base in the web literature world—Sky, news about the mysterious Golden Alliance spread like wildfire. Some said it was a deliberate move by the Origin Chinese Network, a promotional tactic aimed at consolidating its position and attracting more authors to join. Others speculated that it was a wealthy young man who, out of boredom, made such a sensational move. In any case, there were many versions of speculation about the Golden Alliance, but no one could provide evidence. Everyone had their own reasons, and no one could convince the others.

The discussions in various author QQ groups became even more intense.

"God, why didn't the rich Zhou choose my book?"

"10 million Origin Coins, how many buckets of instant noodles can I buy with that... tears streaming down my face."

"Zhou, my book isn't bad either, you know?"

Not only that, but many ancient alliances on the Origin Chinese Network were also stirred up, expressing great curiosity about this mysterious Zhou Xing.

The Gods, F Alliance, Purple Moon, Wind Horn, Cat Red Army, Helan Mountain Soul, Dragon Roar Moon, Dragon Walks the World, Young Master Hao Yu, and a host of other wealthy individuals were all looking forward to it. The Origin Chinese Network was about to get lively again!

The next noon.

The first thing Zhou Xing did after getting up was to log into the Origin Chinese Network to check the results of his efforts from the previous night.

"Host, you don't need to go through all this trouble. I can connect to the internet automatically. Just ask me what you want to know."

Zhou Xing slapped his forehead and asked, "How many actual collections does 'Battle Through the Heavens' have now?"

"1,320, and it's still increasing."

In just half a day, the number of collections increased by over 1,000, which was quite impressive. After all, the book had only been uploaded for one chapter, and many readers were still on the fence. Moreover, the book hadn't been signed or recommended yet, and this performance could already rival many minor gods. Although the Golden Alliance was tempting, not everyone bought into it. Its main role was to draw everyone's attention. Whether or not they could be retained would depend on the quality of 'Battle Through the Heavens.'

Continuing to log into the Origin Chinese Network.

As soon as he logged in successfully, several pop-up windows appeared on the page, which were system notifications from the Origin Chinese Network.

"Congratulations, your membership level has been upgraded to Gold User."

"Congratulations, your membership level has been upgraded to Platinum User."

"Congratulations, your membership level has been upgraded to Diamond User."

"Congratulations, your account has been upgraded to a Regular Member Account."

"Congratulations, your account has been upgraded to a Premium Member Account."

"Congratulations, your account has been upgraded to a Junior VIP Account."

"Congratulations, your account has been upgraded to a Senior VIP Account."

In just one night, he had become a Diamond User and a Senior VIP Account holder!

He felt more and more confident!

Zhou Xing felt a surge of energy from the top of his head to his toes, feeling thoroughly refreshed. In the past, he was a writer who had to follow the website's rules, but now he was a customer, and a wealthy one at that, the kind that could attract the attention of countless readers and authors with every move. The roles had been reversed, and the feeling was incredibly satisfying.

"Is this what it feels like to be a big spender? It seems pretty good!" Zhou Xing exhaled and sighed.

"Host, this is just the level of a mid-level wealthy individual. There's still a considerable distance to becoming a true big spender. I hope the host continues to work hard and becomes a true big spender soon."

Although the system's voice was cold and emotionless, Zhou Xing still felt it was looking down on him.

But that's fine, he would become a big spender sooner or later!

"System, buy me 10 million Origin Coins."

"Processing the purchase, please wait..."

"Purchase complete. 10 million Origin Coins have been transferred to the host's account. Reminder: The host still has 99.8 million RMB available for spending this month."

Clicking into the Origin Chinese Network homepage, Zhou Xing found ten popular books and, without considering whether they suited his taste, began a fierce round of rewards.

All 1 million Origin Coins each!

"【Reward】Heavenly flowers falling, moved to tears, the gentleman's talent deserves this reward! 'Zhou Xing' rewards 'Seven Nights' 1,000,000 Origin Coins: This book is pretty good, not much worse than the 'Battle Through the Heavens' I read last night. A small token of appreciation, hoping the author continues to work hard."

"Congratulations, 'Zhou Xing' has become a Silver Alliance member of 'Master of Thunder Punishment'!"

"【Reward】Heavenly flowers falling, moved to tears, the gentleman's talent deserves this reward! 'Zhou Xing' rewards 'Two Peng Morning Light' 1,000,000 Origin Coins: This book is great. A reward for the author, hoping for more updates."

"Congratulations, 'Zhou Xing' has become a Silver Alliance member of 'Ruling the World'!"

"【Reward】Heavenly flowers falling, moved to tears, the gentleman's talent deserves this reward! 'Zhou Xing' rewards 'Hong Meng' 1,000,000 Origin Coins: Another good book, can't favor one over the other. A reward for the author, just hoping for more updates."

"Congratulations, 'Zhou Xing' has become a Silver Alliance member of 'Wilderness'!"

...

After one round of rewards, 10 million Origin Coins were gone in the blink of an eye!

But Zhou Xing didn't feel a bit of pain, after all, the money was the system's, and he couldn't withdraw it. There was no other use for it except to spend it. Since that was the case, he might as well reward generously and enjoy the process! Treating rewards as a form of entertainment was also a good choice!

On the Origin Chinese Network, which was already rippling, these 10 million rewards were like a pebble, causing the waves to spread.

"Ah, rewarding is also a skill!" Zhou Xing thought.

Either choose a book without a major alliance, where he could dominate half the territory, or choose a book with a very strong alliance, where he could also connect with the book's major alliance. Wealthy individuals also have their own circles, and integrating into this circle would mean gaining a lot of social resources.

On the other side of the room.

Zhou Yang had also gotten up, or rather, he hadn't slept all night.

He had great expectations for 'Battle Through the Heavens' and was constantly thinking about its performance.

After logging into his author account in the morning, Zhou Yang entered the author backend. The screen refreshed, and he was stunned, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the number was still the same. Yes, the collections had risen to 1,420, and it had only been less than 12 hours since the book was uploaded.

"System error?" Zhou Yang, although very excited about the new book's performance, found the current data too incredible, making him feel like he was in a dream. "Or did someone help me boost the data?"

He quickly clicked into the novel page, and his eyes widened in shock!

The number of rewarders was not many, only about 20, but one of them was extremely significant, worth more than thousands of others!

"10 million Origin Coins, am I seeing things?" Zhou Yang counted three times, and the result was the same. He refreshed the page several times, but it didn't change. His breathing became rapid, and his heart beat wildly. "Even the big gods haven't received such a large single reward. Why would such a good thing happen to me? But if it's true, doesn't that mean I'll receive 50,000 RMB in royalties next month?"

After the excitement, he noticed the rewarder's nickname.

Zhou Xing!

"Zhou Xing!" Zhou Yang almost immediately thought of his younger brother, Zhou Xing. The name seemed to be related to his brother. "Could this person be a classmate of my little brother? But when did my little brother have such a wealthy classmate? A single reward of 10 million Origin Coins, equivalent to 100,000 RMB, is not a small amount." From the beginning, he had misinterpreted it.

After much thought, Zhou Yang still couldn't figure it out.

After checking the novel page again, he found no other abnormalities. Many people were just there for the hype, and the collections were somewhat inflated. He needed to find a way to retain these casual readers!

With this in mind, Zhou Yang immediately uploaded the second and third chapters.

A moment later.

Zhou Hong knocked on the door. After opening it, he didn't come in but stood at the door and said softly, "Yangyang, I'm going to Beijing to take care of some business. I'll leave soon. You'll have to work hard these few days, writing and taking care of your mother. Her condition is under control, but the doctor suggested further observation and rest..."

"Dad, what are you going to Beijing for?"

Zhou Yang asked.

A hint of sadness flashed across Zhou Hong's face, but he forced a smile, "To meet some old friends."

Since his father didn't want to explain, Zhou Yang didn't press the issue. Instead, he shared the exciting news, "Dad, my new book is making money! This morning, I saw that a reader gave me a large reward!"

Zhou Hong understood the meaning of "reward" very well.

But how much could a mere reward be?

He didn't want to dampen his son's enthusiasm, so he pretended to be curious, "Oh? How much did they reward?"

Zhou Yang, of course, heard the dismissive tone in his father's voice but didn't point it out. Instead, he said excitedly and seriously, "100,000 RMB!"

"100,000 RMB?" Zhou Hong did a quick calculation in his head. 10 million Origin Coins equaled 100,000 RMB, which was indeed a significant amount, especially since it was the first time he had heard of his son's book receiving such a large reward. He encouraged, "Not bad, not bad. Someone rewarded 100,000 Origin Coins on the first day of the book's release. It seems Zhou Xing's idea was pretty good. Maybe you'll become one of those big authors you often talk about in no time."

At the same time, he was thinking, if his son's book could make a lot of money, should he still go to Beijing?

Before he could decide, Zhou Yang shook his head vigorously.

"Dad, you misunderstood. I said 100,000 RMB, not 100,000 Origin Coins! If we're talking about Origin Coins, it's 10 million Origin Coins! That means I can receive more than 50,000 RMB in royalties on the 5th of next month!"