Chapter 694 - 146: Preparations Before the Grand Assembly

Due to the Teleportation Gate, the area was now guarded by numerous disciples from the Law Enforcement Team.

However, no permanent structures were built, as the Teleportation Gate was slated for relocation. It was going to be moved to the Secret Realm Plaza on Celestial Spirit Peak to serve as the main entrance to the Secret Realm, and perhaps also as a general teleportation hub.

Of course, they could also open a new, dedicated teleportation hub somewhere else in the Sect. If so, this gate’s only purpose would be teleportation.

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"Master, you’re finally here! If you hadn’t come back soon, I would’ve stormed the Mortal realm to hunt you down!"

Just as Zhang Deming stepped through the Teleportation Gate, a group of disciples came forward to greet him. Fang Qing approached, accompanied by a Duality Disciple with shoulder-length hair.

Well, "short hair" was a relative term in Hongmeng. After all, besides Monks, everyone—man or woman—had waist-length hair.

The one who had spoken was the short-haired man. Like most Duality Cultivators, he was quite handsome, but he possessed a unique aura that set him completely apart from the surrounding disciples.

Hmm, it was the kind of air that makes an artist seem out of place among ordinary people.

He had shoulder-length hair, worn loose with no bangs. It was all combed back, slightly wavy and meticulously styled, reminding Zhang Deming of some trendy British artist from his past life.

"Uh, and you are?"

Zhang Deming didn’t recognize the man at all, and his immediate familiarity was a bit unsettling. As the man enthusiastically came forward, Zhang Deming took a small step back.

Fang Qing said with a wry smile, "Master, this is my cousin, Fang Bai. He’s currently in charge of Liuying for the Array and Ceremony Department."

"Greetings, Master!" Fang Bai exclaimed, as if just remembering his manners, and gave Zhang Deming a bow.

"Oh, your hairstyle is pretty trendy," Zhang Deming remarked.

"Really? You think so too, Master?" Fang Bai asked, delighted.

Fang Qing’s expression darkened. "Master, please don’t mind him," he explained to Zhang Deming. "My cousin’s been influenced by the trends from the Outer Realm and has become a bit... eccentric."

"The Ancestor has lectured him countless times, but it’s useless. He still spends all day tinkering with these things, so now we just have to let him do as he pleases."

"What do you mean, eccentric?" Fang Bai immediately retorted. "It’s just that no Peak Masters have been promoted in recent years. Now my chance has finally come! I’m going to use this announcement to really open your eyes and show you whether the Shadow Dao I’ve spent years comprehending is useful or not. Celestial Universe Film and Television is a Heaven-Reaching Path, so why can’t we have it here in Hongmeng?"

Zhang Deming was a bit stunned. He looked at Fang Bai and asked, "You’re not actually trying to become a director and usher in an era of film and entertainment for Hongmeng, are you?"

Fang Bai froze. A brilliant light erupted in his eyes as he stared at Zhang Deming, his gaze incredibly bright, as if he’d just found a kindred spirit. "You know about this too, Master?" he asked, overjoyed. "So what do you think? It is a Heaven-Reaching Path, isn’t it?"

Ha!

’He really wants to be a director and pioneer a new path?’

Zhang Deming shook his head with a bitter smile. "The path itself is a good one," he said, "but you can’t make it work. That road leads nowhere in Hongmeng!"

Fang Bai asked, confused, "Why not?"

Fang Qing rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Why else? If it weren’t for the backing of top-tier experts like Qianyu and Jian Cheng, the Novel Dao and the Storybook Dao would never have been developed to their current level."

"Just look at the Storybook Dao—how many disciples have already lost themselves to it? With that cautionary tale, all the sects in Hongmeng are extremely wary of these kinds of paths. They guard against them as if they were thieves."

"If we let you create a Film and Entertainment Dao, would anyone even bother cultivating anymore? How many disciples would be left to meditate diligently and pursue their cultivation?"

"A path that could extinguish proper cultivation and destroy the very Dao Foundation of Hongmeng... if you actually managed to create something like that and *didn’t* get suppressed by the entirety of Hongmeng, that would be truly strange."

"What do you think? We’ve been in contact with the Celestial Universe for so many years; why do you suppose no one has ever tried to introduce a path like this?"

"Are you the only smart one in the entire Array Department?"

"Are you the only one who noticed the Celestial Universe’s most potent ’Daos’ of entertainment, like film and video games?"

Fang Qing paused before continuing, "The only reason the Ancestor hasn’t shut you down, and the rest of the Fang Family has remained silent, is that you’ve been focusing your research on creating Liuying for the promotion of the Sect’s Peak Masters."

"If you can do that well, it does offer some benefit to the Sect. Or at least, it offers a small advantage to the individual Peak Masters who are being promoted."

"That’s the only reason you’ve been given free rein. If you really think you’ve mastered Liuying and want to start developing your ’film and entertainment,’ then before you go get yourself killed, you’d better officially leave the Fang Family. That way, the Ancestor won’t have to beat you to death personally!"

Zhang Deming was speechless.

’The logic was sound, but couldn’t he have been a bit more tactful? That was his own cousin, after all! Some family, huh!’

Fang Bai fell silent for a moment before saying, "To hell with all that. I’m going to create it first and see what happens. Who knows, maybe I’ll find another way forward. Isn’t there a saying in Hongmeng? ’There are no useless Techniques, only useless Cultivators.’"

Seeing that Fang Bai was completely undeterred, Zhang Deming paused.

’Right. So the reason Fang Qing was so brutally honest was that he knew his cousin could take the heat.’

With that, Fang Bai turned to Zhang Deming. "Master, we should hurry. My Illusion Array is only Tier Four Magic Level, so some of the effects can’t be rendered perfectly."

"I’ve pre-designed twenty-one ideal concepts for the Liuying. Let’s test a few and see which ones have the right feel. After that, we can carefully deliberate and select the final version."

Zhang Deming: "..."

Fang Qing: "..."

’After all the Peak Master promotion announcements the Sect had seen over the years, it looked like this one was going to be a real oddity.’

Zhang Deming wasn’t too bothered by this. On his way over, he had glanced at a few of the so-called "traditional" promotion Liuying, and he knew exactly what kind of effect he’d get if he made one of those.

They were basically like corporate culture videos. Only new disciples who had never seen one would bother to watch it once. The older members would be lucky just to remember the new Peak Master’s face.

Therefore, having this guy try something more creative was actually perfectly fine with Zhang Deming.

「One day later.」

Zhang Deming didn’t even have time to return to the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower. Fang Bai dragged him straight to the Array Department to begin the so-called Liuying.

Unlike the "filming" of his previous life, this process involved constructible Illusion Arrays. Fang Bai only needed to see Zhang Deming’s various appearances and postures; Zhang Deming didn’t need to act out the story itself, as it could all be built using Illusion Skills.

If he weren’t striving for such fine detail and realism, he could have created the entire thing after just a single glance at Zhang Deming.

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