Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 130 - 35 Preview Screening

Chapter 130: Chapter 35 Preview Screening

When Han Qi mentioned the three words "Junior Zheng," the tall and skinny person beside him immediately tensed up.

Not just him, even the fellow disciples around who heard their casual conversation had expressions of inexplicable awe—

Nowadays, a message was subtly circulating around the workshop:

Zheng Fa, Junior Zheng, had become the Sect Leader’s disciple.

This message initially came from Master Pang’s lineage.

Actually, most people in the workshop originally didn’t believe this news.

What good people could come from Master Pang’s lineage?

They were always spreading false news!

But neither Zhang nor Zheng Fa appeared in public to deny it.

Master Pang’s disciples were particularly descriptive—the main point was, they even fabricated stories about their own Master being snubbed, his attempt to take Zheng Fa as a disciple having failed.

This made the rumor more credible!

The rumor grew more intense and nearly became a secret everyone implicitly knew.

Due to this message, the situation of the three, including Han Qi, also became somewhat delicate—within the entire workshop, only these three were truly Zheng Fa’s people.

Others had previously followed Zheng Fa’s orders too, but that was because Zhang had entrusted Zheng Fa with important tasks.

Observing the people around them exhibiting looks of both envy and detachments, Han Qi didn’t know how to describe his own feelings—

Who would have thought, he had previously pondered when the workshop would bear Zheng’s name.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the whole Jiushan Sect was almost bearing Zheng’s name!

You say I initially just wanted to follow Junior Zheng and make some money.

How did I end up becoming the future Sect Leader’s confidant?

Seeing those senior disciples glancing at them from time to time, Han Qi pursed his lips, and led his two followers out of the crowd.

"Senior brother, why do I feel that these senior brothers aren’t as warm as before?" the tall and skinny one asked softly.

"Because Junior Zheng has become the Sect Leader’s disciple," Han Qi explained softly. "But Zhang... she was always considered Jiushan Sect’s undeniable next Sect Leader."

"...Will Zheng Fa and Zhang have a falling out?"

"...It’s unclear, but this is the position of Sect Leader, it’s common for siblings to become enemies," Han Qi sighed softly. "Those senior brothers probably also want to wait and see how the situation unfolds."

"...Then they must have understood by now."

"Understood what?"

"Look!"

The tall and skinny one pointed towards the distance.

Zheng Fa was walking towards the new building.

On his left was Zhang from Hundred Immortals Alliance, her face adorned with a smile, conversing with Zheng Fa.

On the right was Master Pang’s renowned disciple, Zhou Qianyuan, his face focused, seemingly afraid of missing any words between the two.

"The situation is quite clear, isn’t it?"

"..."

Amidst a mixture of overt and covert spectating, Zheng Fa, along with Zhang, entered the new theater.

"Do you mean that for this premiere, we don’t charge money but gather feedback from the Jiushan Sect disciples?"

Zhang spoke while walking.

"After all, it’s the first theater play," Zheng Fa explained. "They might not be very receptive to it yet, so why not make it free."

Zhang nodded her head and did not object.

In the new theater, the Sect Leader was pacing back and forth, seemingly assessing the effectiveness of deploying Lu’s World here.

"Master," Zheng Fa hurriedly greeted his own Master, not expecting the old man to personally come out.

It showed how much he valued the premiere of the "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian."

The Sect Leader nodded at the three, asking, "What were you discussing?"

"The Junior suggested that for the first premiere, since it’s for our Jiushan Sect disciples, we shouldn’t charge Spirit Stones. And we should gather their feedback after viewing."

"Gather feedback?"

"Mainly to see if those disciples have any negative comments."

"Um... we should indeed keep in mind those undiscerning disciples," the Sect Leader nodded, seemingly understanding.

No, are you actually planning to keep notes?

"...It’s to revise our play based on those comments," Zheng Fa explained after a pause. "Plays are a new thing, facing a public audience, we always need to see the audience’s reaction and then make adjustments gradually."

This task would be difficult to accomplish in the modern world—a film once made incurs high costs.

To make changes would involve extra funding and actors’ schedules.

That’s even more challenging.

But it’s different in the Xuanwei Realm—whatever changes you want to make, you can make!

This old man right in front of him with a mere thought, forget changing faces, even altering the sky and earth was possible.

Zheng Fa valued these disciples’ opinions for the same old reason—after all, it’s two different worlds.

In the modern era, even the cultures popular among different countries vary.

At least for the first few plays, Zheng Fa still wanted to see the aesthetic preferences and receptivity of the audience in this world.

...

By the next evening, the first screening of "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian" began.

To Zheng Fa’s slight disappointment, there weren’t many people in the theater tonight.

Out of over ten thousand seats, only about a thousand were filled, sparse and scattered.

"Many disciples heard it wasn’t mandatory to come and watch; they preferred to go home to cultivate," Yuan, standing beside him, seemed to understand his gaze, whispering comfortingly: "Most disciples of Jiushan Sect aren’t fond of indulging in entertainments."

Zheng Fa nodded.

Many Jiushan Sect disciples living a less affluent life were like that.

They are busy with their livelihood during the day, and only have time to practice at night—although a night of cultivation might not help them much.

But this, it’s like sitting in a classroom.

You know that reading and solving problems isn’t very helpful.

But when you see your desk mate reading during breaks—you can’t help but pick up a book and pretend to be studious.

This might be unfair to your brain, but it satisfies your conscience.

Beside him, Zhou Qianyuan couldn’t help but also speak, "Also, Master seems to have forbidden our branch’s senior brothers from watching this..."

When he mentioned this, Zhou Qianyuan’s face also showed some confusion, and he added, "Actually, many of my senior brothers thought about coming to watch, but... Master’s expression really didn’t look good."

"..."

This is definitely the Sect Leader’s fault!

Zhang and another senior sister also had odd expressions on their faces.

They seemed to have thought of the reason why Master Pang did this.

"Zheng, do you know why my master is so angry?" Seeing the expressions on the three faces, Zhou Qianyuan asked again.

"Junior Zhou, knowing too much is not good for you." Zheng Fazheng was silent for a while, then asked, "Then, do you want to go back now?"

Zhou Qianyuan nodded, and said with some regret, "I can’t not go back, Master specifically instructed me to go to him for guidance today, I must not break the appointment—I was actually thinking of sneaking a peek."

Watching Zhou Qianyuan leave, a puzzled voice suddenly came from beside Zheng Fazheng, "Why did he leave?"

Looking at the puzzled Sect Leader beside him, Zheng Fazheng remained silent, just staring at the old man.

"Why are you looking at me?" The Sect Leader frowned and said, "Could it be you’re staring because I came here and frightened him off?"

...

As the screening time arrived, the Sect Leader swung his wide sleeves.

Zheng Fazheng could see, ten Spirit Talismans flew out from the Sect Leader’s sleeves.

In an instant, the large theater felt as though it had changed the heavens and earth.

The blasts of Spirit Talismans, the roars of cultivators, and screams resonated in the ears of everyone in the theater.

For a time, many viewers who hadn’t seen this type of drama were somewhat confused; some even took out their Spirit Talismans, intending to throw them out.

"It’s all an illusion, no need to panic."

Zhang Sister’s calm voice echoed throughout the theater, and she was known for her authority within the sect.

Those panicked disciples then settled down and took their seats again.

Zheng Fazheng also immersed himself in the play.

He had watched this drama three times already.

Initially the original version by the Sect Leader.

Then, the version he modified based on his memory.

Later, he went to the modern world and watched the original movie again.

Returning, he combined the Sect Leader’s ideas and modified it again.

Comparing the two versions, he acknowledged that maybe the original movie’s narrative technique was a bit more mature.

But he still thought the Sect Leader’s version was better—

The Sect Leader’s Lu’s World technique was not merely holographic.

Inside the illusion, Zheng Fazheng could not only perceive the characters and environment through his hearing and vision.

He could smell the blood on the battlefield from his nose.

His fingers could feel the sticky blood dripping from his companions beside him—especially after understanding the perspective, the Sect Leader seemed to master it all at once, deliberately creating this more immersive illusion.

This kind of immersive experience, modern movie technology still couldn’t quite match.

Including the two times watching the original film.

Zheng Fazheng had watched this story five times now.

Yet, he was still absorbed in this screening, until the story’s end.

The illusion gradually faded.

The theater was utterly silent.

No one spoke.

Zheng Fazheng looked up at the audience; they sat in their seats, seemingly still immersed in the screening, their gazes distant and lost, some eyes even slightly moist.

Zheng Fazheng gave Zhang a look, and Zhang spoke out:

"The drama has ended, please leave the theater."

"If you have any suggestions for improvement or comments, you can pick up a questionnaire at the door, and write your comments on the questionnaire."

After a glance at the Sect Leader, she added: "Anonymous! And not compulsory!"

Hearing her speaking, the disciples in the theater obediently stood up, leaving in small groups.

To Zheng Fazheng and their surprise, almost every disciple took a questionnaire as they left and hurriedly wrote their thoughts on the nearby pens.

There was even a long line in front of the questionnaire table.

The scene exceeded Zheng Fazheng and their previous expectations.

"So many opinions?"

Yuan blinked her eyes, confused: "I thought it was pretty good!"

After all the audience left, the feedback questionnaires piled up on the table.

Zhang reached out her hand, and the slips of paper with comments flew neatly towards them.

Yuan, being the most impatient one, first grabbed a slip, glanced at it, then picked up another from underneath to look.

Her expression seemed stunned for a moment, then her hand simply rummaged through the papers, quickly browsing the comments.

When she looked up, she realized the others were watching her actions.

"No need to look anymore."

"What happened?"

"They have only one comment—too short!"