Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 131 - 36: Master and Disciple

Chapter 131: Chapter 36: Master and Disciple

"Zheng, Zhang Chapter Sister, hurry and go check out the marketplace!"

In Zhang Chapter Sister’s house, Zheng Fa was talking with her when Yuan Chapter Sister rushed in like a gust of wind, anxiously speaking to them both.

"What’s wrong?"

"Our building’s entrance is blocked, I couldn’t even get through the door when I went this morning!"

Yuan Chapter Sister’s words startled both Zheng Fa and Zhang Chapter Sister.

Since when did Jiushan Sect disciples become so bold?

Zheng Fa exchanged a glance with Zhang Chapter Sister, then both leaped toward the direction of the marketplace.

Before they even got close, they could see a huge throng of people surrounding the building where Yuan Chapter Sister usually worked.

Among this crowd, there were several familiar faces.

Some were vendors who usually set up stalls at the market.

Others were disciples who regularly shopped at the marketplace.

Their gathering here not only left few customers in the marketplace but also cut the number of vendors by more than half.

It was nearly deserted.

The noisy crowd quickly quieted down at the sight of Zhang Chapter Sister.

Clearly, these disciples held Zhang Chapter Sister in extreme respect.

Still, Zheng Fa could hear someone excitedly whispering inside: "Zheng Junior Brother is here!"

"There’s going to be an entertainment play!"

"Let’s ask Zheng Junior Brother to put on another show."

...Hearing this, Zheng Fa roughly understood how this rare group event in the Jiushan Sect had occurred.

He looked around the crowd and spotted three particularly familiar figures among them.

"Han Qi, what are you guys doing?"

The trio of Han Qi emerged from the crowd, sheepishly standing before Zheng Fa with their heads down.

"Haven’t you three seen it already?"

Yesterday, Zheng Fa had already noticed them in attendance.

"Yes..." Han Qi responded softly with his head bowed: "Having seen it, we just want to watch it again."

"..."

"Were those senior brothers not also there?"

Han Qi pointed towards the crowd, and sure enough— a group of senior brothers were mixed in amongst the people, smiling sheepishly at Zheng Fa and Zhang Chapter Sister.

These were Zhang Chapter Sister’s staunch supporters, a few of whom were the law enforcement disciples of the marketplace. They, of course, had supported the test screening of "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian" from the very beginning.

Zheng Fa had also seen these senior brothers at the theater last night.

Zhang Chapter Sister looked coldly at the group.

"We... we’re just here to maintain order," one of the senior brothers surnamed Yang in Zheng Fa’s memory said: "With so many people, should anything happen, we have to protect Zhang Chapter Sister..."

Zhang Chapter Sister narrowed her eyes at the group of Foundation Establishment disciples, and barely questioned: "Hmm?"

"No, to protect Yuan Chapter Sister..."

"Hmm?" Yuan Chapter Sister pointed at herself.

"No, to protect Zheng Junior Brother..."

"Hmm?"

Zheng Fa also echoed with a "Hmm".

"You think so too, right, Zheng Junior Brother?" Senior Brother Yang smiled affably at Zheng Fa.

"..."

"There are just too many people wanting us to repeat the performance."

Yuan Chapter Sister was a bit astounded watching these senior brothers convincing others to leave.

"People who saw it yesterday want to see it again, and those who didn’t, after hearing the boasts of those who did, also want to see it," Zheng Fa shook his head: "Jiushan Sect really doesn’t have many places for entertainment."

Of the few places for entertainment that Zheng Fa knew, there was only—Xunfang Pavilion.

That one owned by the Su Nu Sect.

Although it seemed fun enough.

But it was harmful both to wealth and health.

And it wasn’t as fresh as a stage play.

"What do you think, junior brother?"

"This is a good thing," Zheng Fa said first: "If it can attract Jiushan Sect disciples, then it can attract outside cultivators."

"Then should we put on another free show?"

"Let’s do it, but not for free this time... producing a stage play isn’t cheap," Zheng Fa contemplated before adding: "In the future, how about we divide them into internal and external tickets, with internal ones for Jiushan Sect disciples, aiming just to cover costs. External tickets to make a profit."

The cost of producing a stage play was indeed not insignificant.

Not to mention the Sect Leader’s salary for a Nascent Soul real person.

Just the ten Spirit Talismans required— to create an environment able to accommodate ten thousand people— each had to be an Earth Grade Talisman.

In Zheng Fa’s view, the cost of producing a stage play was in two parts:

One part was the cost of the Spirit Talismans, akin to production costs in the modern era.

Currently, the only mature producer in Jiushan Sect was the Sect Leader himself.

Even if this technique were to be widely shared in the future, it would still require Golden Core cultivators to make a stage play — generally speaking, only Golden Cores can create Earth Grade Talismans.

The other part was the projectionist’s salary.

He had come to understand the Sect Leader’s character; he was somewhat indolent.

The Sect Leader was willing to take charge of projection this time because it was the first screening of the stage play, but he likely wouldn’t want to do this work afterward.

The task of the projectionist didn’t require being in the Golden Core Stage; someone in the Foundation Establishment Stage could manage.

However, in order to maintain order in the theater, especially in the early stages, it was better to employ a Golden Core cultivator like Zhang Chapter Sister.

Adding the two costs together, Zheng Fa estimated, projections would require at least a hundred Spirit Stones each.

Zhang Chapter Sister nodded, then said: "With that in mind, let’s tentatively set the price of internal tickets at one Spirit Stone for ten."

Zheng Fa did the sums; this pricing wasn’t cheap, roughly equivalent to the price of three yellow-grade talismans.

This could be a Qi Cultivation Stage disciple’s total income for one day.

But for most disciples, seeing one stage play a month wouldn’t be too stressful.

"Also, how will we split the future revenue?" Zhang Chapter Sister suddenly brought up another topic.

She looked at Zheng Fa, her expression seemingly hesitant to speak: "The Affairs Hall wants thirty percent."

Zheng Fa now understood why Zhang was so hesitant.

The most important thing about a play was actually the Lu’s World magic of the Sect Leader.

The venue provided by the Affairs Hall wasn’t really worth much.

"In the future, I will be responsible for the screenings," Zhang continued, "but the Affairs Hall still requires thirty percent."

This distribution was somewhat more reasonable.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, going forward, the Affairs Hall gets thirty percent, the producer, which is the Sect Leader, gets sixty percent, and the screenwriter, that is me, will take ten percent."

Zhang’s gaze softened as she looked at Zheng Fa, "That does seem a bit unfair to you."

Unfair?

Sister, you have no idea how miserable modern screenwriters are!

"Lu’s World is what’s most important," Zheng Fa said earnestly: "In the future, other disciples can also try their hand at scriptwriting."

"No, what’s there for him to be aggrieved about?" Yuan, who was next to them, asked in puzzlement: "Isn’t the Affairs Hall making money just the same as the Jiushan Sect making money? And in the future, won’t the Jiushan Sect—doesn’t it belong to Junior Brother?"

"..."

"And the Sect Leader’s money, in the future..."

"Wuu wuu..." Yuan, who had her beak sealed with a Spirit Talisman by Zhang, couldn’t utter a single word.

Sister Yuan, remembering the legacy of a lonely old man is something you can think about, but you can’t say it out loud!

...

Although the Jiushan Sect disciples were eager to see the play.

Considering the cost, Zhang and Zheng Fa decided to wait another half month before screening "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian" again.

In the future, the frequency of the play screenings would be about the same.

Screening it every half month took into consideration that the Jiushan Sect disciples had limited incomes, and watching two plays a month was already considered a luxury.

Screening more often might be encouraging the Jiushan Sect disciples to lose their ambition over frivolous pursuits.

On the other hand, it was also to coincide with the Guiding Ship that came every half month.

After all, those foreign Cultivators were the main target audience for the play.

After half a month, "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian" was screened again.

This time, many more people came to see it.

About two-thirds of the several thousand members of the Jiushan Sect came to the theater, plus some curious foreign Cultivators.

At first glance, the theater that could accommodate ten thousand people seemed quite full.

Zhou Qianyuan sneakily blended into the crowd.

He was disguised with the face of Sun Daoyu—before he came, he had slapped a Change Appearance Talisman on himself.

Over this half-month, the popularity of "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian" had been gaining momentum within the Jiushan Sect.

Especially among those disciples who had seen the test screening, they had been bragging over the past few days about how good the play was.

It made people itch with curiosity.

Regrettably, his own master, Master Pang, had persistently refused to allow his disciples to see it, and with the re-screening of "Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian," he had still strictly forbidden them from watching.

Zhou Qianyuan was curious and couldn’t help but assume Sun Daoyu’s identity to watch the play.

As for why he didn’t disguise himself as a stranger, it was because he had an internal ticket, and a non-Jiushan Sect person could not enter the theater with an internal ticket.

As for why he chose to disguise as Brother Sun—

That was of course since transforming into someone else might lead to an awkward encounter with the actual person at the theater.

That would have been quite embarrassing.

The best option was to turn into someone from Master Pang’s own lineage. Since none of those brothers could come, he probably wouldn’t run into the actual person.

Brother Sun was just the thing!

He had been with him for a long time and impersonating Brother Sun was second nature to him.

Indeed, he smoothly passed the ticket check and entered the theater without anyone noticing anything amiss.

The play hadn’t started yet, and Zhou Qianyuan, feeling a little bored, glanced around—then he saw a familiar face.

Maybe not quite familiar—rather, he saw himself.

Zhou Qianyuan stared intently at the person, who also seemed to feel his gaze and turned to look at him.

In that moment of eye contact, they recognized each other’s identities.

"Brother Sun?"

Zhou Qianyuan mouthed the words silently.

The person across nodded, both of them looking somewhat bewildered—wasn’t this all for nothing?

The next day, as Zhou Qianyuan arrived at the Eighth Peak,

He heard his master, Master Pang, coldly asking him: "Did you go see that play yesterday?"

Zhou Qianyuan quickly said, "Not me, that was Brother Sun!"

As he spoke, he inwardly apologized to Brother Sun.

But truth be told—yesterday’s "Zhou Qianyuan" really was Brother Sun!

"...Coincidentally, your Brother Sun said the same thing," Master Pang snorted: "You two disguised yourselves and entered the theater, and I saw it all clearly here! It’s already bad enough that you defied my orders, but sneaking around and losing face, you’ve shamed me completely!"

Zhou Qianyuan looked at his sneering master and couldn’t help but lower his head in shame.

Indeed, his behavior was too sneaky and not at all upfront and honorable.

Wait!

"Master, did you watch it too?"

The smile on Master Pang’s face slowly faded, and his face revealed a trace of embarrassment.

"Skipping the ticket... seems even worse, right?"

Zhou Qianyuan earnestly asked.

"..."

...

Inside the Sect Leader’s thatched hut, Zheng Fa was discussing with the Sect Leader what the next play should be.

Just then, he heard Zhang suddenly say to him: "Junior Brother Zheng, I am considering offering you a teaching position at the Talisman Magic Pavilion. Are you willing?"

"Ah?"

Zhang’s words caught Zheng Fa off guard, and he looked up at her.

Zhang nodded at him gently, her expression serious, as if she had thought about this for a long time.

Even Zhou Qianyuan, who was next to him, frowned at this moment, appearing to have some understanding of Zhang’s intentions.