Chapter Fifteen: A Surge in Data Values

“My style has long been set; comedy has become my personal trademark! No matter how brilliant that unnamed sword technique is, if I were to use it, its murderous aura and power would be greatly diminished. To others, it would look mismatched and awkward. In my hands, it might even tarnish its reputation!”
Chen Long spoke frankly, revealing his true thoughts without any pretense.

“Yes, that makes sense! I have no problem passing the boxing techniques to you, but I’m worried you won’t have time. Learning the moves is simple, but truly mastering them quickly is difficult; otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken more than ten years to reach my current level!”
Liu Qingshan agreed wholeheartedly.

“So what should we do? Just knowing a few moves is no different from flashy, useless techniques.”

“It might be solved by constant sparring and practice partners—the real issue is time!”

“That’s easy. I’m here for a film shoot—a movie called ‘Myth.’ The filming location is the Yellow River Stone Forest, only a few dozen miles from here. How long will your show take to film? If you finish your scenes within two months, you can join the ‘Myth’ crew. I’ll arrange a spot for you!”

“It shouldn’t take two months. I only appear in the first thirteen episodes.”

“Haha, wonderful! I’ll talk to Director Qian about this later and ask him to hurry up your scenes.”

“At least over a month. The crew won’t delay progress for me, will they?”

“No, you won’t be given a major role. The main cast is already set. We only have a small portion of filming at the Yellow River Stone Forest, then we’ll go to a number of places: Lishan Waterfall, Jiuxiang Karst Cave, the Western Beijing Grasslands, and even abroad to the holy mountain, temple, and ancient tomb of Desha in India!”

“My goodness, your crew is so meticulous about locations? Not only crossing provinces in search of the perfect setting, but even going abroad to those temple-filled places in India.”

“There’s no choice. The script requires relatively hidden locations, especially those beautiful sites that, despite years of warfare, remain unspoiled.”

“All right, then arrange for me to stay as long as possible, even if it’s just doing odd jobs. You don’t know I played extras for three years in Hengdian!”

“I wouldn’t dare make you an extra, but it won’t be an important role either. I’ll think it over carefully. Ideally, we’ll have a spectacular fight scene together—that’s how viewers will remember you! For the rest of the time, you’ll be the action director for the film, and I’ll temporarily put the Chen Family Stunt Team in your hands!”

“I couldn’t possibly take that on. The Chen Family Stunt Team has been established for thirty years. I simply don’t have the skill or experience for such a responsibility!”

“We can discuss it later. Come, let’s go talk with Director Qian!”

Though they said they’d go together, once they sat at the table, Liu Qingshan found he had nothing to contribute.
That table was filled with big names, producers, and financiers. Regardless of age, his status wasn’t enough to join the conversation.

Fortunately, Lu Huiguang at another table took a keen interest in him and, half forcibly, dragged him over to join his own.

This table was full of martial artists, and with shared interests and topics, they quickly formed a strong camaraderie.

Halfway through the meal, Lu Huiguang, emboldened by drink, challenged Liu Qingshan.

He was no match for Liu Qingshan. Despite having won the Hong Kong Muay Thai championship for seven consecutive years, he couldn’t last more than a few rounds.

The difference wasn’t solely in their abilities, but in Liu Qingshan’s peculiar angles of attack with the Flower Fist’s Thirty-Six Techniques.

Combined with Liu Qingshan’s exceptional speed—and since it wasn’t a fight to the death—Lu Huiguang’s defeat was more due to his inability to respond in the moment.

If it had been a life-or-death situation, victory would not have come so quickly, provided Liu Qingshan didn’t have a sword.

Compared to his boxing, Liu Qingshan’s swordsmanship was truly deadly—a genuine killing technique.

A night of heavy drinking was inevitable. Though Liu Qingshan didn’t hold his liquor well, in such a setting, he had to force himself to keep up, being the least experienced among them.

The hotel was also where Chen Long and his group were staying, but early the next morning, they had to rush to the filming site, so they didn’t see each other the following day.

Thanks to Chen Long’s repeated requests, Liu Qingshan had many scenes on the first day of shooting.

During breaks, he passed on the simplified boxing techniques to Wu San and four others.

He didn’t expect them to achieve much; compared to Chen Long, Lu Huiguang, and Yu Rongguang, their martial arts foundation was far too weak.

At night, Chen Long didn’t always return to the hotel, but whenever he had a chance, he brought Lu Huiguang and Yu Rongguang along to pester Liu Qingshan.

However, his closest friends turned out not to be those men, but two actors from Korea.

One reason was that both returned to the hotel every night, and another was that Kim Seon seemed to particularly like this Chinese ‘little brother.’

Not only would she invite Liu Qingshan to join her for dinner every evening, but during rest periods, she often followed him, spending long hours with him on the set of ‘Detective Di Renjie.’

In truth, there was a language barrier between them. Liu Qingshan spoke neither Korean nor English; their limited communication relied on Kim Seon’s hesitant Chinese.

Liu Qingshan enjoyed her company not for her beauty—though at twenty-seven she was already striking—but to learn foreign languages through her.

It was precisely because his mind contained the mysterious Star-Making Device that, while he couldn’t claim photographic memory, he learned everything at remarkable speed.

Thus, after just over a month, he managed to grasp conversational Korean and English, though his speech was still somewhat awkward.

During this period, all his stats steadily improved. His current status was:

Height: 180cm
Total fans: 25
Reputation: 32 (Exchange Mall points/100/1)
Title: c1 (75/100)
Physical Skills: Optional—Gan Fengchi Combat: Flower Fist 36 Techniques (20/100), Seventy-Two Divine Grabs (0/100), Eighteen Falling Techniques (0/100), Nameless Sword Technique (20/100)
Professional Skills: Beginner—Line Delivery (29/100); Positioning and Body Language (21/100) Intermediate Actor—Facial Expression Control (5/100) Korean (24/100); English (18/100)
Mall Points: 33
System Draw: 0

Every attribute, including height, had increased; the biggest change was the overall c1 actor level.

That was because over the past month, several skills had been improving continuously.

He didn’t understand why the hastily assembled Nameless Sword Technique had appeared on his list, nor why it had an advancement indicator. He wondered what changes would come once it reached full level.

As for the fluctuation in fan numbers, it was easy to explain. Not only did those he taught become deeply convinced by his skills, but others in the crew also developed admiration for him.

After the initial period of unfamiliarity, he behaved with exemplary restraint for a long time, never overstepping his bounds.

At most, he’d reveal his prowess during a stunt shoot; most of his time was spent in the special effects group designing action sequences, or else doing manual labor.