Chapter 81: The Evolution of the Super Star-Making Instrument

"Well, when you think about it, that makes sense! How about this—you go to your Hengdian, and for now, don't worry too much about the domestic situation."
Park Hye-jin took a breath before continuing, "Tomorrow I'll contact my media friends in the cold country and try to make your name echo abroad as soon as possible. But the impact won't be huge; most likely, the rescue video will outshine your actual name."
"So now you're admitting those cold country reporters were secretly arranged by you?"
Liu Qingshan's expression was tinged with obvious disbelief.
"I did not! I'm sure it was your country's journalists who leaked it."
Seeing she still refused to admit it, Liu Qingshan didn't press further. Instead, he turned to Kunal, "Good disciple, call your colleagues in Hong Kong tomorrow and ask if they want to rush to Hengdian?"
Kunal feigned a shudder at the syrupy address, "They'll definitely go. But Master, don't worry about food and lodging; Jawahar said he'll handle everything!"
Liu Qingshan nodded, "That's best. But you must make friends with the stunt team in the crew. Bollywood's shooting ability is strong, but when it comes to action and stunt experience, you still need to learn from us Chinese!"
"Mr. Kram told me before he left, including myself, that in any of Master's crews we must work hard and learn diligently, even fight to do the roughest work!"
Liu Qingshan raised a thumb in a certain direction, "Mr. Kram is truly remarkable—otherwise, he could never have built such a vast enterprise!"
Indians always revered the hierarchy, showing respect to their upper class; they were happier receiving indirect praise than being complimented directly.
As expected, Kunal responded with respect, "Master has always valued the friendship between our two countries. Our people will strictly follow your country's rules; as for those who need to be beaten or scolded, it's entirely up to you!"
"And why don't you include yourself in that?"
"I'm Master's eldest disciple. I've always behaved, and would never cause trouble for you!"
Kunal laughed and handed Liu Qingshan a cigar, lighting it for him in an obsequious manner.
Liu Qingshan actually wasn't addicted to smoking, but he was always intrigued by how cigars could change his voice so noticeably.

Although his vocal condition was still less than twenty, he had a hunch—perhaps as his singing improved, this unique vocal quality would be a surprise.
Park Hye-jin, however, always viewed smoking as a bad habit: "At your young age, learning to puff away like adults—you need to develop discipline now, or it'll seriously affect your future stardom."
Yu Yi, who'd lingered beside her all evening, fanned the flames, "We martial artists rarely indulge in these habits. It reduces stamina, affects lung capacity; if a martial artist gets winded after a few moves, how can he keep training?"
Liu Qingshan shot him a look, "What else? Keep going!"
Encouraged by Park Hye-jin's supportive glance, Yu Yi grew bolder, "Smoking affects the nervous system, slows reaction time. You know how vital that is for martial artists, right?"
Pretending to flick away imaginary ash, Liu Qingshan replied with a mysterious smile, "I admit everything you said. But what if I claim I'm an exception? And don't you think a bit of flair adds to the aura?"
Park Hye-jin sighed deeply and pressed her hand to her forehead, exasperated at his stubbornness.
Yu Yi followed suit, spreading his hands in regret, which drew hearty laughter from Liu Qingshan.
"Enough teasing. I do have another reason for smoking—you'll understand someday. Besides, I never inhale for real. What's that saying? It's not the smoke, it's the solitude!"
"Solitude, my foot!" Park Hye-jin snapped, venting her frustration at Kunal, "Nephew, you'd better listen to your cousin and not pick up your master's bad habits!"
Kunal always refused to accept the cousinly nickname, since it would let Yu Yi take liberties as well.
After the laughter and banter, everyone dispersed, leaving only Kunal to help his master clean up the chaotic dinner table.
He now had his own room in the new house. After showering, he didn't forget to ask his master for the Dawn Sword, so he could take it back to his room for further study.
Liu Qingshan's master suite occupied the entire second floor. Once the gifts from India arrived, the floor was extravagantly covered in thick cashmere.
He lay diagonally on that endless softness, sinking into thought to sort through the many changes in his mind.
The Superstar Creation Device was indeed a magical artifact. With a single turn of his thoughts, the current state of evolution unfolded in his mind as layers of luminous screens.

What surprised Liu Qingshan most was that his total fans had suddenly soared from seventy-eight to twelve thousand four hundred eighty-nine.
This tremendous change directly led to a metamorphosis in his reputation value—not only did the previous figure of fifty-nine upgrade to a full bar, but a string of star symbols appeared behind it.
Each star represented a full bar of reserves. Liu Qingshan did a rough count and was delighted by the seven stars he found.
Meanwhile, the Superstar Creation Device in his consciousness provided an instant explanation.
The maximum number of stars was nine; when nine appeared, the equivalence exchange mall points column that had been set aside would transform into energy value—a display like a battery icon.
As the energy value filled up, the Superstar Creation Device would complete its first energy evolution.
Although his mind showed no clue what that evolved state would be, Liu Qingshan knew that his current device was barely at the elementary stage.
Because a series of other data points had changed dramatically. For example, the c2 status in the titles column had somehow become a1, marking him as an early-stage intermediate actor.
Moreover, the "Thirty-six Flashy Techniques" in his physical skills column were now maxed out, and the "Seventy-two Divine Grappling Skills," which had never changed before, now read (22/100).
Liu Qingshan didn't rush to practice this new skill, but kept his eyes fixed on the newly appeared floating shadow with the word "Mall."
Those newly opened, ripple-like positions radiated an enticing magic, constantly reminding him of their extraordinary nature.
Receiving information from his consciousness, he carefully injected the mall points converted from reputation value into the rippling waves.
As the dots in the mall column flickered, the mall position suddenly materialized, instantly transforming into another digital light screen.
On the screen, rows of neatly arranged subtitles appeared from top to bottom, much like a stock chart, densely listing all kinds of songs and film works.