In the following days,
Xu Cheng continued to observe Zhang Lexuan in secret.
Although Shrek frequently sent letters, she became increasingly silent, as if struggling with inner turmoil.
But Xu Cheng was in no hurry—Shrek would help push things along.
Besides, as a hunter, who could truly understand the joy of watching a little white rabbit fall into a trap?
Then, he shifted his focus to the film industry.
The Mingdu Drama Theater, which had trained some of the first batch of actors, along with a few directors taught by Juzi before she left, had managed to produce several films comparable to the quality of those from the early 2000s in his past life.
But…
"Wrong, the direction is wrong."
Xu Cheng clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to him.
The young director instantly tensed up, feeling at a loss.
Xu Cheng smiled. "I'm not saying your technique is bad. This romance film is indeed well-made—I even felt a little moved watching it. But after the female lead dies, the story becomes somewhat weak. We need to make their love more impactful, more…"
"So, I suggest adding a resurrection scene for the female lead. At the same time, the male lead should shout, 'Revive, my love!!' The more expressive he is, the better…"
Everyone: "…"
Clap, clap, clap!
"Your Highness, this is the finishing touch! You hit the nail on the head!"
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"
"…"
Xu Cheng coughed lightly, and the room quieted down again.
He looked at the young director. "Xiao Xu, I gave everyone time to shoot films so that they could get used to the process—learning about filming techniques, acting, and camera language. Now that the time is ripe, it's time to transition to big productions."
The young director was a little excited. "You mean…"
"That's right. From now on, we'll focus on the Soul Master genre. Think about how to better portray Soul Master battles. Go back and study it carefully. The movies I need you to shoot in the future will no longer be small-scale romances and friendships. The main theme will be real battles between Soul Masters, with romance and friendship as secondary elements." Xu Cheng said with a grin.
To spread films, brute force alone wouldn't work—it had to be voluntary.
And there was only one standard: exciting enough, explosive enough, and satisfying enough!
Skip all unnecessary buildup—start with a bang.
Achieve the standards of a blockbuster like those in his past life, featuring epic battles with super-powered heroes like Iron Man, while subtly embedding hidden messages within.
"Work hard. Once you fully grasp the dynamics of Soul Master battles, we'll begin filming Tang San's Story." Xu Cheng said with a smile.
"Tang San's Story?" The young cinematographer looked puzzled.
"Yes. If we want to ignite a film craze across the three nations of the original continent, the easiest way is to start with a household name…"
"Understood! I'll start reading books about Tang San right away." The young cinematographer nodded solemnly.
"No need. I've already prepared everything." Xu Cheng handed him a book.
The young cinematographer opened it to the first page.
"Tang San travels to another world…"
???
—
"Ah, that old Mingdu accent—so authentic!" Lin Xi gave a thumbs-up, his lively expression making everyone around him burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at? Do you think you can skip training?"
Zhou Yi walked into the classroom with a stern face, slamming her palm on the podium.
At that moment, only Lin Xi, Xiao Hongchen, and other exchange students from the Sun-Moon Empire remained in the classroom. The other twenty or so students had already gone to the training ground for their daily "special training" over the six-year course.
"Training? If Shrek Academy's so-called training is just running and weight-bearing running, then, pardon my bluntness, either you as a teacher are incompetent and got promoted purely through connections, or we simply had too high expectations for Shrek Academy." Xiao Hongchen said flatly, crossing his arms.
"You think I'm incompetent? Who doesn't know that I have the highest pass rate among Outer Court teachers? You're just lazy and dumb, too lazy to even run. And this is what the Sun-Moon Empire calls excellent students?" Zhou Yi rolled her eyes, looking at him with disdain.
"You—!" Lin Xi fumed.
"There's no need to argue." Xiao Hongchen chuckled. "It's not up to me to judge. I demand to meet Shrek's higher-ups!"
"You? Seriously?" Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment before regaining her arrogance. "Shrek Academy's higher-ups are extremely busy. Why would they meet you? Boring. Train if you want, quit if you don't. Honestly, it'd be better if you just left for another class…"
Xiao Hongchen silently watched Zhou Yi leave, the door slamming shut behind her.
"Something's wrong with Zhou Yi."
Ma Rulong nodded slightly. "The training intensity is already tough on us, yet yesterday, a student from the original class complained that they've been training like this since their first year. And all of them have internal injuries—severe ones that are hard to heal."
"This reminds me of Chen Zifeng…" Lin Xi's face darkened.
Everyone fell silent.
Chen Zifeng had once said that he saw a senior from the Sun-Moon Empire's Royal Academy fall into the path of the evil Soul Masters, precisely because…
"Shrek Academy's system is truly bizarre. They push students into becoming evil Soul Masters, only to send more students to hunt them down later…" Li Yan muttered.
"So what do we do? Keep slacking off and waste three years at Shrek?" Xiao Hongchen narrowed his eyes.
"Shrek does have its merits. Take Teacher Wang Yan, for example. After discussing Soul Masters and Soul Tools with him, I found his understanding quite advanced—refreshing, even. Wasting three years would be a shame." Ma Rulong sighed.
"Then let's take her down!" Xiao Hongchen grinned.
"First, we befriend the class, extract information about students who were eliminated under Zhou Yi's training, and then send a report back to the Sun-Moon Empire. Have A'Cheng investigate those who were forced into the Holy Spirit Cult. Either we kill her in one move, or we endure three wasted years!"
"Deal!" Lin Xi said excitedly.
—
"Finally, I caught her…"
Xu Cheng smirked.
In the 3D scene constructed by his spiritual detection, a young woman in a black robe sneaked out of a window using a hidden Soul Tool, heading toward the depths of Mingde Hall.
"Attention, all units, let her pass." Xu Cheng spoke into his walkie-talkie.
"Ensure she reaches her destination. If she doesn't have an opportunity, create one for her…"
"Yes!" ×100
Everyone inside Mingde Hall was on his side.
Unrelated personnel had long been cleared out.
—
"That was close…" Zhang Lexuan thought to herself, hiding behind a machine and watching a patrol team leave before cautiously sneaking deeper into Mingde Hall.
After several minutes, she found herself in complete darkness. This appeared to be a research facility, filled with unfamiliar and intricate machinery, giving her a sense of awe.
She pulled out a map she had obtained—marked with underground laboratories, mecha bays, and missile cores.
It had been sent by Shrek Academy, claiming it was purchased from the black market.
But unbeknownst to her…
Xu Cheng, watching through hundreds of surveillance screens, narrowed his eyes. "Who leaked this map?!"
No one around dared to lift their heads.
Xu Cheng sighed in frustration. "Didn't I specifically instruct you to forge it carefully? What kind of ordinary map only marks a few key locations while completely ignoring the rest? It's obviously fake!"
"Forget it. Fortunately, this blueprint was intercepted from Shrek Academy's correspondence. If the higher-ups of Shrek had seen it and analyzed it, we'd be in big trouble. But since Zhang Lexuan had to act hastily, she probably didn't notice anything wrong…"
Saying this, he watched as Zhang Lexuan entered the password and took the elevator down.
He waved his hand at the others. "Alright, everyone, disperse."
With that, his figure vanished from the surveillance room.
In an instant, the hundred surveillance screens flickered and went blank.
—
Zhang Lexuan was astonished that all the elevator passwords were correct.
And at this hour, it seemed that the entire Mingde Hall had officially finished work for the day. The elevator didn't trigger any alarms or security measures—so long as the credentials were valid, it would operate.
A sense of unease crept into her heart. Something felt off, but the arrow was already nocked, and there was no turning back now. Shrek Academy had been urging her impatiently, leaving her no room for hesitation…
As the elevator gradually came to a halt, the metallic doors slid open.
Lights flickered on layer by layer, startling Zhang Lexuan for a moment. She instinctively tensed, but upon seeing nothing unusual around her, she cautiously moved forward.
Right in front of her, prominently displayed, was a structure resembling a missile launcher—standing a full ten meters tall. The surrounding dense mechanical arms gave it an aura of both mystery and advanced technology.
With just one glance, she recognized it.
This was Mingde Hall's missile.
On the day the missile was launched, as an inner court senior disciple, she had been among the first to arrive and had seen its shape with her own eyes.
"Huff… So it's real," Zhang Lexuan murmured, feeling a deep shock.
She quickly stepped forward.
Near the base of a spiral platform, a workstation was set up with some manuscripts scattered across it.
She casually glanced over them, her emotions growing complicated.
Could it really be this easy?
On the table, right before her eyes, were the missile's design blueprints.
A nagging doubt persisted in her mind. Something felt amiss. But after spending half a month scouting the area, she had confirmed that Mingde Hall's security was surprisingly lax. Other than a few token patrol guards, there were hardly any alarm systems in place.
Was it just internal negligence?
That didn't make sense. Mingde Hall was the world's leading soul tool research institute, and there were undoubtedly many forces that coveted its secrets. Even if few had the capability to infiltrate, basic security measures should still be in place…
"Or is it… confidence?" Zhang Lexuan mused.
That was possible.
Just like how Shrek Academy had blind faith in its millennia-long prestige—so much so that even an abduction could take place right beside the Sea God's Lake—perhaps the Sun and Moon Empire harbored a similar sense of superiority.
But excessive pride could lead to complacency…
Zhang Lexuan sighed softly, then quickly channeled her soul power into her ring, beginning to replicate the blueprints.