Continuing the Road of Legend

"My body is made of steel, how could I be defeated by a little cold? Getting back to the point, what kind of act are you planning to put on in the next finals?"

"We did have a script for the finals prepared in advance, but Zhu Xuanhuai was still one of the originally planned lead actresses. Although she insisted on performing, I didn't want to take the risk for her considering her health condition."

"There are still more than ten days until the finals, so there's plenty of time to replace the actors, right?"

"Theoretically, there's enough time, but I still want to strive for perfection. The original script was very good, but I believe you can definitely create an even better one!"

Si Huaruo stared at Si Ming with bright eyes, her tone full of trust, seemingly more confident than Si Ming himself.

In expressing her emotions, she has never been a reserved person; she says what she thinks, which in a way makes her exceptionally admirable.

Faced with the expectations of the beautiful girl, Si Ming certainly wouldn't back down, saying, "First, I want to think about the general direction of the creation, such as what taboos need to be avoided, and which types are more favored by the judges."

While pandering to the judges might seem mercenary, the goal at this point is to win the competition, not to realize one's artistic value; naturally, one should adapt to the situation.

If you only care about your own happiness, or only want to perform the stories you like, then why bother participating in the competition? Isn't it better to just entertain yourself? Are you trying to have your cake and eat it too?

Don't assume that good work guarantees success. Everyone has different tastes and values. For those who don't like spicy food, even if you make a dish that's heavenly, it still won't compare to a simple pickled vegetable. Just like China cuisine needs to be adapted to local tastes when it's exported.

"The final round isn't based on a scoring system, but rather a voting system. There are five judges in total, one vote per person, and the one with the most votes wins. The content and topics are very broad; anything you can think of is allowed, there are no restrictions. As for taboos... just don't go against mainstream moral values, and avoid overly cruel depictions, such as child abuse or murder. Some judges might like such sharp themes, but others might not."

Si Huaruo thought about it seriously for a while, then added, "By the way, according to what I've heard, there are four women among the judges this time, which means that romance themes might be more popular."

"Another love triangle?" Si Ming said subconsciously.

"Again?"

"Ahem, I mean, how about the 'all the men in the world only like me' kind of story?"

When it comes to the most popular themes among women, Si Ming immediately thought of the female-oriented novels from his previous life. Considering that BL culture is not popular in the Sea Continent at present, Mary Sue is the only choice. So he picked a few popular scripts from his previous life, briefly summarized the plot, and told them to Si Huaruo.

"... So, why are all the men in it so devoted to the female lead?"

"Don't ask such a pointed question right off the bat!"

This is probably the question that all Mary Sue authors hate the most. If they keep harping on this point, how can anyone else write a novel?

If reality is so illogical, why should novels have to adhere to logic?

Si Ming pondered for a while, but unfortunately he wasn't a woman and couldn't understand girls' thinking, so he could only say, "Perhaps it's because the female lead is very innocent?"

It seems that those scheming female supporting characters are always villains, and in the end, they always outsmart themselves and their cleverness backfires. Si Ming finds this hard to understand. Why do ambitious people always lose to those who lack ambition?

"So, the theme of these scripts is that fools are lucky?"

"Well... to put it a little more profoundly, it can be understood as good deeds being rewarded and evil deeds being punished."

Si Huaruo nodded as if she understood, then added, "But the theme of 'good and evil being rewarded' isn't very appealing, and it often remains superficial, making it difficult to leave a lasting impression. This kind of subject matter is more suitable for performances for ordinary audiences; the judges probably won't be interested."

Si Ming was jolted awake by these words. The Mary Sue genre was designed to entertain readers, or to put it more bluntly, to make money. Not only the authors, but even the readers knew that these kinds of works were devoid of substance and meaning. They read Mary Sue stories to pass the time and for entertainment. Nobody believed that such works could win any major art awards.

The pursuit of entertainment and the pursuit of art are two different things. Stories that the masses enjoy are mostly different from the stories that judges are willing to give high marks to.

For example, ordinary people like vulgarity, ideally with all three parts fully exposed, while judges prefer something more alluring, like a woman partially veiled, something that is only partially revealed.

"Let me ask you a question: Does your opponent know that there are mostly women on the judging panel?"

"They should know. Some of their members come from the Aristocratic Clan, so it shouldn't be difficult to find out."

When Aristocratic Clan with the Aristocratic Clan, neither gains an advantage in terms of intelligence. If it were a commoner troupe, they would simply have to accept their loss.

"So, they'll most likely write about romance, so I'll have to avoid that area and come up with something original."

It's not that I'm trying to boost their morale, but rather that I'm self-aware. Si Ming isn't good at writing love stories, so there's no reason for him to use his weaknesses against his strengths. Unless he takes the past love story of the Si Clan's ancestor and adapts it, using a love triangle between Spirit Transformation cultivators as a gimmick, he might be able to attract a lot of people's gossip.

However, the Si Clan will likely not let him off the hook.

"We need to cater to women's perspectives while also leveraging our own strengths, and my advantage over them is..." A thought flashed through Si Ming's mind, and he quickly asked, "Does it have to be a story in a local style? How about a story from Otherworld Domain?"

"Of course it doesn't matter. In fact, the judges really like these kinds of innovative themes and have always encouraged everyone to be bold and innovative. As long as you can portray it clearly, it's a winning strategy in a sense. It's just that people are worried about trying to imitate something better and ending up with something worse, so unless they are very confident, they don't dare to easily venture into these kinds of themes."

"That's good. Let's change the style of the script this time. Let's not write about the East, let's write about the West! How about a female knight?"

Chapter 297 Continuing the Legendary Path

One month ago.

"Are there really no missions I can take on?"

"This is the twelfth time you've asked this this month. Give up. After seeing your resume, why would a client dare to hire you? They're looking for Crimson Eye Society to kill, not to commit suicide."

"This is a frame-up! The first mission was clearly an accident. Encountering the demon tide was just a matter of chance. We just happened to run into it, what could I do? Even if we could barely link the first mission to me, the second mission had nothing to do with me. The accident happened after the mission was canceled, so how did it get blamed on me?"

Qingyan felt rather helpless. He only learned later that the person who had entrusted him in Russia was a confidant of Huyan Lü, the second young Thousand Ren Society. To be precise, it was Huyan Lü who ordered his men to assassinate the Crimson Eye Society.

Because of the gang war between the Military School and the Mohist School, the Thousand Ren Society Primal Qi, and its leader, Huyan Lie injured. He had no choice but to hand over the gang affairs to his second son, Huyan Lü, and give him the position of acting leader.

Huyan Lü originally wanted to make a name for himself, but the Nation of Valor quickly sent people to take control of the Thousand Ren Society. Thus, a fierce struggle ensued. In the end, Huyan Lü successfully defended the Thousand Ren Society's foundation, but many of his men died. Among them was the man who had been commissioned by Qingyan to assassinate Huyan Lü, who was on the list of the dead. Huyan Lü himself was also seriously injured.

As a result, a rumor spread within the Crimson Eye Society that Qingyan was cursed to bring misfortune to his master, and that whoever entrusted his services to him would die. Not only did his two previous employers die tragically, but even an indirect employer like Huyan Lü was affected and almost didn't survive.

Upon hearing this, Qingyan felt utterly wronged. The first incident was clearly a coincidence, and the second was completely unrelated to him. The other party had already cancelled the commission, and there was no longer any contractual relationship between them. How could the subsequent accident be attributed to him?

Everyone dies eventually, which means all employers will die sooner or later. Should we blame him for all that?

The situation with Huyan Lü is even more absurd. Would the conflict between the Thousand Ren Society and the Black Earth Gang have been avoided if they hadn't commissioned him for the assassination? Would the Nation of Valor mainland have refrained from sending agents to seize power if they hadn't commissioned him for the assassination?

Ultimately, those people were all gang members who lived on the edge, constantly fighting and killing each other. It wouldn't be surprising if something unexpected happened to them; it was all just a coincidence.