I have something to go out for, so I'm posting this afternoon's installment early. Please keep supporting me. Thank you.
The two had pitifully little money to spend, so they had to rack their brains. The Card Film's story could not be too long, yet it still had to draw people in. That was a considerable challenge for Lei Zi. He wrote it over and over, then revised it over and over.
Chen Mu had no easy time of it either. Although production had not yet begun, he was already making all sorts of adjustments in his head. The Card Film's images were not complicated, but making them more expressive was a difficult problem. The biggest problem was that they had no spare money for him to experiment with.
In other words, Chen Mu needed to reduce the number of failed attempts, which would also cut production costs considerably. Clearly, his interest in controlling costs far exceeded his desire for knowledge of advanced cards. For two penniless wretches like them, costs were a matter of life and death.
At last, on the very day the Star Academy exchange delegation arrived at East Guard Academy, Lei Zi finally finished his script. While everyone in Dongshang Guard City emptied the streets to catch a glimpse of the legendary Star Academy, one of the Six Great Academies, Chen Mu and Lei Zi were shut up at home discussing the script.
The two launched into an exceptionally heated discussion.
Chen Mu asked Lei Zi to explain every detail of the effects he wanted to achieve: changes in lighting, for instance, or backgrounds, costumes, and the characters' expressions at any given moment.
Chen Mu's questions grew more specific and more detailed, even touching on issues Lei Zi had overlooked. Lei Zi had never faced such a barrage before, and his head was ready to burst. Still, he understood Chen Mu's desire to save on costs, so he made every effort to be thorough.
Two weeks. They discussed it for two whole weeks. Beside the script, originally only a few thin pages, lay a thick stack of drafts. Those drafts were covered with the results of their discussions over the past two days.
Both their eyes were bloodshot, yet they still seemed to be in fairly good spirits.
After two weeks of discussion, Chen Mu knew the entire story inside out. More than that, he had a clear grasp of virtually every image in the story and every detail within each image.
What they needed now was not to begin production immediately, but to rest.
Once they lay down to rest, they slept for two full days and nights.
The two sound sleepers had no idea that, while they had been discussing things behind closed doors, the Star Academy exchange delegation had already settled into East Guard Academy. This exchange visit, which could only be described as unbelievable, had also drawn the attention of the entire Tianyou Federation. What had originally been an exchange confined to Star Academy and East Guard Academy had become a grand event for all of Dongshang Guard City.
Wang Ze was Star Academy's student representative for this visit. He was tall and thin, with a somewhat long face, slightly sunken eye sockets, and an exceptionally sharp gaze. He was a third-year student of Star Academy's Outer Academy. At Star Academy, Outer Academy students who failed to qualify for the Inner Academy could graduate after four years. Although Wang Ze's strength as a Card Adept was only slightly above average, he was worldly, quick-witted, and adaptable, which was why the academy had appointed him student representative.
It was clear that Star Academy attached considerable importance to this exchange. Aside from the fourth-year students, who had to prepare for their graduation examinations, students from all three other years were present, with no shortage of experts among them.
On East Guard Academy's side, the student in charge was Zuo Tingyi.
"Are you settling in comfortably, Senior Wang?" Zuo Tingyi greeted Wang Ze politely when he saw him. The delegation, composed mainly of students, would stay here for two months. Neither academy would impose any mandatory requirements on them; they could do whatever they wished.
Wang Ze also rather admired this courteous junior from East Guard Academy. Coming from a distinguished family himself, he was particularly well disposed toward the poise Zuo Tingyi displayed. He smiled faintly. "Thank you for taking such trouble, Junior. Your academy's care has been meticulous. At this rate, I'm afraid we'll have a terrible time readjusting when we return to our own academy."
"You're too kind, Senior. Oh, by the way, several students from your academy joined the field training organized by third-year Class F today. With that many people, I'm afraid we may not have enough teachers assigned to protect them," Zuo Tingyi said with some hesitation.
The Tianyou Federation had five major Huahua Districts and twenty-two Common Districts. Together with the Capital, that made twenty-eight districts. These twenty-eight districts did not border one another; almost every one was isolated from the others. Take Dongxing District, where Dongshang Guard City stood, as an example. Beyond its boundaries stretched endless forests, the most primeval and untamed of places. That was the world of other creatures, and they were its true rulers. They were powerful, dangerous, deadly, and numerous. In the history of the Tianyou Federation's founding, every district had been carved out upon the blood of countless predecessors.
Beyond the Tianyou Federation lay wilderness: dense primeval forests, dry deserts and stony wastelands, and endless snow-covered mountains towering into the clouds. But if someone traversed the wilderness, passed through the forests, crossed the deserts, climbed over the snowy mountains, and kept going, what would they find out there? No one knew. Countless explorers set out every year, yet not one ever returned.
There were simply too many dangers in the wild. Powerful creatures were beyond counting, and some were more than even humanity's finest Card Adepts could contend with. They were nature's true favorites.
Yet the wilderness was also a treasure trove. Its abundant resources and the beasts' precious pelts were enough to make greedy humans throw caution and their lives to the winds. The materials required for advanced cards, which people considered incomparably precious, almost all had to be obtained from powerful creatures in the dangerous wilderness.
The discovery of Path Windows and the Gray Layer had ushered the entire Tianyou Federation into a feverish age of exploration. In the year 2910 of the Fang Calendar, humans discovered the first Path Window in the wilderness. Soon afterward, the Gray Layer connected to it was also discovered. Path Windows were entrances to passages leading to other regions, found by humans in the wild. The Gray Layer was the passage connecting two Path Windows. It was said to be a world shrouded in gray, hence its name. Soon afterward, the first New Domain was discovered: what was now the Mohadi Domain. Its discoverer, Yang Sen, gained immense honor and wealth as a result.
The Tianyou Federation vigorously promoted such exploration and permitted private individuals to undertake it. Anyone who discovered a New Domain could receive substantial rights and benefits. If the two sides engaged in commerce, for example, the discoverer could receive ten percent of the tax revenue, along with trade priority and a whole series of other preferential rights. These rights could also be transferred or sold. As soon as the policy was introduced, expedition teams funded by major financial groups sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain. From then on, as card theory developed, Card Adepts displayed ever greater combat power, distinguishing themselves from other martial professions and becoming the foremost profession. Society's enormous demand for Card Adepts likewise spurred the rapid development of card theory.
The wilderness became a paradise for countless adventurers, yet, like hell, it also swallowed countless adventurers into their graves.
(End of chapter)