In the Tianyang Sect's reception hall, Zhang Qingyuan met Di Yunjie from the Bright Moon Sect.
He looked to be in his forties, with well-maintained skin-a distinguished middle-aged man.
"Martial Uncle Di, forgive Qingyuan for failing to come out and welcome you." Zhang Qingyuan entered the room with his hands clasped.
Sixth Senior Brother brought tea and refreshments. He seemed to have grown accustomed to secretarial work.
"You're too courteous, Martial Nephew. I visited while your master was still alive. You hadn't joined the sect yet."
So he's reminding me that he and Master go way back. Zhang Qingyuan had heard of Di Yunjie, but he had no idea just how close he and his master had been.
Zhang Qingyuan invited him to sit. Just then, Second Senior Brother arrived as well. After clasping his hands to Di Yunjie, he plopped down beside them.
"You must be my second martial nephew, the Tianyang Sword Immortal, Zheng Jianxin?"
"Martial Uncle." Old Second clasped his hands in reply, his voice untouched by the smoke and fire of the mortal world, crisp and clean.
Di Yunjie smiled. "The last time I saw you, you were still a child."
"Mm," Old Second made a sound.
"To think that in the blink of an eye, you've reached the third rank and made such a great name for yourself. If my old friend Jing'an knew in the world below, he would certainly be proud of you."
"Mm," Old Second made another sound.
"With what you've achieved now, you have a promising future, Martial Nephew. Barring any mishaps, the second rank is within reach."
"Mm."
What's wrong with him?
He glanced at Zhang Qingyuan, who gave an awkward smile.
Di Yunjie frowned slightly and took another look at Zheng Jianxin: blue robes, an ancient sword, hair tied in a youthful ponytail, and a cold, handsome face with sharply defined features.
Why does something feel off?
He thought for a moment. "I remember you weren't like this as a child. Is something wrong with your throat?"
As he spoke, Di Yunjie pointed to his throat, concern showing on his face.
Uh... Zheng Jianxin looked somewhat embarrassed. He glanced at his junior brother, the sect master, with a hint of appeal, hoping he would help him out.
"Ah, my senior brother only just reached the third rank. He's still a little... unaccustomed to it," Zhang Qingyuan hurriedly explained.
"So that's it."
Understanding dawned on Di Yunjie, but Old Second only grew more embarrassed.
Acting cool was something to do among peers or in front of juniors.
Peers and juniors didn't know you, so however you put on airs, they would believe it.
It was hard to pull off in front of elders, especially those who had seen you as a child.
Clearly, Old Second hadn't thought of that.
Realizing it belatedly, he put down his sword and sat up straight. Although he wasn't as stiff as before, he still maintained his aloof demeanor.
"May I ask what brings you here today, Martial Uncle Di?" Zhang Qingyuan asked cautiously, feeling suspicious.
He could hardly be blamed for being careful. After all, Di Yunjie had arrived on the very day the Tianyang Sect was recruiting disciples. The timing was a little too perfect.
Before the first batch of disciples matured, he didn't want to attract too much attention.
The Lin Lineage Sword Fortress was nothing to fear, and the East Sea Sect had been destroyed. There were essentially no major forces nearby that could threaten the Tianyang Sect.
But the Bright Moon Sect was just over a thousand li away. That distance was neither particularly close nor particularly far. They were in the same province, and the other sect even had a second-rank expert, which was quite frightening.
What made him feel most guilty was that he had borrowed their master's reputation in the newspaper.
Whatever else, he feared they had come to demand an accounting.
Surely not?
The Bright Moon Sect can't really be so vindictive over the slightest offense, can they? I was praising him.
Di Yunjie smiled. "Nothing so important. Your master and I were on good terms, and after he died in battle, I hadn't yet found time to come pay my respects. Besides, your Tianyang Sect has been writing things in the newspaper under my master's name. As for that..."
"I apologize." Zhang Qingyuan immediately acknowledged his discourtesy.
"Haha." Di Yunjie laughed. "You little rascal. You really are slippery."
"Hehe, I imagine you haven't come to demand an accounting, Martial Uncle Di?"
Di Yunjie nodded. "You guessed right. My master isn't that petty. Besides, the newspaper didn't say anything bad about him. He merely cursed you a couple of times."
"How magnanimous of Senior!"
"Let's get down to business," Di Yunjie said. "I came first to offer a stick of incense to your master, and second to congratulate you on succeeding as the Tianyang Sect's sect master. Inside here is our Bright Moon Sect's Seven Stars Pill. Consider it a congratulatory gift for your succession."
Zhang Qingyuan stood, clasped his hands, and bowed, hurriedly accepting it before handing it to Old Sixth to put away safely.
"My thanks to the Bright Moon Sect, to Senior Ning for remembering us, and to Martial Uncle Di for traveling so far and still keeping our Tianyang Sect in mind."
"As you said, we're all neighbors, and yours is a long-established sect. Helping each other is only right."
"You're absolutely right, Martial Uncle."
"Besides that, we've found that newspapers really are quite good. So my third purpose is to ask Sect Master Zhang for some advice on making newspapers. I hope you won't hold back your guidance.
"Would you be willing to share, Qingyuan?"
Newspapers?
Zhang Qingyuan understood at once. They had caught the Bright Moon Sect's attention.
Never mind them-even in the nearby cities, wealthy merchants had already begun setting up newspaper workshops. They were still feeling their way forward, but all kinds of newspapers would probably appear soon.
If he could make them, so could others. It wasn't anything particularly difficult, after all.
There was no need to stop them, nor could he.
But newspapers differed in their content.
What content attracted readers, what sold more copies, and what inspired greater trust-on those matters, Zhang Qingyuan was more professional than they were.
With Zhang Qingyuan's brains, he could stay at least a few decades ahead.
So he wasn't worried that the appearance of other newspapers would hurt his own sales.
He immediately smiled. "What's difficult about that? Since you've said we should help each other, Martial Uncle, how could Qingyuan refuse?"
"How generous, Martial Nephew!"
"Actually, newspapers are easy to make. Very easy. We started with one issue every five days, and now we publish every three days, sixty thousand copies per issue in each city. Besides selling newspapers, we also earn advertising revenue. I'm sure you've already seen that, Martial Uncle."
"Indeed." Di Yunjie nodded, then added, "But your newspaper seems very interesting. When we tried printing our own, the results always felt weak and tasteless. Why is that?"
"That brings us to content."
Zhang Qingyuan began explaining, from content to reporters to editors, going over everything in great detail.
There was no need to hide any of this. They would figure it out themselves later anyway. Better to teach them now and earn a favor.
"We've covered content. Next, we need to discuss categories."
"Categories?"
Zhang Qingyuan said, "Yes. Our current newspaper is a mixed platter, with every kind of content.
"But this early, untamed period is also a time of breaking new ground, so a mixed platter actually attracts more readers.
"Once more common people start reading newspapers, though, that content will need to be divided into specialized categories."
"So you intend to divide the Tianyang Daily into newspapers with different content?" Di Yunjie looked thoughtful.
"Yes," Zhang Qingyuan acknowledged. "Next, we'll have the Tianyang Martial World Daily, focused solely on martial-world content, the Tianyang People's Newspaper, the Tianyang Story Newspaper, and so on...
"That way, people with particular interests can buy only the newspapers they care about.
"But if the Bright Moon Sect starts making newspapers, there's no need to specialize at first. We're the first wave, and the Bright Moon Sect will be the second. Both of us are opening up the market. The Bright Moon Sect borders Yuezhou, and farther north is the Northern Realm, so you can expand north and west. The Northern Realm has a thriving martial world. Later, you can directly publish a newspaper devoted solely to the martial world..."
Zhang Qingyuan launched into another explanation, practically breaking everything apart and kneading it into digestible pieces.
Listening to Zhang Qingyuan explain in such detail, Di Yunjie felt that this was a good lad.
Once they had finished discussing newspapers, Di Yunjie said with satisfaction, "Like a stream of pure enlightenment poured over my head, clearing away the thatch blocking my mind! Martial Nephew Qingyuan, if the Tianyang Sect encounters any difficulties in the future, our Bright Moon Sect will spare no effort to help!"
See? Now we've got someone backing us.
In this era, transportation was inconvenient. A nationwide newspaper was simply impossible.
So one region each was just right.
He could even use it to earn favors. Why not?
That night, Di Yunjie didn't sleep. While digesting everything Zhang Qingyuan had told him, he went to the Tianyang Sect's graveyard and told Zhang Jing'an's gravestone that night, "You took in a good disciple."
(End of volume one. Please leave a tip, bookmark, and positive review. Campus life begins in volume two.)