Chapter 95: A Legend Remains a Legend (Monthly Votes Requested)

Three days were long, and they were agonizing, but however long they felt, the readers could only wait in silence.

No matter how much they raged in the comments, the big boss never gave them even the slightest reply. And because Martial Movement of the Cosmos had no fan group for readers, there was nowhere for them to vent their demands for an update.

Li He did not know how much the readers were suffering. But when he saw the negative emotions value in the system backend surging upward like a screen of rapidly scrolling messages, he was certain that they would never understand his happiness either.

What bad intentions could Li He possibly have? He simply wanted to earn a little negative emotions value from his readers. What an ordinary, unremarkable request that was.

Three days later, the readers finally got the sequel to the long-awaited story of the three brothers.

They were overjoyed, like children at play.

Many readers clicked into the new chapter the instant it was updated and devoured it eagerly.

Without any suspense, Lin Dong and his two brothers successfully fled the Eastern Profound Region and escaped from the hands of the three leaders of the Yuan Gate. But because the spatial transfer was damaged, the price they paid was separation; the three brothers did not arrive at the same place.

The readers were somewhat dissatisfied with that, but they could still accept it.

"If this plotline had been written by the genius, Xiaodiao and Xiaoyan would definitely have lost one of them, no question. There is no way all three brothers would have survived unharmed."

"Damn, don't say that. It really could have happened. Judging from the genius's style, one of them absolutely would have died, and Xiaoyan was the most likely."

"Honestly, the genius is not as cruel as you all make him out to be. He just likes watching readers jump in frustration."

"What bad intentions could the genius possibly have? He simply wants to drive the readers insane."

Compared with the shadow the genius had left over the readers, the big boss merely separated the three brothers for the time being. That was entirely acceptable.

After the three brothers escaped, Qingtan turned on the Yuan Gate and cried out, "If I ever get the chance, I will raze the Yuan Gate to the ground."

That line broke the hearts of many readers.

Qingtan was only a little girl!

At the same time, it made even more readers grind their teeth in hatred toward the Yuan Gate.

The big boss had always been skilled at stirring the readers' emotions, gripping them tightly in his hand.

Ying Huanhuan's reincarnation seal awakened, and her black hair showed signs of turning ice-blue. The lively, cheerful Ying Huanhuan was gone, replaced by a version of her as cold and biting as frost.

It was neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong.

Some readers liked the change in Ying Huanhuan; others hoped that later on she would regain her former lively, openhearted nature.

A mature, elegant beauty. A girl next door.

The reader's heart was impossible to predict.

Of course, none of that mattered now.

Qingtan and Ying Huanhuan were only side matters. What readers cared about most was still the protagonist Lin Dong's movements.

The book did not explain where Xiaoyan and Xiaodiao had gone, but it also did not guide readers, as the genius had done, into secretly guessing that they had already been cut down.

The protagonist Lin Dong arrived in the Chaos Demon Sea, in the Skywind Sea Domain.

...

After the big boss took three days off, Martial Movement of the Cosmos resumed updates. Not only did its performance fail to decline, it actually climbed several places on the rankings.

The first place on the Wind and Cloud list was still the genius's Battle Through the Heavens. Second place went to the veteran author Snow Moon Wind Flower from Baidu Literature, with Invincible Emperor. Third place belonged to June, the leading figure on a prominent reading platform, with True Lord of the Mortal World. Martial Movement of the Cosmos sat in fifth place.

Among works in the underdog genre, it had the best results besides Battle Through the Heavens.

Martial Movement's rise in the rankings also shut up the authors who had been waiting in the shadows to laugh at the big boss.

Many authors were left bewildered. Had provoking readers now become some new trend? The more one fought against readers, the better the results?

The genius was like that, and now the big boss as well.

Later, a small number of authors imitated the genius's or the big boss's shameless tactics, taking leave right at crucial plot points. The result was that they were cursed to the heavens, and they lost a large number of readers.

"Big boss, you've ruined me!"

The big boss's vacation ended, and Martial Movement of the Cosmos returned to normal updates and got back on track.

The influx of negative emotions value into the system backend also slowed down. It no longer flooded the screen.

Li He did not mind. Negative emotions value could not be forced; forced negative emotions value was not sweet.

To Li He, the big boss was only one of many disguises, and not even the one that earned the most negative emotions value.

Having many disguises also had its advantages.

At first, only the genius's disguise had been earning negative emotions value from readers. Now, with the big boss joining in, there were two.

Before long, the Happy Young Master would also grow into his own. Once Jiang Yuyan cut her way through the entire book, negative emotions value would flow in continuously.

This did not mean that Battle Through the Heavens would stop harvesting readers' negative emotions value. Some old readers finished it and followed the genius over to the xianxia front, diving into the pit of Jade Dynasty.

Others started rereading it. Even if they already knew the plot and what would happen next, they would still contribute a little negative emotions value.

Beyond the old readers, new ones would keep joining as well. It was just that after completion, the book could no longer attract the same enormous number of newcomers as it did while serialized.

The system continued to harvest intermittent bursts of negative emotions value, and the accumulation from all those scattered readers was still considerable.

Li He even considered opening another disguise. He had registered author accounts on Baidu Literature with two different phone numbers, but on the other platform he had only registered one account, leaving one phone number unused.

There was also a copy of The Legend of the Condor Heroes gathering dust in the system warehouse.

After thinking it over, Li He still gave up on creating a new account to release The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

The big boss disguise would finish Martial Movement of the Cosmos soon enough, and he would be able to start a new book around August. Li He did not want to keep the readers waiting too long.

While Li He was pondering whether to open a new disguise, the old comrade approached him with an odd look in his eyes.

"Xiao Zhang wants you to go to her office."

Again.

He had already noticed several times that Li He and Zhang Yang had been meeting in private. There was definitely something going on that he did not know about.

Old Qin still did not dare ask too much, afraid that the cool and stunning elder sister would scald him again with boiling water. Once bitten by a snake, one fears ropes well.

Li He could not help admiring the old comrade. He was truly tough, completely unafraid.

Last time, he had been caught after calling Zhang Yang "Xiao Zhang," and had ended up with lips so badly scalded by hot water that they stayed swollen for three days. For those three days, the old comrade could not even eat properly; every touch hurt like hell, and he could only survive by drinking porridge.

It had not been long since his lips healed, and now that the wound had barely scabbed over, he had already forgotten the pain and dared to call her Xiao Zhang again.

The old comrade really was courageous!

Sometimes Li He even wondered whether he should secretly record the old comrade saying something as outrageous as calling her "Xiao Zhang," then send it anonymously to the cool beauty.

Just thinking about it was entertaining. There might even be a huge scandal to enjoy.

Working at an entertainment company required having a nose for gossip; that was a necessary skill. Even the old comrade had taught him that.

A master opens the door, but the practice depends on the individual.

The waves behind drive on the waves ahead, and the waves ahead are smashed to pieces on the beach.

Li He greeted her politely. "Sister Yang."

Zhang Yang, who was reviewing documents, looked up. Seeing that it was Li He, she put down her pen and smiled. "Li He, you're here. Sit down. What would you like to drink?"

Li He had no preference. "Water is fine."

"The company has approved The Good Life, and the market research data is pretty good too," Zhang Yang said happily.

Li He was a talent she valued highly. At first, she had thought his gift lay only in composing songs, with an almost unnatural brilliance. Later she discovered that his voice was excellent too, and he sang beautifully. Now he had unlocked a new skill: writing variety show proposals.

He was a true hidden gem.

After taking the water, Li He asked, "What kind of show is Slow Pace? I mean, more specifically."

He only knew that Slow Pace was a slow-paced variety show, but he had no idea what its actual content would be.

He did not even know whether Slow Pace had started filming yet, and there was no information about it online.

"I'm not entirely sure either," Zhang Yang explained. "Slow Pace is one of Brothers Entertainment's trump cards. Unless you're a partner, no one can see the proposal. It was the same when our company filmed Guardian. Only a few people in the company knew the script, and most of the actors didn't know the full direction of the plot."

That was also a kind of protection. If it were leaked in advance and exposed online, it would lose its appeal to the audience.

After a pause, Zhang Yang smiled. "You don't need to worry. The company is very optimistic about The Good Life. Guest invitations are already underway, and the cast selection is being done entirely according to the positioning in your proposal. The company has already approved you as the chief planner."

"The locations are also being screened. Filming can begin in just a few days."

Li He said in surprise, "That fast?"

Did the creation of a show not usually require a very complicated process and a lot of work?

In his previous life, which variety show had not spent months in preparation before shooting? Some shows, even after months of preparation, still ran into endless problems during filming.

How was it moving so fast here?

Three days of research, then straight into preparation; from Zhang Yang's tone, filming could begin within days.

Wasn't that a little too fast?

Brothers Entertainment had been preparing Slow Pace for more than half a year and still had not begun filming.

Zhang Yang gave a light laugh. "The company's idea is to collide head-on with Slow Pace and rise by stepping on its momentum."

"Is that really necessary?" Li He asked, puzzled.

He had never heard of Brothers Entertainment offending Prosperity Entertainment. Was there really a need to go so hard at them?

"Absolutely necessary," Zhang Yang said with some irritation. "Brothers Entertainment rejected our company's proposal to jointly develop Slow Pace, but then turned around and approved Crystal Entertainment's application for cooperation. We have to go head-to-head with Slow Pace. Brothers Entertainment must pay the price for that."

Her words were fierce and overbearing, filled with unmistakable dominance.

Anyone hearing it would think there was some deep grudge between them.

Li He just could not understand it. Brothers Entertainment refusing Prosperity's request seemed perfectly normal. Prosperity was trying to snatch ripe fruit from the tree.

And cooperating with Crystal Entertainment was Brothers Entertainment's own choice. Why would Prosperity's higher-ups be so angry?

How domineering.

Still, I like it.

Zhang Yang adjusted her mood and smiled again. "Prepare yourself over the next few days. The recording location for the show may not be in Qingcheng, so you might have to go on a business trip. But that's not certain. If there's a suitable place around Qingcheng, that would naturally be best. We'll only know after the company finishes inspecting the sites."

"All right." Li He did not mind a business trip, as long as he did not have to pay for it himself.

First set a small goal, such as remembering in one second: Bookish Residence.