The next day.
At Old Wu’s parents’ house.
In the courtyard, the sun was shining brightly today. When Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing came over, Li Qinqin pulled her daughter aside to chat while Wu Changhe played Go with Zhang Ye.
Sure enough, the two men started quarreling again.
“Dad, why are you always taking back your moves?”
“I’m trying to let you know about the other possible moves that can be made in this game!”
“Aiyo, come off it already.”
“How can you say that? You’re putting it like I’m playing you seriously.”
“I’m already giving you have a four-stone handicap, and you’re still not playing seriously?”
“You’re speaking like I can’t beat you if I gave you a four-stone handicap as well!”
“Hur hur, you really can’t beat me.”
“Heh, don’t you dare me! Give it a try then!”
“I think it’s better if I gave you a five-stone handicap!”
“No need for that! I’ll give you a ten-stone handicap!”
“I’ll give you twenty!”
“I’ll give you thirty!”
“I’ll give you fifty!”
“I’ll give you a hundred!”
They stopped playing and placed stones down senselessly as they tried to outboast each other.
Li Qinqin and Wu Zeqing were used to this. They laughed and chatted close by as though nothing was happening, not bothered by what was going on between the two of them.
When they got tired of it, the two men finally stopped arguing.
Li Qinqin laughed and said, “Little Ye, do you really have such great strength?”
Zhang Ye said happily, “Of course! With my physique and body, can’t you tell?”
Wu Changhe mocked, “Heh, it really doesn’t show at all.”
Li Qinqin asked, “But that’s bulletproof glass. Even if they said that they took the wrong car, that’s still tempered glass, isn’t it? How could it be shattered with a smash just like that?
Zhang Ye laughed and said, “Aren’t you underestimating me? To put it into context, is a steel plate thick? But I can put a dent in it with a strike of my palm all the same! It’s imbued with martial arts, and not even 30 to 50 people could get close to me. Back then, when there was conflict in the martial arts community, a dozen or so of the large sects were trying to find trouble with me. This bro went knocking on their doors one by one and sent them packing. I smashed their sects’ plaques and beat up their sect leaders, and they ended up avoiding me. They did not even dare make a sound. When I learned that the Huashan Sect’s plaque was made of some pretty solid wood, I took it and made it into beaded bracelets and sold them. They got so angry about it, yet there was nothing they could do to me. How strong would I have to be to do that? So let’s not mention some car’s glass window.”
Martial arts community?
Large sects?
Smashing plaques?
Making them into beaded bracelets?
How good are you at bragging! You might as well say that you’ve ascended into the Heavens!
Wu Changhe smirked at the words, while Li Qinqin covered her mouth in laughter.
Since Zhang Ye had put it to them jokingly, they listened and took it in jest.
However, unbeknownst to them, everything that Zhang Ye had just said was the truth.
Noon.
After lunch, Wu Changhe went out to play Go. Li Qinqin insisted on having Wu Zeqing rest for a while, so she dragged her back to the house to take a nap. This left Zhang Ye alone with nothing to do, so he went back into the west wing to lie down. He took out his cell phone and started browsing online for news related to himself.
The current situation was a stalemate.
Zhang Ye could not get into the Japanese and Korean markets, while their artists were becoming anxious with all their worries. Zhang Ye had already sent four of them packing back to their countries. At a time like this, it wasn’t likely that anyone would want to be the next person to stick their necks out. They were all hesitating and waiting to see how things would develop. On the other hand, Zhang Ye was still thriving. Although he was scolded badly and his reputation was tarnished, his popularity on the Asian Celebrity Rankings was still rising steadily. His days were indeed quite beautiful.
However, Zhang Ye was not satisfied with such a situation. This was not a long-term plan. He was going to become a father soon, so his motivation and enthusiasm had increased. He wanted to try to compete for the Asian S-list rankings no matter what. Thus, he set himself a goal. Before his child was born, he would have to become an Asian Heavenly King at the least and make it to the top of the Asian stage before setting his eyes on the world stage. Otherwise, everything else would be for naught.
But where could he make a breach?
How could he fend off the restrictions that were set upon him by the Japanese and Koreans?
How could he quickly increase his popularity in Asia?
He thought about Zhang Yuanqi, Xu Meilan, and the others who were at the top of the Chinese entertainment circle with him. All of them were also Heavenly Kings and Queens in Asia, with the only exception being Zhang Ye. Although the influence of Korea’s entertainment industry was still the greatest in Asia, with many of their variety shows, dramas, and movies easily breaking into the Chinese market, and earning buckets of money while winning over many fans at the same time; China’s own movies, TV dramas, and variety shows found it harder to get into the Japanese and Korean markets. However, with the Chinese population already there and the market so big, those who could reach the top of the Chinese entertainment industry were basically also at the top of the Asian entertainment industry. At least, they didn’t have much of a problem becoming an Asian S-lister.
So why was Zhang Ye the exception?
This was because the path he walked was different from the other six Heavenly Kings and Queens. They were all popular, good-looking, idolized, starred in films, TV shows, or sang. All of them were mainstream idols, while Zhang Ye had never been associated with the mainstream, nor an idol, for that matter. This was the essential difference, so regardless of whether it was Zhang Yuanqi or Xu Meilan, their paths were not something that Zhang Ye could copy.
If he wanted to reach the top in Asia?
Then he would have to find his own way!
A path that was different from everyone else’s!
…
After pondering for half an hour.
And drinking three cups of strong tea.
Zhang Ye still did not come up with any constructive thoughts, so he decided to take a look at the lottery system. With so many Reputation Points accumulated, it was time to use it again. Otherwise, all the points would all be sitting in there for nothing.
He opened up the game ring’s interface.
And tapped on the merchant shop.
He activated the Lucky Halo (Upgraded).
And then opened up the lottery draw and placed in the additional stakes.
He did a series of manipulations with great familiarity.
This time, he still chose to stick with the Lottery Draw (Two). The items from the medium-sized treasure chests were good and of a higher level as well, although they were more expensive to get. Each attempt cost 10 million Reputation Points, with every additional stake requiring another 10 million as well. However, what Zhang Ye did not lack was Reputation Points. He still had not used many of the Reputation Points he had earned this year, while he continued gaining more as his popularity grew, with an endless amount of Reputation Points being added with each passing day. That was to say, as long as he stayed in the entertainment industry, his Reputation Points would never stop growing. Therefore, Zhang Ye was extremely generous in spending it this time. He immediately placed nine additional stakes for his first attempt, totaling 10 stakes altogether. The sum of the Reputation Points required was 100 million, and this did not even include the high consumption rate per second by the Lucky Halo (Upgraded).
The lottery draw began!
The slot machine was activated!
One cycle…
Three cycles…
Five cycles…
Ding. The prize was dispensed.
Zhang Ye immediately looked at it in anticipation. The familiar Treasure Chest (Medium) was lying there in the game ring’s inventory. He carefully took it out and opened it to look inside. He heaved a sigh of relief when he learned that it wasn’t empty. All those Reputation Points didn’t go to waste.
It was all experience books inside the treasure chests.
They were the higher tier experience books.
[Drawing Skill Experience Book] × 10: Increases the drawing skill experience of the player.
Every one of these types of higher tier skill experience books from Lottery Draw (Two) was equivalent to a hundred of the same skill experience books that were dispensed through Lottery Draw (One). Moreover, Zhang Ye had yet to discover any upper limit to them and could “eat” them endlessly. This was the reason why he preferred playing in the Lottery Draw (Two). Sometimes, if he played the Lottery Draw (One) too many times, the skills or stats attained would reach a cap and any more of the Skills or Stats Category items would go to waste if he won more of them. Meanwhile, the higher tier experience books did not have such a problem. So, with the current circumstances where many of Zhang Ye’s attributes and skills were already at the max level, such as his strength, agility, calligraphy, mathematics, and Go, it was obvious that Lottery Draw (Two) was the more suitable option to play. This was because he could still continue increasing his skill experience even after he reached the cap that the lower tier books could not surpass.
Drawing?
Alright then, it was always better to have another skill set after all.
Zhang Ye did not pay much attention to it and continued playing the lottery.
The slot machine started moving again.
It spun and spun.
And spun and spun.
He deliberately turned his head away and did not look. This was because he realized that it would not affect the results whether he looked at it or not, so he might as well not look and wonder.
He heard a ding and the prize was dispensed!
It was another 10 medium-sized treasure chests!
But when he saw what was in it, Zhang Ye was taken aback.
[Japanese Language Skill Experience Book] × 10: Increases the player’s Japanese language skill.
Japanese language?
Drawing?
Something dawned on Zhang Ye.
Perhaps Heaven is implying something to me?