The #1 Fan of the Store

Fang Shi was in a grumpy mood, for the last few weeks, his plan to make a film had stalled. He had used most of his resources building his store, house, and the dorm, not to mention all the puppets he made and the pay of the three employees. When he went to acquire the movie, the system rebuked him.

'Due to insufficient funds and resources, the host is unable to request a film at this time', Fang Shi remembered the explanation given.

He knew he had plenty of time to get this done, but he was feeling impatient because it would be his 13th birthday soon, and he wanted to watch the film on that day. This led to today, the day that he theorized should be the day that he would have everything he needed to submit to the system. As he sat at the counter helping others, he suddenly had a conundrum, which movie should he make?

'The genres of Xianxia and Wuxia usually stay in their separate categories', he thought to himself, 'Its difficult to think of one work that involves both, so maybe I have to convert something different into a film instead.'

After brainstorming for awhile, he decided to adapt 'Ninja Scroll' into a film. The plot would follow the main story line, a clan with eight powerful warriors at the top have been using a secret gold mine to gain the protection of the General that controls the criminal underworld. One day, the boat carrying the gold to the General is sunk near a small fishing village, and the clan's top eight wipe out the village to recover the gold. A team is dispatched from the Capital to investigate the incident of the boat, but they are wiped out by one of the elite soldiers with the exception of one woman with a poison body constitution.

Mushen Shibingwei is a mercenary for hire that was just passing through when he stumbles upon the elite soldier, and using a combination of body, energy, and mind cultivation techniques, he and the surviving woman kill the soldier. An ambush by a spy from the emperor poisons Mushen, and to receive the antidote, he must kill the remaining seven warriors. The story follows Mushen has he uses his balanced cultivation to overcome each enemy until he battles the seventh. The surviving female becomes fatally injured during the fight, and the spy informs him that a special duel cultivation method with her is what is required to purify his own poison. In a tearful moment, he cleanses his body before the woman dies, and he gives her a respectful funeral before heading towards the final battle.

The last battle tests everything Mushen can do, but he is at a disadvantage the whole time. A major fire breaks out on the new boat meant to carry the gold, melting said gold in the process. Mushen uses an array formation to trap the strongest enemy in gold, and trap him at the bottom of the river until the end of his life. The movie ends with Mushen walking away from the river, victorious but humble as he chases the emperor's spy away.

The reason Fang Shi decided on this for the first movie was because most of his customers were mortals, Body Perfecting, or Qi Gathering realm cultivators. He knew he shouldn't introduce concepts much higher than their current realm or it would do more harm than good. The system told him he could hire his own actors as well, but since movies didn't exist in this world, Fang Shi thought it best to introduce a film to everyone first.

To accomplish it's purpose, Fang Shi customized the costumes, removed some unnecessary scenes, and arranged the fight cinematography to reflect how cultivators fight in this world. After everything was done, the system gave him the cost to produce the film, and several weeks later, he finally saved up enough to produce it.

Fang Shi was sitting in his house reviewing the day's performance, his assets, and the final revision of the film 'Renzhe Mijuan'.

'System, proceed with the creation', he ordered.

'Response: this unit acknowledges the host', the system replied, 'Scanning for resources…located, Scanning for funds…located, Transporting script, funds, and resources…Done. Estimated time of delivery…7 days, 6 days 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.'

Fang Shi no longer paid attention to the light screen once the countdown appeared, and smiled because according to the timer, it would arrive before his birthday.

Peng Hui was leading a small group of disciples to the pavilion while describing to them everything it had to offer. Mei Lingxue was on a mission with several of her sisters from the same peak, so she wasn't able to be present. As the group passed by the farms that were located near the pavilion, Peng Hui took notice of the odd enclosure that was placed over the crops, but what surprised him was that the plants inside seemed to be spirit rice despite it being impossible for that to grow here.

Soon, they arrived at the store and Peng Hui looked around to verify if there was any changes. Fortunately, for the last few weeks the Senior that watched over the store seemed to be content with the design and hadn't changed anything.

"Everyone, we are here and everything seems to be the same", he instructed the others, "Let's meet at the restaurant for dinner before we head back."

Everyone nodded, and the group separated as they left went about their business. Peng Hui was headed towards the cultivation pods to play Monster Slayer. He was currently having problems with a monster named 'Diablosaur', but there weren't any guides on the forums, so he could only continue to try.

It didn't take long for Peng Hui to get into a pod, and log in with his Jade slip. As he entered the familiar Home Screen, he looked around to find it wasn't quite the same anymore. A new wing had been added with a sign that had 'Theater' carved into it.

"Does this mean you can a performance on stage?", he asked out loud in confusion, "Why would someone want to watch a play? What benefit would it have for me?"

Peng Hui suddenly found his pessimistic attitude towards the addition surprising. He had always given everything here the benefit of the doubt after his first experience.

Peng Hui walked through the new door, and was amazed at the grand, but empty theater in front of him. When he looked to the right, he saw a poster displaying the play that would be presented here and saw the title, Renzhe Mijuan. He picked the seat he though was best in the middle of the front row, and decided to wait for more people. It didn't take long, but soon a few more people also came in before the doors to the theater closed and the lights dimmed.

Lights appeared, the the few people in the audience were shocked when a moving image was displayed in front of them. Peng Hui didn't recognize any of the actors, but both the story and the action were outstanding. He watched as Mushen Shibingwei fought, and it felt like something unlocked in his mind. It was as his comprehension had reached a new level, that it was possible to not only cultivate mind, body, and energy, but you could create a fighting style that included all three.

Peng Hui did notice one problem, then main character of the movie was a different spiritual root than him, so he couldn't copy him exactly. When the movie finished, he was about to leave when a message scroll down with the credits.

(For those interested in how to fight like Mushen, visit the Arena and select 'Mirror' mode).

Peng Shi quickly left the theater door, and entered the Training door, 'Who knew that you grow stronger just by facing yourself.' Soon, he found himself in an ancient temple training ground with a wide old man sitting at the edge of large stone square.

"You look like someone who doesn't know yourself", the old man said as Peng Hui approached, "Would you like to see the real you, or what you could be?"

"I would like to know the real me", Peng Hui said while bowing to the old man.

The old man smiled, "If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

The was a slight movement to Peng Hui's left, and when he looked, he almost shouted. He was looking at himself, but it was on the opposite side of the stone square.

"I think the best teacher would be yourself", the old man smiled with eyes like a fox.

Peng Hui finally understood what was going on and entered the square. In less than a minute, he found himself on the stone floor utterly crushed.

"Senior,

Are you saying that I could be this strong in the future?", Peng Hui asked.

"No, this is your current strength", the old man replied, "This you is trying to show what is possible if you stop limiting yourself."

"I'm limiting myself?", Peng Hui said like he couldn't believe it.

"From where I stand, you are trying to run while being tied down", the old man told him, "You have laid a good foundation in cultivating your body, mind, and energy, but you only cultivate with spiritual energy. Why have you not found a cultivation method for you body and mind? Why do you not seek out techniques for them as well?"

Peng Hui realized what the old man meant, he hadn't fully embraced what Owner Fang had said in the past. His improvement had allowed him to breakthrough easier, but he still only focused on cultivating spiritual energy.

Over the next hour, Peng Hui purchased several methods and techniques, and worked hard to integrate them into his Dao. He worked hard, but he noticed how natural it felt. A few hours later, he had formed a rudimentary understanding of his Dao when a message appeared.

Peng Hui recognized it as a message sent from one of his friends he regularly hunted together with in Monster Slayer, and in the real world. So he thanked the old man and the training door, and made his way the game.

"Peng Hui, why were you wasting time in the training hall?", Jun Jin, his friend, asked him as her entered the hunting outpost of the new level of Monster Slayer.

"I found something new and interesting", Peng Hui said as he walked towards Jun Jin and two other people he teamed up with often, "Let's get going, I want to see it my effects pay off even a little."

An hour and a half later, the massive Diablosaur is laying on the desert sand sedated, and covered in nets while Peng Hui is laying against it covered in blood. Not far away are the corpses of his three teammates with massive wounds that resemble being skewered by a spear the size of a young tree. Peng Hui takes his last potion as he sees the recovery team from the Hunter's outpost in the distance coming his way.

He stood up as the lead Hunter arrived at his location, "Hunter Radiant Roc , you look like you spent the day in the underworld. How do you feel?"

Peng Hui could feel the potion working, so he used his sleeve to wipe his face and stood up.

"Hunter Fierce Wind, Everything hurts and my teammates were slain during the battle", Peng Huo replied, "But I feel amazing, let's bring this trophy home."

After getting his rewards, Peng Hui logged off and exited the pod. As he removed his mask, his three teammates were standing there waiting for him.

"How did you do that?", Jun Jin questioned him.

"Do you really think I was wasting my time in the training hall now?", Peng hui responded, "Owner Fang never puts out a bad product. Take my advise, go to the theater, watch Renzhe Mijuan, then go to the arena and fight a mirror match. You might not see my in Monster Slayer as much for awhile as I need to perfect what I learned so far."

Word got out after Peng Hui's replay was seen on several of the light screens set up around the stores, and the theater and training hall also saw a lot more traffic. After that, Peng Hui seemed to become the unofficial spokesman for the store as he would get queries from more customers about anything from products to services.

A few days later, Fang Shi woke up in his bed with the system panel display in his face.

[ Happy 13th Birthday, Host]