Chapter 220: A Festival of Opportunities and Challenges

Fang Hou? Hah! Honestly, his skills are pretty average; without Xu Hao, Fang Hou would never be able to produce such quality dramas or films.

At once, Ding Xiaoping decisively waved his hand.

He worried that Xu Hao wasn’t in the slightest intimidated by Fang Hou; in his eyes, Fang Hou’s abilities barely reached the level of domestic second- or third-tier directors—perhaps even lower.

“If that’s the case, then it’s truly a golden opportunity for us.”

After hearing the analysis, Bai Ming’s interest was visibly piqued.

“Of course! A film made solely by Fang Hou is nothing to worry about!”

“Then…”

“Hurry and contact those interested in hosting film festivals in western cities. We can relax our standards a bit; once confirmed, notify the other associations and the actors.”

This time, while that bastard Xu Hao is tied up with his tasks, we must make the film festival a dazzling success.

“Alright!”

Time flew, and in just one week it was already June 1—the Long Kingdom’s Children’s Day.

While Mingsha County was still celebrating Children’s Day, Mingsha City had already become packed, with a long queue forming at the city gate.

Last night, ‘Legend of Swords and Heroes’ officially premiered on Yan City TV.

Just as expected!

The boost from its impressive background and high-quality storyline ignited the drama forums once again, and ‘Legend of Swords’ smashed the debut record on Yan City TV, reaching a peak rating of 4.8.

This also marked a record debut for Long Kingdom’s xianxia dramas! Some viewers, after just the first two episodes, were already exclaiming, ‘This could establish a whole new genre in xianxia dramas,’ even before watching further.

Meanwhile, Hu Xiao and the female lead Liu Fei were thrust into the entertainment headlines, attracting countless fans overnight. Hu Xiao, in particular, has stepped into the first-tier star league, now just one Long Kingdom TV Award away from Best Actor! This was one of the reasons Mingsha City exploded with visitors on this special Children’s Day.

“Hmm? Where are the white yak mounts? And the reindeer mounts?”

Yet when many tourists planned to ride to Oasis 23, they found that the parking lot exit offered only a few ordinary carriages and camel caravans.

None of the mounts that had been all over the internet appeared—not even the ostrich mounts could be seen.

Because of this,

several tourists directly approached the Mingsha Tourism Service Center.

“Sir, since the xianxia zone in Mingsha City officially opened to visitors on May 31, white yak, reindeer, ostrich, and elephant mounts will now serve only the xianxia zone.

The historical and wuxia zones will only retain everyday mounts such as camels, horses, and donkeys.”

A staff member explained.

“Huh? They’ve all been sent over there?”

The tourists were taken aback.

“Yes, if you want to ride these mounts, head to Qixia Town first. On its north side, Qing Brick Avenue leads to the xianxia zone. The mounts you’re looking for are currently shuttling passengers there.”

The staff member added.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

With that news, the tourists immediately left the service center and headed for Qixia Town.

And this wasn’t an isolated incident. By noon, queues for those heading to the Nanzhao Ancient Kingdom stretched all the way from the end of Qixia Town to the archway.

Today promised to be an extremely busy and exhausting day for the staff in Mingsha City.

Meanwhile, Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng had just seen off a group of experts and returned to their office.

These experts had come to evaluate the Nanzhao Ancient City.

“These tourists don’t know that the xianxia guesthouses they booked have already been accredited as intangible cultural heritage. If they found out, it would spark quite a debate.”

After sipping his tea, Zhu Qiang exhaled in relief.

In fact, the evaluation team had arrived in Mingsha City three days ago. Since Xu Hao was absent, he and Luo Peng had to man the fort for three grueling days.

Fortunately, the results were perfect.

Once all the procedures were complete, the relevant certificates were delivered to Mingsha City.

“Let’s not mention it just yet. Better to wait until we secure the cultural heritage certificate. After all, Nanzhao Ancient City isn’t as famous as the Qingming Scroll—many visitors still think it’s the Nanzhao Kingdom from the show.”

Luo Peng also took a sip of tea, clearing his throat.

“Yes, if word gets out, the tourists will have more questions! It’s better to wait until the buzz around the Demon-Locking Tower settles before officially announcing anything—then we can ignite even more interest.”

Zhu Qiang nodded in agreement.

“Although our xianxia zone is incredibly popular, it has also exposed several issues.”

After a brief pause, Luo Peng continued,

“Some of the tourists’ requests are downright bizarre.”

Zhu Qiang cast a sidelong glance out the window, offering a wry smile.

It was said that after the first batch of tourists reached Oasis 23 last night, they charged straight for Blood Lake and the Demon-Locking Tower, bypassing the guesthouses in Nanzhao Ancient City.

Though Blood Lake and the Demon-Locking Tower are impressive by day, some tourists weren’t satisfied—they wanted to see the scene of lightning striking the iron tower.

Repeated explanations were given that the lightning strike show would occur between 9 and 9:30 p.m., after all visitors were cleared out. But these tourists just would not be deterred.

If it weren’t for a slight breeze lifting the talismans off the iron tower, sending a shiver down their spines, they might have stood there arguing indefinitely.

Of course,

despite the issues, with the Demon-Locking Tower’s nighttime lightning show and the special mounts on offer, Oasis 23 is set to become the second hottest attraction in Mingsha City after the Qingming Scroll for a long time.

Especially the lightning strike show—staff members could watch it repeatedly as electric arcs descend from the sky, enveloping the tower, sometimes even extending along chains into the mouths of eight strange beasts.

Combined with the tower’s runes, it was simply dazzling! “Anyway, we need to ramp up our infrastructure; the subway project must be expedited because tourists are taking too long to travel from the city gate to Nanzhao Ancient City.”

Snapping back to reality,

Luo Peng added,

the nearly twenty-kilometer journey takes a considerable amount of time, even by mount or carriage.

“That’s right. We must speed things up! And there’s also the Mingsha Academy and other cultural exhibition projects to consider!”

Zhu Qiang took a deep breath.

A few days ago, Xu Hao had informed him that the Mingsha Academy had officially been approved. He also mentioned that Mingsha Tourism would receive 3.5 billion in land transfer fees from the Ancient Architecture Research Institute, plus 3 billion for agency construction.

Hearing that figure, Zhu Qiang was both surprised and unsurprised.

Back in the day,

3.5 billion could buy countless neglected stretches of desert or Gobi, but now the deserts in Mingsha City are far from ignored—transfer fees definitely won’t be low.

Moreover, unlike Mingsha County, the Ancient Architecture Research Institute couldn’t allocate desert land proportionally when renovating administrative buildings. So it’s a different matter altogether—they had to pay transfer fees.

This transfer fee will become the largest income for Mingsha Tourism.

With this revenue, plus the daily earnings from tourists, Mingsha Tourism’s accounts will no longer face a shortage of funds.

“So what does Brother Hao plan to do with the Mingsha Academy?”

Mentioning the academy, Luo Peng asked curiously.

“That triangular area spans several thousand acres, and if we fully restore its ancient structures, it will be a mega project. Moreover, the Mingsha Academy will be showcased as traditional cultural heritage, setting a standard higher than any existing ancient structure.”

“It’s not clear yet. Brother Hao has instructed us to lay the groundwork for that triangular area and prepare all the materials until he returns! And he insisted that all materials for the Mingsha Academy must be Oil Cedar!”

Zhu Qiang shook his head.

With a 3-billion special construction fund, Oil Cedar will only be the starting point. He estimated that even the Qing bricks would need to be custom-ordered, no longer relying on ordinary sand bricks.

“Then we’ll have to work extra hard! Let’s strive to prepare the foundation and wood supplies for the Imperial Hospital before Brother Hao returns.”

Luo Peng exhaled deeply.

Now that Mingsha Tourism’s funds are plentiful, he really wanted to test the limits of what could be accomplished with each project.

“That’s a must! By the way, speaking of the Imperial Hospital, how’s your search for doctors going?”

Zhu Qiang continued,

“I’m making good progress here. I’ve already secured a doctor from the Long Medical sect, although he is a bit on the older side!”

Luo Peng asked,

“How old exactly?”

“Seventy-nine!”

Meanwhile,

while Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng were planning to speed up all infrastructure projects in Mingsha City, next door in the office building, Xu Xin and Fang Hou were deep in discussion.

Fang Hou had visited Yan City a week ago, and the very next day he went with the crew of ‘A Taste of the Long Kingdom’ to see a renowned folk chef. The two sides reached a preliminary agreement: when Xu Hao returns, the chef will come to Mingsha City for a tasting, and if the results are good, he’ll stay in Mingsha City. The city will even provide two sets of permanent staff accommodations along with generous pay.

Once everything was finalized, they hurriedly returned to Mingsha City.

“Mr. Fang, are we really going to use Zhou Xing for this mythological movie project?”

After a pause, Xu Xin let out a small sigh and looked at Fang Hou.

When she learned that Haofang Culture planned to produce both a TV series and a mythological film, she had hoped to push for Hu Xiao; she believed that if Hu Xiao starred in the myth film, his stature would soar even higher.

After all, Haofang Agency would then have a genuine marquee artist!

But Fang Hou informed her that Zhou Xing had been chosen for the film.

“Hm! I feel Zhou Xing doesn’t suit this myth film at all—Hu Xiao’s style would be a much better fit.”

Fang Hou shook his head.

“Then when do you plan to start filming?”

Seeing that Fang Hou had made up his mind, Xu Xin didn’t dare say much more.

After all, Zhou Xing is also an artist under Haofang Agency, and Hu Xiao’s matter must wait for another opportunity.

“Let’s set up the set first! The scenery for this film is simple—basically, no need for elaborate ancient architecture. Any crew from Mingsha Labor can handle it effortlessly!”

After a moment’s thought, Fang Hou said,

“Even though Xu Hao isn’t around, the shooting script has already been left for him, so making this film shouldn’t be a problem.”

“So where do you plan to build the set? In the xianxia zone or…?”

Xu Xin couldn’t help but ask.

With the xianxia zone booming these days and the film’s mythological theme, she felt it was almost certain the set would be built there.