Chapter 300: A Surge of Magic and Uncertain Fortunes

“Say some positive words? City Master, which positive words are you referring to?”

Upon hearing the request, You Gong was momentarily stunned.

To be honest, he was a bit confused. In his view, as long as you refrain from cursing and don’t damage your merits, everything counts as positive.

“Uh, it’s like studying hard, striving for progress, or promoting sports to boost the people’s health,”

Xu Hao pondered for a moment before replying.

He knew exactly what level Daoist You Gong had attained. Even without reciting some hurried incantations, it wouldn’t affect his magic performance—his previous remark was likely just an old habit.

“Oh, alright. I’ll come up with something by then!”

You Gong mulled it over and then nodded.

That shouldn’t be too hard.

“The mid-size magic contest starts the day after tomorrow. You’re slated to perform second to last. The key is keeping within limits; the positive wordplay is a minor detail! And don’t forget the magic acts from those competitors from H Country!”

Xu Hao glanced across the small island at Mingsha Ge and reminded him once again.

“No problem.”

“Daoist, this afternoon Little Luo called and mentioned that the upcoming Mingsha Youle City might need a small favor from you, you see.”

Pausing briefly, Xu Hao continued.

“Youle City?”

“Yeah!”

“City Master, leave it to me! The busier Mingsha City gets, the more flourishing the future incense offerings at Biyou Palace will be—a tremendous boon for Biyou Palace.”

You Gong quickly reassured him.

“Alright, I’ll have Little Luo coordinate with you tomorrow!”

“City Master, what about Wuzhuang Temple?”

“I’ll handle Wuzhuang Temple. It should be fine.”

“Okay.”

As night deepened—perhaps due to the International Magic Competition—even though it was already one in the morning, plenty of curious tourists still lingered by the lakeside of Mingsha Fudi.

Because of this,

Mingsha City had to reassign all security from Wudi City and Qixia Town, even pulling some personnel from Taiyi Hospital.

In short, both sides were on edge.

Meanwhile, at the Mingsha Tourism office building, Zhu Qiang still hadn’t taken a break.

There were even a few managers still stationed in the office!

“General Zhu, what are we going to do now? Is Fudi Guesthouse still open to the public?”

After a moment,

a young man sitting across the desk glanced hesitantly at Zhu Qiang.

The young man, Tian Dong, had recently been promoted to middle manager at Mingsha Tourism. He would soon be responsible for the guesthouses at Mingsha Fudi and Mingsha Ge, though the three islands in the lake were excluded.

“Of course we will keep it open!”

Upon hearing this,

Zhu Qiang nodded slightly.

Although things seemed a bit out of control at the moment, the many Ancient Building Courtyards on the mountain were built to host guesthouses, ease the lodging pressure in Mingsha City, and generate revenue for Mingsha Fudi.

In total, there were 35 Ancient Building Courtyards on the mountain, each with 20 guesthouses—making 700 rooms altogether.

Originally, Mingsha City was scheduled to open reservations for Fudi Guesthouse for the public starting half a month from now, but Tian Dong’s uncertainty prevented an update on the official website.

“General Zhu, the issue is that Daoist’s magic act has turned Mingsha Fudi into a place of deep mystique for the public. I’m really worried,”

Tian Dong took a deep breath.

Until recently, the Demon-Locking Tower and Blood Lake in Mingsha City had been the most mystifying spots, with visitors queuing for hours to enter the Demon-Locking Tower.

After the Cultural Expo, Taiyi Hospital in Mingsha Academy North Campus, Jixia Academy, the altar on Langya Mountain, Lutai, and Zhaixing Pavilion became the new darlings.

But now, Mingsha Fudi had become the most enigmatic place in the eyes of tourists.

As expected, once the guesthouses opened, tourists would inevitably sneak in to do ‘their thing.’ The security managing Qing Brick Avenue along the lakeside couldn’t possibly monitor what happened inside the guesthouses.

It’s just like hotels that hang no-smoking signs in rooms, which guests typically ignore.

“If nothing else works, let’s raise the guesthouse prices! Once this wave of hype subsides, we can quietly lower them again.”

After pondering for a while,

Zhu Qiang spoke up again.

Although hiking the prices might seem a bit unethical, it was the best way to curb tourists from snapping up all the guesthouses.

“Raise prices? To what level would be appropriate?”

“8,000 Dragon Coins per night!”

Zhu Qiang looked at Tian Dong.

Previously, the guesthouse rate was set at 1,500 per night. While 1,500 was considerably higher than the rates at Hedao Guesthouses and Qing Brick Avenue Guesthouses, this price at Mingsha Fudi was deemed to be excellent value.

“Understood, General Zhu!”

“Another thing—in the wake of the magic contest, Haofang Culture’s film crew might come to shoot on your premises. All managers, take note: if Mr. Fang gives you a heads-up, you MUST control the crowd the next day to prevent tourists and fans from disrupting filming.”

“Got it!”

Time flew, and soon it was 10 a.m. the next day. Daoist Master’s Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers act hadn’t faded at all; if anything, its popularity was surging, especially on short video platforms where a casual scroll was enough to catch a glimpse of the performance. And that wasn’t even everything.

Every reposted video gathered hundreds of comments, some even over a thousand.

In short, Daoist Master’s act had propelled the magic contest to its peak. Along with myriad exposés and words of praise, there was growing anticipation for his next two acts.

Some netizens had even calculated his performance time.

They were eager to see what sort of acts he would bring to the mid-size and large-scale segments—and whether he’d be as blunt and direct as in his first performance.

“Sigh, too bad the special supply of coffee beans is gone! That stuff really kept you alert.”

Inside an Ancient Building Courtyard in H Country, one competitor scratched his head and glanced disdainfully at the plain tea on the table.

“Exactly! Mingsha City is just too stingy. Even if we wanted to buy them, they wouldn’t sell! With special supply coffee beans, who knows—we might have already cracked You Gong’s magic act by now.”

No sooner had the competitor finished speaking than another chimed in.

Ever since yesterday’s contest, they’d been trying to decode Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers—but even after an entire night of work, they were no closer to a breakthrough.

Despite their years in the industry,

this was the first time they’d encountered such a magic act.

“Alright, enough complaining. I just got a call—the magic act is off the table for study for now!”

Just as the other competitors were about to speak, Cui Xiaozhong entered the courtyard.

“Not studying it?”

They all paused in surprise.

“Yeah! From now on, focus entirely on our upcoming act—especially the Sunlit Gold performance. No matter what, we must present the Magic Academy in the most spectacular fashion to our audience.”

Cui Xiaozhong nodded, “President, this doesn’t conflict at all.”

Jin Shanfú couldn’t help but add.

In his view, his magic act was already flawlessly designed and executed. Once the mid-size contest concluded, he’d head to the small island to set up the venue without delay.

For him, the Scattering Beans to Form Soldiers act had ignited an intense competitiveness—if he couldn’t crack it, it would linger as a nagging doubt.

“No choice! This is what the higher-ups decided. Did you know that at 3 a.m. last night, an announcement was posted on Mingsha City’s official website? Our very courtyard will soon be open to the public! Do you know how much it costs per day?”

Mentioning the Ancient Building Courtyard, Cui Xiaozhong gritted his teeth and said,

“How much?”

“8,000 Dragon Coins!”

“What? 8,000 Dragon Coins? That’s the price of a five-star hotel’s presidential suite! Although the accommodations here are comfortable, the basic services can’t compare to those of a presidential suite.”

At the mention of the price, several couldn’t help but gasp.

“Seriously, would anyone pay that high a price?”

“No one? At 3 a.m. yesterday, Mingsha City released 750 guesthouse rooms, and by 8 a.m. they were completely booked. There were even a slew of netizens commenting that if they couldn’t secure a room, more should be opened.”

Cui Xiaozhong scoffed in displeasure.

In one night, with 750 rooms booked at 8,000 each, the lodging revenue for that night soared past 6 million—a true pinnacle in guesthouse earnings.

The higher-ups had clearly seen the enormous economic potential, which is why they were fully backing the Magic Academy project.

“All booked up? Is the promotional effect of the magic contest really that good?”

After a long pause,

Jin Shanfú finally snapped back to attention and said,

“Yeah! That’s why our act from here on out must succeed, no matter what!”

“President, has You Gong’s background been thoroughly checked? With the mid-size magic contest tomorrow, I’m worried our act might get overshadowed by him.”

After a pause, both turned their gaze to Cui Xiaozhong.

Their pressure was already mounting—and now the higher-ups’ words only made it more intense.

“Currently, the magician’s background hasn’t been fully clarified, but that won’t affect you. He’s scheduled as the second to last performer in the mid-size contest, while you come before him! Even if his performance continues to dazzle, it won’t steal all the attention like his first act did.”

“As long as your ‘walking through the painting’ act is executed flawlessly.”

Cui Xiaozhong looked at one of them.

In order to promote Dino Park, not only was the Sunlit Gold act modified, but the ‘walking through the painting’ act was also tweaked at the last minute.

“Oh!”

“By the way, the mid-size magic contest arena opens this afternoon. If time is an issue, you can request early access to set up your props.”

“Got it, President!”

In fact,

it wasn’t just Cui Xiaozhong and the backing consortium affected by the high prices at Fudi Guesthouse; many netizens and ordinary people were discussing it too.

Some felt that Mingsha City was becoming a bit pretentious—with such exorbitant guesthouse prices, it snuffed out the ordinary person’s chance to experience Fudi firsthand.

Though the first night was fully booked thanks to the magic contest hype, future occupancy rates remained uncertain.

Of course,

others thought nothing was wrong—in fact, if it’s too pricey, one could always opt for the 200-300 rated hotels on Vermilion Bird Street. After all, if five-star hotels can charge even more, why not Mingsha City?

At that moment, on the mid-slope of Long Kingdom’s Zhongnanshan,

several bearded men in their forties, clad in Daoist robes and exuding a refined air, gathered together, chatting away.