Superstars of Tomorrow

When all four movements of the "100-Year Period of Destruction" series had finally been completed and released, those specializing in music turned their focus to analysing it.

Yanzhou Music Association, widely regarded as the industry’s most authoritative organization, had a post on their production, "Voice of Yanzhou." On their home page, Dina, a deputy head of the music association, had written an evaluation.

"Is it the pursuit of life or the pondering of the spirit? In the ’100-Year Period of Destruction,’ the techniques included in the four epic movements have given rise to a new round of investigative probing..."

Shortly after, other professionals followed with their own analysis.

"Explaining the golden points of the fourth movement in the ’100-Year Period of Destruction’..."

"Today, where music is so commercialized, symphonic music welcomes yet another peak..."

Other than professionals involved with the industry, yet another group of people were also paying close attention to the music releases.

The medical team setup to observe Ming Ye’s condition had been waiting. From their point of view, the four movements constituted to an entire course of treatment. As soon as the fourth movement was released, they entered a busy stage. The Hull virus was researched by the whole world and seemed to be a difficult problem. It had always seemed as if there was a door blocking the way of research. Now it was as if they had their hands on a set of complete keys to open the door. How much further they could step inside was all up to them.

However, only music industry professionals and medical professionals were following this piece of news. The attention of the rest of the populace was online, following the highly discussed voting battle and other entertainment related topics.

Rising Dragon’s branch in Yanzhou had set up the voting platform. Silver Wing’s Polar Light, Tongshan’s Mi Yu, and Neon Culture’s Andy Leo, these three popular idols were up for votes.

"Who is going to win the endorsement deal for ’Battle of the Century’?"

Previously, some people had said that even if Silver Wing Media produced a virtual idol this time, the competition would still be a two-way battle between the virtual idol powerhouses Neon Culture and Tongshan True Entertainment. But looking at the numbers on the voting board, the distance between them was not that large.

"The gap might seem close, but just wait and see. In two days, there will be an obvious gap. Right now, all three big companies have mobilized their personalities to campaign for votes. In two days, when the buzz dies down, we will then be able to see the influence of each individual virtual idol. Polar light relied on the four movements to get popular, but in terms of influence, he definitely is not as strong as the other two," a reviewer from the media deduced.

Whether it was Mi Yu or Andy Leo, both had been developing for two years already. Two years accumulated to give rise to where they were now. As for Polar Light, whether it was his appearance or the debut appearance, it was somewhat a novelty and not in line with mainstream tastes.

"Polar Light’s fan base is mainly made up of older people or those with enriching military experiences who would know how to appreciate this sort of music. Younger people will not like it."

However, these remarks received a slap in their faces shortly after.

At the voting platform, each candidate had a message board.

Silver Wing Media’s operations team watched, dumbfounded, as the message board on the voting platform for "Polar Light" was continuously flooded with comments.

"Did you employed fake fans?" one operation staff member asked another.

"Nope. Weren’t we supposed to gauge the situation first?"

The operation staff member seated in front turned his head and said, "Secondary school students have a long memorial holiday. They are on vacation. It is just them having too much free time."

At this moment, those watching the voting for the endorsement deal realized that from Silver Wing Media’s Polar Light’s column came a flood of comments in a different style.

"For the New World!"

"For the tree men’s glory!"

"Tree men have nothing to fear!"

"The enemy is crafty, to actually call for backup!"

"Stand firm, brothers! Second year of Qi’an No. 1 Secondary School leading troops to provide assistance!"

"Qi’an No. 12 Secondary School contingent reporting!"

"Yanxi No. 6 Secondary School contingent reporting!"

"Eh, fancy meeting a schoolmate here."

"Those behind, brothers from Yandong, Yannan, Yanbei, hurry and catch up!"

"Oh! I have enrolled, my imaginary branch fell off!"

"Pick it up! Comrades, catch your imaginary branches."

...

The masses observing the continuous rolling comments: "..."

"Every word is a drama," someone moaned.

"Getting too engrossed in shows. To really think they are tree men covered in branches from head to toe? Why don’t they say that their heads have started blooming?"

Nevertheless, the bizarre style of comments continued.

"Magu city, follow me!"

"Where is Jinggang city’s squadron?!"

"Soldier on, reinforcements will arrive at any time!"

"Leizhou reinforcements reporting in!"

"..."

"..."

This comment that had just appeared not only made those who had been playing about happily stop, it also caught the attention of the observing masses, as well as the companies.

"Leizhou? Renault’s Leizhou?"

"How did people from Leizhou end up here?"

Originally, only a small number came from Leizhou to join the fun, but following that, more and more people from Leizhou appeared at the message boards.

"Which superstar celebrity of Silver Wing Media managed to do this?" some tried to guess.

But quickly, these thoughts were easily denied after thinking it through.

An intercontinentally developed superstar celebrity would not enter the fray that easily. Participating in such an event would bring about much more influence, even to the point of completely controlling votes. An internationally recognized superstar would have taken a lot of time and effort to reach the top, and their company would not rashly play their card. Besides, the company’s control over such superstars would not be strong. Whether the company said it was for employment relations or for collaborations, the company could not forcefully make such a request.

Therefore, this kind of voting was normally limited to within the continent, and participating in campaigning were only the companies’ A-listers and those below. In terms of influence, there were limitations, and there was the blockade of foreign media too. Generally, people from other continents would not take part.

But what was happening now?

"Why are there people from Leizhou?"

Neon culture’s staff thus enquired with Rising Dragon’s branch about such large scale intercontinental campaigning. How was it not against the rules?

Rising Dragon’s Yanzhou branch said that the rules and regulations had never been restricted to the region. This round’s Yanzhou voting platform also had no restrictions regarding voters from other continents.

If one had the capability to garner votes across the world, Rising Dragon would approve with two thumbs up. This was a testament to one’s popularity.

In no time, everyone found out that, on Leizhou’s side, it was Wireless Media that was campaigning for votes.

The industry’s media began to guess that Silver Wing Media and Wireless Media surely had some secret transactions!

At the same time, Leizhou’s Wireless Media had contacted Silver Wing, and they were discussing collaboration matters.

It did not involve music. Wireless Media was a film company. They still had no plans to disrupt Leizhou’s music industry. The collaboration they had in mind was regarding a film arrangement.

Zaro’s Wireless Media had started preparations for the next movie. However, Zaro was not trying to flatter anyone. Rather, he wanted to curry favor for his great-grandfather.

The third movement had gotten him an influential shortcut. Thus, Zaro was serious now, spending a considerable sum to engage a well-known scriptwriter and director. He had decided to film a movie depicting exalted heroes of the war. Zaro himself was going to be acting, and he was brushing up on his acting skills. At the same time, he instructed the company to contact Silver Wing Media regarding a collaboration. Silver Wing’s Polar Light had only started a while back, right? Movies and films will surely come about, so why not collaborate with Wireless Media?

Generally, Leizhou’s film companies would use their local actors. Regardless whether they were real people or virtual idols, using actors from their own continent made it easier to receive the support of the viewing masses. After all, actors had their fan bases within their own continent, making it easier to garner box office sales. However, Zaro’s aim now was not to earn money but rather to win the favor of his great-grandfather. When the fourth movement came out, Zaro used certain means to get the final movement of the "100-Year Period of Destruction" series and send it straight to his great-grandfather. To appear frequently before his great-grandfather would bring about many benefits.

Nowadays, whatever pleased his great-grandfather, Zaro would do. His great-grandfather did not mind people from foreign continents, so he would not either. It did not matter if he earned less or paid more as long as he was able to be in the good books of his great-grandfather, he would have achieved his purpose.

Helping to campaign for votes was a show of Wireless Media’s sincerity.

Even when it got noisy outside, Fang Zhao paid no heed. He sat in his office writing down his composing thoughts as well as some techniques and feelings he used when composing.

He had written some before, and today he would write down the remainder. As for others, he would decide when the time came.

After finishing, he sent the electronic file to Xue Jing.

Somewhere in Qi’an, Xue Jing was writing down his analysis of the fourth movement when he heard a notification and saw that he had received a file from Fang Zhao. After reading through it, Xue Jing just stood blankly on the spot.

For the textbook he was compiling, Xue Jing wanted to discuss with Fang Zhao about his composing philosophy and sources of inspiration. He hoped that Fang Zhao could impart a little of his experience, allowing more people to come in contact with music of this style and learn a few techniques. How much Fang Zhao wanted to impart was all up to him. Xuejing had never expected Fang Zhao to write so much.

A textbook like this normally contained over 100,000 words, at most 200,000. The book would also contain various musical scores and analytical diagrams. Xue jing had only planned to write about 100,000 words, touching more on newer topics that were never raised and briefly mentioning older topics.

The file sent over by Fang Zhao contained 30,000 words! That was already a third of Xue Jing’s estimated word limit. Moreover, it all contained Fang Zhao’s production experiences as well as composing techniques. All that was written was not at all vague. Even though he had included ancient techniques, all his ancient and modern musical techniques were explained very thoroughly.

When Xue Jing finished reading, he immediately contacted Fang Zhao.

"Fang Zhao, do you know the implication of what you have written?!"

One could start a paid training class or accept a few disciples as a means of extra income. Lots of people in the industry did so. However, Fang Zhao had actually written all of his methods down! When this was all placed into a publicly available textbook, it would not bring Fang Zhao as much income.

"I know," Fang Zhao replied. "Are there any problems with the content?"

"There are no issues. I just wanted to ensure that you are really all right with compiling all this?" Xue Jing asked once again.

"Whether to compile or not, the decision lies solely in your hands."

Fang Zhao knew what Xue Jing meant. It was just that he had chosen to share his own experiences and techniques publicly.

He did not know how long he would get to stay in this world. He was grateful for having the chance to once again open his eyes and see the world.

During the end of days, he had thought that, if he had the chance, he wished to pass on every single one of his skills and techniques, if at all possible. Who would not want to live longer?

This life was an unlikely accident. Not everyone would get a chance like this.

He would use whatever experiences and techniques he had learned in his lifetime and leave them in a book that would be passed on to future generations. He hoped that this time, on his gravestone, the words "A composer" would be on it.

Xue Jing sighed deeply upon receiving Fang Zhao’s confirmation.

"...I got it."

Hanging up, Xue Jing remained silent for a while. He then removed Fang Zhao’s name from the column for "Contributors" and placed him in an empty column labeled "Deputy Editor."

On the other end, after the call with Xue Jing ended, Fang Zhao received yet another call from Duan Qianji.

"Come to the top floor office. Ming Cang wishes to thank you in person."