“Yun Yueming, it’s your turn to enter and choose your seat.”
The pre-show interview ended, and a staff member quickly came to urge him.
Yun Yueming walked through a dazzling corridor lined with LED lights and arrived at the recording hall, looking around curiously.
One hundred seats formed a pyramid shape, rising from low to high, each marked with a number from 1 to 100. The seat at the very top bore a huge sign with a “1” on it.
A cold, imposing throne.
It exuded the domineering aura and aloofness of someone who had fought through a mountain of swords and a sea of flames to become a superstar.
Yun Yueming couldn’t help but let out a little “Wow.”
“This spot is so high—”
At that moment, over twenty trainees had already taken their seats, all sitting cautiously in the lower rows.
Seeing that breathtakingly handsome man walking over, they watched in shock as he unhesitatingly stepped onto the platform and began climbing the stairs, one level after another, his pace steady and confident.
Everyone: “??!”
Yun Yueming thought to himself: “The view for watching performances must be amazing up here!”
Fortunately, his fox ears were sharp enough. Picking up on the commotion from the crowd below, he sensed something was off.
Encouraging shouts came from the trainees down below: “Go for it, big shot! Challenge yourself!”
…This seating arrangement.
Seems like you can’t just sit anywhere.
While thinking, Yun Yueming really wanted to let his tail out to wag it. After hesitating for two seconds, he shifted his weight and decisively plopped down onto seat number 6, one level lower.
He patted his leg and surveyed the area.
This view was good too!
Plus, there was a life-sized plush bear next to him!
The life-sized plush bear, wearing sunglasses, suddenly spoke: “My name is Yang Xing.”
His tone was utterly flat: “You’re the first person brave enough to sit next to me!”
Only then did Yun Yueming realize this was a person.
In the studio, which was warm despite the air conditioning, this trainee was dressed in an ostentatious mink coat, wearing a pair of cold, tough-looking black sunglasses, his slicked-back hair immaculate.
Dripping in gold and silver, flashy enough to blind someone.
He looked less like a trainee and more like a loan shark here to collect debts.
“I can’t sit here either?”
Yun Yueming knew a little about geomancy and divination. Looking at him like this, he suspected there might be a problem with his family’s ancestral graves: “What’s the story behind this spot?”
Yang Xing dramatically whipped off his sunglasses, revealing… a face that was still young, on the verge of adulthood.
He said excitedly: “Someone daring enough to sit this high must be as confident in themselves as I am, wanting to become a huge superstar!”
“Other people obviously want to debut too, but they’re too timid to come up here. If they don’t even believe in themselves, who’s going to notice them?”
The cool, cocky rich kid brother held out his hand: “I admire you!”
Yun Yueming: “…”
So choosing a seat was essentially predicting your own ranking.
You sit at the number corresponding to where you think you’ll place.
— Then sitting directly in a debut spot would make him look totally clueless and arrogant, wouldn’t it!?
Yun Yueming smiled warmly as he shook his hand back, his tone equally enthusiastic: “Thanks!”
Yang Xing was overjoyed that someone had finally come to sit by him.
He was a celebrity kid in the industry, and everyone said he could only rely on his father’s halo his whole life.
This show would surely prove his own abilities!
The other contestants had known his identity from the start.
Alongside envy, there was jealousy and malice. People either approached him with ulterior motives or were too afraid to get close at all.
That’s why he had specifically chosen seat number 5. Someone without ability or with ill intentions definitely wouldn’t dare to come near.
After all, nobody wanted to get criticized by viewers right as the show started.
Only this beautiful brother beside him radiated an aura of kindness.
Yang Xing felt a warmth in his heart.
He was a fan of luxury goods and noticed Yun Yueming’s T-shirt looked unfamiliar: “Is that a new Miu Miu piece? When did they start making such nice menswear?”
Yun Yueming turned around, pointing at the huge English logo on his chest— minmin!
He said cheerfully: “You mean this? Thirty each, fifty for two. If you like it, I can help you buy one!”
This touched on the rich second generation’s blind spot. Yang Xing was silent for an unusually long moment.
“By the way, which mentor this season is your favorite?”
Yun Yueming was solely focused on his five thousand monthly salary. He couldn’t care less if the mentors were a bunch of hamsters.
“So, which one do you like best?”
Yang Xing: “Ji Song, Teacher Ji, of course!”
Hearing a familiar name, Yun Yueming’s fur stood on end. “Who?”
Just mentioning it got Yang Xing incredibly excited, his cool and aloof persona instantly crumbling.
“You don’t know Teacher Ji?”
“The all-around Film Emperor, a god-level vocalist! His song ‘Phoenix Crying on Mount Qi’ made me cry. It’s so magnificent and powerful, it feels like you’ve truly died in hell and then been reborn from the fire!”
A bad premonition washed over Yun Yueming, giving him goosebumps.
— Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
His master had been dead, his remains turned to dust, centuries ago!
Thinking this, his anxious heart settled back down a little. He responded with a smile: “I like Teacher Ji the best too.”
His charming, bright eyes shimmered with light.
“I really want to meet him soon.”
·
“Teacher Ji, Lan Zhenzhu has been waiting for you for three hours now. Maybe you could…?”
The agent pressed a handkerchief to his beaded cold sweat, asking timidly.
Before he finished speaking, a cold, frosty glance swept over him—commanding respect without anger, like a sword stroke silencing all.
He was so scared he immediately shut up.
“I’ll go make him leave right now!”
The person waiting outside, enduring all this, was the international supermodel Lan Zhenzhu.
Just to catch a glimpse of Ji Song.
This big shot had flown in specially from a European fashion show, over ten hours non-stop, utterly devoted!
Anyone would be moved by such dedication.
But he had run into an iceberg, and Ji Song was that towering, unmoving mountain.
Proud, serious, even a bit straitlaced.
In recent years, this young, cold and stern film emperor had burst onto the scene.
With his performance in the film Zhaoge, playing a king who died a martyr for his country, he had moved countless audiences to tears and instantly become a household name.
At the same time, Ji Song’s voice was also uniquely gifted—deep, cool, and pristine.
He had won countless singer awards.
He had knowledge, courage, and acclaimed works.
He was an all-around artist blessed by God, an unattainable flower atop the highest peak.
Countless people threw money and tantrums for his affection, yet still loved in vain.
— Everyone was merely a subject kneeling at his throne.
The man’s aura was too powerful; several stylists were as quiet as quails.
Faced with that sculpted, perfect face, there was little room for the stylists to work their magic, so they just slightly adjusted his hairstyle.
Finished, the man rose, tall and straight as a pine tree.
He nodded slightly: “Thank you.”
The slightly shorter stylist had to look up at him: “!”
Being treated coldly or disrespected by celebrities was commonplace, but this was the first time she’d encountered an artist so handsome and so easy to work with. She was instantly won over.
Flattered, she stammered: “N-no, you’re welcome…!”
As soon as Ji Song left, they couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
“Finally, I can breathe! Film Emperor Ji’s pressure is just too intense!”
“Too handsome, I couldn’t dare look him straight in the eye. It felt like looking too long would be disrespectful. Truly a ‘god-like’ face among male artists…”
“Poor Lan Zhenzhu. I wonder if he’s even left yet. Teacher Ji is really a breath of fresh air in the industry. His private life is cleaner than my pockets!”
“He’s so serious! So scary, so scary…”
The tall, slender man, impeccably dressed in a crisp, form-fitting white suit, walked onto the stage as the lights gradually dimmed.
Exuding a trail of cold, inhumanly stern, murderous aura.
Ji Song’s agent, Hyper, stood below the stage, watching from afar, and shook his head at the innocent trainees.
“You little guys, you’re all finished~”
He formed a heart with his hands in a very cheeky way.
“Chu~!”
·
With 100 trainees performing their debut stage, the recording would inevitably go on all night long.
To save time and maintain the mentors’ mystique, the stage lights slowly went out.
The three mentors entered.
They were vocal mentor Ji Song, dance mentor Meng Qi, and rap mentor Reid.
Waves of cheers from the contestants grew louder and louder.
Taking advantage of the dim lighting, Yun Yueming let his soft fox ears pop out and scratched them a few times out of boredom.
Hurry up and start performing, this fox is about to fall asleep!
When the lights came back on, it was time for the first group’s debut stage performance—
Five boys in matching uniforms stood in a row. Counting down from three, they shouted their slogan in perfect unison:
“Hello everyone! We are—”
“The Hui Guo Rua — group!”
A wave of goosebumps washed over Yun Yueming. He quietly asked Yang Xing beside him, “Um…”
He mimicked their cute, whisker-stroking gesture.
“Do we all have to do that?”
Yang Xing, who moments ago was proclaiming his dominance over the entire show, was now wrapped in his mink coat, trembling like a leaf. His face was pale with nerves, his overbearing aura completely shaken off.
Yun Yueming quietly traced a calming charm on his lower back.
The next second, Yang Xing felt confident again and started bragging on the spot: “Haha, just wait until I blow everyone away!”
Yun Yueming: “.”
Oh, okay.
Turns out “Hui Guo Rua” was a homophone for “Hui Guo Rou” (twice-cooked pork).
Meaning every member of this group had participated in no fewer than five talent shows before, yet still held onto their dream of debuting.
Yun Yueming, as if just getting connected to the internet, was moved to tears by this classic talent show trope. He shouted, “Gold will shine eventually! Go for it!”
The five on stage, who originally hadn’t had much hope for their group, suddenly received some kindness. They actually performed beyond their usual level—
There were five grades: A, B, C, D, F.
The whole group got B grade!
The little fox had watched many animal performances in the past, and now he was finally seeing human performances too.
Wasn’t this way more entertaining than animal shows?
He cheered along happily, feeling that this five thousand was money well earned!
Meng Qi: “Next, please welcome the independent trainee, Yun Yueming.”
Yun Yueming was someone who completely didn’t get stage fright.
He owed this to those years on Peach Garden Immortal Mountain as a fox. Wherever he went, his cold, aloof master would be standing behind him.
The fox borrowing the master’s prestige—he was confident and unrestrained, strutting around for many years.
Apart from the master himself, there was no one he feared.
Besides, he’d used the company card to sing at a KTV for a whole week. He’d practiced well, so why be nervous?
The little fox swayed his head happily.
And now, that’s exactly how he confidently stepped onto the stage. His long legs stopped, the spotlight shone down, and he beamed a bright smile.
“Hello mentors, hello everyone, my name is Yun Yueming!”
Everyone’s breath caught for a second.
That enchanting, almost otherworldly beauty was simply captivating, so stunning.
Ji Song’s jade-like fingers tapped lightly on the contestant information sheet.
As his finger unconsciously traced over that name, the man’s gaze seemed to lose focus for a moment, as if thinking of a distant past.
“Yun, Yue, Ming.”
The always taciturn Mentor Ji spoke up, his voice cool and solemn.
He lifted his gaze, his presence overwhelming like dark clouds pressing down on a city: “Practice duration… one week?”
Yun Yueming had been so happy watching all the wonderful performances that he hadn’t really looked closely. Only now did he focus his eyes on Ji Song.
The moment their eyes met…
His brain stopped working.
He heard the roaring sound of blood rushing through his veins.
He heard the sounds of all things sprouting in early spring on Peach Garden Immortal Mountain, which had long since turned into a barren hill.
Wh-what’s going on?
Little golden flowers flashed before Yun Yueming’s eyes, and he almost fainted.
This, this, this—
Wasn’t this the master who had relentlessly whipped him for over a thousand years, and then had his soul scattered beyond the heavens for many more!?
A corpse rising from the grave! A zombie!
He almost lost control and let his fox tail burst out in shock. Unbelievable!
How are you my teacher again!???