Chapter 184: Chapter 97: Sword and Dream

The exterior of the Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy was built to resemble a Western palace. Its entire surface was clad in various types of unidentifiable raw stone, giving it an elegant and grand appearance.

Twelve marble pillars supported the dome, their surfaces adorned with bas-reliefs of Louis XIV’s hunting scenes. Golden leaf ornamentation coiled around the entire length of each pillar.

The pillars by the entrance alone were a full three stories tall, to say nothing of the entire building.

’The owner must be someone important.’

A massive plaque hung above the entrance, inscribed with the words: Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy.

The calligraphy was forceful and vigorous, the strokes as sharp as if drawn by a Treasure Sword being unsheathed, revealing its edge.

It must have been written by a great master of the Martial Dao.

However, compared to the one at the entrance of the Emei Sect, this calligraphy merely revealed a sharp edge. It was worlds apart from the other, which contained a Sword Intent that hadn’t dissipated in a thousand years.

Guided by a staff member at the door, Zhao Rui walked into the main hall. The first thing that caught his eye was an incomparably massive Swarovski crystal waterfall chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

It radiated a hazy aura and a brilliant light.

The floors and walls were constructed from exquisite, polished stone that reflected one’s image, and they were inlaid with sparkling, translucent gemstones.

Behind a spacious reception counter, two graceful young women, both at least 175 centimeters tall, looked over with smiles. They wore slim-fitting, light-blue uniforms.

Their eyes smiled, and their demeanor was poised and elegant.

’No wonder so many people resent the rich!’

Zhao Rui cursed silently. It wasn’t that he was against people being rich; he was against rich people who flaunted their wealth.

If they started rounding up the rich and redistributing their wealth, he’d be the first to volunteer.

Grumbling aside, the establishment truly left Zhao Rui stunned.

If a branch in the provincial capital was like this, he couldn’t even imagine what the one in the Capital City would be like.

A few minutes later, led by an attendant, Zhao Rui entered a lavishly decorated office.

Inside the spacious room, a bald man was on the phone, his legs crossed and propped up on a desk carved from purple sandalwood.

Seeing the attendant bring Zhao Rui in, he waved a hand downward, gesturing for him to sit, then continued his phone call.

After serving Zhao Rui some tea, the attendant closed the door and left the office.

Zhao Rui sat quietly, surveying the room’s layout while listening in on the man’s phone conversation.

He couldn’t help it. After learning the Heavenly Demon Illusionary Sound Technique, his hearing had become more than just a little sharp.

“Brother Luo, don’t you worry, this movie of ours is guaranteed to be a blockbuster…!”

“Yes, yes. Look, about Miss Song… could you try to work on her a bit more? You have no idea how many messages I get from the audience every day…”

“If she won’t do the nude scene, how are we supposed to answer to anyone?”

“Right, right, okay. I’ll be waiting for your word!”

The bald man hung up, his smiling face instantly turning cold. He spat, “Fucking bitch, who does she think she is!”

After speaking, he seemed to remember someone else was in the room. He quickly quieted down and looked at Zhao Rui with a nonchalant air.

“You’re here for the job, right? You can call me Brother Kun… A Level 9 Martial Artist, not bad. I don’t have many rules here. Just one: do your job.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. It’s good for young people to get out and see the world. Holing up on campus all day just makes you useless.”

After he finished speaking, Brother Kun took out his phone and made a call. A moment later, a manager came in and led Zhao Rui to the Martial Arts Dojo’s training hall.

The massive hall was spacious and luxurious, filled with all sorts of top-grade exercise equipment that was rarely seen.

Even the weapons looked extraordinary.

You could tell at a glance they weren’t ordinary items.

At that moment, people were exercising in various parts of the hall.

Some were practicing martial arts forms, some were using the equipment, and others were training with weapons.

There were even people doing yoga.

The colors of the yoga pants were especially nice to look at—some round, some plump, some perky…

The teaching arrangements were similar to other martial arts halls, divided into regular classes and private instruction.

Zhao Rui was taking over for an instructor who had recently left. He would teach on weekends, with each class consisting of two periods, totaling an hour and a half.

It wasn’t a long time.

The main task was to provide martial arts guidance and training to some non-professional students.

After understanding the nature of the job, familiarizing himself with the work environment, and getting his employee ID, Zhao Rui left the Martial Arts Hall.

The weekend started tomorrow; all he had to do was show up on time for class.

Leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Zhao Rui rode his bike, meandering slowly through the city in search of tasty street food.

He hadn’t been riding long when he parked his bike next to a small shop and bought a serving of sweet potato fries with plum powder. Just then, his phone rang.

He picked up his phone and saw the call was from Ouyang Xin, a senior from the music academy.

’What could she want with me?’

Curious, Zhao Rui answered the call.

“Zhao Rui, I have some good news for you.”

Ouyang Xin said, her voice filled with excitement.

“What good news?” Zhao Rui asked curiously.

“That song of ours, the famous director Wang Ping took a liking to it! He wants to use it as part of the score.”

“Oh? How much are they paying?”

Zhao Rui replied without a flicker of emotion. It was just for the score; he thought she was going to say they’d been chosen as the male and female leads.

“A hundred thousand, but we won’t be the ones performing it.”

Ouyang Xin said, sounding a little embarrassed. Using their song but not letting the creators perform it was a bit hard to justify.

But in truth, Zhao Rui’s skill level wasn’t up to professional standards.

“Don’t be disappointed yet. I managed to get you a small supporting role,” Ouyang Xin said, sounding a little excited.

“As a random passerby?”

“No, it’s much better than a random passerby! The director heard you’re a Martial Arts Student and saved a role specifically for you. You’ll even have ten lines of dialogue!”

“Thanks, Senior, but I’m not really interested. Is it okay if I don’t go?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep