After settling down Renhe, Song Jixing continued to work hard as an artist, leaving early and returning late, flexibly clocking in and out, dedicating most of her time to making money.
Regarding the Divine Cauldron, Song Jixing also asked Renhe about it, but unfortunately didn't get much useful information.
Although Renhe was an elder guarding the treasure house, he was still a junior compared to the Divine Cauldron.
The Divine Cauldron had been in Qingyun Sect for more than 18,000 years. Only disciples who had formed the Golden Core had the qualification to see it and comprehend the Great Dao in its presence.
As for why only those with Golden Cores could approach it, this rule was set by the senior who had picked up the Divine Cauldron long ago. Whether this rule served any purpose, Renhe himself did not know.
At least during his time in Qingyun Sect, he had not heard of anyone comprehending anything in the presence of the Divine Cauldron.
The elders guarding the sect's treasure house had changed many times. The seniors from the Divine Cauldron's time had either ascended long ago or turned to dust.
What Renhe knew about the rules concerning the Divine Cauldron were all hearsay from the previous generation. He didn't know much more, but Song Jixing still gleaned some useful information.
Two characters were engraved under the Divine Cauldron - Xuetian.
But Xuetian was not its name. The Divine Cauldron was jet black, had a jade-like texture, and the name passed down in Qingyun Sect was Xuanyu Ding.
Renhe didn't know more than this. The only person who might know more was probably the sect leader.
After hearing this, Song Jixing sank into deep thought for a long time.
It wasn't because she was bothered by why the Black Jade Tripod wasn't called Xuetian Ding.
She was worried - what if the Divine Cauldron's explosion range was very large and even harmed the sect leader? Who could bring them back then?
But why did it only blow her up and assimilate into her bones and blood, without harming her fellow sect members and disciples?
This was what Song Jixing couldn't understand.
Could it be that she was the Black Jade Tripod's destined person, so that as soon as they met it just exploded like a blasting cap?
Song Jixing had never been one to overthink. When she couldn't find the answer, she didn't dwell on it.
She should think about how to earn money to support her fellow sect members!
Song Jixing counted the time and felt the next sect member would appear soon, maybe in the next second, or maybe tomorrow.
If they came early, Elder Renhe still had empty rooms. If they came a little later, in about half a month, the newly rented house would be ready for them to move into.
She didn't need to worry too much.
-
"The preview for the variety show came out and the response has been pretty good. Did you see it?" Xu Kai called to ask.
The car was driving smoothly towards the set.
Song Jixing was still sitting in the van, letting the accompanying staff touch up her makeup and style her hair. Hearing this, she moved her head slightly and honestly replied, "No."
Xu Kai seemed to have expected this. He wasn't discouraged.
"You've gained a lot of followers on Weibo lately. Interact with them more often, post some daily life stuff. If you don't want to do it yourself let Little Wang post it..." Xu Kai nagged her with things to do one by one.
Song Jixing hmm-ed in response a couple times, then chatted with Xu Kai about some other things before casually opening the link he had sent her on WeChat and taking a look.
The link led to a trailer cut together by the show producers.
Several highlights were edited together - first several male guests struggling to carry Zhu Chongguang's luggage and unable to lift it up.
Then the crazy amount Song Jixing ate for the first dinner on the island.
The different reactions of the guests when they received props, and the tricky situation of losing their way and being unable to tell east from west when lost in the wilderness.
What surprised Song Jixing was that afterwards there was actually footage of her wielding a giant green onion and demonstrating her sword skills, slicing it down horizontally. And Feng Juechen raising his hand to slice off a table leg.
The sudden change of footage aroused much curiosity among fans, urging the producers to broadcast the show soon.
With official reposts and support from various celebrities, plus the rich content of the variety show itself, this island travel show gained some popularity.
Among the cast were childhood faces everyone had seen, as well as many new faces showing up for the first time.
The foremost of them was Feng Juechen.
A large portion of the comments were asking about Feng Juechen. A smaller portion were concerned with how he had sliced off the table leg with a raise of his hand.
From the footage released by the producers, the table leg seemed to have flown into the air before being sliced by Feng Juechen.
But because the video segment released was quite short, people couldn't be sure of the prior circumstances.
Before long, a hot search topic about slicing off a table leg with a raised hand quietly climbed up the trending charts.
Those unfamiliar would have thought some skilled master was among the populace. But upon clicking in, it turned out to be entertainment news related to celebrities, from an unreleased variety show.
Comments about hype, buying hot search topics, and creating gimmicks instantly flooded the trending topic.
Seeing this, Song Jixing directly closed it.
Feng Juechen's company would handle things for him, and he could handle it himself. As for discussions online, they didn't amount to much. Her junior disciple was no ordinary person.
With this attitude, Song Jixing worked diligently every day, occasionally chatting with Feng Juechen who also worked late hours when they ran into each other at night.
And seeing him in different magazines and on covers, striking poses as if he had fully blended into this life.
Song Jixing felt even more at ease to focus on earning money.
-
Before going to Director Zhang's crew for the audition, Song Jixing made sufficient preparations. Under Xu Kai's arrangements, she learned a lot from coaching teachers and memorized all the script lines sent over by the crew.
The role Song Jixing was auditioning for was a villainous supporting female character No. 4.
For a feature film of around two hours, the protagonist's story had to be told clearly and briskly.
The villain Song Jixing was auditioning for was an inn owner auntie who had shown the protagonist, who had just left home, some warmth and care.
With their large age and status differences, they shouldn't have any interactions under normal circumstances.
But the auntie had lent a helping hand when the protagonist was in trouble, allowing him to feel the warmth of humanity, and he had kept her in his heart since.
It was such a heartwarming big sister character, and also one who taught the protagonist morality.
After revealing her identity, she directly fought the protagonist and heavily injured him in an attempt on his life. She was then killed by the protagonist's allies who rushed to the scene, thus exiting the story.
Logically, an actress of Song Jixing's age wouldn't audition for this role.
Apart from requiring solid acting skills, there were also many action scenes depicting the passage of time and vicissitudes of life.
Director Zhang's crew was well known in the industry for not using stunt doubles and relying entirely on the actors themselves training for half a year in advance. After filming, the entire cast would be covered in injuries.
Despite the demanding requirements, many still wanted to sign up for a chance to work with Director Zhang, whose works were mostly top international productions!
Who didn't want to make it big?
