A top star in the Chinese entertainment industry, but also a Taoist priest.

The next morning, Chen Shouyi was amused by the scene before him as soon as he entered the shed area.

Shouzhuo and Guo Hu stood in the center of the field. The ground in front of them was marked with movement marks using tape. Shouzhuo was holding a prop wooden sword, while Guo Hu was empty-handed and gesturing something.

"Master!" Shouzhuo saw Chen Shouyi approaching and immediately ran to greet him. "You've come at the right time! Tiger and I have been working on a set of moves these past few days. Would you like to take a look?"

Chen Shouyi nodded and walked to the sidelines.

Shouzhuo ran back to the field, took a deep breath, and assumed a starting stance.

Shouzhuo and Guo Hu have indeed put a lot of effort into this set of tactics.

Shouzhuo's swordsmanship follows a fierce and powerful path, with each slash, thrust, and flick accompanied by the sound of wind, the tip of the sword drawing a sharp arc in the air.

Guo Hu matched his rhythm, dodging, blocking, and counterattacking, the two exchanging blows with great force.

Especially the final move, Shou Zhuo sidestepped Guo Hu's straight punch, and raised the peach wood sword from bottom to top, the tip of the sword stopping three inches in front of Guo Hu's throat.

Guo Hu stopped at the same time and clasped his hands together.

Several martial arts practitioners around him clapped. Shou Zhuo sheathed his sword, feeling a little proud. He glanced at Chen Shouyi, waiting for his master's evaluation.

Chen Shouyi nodded: "Not bad."

He walked into the arena, took the wooden sword from Shou Zhuo, and weighed it in his hand. It was too light, incomparable to a real sword, but it was enough for the camera.

Then he turned to Guo Hu and nodded slightly: "Benefactor Guo, please cooperate."

Guo Hu grinned: "Alright, Daoist Master."

He assumed the starting stance he had used when sparring with Shouzhuo, then let out a low shout and charged forward with a punch.

Chen Shouyi moved later than him, but he was faster.

Before Guo Hu's fist arrived, Chen Shouyi had already dodged to the side, and his wooden sword pointed upwards at Guo Hu's wrist.

Guo Hu quickly withdrew his fist, but Chen Shouyi's sword had already changed direction, the tip of the sword grazing his shoulder and forcing him to take two steps back.

After only two moves, Guo Hu realized that he couldn't keep up with the pace at all.

When Shouzhu fought him, it was a formulaic back-and-forth, but Chen Shouyi's swordsmanship left no room for prediction; every strike came from an unexpected angle.

When he tried to parry, the sword had already changed position; when he tried to counterattack, the tip of the sword was already pressed against his vitals.

In the final move, Chen Shouyi did not use the finishing touch that Shouzhuo had designed.

He sidestepped Guo Hu's sweeping leg, stepped forward with his left foot, and twisted his right wrist, causing the tip of his sword to draw an arc and stop exactly an inch in front of Guo Hu's brow.

The sword tip remained completely still.

The muscle adjustments were made in millimeters; even if an ordinary person wanted to recreate the movements, they wouldn't be able to tell when he started to retract his strength.

Guo Hu stood there, breathing a little rapidly. He stared at the sword tip, which was less than two centimeters from his brow, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

The open space was quiet for a moment before Guo Hu slowly raised his hand, nudged the tip of his sword to the side, and swallowed hard.

"Master, your sword is too close. I'm starting to panic."

The stuntmen around them exchanged glances. One of them, who usually sparred with Shou Zhuo the most, opened his mouth and whispered:

"At that speed, will the camera be able to capture it?"

Zhao Mingyuan arrived at some point, standing on the outer edge of the crowd, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit an egg.

Xu Huikang stood beside him. He glanced at Chen Shouyi in the arena, then at Zhao Mingyuan, who was still talking.

"Old Zhao, shut your mouth."

Zhao Mingyuan then came to his senses and swallowed hard: "Director Xu, Daoist Master, this—"

"I saw it." Xu Huikang took a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly.

Guo Hu finally recovered and turned to Xu Huikang: "Director Xu, did you see the Taoist priest's last sword strike?!"

"I saw him." Xu Huikang stepped forward, looked Chen Shouyi up and down, but then rubbed his hands together, switching from an excited to a more tactful tone.

"Master, your whole performance was truly impressive. But—haha, when we're actually filming, we still need to go a bit slower."

Fearing that Chen Shouyi might misunderstand, he quickly added, "It's not that you didn't play well! It's that your movements were too fast, and the camera couldn't capture them."

"We'll need to break down the movements, slow down the pace, and give the audience enough pauses to react."

Guo Hu nodded repeatedly beside him:

"Yes, yes, just like I told Brother Shouzhuo before, we need to make sure the audience can see the movements clearly. With your rhythm, Master, the audience hasn't even seen the first movement before the third one is already done."

Chen Shouyi pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Agreed."

He's not an unreasonable person; fast shooting doesn't equate to good filming. The pacing of the shots definitely needs to be slowed down.

Guo Hu and Xu Huikang both breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Ruoyun stood outside the crowd. He silently withdrew his hand, looked down at his script, then glanced at Chen Shouyi in the center of the room, and let out a heartfelt sigh:

"This script revision is excellent, truly excellent."

Qiao Xin stood next to him and watched the whole thing. She played A Xiu, and she didn't talk much to Chen Shouyi on set.

At this moment, she looked at Chen Shouyi in the center of the arena, then turned her head thoughtfully and asked Zhang Ruoyun in a low voice:

"Ruoyun, a lot of our scenes together have been cut from the new script, right?"

"Yes, we chopped some." Zhang Ruoyun nodded.

Qiao Xin was a little confused: "Then why are you so happy?"

Zhang Ruoyun smiled sincerely: "Being cut is better than getting beaten up. Think about it, if the script isn't changed, what if I'm the one stuck there? I can't withstand a hit from the Taoist priest."

Qiao Xin: "..."

Qiao Xin looked at Zhang Ruoyun's extremely serious face, and then at Chen Shouyi on the field, and suddenly felt that her partner's concerns were indeed very reasonable.

Zhang Ruoyun added with lingering fear, "That's why I said Liu Zigu should just focus on dating Axiu. As for Huayue's romantic storyline, let's leave it to the professionals."

As they were talking, most of the people in the center of the venue had already dispersed.

Chen Shouyi walked to the edge of the field and glanced at Chen Yao, who hadn't moved forward.

"You saw everything?" Chen Shouyi walked over.

Chen Yao nodded: "I saw everything."

She paused, then looked up at Chen Shouyi:

"I've seen what you guys were doing before, and you can't do any of them."

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and flipped through the script. When she reached the few pages with fight scenes, her brows furrowed slightly.

"Look at this, Hua Yue sidesteps Zhuo Yun's grab and then spins to counterattack. And this, Zhuo Yun sweeps his leg, and Hua Yue flips back to avoid it. I can't do this one."

Chen Shouyi took the script from her hand, glanced at it, and then handed it back:

"Didn't the director say that we'd slow down the filming and you wouldn't actually have to do a backflip? We'll break down the action and film it frame by frame. You just need to get the pose right."

Chen Yao took the script, still looking somewhat unsure of himself.

Chen Shouyi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll guide you. Just follow my lead. I also taught Shouzhuo those moves, so don't worry about them."

Chen Yao looked up at him; his expression remained calm and unhurried. She thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll give it a try."

"It's not a 'try'," Chen Shouyi said with a smile, "You can definitely do it."

Chen Yao's lips twitched, and in the end, she couldn't help but laugh.

Before she could say anything more, she saw Shouzhuo running over.

"Master! What did you think of that routine just now? Tiger and the others have been working on it for days!"

Chen Shouyi glanced at him and said, "You've improved since before; this look is definitely cool."

Just as Shouzhuo's smile was halfway across his face, Chen Shouyi added:

"However, when you launched your attack in the third round, your right shoulder moved first, revealing your intentions completely. Go back and practice some more."

Shouzhuo's smile froze on his face, then quickly switched to an expression of humility and receptiveness:

"Yes, Master."

Chen Yao stood to the side, smiling with pursed lips, clearly gloating.

Shouzhuo secretly glanced at her, his eyes conveying accusation, while he obediently said:

"Master is right."

Seeing that Shouzhuo was still standing there, Chen Shou casually asked, "Is there anything else?"

Shouzhu scratched the back of his head and chuckled, saying:

"Master, um... since you also think he's handsome, is there any reward?"

Chen Shouyi hummed in agreement, seemingly deep in thought about the question.

Shouzhuo waited expectantly, and after a moment, Chen Shouyi spoke:

"You can go back tomorrow."

Shouzhuo froze for a moment, blinked, then blinked again: "Huh?"

Chen Shouyi explained, "Several pilgrims have already come to ask about this recently. It's inconvenient that there's no one at the temple after we've been out for so long. You should go back first."

He added, "When you get back, remember to offer incense to the ancestral master. When worshippers come, receive them. If you encounter anything you're unsure about, call me."