Film and Television: The Villain's Life Begins with Joy of Life

April's blossoms have faded, May is the height of summer.

In early summer, Zhou Cheng left Kyoto, the capital city that had confined him for fifteen years, for the first time.

A carriage, dozens of guards, and a group of people quietly left the capital and headed to the easternmost part of the Qing Kingdom—Da Dong Shan.

The carriage rolled along the official road, raising a fine cloud of dust.

Inside the carriage, Zhou Cheng slowly withdrew his gaze from the window, the last trace of curiosity about the unfamiliar world in his eyes completely disappearing.

"Li Yunrui put in a lot of effort this time, but... it's still a bit unexpected that he was able to get out so smoothly."

He unconsciously tapped his knees lightly with his fingertips.

Even though he used the pretext of "repairing the temple and turning around his reputation," Emperor Qing agreed too easily.

Given the other party's suspicious nature, letting him out like this is probably to see what he might do.

During this trip, Emperor Qing selected two eighth-rank experts from the Imperial Guard to serve as his bodyguards.

His every move was actually under the control of Emperor Qing.

However, being able to leave Kyoto and head to Daitoyama had already completely achieved his goal.

Feeling the eighth-grade true energy slowly flowing through his body, Zhou Cheng stopped thinking about it.

He sat cross-legged, holding his breath and concentrating, his muscles undulating slightly with the swaying of the carriage, his movements like gentle waves pushing sand.

The car swayed, but the man remained as steadfast as a rock in a raging torrent, unmoved.

Some time ago, his true qi reached the eighth rank, but he was suffering from a lack of practical combat experience.

Recently, he has started to think about how to control his body and regulate his strength.

For example, right now, one can use slight movements of the muscles and bones to borrow force and neutralize it, thus eliminating the disturbance and strengthening control over oneself and one's true energy.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Cheng suddenly opened his eyes.

"parking."

The carriage came to an abrupt halt, and the voice of Chen Quan, the head of the guards, immediately rang out from outside the carriage window: "Your Highness, what are your orders?"

Chen Quan was one of the eighth-rank masters assigned to him by Emperor Qing. The other was Chen Bao. The two were not only exceptional in martial arts, but also, unusually, blood brothers.

Zhou Cheng's calm tone resonated throughout the carriage:

"My eyelids suddenly started twitching, and I have a sudden feeling that something bad might happen. Chen Quan, take a team of men and go ahead to investigate carefully."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Chen Quan accepted the order without asking any further questions and left immediately.

The sound of horses' hooves galloping by.

Deputy Commander Chen Bao quickly directed the remaining men to surround the carriage, creating a slightly tense atmosphere.

"There were quite a few people here, and they even managed to pinpoint my location precisely... Ha!"

Inside the carriage, Zhou Cheng looked at the prompts on the panel in front of him and couldn't help but sneer.

Before long, the faint sounds of clashing weapons and short screams could be heard from ahead, and after a while, everything fell silent.

Soon, the sound of horses' hooves approached. Before the riders and horses even got close, a faint smell of blood wafted through the sedan curtains.

"Your Highness possessed foresight; Heaven protects us!" Chen Quan's voice came from outside. "There was indeed an ambush ahead, filled with elite assassins! Fortunately, Your Highness warned us, allowing me to counterattack. The entire bandit force has been wiped out, except for their leader!"

Zhou Cheng pushed open the car door and saw Chen Quanjia, his armor stained with blood, forcing a man with a blood-covered face to kneel by the roadside.

He stepped on the back of the kneeling coachman, slowly dismounted, and came to the man's side.

"Zhang Li," Zhou Cheng began, his voice unreadable, "does he have anything to say?"

"Hmph! Since I've failed, kill me if you want—" The words stopped abruptly as the man suddenly looked up, his leopard-like eyes bulging with fury.

"How do you know someone's name?!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Quan's eyes flickered slightly.

Before he could even ask a question, the man gritted his teeth and said hatefully:

"Damn it! Damn it! Someone must have betrayed us!"

A sudden realization dawned on Chen Quan's eyes, and he felt that the answer to his doubts had been found.

That's true! There's no such thing as foresight or a sudden whim! It's simply that there was a mole among the assassins who had made preparations in advance!

Zhou Cheng gave a silent, cold laugh.

There was naturally no inside agent among the assassins.

He certainly couldn't foresee the future or anticipate misfortune.

It was just that a series of negative emotions, numbering in the hundreds, suddenly popped up on the system panel, indicating an ambush ahead.

As for why he knew the man's name, it was because the only one currently contributing negative emotions to him was "Zhang Li".

"If you don't want to talk about it, then so be it." He said gently.

"I have always been kind-hearted and dislike killing. Chen Quan, cut off his tongue, cripple his limbs, and leave him by the roadside to fend for himself. Remember—cripple him completely."

After saying that, Zhou Cheng turned around and stepped onto the carriage again with the help of the coachman.

Chen Quan bowed his head and accepted the order, a slight chill running down his spine as he couldn't help but think to himself:

This prince may appear gentle, but his actions are ruthless and decisive, far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people. The various rumors circulating outside may seem absurd, but they are probably not entirely unfounded.

Zhang Li clearly hadn't expected that his target would be dealt with without even asking for a confession.

He immediately shouted urgently:

"Wait! I'll confess! I'm the Second Prince's man!"

The moment the words "Second Prince" were uttered, the expressions of those who heard them changed drastically.

Chen Quan dislocated his jaw, and looking at the slightly agitated queue, he glanced at the car, somewhat at a loss.

The carriage curtain was still drawn when Zhou Cheng's figure paused, and his indifferent voice came through:

"Didn't you hear my command? Do I need to repeat it a second time?"

Chen Quan broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said, "I dare not," and quickly dragged the person to the side of the road.

A moment later, Chen Quan returned: "Your Highness, it has been taken care of."

"Okay, let's go." Zhou Cheng's voice came from inside the car, completely calm.

The convoy set off again.

Chen Quan rode his horse to protect the carriage, hesitating several times before finally steeling himself and whispering:

"Your Highness, the assassin called out the name of the Second Prince, which may be an attempt to sow discord. We are not far from the capital; should we escort him back to the capital...?"

Zhou Cheng had already resumed the five-heart-facing-the-sky posture inside the car.

"Do your job as a guard." He interrupted, paused for a moment, and just as Chen Quan felt an invisible pressure, he added calmly:

"I know what I'm doing."

Inside the car, Zhou Cheng's muscles rippled with the movement of the vehicle, and he sneered inwardly:

"Knowing my route, mobilizing assassins, and even pushing the second-in-command to take the fall... Interesting!"

If it weren't for the consistently high level of negative emotions the Crown Prince had been providing these past few days, he might have actually started to suspect the Second Prince.

This group of assassins was of mediocre strength, and their leader was only a sixth-rank official.

He was only accompanied by two eighth-rank guards; unless hundreds of iron cavalrymen were fully armed with bows and armor, they would find it difficult to harm him in the slightest.

This ambush was not intended to be a successful assassination; it was likely intended to frame someone or to intimidate them.

"My dear aunt is probably involved too."

Zhou Cheng's mind flashed to Li Yunrui's ruthless and manic nature beneath her charming and affectionate exterior.

Recently, Li Yunrui and the Crown Prince have been experiencing negative emotions almost simultaneously, but Li Yunrui's emotions are somewhat lower than the Crown Prince's.

Based on Zhou Cheng's understanding of Li Yunrui, even if that crazy woman didn't directly intervene, she was probably the one stirring up trouble, and perhaps even the plan was devised by her.

Li Yunrui outwardly supports the Crown Prince and has frequent interactions with him.

With his departure from the capital, only the Crown Prince and the Second Prince remain to contend for power in the city.

The Crown Prince's move served two purposes: first, to use him to annoy the Second Prince, and second, to make him uncomfortable. While not particularly clever, it was still a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, this plan seemed like a joke in the face of the system.

By revealing Zhang Li's name and then sparing his life, he not only wanted to accumulate more negative emotions, but also wanted to convey a message.

Only the Crown Prince and Li Yunrui knew about the assassination plot.

If the Crown Prince won't reveal it himself, then who is most likely to "leak" the assassin's information to me, the victim?

Zhou Cheng closed his eyes.

"I'll remember this debt. One Zhang Li caused the Crown Prince to become suspicious of Li Yunrui... Actually... I didn't lose out."

He ignored the undercurrents heading towards Kyoto.

"Right now, Da Dongshan is the most important thing."

......

The journey took nearly a month.

As the air grew humid and the salty sea breeze swept over them, a colossal mountain suddenly appeared at the end of the convoy's field of vision.

Da Dongshan!

The mountain is of unknown height and boundless width, shaped like an inverted giant ladder, majestically standing on the shore of the vast sea.

The summit of Mount Dadong is as flat as if it had been cleaved by a divine sword. The cut surface sparkles like crystal reflecting the sun.

People often regard it as a miracle, marveling at the wonders of nature.

Standing on the mountaintop platform, Zhou Cheng knew that this was the result of an ancient nuclear war from a previous era.

The existence of unimaginable nuclear weapons in war caused a giant mountain to evaporate and melt from its midsection upwards, creating the spectacle we see today.

Even after countless years, the residual radiation on Mount Dadong still rages like an inner storm.

Ordinary martial artists would find it not only useless to cultivate here, but would actually be harmed. Only high-level martial artists could withstand this turbulent "spiritual energy of heaven and earth" and make it their own.

The summit of Mount Dadong is desolate, with little vegetation, except for a massive temple standing alone.

When Zhou Cheng got out of the car, the temple priests were already lined up to greet him.

After the banquet, he naturally had no interest in the so-called "renovation supervision," dealt with it simply, and went straight to a secluded side hall, instructing that everything should remain the same and not to be disturbed unless necessary.

From then on, he lived a secluded life, and apart from a few close guards such as Chen Quan and Chen Bao, almost no one saw him.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

This day.

Chen Quan looked at the tightly closed palace doors, shook his head, and smiled bitterly.

"Your Highness's patience... sigh."

When we first arrived at the temple, he said he wanted to practice martial arts and dragged us to spar several times a day.

Later, he practiced once a day, then once every three days, then once every seven days... Now, after half a month, there's been no progress. He stays indoors all day, either eating or sleeping.

Chen Bao, standing to the side, curled his lip: "Why worry, brother? We're not selling ourselves to Prince Cheng. Who knows where we'll be assigned after we return to the capital? Why make trouble for ourselves here?"

"Foolish!"

Glancing around, Chen Quan reprimanded in a low voice.

"Your Highness has not recruited many people since establishing your own residence. Since His Majesty has sent the two of us here, how could he easily transfer us away? Since leaving the capital, we have been Prince Cheng's personal guards. We share the same fate, so what other choice do we have?"

Chen Bao stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "Big brother! We're eighth-rank experts! We're commanders in the Imperial Guard, and we could lead an entire army even on the border! Someone like us, just going to serve this guy as a gatekeeper?"

Chen Bao's resentment was undisguised.

It wasn't that he couldn't accept the guard position, it was that he simply couldn't accept it...

Chen Quan was also saddened upon hearing this.

They were eighth-rank masters, figures who could be considered top-tier in all the countries, yet even so, they were still not in control of their own destiny.

After a moment of silence, he could only say, "The Emperor's will is difficult to defy. Besides, Your Highness is not entirely useless; at least you are at the fifth rank in martial arts."

Having fed Zhou Cheng several moves, the two of them naturally knew the strength of his true energy.

"A fifth-rank official is certainly good for Your Highness's age. But Your Highness is the Prince of Cheng; what use is this fifth-rank strength? For physical fitness?"

Chen Bao gave a wry smile.

Chen Quan was speechless.

The two brothers exchanged silent glances, both seeing a sense of unease about the future in each other's eyes.

After six months of getting to know each other, they had long felt that Prince Cheng was unpredictable and lacked willpower, and was by no means a wise ruler.

"Your Highness is not entirely useless; at least your martial arts skills are around the fifth rank."

What use is martial arts to kings and nobles?

only......

Just as the two were lamenting their ill-fated destiny and how their talents had been wasted, an indescribable pressure suddenly emanated from the tightly closed palace doors, instantly enveloping the surrounding area!

It wasn't just a simple sense of oppression; it was a deeper, more fundamental terror, as if a sleeping ancient behemoth had slowly opened its eyes.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze instantly, and the light dimmed. Chen Quan and Chen Bao even felt a faint hum of wind and thunder in the depths of the void.

......

Inside the side hall.

"This is... a Grandmaster?"

Zhou Cheng felt the true energy within his body surging like a tidal wave, and the surrounding天地元气 (heaven and earth energy) around him moving as easily as his own arms and fingers.

The violent radiation accumulated over thousands of years in Da Dong Mountain has now become an inexhaustible source for him.

As far as the eye can see, the fine dust particles in the air are clearly visible.

What one hears is the whispers outside the hall and even the distant sounds of sacrificial construction.

With each breath, the energy of heaven and earth flows with your thoughts.

Two months ago, the skill display on the system panel was Martial Arts Lv10 (Hundred Refinements True Qi max).

Previously, he honed his combat skills and solidified his foundation by training with the Chen brothers. Once he reached the maximum level in martial arts, he stopped sparring with them and began a secluded retreat to fully attempt to break through to the Grandmaster realm.

Despite the martial arts experience instilled by the system, it still took him two months to fully transform his true energy.

Only just now did his true energy finally transform into a vast galaxy, breaking through the Heavenly Gate in one fell swoop.

[Ding—The host's designated skill has reached the maximum level. System lottery function activated.]

[Non-story characters' emotional values ​​have entered the accumulation phase. The current accumulated negative emotional value from story characters is 3254 points.]

[The lucky draw wheel is now unlocked (1000 points per spin)]

[Prize Pool: Randomly drawn from items previously owned by the host]

The panel appears, showing that the first task has been completed, but the settlement has not yet been completed.

In addition, a roulette wheel icon has been added in the center, with the number 3254 marked below it.

"Non-story character emotion points can only be used on specific skills..."

Zhou Cheng felt it was a bit of a pity after communicating with the system.

In a film and television world, only one skill can be designated for experience conversion. Apart from the emotional value of the characters in the story, the remaining emotional value can only be used in the next world.

"You can only draw items you've previously owned..."

He glanced at the prize pool again, slightly disappointed.

But then I thought about it again, and even a tissue or a pair of underwear has its uses. Besides, in different worlds, ordinary things may no longer be ordinary.

Zhou Cheng did not continue drawing prizes, but instead looked towards the outside of the hall.

"Right now, let's address the immediate threats."

The so-called hidden danger is none other than the Chen brothers.

The two men were his bodyguards, and also Emperor Qing's eyes and ears.

In the past, he had to be patient, but now that he has become a Grandmaster and his primary task is completed, he can do many things freely.

The first step is to understand the forces that Emperor Qing has placed around him.

Thinking of this, he had a sudden thought, and the aura unique to a Grandmaster burst forth!

As deep as an abyss and as majestic as a mountain, even heaven and earth seem to bow and rise before it!

Three breaths later.

"boom!"

The palace gates shattered with a deafening crash.

Amidst the flying sawdust, two figures rushed into the hall. They immediately saw Zhou Cheng standing in the hall with his hands at his sides, his robes fluttering without wind. There was no one else besides him.

The person is still the same person, but the feeling they get is completely different!

Profound, vast, as if connected to the entire world!

"Your Highness...Your Highness?"

Chen Quan and Chen Bao were stunned and stared at the figure in front of them in disbelief.

Zhou Cheng's gaze swept over them, and the tangible martial will he exuded struck them like lightning.

Before the two could even regain their senses and speak, their vision blurred and their necks were gripped by iron-like hands, lifting them off the ground.

Their martial arts instincts spurred them to fight back, their eighth-grade true energy gathering in their fists and feet as they unleashed a furious attack.

But all the power only got half a foot away from Zhou Cheng before it collapsed and vanished without a trace, just like when it hit a mountain!

gap!

An unimaginable gap!

Zhou Cheng held the two men in his grasp, letting them fight back.

With the Grandmaster's true energy protecting him, even the so-called eighth-rank expert couldn't even budge the hem of his clothes despite fighting desperately.

Suffocation and despair gripped Chen Quan and his companion's hearts tightly. They could hear their neck bones cracking, and their entire skeleton seemed to be wailing.

Their struggles grew weaker and weaker. In the moment of their impending death, Zhou Cheng casually tossed them aside, and they fell heavily to the ground.

"Cough cough..."

The two brothers rose shakily, gazing fearfully at the familiar yet unfamiliar face.

"A Grandmaster...?"

A terrifying thought exploded in their minds.

Besides grandmasters, who else can crush them like an ant with a mere gesture, rendering them powerless to resist?

While a ninth-rank official is powerful, they shouldn't be this bad!

"Your...Your Highness?" Chen Quan's voice trembled.

Zhou Cheng wiped his hands with his sleeve, his tone indifferent.

"Mount Dadong truly lives up to its reputation as a sacred place for cultivation. After half a year of arduous training and several months of seclusion, today, I, the King, have finally become a Grandmaster of Martial Arts."

Even though the Chen brothers already had their suspicions, the confirmation from the other party still left them reeling.

Grandmaster!

He truly is a grandmaster!

A sixteen-year-old grandmaster!

Who would dare to imagine it? Who would dare to believe it?

Zhou Cheng's gaze swept over the two pale faces.

"I do not wish for outsiders to know about my breakthrough. I know that you two are my father's eyes and ears, and I originally intended to kill you to silence you... However, considering your diligence in protecting me along the way, I will give you a way out."

From this day forward, you may only have one master. Will you choose me, or Emperor Qing?

As soon as the words were spoken, the two immediately prostrated themselves on the ground and kowtowed:

"Chen Quan (Chen Bao) swears to follow His Highness to the death!"