"Maybe this could be better than you think..."
It was Huang Zihuan smiling beside her who spoke up.
"Right, young lady. Don't you want people to stop bothering you? Just become the association president and be done with it."
Even Sword Master Zheng Renyi agreed. The power of the young woman before him whom he'd decided to serve had soared far beyond the limits he could guess. He didn't think there was any being on this world who could fight her one-on-one anymore.
"That'll make even more people bother me."
Liu Yianfei, who'd been listening quietly for a long time, couldn't help smiling wryly. For him who'd been in high positions for so long, he knew well how troublesome the burdens and duties of people in those positions were. Just him being a general who had to control peace specifically for eastern cultivators in just one region was already exhausting.
If he had to watch over cultivators nationwide who looked like they'd keep increasing in this era, just thinking about it horrified him.
"I told you already, didn't I? I'll build my own residence again..."
Bai Fanxian sipped tea and spoke calmly. But her words could make people's ears perk up and move closer.
"What kind of residence will you build, Lady Bai?"
Marshal Zhang Xianyuan quickly asked first. He knew well the young woman's power and authority. So if she really established her own power base, he needed to prepare in many ways.
"...An alchemy residence."
Bai Fanxian thought in her head. She felt using the name "Goddess Alchemy Palace" like ten thousand years ago might not be very appropriate. Back then she only accepted female disciples and followers. Called one of the few power bases where all members were women.
But just looking at now, over half the people ready to follow her were all men. She couldn't picture old men like Tang Tianjie or Zheng Renyi having to declare themselves as people from the Goddess Alchemy Palace.
So anyway, she'd better rename it.
"Alchemy Residence... understood." Zheng Renyi murmured and stored this matter in his brain. Looking at Lady Bai's manner, it'd probably be something similar to an alchemist association. In an era when cultivators were about to return and flourish, what's indispensable were pills and various treasures used for cultivation.
So opening Bai Fanxian's Alchemy Residence was something he should support. And needed to try persuading the government not to make trouble for her.
"...My lady, looks like we have guests."
Because he was the holder of this Border's secondary authority, Huang Zihuan could sense people who'd been standing waiting at this residence's front gate for a while.
Bai Fanxian herself also noticed from the start. But because they were discussing important matters, she didn't pay attention. Plus from her sensing, none of the people who came were anyone she'd ever known or met.
"...Ignore them."
But anyway, Bai Fanxian spread the Border for this very reason. Because people would come bother her endlessly. So if they were strangers or not important matters, she was too lazy to care about them all.
.
.
.
At the area in front of Bai Fanxian's residence. Because this place was just a bit away from the clash with the Dragon Queen, the surrounding area still being repaired showed holes and pits created by flame's destructive power.
A new group arrived in two vans. When they arrived, they first paid attention to the surrounding ground and the strip of missing trees. The second van was packed with cameras and filming equipment quickly unloaded to prepare.
They started capturing images of damage along the beach still showing some traces. And compared it with the prominent beachfront house where from inside the fence inward showed no collateral damage at all surprisingly.
"This is it?"
In the first van sat a tall, fair young man. He wore black sunglasses even while sitting in shade. He pushed the glasses down and stared at the normal-looking residence ahead.
"Right. This is the home of that 'Goddess's Smile' person who definitely made the news."
Who answered was a young woman in a gray suit. She opened information from her phone to confirm. Her appearance looked like this young man's manager.
"Wen Long. All set?"
The manager woman opened the car door down and turned to speak. The man called Wen Long smiled at the corner of his mouth as answer. He was full of confidence and deep self-belief while walking straight to the front gate. Behind him were several cameramen about to capture this impressive meeting scene as clearly as possible, so they quickly followed.
"For a national-level superstar like Wen Long, this kind of thing's easier than easy."
Ding dong~
"..."
Though he brought a hundred percent confidence, after the manager pressed the doorbell for quite a while, no answering sound came back at all.
The young man started frowning. Was this house empty or what?
But when sending people to investigate, they found that on the other side of the beach, three children were playing with a strange-looking red lizard. But no matter how much they tried calling out or approaching, they found that at a certain distance, something invisible blocked them from going further.
Wen Long and the manager turned to look at each other. This had to be the house!
Ding dong~ Ding dong~ Ding dong~
The young man pressed the doorbell repeatedly while frowning. Ever since he climbed to become one of the country's top stars, he rarely experienced having to stand waiting aimlessly like this anymore.
Normally wherever he went, people would run over. Didn't need to wait for him to open doors - people would come invite him in before he even spoke.
The more Wen Long thought, the more irritated he got. Just as he was about to press the bell one more time, he found that behind the gate appeared an old man's figure in neat black butler clothes standing still.
No one saw when he walked over. When they realized again, he'd already appeared in their sight.
Huang Zihuan swept his eyes around the new arrivals once. They didn't look like people from the cultivator world at all. The old man's sensing told him they were all ordinary people. Not even one person was a Qi Gathering stage cultivator.
The elderly butler reached his hand forward. Wen Long and the manager felt relieved that finally someone sensible came to open the gate for them.
But no. Huang Zihuan instead extended his hand to the doorbell. He pulled out the wire behind the device until it couldn't work. Seeing the thing bothering his lady had quieted down, the old man was about to walk stubbornly back into the house!
"Wait! Wait a moment!"
It was the manager woman who quickly stopped him. They'd already tried that no matter how they climbed, they couldn't enter this house. And the only thing that could contact people in the house - the doorbell - was now unusable. So no matter what, they had to talk sensibly with this butler.
"May I help you?"
Huang Zihuan turned back. After knowing they weren't cultivators, Huang Zihuan didn't want to bother with these people anymore.
Plus from his assessment, this should be some kind of program to have several cameras filming all the time.
And importantly, they were probably the type of people his lady was "too lazy to bother with" most.
"Can we come in first?"
The manager woman tried negotiating. She was quite expert at these things. If they could get inside the house, usually after that, homeowners would be hard-pressed to refuse. And their work would become much easier.
"I apologize. My lady doesn't receive guests."
Huang Zihuan bowed and explained politely. He had no hesitating manner even though he was in front of cameras filming.
His eyes remained sharp. His mannerisms still full of a butler's dignity that didn't dishonor his master. Every gesture of his was well-trained without even a tiny flaw.
"Is this Bai Fanxian's house?"
The manager woman, afraid the elderly butler would suddenly leave, had to quickly state their purpose directly.
"Yes. That is my lady." Huang Zihuan answered straightforwardly. There was no need to hide anything. Cultivators in this city should all know Lady Bai lived here.
"We have business with Bai Fanxian..."
The manager woman tried pleading. At the same moment, the young man who'd been listening for a while stepped forward.
"Do you know me, sir?"
Wen Long removed his sunglasses and smiled friendly. He moved closer so the old man could see him clearly.
But unfortunately, in the elderly butler's eyes were only important figures who could move the country or famous cultivators. For actors and stars in the entertainment industry, the Tang Clan didn't have much business to get involved with.
"I apologize. An old man like me doesn't know much about young people's affairs." Huang Zihuan declined politely. But just that was more than enough to make the young man freeze and feel awkward.
He felt like getting slapped awake to a strange reality.
"We heard Bai Fanxian herself is a famous cultivator." The manager woman didn't dare let matters drag. She quickly continued.
"Our Wen Long is one of the country's top famous stars. And is very interested in cultivation. Coming today is because we want to invite Bai Fanxian to be Wen Long's personal instructor."
This was the purpose they hurried here today.
The "cultivator" trend was more intense than many thought.
Even ordinary people. Just revealing themselves as a cultivator could almost receive as much fame as C or D-level stars with tens of thousands of fans already.
In various professions, cultivators were starting to get involved. So talent agencies wanted to push their stars into these trends too.
But unfortunately, none of their stars were cultivators.
So they thought to "create" one themselves.
If they could create a persona like "Martial Master Superstar" or something, they could attract fans from many circles to increase massively. Several companies were already starting to implement this plan. They had their stars apply as disciples to masters who just opened schools and started getting famous. Some used money to hire cultivator or Martial Master level beings for one-on-one teaching.
But Wen Long's agency looked further. News of the giant dragon appearing was still trending. And the "young woman" who fought that dragon in the sky was also discussed and remembered by many ordinary people.
So they started investigating that young woman's clues. When the ordinary people's world and cultivators' world started connecting, news about Bai Fanxian wasn't difficult to find at all.
That let them learn Bai Fanxian had quite high status in the cultivator world. She had abilities at "Grandmaster" level that they were trying to memorize these levels. Plus she received the title "Alchemy Empress" from an official association.
Though they didn't understand much, cultivators' manner when talking about her was enough to confirm she wasn't ordinary for sure! Plus she was the same person as "Goddess's Smile" that trended about two months ago!
Didn't need to reach agreement from day one. Just if they could capture images of her with their Wen Long at this house's front was more than enough to create various rumors that would push Wen Long's fame higher.
That was why several cameras were following behind. And already started "live streaming" to the company's online channels!
Viewer numbers started soaring rapidly. Because of quite attractive titles like "Birth of Martial Master Superstar - Wen Long and Bai Fanxian's Relationship!"
That made both ordinary people's side interested in this trend come watch. Plus there was the cultivators' side who were both shocked and surprised that their Grandmaster Bai made news like this.
"...Understood."
Huang Zihuan nodded lightly. While in the online world, people were arguing crazily. The manager woman seeing the old man's manner felt relieved. She glimpsed at viewer numbers increasing steadily with a smile. If Bai Fanxian came out after this, even if she wanted to refuse, it'd probably be hard already.
"Then can I go in and meet Bai Fanxian? I really want to see her."
Wen Long almost became a different person when on camera. He looked polite, humble, and full of smiles. Plus he said words that made people misunderstand.
Because his words could mean he and Bai Fanxian knew each other before. And were quite close too!
However.
The elderly butler didn't move from that spot. He heard voices transmitted through qi into his ears from several sources at the same time.
"Want me to go out and chase them? My sword's getting rusty."
"Though I'm on vacation, should I call Black Hawk to clear them out?"
"Looks like I might need to do my adopted father's duties a bit..."
Besides those people, Huang Zihuan's phone also rang until he had to quickly lift it to answer.
"...Butler Huang. Who's that man?"
Even Xie Suyao called straight to him immediately after seeing the news. The young woman almost flew straight here from the north right then to teach them a lesson. The old man heard Xie Zizhou's voice trying to restrain his sister to calm down on the line. But he stumbled at the last sentence.
"Elder Sister, calm down! I already sent people to check his agency. It's in the upper central region. If it comes to that, the Xie Clan can mobilize - beep beep beep -"
Mm... Looked like he didn't need to act himself.
However. As his lady's butler, at least he needed to show clearly.
"I apologize. My lady doesn't receive guests. Could you please... scram... back?"
Didn't need to wait for Huang Zihuan to finish speaking. The Border surrounding Bai Fanxian's house glowed purple sparkles. Cameramen who were ordinary people who'd never seen phenomena like this quickly captured these images excitedly. But just one second after, they felt the scene filming in cameras changed.
How did it become sky like this!? When they realized again, all of them including Wen Long were flung almost ten meters! They stumbled but weren't badly hurt. The only worrying thing was Wen Long's star image that shattered completely when he screamed and fell on the ground pitifully - which cameras happened to record!
"...At least this should reduce those people's displeasure somewhat... I'm helping you, you know?"
The elderly butler sighed while leaving that last puzzling statement before disappearing with the purple light around the area dimming.