To Yu Mian’s surprise, this traditional literary game had unexpectedly become a trend on campus.
[Thanks to you, even the campus shop’s owner, Clayton, has seen his sales of wine-flavored nutrient solutions skyrocket. He keeps saying he wants to meet you and have you drink a few more cups…]
Simon’s letter was filled with scholarly discussion yet also had a warm, humorous tone, sharing many amusing stories from Yu Mian’s campus visit.
Especially the Qushui Liushang which was not initially included in the itinerary. It was purely his temporary rescue measure after the boat capsized. However, it turned out to be a popular check-in spot at Waltz Academy after his campus visit!
The main text of this magazine “Blue Star Expo” contained a lot of cultural common sense and short stories about the ancient Blue Star culture, which were written by members of the Waltz Academy Writing Club.
Yu Mian read through the magazine with great interest, even making notes on a few misunderstandings in the articles and writing back to Professor Simon for further discussion.
After such exchanges, Yu Mian became more familiar with everyone, and each issue of the internally issued “Blue Star Expo” would be sent to Yu Mian on a regular basis.
At one point, he couldn’t help but ask:
[Have you ever considered publicly publishing this magazine? The quality is high enough to be worthy of official publication. It would be a shame if it remained an internal release.]
He had thought that perhaps the professors were aloof and wanted to keep it exclusive.
As a result, Professor Simon and the others soon responded, somewhat embarrassed.
Not everything about ancient Blue Star culture was as easy to popularize as his novels.
At first, even within the school, “Blue Star Exo” struggled to find readers, let alone be considered for formal publication. The magazine had barely survived thanks to the professors funding it themselves.
[Simon: But thanks to your bestselling novels, our magazine has started selling better on campus. Especially the issues featuring seasonal festivals and food culture from your books, they were almost sold out!]
This was of course related to the popular works such as “Bei Xing’s Necklace” and “God of Cooking” which were being serialized at the time.
After the Fish fans on campus discovered that this unpopular club published a magazine and that they could find a lot of interesting information that was not mentioned in the Fish Soup Noodles’ book, they naturally rushed to buy it.
However, the influence was still limited to Waltz Academy.
“But it’s a bit of a shame.”
Yu Mian often flipped through “Blue Star Expo” and read a few articles. He felt that Professor Simon and his colleagues’ passion was actually very precious.
The easiest way to help was naturally to use the influence of the Fish Soup Noodles pen name to promote Professor Simon and others. A post on StarBlog would make many people interested in this magazine.
Today, Fish Soup Noodles’ popularity and influence were almost as high as those of many famous stars in the interstellar world. If he hadn’t refused advertisements, the income from that alone would have been enough to support his life.
But that wouldn’t solve the root problem.
To truly spark interest, he needed to create something that would draw people in and have them discover its boundless charm…
And what better than a fully immersive, fantasy-filled Xianxia novel?
It would no longer be a single-element story, like Gu Bai’s piano in “Contract Marriage”, the time-travel museum in “Eternal Night Rose”, or the passionate slogans in “Rebirth of the Interstellar Soldier King”.
Instead, it would be a refreshing, sweet and immortal cultivation novel with an immersive, fantastical, and classic world-building!
The more Yu Mian thought about it, the more excited he became, and naturally, he couldn’t help but take action.
Moreover, after becoming more familiar with him, Professor Simon and the others enthusiastically helped gather a wealth of ancient Blue Star texts from across the star network.
Even the red wedding dress reference image that Huo Ting picked up that night had been personally collected by Professor Simon.
It was exactly the same as the classical wedding attire in Yu Mian’s memory.
In this way, when the physical material was sent to Yin as a reference picture and incorporated into the illustration, the effect was naturally better.
When Yu Mian arrived at Waltz Academy and entered the writing club room today, Professor Simon and the others didn’t even have time for greetings. Instead, they immediately grabbed him, the author, and “passionately” discussed the ending of last night’s “World In The Nest” dungeon.
Again and again, they kept repeating the same words; “How could it end like this?!”
Yu Mian almost broke out in a sweat.
As for another comment, it made Yu Mian even more afraid to move:
“In fact, I believe Si Yao’s success in this world is deeply meaningful. It signifies the undeniable power of “the people’s movement”, only with the support of the masses can we create miraculous moments in history!”
As soon as this perspective on “the people’s movement” was brought up, it immediately stunned the room and won over many supporters.
“Exactly! Especially the final scene where everyone united and fought together to overcome the dungeon boss…it was so exciting! I reread it multiple times throughout the night!”
“And all those ‘small characters’ who were once overlooked ended up playing unexpectedly crucial roles at key moments. I think this highlights one of Si Yao’s greatest qualities as a leader.”
What was supposed to be a regular club activity day had suddenly turned into a book review exchange meeting.
Even Principal Charles, who had quietly come by after hearing that Yu Mian was attending the Blue Star Writing Club’s activities today, stood outside the door and nodded repeatedly as he listened.
In the end, he didn’t enter the room. Instead, he left with a broad smile on his face.
Somehow, he felt that Fish Soup Noodles would find it very difficult to refuse teaching an elective course next semester.
Surrounded by so many passionate readers, how could he bear to turn them down?
Meanwhile, Yu Mian kept nodding along without daring to deny anything, though deep inside, he couldn’t shake the feeling that having professors and classmates he interacted with eagerly following his novel updates might not be such a great thing after all.
Listening to readers share their thoughts in real time was a bit of a social death moment.
Though, their analysis was actually quite interesting.
“You always manage to surprise us. When you first asked us to collect reference images of wedding robes, we never expected them to be used in the novel this way.”
After Simon and the others finished pouring out their emotions and analyses over the grand finale, he finally coughed lightly and looked at Yu Mian with slight embarrassment.
“So, for the next dungeon are you planning to write a sweet romance?”
“We’re actually preparing an issue of “Blue Star Exo” dedicated to traditional wedding attire!”
The club members seized the opportunity to ask curiously.
“Uh… sort of, but you might want to brace yourselves a little.”
Yu Mian could only offer a subtle smile as he accepted the draft of the upcoming issue of “Blue Star Expo”.
Flipping through the magazine, he was once again amazed by the effort the club members had put in.
The images of wedding attire, bridal sedans, and other traditional elements were stunningly detailed. Just looking at them made one long for the romantic beauty of an ancient Blue Star wedding.
“You might want to publish this issue as soon as possible.”
The club members: “?”
“Because once the new dungeon is released, uh… readers’ perceptions of this topic might change.”
Though, maybe the sales would even increase?
After all, during the serialization of the first dungeon, Yu Mian had already noticed that many interstellar readers were absolutely terrible at handling fear but loved consuming it anyway.
“Besides, the materials you’ve gathered happen to be exactly what Piedmont needs for their new haunted house designs. You should be getting a rather generous compensation for it.”
Maybe this could also solve the club’s ongoing funding shortage?
After all, Piedmont was always quite generous, and their haunted house attractions were consistently popular.
With Yu Mian repeatedly hinting at the situation, the club members’ expressions finally started to shift.
“Wait… all these Ancient Blue Star references we collected… are useful for a haunted house?”
How could something so beautiful be related to a haunted house!? QAQ
Could the second dungeon be… a Blue Star ghost story?!
Under the collective silence and horrified stares, Yu Mian slowly nodded.
As if confirming everyone’s worst suspicions.
The entire club: !?
However, since they had been directly involved in gathering research materials for Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, everyone in the club also strictly abided by the confidentiality and integrity regulations.
Even though they had known in advance that wedding attire would be a key element, not a single person had leaked any details about the next dungeon.
And now, they certainly couldn’t spread their growing suspicions either…even if keeping it in might cause internal injuries.
“But don’t worry. Once the next book starts serialization, our magazine’s range of topics should expand even further.”
Yu Mian was genuinely looking forward to creating a new work with a world view of cultivating immortals.
If his schedule weren’t so packed, he would have loved to write a few fresh, short stories for “Blue Star Expo” himself.
It would make for excellent publicity.
And just as “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” was exploding in popularity, fans of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” were finally getting the long-awaited, exhilarating new volume.
