All-rounder Artist

Chapter 1419: Chapter 1171: First Day 1 Billion

Morning.

8:30 a.m.

Lin Yuan got up and glanced at Blue Star’s box office rankings.

It was still Liu Xing’s “The Imperial City” holding the top spot.

Blue Star’s box office figures are nearly real-time statistics, but for a movie like “Kung Fu,” released at night, it typically takes around 12 hours to be included in the real-time rankings.

The box office for the movie “Kung Fu” was still pending.

Lin Yuan casually checked the reviews for “Kung Fu.”

At this moment.

Reviews for “Kung Fu” were already pouring in.

From the media.

Forums.

Stellar Network.

A wide array of lengthy reviews was dazzling to read through.

One review was titled, “Did You Really Understand This Movie?”

“The entirety of ‘Kung Fu’ is just the imagination of the boy who saved the little girl but got beaten up for it. At this point, some might think I’m just sensationalizing, but let me prove it to you. Pay attention to the people surrounding the boy and girl when they hold hands in the end. You can see the bald, naked man flirting with girls, the landlord and landlady strolling, The Beast directing traffic, and that kid with glasses. So all of this is just the boy imagining his neighbors as supreme martial artists in his own world…”

The review was lengthy.

This reviewer attempted to substantiate their argument from multiple angles, leaving Lin Yuan slightly dumbfounded as he read.

As for “Kung Fu.”

There were similar interpretations in his past life.

However, the comments section was divided into two camps on this theory.

Some thought it was “terrifying upon deeper reflection,” while others considered it “far-fetched.”

In the end, the reviewer was countered with one sentence:

“The reviewer’s perspective is novel, but it overlooks a major flaw. Xian Yu wasn’t portraying the boy’s imagination but showing that the once-renowned martial artists, those so-called heroes of the Martial World, had moved past their grudges and found happiness. For example, the couple from ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’ started living as ordinary people, The Beast ended up directing traffic, and so on. The strongest evidence? None of the characters who died appeared in the end.”

…

Skipping past this, Lin Yuan read a few more reviews.

These reviewers used every trick in the book to deconstruct “Kung Fu” from various angles.

Some analyses even left Lin Yuan stunned, thinking they sounded pretty convincing.

Among these numerous reviews.

Lin Yuan noticed that many were curious about the Easter egg related to Chu Kuang’s new book.

“Where’s the promised Easter egg?”

“There are indeed many tributes to Chu Kuang, but where is the hidden clue to his new book?”

“Could it be Buddha’s Palm?”

“Are you suggesting that the new book is connected to ‘Buddha’s Palm’?”

“You’re quite close to the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not certain whether it’s tied to ‘Buddha’s Palm,’ but it’s definitely connected to those martial skills secret manuals.”

“Huh?”

“The old man who gives the protagonist a secret manual at the end shows up again, tricking kids out of their pocket money. Maybe he really does have some genuine skills. After all, he pulls out several secret manuals in the end—I snapped a photo, take a look.”

The user posted an image.

In the picture were the martial skills secret manuals that the old man revealed at the end.

From left to right: “Six Meridian Divine Swords,” “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms,” “Nine Yang Divine Skill,” “One Yang Finger,” “Dugu Nine Swords.”

Netizens were stunned!

“Could the Easter egg for the new book be hidden here?”

“It really seems likely! ‘Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms’ is a signature skill from ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’—this is a very important clue!”

“And ‘Nine Yang Divine Skill’ from ‘The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber’ too!”

“Even ‘Dugu Nine Swords’ seems to hold a hint—don’t forget that ‘The Return of the Condor Heroes’ featured a character named Dugu Qiubai. Could this martial skill be connected to him?”

“What’s ‘Six Meridian Divine Swords’ then?”

“And I’ve never even heard of ‘One Yang Finger.'”

“I get it!”

“These martial skills might be the content of Chu Kuang’s next martial arts novel!”

“Holy crap, this is 80-90% accurate!”

“Case closed!”

“There are some real geniuses among the internet users. I noticed that scene too but didn’t think much about it!”

Lin Yuan laughed.

With netizens being this sharp, Yi An wouldn’t even need to step in to “analyze” things for them.

Stretching lazily.

Lin Yuan got up, washed up, and began waiting for the real-time box office stats.

…

Starlight.

Film Department.

Ol’ Zhou and others were also waiting for the real-time box office stats.

Even though they knew the stats wouldn’t be updated until noon, they kept refreshing the rankings.

“Why isn’t it out yet?”

“Haste makes waste.”

“Bring that hot tofu over, I’ll show you if I can eat it or not!”

“Hahaha, don’t worry, the box office won’t be low. We should surpass ‘The Imperial City’ in three days with our strong word of mouth.”

“Three days? Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”

“Liu Xing’s ‘The Imperial City’ has been out a day earlier than us and already hit 500 million in box office!”

“It’s not a full day, more like ten-something hours.”

“What time is it?”

“How many times are you gonna ask? Nine o’clock!”

“Box office stats usually update at noon.”

…

Online.

Fans across the continents were also eagerly awaiting “Kung Fu’s” real-time box office stats.

“I wonder how much it made.”

“For such an amazing movie, the box office can’t be bad!”

“Exactly!”

“I just checked the ticketing app—every cinema around me is sold out for ‘Kung Fu’!”

“I’m going to watch it this afternoon.”

“I managed to snag tickets for a morning screening, and it truly lives up to its reputation—it’s freaking fantastic!”

“Huh?”

“Look, quick!”

“The box office is out!”

“Usually, it updates at noon. It’s only ten o’clock now—how much did ‘Kung Fu’ make?”

“See for yourself.”

“What are you, trying to act all mysterious?”

“Holy crap, this box office is insane!”

On the real-time box office leaderboard, “The Imperial City” still topped the list.

Thanks to being released a day earlier and this morning’s numbers, its total box office had reached 530 million.

Yet, “Kung Fu” was already sitting in second place!

Its box office stood at 330 million!

This stunned countless people!

…

Boom!

The media went wild!

“After Ten Hours, ‘Kung Fu’ Rakes in 330 Million at the Box Office!”

“Kung Fu vs. The Imperial City: Is Liu Xing in Danger?”

“Will ‘The Imperial City’ Lose Its Number One Real-Time Box Office Spot?”

“Xian Yu’s New Film Stuns with Box Office Performance!”

“Xian Yu’s New Film Earns Both Critical Acclaim and Box Office Success!?”

“With Fourteen Hours Remaining Today, ‘Kung Fu’ Is Already Heading Toward 400 Million!”

At home.

Even Lin Yuan was shocked.

It had already hit 330 million?

This is now officially the highest first-day box office of all his movies!

And it was only just past ten o’clock.

As the media said, there were still 14 hours left in the day!

How much more would “Kung Fu” rake in during the next 14 hours? Even Lin Yuan didn’t dare to speculate!

Not to mention.

Prime moviegoing hours aren’t in the morning, or even late at night.

It’s in the evening!

That’s when office workers get off work.

The perfect time to gather friends and head to the cinema.

Lin Yuan thought the main reason this box office performance was exceeding expectations had to do with Blue Star’s Great Unification.

The global market was now interconnected; with Qin, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei all being natural box office powerhouses, the numbers were bound to be higher than ever before.

What’s that?

Surpassing “The Imperial City”?

That was merely a matter of time.

At least, “The Imperial City” didn’t achieve such a monstrous start on its first day!

Lin Yuan’s family was also thrilled, with his mom heading straight to the kitchen, saying she’d make a feast to celebrate.

…

At the Starlight Film Department.

The moment the box office figures came out, everyone went crazy!

“It’s a hit!”

“An absolute smash!”

“This is Starlight’s highest box office film ever!”

“We’re soaring!”

“Our Starlight Film Department is officially soaring!”

“Xian Yu is incredible!”

“Who said it would take three days to surpass ‘The Imperial City’?”

“It won’t take three days!”

“We’ll surpass ‘The Imperial City’ today!”

“There are still 14 hours left today—no way they can hold up!”

Of course they couldn’t.

By 3 p.m. that afternoon.

The real-time box office rankings were updated.

First Place: “Kung Fu,” 680 million.

Second Place: “The Imperial City,” 620 million.

Even with Liu Xing’s one-day head start, he had completely lost his advantage as “Kung Fu” overtook him in just over ten hours!

By comparison, “The Imperial City’s” box office growth was sluggish.

And what was even scarier:

When the clock struck midnight and the first day officially ended, “Kung Fu’s” total box office had surpassed 1 billion!

First-day 1 billion!

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