Chapter 41
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Chapter 41: Unexpected Popularity
Li Xiaojun was a massive internet star, with a fortune worth over a hundred million—something that Ning Jie and her close-knit family group all knew.
A youthful girl like He Sixue had the chance to encounter a billionaire who looked to be in his twenties, and who was not only unmarried but also free from bad habits.
In such a situation, how could she not feel attracted? How could she not find ways to win him over?
Although Li Xiaojun understood He Sixue’s thoughts, he had no intention of indulging her.
Having experienced many women, Li Xiaojun had seen those who were much more beautiful than He Sixue.
Some women even looked like celestial beings from the skies.
With his extensive experience, when faced with the temptation of a young girl, he initially had a fleeting mischievous thought, but soon remained unperturbed.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
After six months of Goza’s pursuit of perfection, along with Li Xiaojun’s additional investment of two hundred million, the movie was finally completed.
In total, Li Xiaojun invested over three hundred million in this ordinary film.
It wasn’t that the movie had to cost that much; rather, under Li Xiaojun’s request, what initially barely met standards eventually evolved into something exceptional.
For instance, when the protagonist was captured by Biyun Xianzong and taken to Bixiao Peak, the women arranged for the hero by the Immortal Gate were initially just ordinary actresses.
Later, when Li Xiaojun thought these actresses were not attractive enough, he spent a large sum to hire actresses with stunning looks.
In total, there were more than a dozen beautiful actresses, whose fees alone accounted for over a hundred million.
Besides that, he raised the standards for many other aspects of the film as well.
Though the movie didn’t have any overtly explicit scenes, the presence of beautiful women ensured that its appeal was quite high.
Additionally, Li Xiaojun used AI face-swapping technology to replace the main character, the female lead, and his nine daughters with his own likeness and the appearances of his wife and daughters from his memories.
To compensate the actresses, Li Xiaojun had to shell out another large sum of money.
After all, it would be unfair for the actresses to work hard on a film without showing their faces and without adequate compensation.
In any case, it wouldn’t be possible for this film to consume over three hundred million.
The movie also showcased the paintings in Li Xiaojun’s study, as well as familiar scenes from Bixiao Peak depicted in those paintings.
If his daughter had the chance to see the movie, there was no doubt she would come looking for him.
Li Xiaojun wanted to make this film because he feared that once the Ziwei Great Emperor arrived at Taihuang Star, he wouldn’t attract his daughter’s attention, despite being a popular internet figure.
For example, if he claimed online to be the father of the Ziwei Great Emperor, he might quickly catch the official’s eye due to his fame.
But if the officials didn’t believe him and thought he was intentionally offending the emperor, they might send a cultivator to eliminate him without hesitation.
The great emperor, high and mighty, ruled over billions of people.
A common internet star making insulting remarks about the emperor probably wouldn’t even reach the emperor’s ears—he could easily disappear from this world.
However, if he made such a film, he wouldn’t have to state directly that he was the emperor’s father!
He just needed to say that this film was based on the personal story of the great emperor and that the characters Little Eight or Little Nine were the current Ziwei Great Emperor.
In this way, the authorities would likely investigate and even report to the great emperor.
As long as Ziwei Great Emperor was his daughter, and she saw familiar faces and scenes in the movie, she would undoubtedly come to meet him.
Once she met her father, they could confirm their father-daughter relationship and recognize each other.
If necessary, they could even do a paternity test, because a biological father could not possibly be fake.
Three months passed after that.
With the efforts of Goza and the editing team, the film was finally completed.
Once the editing was done, Li Xiaojun promptly settled the payment.
After completing the film, Li Xiaojun was not familiar with distribution, so he entrusted the film distribution to a company recommended by Goza.
Li Xiaojun didn’t care whether the film would make money; he just needed it to be distributed so that when he needed it, people could find this film online at any time.
One month later.
Under the operation of the film distribution company, the film "The Legend of Li Xiaojun," which Li Xiaojun invested in, finally premiered in theaters.
Surprisingly to Li Xiaojun, the box office for the film turned out to be very good.
In the first few days after its release, the box office was rather average, but starting from the second week, it began to rise rapidly.
After half a month, "The Legend of Li Xiaojun" had already surpassed one billion at the box office in the Fanjingshan Immortal Realm.
In this situation, other film distributors in different Immortal Realms quickly sought out Li Xiaojun and soon established collaborations.
One month later, "The Legend of Li Xiaojun" was accepted across all Immortal Realms on Taihuang Star.
Once this film was released, it gained a lot of male followers.
By the end of one month, the box office in the Fanjingshan Immortal Realm exceeded two billion.
Moreover, the total box office across all twelve Immortal Realms on Taihuang Star reached a staggering one hundred thirty billion.
Many Immortal Realms had only recently released their films, so they stood to earn even more wealth later.
Li Xiaojun never anticipated such a situation.
In no time, he became famous.
The followers of his Xianyinyin app skyrocketed from over five million to over thirty million.
Li Xiaojun was completely taken by surprise.
So were Goza, the director, and the rest of the crew.
Seeing such success, the lead actors and young actors’ parents regretted their decisions.
Had they known, they would not have agreed to let Li Xiaojun use AI face-swapping on them.
If the film hadn’t undergone face-swapping, they would have been the ones who gained fame.
Soon enough, the original male and female leads of the film posted online, claiming that they were the ones who filmed it and had their faces replaced by AI.
However, since the capital had earned substantial benefits from this film, their statements quickly vanished without a trace.
At this point, the investors needed box office success and would not allow anyone to jeopardize their profits.
A month later.
In most theaters across Taihuang Star, the film was no longer being shown.
Thus, the final total box office was tallied.
Li Xiaojun’s film garnered a total box office of 18.4 billion!
With such a high box office, it should rank within the top thirty for all films released this year.
Taihuang Star had a population of over three hundred billion, producing countless films every year, so being in the top fifty was already an incredible feat.
With a box office of 18.4 billion, according to the agreement, Li Xiaojun would receive thirty percent of the revenue.
Therefore, he would earn 6.5 billion from this film, and after taxes, he could still take home nearly four billion.
This nearly four billion in profits not only covered his investment cost but also brought him an additional tenfold return.
Moreover, with the success of this film, director Goza finally received recognition from countless investors.
Additionally, the high-looks actors featured in the movie became highly sought after.
Only those actors who agreed to face-swapping regretted their decisions deeply.
After the film’s initial success, news of Li Xiaojun’s use of AI face-swapping leaked out.
However, Li Xiaojun did not care.
He did not stay in his villa, feeling too lazy to go out.
He refused to accept interviews from reporters and declined offers from other film companies.
He did not make films for profit, so he had no intentions of investing in a second movie.
