Chapter 417

The screen was flooded with "High Energy Ahead!" messages, making many viewers fidgety~

What high energy? What could be more thrilling than summiting?

These comments really got many people unable to resist, starting to scrub backward through the timeline.

Meng Jie, who was watching the documentary with her girl friends, didn't scrub ahead; instead, she pouted, "His brain's gone bad!"

She knew exactly what Bai Liang had done, because Sister Yanzi had come to her earlier to "complain," asking her to scold Bai Liang.

But honestly, precisely because she knew, she felt a little afraid to watch—even though Bai Liang was now standing right in front of her, lively and well.

Just imagining that scene made her heart clench!

If she'd been twenty, she might've felt more excitement than worry.

But she was twenty-four now~ Not a little girl anymore, much more mature, naturally considering the risks and all that.

"Climbing mountains isn't so bad—conquering the world's highest peak is meaningful!" Wang Churan beside her seemed to disagree.

She was a genuine little girl, still under twenty, utterly defenseless against such death-defying stunts for show.

Big brother is so cool!

The moment she finished speaking, the documentary's camera cut.

Bai Liang's gloved fingertips brushed frost flowers on the ice axe, beneath him stretched an endless snow plain reaching to the horizon, above him loomed boundless azure sky.

He turned back to glance at the camera—then changed gear!

His climbing suit had been custom-designed with modular elements, so he didn't need to strip off and change into another outfit.

After all, in the environment of Zhufeng, even if nature had shown its greatest gentleness, you still couldn't be so rude as to change clothes on the spot.

In a flash, a wingsuit appeared before everyone's eyes!

And he was a paying player.

His gear included not only a specially designed electrically heated wingsuit, but also "wingsuit auxiliary attachments" developed by Red Bull's team, to enhance glide ratio and turbulence resistance.

Others in the footage were frantically busy—measuring wind speed, observing the environment, deploying drones.

Audience:????

"Holy shit! What's the Immortal planning to do?"

"Bro, are you kidding me? Are you really going to jump?!"

"I still don't know how much Red Bull paid the Immortal—this must've cost at least nine digits."

"Feels like it's not really about money—based on what he's done before, this guy's got a deathwish in his bones."

"Awesome, if he actually jumps, he'll break the Guinness World Record, right~"

"Someone's jumped before—seems like a Russian guy—but I don't know which height was higher."

"This documentary didn't include that 'for entertainment only, do not imitate' disclaimer like the African one, haha."

"The last one was afraid people would actually go slap a lion. This is different—you've got to climb Zhufeng first."

"Eight thousand meters altitude will instantly sober up any idiot who thinks of imitating this—and the barrier is way too high, no need to warn anyone, nobody can copy it."

"Imitate? Me?"

"."

The preparation time wasn't long—in the documentary, it was just one or two minutes.

Standing at the starting point, Bai Liang saw his teammates give thumbs-up, then crushed the final layer of Zhufeng's snow crust beneath his boot sole.

The camera pulled back, showing him standing on the razor ridge of Earth's Third Pole, beneath him roiling clouds like liquid silver spilled by a god.

His movement showed not a single hesitation.

He spread his arms and dove downward like a falcon!

The instant he leapt from the cliff, time seemed to shatter into fragments—a frozen, surreal sense of déjà vu.

A bizarre, breathtaking beauty, utterly devoid of reverence for life.

At this moment, Bai Liang felt as if he'd truly unshackled his own self-imposed limits.

He began to savor the ultimate freedom!

"Aaaah!"

The scream didn't come from inside the documentary—it came from outside.

God knows how many girls and female fans couldn't suppress their throats after seeing this.

First-person view is too terrifying!

The footage switched between drone shots and head-mounted camera angles.

It used every possible angle to show what it truly meant to plummet at nearly 200 km/h under gravity's acceleration.

Viewers could also hear the roaring in their ears, as if it could tear through their eardrums.

But as Bai Liang quickly adjusted his body posture, using the wingsuit's wings to catch rising air currents, converting vertical fall into horizontal glide, the contours of the North Col of Zhufeng grew clear, glaciers refracting diamond-like glimmers in the sunlight.

Humans have no wings—yet they can still be the fastest bird in the world!

Because fear is biological instinct, but courage is humanity's hymn!

At this moment, the comments dropped off sharply.

After all, the documentary had just launched—everyone was stunned, brain buzzing—how could they possibly type?

"Holy shit, this young man"

Old Xia, who had met Bai Liang at the premiere of The Climbers, had taken a sip of water during the preparation scene on screen—and had just sat frozen until now, finally swallowing it.

After staring for a long while, watching this mountain—the "divine peak" tied to half his life—from Bai Liang's perspective through the documentary, he suddenly smiled.

Far stronger than we were back then!

Wu Jing had already started typing on Weibo, directly screenshotting a frame from the documentary and plainly writing: "Big Brother Liang is awesome. I'm convinced."

There was no choice—couldn't deny it. Everyone said he acted recklessly, but compared to this guy, his intensity was nothing.

The damn guy single-handedly raised the ceiling of how hard the film industry pushes itself.

Who the hell plays like this?! He's not just dancing back and forth at the gates of the Underworld—he's flashing in and out of them.

He literally slapped the King of Hell twice in the face and walked away.

The last guy who did something like this was probably the Monkey King?

Wu Jing even wanted to send this clip to his big brother Cheng to show him what "the waves behind push forward" really means.

After this Weibo post went live, plenty of people immediately came over to "team-build."

Wu Jing had braced himself for mockery, since "The Climbers" was currently in the middle of a storm of criticism, its reputation plummeting.

But something unexpected happened.

"After watching the Immortal's moves, I suddenly think Jin Ge's cliff-walking on Zhufeng isn't that insane—after all, reality just produced something even crazier."

"Jin Ge, you owe the Immortal a kowtow—he proved with this that the Zhufeng Wolf can exist."

"If the Immortal's stunt had been in 'The Climbers,' it'd have been roasted even harder—but he did it in a documentary, and it's just too insane!"

"Jin Ge, the movie's bad reviews aren't your fault—next time, don't date. Just team up with the Immortal for a 'double flight.'"

"."

Wu Jing: Huh?

You can do that?

He'd expected to be torn apart by comparison to Bai Liang, but now it didn't seem that way at all.

So, was "The Climbers" back in play?

The truth proved he'd overthought it~

Today, "The Climbers" suffered its biggest rating drop since release.

Bai Liang's documentary nearly stripped this movie down to its underwear.

Now, nearly every comment under the film reads: "Worse than the documentary."

Wu Jing's vision went black—damn it, just as he feared! He'd been fooled by the Weibo netizens.

——

In the documentary's final moments, as the parachute opened, many felt as if a heavy breath had been released.

Then, right then, the danmu started again.

"Nuclear energy ahead!"

Wait, there's still a higher-level player?

Bai Liang can't possibly do wingsuit flying and then jump straight into a ski adventure, right?

This time, the danmu was lying—the following scenes weren't nearly as shocking.

After landing safely, Bai Liang had just finished packing up his gear when he heard a howling roar nearby, like a dragon.

He turned—and saw Cheese Snow Leopard.

In his view and on camera was a half-grown snow leopard, its silver-gray body hidden among rocks and glaciers, almost invisible.

Instantly, the danmu exploded with joy.

"Snow leopard, run! The terrifying upright ape is coming~"

"If it were anyone else, I'd worry about danger from wild beasts—but this Immortal? He dares to provoke lions. This snow leopard doesn't even seem fully grown."

"So cute~ Those paws are so thick—prettier than my show-quality Golden Retriever's."

"So that's how snow leopards sound? Doesn't match their fierce image at all."

"Immortal, don't provoke it—it's a Class One protected species."

"."

Bai Liang wouldn't go out of his way to bother a snow leopard, but felines—sometimes they're just annoyingly bold.

A fully grown snow leopard, seeing Bai Liang's nearly two-meter-tall frame, would've fled long ago.

They naturally avoid humans.

But this one clearly hadn't matured yet—soon, it actually approached him on its own, still howling "ao-wu ao-wu," seemingly fascinated by his red parachute and wingsuit.

Like it wanted to steal him?

Reverse Heaven and Earth!

Bai Liang: Class One protected species, now playing hardball? Is your mom around?

Snow Leopard:???

Bai Liang: Hmm~ Since your mom isn't here, and mine isn't either, it's just one-on-one—no calling parents.

He grabbed the little thing by the nape of its neck, pinned it to the ground, and rubbed it twice fast, then shoved the camera right against the snow leopard's face to give fans a treat~

Ultra-close-up photo shoot! Get on TV, damn it!

Snow Leopard: Are you polite?!

"Holy shit, I just saw confusion in a snow leopard's eyes—so cute!"

"The back of the neck really works on felines, guys—I'm going to try it. I'm near Changbai Mountain, and there are local big cats."

"Dude in Changbai Mountain, don't try this on that Northeastern golden tabby with the 'king' tattoo on its forehead—you'll die trying."

"Immortal, run now—when its mom comes back, you're toast."

"Mom? If its mom shows up, we'll pin it down too—this thing isn't as big as a lion."

"."

Bai Liang, of course, didn't mean to harass the big cat—after rubbing it twice and feeling the texture of a Class One protected species, he let it go.

After experiencing the oppressive aura of the terrifying upright ape, the half-grown snow leopard no longer dared to approach—it howled "ao-wu ao-wu" and bolted away.

It ran so fast that Bai Liang's attempt to slap its ass missed completely.

But I suppose this thing won't dare approach humans again.

Today's merit +1

At the end of the documentary, as the camera shifted, Zhufeng reappeared before everyone's eyes.

It still stood silently there, as if overlooking all things.

For thousands of years it had stood there, regardless of sea changes.

The screen darkened, and credits appeared.

When you set out on your journey again, remember the meaning of the journey itself.

——

More than two hours after the documentary went online, the trending topics exploded.

Except for advertising slots, all top ten trending topics were dominated by Bai Liang.

From the documentary's release itself to every single highlight within it, each topic drew massive discussion.

Discussions ranged from difficulty and records to expressions of shock—oh yes, and of course, skepticism wasn't absent.

Documentary? Definitely CGI!

Precisely because of such voices, the popularity grew even higher.

After all, different opinions are needed~

But for Bai Liang, exploding trending topics had almost become routine—even his fans weren't that shocked. Ha! His fans were utterly stunned!

Bro, are you really going this hard?!

Every time we think Bai Liang has made it so far he'd calm down, that he wouldn't pull such extreme stunts again, he always proves us wrong.

Being Bai Liang's fan is pretty thrilling.

Other fans worry about their idols falling from grace or becoming irrelevant.

But Bai Liang's fans find it more fun—they even say: if Bai Liang must vanish from public view, it'd be best if he fell from grace.

After all, falling from grace is better than being dead.

They genuinely fear the day Bai Liang trends for being gone.

Rivals: Hmm? That's actually a good idea.

Tabloids can't dig up dirt to make him fall and be socially destroyed; defeating him by metrics is impossible—so why not shift perspective? If this guy died, wouldn't everything be solved?

Once the mind opens, inspiration arrives as expected.

You like extreme sports to trend? Fine, we'll help you!

You must get addicted to this feeling!

Extreme sports are great, you've got to try them!

After all, if you walk by the river often, you'll eventually get your shoes wet.

And with rivals actively manipulating data to praise Bai Liang, the popularity naturally became so exaggerated it left people speechless.

Even Sister Yanzi was forced to hire some water armies to pose as "haters"—the ones questioning whether the documentary was all CGI.

Yes, she personally orchestrated this topic.

After all, the world needs some foolish "neutral observers."

Without them, the internet would be so lonely.

Top idols: Ah~ Familiar feeling. This guy's back to "dominating the charts."

But for most top idols, it didn't matter—they were used to it.

Only one group felt terrible.

A Kun.

Among current top idols, A Kun's data leads by a landslide, because his fans love organizing rankings and other campaigns—others simply can't compete.

But Bai Liang keeps popping up occasionally, flipping his car, then retreating again.

This gives A Kun's fans a strange feeling: if he even tried a little harder, he could easily crush them.

Here he comes again!

Back and forth, in and out, they're starting to develop some weird hobby.

This time, A Kun's fans didn't retaliate angrily—they just waited quietly for Bai Liang's current popularity to fade.

They'd fought back before; now they've learned to be smarter.

At first glance, it looked like they'd given up and started "enjoying" it.

Meanwhile, Wu Jing wasn't heavily criticized, but "The Climbers" truly exploded.

"The Climbers," already widely criticized and barely holding a 7/10 rating thanks to comment control, had its final defense shattered.

Its rating officially dropped into failing territory.

An estimated one billion yuan in box office seems impossible—forget profit, it won't even recoup costs.

But it did serve as a useful warning.

Don't mess around with weird romances in this kind of film.

Patriotic film is patriotic film; romance is romance. Forcing them together just keeps feeding the audience garbage.

Yet no one expected this film wouldn't be crushed by "My People, My Country" or "China's Pilot," but instead "died" at the hands of a documentary.

All one can say is… life is unpredictable~

Bai Liang: Yeah~ Life is unpredictable.

He'd been enjoying his evening drink when his phone exploded with calls and messages—too many to even read.

After all, Sister Yanzi had only notified some of the girls; today, the whole thing had blown wide open.

Those who hadn't been notified yet? They arrived—just late.

Time to reel him in!

The Kaikai Wang and the others drinking with him had been curious at first about why Bai Liang was getting so many phone calls today.

But once they saw the trending searches, each of them sucked in a cold breath, and the way they looked at Bai Liang got a little off.

They collectively made an outstanding contribution to global warming.

Probably because they'd sucked all the cold air out of the room, the atmosphere at the table grew even more heated.

They're all guys, after all — way too interested in this kind of topic.

The consumption of alcohol shot up rapidly.

Bai Liang: If he keeps going, Meng Jie probably won't be able to shoot tomorrow.

Sober, he's already plenty fierce; add a little of alcohol's numbing and slowing effect, and won't that cost Meng Jie half her life.

Fortunately, a new little lady friend she'd just met stepped up in time.

She didn't say she wanted to help Meng Jie share the firepower tonight, though.

But after Bai Liang came back and had just reached his room, Wang Churan brought him sobering soup.

"I-I happened to have this, and I thought Teacher Bai might need it."

After stumbling through that, she seemed to realize her words made no sense at all, and could only lower her head and laugh awkwardly.

Bai Liang didn't let her good intentions go to waste. After draining it in one gulp, he said, "Thanks~ I smell pretty strong of alcohol, don't want it getting on you."

"N-no, it's fine. Then I'll head back now, Teacher Bai, you get some rest."

What alcohol smell? It's manliness!

Having just finished watching the documentary, she was completely smitten right now, her filters maxed out.

When she left, she kept looking back every few steps.

You could tell she had no experience in this sort of thing — the whole process was pretty nervous, with a strong feeling of sneaking.

Bai Liang diagnosed her as a rookie little green-tea.

Still, her behavior did count as actively earning herself some sense of participation.

When the time comes, Meng Jie's suffering gets split with her.

(End of chapter)