Chapter 258

On Shuijing Peak before the start of the second act.

Seeing Qu Yanping's 360-degree surveillance footage was being projected here, and not far away, a group of cultivators were busily directing operations.

At this moment, the advantage of having many hands made clear.

"What? Why do I have to play this lunatic?" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan held the script, his voice tinged with annoyance: "You're taking advantage of me—aren't you older? You should call me brother!"

"Hmph." Su Lin scoffed. "Isn't this character's prototype named after you? Fate, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan retorted, confused: "His name is Li Huowang, mine is Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan—we're completely unrelated! Don't think just because you've got cheat powers you can spout nonsense!"

"How many 'fire' characters are in your name?" Su Lin asked.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Two."

Snap!

Su Lin clapped his hands and grinned: "One fire isn't enough to burn brightly—two fires make it blaze! Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan—'Yan' means blazing fire. Xiao Huowang? Perfect fit."

Nearby, Miss Kelaien walked over, sipping a can of cola: "Little Yan, he's just trying to take advantage of you—don't get tangled in his nonsense."

Swish—

Qingcheng's entire body was engulfed in blue flames.

"Don't think I didn't catch you trying to take advantage of me too!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan roared into Su Lin's ear: "You're giving me only five and a half spirit stones for this appearance fee?! Five and a half?!"

Su Lin scratched his ear: "Want the Light Flame? I'll let you devour it."

"Bro! I'm going to bed!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan waved his hand and instantly turned into a streak of lightning, racing toward the distant filming location.

"You know, honestly, Weigong Shilang was always the right choice in my mind," Su Lin said to the empty air beside him, as if speaking to nothing: "Too bad, he's been acting off lately—like he's got something on his mind."

"Normal. Everyone has moments of confusion—either they walk through it alone, or they wait for the right moment," Miss Kelaien adjusted his black suit, spinning his cane in his hand.

"Your script's stitched together too badly—Tunyun's team is already complaining."

Last-minute demands from the client were every contractor's nightmare.

"Haha, last time, I swear—last time," Su Lin laughed it off.

Miss Kelaien glanced at the script's content 【The protagonist enters the Penglai Ruins to seek the truth of this world; deep within the ruins lies great terror.】—poor guy, he'd gotten stuck with Su Lin's latest insane additions.

"By the way—what about copyright?"

"Copyright? What copyright? If money can fix it, it's not a problem. After all, the movie's only screening in Song Shuhang's world—I don't have to worry."

Besides, the cultivators from Jiuzhou No. 1 Group can handle copyright issues—though honestly, who'd even watch this movie?

"That's not what I meant—aren't you afraid one day someone from another world will come to collect copyright fees?" Miss Kelaien tapped the four-page printed script. "We're all real. You've stuffed so much into this—what if someone joins the group and sues you for infringement?"

"Kid, you're overthinking it," Su Lin looked at Miss Kelaien with pity.

"There's no Flame Emperor Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan—just a brat from the Xiao family's childish fantasy. There's no Ye Tian Di—just a drunk man passing out on Taishan having a dream."

"Likewise, where would copyright fees even come from? It's just—"

Bang!

"Shut up, shameless old scoundrel!" Ye Fan rolled the script into a tube and slammed it onto Su Lin's head: "How dare you disrupt my Dao heart!!"

"Arrogance invites heaven's retribution," Miss Kelaien summoned a new historical projection and stepped back into the temporal rift: "One day, someone from another world will come to demand copyright fees from you. By the way—my share? Don't give it to the author. Pay me directly—in cash."

The new historical projection adjusted his hat, bowed politely, and vanished.

"Laughable," Su Lin rubbed his head, sneering: "Do you think they'll join the group tomorrow? If your mouth is this accurate every time, I'll eat this mountain."

"Hey, Su Lin, isn't Yi Leina here? We need her to play the corpse." Lu Mingfei dragged Lao Lu by the neck over: "Corpse #1 is caught—where do I drop him?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Su Lin looked baffled: "Use a Yesterday Replay talisman and toss it behind the moon. No—throw it into the canyon chasm."

"You idiot, give him permissions!" Lao Lu struggled, face dark: "Cheating in the game gets you banned! Lu Mingfei, you're not even worthy to be a player!"

"People who seek realism in virtual worlds must have serious brain damage," Lu Mingfei remarked calmly, dragging Lao Lu away.

Heaven's blessing works this way—buffs can be applied to others and objects. Without it, where would all these heavenly artifacts come from? Unless Su Lin turns into a gambling addict and drains all his points in one night.

"Remember to plug the Seven Deadly Sins into him," Su Lin called out.

"Got it~~," Lu Mingfei waved dismissively.

Lao Lu: "I @! ￥￥@! #%"

Everyone had sacrificed a lot to film this movie about saving the world, Su Lin mused—Lao Lu's energetic shouts must be the roar of his inner righteousness.

After all, he too had once been that boy.

"Yi Leina's portal is still open—she's probably in her own world. I'll go see what she's doing," Su Lin said to Han Li, who was applying makeup and disguise. Liu Li Ge remained as cautious as ever, refusing to reveal his true face.

Yi Leina said she needed some magical equipment and went back to retrieve it—but she still hadn't returned.

The training ground was halfway up Shuijing Peak—spacious, and where most group members' fixed portals were placed. Upward led toward Wangshu Pavilion; downward led to vacant rooms.

At the training ground, Song Shuhang stood before Yi Leina's portal, holding a small black booklet, his expression odd.

"What are you looking at?" Su Lin asked.

"This seems to be Yi Leina's travel journal," Song Shuhang flipped through it, recalling: "I often saw her writing in it during my travels in Luffy's world."

"So why is it on the ground?" Su Lin leaned closer—the pages were filled with illustrated notes.

【Someone please save me! I messed up!】

Su Lin: "..."

Song Shuhang: "..."

Su Lin: "Why didn't she use the group chat?"

Song Shuhang turned the page.

【Why is no one reading the group chat?!】

Su Lin: "..."

Song Shuhang: "..."

Everyone's on set—who has time to check the group chat?

Su Lin rubbed his temples and said after reading the chat logs: "Knowing what's going to happen and still failing—that's really pathetic."

Basically, Yi Leina met her counterpart from the Parallel World, thought she could easily resolve this incident, but ended up getting captured by accident.

Su Lin walked straight into the teleportation portal; Song Shuhang shook his head and followed after him.

A moment later, when Su Lin and Song Shuhang returned, Yi Leina, who stepped out beside them, covered her face with her soft-pointed magic hat and looked thoroughly disheveled.

Beside him, Su Lin held a rope woven from light elements, the rope connected to the teleportation portal behind; gradually, one after another Yi Leina—identical in face but differing in attire—was dragged out, bound.

"Phew! You're really weak~." Su Lin glanced at the witch beside him.

"Shut up!" came Yi Leina's voice from beneath the hat: "I'd already solved everything! I just showed off the places I'd been and the items I'd collected, and these idiots attacked me!"

Song Shuhang sighed helplessly; having just been revived once, he decided to keep his distance from Young Lady Yi Leina.

"You traitor!" shouted the scattered Yi Leinas: "You actually found a man?! Damn heterosexuality!"

"Food can be eaten carelessly, but words cannot be spoken recklessly." Su Lin turned back, speaking seriously: "Watch out—I'll send you a lawyer's notice for defamation. Oh, and don't forget to pay me for copying Mr. Jin Guang's ideas."

"Senior Su Lin, you probably won't win a lawsuit."

"Is this your idea of showing off?!" shouted the short-haired Yi Leina, dark circles under her eyes: "Destroy it! Destroy it all!"

"Sigh." Yi Leina sighed wearily:

"Please rescue the gelatinous version of me and the ghoul version."

"As for payment, let them pay themselves—it's their own business. Just being alive is already lucky enough, whether you want them to warm your bed or—"

"Hey, Ye Fan, I've got two laborers for sale—powerful witches, hmm… too few, add a bit more." Su Lin was on the phone with Ye Fan, then instinctively turned his head—a magic projectile whizzed past his ear.

"I suddenly feel insulted—I'm really sorry!" Yi Leina lifted her head, forcing a smile.

"Just joking." Su Lin smiled, then hung up the call: "Take all of them as actors. Their character designs are a bit heavy, but they'll still create some horror effects."

He pulled up Seeing Qu Yanping's surveillance footage and immediately tossed the rope of light elements he held to Yi Leina.

"They're knocking. I need to go and get into character. Song Shuhang, come over later." Before Su Lin finished speaking, he vanished from where he stood.

"Then I'll leave too." Song Shuhang dragged his weary body away.

"Hey! Listen up—if you're going to sell us off or whatever, you've got to give me my share." One Yi Leina, eyes glowing gold, said: "You owe me at least one billion gold coins!"

Yi Leina turned her head, looked at the versions behind her, grinned, and pulled out her phone to dial a number: "Hello, Ye Fan?"

Gu Yue Fang Zheng (Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan), restrained by binding straps, cried out:

"Brother, I really can't tell them apart!"

"I don't want to go back. The you over there is cruel—everyone in Gu Yue Shanzhai is dead. I have to fight against the you over there, and I have to constantly remember you're my brother."

"I'm so tired! Brother! I can't tell anymore what's real and what's illusion!"

Gu Yue Fang Yuan (Su Lin) patted his head and said:

"Here we go again, my foolish little brother. No matter what, I'll never harm you. That one's fake—you've encountered an Illusory Realm inside the Penglai Ruins again."

"Don't rush. Brother will come save you soon."

Seeing Qu Yanping stepped forward two paces, activated his Heavenly Eye to examine the other's condition—but unexpectedly, he saw nothing at all.

"Heavenly patterns are chaotic…" Seeing Qu Yanping murmured: "But he isn't a Heavenly Dao artifact. Gu Yue brother, what realm is your younger brother in?"

"He was ruined when he returned from the Penglai Mystical Realm," Gu Yue Fang Yuan sighed: "He had excellent talent—he was the family's prodigy. Since this happened, there's been no such person in Shanzhai anymore."

"Didn't you seek out Mr. Jin Guang?" Seeing Qu Yanping asked the question weighing on his mind: "And I've seen so many methods on the market—didn't you consider any of them?"

"Every method you can think of, I've tried," Gu Yue Fang Yuan said coldly: "None worked."

Seeing Qu Yanping glanced at the clenched fist of the man before him and asked further: "We don't disbelieve you—but this sounds like a fairy tale. Gu Yue brother, do you have any other proof?"

A mentally ill patient with a strange illness holds no persuasive power. Though the man did carry something odd—even an ordinary person's Heavenly Eye could read their information—this Gu Yue Fang Zheng was as inscrutable as certain Heavenly Dao artifacts.

Li Feiyu (Han Li) beside him nodded in agreement, as if endorsing Seeing Qu Yanping's words.

"Fang Zheng, what did you bring back this time?" Gu Yue Fang Yuan asked.

"You told me to prepare, so I brought a Heavenly Dao artifact," Gu Yue Fang Zheng glanced at the others present: "I know you might think I'm insane, but everything I say is true."

"I'm here—but I'm also inside the Penglai Ruins."

"Things from over there—I can bring them out."

At this moment, Gu Yue Fang Yuan removed the restraints from him; the man pulled from beneath his blanket a short sword, its hilt bearing a Yin-Yang Taiji fish.

"A Heavenly Dao artifact?!" Seeing Qu Yanping's Heavenly Eye could not analyze the short sword—his perception was pure chaos.

"This is a sword I took from five Immortals under Liantian the Demon Sovereign, in the Sword Tomb," Gu Yue Fang Zheng looked at Gu Yue Fang Yuan with confusion, then, as if confirming this side was real, said:

"This sword kills anyone it strikes—they cannot be revived."

"Isn't that what death always does?" Gao Sheng raised his hand: "And he watched as Gu Yue Fang Yuan picked up the short blade."

"Immortals are people. Undead are people. Demon-beings, Devil-beings, Celestial-beings—any being killed by it cannot be revived," Gu Yue Fang Zheng stared at them all.

Instantly, everyone stepped back half a pace.

"Cannot be revived…" Seeing Qu Yanping's heart lurched, then he suddenly realized: "You mean—you took this Heavenly Dao artifact from five Immortals?!"

"In that Illusory Realm, Fang Zheng was also an Immortal," Gu Yue Fang Yuan gave a bitter laugh: "He sometimes enters Mystical Realms, where he wields great power and competes for opportunities. I once thought he was dreaming—but…"

"He can bring things out of that dream—spirit stones, pills, magical artifacts, herbs, Heavenly Dao artifacts—anything he holds in his hand can be brought out of the dream."

"Otherwise, how could a lowly clan member like me, ignored by Shanzhai, have so many spirit stones and resources?"

"I asked around," Li Feiyu said, left hand on chest, right hand resting on chin: "Gu Yue Shanzhai only has one clan member named Gu Yue Fang Yuan. But here… there truly is a Gu Yue Fang Zheng."

"My master told me that in recent years, a mysterious Gu cultivator has been spending lavishly—buying whatever he wants. His cultivation is low, but his wealth makes many sects blush," Gao Sheng added, as if connecting the dots.

Seeing Qu Yanping was utterly stunned.

This was stranger than when he obtained an opportunity and cultivated a Mystical Art, using arrays to arrive in this world.

Every time he thought he was beginning to understand this world, it would leap out and slap him with something even more absurd.

"But…" Gao Sheng looked troubled: "Even if you two say this, it still doesn't prove the Heavenly Dao artifact came from the dream—after all, we didn't see him pull it out."

"I was careless," Gu Yue Fang Yuan fell silent for a moment: "Do you remember the key I mentioned to reach the depths of the Ruins?"

The three nodded.

"It's him," Gu Yue Fang Yuan pointed at Fang Zheng. "I have a way to enter the same dream as him—no, rather, to reach the Penglai Ruins through Fang Zheng's dream!"

"What's still missing?" Li Feiyu asked.

"A fairy herb!" Gu Yue Fang Yuan fixed his gaze on Li Feiyu. "I have the seed."

Li Feiyu thought for a moment, then pulled out a small green vial from his robe and nodded. "Then let's try."

"By the way, brother, there's something else I need to tell you," Gu Yue Fang Zheng tugged at Fang Yuan's sleeve. "It seems outsiders have entered again."

"Oh?" Gu Yue Fang Yuan looked slightly surprised. "Do you know him?"

"No," Gu Yue Fang Zheng shook his head. "But he's a disciple of Kongyun Sect."

"What!?" Gao Sheng's voice shot up sharply; his eyes widened as he hurried forward anxiously. "What's his name?!"

"This is Gao Sheng, a disciple of Kongyun Sect," Gu Yue Fang Yuan introduced.

"No wonder," Gu Yue Fang Zheng looked enlightened. "His name is Da Lingye."

Gao Sheng froze as if struck by lightning; his face drained of color. He staggered backward several steps until he slumped against the wall.

"No, impossible! My little brother was with me just days ago—no, wait, Third Uncle Kuangdao Sanlang took him on an expedition!"

Then he stood unsteadily, staring fixedly at Fang Zheng. "Do you have any proof?!"

"If he's your little brother, then his information should be fading gradually. Think carefully—do any of your memories feel off? Did he give you anything? Bring it out and look."

Gao Sheng thought hard for several seconds, then pulled a wooden flying sword from his storage pouch. Instantly, before their eyes, the sword disintegrated into dust.

Gao Sheng stared at his empty palm, then turned to Seeing Qu Yanping, the nearest, and asked: "Qu brother, what did I just pull out?"

Seeing Qu Yanping's eyes widened—how could someone forget something that had just happened?!

Forgotten?!

Crack!

On Shuijing Peak, a group of cultivators with specialized skills pressed pause and began their tasks.

Not long after, about two hours later, the group returned from the theater.

"Nice job, Song Shuhang, you're an Oscar-worthy actor!" Ye Fan lightly punched Song Shuhang on the shoulder. "That final expression and motion? Perfect score!"

"Is my concern for my brother not genuine?" Su Lin ruffled Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's head. "Right, little brother?"

"Get off!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan swatted Su Lin's hand away, laughing and scolding. "No bringing acting into real life! Trying to take advantage of me?"

Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, let the prop team check again. Scene two: the Penglai Mystical Realm—filming starts tomorrow!"

(End of Chapter)