Chapter 281: Su Lin: Meng Qi, Your Camera Has Arrived

After finishing a short filming segment, the crew gathered atop Water Mirror Peak to watch the edited footage while the protagonist entered the next nested dungeon.

"Hey." Xing pointed at the progress bar: "Even though I was just born, I know this is called a TV drama, right?"

"I'm not 'Hey,' and I'm not Chu Yuxun." Su Lin, enjoying tea and water offered by his historical projection, lazily rolled over in his custom chair: "If it plays in a cinema, it's a movie."

"No cinema would ever screen this stuff," Yi Leina retorted. "I've watched plenty of TV dramas and movies in your world."

"They'll screen it." Su Lin pointed to the rows of cultivators ahead: "Guess how many theater chains and subsidiaries these rich guys have? For me, it's even easier—I've played 'Doupo Cangqiong' nonstop for four hours and no one complained."

"What's wrong with the 'Doupo Cangqiong' TV drama?" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan turned around to ask.

"Nothing. The special effects are great, and the horses are good too." Su Lin gave a thumbs-up: "But ours is just a bit better."

"Oh." Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan turned back, his expression strange—he felt Su Lin had hidden meaning, but the cultivators in front were feeding their dogs, and he instantly forgot the thought.

"No good. Next time I must bring Xun'er."

If Xun'er were beside me now, I could hold her hand like a couple on Earth and watch the movie.

But there was another problem—what exactly was the situation with the Queen of Meidusha?

After hesitating a while, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan still focused his attention on the film above.

The screen showed the continuation of yesterday's plot.

In Su Lin's portrayal, Gu Yue Fang Yuan and the protagonist's group stood outside the Sword Absolute Array, which blocked all forced entry methods, preparing to observe the Holy Maiden activating her ability to sacrifice her life force to fulfill others' wishes.

According to the Holy Light Church's methods, the Holy Maiden wouldn't perish; to maintain long-term "use" of her, they employed every possible means. Each time she fulfilled an unimaginable wish, a portion of her soul was stripped away, then slowly, painfully repaired over endless time.

She was a tool, a divine gift granted to them to sustain their rule—though when questioned about the god, the church's high-ranking officials gave ambiguous answers.

After all, it was widely known that across all realms, to prevent supreme beings from clashing and triggering the destruction of countless worlds, the highest entities had not appeared for countless eons, only occasionally issuing edicts or manifesting their power in times of crisis.

Two rows of angelic guards in red armor clashed their swords and spears overhead. Dada Liya, portraying the Holy Maiden, wore a pure white sacred robe and arrived at the ritual's central pattern, accompanied by the Holy Light Church's high-ranking officials.

She turned back one last time to gaze toward the starship of the Three Realms Alliance. Her inner voice echoed in the scene: "I don't know how many years until I awaken again—but at least let me use this chance to make one wish: May you and your junior sister..."

"... be happy."

The Holy Maiden closed her eyes. Under the ritual's effect, she floated to the center of the array. As prayers were chanted, seven-colored particles rose, and in dazzling light, a crystal resembling one from eons past formed upon countless sword tombstones.

The sword qi dissipated, melted away. The Holy Maiden's soul state was revealed—her soul gradually peeled away, and with it, bit by bit, vanished her memories of these days with the sword cultivators.

Simultaneously, the camera cut to the side of Weigong Shilang, portraying the sword cultivator.

The room had been cleaned spotless; the sword cultivator was bathing and changing clothes.

"Bro, you're not a jerk, are you?"

"Damn, this is definitely post-thing."

"Pure love makes you cry."

"Ha, men."

The murmurs continued—if Su Lin hadn't given the chat group participants, except Song Shuhang, a minor invisibility buff, the red-haired guy in the front row would've already covered his face with his robe.

But this commentary didn't last long, because Weigong Shilang, as the sword cultivator, tied his hair, donned a black robe, and pulled out a golden parchment with still-wet ink.

He placed the letter on the table and turned to leave.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating a line of neat characters: 【Shushan's Traitor, Today I Leave the Sect, Establish My Own Path, Chasing the Sword Dao Within My Heart】

As the sword cultivator opened the door, he met his junior sister in the corridor, greeted her normally, then turned to leave—but she called out to him.

"Is she better than me?" the junior sister asked.

"She's capricious, rude, unreasonable, always ready to fight. You're gentle, thoughtful, generous, kind—of course you're better." The sword cultivator stopped, though he didn't turn back, speaking with solemn sincerity.

"Then why did you reject me last night..." The junior sister clenched her fists against her chest.

"I don't know." The sword cultivator pushed open the opposite door; a sliver of golden light shone on his eyes, and within his amber pupils, a speck of Bai Mang flickered:

"Just like I don't know what's wrong with my sword—it seems that if she's not beside me, I'll never advance another step on the Sword Dao."

"This must be what they call magic? What a hateful thing—she's the Holy Maiden, yet she cast some strange spell on me."

"Curses and magic aren't the same thing! You used to care only about the Sword Dao!" The junior sister's hands dropped suddenly; a tear rolled down her cheek as she threw a sword at him: "Get out quickly! We're returning to the sect!"

"Master gave you the Heavenly Dao artifact, Bai Di Sword." The sword cultivator stared in shock at the blade in his hand, then smiled: "Thank you, junior sister."

Watching her figure vanish like a reflection in water or a mirage, the sword cultivator stepped onto the starship's deck, where six young, beautiful male and female sword cultivators stood on either side. One, like a celestial being, unrolled a scroll, and immediately, over a hundred weapons with varied auras flew into the scroll, becoming ink-drawn patterns.

"I'll tell Master you went to slay demons and purge evil." He rolled up the scroll and tossed it to the sword cultivator: "Anyone who dares threaten my sect disciples is a demon. Anyway, these are all weapons you found in the Sword Tomb—take them."

【Tian Xing Sword, Bai Dai Kunwu, Liu Dao Zhu Yue, Ri Yue Shen Xi, Xia Li Long Yin, Ye Yu Huo, Seven Deadly Sins】

"You..." The sword cultivator glanced at the scroll, biting his lip hard: "Thank you."

Threads of sword qi wrapped around the sword cultivator like silk spun by silkworms.

At this moment, a steady, martial voice narrated the thoughts of his senior and junior siblings.

"Forbidden Art: Feeding the Sword with One's Body—this is a perverse technique. Shushan disciples would never use it unless at the last moment, for no one who feeds their origin with a killing sword can preserve their physical form. The best outcome is becoming a sword spirit—even its creator met this fate."

"But one kind of person is an exception: one who possesses Sword Heart, Sword Soul, and Sword Bone is himself a sword."

"Those arrogant bastards have no idea who they're threatening."

"He is Shushan's most outstanding disciple in ten thousand years!"

Hummm—

The volume rose steadily; the sword's resonance, once chaotic, harmonized into a single thick frequency. In an instant, the sword qi cocoon dissolved like spring snow.

A figure appeared, draped in long red hair, a white silk ribbon tied over his eyes, a silver-white miniature sword pattern etched on his forehead, holding a seven-foot-long sword compressed to its utmost with geng metal qi.

"Leave quickly."

The moment the sword cultivator spoke, he stepped forward, his entire body transforming into a Bai Hong, flying toward the center of the Sword Tomb, countless li away.

The scene shifted to the Holy Maiden—she instinctively tried to gather those memories, to replace the damaged ones with others, but no matter how hard she tried, the first things to vanish as the price were always her most precious moments: every second spent with him.

"Don't take them away! Please! Don't take them away!" Her seemingly numb expression finally shattered; she reached out both hands within her consciousness.

Yet she, who could fulfill any wish, could not fulfill her own.

The Holy Maiden, heartbroken beyond words, finally sank her awareness into darkness, choosing to escape rather than face it.

Sssssss—

Clang!

The clash of metal and iron rang out, wild winds rippled, accompanied by roars and panic, shock and wailing.

The environment, moments ago so silent that the fall of a silver needle could be heard, had become deafening. She slightly opened her eyes to see guards scrambling into defensive formations, while hundreds of li away, above the clouds, severed limbs and broken limbs continuously rained from the sky.

Bai Hong streaks like a shadow; the heavens tremble.

Star-soul spirit, one sword startles the swan, stirring fear in gods and demons.

Su Lin watched the screen where Weigong Shilang was slaughtering all around, gaining countless emotional fans, and suddenly felt a pang of regret—had he been wrong to secretly manipulate and add scenes for him?

He had thought that with his professional attitude, by exchanging for acting skills, mastery of psychology, and mastery of an actor's self-cultivation from the system's lifestyle section, he could successfully win the role of a powerhouse actor in this year's simulated universe blockbuster.

But he hadn't expected

"Go on!!!"

"Come on, big brother with the flying sword!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Heaven and earth… mmmph"

"Plug Zao Hua Fa Wang's mouth!"

"Quiet! Shh!"

These cultivators didn't care at all about scheming and intrigue; even when the camera zoomed in on their micro-expressions, all they garnered was—"Master, that big brother is terrifying." "Don't imitate him; such a cultivator must be slain on sight."

Su Lin clenched his teeth and sighed: "Damn fan culture."

But then he glanced over at Weigong Shilang, sitting in the front row with Dada Liya hugging his neck, launching a full-scale charm attack, his face flushed red—and an exaggerated smile curled unconsciously on his lips.

Not a bad deal after all. This is far more interesting. Maybe next time I'll visit his world and check out that Dongmu love story.

Lu Mingfei suddenly shivered, glanced around, locked his gaze on Su Lin, and followed his line of sight.

So he stood up, walked past Weigong Shilang, gave him a pitying look, and said in broken Japanese accent:

"Yoshi! Wei-san, your hometown's akura has opened, desu!"

Weigong Shilang: "????"

"He means you did a great job," Ke Lan explained beside him. "You have real acting talent. No wonder you'll one day become the Dongmu Film Emperor."

"Can you stop mentioning that awkward guy?" Weigong Shilang grimaced at the memory of the red-cloaked back figure, struggled slightly, and blushed: "Hey, Dada Liya, you're hugging too tight."

"Really?" Dada Liya tilted her head, puzzled, pointing at the screen: "Didn't you tell me to do this?"

On screen, the blood-soaked sword cultivator embraced the scarred Holy Maiden before him; visible exhaustion did not hide his blissful smile.

"Why are you coming to me now?!" The Holy Maiden shed two trails of tears. "I… I always argued with you, and I never let you practice swordplay…"

"I… I even told you I never wanted to see you again!"

"I don't know," the sword cultivator said slowly, slashing down a winged angel guard with one hand on his sword. "But I always feel… if you're not by my side, practicing swordplay is meaningless."

"Hold me tight. Never let go."

Weigong Shilang clutched his head, nearly burying it between his knees.

'Master Tunyun, what the hell have you done!!!!'

Although his and Dada Liya's scenes were nearly over, the impact on reality was too huge!

'I only asked him to assign me a minor supporting role to make Dada Liya happy—why did he rewrite my entire original script?!'

'And I specifically said it was a sister! Why give a sister such a role?!'

'Wasn't I supposed to be background scenery to begin with? This is terrible…' Weigong Shilang stood up, turned back to look at Su Lin's seat. When their eyes met, Su Lin waved at him—and his heart filled with guilt and unease: 'I've caused Su Lin trouble again.'

Su Lin retracted his hand, brushed off snack crumbs from his clothes, and rose from his recliner.

On screen, the Holy Maiden, in her final despair, used the power of her wish to drag the sword cultivator to the heart of the Sword Tomb. Deprived of the Church's aid, she now lay on the brink of death from the wish's cost.

In desperation, the sword cultivator spotted a sword with a snow-white hilt before a shattered colossal tree. Following inner guidance and calling, he drew forth the divine sword.

Space and the world shattered from him as the center; countless past-life fragments appeared in his and the Holy Maiden's minds.

Outside, the Sword Tomb began collapsing and crumbling. The River of Time, forcibly suppressed by heavenly artifacts, surged forward. Though weakened by the hands of powerful beings, after the Sword Tomb vanished and its greatest seal was lost, the Time Giant seized everyone in its grasp.

Including Seeing Qu Yanping and Gu Yue Fang Zheng's group.

Beyond layers of illusory reflections and infinite void, in the warped world where the Time Giant originated, a ten-thousand-zhang divine figure wandered the bronze earth. His third eye split open, releasing divine light that transformed into chains of cosmic laws, crossing the boundaries of time and space to reach the Time Giant's void.

He gripped the chains and pulled backward—the Time Giant, like a powerless child, was dragged from the void.

Perhaps the Time Giant's actions had enraged Him. He gathered a three-pronged, double-edged halberd and hurled it skyward. The Time Giant, even the heavenly artifact could not fully suppress, shattered into countless fragments of illusory tides, dripping from the sky.

It rained upon the corpses of black dragons, each as large as dozens of mountain ranges.

It rained upon the dark red soil, where blood had congealed.

It rained upon the bronze altar, ten thousand meters tall.

The gray ocean, the sun twisted into a living creature, the golden giant stele inscribed with mysterious script…

And upon a bronze ancient coffin.

Su Lin appeared at the spot where Seeing Qu Yanping was about to plummet. He sent a cross-realm rune application to Meng Qi.

Su Lin: "Xiao Fei Gun, the camera's coming—hurry up and open the door."

Meng Qi: "Coming!"

A blue-glowing portal appeared flat on the ground. Whoosh—Seeing Qu Yanping fell into it.

Meng Qi: 【Image】

Meng Qi: "You call this… a camera?!!!"

Su Lin: "Don't break it. If Mo Fo shows up, I never said anything."

I hope he's bold enough—maybe that'll save me some effort. Nah, better keep it small. After all, we're nearly at the finale.

End of chapter