One day later.
Yang Mi came back with a package in hand.
And sure enough, after she sent Jiang Nian’s acting clips to Xu Ke,
Xu Ke was immediately captivated by Jiang Nian’s performance.
He decided on the spot to cast Jiang Nian as Yu Huatian, and the pay was set at a full one million!
At first glance, that might not seem like a huge amount of money.
But don’t forget, Jiang Nian was still a newcomer. Other than Du Gao, he didn’t have a single notable role to his name!
Getting a million-dollar offer right off the bat, and for the main villain role no less,
was already a pretty sweet deal!
Jiang Nian obviously understood this too. So he picked up a pen, signed his name, and was about to fill in his bank account number when—
“Mi Jie, can you give me your bank card number?”
Jiang Nian said this suddenly.
Hearing that, Yang Mi paused for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed, and she looked at him slyly, a teasing tone in her voice. “Oh? So responsible already? We haven’t even made things official, and you’re already handing over your paycheck?”
The corner of Jiang Nian’s mouth twitched. Where was her mind going with this?
But then, an idea popped into his head as his eyes darted around.
Jiang Nian smiled and said, “Of course, Mi Jie. I mean, I only got into this production because of you. So it’s only natural that you should decide how this money is used and spent.”
Hearing that, Yang Mi’s smile grew wider. She gave him a light shove. “Oh, cut it out. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You don’t actually want me to manage the money—you’re using this as a ‘pledge of allegiance,’ aren’t you?”
His little scheme seen right through, Jiang Nian didn’t feel embarrassed at all.
After all, he would still need to rely on Yang Mi to land acting gigs in the future. Showing his cards early and building a good relationship with her had nothing but upsides.
Besides, even if he didn’t need roles, relationships still require give-and-take. He couldn’t keep their connection alive solely with the ‘Old Beijing Chicken Roll’ move, could he?
That would make him a gigolo, not the ‘bleached-hair flirt’ he was supposed to be!
“So, do you want the money or not?” Jiang Nian asked.
“Yes, of course I do. Only an idiot turns down money.” Yang Mi very decisively filled in her own bank card number in the space provided. Then she pulled out her phone and asked, “What’s your bank card number?”
Jiang Nian told her honestly.
Soon after, he received a text message.
[Bank of China deposit: 900,000 yuan]
[Sender: Yang Mi]
[Memo: Acting fee]
[Current balance: 909,370.23 yuan]
Seeing this message, Jiang Nian was a little confused. He looked up at Yang Mi, who had put down her phone, crossed her legs, and was lounging back with a relaxed, self-assured air. She said:
“Jiang Nian, I’m not going to take advantage of you. I didn’t actually do that much for you on this. The main reason you got the role is because your acting won the director over. So I’m only taking ten thousand. The rest, every single yuan, is yours.”
“If you really want to thank me, then seize this opportunity and act well. The higher this movie’s box office earnings, the bigger my share of the profits will be. Got it?”
Jiang Nian nodded. “Got it.”
“Alright, since you’ve got it, go read the script. I’m going to cook. We’ll eat in a bit.”
With that, Yang Mi stood up and headed into the kitchen to busy herself.
Jiang Nian, on the other hand, opened the script.
The system’s voice immediately chimed in.
[Character detected: Yu Huatian]
[Level: Second-rate martial artist (Low martial world)]
[Skills: Sword-Breaking Technique (Mastered), Divine Saber Arts (Comprehensive Mastery), Ultimate Martial Arts (Comprehensive Mastery) (Choose one)]
[Focus points required to unlock: 30,000]
[Comprehension required to unlock: 1]
[Unlock now?]
Seeing Yu Huatian’s information, Jiang Nian was a bit surprised.
Setting aside this new ‘Comprehension’ stat for a moment,
Just looking at his level—
As the character who drives the entire plot of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, the main villain with the best swordsmanship in the world, immense charisma, and top-tier martial skills—
How is he in the same tier as Du Gao, who only appeared in three episodes?
“Why is he only a second-rate martial artist?”
“System, what’s going on?”
Jiang Nian was really confused about this.
The system didn’t bother to explain. It just mechanically repeated the same question from before: Unlock now?
Hearing this, even though Jiang Nian was pretty annoyed by the system’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ attitude,
He still had to play the role since he’d already accepted it and signed the contract. Even if he didn’t unlock it, he’d still have to perform. So, after selecting [Sword-Breaking Technique] as the skill to practice, he spent the 30,000 focus points and unlocked it.
As Yu Huatian’s memories flooded Jiang Nian’s mind,
the deeper content hidden within the plot also surfaced at that moment.
Yu Huatian was a powerful eunuch official during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty. He served as the Director of the Western Depot and was a trusted confidant of the Emperor’s favorite concubine, Consort Wan.
He was meticulous and extremely powerful. By colluding with Consort Wan and murdering the Emperor’s offspring, he gained immense power. He looked down on everyone, even the Eastern Depot, which was supposedly his equal. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was second only to the Emperor, and above everyone else.
In the end, he even managed to survive. He assumed someone else’s identity, disguised himself, returned to the court, and killed Consort Wan.
“Wait, someone else’s identity? Killed Consort Wan?”
“Feng Lidao?!”
Jiang Nian suddenly spotted a blind spot.
In his past life, because Feng Lidao and Yu Huatian looked identical, many people guessed that Yu Huatian never actually died—that the person the hero Zhao Huai’an killed at the end was really Feng Lidao.
And now, it turned out that was exactly the case!
As for why Yu Huatian was only a second-rate martial artist,
after finishing all of Yu Huatian’s memories, Jiang Nian understood.
Because the power level in this film wasn’t all that high.
Although it had something called ‘internal energy,’ compared to The Annals of the Martial World (the previous film Jiang Nian worked on), its depictions weren’t as exaggerated.
Most of the fights were still blade-on-blade combat, with very few clashes of internal energy.
Unlike The Annals of the Martial World, which was all about internal energy explosions from start to finish, with all kinds of special effects added in later.
That’s why Yu Huatian, the ‘number one martial artist in the world’ of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, ended up in the same tier as Du Gao.
Of course, even though their levels were the same,
if they actually fought, Yu Huatian would still win.
After all, Yu Huatian’s skill set consisted of two ‘Comprehensive Mastery’ skills, plus a ‘Mastered’ Sword-Breaking Technique.
He could be considered top-tier among second-rate martial artists.
In contrast, Du Gao was only mid-to-low tier among second-rate fighters.
“Damn, jumped the gun on that one.”
Having figured out why Yu Huatian was only a second-rate martial artist, Jiang Nian felt pretty frustrated.
But after thinking it over, he quickly let it go.
After all, unlocking a second-rate martial artist already cost 30,000 points.
If Yu Huatian really were a first-rate martial artist, his nearly 50,000 focus points might not have been enough to unlock him anyway.
“You win some, you lose some.”
“But next time, I’ve definitely got to find a script set in a more powerful world to act in.”
Jiang Nian said quietly to himself.
Then, he turned his attention to the ‘Comprehension’ stat.
This was the first time he’d ever seen this thing.
“Is it a new system feature?”
Jiang Nian muttered to himself. Then he switched over to the system interface, and sure enough, a new data field had appeared:
[Film and Television Martial Emperor System v1.0]
[User: Jiang Nian]
[Comprehension: 1]
[Level: Second-rate martial artist]
[Skills: Shaolin Virgin Boy Technique (Comprehensive Mastery) (Cannot be upgraded)]
[Focus points: 19,573]
[Currently playable character archetype: Eunuch]
[Unlocked characters: Du Gao, Yu Huatian]
