I'm not mentally ill, I'm a master of a thousand faces!

Chapter 104, In a state of mental confusion

"Heartless, loveless, righteous, hateful, and devoid of heart, the Overlord's Blade I cultivate can sever all feelings and love. I am not human; I am merely a blade."

"I am Duan Tianya, the number one secret agent. I have been with my godfather since I was 7 years old. He gave me a reason to live, so that my life is not just about revenge."

"My entire family of 35 was once wiped out. When my adoptive father was about to kill my enemy, I begged him not to. I wanted him to die slowly from his injuries and hear the buzzing of flies. My adoptive father agreed, and I became his secret agent."

"Gambling den? Where is there a gambling den? I am Cheng Shifei, and this gambling den is my home. Maintaining it depends on everyone."

The script reading serves as a preliminary warm-up for filming, allowing everyone to become familiar with the characters' interpersonal relationships and their cause-and-effect personalities.

This is the significance of script readings.

Li Yun joined them, and she was able to better understand their personalities.

Gui Haiyi, an introverted and taciturn man, is the top henchman of Tie Dan Shen Hou, skilled in slashing people with his knife. He has a crush on Shangguan Haitang.

How should we describe Duan Tianya, the steady and reliable elder brother? He's the epitome of a well-behaved and conventional elder brother.

Shangguan Haitang loves Duan Tianya, but Duan Tianya loves another woman who has already died.

The relationship between these three secret agents is enough to fill a book.

The rest of the people who were just there for fun became the subject of gossip; he really was just a source of amusement.

These secret agents had many causal relationships with Cao Zhengchun; they suffered at Cao Zhengchun's hands, and Cao Zhengchun also suffered at their hands.

Of course, the last one is none other than Zhu Wushi, the Iron-Blooded Marquis. He is the number one boss in the world, with superb martial arts skills and a cunning mind. He has two greatest wishes and ideals in his life.

His first goal was to become emperor, and his second was to resurrect his woman, Su Xin.

During the script reading, Li Yun truly experienced what it meant to be a veteran actor's skill.

You don't know until you compare, and the difference is astonishing.

Huo Jianhua gives off the impression of being Huo Jianhua, somewhat expressionless as he recites the script. Well, it seems that even someone with an expressionless face can play this role; maintaining an expressionless face throughout the entire performance won't be considered subpar, making it a rather clever role.

Li Yapeng's acting skills are actually not bad; you can barely see the connection between him and the character.

Guo Jinan's portrayal of his character is the most immersive and he appears to have the best acting skills among the main characters.

In contrast, Liu Songren's performance was a precipitous blow.

She wasn't wearing any makeup or styling at all.

However, when reciting lines, one can clearly feel the difference between before and after the character's transformation, and one can clearly feel the difference between the traitor Zhu Wushi and the master of the Dragon Guard Manor.

Perhaps just a slight twitch in the eyebrows or the angle of the drooping corners of the eyes can determine a person's character and acting skills.

This is the change brought about by micro-expressions.

This is the acting skill honed over the years. Even without getting into character, he can easily transform into someone else; it is the ultimate in method acting.

It's no wonder he wants a worthy opponent to act with; if his opponent doesn't perform well, he won't be able to showcase his acting skills.

"Oh, isn't this our Lord Divine Marquis? You look refreshed and energetic, haven't I seen you for a few days?"

At this moment, Li Yun spoke to Liu Songren in a high-pitched voice, glancing sideways at him, looking quite like a soft-voiced eunuch.

He does look somewhat like a eunuch, and he really does have that kind of feel to him.

The delivery of lines was fairly standard, but since it was just a script reading, it wasn't very revealing. If we're talking about who stood out the most, it would probably be Liu Songren and Guo Jinan.

Both of them are truly capable of getting into character anytime, anywhere; they are the kind of people with real acting skills.

Li Yun's figure gradually became clearer, and after joining the script reading, he became increasingly taciturn.

I always prefer to be alone.

"I always felt that Mr. Li had a slight liking for being alone?" At this moment, Deng Chao touched his chin. He was also playing a character who appeared throughout the entire series, the Zhengde Emperor.

In every subplot and every main plot, it plays an important supporting role, and it naturally has a lot of scenes with Li Yun, the grand eunuch.

After all, wasn't the eunuch just a close advisor to the emperor?

"Mr. Li likes to be alone, so let him be alone. Anyway, he didn't have any problems during the readings." Liu Songren paused and said. Rather, after the readings, he was less worried about Cao Zhengchun's scenes.

Reading aloud together allows one to get a glimpse of the whole picture from a small part.

Liu Songren's concern was that Li Yun, as a young man, couldn't grasp the character or his demeanor at all. However, based on the current readings, while Li Yun's acting may not be outstanding, he does have a basic understanding of the character.

She perfectly captured both the father-in-law's effeminate gentleness and sharp wit, even seemingly possessing some unique understanding, which gave the character a distinctive flavor and made him quite interesting.

Even in Liu Songren's eyes, he was more skilled at acting than Guihai Yidao, one of the main characters.

If the main character is like this, then we shouldn't be too harsh on the supporting characters either.

Liu Songren could only focus on his acting skills and hope that he could perform well and get more camera focus on him. There shouldn't be any major problems.

Gui Haiyidao was somewhat self-aware of this, and Huo Jianhua was even a little depressed at this moment. He had heard that he was the second to last in acting skills among the regular cast members, since the last one was probably Cao Zhengchun.

My second-to-last position is now in jeopardy, so I can only work harder to participate in script readings, improve my character, and immerse myself in the role.

"Perhaps our Eunuch Cao is a bit aloof."

Ye Xuan'er smiled and said, "We just need to do our part well. Anyway, they haven't missed a single reading session."

Just like clocking in for work, Li Yun has been quite punctual for the daily readings since joining the film crew. Although there's nothing particularly unexpected about her performance, occasionally someone might hear her muttering to herself. Perhaps she's rehearsing her lines?

In any case, Li Yun's position doesn't seem to be that important.

Gradually, Li Yun became more transparent, making his presence less noticeable. Like most of the actors here, he was simply treated as he was.

At this time, Liu Songren and Deng Chao, the two people most deeply entangled with Cao Zhengchun, put their attention on others.

It was Liu Songren who changed his opinion of Li Yun somewhat.

At least for now, Liu Songren doesn't think Li Yun got in because of connections. But, it's nothing special, nothing surprising.

As long as it doesn't startle you, it's fine.

Li Yun participated in the intensive training session for reading "The World's Number One".

The script reading felt a bit like "amusing myself," with little interaction with others. I would just stare at people from time to time, and sometimes that look made people feel uncomfortable. But afterwards, Li Yun would always apologize and say that he was just daydreaming.

The unanimous comment from the production team of "The Best in the World" regarding this was...

The young and handsome actor in front of me seems to have some mental issues; perhaps he's a little lonely or withdrawn.

Although Gao Yuanyuan always said that Li Yun had a very cheerful personality, that was not the case in reality. Everyone can see what they can see for themselves.

Gao Yuanyuan did not continue her reading with Li Yun, or rather, Gao Yuanyuan's character and Li Yun's storyline had no intersection whatsoever. They only met at the beginning, and then each went on to do their own reading and training. Gao Yuanyuan played a Japanese female warrior.

The side quests and main quests for each character are sometimes quite different, at least in this game.

Li Yun didn't care about becoming transparent.

It was through others that the appearance of this eunuch from the Eastern Depot became clearer and his image became more defined.

He was a eunuch in the Eastern Depot, the most powerful eunuch in the entire court. He could be extremely respectful in front of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, but in front of others, he was a cold-blooded and ruthless villain.

He used his secret forces to persecute political enemies and opposed Zhu Wushi of the Dragon Guard Manor. Even knowing that he was just a pawn used by the emperor to check and balance Zhu Wushi, he was still happy to do so.

He possesses unparalleled martial arts skills, is both a scholar and a warrior, and is also capable of outwitting the Dragon Guard Manor, which boasts a powerful intelligence network.

Well, the Eastern Depot itself was a super-powerful intelligence agency.

But regardless, what he was pursuing was quite clear.

That is power, the ultimate power.

Because there is nothing left to pursue, the symbol of masculinity has completely disappeared.

Cao Zhengchun's life was quite morbid. The kung fu he practiced was called Tiangang Tongzi Gong, which was extremely yang and strong. Only virgins could practice it, and one could not lose one's virginity before mastering it.

Cao Zhengchun had already mastered the Heavenly Gang Boy Skill to perfection, but what good was it if he had mastered it to perfection because of his physical defects?

There's nothing we can do.

Ironically, all he could do was pursue power.

All one can do is pursue power over everything.

The greatest power held by eunuchs.

He wanted to eliminate Zhu Wushi and become the most powerful minister, second only to the emperor.

He is Cao Zhengchun.

"Eunuch Cao, what kind of person are you? Because of your physical defect, you pursue power that is second only to the emperor."

"That's the desire that every factory manager pursues. You are the same as them, yet different from them. You have your own desires, your own beliefs, and even your own life."

At night.

While everyone else was asleep at the resort, Li Yun was still reading a script, but it wasn't his own; it was someone else's script.

See Cao Zhengchun from their perspective.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep while watching.

Li Yun had a dream.

I dreamt that I was a 7-year-old boy who, without even realizing it, was sent to the palace, a deep and cruel palace complex.

who I am.

A sense of bewilderment lingered in Li Yun's mind.

No, it was Cao Zhengchun's heart.

I am Cao Zhengchun.

(End of this chapter)