"What's the point of filming one of his swords? I'll show you a real Bone Dragon!"
With that, Gu Rong raised his right hand.
Lu Ye saw the air around him begin to distort and hurried forward to stop him.
"Senior Gu, wait!"
"What? You don't believe me?"
"I do, but shouldn't you at least let me get farther away first?"
Lu Ye pointed at the cliff Chen Xin had just split open, then pointed at the ground beneath their feet.
"Rocks are still falling over there. If you bring this side down too, all we'll be able to film is ourselves falling."
Gu Rong glanced in the direction he was pointing, and an awkward look immediately crossed his face.
"I know what I'm doing."
With that, he looked back at Chen Xin.
"Watch closely."
Chen Xin ignored him and simply stepped aside with his hands clasped behind his back.
Ning Fengzhi stood to one side, watching with interest.
He had assumed Lu Ye only wanted to borrow Uncle Jian's reputation to promote the phone. Yet the phone had only just come out, and Uncle Gu had already volunteered to join in.
Things seemed more interesting than he had imagined.
Before long, Lu Ye found a suitable spot.
He raised the phone and aimed it at Gu Rong, who stood at the edge of the cliff.
"Ready!"
As soon as he spoke, rings of light rose around Gu Rong, one after another.
Immediately afterward, an enormous, ghastly white skeleton appeared behind him. Its massive dragon head slowly rose, and two bony wings spread to either side.
In an instant, it filled more than half the previously empty sky on Lu Ye's phone screen.
The Bone Dragon's hollow eye sockets faced the camera squarely.
Lu Ye's eyes lit up.
Good grief, what a sight!
In his previous life, plenty of people couldn't have produced an effect like this even if they paid for it. Yet here was the Bone Douluo, not only coming with his own special effects but also eager to be filmed.
If Lu Ye couldn't even film this properly, he would really be letting the phone down.
"Move the dragon's head a little to the left."
Gu Rong did as he was told, directing the Bone Dragon to turn its head.
"Not you to the left. Don't move!"
Gu Rong, who had just taken half a step, immediately stopped.
A soft chuckle came from behind them.
Gu Rong whipped his head around.
"You old sword bastard, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing."
"I heard you!"
Lu Ye watched the enormous Bone Dragon turn its head along with him on the screen, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
One moment it looked as though it were looking down on all living beings; the next, it had suddenly turned to pick a fight.
How should he put it? Its imposing presence vanished in an instant.
He hurriedly stopped recording and showed Gu Rong the footage.
At first, Gu Rong was quite pleased. But when he heard himself say "you old sword bastard," his expression froze.
"Can you remove that part?"
"Yes, but I didn't finish filming the rest. We'll have to do it again."
"Then let's do it again!"
Gu Rong handed the phone back, then lifted his chin at Chen Xin.
"Stand farther away. Don't get in my way."
Surprisingly, Chen Xin didn't argue. He merely walked a few steps closer to Ning Fengzhi.
This time, everything went smoothly.
Gu Rong stood still as the Bone Dragon slowly rose behind him. Once its wings spread, its enormous head dipped toward the camera.
Even though Lu Ye knew perfectly well that it wouldn't attack him, his grip on the phone still tightened.
This was a Titled Douluo.
There was no need to glare deliberately or make threats. The mere sight of his Martial Soul was enough to make it impossible to look away.
"All right."
At Lu Ye's call, Gu Rong withdrew his Martial Soul and flashed to his side.
"Let me see."
"Just a moment. There's one last step."
As he spoke, Lu Ye opened the music selection.
He deliberately chose a piece that began low and subdued before gradually building in intensity, then matched the moment the bone wings spread to the beat of the drums.
When he pressed play again, Gu Rong's gaze immediately changed, even though he had already seen it once.
Amid the low music, the ghastly white dragon bones appeared one segment at a time.
As the drums struck, the Bone Dragon's wings spread wide!
"Good!"
The word burst out of Gu Rong's mouth.
As soon as he said it, he seemed to feel he had been too eager, so he added another sentence.
"It's better than the last one."
Hearing that, Chen Xin finally turned to look.
Gu Rong immediately held the phone out in front of him.
"What do you think?"
Chen Xin watched it without saying a word.
The smile on Gu Rong's face, however, grew wider and wider.
If he said nothing, then he couldn't find fault with it.
"Use this one. Post it!"
Lu Ye nodded, picked up the phone he had prepared for Gu Rong, and registered an account for him.
Username: Bone Douluo.
For the profile picture, he naturally used the Bone Dragon spreading its wings just now.
As soon as the video was successfully posted, Gu Rong took the phone back and looked straight at the little red heart beside it.
Zero.
"Why isn't there one yet?"
Lu Ye nearly laughed out loud.
"Senior, I haven't had time to watch it yet."
With that, he took out his own phone and tapped the heart on the Bone Dragon video.
The number changed to one.
Gu Rong nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Ning Fengzhi.
Smiling, Ning Fengzhi picked up his phone.
Two.
Next, Gu Rong turned his gaze to Chen Xin.
Chen Xin looked out at the distant valley, as though he hadn't noticed at all.
Gu Rong waited a while, then suddenly snorted.
"Forget it. Some people just can't stand seeing someone else do better than them."
"You haven't liked mine either, have you?" Chen Xin said mildly.
Gu Rong's expression immediately froze.
Lu Ye looked down at his own phone.
A moment later, Sword Dao Chen Xin's video gained another red heart, and the Bone Dragon's video gained one too.
He silently put his phone back in his pocket.
He would let those two save their own face.
By the time the group returned to the sect, the disciple Ning Fengzhi had sent down the mountain had reached the tea stall at its foot.
Lu Ye taught Ning Fengzhi how to answer the call, and the other party's voice came through loud and clear.
"Sect Master, I've arrived."
Ning Fengzhi first asked who was on duty at the tea stall that day, then had the elderly man come over and say a few words.
Of course, he recognized the old man's voice.
Once he had confirmed that the disciple really was at the foot of the mountain, the smile gradually faded from Ning Fengzhi's face. He picked up the phone and looked at it again.
The recorded images were interesting, but being able to speak at any time despite the mountain road between them was another matter entirely in terms of value.
"Can you see Uncle Jian's and Uncle Gu's videos down there too?"
"Yes!"
The disciple answered even faster than before.
"I just saw His Majesty the Bone Douluo's Martial Soul, and that sword strike from His Majesty the Sword Douluo. Old Zhao at the tea stall saw them too. He said it was the first time in his life he'd seen anything like it."
Gu Rong immediately sat up a little straighter.
"Have him watch mine again."
Ning Fengzhi glanced at him and, suppressing a smile, gave the disciple a few instructions before ending the call.
Gu Rong had already opened his video again.
It had gained one more.
He said nothing, but he looked much more at ease than before.
Watching from the side, Lu Ye was secretly amused.
He had thought that Titled Douluo, having seen all manner of things, would probably just find the phone novel and lose interest after playing with it.
Now it seemed he had thought too simply.
Titled Douluo were people too, and they also wanted others to see what they could do.
In the past, whenever Gu Rong summoned his Bone Dragon, the people around him were probably too busy being afraid. Who would have said to his face, "That looks wonderful. I want to see it again"?
But things were evidently different on the phone.
"How do you plan to sell them?" Ning Fengzhi asked.
Lu Ye put the phone back on the table.
"First, I'll find some people in the chamber of commerce to try them out, then take them to the shops in Heaven Dou City to sell. But before that, there's one more thing to do."
"What is it?"
"Find people to make videos."
Gu Rong raised an eyebrow at that.
"Haven't we already filmed some?"
"Take a look."
Lu Ye swiped a few times in front of him.
A flash of sword light, the Bone Dragon, and footage of Ning Fengzhi leafing through account books.
He swiped again. More sword light, the Bone Dragon, and footage of Ning Fengzhi leafing through account books.
This time, Ning Fengzhi understood without needing Lu Ye to explain.
"With only these few videos, anyone who buys a phone will soon have watched them all."
"Exactly."
"Then film some more," Gu Rong said.
"Sure. Senior, will you come with me to the back mountain again tomorrow?"
Gu Rong paused in the act of lifting his tea.
He had been interested in filming once, but if he had to stand on a mountaintop every day, following Lu Ye's directions to move the Bone Dragon left one moment and right the next, how could that be allowed?
"I'm busy tomorrow."
Chen Xin added, "Don't come looking for me either."
Lu Ye had expected them to say that, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"So we need to find people willing to film every day."
At that, he thought of the adult performers in Heaven Dou City who could sing and dance.
Who wouldn't want more people to see their talents?
He would give them phones, and they would make videos for him.
They were the people who could truly bring Douyin to life!