“System, High-Tier Draw, ten times.”
As the command was issued, light swirled across the system interface.
【High-Tier Draw confirmed. Deducting Prestige points...】
【Triggering situational adaptation mechanism: The host's current core difficulty is 'insufficient physical balance and horse-rider coordination under mounted combat conditions, making it difficult to stably perform swings, dodges, and maneuvers on horseback, affecting the completion of simultaneous mounted combat.'】
【Targeted prize pool bias: Mounted combat balance, horse-rider coordination, horseback combat, and bump tolerance traits. Slightly increasing the weight of breakthrough traits.】
The first card flipped over, flashing with a faint white light.
【Stable Saddle (White)】
Then came the second and third.
【Bump Tolerance (White)】, 【Rudimentary Horse Sense (White)】, 【Stirrup Posture Memory (White)】, 【Rein-Holding Familiarity (White)】, 【Horseback Dodging Basics (White)】, 【Center of Gravity Fine-Tuning (White)】, 【Lower Limb Clamping (White)】
Eight consecutive White-Tier Traits, all of them basic buffs.
Jiang Yue raised an eyebrow slightly.
An eight-pull streak of whites right after upgrading?
Under normal circumstances, this pile of White-Tier Traits would still be usable, or at least not completely useless.
But for today's horseback fight scene, relying solely on these basic buffs would, at most, upgrade him from "unstable" to "seemingly a bit more stable."
The problem was, being "just a bit more stable" on a horse's back sounded incredibly unsafe.
The ninth card flipped over, and a touch of green finally appeared.
【Rider-Horse Synchronization (Green)】
Only the last card remained.
He had just spent a million points to upgrade, so the system's first High-Tier Ten-Pull after the upgrade couldn't possibly just give him a participation prize, right?
The final card flipped, and a golden light flashed on the interface.
Jiang Yue's eyelid twitched.
【Unshakable Rider (Gold): Upon equipping, the host gains global center of gravity anchoring capabilities. This effect is not limited to horseback; on any moving, swaying, bumping, or high-speed vehicle, the host can anchor their center of gravity much faster. During sharp turns, leaps, collisions, or violent vibrations of the vehicle, the host will gain superior posture stability and can perform slashing, thrusting, shooting, combat, and weapon handling on a stable foundation.】
His second Gold-Tier Trait.
Jiang Yue's heart skipped a beat, and he had to force himself to suppress the urge to grin.
This trait was practically tailor-made for his current scene.
It wasn't just for horse riding; in the future, when filming action scenes, wirework, or even fights on top of moving vehicles, it would come in handy.
“Equip 【Unshakable Rider】.”
Jiang Yue opened his eyes. When he looked at Old Pal, the chestnut horse in the distance, his perception had already changed.
He now felt a sense of control, as if his feet were rooted to the ground.
It was a wonderful feeling, as if his body had finally learned how to find a fulcrum amidst the swaying.
“Can we do a run-through with the cameras in their official positions now?”
Jiang Yue stood up and walked toward the monitor, taking the soft rubber short sword handed to him by a crew member.
He Chuan looked at him, feeling that after a few minutes of rest, the man's aura had somehow changed.
As for what exactly was different, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He Chuan picked up his walkie-talkie. “All departments, prepare. Let's do a camera run-through first. Keep the speed down a notch.”
Jiang Yue flipped himself onto the horse. His movement was so fluid that even the nearby equestrian instructor couldn't help but look twice.
“Hyah!”
Jiang Yue squeezed his legs, and Old Pal let out a long neigh before charging onto the dirt road.
The stuntman on the sidelines chased from behind on horseback, his prop long sword sweeping forward with the whistling of wind.
According to the original design, Jiang Yue was supposed to lean low to dodge at this moment, then turn back and swing his sword.
As the horse accelerated into the turn, Jiang Yue lowered his body even further.
He first shortened the reins with his left hand, pressing his wrist down to steady the horse's head while pressing his palm against the saddle. Holding the sword in his right hand away from his side, his back leaned backward along with the rise and fall of the horse's back, pressing almost flat against it to avoid the sweeping long sword.
At the same time, the soft sword in his hand slashed upward at the pre-planned angle, accurately striking the hilt that the stuntman had deliberately left exposed.
Only the dull thud of the soft rubber props colliding could be heard on set.
The sword in the stuntman's hand wobbled.
Immediately after, Old Pal bumped as it entered the turn.
Jiang Yue's heart skipped a beat, but his center of gravity was not thrown off. Instead, using the rise and fall of the horse's back to support himself against the saddle, he turned his body around, creating a powerful sense of suspension on camera as he completed a spinning downward slash.
The members of the rigging team instinctively looked at the safety rope.
The rope was only loosely attached, bearing almost no weight.
The entire set fell silent.
He Chuan stared at the monitor, his eyes widening. He even forgot to put down the walkie-talkie in his hand.
Old Hong opened his mouth, and only after a long pause did he manage to squeeze out a sentence: “Holy cow... the wires barely even carried any weight.”
Jiang Yue steadily sheathed his sword and grabbed the reins again.
He first guided Old Pal back to the pre-determined deceleration point, and only after confirming that the horse's pace had slowed did he slowly exhale.
That move had looked incredibly cool just now, but in reality, his back was drenched in sweat.
If he hadn't held his balance, he would probably be listening to Jiang Kaiwen lecturing him right now.
“Cut!”
He Chuan finally snapped out of it, his voice much louder than before. “Jiang Yue, did you change the choreography just now?”
Jiang Yue pulled the reins, and Old Pal spun on the spot before coming to a steady halt.
He flicked the soft sword in his hand and smiled. “I didn't add any movements. I followed the points Brother Hong gave me. My center of gravity was just a little more stable than before, so the movements looked more expansive.”
“You call this 'a little'?”
Old Hong looked at him as if looking at some rare species. “That leaning-back movement you just did—without an incredible core, there's no way you could pull it off. Before joining the crew, did you practice equestrianism or gymnastics?”
Jiang Yue knew that this was indeed not something that could be suddenly achieved through training alone.
But he obviously couldn't say that.
“Maybe it's because I've been rolling around in too many secret chambers and hidden passages these past couple of days.”
Jiang Yue could only offer a hand-waving explanation. “My body's survival instinct was quite strong, so I suddenly had a breakthrough.”
Old Hong was choked up by his reply. Although he already knew that Jiang Yue was talented in this area, Jiang Yue always managed to shatter his expectations.
Jiang Kaiwen stood nearby, dazed for a long time. Once he snapped out of it, his first instinct was to check Jiang Yue's legs and hands.
He Chuan took a deep breath, suppressing the wild joy in his heart.
With this kind of physical control, if used in the official shoot, this scene would definitely become an iconic moment after 《The Pivot Bone》 aired.
But an iconic moment was just an iconic moment.
An accident was still an accident.
He Chuan had the equestrian instructor recheck the horse's harness, had the rigging team confirm the load-bearing points of the safety ropes, and picked up the walkie-talkie again.
“That camera run-through was good.”
He Chuan's voice grew serious. “Listen up, all departments. For the official shoot, we'll go with this level of performance. Stunt doubles and safety officers are to stand by at all times. If anything is out of position, stop immediately.”
He looked at Jiang Yue again. “I'll give you some time to run through the entire choreography with the stunt performer once more.”
Jiang Yue put away his smile and said seriously, “Alright.”
Ten minutes later, the clapperboard snapped shut with a crisp sound.
“Action!”
The camera pushed in.
Dust billowed over the dirt road.
Lu Ji leaned low on the horse's back, his grey robes whipping wildly in the wind.
His face was stained with mud, and his eyes held pain, but also the desperation of a man with his back against the wall.
Behind him, two Zhuo Martial Arts experts chased relentlessly on horseback, their long swords gleaming with cold light.
Lu Ji suddenly yanked the reins, and his mount let out a long neigh as its speed dropped sharply.
A pursuer from behind quickly closed in, his sword heading straight for Lu Ji's back.
Just as the blade was about to reach him, the scorching aura of Lu Ji's explosive constitution burst forth.
The world in his eyes changed, and the pursuer's sword-swinging motion was broken down into a series of muscle contractions.
His master's words flashed through his mind.
“To judge a person, first look at their bones. If the skeletal frame is misaligned, their qi and blood must be weak. Then look at their tendons. If the tendons are tense, their momentum is bound to be exhausted. These are the ailments, and they are also the flaws.”
In his eyes, the body of the nearest Zhuo Martial Arts expert, leaning excessively forward in pursuit of speed, was one giant "ailment."
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