Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

On a weekend afternoon, sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the living room floor in a warm golden hue.

Gu Zhiwan nestled in the fabric sofa, hugging a cushion, and projected her tablet onto the large TV in the living room. She then turned on the most popular fantasy romance drama on the platform recently. The comments section was full of praise, saying that it was well-made, had good-looking cast members, and had grand scenes.

The opening sequence is gorgeous, with top-notch special effects. The opening scene is a celestial palace high in the heavens, shrouded in clouds and mist, with ethereal music playing. The visuals alone are quite acceptable.

Lin Yuan sat beside him, his notebook spread out on his lap, writing something with his head down, occasionally glancing at the screen without saying a word.

Gu Zhiwan snuggled closer to him, casually resting her elbow on his arm while her eyes remained focused on the screen.

Lin Yuan didn't say anything, but simply moved a little to the side, giving her a more comfortable angle to lean against.

At first, Gu Zhiwan was quite patient, munching on sunflower seeds and staring intently at the screen, looking like she was ready to binge-watch the show.

As a result, before he even finished watching the second episode, his brows started to furrow, his expression grew increasingly unpleasant, and finally he couldn't help but speak up—

"I give up."

Lin Yuan didn't look up, and casually asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhiwan pulled the cushion over her face, unable to hold back her complaints, her tone utterly disdainful, "Here we go again. The male lead is a born supreme god, his eyes are always deep and profound, his lines never exceed ten words, and he can command the entire scene with just one outburst of madness."

Gu Zhiwan fast-forwarded a bit with the remote, getting more and more excited as she spoke, "The female lead is a pure white fairy, innocent and naive, but wherever she goes, she brings disaster. The entire world is just a backdrop for their romance. The only purpose of the supporting characters is to advance the love story and incidentally get one of them tortured to death—"

She leaned heavily against a cushion and summarized: "The action scenes rely entirely on slow motion and special effects, the dialogue is all about romance, it gets boring after two episodes, and I started skipping around from the third episode onwards, and this is still the most popular show on the platform."

Lin Yuan then raised his head and glanced at the screen full of ethereal special effects, but he gave up after only two seconds.

On the screen, the male lead, dressed in white, stands suspended in mid-air, surrounded by a sky full of floating special effects. The female lead looks up at him, her eyes filled with tears. The background music is deafening, and the line "You are the only person I care about in this life" floats in.

He paused for a moment, then said, "It really was badly filmed."

Gu Zhiwan turned her head: "You think so too?"

Lin Yuan put down his pen and gave a soft hum of agreement: "Capital thinks this path is easy—it generates traffic, provides CP (couple) content, has angst, and is low-risk—so they're going down this one path to the bitter end."

"The problem is, it's not good-looking at all." Gu Zhiwan threw the tablet onto the coffee table, somewhat indignant.

"What's wrong with the fantasy genre? It explores the myriad aspects of life, the clash between good and evil, and the existence of all beings in the three realms. You can write something from any angle, why force it to focus on a romance between two people?"

Lin Yuan twirled the pen in his hand, not responding immediately, his gaze fixed on the black screen that she had cut off, as if he was thinking about something.

After a few seconds, he spoke, his tone unhurried: "Writing fantasy novels isn't actually that hard; the hard part is giving each character a realistic fate."

Gu Zhiwan tilted her head to look at him, with a hint of curiosity.

There is a story.

Lin Yuan closed the notebook on his lap, casually placed it on the coffee table, leaned back in the sofa, and spoke in a calm and unhurried tone:

"A group of ordinary people with flaws, who know some things cannot be changed, yet still choose to love, protect, and sacrifice. Life and death are hidden within their laughter and playfulness, sacrifice lies within their gentleness, their lives are filled with the warmth of everyday life, and they embody the greater good of the world. Each person carries regrets, and every regret pierces the heart."

A brief silence.

Gu Zhiwan's voice rose half an octave, and she hugged the cushion back to her arms, snuggling closer to him, her eyes filled with undisguised anticipation:

"What story? Do you have a framework? Are you planning to make it into a new movie?"

Lin Yuan gently shook his head.

"It's not a movie."

Gu Zhiwan was slightly taken aback. "Not making movies?"

"There are too many subplots and the relationships between the characters are too complicated; a two-hour theatrical film simply can't fit them all," Lin Yuan said. "Forcing it would be a waste; this story needs enough space to fully develop each character."

Gu Zhiwan paused for two seconds, her mind racing, before hesitantly asking, "So you're planning to film a TV series?"

"Um."

"Then—" she looked at him, a barely suppressed anticipation in her eyes, "what's your name?"

Lin Yuan turned his head to look at her, his lips twitching slightly, and slowly uttered six words—

"The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3".