Xu Wei, however, directly explained, "There's no such thing as 3D projection; that stuff is too expensive, and our production team can't afford it."
"No, don't tell me what I just saw was all my imagination? That's too real," Liu Zhengqing insisted on his view. "And if only I had seen it, that would be one thing, but I just asked the other four mentors, and they all saw the exact same scene. If you say that was imagination, it doesn't make sense, does it?"
While everyone was discussing, the internet had already gone wild.
"What the hell? Why do I feel like what I'm seeing online isn't the same performance as what people are seeing offline?"
"What hills and sea? I only saw a lot of white starbursts?"
"Wait, did I just have amnesia?"
"Did anyone record it?"
"I recorded it. I just went back and watched it, and none of the things Elite Liu Zhengqing mentioned were there."
...
"Actually, I can explain that," Mu Li suddenly interjected. "This is just a simple application of illusion. It's just using Psychic influence to simply create some visual illusions in your minds, based on the scenes I depicted."
"For example, the hills and the sea earlier, the atmosphere depicted also changed with different parts of the music, allowing the audience on-site to be somewhat immersed," Mu Li explained. "There are some 3D movie effects in it, but this illusion can only affect the offline audience. The online audience naturally won't be able to see it."
After hearing Mu Li's words, the bullet comments were instantly flooded with question marks. The live audience also didn't know what to say, and it was Liu Zhengqing who spoke for everyone: "Although I don't quite understand the principle you're talking about, I understand the meaning of your words."
"Does that mean we can only see that scene offline, and online viewers can't?" Liu Zhengqing inquired.
"Exactly, that's right," Mu Li nodded in confirmation.
Liu Zhengqing couldn't help but gasp, "I've realized that if you ever hold a concert in the future, you won't have to worry about ticket sales at all! Listening to you Sing online is like a 2D effect, but seeing it offline is like a 4D effect! The concert tickets would be incredibly worth it."
Mu Li also looked a bit embarrassed, "It's not intentional on my part. After all, illusions can only affect the human brain, not cameras, so there's nothing I can do."
The online audience also reacted.
"So, what we watched was a censored version?"
"The person above spoke the truth."
"A censored version is one thing, but what kind of good person censors the climax?"
"?? What's not censored??"
"No, I was just getting hyped up, ready to confess to my crush, and now you're telling me this was just a censored version? I instantly lost all motivation."
...
The offline audience also went almost crazy.
"Was that scene real?"
"What's real? It's fake? But it looked real?"
"I'm going crazy. Is there anyone who can hit me to wake me up?"
"I'm so scared. I feel like I'm still in an illusion and haven't woken up."
...
The mentors on stage also didn't know what to say. Liu Zhengqing was now staring at Mu Li with shining eyes, while Han Li suddenly stood up and asked, "I want to ask, is this stage effect against the rules?"
Xu Wei's earpiece promptly relayed the production team's answer: "Forget about being against the rules, we can't even find anyone to replicate this kind of performance right now."
"You wouldn't believe it, our editing team almost went crazy last season," Xu Wei said with a wry smile. "They all said that the live effects and the edited effects didn't match up at all. They thought the editor intentionally removed them, and the editors almost thought it was haunted."
After speaking, Xu Wei also gave Mu Li a resentful glance.
Mu Li also looked a bit embarrassed, "Last episode, only the giant clock at the beginning was projected using illusion. All the other effects, like the fireworks and explosions, were real."
Xu Wei's mouth twitched, "How can you even say that? Our production team specifically went to find Pokémon that could perform, and it turns out that those Grand Masters who can provide magnificent stage performances are all incredibly expensive, and they can only offer specific performances that require a long time to practice."
"Hahaha... is that so?" Mu Li could only play dumb, "Perhaps my Pokémon are just more talented in music."
Han Li also smiled and said, "Since there was no cheating, I'll give my critique."
"The overall performance of the song naturally goes without saying. Aside from some minor flaws in the singer's vocal ability, everything else can be said to be perfect."
"The arrangement, combined with the stage effects, also speaks for itself."
"And from an original perspective, this song's melody is utterly common, just like its theme—first love. Yet, you managed to create such an exquisite product using such common elements. I must say, it's impressive."
"Especially since the original melody was somewhat thin due to its simplicity, but you combined it with natural sounds and those visuals, greatly enriching the song's auditory experience without letting those extra sounds detract from the theme. Instead, they merged with the theme. I must say, after listening to it, I also thought of my first love."
After his critique, Han Li said with a smile, "Young man, if you have free time, come learn to Sing with me. Your future isn't just this stage, but the stars and the sea."
Within 10 minutes of Mu Li's performance ending, a Weibo trending topic had quietly reached the top—Lie or Magic? Is Mu Li's offline performance real or fake?
The Weibo video attached was Mu Li's performance of "Starry Sky," and the topic only had one question: "Is Mu Li's performance real or fake?"
Almost all netizens who paid attention to this topic thought that this matter was fake, because they did not see the scenes described by Liu Zhengqing in the video.
As for those audience members who saw it offline, they were still in the process of recording the show, but even if they could get online in time, their voices would likely be too weak to be heard.
Thus, almost everyone thought that this was just a publicity stunt by this person named Mu Li, resulting in Mu Li once again being pushed to the forefront of public opinion.
Although the next day, the production team and the entire mentor team spoke out to vouch for Mu Li, hearing is one thing and seeing is another. Most netizens still remained skeptical, as this matter was simply too unbelievable.
Looking back, no one had ever achieved such an effect on stage.
Many Grand Masters also came forward to state that such a thing was simply impossible to do.
One reason is that the creation of illusions is extremely difficult; most Pokémon can only make those affected by the illusion see what they want to see, and cannot change the illusion itself.
The second reason is that it is simply impossible to simultaneously affect hundreds of people through illusions. Even Heavenly King Level trainers can only manage to have a few Pokémon hit by the illusion at the same time.
The public was also very curious whether Heavenly King Level and Champion trainers could achieve this, so they all tagged various Heavenly King Level and Champion trainers, wanting them to come forward and explain.
Unexpectedly, a few Heavenly King Level trainers did jump out and publicly criticize Mu Li, which made the public even more suspicious of the authenticity of Mu Li's illusion.
However, there were still some of Mu Li's fans defending him: "Just because a Heavenly King Level can't do it, doesn't mean a Champion can't!"
However, such remarks were quickly drowned out, because no one believed that Mu Li was a Champion trainer.
But those Heavenly King Level and Champion trainers seemed to have collectively agreed, as they didn't respond to the matter at all, leading many people to take the video to foreign websites to inquire.
As a result, people on foreign websites didn't even believe it, and directly reported the video for "false advertising" and had it taken down.
As for those Heavenly King Level and Champion trainers, they were currently holding a collective online meeting.
"This A Li fellow is quite a troublemaker, isn't he? Didn't he go to be a singer? How did he cause such a big stir?" Wu Bing complained.
"Oh, please. Now everyone's waiting for me to perform illusions for them. Do you really think I'm a magician?" The speaker was Fang Kexin, a Psychic type Champion who had been famous for a long time.
"So, Sister Fang, can you do it?" Wu Bing asked curiously.
"Do what? Do you think everyone's as abnormal as A Li? It's already good enough if my Illusion Beam can hit hundreds of people at once. Control the illusion? Do you really think I'm Mew?" Fang Kexin retorted impatiently.
Ling Fei said, "Don't say that, his Gardevoir and Hatterene combined are probably not much worse than Mew."
"But can't you all at least give an explanation? We're very passive right now," Fang Kexin said.
Ling Fei said, "It's fine, everyone can speak boldly. At worst, just give them an Illusion Beam on the spot. If the illusion is different then, just say that A Li's Pokémon are specifically for performance, and ours are for battle, so the focus is different."
"Heh heh, is that your trick from last time, freezing 2 kilometers?" Fang Kexin said speechlessly. "I see it now. As long as we put on a brave face, that kid won't be exposed."
"Who says not?" Wu Bing said irritably, "We old bones probably won't last much longer. Will we have to ask Brother Long to back him up later? @Long Cheng"
Brother Long, Long Cheng, is the publicly recognized strongest Dragon-type trainer in China. He is over seventy years old and the most famous Chinese trainer internationally, not only because of Long Cheng's strength but also because Long Cheng himself is an actor, a world-renowned action actor.
"What's wrong?" Long Cheng, who hadn't been in the chat group, appeared. "Did someone tag me?"
"Brother Long, hurry up and sort out A Li," Wu Bing complained. "He went to be a singer and still doesn't forget to mess with us."
"Eh? A Li went to be a singer? How come I didn't know?" Long Cheng asked in confusion. "Why did he go to be a singer? If he came to the entertainment industry, wouldn't it be better to follow me in the film industry?"
Long Cheng then went offline directly, leaving Wu Bing in a mess.
"Forget it, you all know how much Brother Long dotes on A Li, so you're dreaming if you expect him to get revenge for you," Ling Fei said gleefully. "You'd better go back and think about how to brag more reliably."
"Oh, this little A Li is really something!" Fang Kexin said helplessly, "Next time we meet, I'll have to make him treat me to a good meal."
"Haha, soon, soon. I've told him to come to the Imperial Capital whenever he's free..." Ling Fei laughed.
...