"Who is scheming against me?"
A spatial jade slip appeared in Xun'er's hand as she instinctively roused the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame in her body.
Here in the Xiao Clan, she used the name "Xiao Xun'er." Aside from the bodyguards absolutely loyal to her and hidden in the dark, no outsider knew her true surname was Gu.
Whoever created this book not only knew her real name, but even wrote Brother Xiao Ting's name on it. It felt very much like a warning.
But in the next instant, the book turned into a streak of light and shot between her brows before she could react.
Then, a surge of information poured in, making her understand what the book was.
"Plane? Great World?"
As the Ancient Clan's clan-leader's daughter, Xun'er had been widely read since childhood and knew countless secrets of the Dou Qi Continent.
Many ancient records mentioned a vaster realm beyond the Dou Qi Continent, a place one could only explore after reaching the realm of Dou God.
As a descendent of a Dou God clan, she naturally knew Dou God experts were not mere legends—there had even been many of them tens of thousands of years ago.
Yet in the current Dou Qi Continent, no Dou God had appeared for at least ten thousand years.
"'Plane' should refer to the Dou Qi Continent."
"And 'Great World' should be the world beyond the Dou Qi Continent—encompassing the Dou Qi Continent itself."
"If there's a chance to transcend the Great World, then for Brother Xiao Ting, at the very least the realm of Dou Saint should be attainable, right?"
Compared to the snake-people queen from a small tribal race, this well-educated top-tier rich lady had far broader horizons and deeper thoughts.
"This is an unbelievable stroke of fortune for Brother Xiao Ting. What I have is just a copy. I can inspect what he writes in the journal, and if he mentions me, I can obtain planar or world blessings—so I'm effectively piggybacking off his opportunity."
After only a moment's thought, Xun'er had already classified the journal copy in her mind.
Yet instead of delight, she frowned, her pretty willow-leaf brows knitting tightly.
"If the Great Dao Journal's shadow projection is one part in billions of one part in billions, then there should be many like it. Which means Brother Xiao Ting may not be the only one with a main journal."
"If his main journal isn't unique, then my copy very likely isn't unique either."
"On the Dou Qi Continent—or even across the entire Great World—others might have copies too."
"Those people could also see whatever Brother Xiao Ting writes in his journal."
"And they'd also be able to receive blessings—so long as Brother Xiao Ting mentions them."
Realizing this, Xun'er suddenly rose. The exotic flowers floating in the bathwater were scattered as she stepped out of the barrel.
She pulled a bathrobe from her ring and quickly dried her flawless body, intending to go find Xiao Ting immediately.
She had to tell him that anything he wrote in the journal could be read by others through their copies, so he must think carefully before writing.
But as this thought formed, her body wobbled, and she nearly collapsed. Her right hand flew to her budding chest as her face turned deathly pale, cold sweat breaking out all over her body.
In that instant, she'd felt as though an invisible hand had clutched her heart. Her soul seemed to be dragged into a silent, ancient darkness where time did not flow—cast into eternal exile.
It was a warning: she was forbidden from revealing the existence of the observer's copy to Xiao Ting—or to anyone else by any means.
At the same time, another message took shape in her mind, telling her she could not, by any means, actively harm Xiao Ting. If she tried, she would be punished.
"Phew…"
Only after a long while did Xun'er slowly exhale.
The mortal threat carried by the journal's warning didn't make her angry—it delighted her.
If the copy forbade her from actively telling anyone about its existence, and forbade her from harming Xiao Ting…
Then any other copy holder would be bound by the same restrictions.
In that case, she no longer had to worry that Xiao Ting would be used or hurt.
Anyone who knew what Xiao Ting wrote in the journal could not harm him. The observer copies had become a kind of protection instead.
If only the entire Ancient Clan—no, the entire continent—could have copies, Xun'er thought whimsically.
Then no one on the Dou Qi Continent would be able to harm Brother Xiao Ting.
Even her biological father or Hun Clan's clan leader Hun Tiandi, those two peak Nine-Star Dou Saints, would have to watch helplessly.
"Let me see what Brother Xiao Ting's been writing."
[A dazzling prodigy of Wu Tan City, with Battle Qi condensing into a cyclone at the age of eleven.]
Xun'er: He must mean Cousin Xiao Yan.
[Once, all his cultivation vanished overnight; three years of scorn tempered his heart.]
Xun'er: It really is Cousin Xiao Yan.
[His fiancée came to annul the engagement in person; he swallowed his humiliation and set a three-year pact.]
Xun'er: That Nalan Yanran will definitely regret this someday.
[The remnant soul in the ring—Yao Lao—appeared; the cause of his fall, yet also his greatest teacher.]
"Yao Lao… remnant soul?" Xun'er, now sitting on her bed in her bathrobe, propped her chin with her hand in thought.
To survive as a disembodied soul, one's soul realm had to have reached at least the Spirit Realm.
Spirit-realm soul strength was the base requirement for an alchemist to refine eighth-grade pills.
The Foundation Elixirs circulating out of Wu Tan City recently were almost certainly his handiwork. This person was highly likely an eighth-grade alchemist.
An eighth-grade alchemist surnamed "Yao" was most likely from the Yao Clan, yet he was unable to summon the Yao Clan to save himself—so he was likely an abandoned son.
"An eighth-grade alchemist is nearly unique on the entire Dou Qi Continent. Even our Ancient Clan would treat such a person with courtesy."
"This Yao Lao's identity won't be difficult to uncover."
Xun'er decided to finish reading first, then send people to investigate.
What impact this suspected eighth-grade alchemist's remnant soul would have on Xiao Yan was none of her concern. But if he might threaten Brother Xiao Ting's safety, she would have to intervene with a warning.
[With Flame Mantra and Heavenly Flames, he treads a path of conquest; thrice he ascends Misty Cloud Sect to settle great enmity.]
[His teacher is captured by the Hall of Souls; he roams the continent alone.]
"Hm!?"
Seeing these two lines and catching the implication, Xun'er's pupils shrank.
[After countless trials, he at last becomes God; the duel of twin Gods will decide heaven and earth.]
[Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never bully a youth for being poor.]
As expected.
Xun'er confirmed her guess.
Everything written after this was about events that had yet to happen.
If it was all true, then Brother Xiao Ting knew the future.
"But how?"
Even their clan's old monster, who was a Nine-Star Dou Saint, had said he couldn't peer into the past or future. He couldn't touch the power of time.
How, then, did Brother Xiao Ting know what lay ahead?
The next lines, however, resolved her doubts.
[A third of the three-year pact has already passed.]
[Today, I watched my cousin Xiao Yan once again prove himself before the world with his brilliant feat of jumping five stages of Battle Qi in a single year.]
[It was at this moment that I obtained the journal and recovered my memories of my previous life.]
Xun'er unconsciously clenched her bathrobe, her long lashes trembling. "Recovered… his past-life memories?"
Then… is the Brother Xiao Ting now still the same Brother Xiao Ting I know?