[In my previous life, after I died, I reincarnated into this world with my memories, but I only just now awakened them.]
[Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed of being Zhuangzi. How long the Great Dream lasted, I know not; only today have I awakened. So it turns out that everything in the past was but flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water—a great dream of reincarnation.]
[I met the Flame Emperor in Wu Tan City, and only today did I truly understand that I am myself. Even if time and space flow on and identities change, that wisp of undying true self has never altered. The me of my previous life is me; the me of this life is also me.]
[From now on, I will no longer be trapped by the past, nor be confused by appearances. I will simply guard my true heart and directly prove the Great Dao.]
[Just like my cousin.]
Seeing the first four lines, Xun'er finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
So regaining past-life memories meant this. Brother Xiao Ting was still Brother Xiao Ting; he had merely recalled some memories from a previous life.
But when she read the fifth line, her fine brows furrowed slightly.
"Xiao Yan is also a reincarnated soul from another world?"
Thinking back to all of Xiao Yan's strange behaviors and words from childhood to now, she nodded ever so slightly.
That would explain everything.
However… how did Brother Xiao Ting know all this so clearly?
[In my previous life, there was a novel, which in the Battle Qi Continent would be called a Novel. Its name was Battle Through the Heavens.]
[The protagonist of this Novel was precisely my cousin Xiao Yan. At four, he began cultivating qi. At ten, he reached the ninth stage of Battle Qi. At eleven, he condensed a Battle Qi vortex in his body, becoming the youngest Dou Practitioner in a hundred years of the clan's history. Yet his strength regressed for three consecutive years until he was stuck at the third stage of Battle Qi. At fifteen, he was publicly repudiated by Nalan Yanran, to whom he had been engaged since childhood, and a three-year agreement was made.]
[Under the tutelage of the soul-form of Yao Chen, who had been absorbing his Battle Qi, he ventured across the Battle Qi Continent, enduring countless hardships until he finally became a Dou God.]
[A legendary life, vast and magnificent!]
The women who held a copy of the journal: !!!
"Novel?!"
"Battle Through the Heavens?"
Inside the lava world, Queen Medusa's mind slipped out of her control for a moment.
A proud person like her… was she actually nothing but a fictional character in a Novel world?
It was even possible that she had not been mentioned in that Novel at all.
After all, the Novel recorded the rise of a Dou God.
Medusa subconsciously reached out to touch the Green Lotus Core Flame.
The flame burst forth with scorching heat, making her feel real, physical pain.
"No. This queen is absolutely not a fictional character. I truly exist."
"This world—everything I see, think, and hear—is real."
Medusa's aura surged, and her long, narrow eyes grew razor sharp.
If she was fake, then would that mean Xiao Ting, who had come to this world, was also fake?
Impossible. Everything had to be real.
…
At the same time, in Rock Desert City, at the Desert Metal Mercenary Company's base—
Qing Lin sat in a corner of a room, hugging her knees and curling up, a faint light flickering within her clear, emerald eyes.
"A world inside a Novel…?"
"If so, then my tragic background and past—were they created by a heartless stroke of the author's pen, or do they truly exist?"
"No… Someone like me shouldn't even appear in a Novel, right? How would I be worthy?"
…
In the mountain range near Qingshan Town.
Under the shelter of a large tree, Little Fairy Doctor sat with a dark expression.
Right now, she was the physician Little Fairy Doctor in Qingshan Town, well-liked by mercenaries.
But no one knew that when she was three, her mother had taken her to a small village that survived by gathering medicinal herbs. Later, something happened—she did not know what—and her mother and the entire village were poisoned to death, leaving only her alive.
Though she had been young, she understood that her mother's and those villagers' deaths had everything to do with her.
Not wanting others to die because of her again, she had desperately studied medicine, attempting to fill the hole in her heart.
Yet throughout this process, she would occasionally display inborn talents related to poison, causing others to ignore the good she did and to avoid her instead.
To her, this life of hers was a joke, bound to misfortune she seemed born with.
And now someone was telling her that such a ridiculous life was actually fictional in some Novel?
"How laughable." Little Fairy Doctor's lips trembled.
…
"Laughable."
"Truly laughable!"
In the main hall of the Misty Cloud Sect atop Misty Cloud Mountain, Yun Yun abruptly stood up, losing her composure as her expression flickered between dark and light.
From the few words Xiao Ting had revealed so far, she had already pieced together much.
If this world really was a fictional Novel world—
Xiao Yan would be the protagonist, the one who grew step by step into a Dou God.
Then that Nalan Yanran who repudiated the engagement, and the Misty Cloud Sect standing behind Nalan Yanran, would, by typical story logic, become the antagonists.
In any Novel, antagonists who stand against the protagonist never have good ends.
In fact, in the beginning, Xiao Ting had already written: "[Three times to Misty Cloud—mortal enemies repaid in blood.]"
As the phrase suggested, he would go to the Misty Cloud Sect three times to settle a life-and-death vendetta.
The repudiation at the engagement had 'ended' with the three-year agreement and could not quite be called a blood feud.
According to story tropes, the three-year agreement would definitely end in Xiao Yan defeating Nalan Yanran.
That affair should have stopped there. Yet somehow, there had to be enough escalation to warrant "three ascents" and "a mortal grudge repaid."
"If all of this is a true future, then the Misty Cloud Sect must clash with Xiao Yan again and again, until it becomes an irreconcilable dead feud."
"And the Misty Cloud Sect's final outcome would be nothing short of tragic."
At this thought, killing intent flashed in Yun Yun's eyes.
Right now, she was the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect and a Dou Emperor powerhouse.
She had been adopted and raised since childhood by the former Sect Master Yun Shan. Her current power, status, and strength all came from the Misty Cloud Sect.
Now that she knew that the Misty Cloud Sect might be doomed to destruction at Xiao Yan's hands in the future, she had to act with the decisiveness of a sect master and strangle that danger in the cradle.
"And there's also Xiao Ting!"
Yun Yun felt it necessary to eliminate this holder of the journal copy, who knew Xiao Yan's future and was the latter's cousin.
Only if she removed him as well would the Misty Cloud Sect be completely safe.
As for the blessings the journal brought, she felt they were insignificant in front of the life and death of the Misty Cloud Sect.
But the moment the thought of killing Xiao Ting was born, Yun Yun felt an incomparably supreme power descend. Her heart seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, and her soul was as if exiled to an eternal, lonely darkness.
In that instant, she understood:
She could not, in any form, proactively tell outsiders of the existence of the journal copies or of the contents within.
Nor was she allowed to proactively harm Xiao Ting in any way.
Otherwise, a great horror would descend!
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Drenched in fragrant sweat, Yun Yun panted heavily.
She furiously extinguished her urge to assassinate Xiao Ting, and now she didn't even dare think of killing Xiao Yan.
If she went and killed Xiao Yan now, it would be equivalent to openly telling Xiao Ting that something was wrong with her—
That she could see the contents of the journal—
And then she would die all the same.
Even if that might not quite constitute "proactively leaking" the existence or contents of the copies, killing Xiao Yan would make her Xiao Ting's mortal enemy.
Xiao Ting had read Battle Through the Heavens and surely understood this world's opportunities very well.
Even if he couldn't become a Dou God like Xiao Yan, once he broke through to Dou Ancestor or even Dou Venerate, destroying the Misty Cloud Sect would be easy.
"Xiao Ting can only be befriended."
"As for Xiao Yan, I can only let things unfold naturally."
"Within those two constraints, I must find a way to break the Misty Cloud Sect's deathtrap."
"First, I need to figure out how that deathtrap forms."
Yun Yun turned her full attention back to the journal.
She could only hope that Xiao Ting would write in it about the reason Xiao Yan and the Misty Cloud Sect became mortal enemies, so she could preemptively resolve it.
Besides that, she had to think of a way to naturally befriend Xiao Ting and to have herself mentioned frequently in the journal, so that she could receive blessings from the plane or even the world itself and increase her strength.
Once her strength grew high enough, the Misty Cloud Sect's calamity could likewise be resolved.
…
"Novel characters?"
"The protagonist is Cousin Xiao Yan?"
In the Xiao Clan of Wu Tan City, subtle changes flitted across Xun'er's face.
She recalled how her father had persuaded the clan leader and elders to let her spend her childhood in the Xiao Clan—to secure the Tou She Ancient God's Jade in their possession.
"Will I appear in the Novel as well?"
"If I do, what kind of role will I have?"
"A villain who steals the Xiao Clan's Tou She Ancient God's Jade?"
"Does the Novel mention Brother Xiao Ting?"
"What kind of fate do Brother Xiao Ting and I share?"
Xun'er grew uneasy, but when she read the lines that followed, she exhaled fiercely in relief.
"Good. That's good…"
…