Why This Work Uses the Side Story Setting

I believe readers who have made it this far can see that the Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong in my story use the side story setting. The question is, why use the side story plot?

Before answering that question, I want to ask you one: which is more absurd, the side story's Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji, or the original novel's?

I think it is the original novel's Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji that are absurd.

If the original setting were used, Bibi Dong would unquestionably be a White-Eyed Wolf. The names of so many worshippers and elders, information on their martial souls, information about Sea God Island, the Angel Spirit Bone, and other Spirit Hall secrets—things Ning Fengzhi and the Upper Three Sects did not know—Yu Xiaogang could recite them all with ease. Who revealed them to Yu Xiaogang? Of course it was Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong disregarded the grace of Spirit Hall raising and nurturing her. For the sake of love, she wanted to elope with Yu Xiaogang. That made her an undeniable White-Eyed Wolf.

It could be said that Qian Xunji's motive for punishing Bibi Dong was correct. A traitor like her would not have been undeserving of execution.

What Qian Xunji did to Bibi Dong in the secret chamber was not enough to cover up Bibi Dong's wrongdoing.

But just because Bibi Dong had problems, did that mean Qian Xunji had none? Qian Xunji's greatest problem was that he was blind despite having his eyes open. A major power like this would place strict restrictions on whom its successor could contact and interact with. Bibi Dong getting involved with Yu Xiaogang was a process. Any normal person who discovered that Yu Xiaogang had ulterior motives in approaching their successor would have stepped in to stop it. If you have read Dream of the Red Chamber, you would find that when such powerful families groomed their heirs, they would arrange for teachers to interact with them and train their emotional intelligence. Take Jia Baoyu with Xiren and Lin Daiyu, for instance. They were the teachers Grandmother Jia used to train Jia Baoyu's emotional intelligence, so that when puberty hormones kicked in, he would not be lured in by some woman like a hooked fish.

Therefore, if Bibi Dong had been properly raised, there would be no way that merely showing her the splendor of the mortal world would make her fall in love with you.

The original plot was ridiculous and absurd!

In my view, the side story plot instead elevated both Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong as characters.

As for how it elevated them, there is no need to elaborate here.

All right, now let us talk about why I used the side story plot.

This work is dedicated to portraying Yu Xiaogang as a 24K pure iron-clad piece of trash, and using the side story plot helps with that portrayal!

I said before that the side story plot elevated Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji, but one character was left in an awkward position: Yu Xiaogang.

How did one show a character's excellence? Aside from establishing everything about the character, placing them in conflicts and difficult dilemmas, and revealing their personality through the choices they made, the original author's most practiced method was contrast!

When reading Douluo Continent, we saw countless love triangles. These love triangles were settings the original author used to highlight one character's excellence, creating two functional characters in the process!

To highlight Tang Hao's excellence, he created a woman, Ah Yin, as well as Tang Xiao, who was not much inferior to Tang Hao. Then this outstanding woman chose Tang Hao between two equally outstanding men, while Tang Xiao left sadly. Did that not highlight Tang Hao's excellence?

To demonstrate Tang Chen's excellence, in Tang Chen's cast universe, he was a dazzling sun, while Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi were the two satellites orbiting that sun. In the setting, Tang Chen surpassed Qian Daoliu by a slight margin. Tang Chen had the potential to Become a God, while Qian Daoliu was permanently capped. Both men loved Bo Saixi, but Bo Saixi loved Tang Chen. Putting yourself in Tang Chen's shoes felt great, but putting yourself in Qian Daoliu's shoes felt stifling. Yet the original author used two outstanding characters to highlight the protagonist's even greater excellence, thereby shaping Tang Chen.

There were even more examples with the protagonist. Tang San deeply loved Xiao Wu, yet many women loved Tang San without receiving his love in return. Some eventually gave up and settled for a backup, such as Huo Wu, who ultimately got together with Feng Xiaotian. Others would rather pine in unrequited love than find a backup, such as Hu Liena and Yan. Even his enemy secretly loved him because of his excellence, such as Qian Renxue. Did that not demonstrate Tang San's excellence?

And after Douluo Continent Two, Three, and Four, the original author had refined this writing technique to perfection.

Wang Donger, Wang Qiu'er, and Huo Yuhao formed a triangle.

Wang Qiu'er loved Huo Yuhao without receiving his love in return, while Dai Huabin loved Wang Qiu'er without receiving hers.

Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Zhang Lexuan formed another group.

In Douluo Three, to demonstrate the excellence of Tang Wulin's bloodline, Gu Yuena was the most beautiful woman, yet she loved only Tang Wulin. She reserved her majesty for her subordinates and her tenderness and deep affection for Tang Wulin. Qiangu Zhangting loved her without receiving her love and ultimately became a clown. So, did that not ultimately demonstrate Tang Wulin's excellence?

All right, enough nonsense. Let us return to our subject, Yu Xiaogang.

If it were the side story plot, Yu Xiaogang's position would become awkward.

In order to demonstrate our Yu Xiaogang's excellence, the original novel also arranged three love triangles for him: Flender, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang; Qian Xunji, Bibi Dong, and Yu Xiaogang; Bibi Dong, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang. Two beautiful, talented soul masters somehow fell in love with Yu Xiaogang because of Xiao Gang's earth-shattering wisdom.

But Yu Xiaogang was the type whose actual performance was far inferior to his setting. Everyone kept saying how amazing Yu Xiaogang's wisdom was. Bibi Dong said it, Tang San said it, and even Qian Renxue wanted to recruit Yu Xiaogang. It even led to the saying: whoever gained the Grandmaster gained the world.

Yet the plot never demonstrated the Grandmaster's earth-shattering wisdom. On the contrary, Tang San's existence seemed to be constantly slapping the Grandmaster in the face.

At the very least, a teacher should help their disciple obtain Soul Rings and stand guard for them. The Grandmaster did neither. If Tang San had not had his memories from a past life as a contrast, and if he had not had Tang Hao as a Titled Douluo father, this master and disciple would have died while hunting for the First Soul Ring.

Someone else helped Tang San obtain his Second Soul Ring; Yu Xiaogang had already failed to keep up. Then, for the Third Soul Ring, Tang San exceeded the Soul Ring age limit Yu Xiaogang had set. By the time of the Fourth Soul Ring, it was revealed that Yu Xiaogang did not even know such basic soul master knowledge as spiritual shock. Everything Tang San achieved afterward had nothing to do with Yu Xiaogang.

Do not blame the Divine Realm for not having Yu Xiaogang. A master was supposed to lead the disciple first, and then the disciple would repay the master. Yet Yu Xiaogang let Tang San carry him the entire way. Tang San could have done without Yu Xiaogang as his teacher, but without Tang San, Yu Xiaogang would have been trash for his entire life.

If Yu Xiaogang as a character could not stand on his own, then did the two female characters, Liu Erlong and Bibi Dong, who were originally created to highlight Xiao Gang's excellence, not become clowns?

Liu Erlong, was there something wrong with your brain? You did not want Flender, yet you insisted on Yu Xiaogang?

Bibi Dong, was there something wrong with your brain? You would not be the Saintess properly, yet you insisted on running away with a level 29 farting soul master?

That was why the original novel was absurd!

But—

This was as far as it went. This was Yu Xiaogang's last shred of dignity. No matter how lousy Xiao Gang was, in the end, his "wisdom" had at least attracted the affection of two proud daughters of heaven, who loved him to the bone!

The side story plot simply tore Yu Xiaogang's last shred of dignity to pieces.

Other characters attracted the opposite sex through their own attributes—appearance, strength, wisdom, personality, wealth, power, and so on. No matter how absurd the original novel was, in its setting, the attribute through which Yu Xiaogang attracted Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong was "wisdom"!

Yet the side story plot told us that the reason two proud daughters of heaven loved Yu Xiaogang so deeply was that Pope Qian had arranged everything behind the scenes, playing matchmaker for him.

Yu Xiaogang did not make two women love you madly through your own merits. Without Qian Xunji, you were nothing.

Did that not make Yu Xiaogang a clown in the end? There was truly not a single redeeming quality left.

From this, one could see that Yu Xiaogang was so useless that even the original author did not want to save him. What the original author saved through the side story plot were the characterizations of Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji, not Yu Xiaogang.