A Jing, I Hate Power-Up Monsters the Most

Kunlun Mountain Range, east of Fentong, Yuxu Peak, Deacon Hall.

"So I told you! That demonic cultivator has already been reduced to dust by Senior Brother Qiu Changtian!!"

Liu Daoran roared furiously by the counter, while the deacon opposite him looked helpless and explained:

"It's not that we're unreasonable, but the sect has rules. Either we examine the corpse, or we have a token. In short, we must prove the target is dead..."

"What else can we do if he's already dust?" Lu Zheng also questioned angrily from the side, "Are we supposed to bring the dust over for you to inspect?"

"How can your Deacon Hall go back on its word!" Wen Qin called out from behind with Liu Yiyi, responsible for boosting the morale.

"Even dust would count as physical evidence..." Before the deacon could finish speaking, Hu Haozhi pulled him out from behind the counter, slinging an arm around his shoulder to pull him outside for a private chat.

"Old Su, you know me, Hu Haozhi, right?" he said, patting his chest impatiently.

"Oh, Senior Brother Hu, how could I not know you?" the deacon chuckled, "You're a regular at the Deacon Hall. We handle quite a few of your missions..."

"That's good then." Hu Haozhi gave a thumbs-up and pointed outside, "The person outside is Senior Brother Qiu Changtian, the current Chief Disciple, personally taught by the Sect Master. Why would he lie to us over something like this?"

"This, this is hard to say..."

"Why would he lie to you? Is he after these spirit stones, or is he greedy for this bit of fame?"

"That's what I don't understand," the deacon said with a wry smile. "If he's truly a disciple personally taught by the Sect Master, and the current Chief Disciple, why would he come to our Deacon Hall to do missions?"

"You," Hu Haozhi shook his head, his expression surprisingly weary, "Do you know what 'United under Kunlun, aiding with righteousness' means?"

"Huh?" the deacon was bewildered.

In the lawless world of cultivation, was there even such a thing as "aiding with righteousness"?

"In the Kunlun Sect, there aren't many people I, Old Hu, admire. Many of the Chief Disciples from previous generations were merely nominal. Hu Haozhi sighed, his gaze drifting to the distant, continuous snow-capped peaks, seemingly lost in deep thought. "But Senior Brother Qiu Changtian is absolutely the Chief Disciple worthy of the title."

Recalling the perilous battle that day, he still felt a lingering fear.

As Liu Daoran had said, without Qiu Changtian's presence, they would all have had their souls snatched away by now, unable to even die.

But what was Qiu Changtian after?

Those meager spirit stones? Or the admiration of a few insignificant outer disciples?

None of this made sense. Which Chief Disciple in history would condescend to take outer disciples on missions?

After thinking it over, only the words "aiding with righteousness" came to mind.

"Senior Brother Qiu..." His gaze fell upon the boundless sea of clouds in the sky, and he murmured.

"He's truly like an immortal."

"So, Senior Brother, what is it you're after?" Xu Yinglian asked, confused.

"As a member of Kunlun, doing sect missions, why must there be ulterior motives?" Qiu Changtian asked with a smile.

Xu Yinglian nodded, her expression clearly saying "I don't believe you," and turned away:

"Since they've already helped us collect the spirit stones, let's rest for today. I'm going to soak in the Kunlun Spring."

"Why do you want to take a bath again, Junior Sister? You'll shed your skin."

"Senior Brother, only those dirty creatures who haven't bathed in years and have accumulated grime will shed their skin when bathing."

"Junior Sister, I bathe and burn incense every seven days."

"But this is good too. If Senior Brother were to enter the Kunlun Pool as well, the entire spring would probably be ruined. No one wants to bathe in a mud pit, except maybe wild boars."

"I really do bathe regularly! And don't talk about me like I'm some kind of beast!"

Qiu Changtian looked speechless, while Xu Yinglian revealed a cold smile.

After escorting his Junior Sister to the Kunlun Spring bathhouse, Qiu Changtian called out to the Kunlun Mirror:

"A Jing, A Jing, are you there?"

"When am I not here?" the Kunlun Mirror asked helplessly, "What is it?"

"If I were to give the spirit stones to Ling Yunpo right now and fly directly to Shushan to meet him, would that create a temporal paradox?" Qiu Changtian asked with great interest.

"For example, if I met Ling Yunpo and the first thing he said to me was 'Hello, Qiu Changtian'."

"Then, if I loaded the save to the past and became Ling Yunpo, the first thing I said to him would be 'Nice to meet you, Qiu Changtian'..."

"No, it wouldn't," the Kunlun Mirror replied. "The timeline is unique and does not allow for paradoxes."

"So in the first example, whatever you heard Ling Yunpo say, in the second example, as Ling Yunpo, you must say the same thing."

"Of course, if there are only a few sentences different, I will eliminate these minor disturbances for you using Mirror Flower Water Moon, so you don't need to worry too much."

"What about major differences?" Qiu Changtian asked warily, "For example, going back to the past and deliberately altering established history on a large scale?"

"Your attempt will fail," the Kunlun Mirror replied. "And you will suffer a backlash from the Great Dao of Time."

"For example, you see Xu Yinglian die before your eyes, and then you load the save to go back to the past to prevent her death and change history."

"Then, most likely, before you can intervene, you'll be unable to do so for some reason – for instance, you'll be struck dead by a lightning bolt on the way."

Qiu Changtian listened patiently and said thoughtfully:

"But I can intercept her beforehand, then use some illusion techniques to make my 'past self' see 'Xu Yinglian's death' according to the history that has already happened, right?"

The Kunlun Mirror was stunned for a long time, seemingly completely surprised that it could be operated this way. After a while, it said:

"If you can achieve that, then there's no problem. It won't cause a temporal backlash, and my Mirror Flower Water Moon can do it."

Qiu Changtian sighed and said:

"Isn't this just the Novikov self-consistency principle? Without ten years of brain clot ability, I'm afraid no one could come up with such a magical setting."

"What... Novikov principle?"

"It's nothing," Qiu Changtian said with a sigh. "Let's leave it at that."

The Kunlun Mirror was silent for a moment, then asked cautiously:

"Actually... I'm very curious, how exactly do you view Xu Yinglian? I'm not asking about Qiu Changtian, I'm asking you."

"Junior Sister Xu," he smiled slightly. "A cute junior who chose to follow me out of admiration."

"Then what about An Zhisu?"

"Senior Sister An? She's like a flower on a high mountain. Although she's already incredibly beautiful and alluring, what I truly admire is her courage and strength to step towards the sky without fear."

"Do you like them?"

He was silent for a moment, then sneered:

"A Jing, 'belief' and 'reliance' have the same meaning, you know. That's the behavior of the weak."

"The path I must walk is already laid out. Nothing can stop my steps before I reach the destination."

"The lonely throne in the sky remains unoccupied to this day. And this unbearable interim will not last much longer."

The Kunlun Mirror felt increasingly uncomfortable, as if it were about to crack.

What kind of power-obsessed monster was this guy? Did he truly possess human emotions?

"...Fine, I guess."

It mumbled in agreement, and a strong, irrepressible thought suddenly arose in its mind:

They, himself and him, seemed like partners, but in reality, it was purely a transactional relationship. He would help it mend the heavens and save the world, and in return, it would use Mirror Flower Water Moon to help him gain all sorts of peerless cultivation talents.

However, deceiving a pure girl's heart was not part of the original agreement! So, it was understandable for Mirror Flower Water Moon to occasionally make a mistake, letting them realize this guy's true nature, right?

For example, subtly, little by little, slowly transforming Xu Yinglian's impression of him from a completely fabricated "invincible Qiu Changtian" to his true self beneath the mask.

The same applied to An Zhisu. He thought Senior Sister An knew the "fake Ling Yunpo," but in reality, Senior Sister An knew him, the person himself, under the name Ling Yunpo...

When this tool finally finished mending the heavens for it and stopped using the Mirror Flower Water Moon's disguise, returning to his original true temperament and appearance.

He would be horrified to discover that Xu Yinglian and An Zhisu could still recognize him.

Wouldn't that be interesting?

Preview: Aizen. Qiu Changtian. Madara. Believing they've worn masks the entire time, wantonly manipulating and playing with others' emotions, only to be brutally backstabbed by the Hogyoku. Kunlun Mirror. at the last moment! (Monologue: You thought they truly fell in love with the persona you fabricated? Don't be naive! The one who orchestrated all of this from behind the scenes was this A Jing!)