Cao Ying and Feng Qing'er: I Refuse to Be Corrected

"How could the cauldron explode?"

"I sensed that the natural energy had already stabilized. The pill must have taken shape already; the cauldron should not have exploded at this point."

"Exactly. With Little Ying'er's soul strength, she could not have made a mistake in the final step."

"Strange."

"..."

The Cao Clan Elders gathered at the entrance to the alchemy room, whispering among themselves. They found Cao Ying's failed refinement extremely strange.

Any member of the Cao Clan qualified to become an elder was at least a Tier 6 Alchemist, with several even being Tier 7 Alchemists. Their knowledge and experience in alchemy were extensive.

They could determine whether a Tier 4 Medicinal Pill would emerge successfully simply by sensing changes in the natural energy.

In this situation, there was only one explanation.

The alchemist had given up just before the pill was formed.

Cough, cough, cough!

Black smoke filled the alchemy room, only beginning to disperse as flames rose and consumed it. A graceful young girl in a black dress emerged from within. Her fair, delicate face was smeared with soot, making her dark eyes seem even brighter.

Before her floated an ancient-looking book, bearing a line of words: [Xiao Ting's Great Dao Notes (Cao Ying Observation Copy)]

As for its contents, Cao Ying had distractedly glanced at them while refining pills. That was also why her cauldron had exploded.

"I am actually just a character in a story, Strange Fire Firmament?"

Because of her formidable soul strength and the countless books she had read since childhood, Cao Ying possessed an exceptionally mature temperament despite being only thirteen.

Yet upon seeing the contents of the Notes, she could not help but feel shocked.

After all, this concerned whether she truly existed. It was beyond her understanding.

However, after reading further—especially Xiao Ting's assertion that he himself definitely existed—Cao Ying quickly calmed down.

Resting her chin on her hand, she leafed through the Notebook Copy with great interest. "Interesting. Based on my five years of experience as a veteran reader who has read countless storybooks, the author of Strange Fire Firmament, Tuo Dou, is not the creator of the Dou Qi Continent. Rather, he learned of Xiao Yan's growth history through some method I cannot comprehend."

"With his own subjective views, imagination, and literary embellishment, he presented Xiao Yan's life. Meanwhile, Xiao Ting is a person from another world who learned of Xiao Yan's life through the storybook, and learned about the Dou Qi Continent through Xiao Yan's perspective."

"Since Xiao Yan would become a Dou Di in the future and stand high enough within the Dou Qi Continent, he could learn many of its secrets."

"But if something was not written in the storybook Strange Fire Firmament, or if Xiao Yan never encountered it during his growth, then Xiao Ting would not know about it either."

The Dou Qi Continent was vast beyond measure. Cao Ying did not believe Xiao Yan had seen everything, so Xiao Ting certainly could not be all-knowing.

At the end of the day, he was merely an alternative puppet manifested by a storybook, believing himself superior to them "natives."

The Dan Tower had a long history. Its collection of information on all matters across the Dou Qi Continent was surely more extensive than Xiao Ting's.

As the Demoness of the Cao Clan, she, Cao Ying, had no need to fear—

"Hmm!?" Cao Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.

She had already seen the content Xiao Ting had updated today, and her expression turned serious.

"Central Plains Genius Corrector."

"The representative figures are Feng Qing'er of the Wind Lightning Pavilion and... me!?"

"Feng Qing'er is for combat, while I am for alchemy!"

Cao Ying felt as though lightning had struck her, sending a numbing sensation through her entire body.

Did that not mean she was also just a backdrop? A stepping stone?

She, Cao Ying, the Demoness of the Cao Clan, was merely a pitiful foil?

As a veteran reader, she understood this trope all too well. The more outstanding she was, the more she would highlight Xiao Yan's greatness.

Well, this was just wonderful. She did not know whether Xiao Ting understood the Dou Qi Continent well enough, but he definitely knew everything about her.

"Damn it, you filthy pervert. You actually know everything about me." A peculiar flush appeared on Cao Ying's cheeks as she inexplicably gritted her teeth.

As for Xiao Yan using her as a stepping stone, she had gained the initiative by learning about it beforehand. She would never allow it to happen.

"Why not send someone to capture Xiao Ting and Xiao Yan while they are still weak, then make them my medicine boys?" Cao Ying let out a strange "Hehehehe" laugh, but quickly covered her mouth.

She could not let anyone hear her laughing like that. They might mistake her for a Soul Hall spy and eliminate her.

Though it would be fine, really. At worst, she could tell her mother about the contents of the Notes.

"Hmm!?"

Suddenly, Cao Ying felt as if two hands had seized her heart.

The next instant, her soul lost control over her body and arrived in a strange, lightless space. She could not sense the passage of time and fell into eternal solitude.

"Huff... haaah..." Cao Ying gasped heavily, terror hidden in her eyes.

A thought rose in her heart.

She absolutely could not harm Xiao Ting in any way. She could not even think about it; even thinking about it was a crime.

She absolutely could not reveal the existence of the Notebook Copy or its contents in any form.

"I would rather just die." Cao Ying lightly patted her still-developing chest.

This experience also left her with no doubt whatsoever about the authenticity of the Notes.

A Notebook Copy that could remain completely undetected by a Cao Clan Dou Zun and make her wish she were dead at any moment had no reason to deceive her.

"Central Plains Genius Corrector." Cao Ying murmured softly, arrogance appearing in her eyes.

Since she knew in advance, she would never become Xiao Yan's stepping stone. If anyone was going to step on her, it could only be Xiao Ting.

Against a Notes controller who was "all-knowing and all-powerful" regarding her, she would accept defeat wholeheartedly.

Just then, the Notebook Copy in her mind flipped another page, transmitting a message.

Plane Blessing: [Alchemist technique experience increased by seven days]

The next instant, Cao Ying felt countless new scenes appear in her mind, all of them experiences of her diligently refining pills in seclusion.

"Refining a Tier 4 Medicinal Pill now should feel much more familiar."

Cao Ying's eyes shone brightly. She wiped her little soot-stained face, took out another pile of medicinal ingredients, sat cross-legged, and began refining again.

This time, she would attempt to refine Qi Gathering Powder!

Meanwhile, in the residence area for core personnel of the East Pavilion in the Wind and Thunder Mountain Range, Northern Region, Central Plains.

"Huff... haaah~"

Feng Qing'er's delicate body trembled. Fragrant sweat drenched her colorful gown.

When she saw Xiao Ting mention in the Notes that the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan's bloodline ranked only below that of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, she was filled with rage.

Although she knew that only the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan's ancestor, the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, could stand alongside the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, her pride would not allow her to be looked down upon.

In that instant, anger and the urge to teach Xiao Ting a lesson rose in her heart.

As a result, she was warned by the Notebook Copy. Her entire body felt as though it had fallen into an icy abyss, her life held in another's grasp.

After extinguishing every trace of malice toward Xiao Ting in her heart, she continued reading the Notes. When she saw that she would be "corrected" by Xiao Yan in the future and could only look up at him in the end, anger rose within her.

If the Xiao Clan were still the Xiao Tribe of old, and Xiao Yan possessed a Dou Di bloodline, then if she was inferior, she was inferior.

But Xiao Yan was now merely an ordinary person from some remote region. What gave him the right to defeat her?

"Xiao Yan, this time, do not even think about defeating me." Feng Qing'er snorted inwardly, no longer taking Xiao Yan seriously.

The opponent she truly regarded now was Xiao Ting.

"I need to find a way to meet him in advance."