What's Wrong With That?

Over there, Yan Qianlie felt the binding force of the heavenly dao oath. Though his thoughts grew serious, he did not dwell on it.

The constraints bound both sides. Since this was a wager, what made you so sure you would win, Qiu Wuji?

Couldn't I win the wager, take the Great Void Fire, and trample your Cloudreach Sect's gates as well?

Right... matters involving the sects outside the duel would naturally tip the balance between us, too. This couldn't be treated as an ordinary one-on-one fight. I would have to plan carefully...

As Yan Qianlie weighed his plans, he said with a smile, "Since the Heavenly Dao has established the covenant, I accept it. When shall we fight? Sect Master Qiu, why don't you propose a date?"

Qiu Wuji's lovely eyes shifted as she smiled. "What do you suggest?"

Yan Qianlie laughed heartily and turned to leave. "Then the fifteenth day of the seventh month-the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons!"

Qiu Wuji watched him turn into a streak of fire and vanish into the distance. She appeared unconcerned, but inwardly she was cursing someone. Our world doesn't have any saying about the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons on the fifteenth of the seventh month. What random setting are you adding now?

"Huh? The writing was flowing, so I tossed in something cool. That's inspiration. Besides, the next part of the plot really is going to be the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. Oh, right, I could even use that as the volume title. Sounds badass. Hahaha, I'm a genius."

Qiu Wuji ground her teeth, sorely tempted to drag him out and beat him up.

But she discovered she could not get hold of him.

It really was the vast, unknowable will of heaven, without shape or substance. He could find her, yet she had no idea where he was.

Chu Ge noticed too. "Want to hit me, but can't find a target? Hahaha, impressive, right? Come on, call me Father God!"

Qiu Wuji: "..."

She gritted her teeth and held her temper, flying back to her sect on her sword. The moment she entered, she ordered, "Carry out the arrangements I made earlier at once. I must enter seclusion to hone my skills in preparation for my battle with Yan Qianlie."

The next instant, someone hauled Chu Ge up by the back of his collar as he sat at his computer and gave him a vicious beating. "Thought I couldn't hit you, did you? Impressive? Father God?"

"Holy shit?" Chu Ge was beaten senseless. "Ow! No, stop hitting me! Can you come out this easily now? You don't even have to wait for a cooldown? That's not scientific... Then if you can't stay and have to go back, couldn't you just cross over again immediately and basically stay forever? Are you exploiting a bug here...?"

Qiu Wuji sneered. "What? You don't want me to be able to come out whenever I like?"

"How could that be?" Chu Ge was ecstatic. "Being able to come out whenever you want would be awesome! If I run into danger and shout for help, wouldn't that basically make me invincible?"

"In your dreams. Why would I necessarily hear you calling for help?" Qiu Wuji snapped. "Has playing the Heavenly Dao gone to your head and made you stupid? More than ten days have already passed since I returned to my world. Do you know how much the sect has done in secret? Any spiritual exhaustion would have recovered after all that time. Otherwise, would I dare rashly arrange a meeting with Yan Qianlie and enter a wager with him? Wouldn't I worry about him attacking me outright? Do you think I'm as stupid as you?"

"Uh, so it's already been more than ten days for you?" On reflection, Chu Ge realized that made sense. Though only a day had passed on his side, he had been putting out ten thousand words a day, and time in the book had advanced quickly. The previous occasion had been the same: the Poison-Hand Demon Lord incident had taken place "seven days later," yet she had returned here the very next day.

In other words, if he wanted Qiu Wuji to come out sooner, did he only need to toss in a "three days later" or "seven days later"? Then what would happen if he fast-forwarded the plot with a "thousand years later"? Would Qiu Wuji really spend a thousand years alone over there?

The thought suddenly sent a chill through him.

"And why should I come out just because I can?" Qiu Wuji gave him a sidelong look. "Have you misunderstood something about me? Do you think I have nothing to do?"

"Oh, come on, drop the lofty tone." Chu Ge smiled. "You were speaking normally just fine earlier. What are you deliberately putting on airs for?"

Qiu Wuji snorted and did not answer.

"You want to understand this new world, so you'll have to come out eventually." Chu Ge smiled. "Even leaving that aside, you need to compare what happens to you with the rest of what I write, so we can work out how to free you from the book's influence."

Qiu Wuji sighed inwardly.

It was precisely this attitude that made it impossible for her to truly dislike Chu Ge.

Any other man who could freely manipulate her life and define her thoughts and love would never be like Chu Ge, genuinely working to help her break free.

Perhaps what he sought really was different from what others wanted. His thought was, How awesome would it be if a person I wrote could really become independent?

He deserved to be called Father God.

Qiu Wuji stopped arguing with him and asked instead, "Can you perform Divine Descent whenever you want now? Can you do anything else?"

"At the moment, it doesn't seem so. It only works when I write a scene where you communicate with the Heavenly Dao. That's essentially me writing that I'm communicating with you, so we can communicate... But I think there's a lot of room to develop this. I'll look into it later. Maybe I could try Heavenly Dao Incarnating as Hongjun and have myself appear. If that works, wouldn't I be invincible as soon as I appeared..." "I don't think that's very likely. No matter how you look at it, it's absurd for someone who hasn't cultivated at all to cross over and instantly become invincible. Surely there's something wrong with that? Or, to put it another way, if your novel's original setting never included the Heavenly Dao taking human form, wouldn't suddenly inventing that also violate the 'internal consistency' you need?"

"Whoa, you understand all this now..."

Qiu Wuji ground her teeth. "Couldn't I just be jealous? I cultivated for ten thousand years, and you get to come in and be invincible? Why should you?"

"All right, I get it. You're an old lady." As he spoke, Chu Ge quickly assumed a defensive stance.

Qiu Wuji glanced at him. "Masochist. I refuse to indulge you."

Chu Ge: "?"

"A low-level disciple who doesn't even qualify as being at the first level of the Qi Refining Stage should stop daydreaming about being invincible." Qiu Wuji looked at him scornfully. "If you really want to enter our world and make a grand show of yourself, you'll definitely need some cultivation foundation of your own. There's no question about that. I suspect you were able to communicate this time because you've already begun cultivating."

Chu Ge thought that sounded perfectly reasonable, so he said nothing.

Reasonable was reasonable, but how many years would he have to cultivate to reach the level he wanted...?

"But what you said about comparing my actions with your plot is worth taking seriously." As Qiu Wuji spoke, she leaned over to read the chapter he had posted. The more she read, the darker her expression became.

Puzzled, Chu Ge asked, "What's wrong?"

"This... what's this about seeking supremacy?"

"Oh, that's a change extrapolated from the plot. Think about it. A contest between the strongest figures is bound to draw the whole world's attention and have far-reaching implications. Both sides have allies and enemies, and all of them will get involved. As the leader of a sect, even if you never thought much about such maneuvering before, you would definitely plan ahead with a major battle approaching."

Qiu Wuji fell silent.

Watching her expression, Chu Ge said cautiously, "It's not that you have to seek supremacy. It's just that, in a struggle between sects, employing all sorts of methods is what you'd expect of a powerful sect leader who commands the winds and clouds. And if you really do subdue or even destroy the Flame Prison Sect afterward, you'll already stand above the world. Even without talking about supremacy, you'll naturally be its uncrowned sovereign."

Qiu Wuji raised her head and thought for a long time, then suddenly gave a self-mocking smile. "I thought I had changed the way I acted, but it turns out this was the logical development all along?"

"Hmm..."

"So did I do this because you wrote it, or because I thought that way myself?"

After a moment's thought, Chu Ge replied, "You're different now. Before, you couldn't sense whether there were signs of thoughts being imposed on you. Now you can. If you didn't feel any such signs this time, then it wasn't necessarily because I wrote it."

Qiu Wuji perked up a little. "Then what was it?"

Chu Ge smiled. "Why couldn't it be because our hearts are in tune?"

Qiu Wuji glared at him, and Chu Ge met her gaze openly.

After they stared at each other for a good while, Qiu Wuji turned her eyes away. "Our hearts aren't necessarily in tune. You simply know me too well."

She sighed. "Whatever the reason, it still leaves me feeling as though fate has already been decided by some unseen force, like a net I can't escape... That feeling... is truly hateful."

Chu Ge suddenly said, "What's wrong with having someone who understands you?"

Qiu Wuji looked back at him.

"What you just said reminded me of something. Our hearts really aren't necessarily in tune." Chu Ge smiled. "So, Qiu Wuji, how much do you know about me?"

I was busy these past couple of days and didn't check the tips, so I don't know how many thank-yous I missed. I'm really sorry.

Thank you to Baige Liaoluan for becoming an Alliance Leader.

Thank you to Gongyang Ye, Yunduan Shenchu 33, and z Jiuri Lingtian for the ten-thousand-point tips. Thanks to Qingtan Shengge and GKOADST_Longya for the two-thousand-point tips; Wo de AD Song Chaogui, Dr. Wei, Xiansheng Xing Gu, Pinseng Daohao Kexue, and Yushang Shijie for the fifteen-hundred-point tips; and Scalbar for the thousand-point tip...

(End of chapter)

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