Qingzhou, You'd Better Stop Tormenting People So Much

"This is torture."

"At least finish this part of the story. Don't leave me hanging and make me guess."

"Or you could at least update at a set time, so I wouldn't have to suffer so much waiting."

"I can't even focus on refining medicine. I keep getting distracted, and that could easily make my furnace explode and tarnish the good name I've built up all my life."

Cao Ying wore a thin black dress, her long, slender jade legs crossed. Her jade feet, with their lovely arches, flexed back and forth, just like her fluctuating mood.

Just then, the diary copy she had been thinking about finally stirred.

"It's here!"

Cao Ying rolled over onto her stomach, cupped her cheeks in both hands, and bent her legs, flexing her feet back and forth.

With a thought, she summoned the diary copy and began reading the update.

"Hehe, the update time is the same as yesterday."

"I wonder if that's the regular schedule."

Cao Ying made a mental note of the time and focused all her attention on the diary.

["Mysterious old man"... "borrowing money"... "market"... "black iron fragment"... "Suction Palm"... "cultivation"... "Fourth Stage Dou Qi"...]

This time, Ye Qingzhou had updated a substantial amount in one go.

There was Xiao Yan's conversation with Yao Lao, Xiao Yan borrowing money from Xun'er to buy medicinal ingredients, and Yao Lao refining Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid to help him begin cultivating. There was also his success in picking up a hidden treasure at the market. It went all the way to Xiao Yan returning to the Fourth Stage Dou Qi half a month later, then taking a half-finished product to the Mittel Auction House to auction it off for money.

As for the parts involving Xun'er, he simply glossed over them.

Ye Qingzhou didn't think there was any need to write about them.

Otherwise, he would seem like a voyeur.

[Ya Fei smiled, her gaze lingering on the black robe Xiao Yan wore. "May I ask your esteemed name, old sir?"]

That was where Ye Qingzhou stopped the serialized story in his regular diary.

"That's it?" Cao Ying muttered, pursing her cute, rosy lips. "Wow, the person writing this diary really deserves a beating."

"Why didn't he finish this part? Did this Ya Fei see through Xiao Yan's identity or not?"

"They went probing into the identity of the person who refined the medicine. Did Xiao Yan teach the Mittel Auction House a lesson?"

Leaving so many questions hanging filled Cao Ying with resentment.

At the same time, though, some of the content piqued her curiosity.

"Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid... I think I've heard of it somewhere. It seems to have been created by some formidable alchemist. I'll ask Teacher tomorrow."

"Or maybe I won't have to ask."

Cao Ying continued staring at the diary copy.

If it was like yesterday, that "The Light Boat Has Passed Ten Thousand Mountains" would surely review his own story again and reveal some information.

Meanwhile, in the Medicine Realm.

Yao Ling, who was leafing through a book on a secret soul technique, rested her cheek on one hand.

"Yao Lao?"

Could the Yao in his name be the same Yao as in their Yao Clan?

She hoped the review that followed would have an answer.

"Mittel Auction House, Mittel Ya Fei."

In a small city in the easternmost part of the Jia Ma Empire, bordering the Tagor Desert, a strange light flickered in Queen Medusa's long, narrow purple eyes.

Back then, before she obtained the diary copy, she had been pursuing Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, who seemed to be a grand elder of this Mittel Family.

This Ya Fei of the Mittel Auction House in Wutan City had dealings with Xiao Yan, and the Mittel Family also traded in intelligence.

"I don't need to investigate the Xiao Clan. I can ask this Mittel Ya Fei for information."

"If she satisfies me, that will be the end of it. If not, then someone will have to give me an explanation for Hai Bodong taking that fragmentary map from the desert back then."

"Such a large jump in time. It seems it won't be long before he writes about recent events."

At the Xiao Clan in Wutan City, Xun'er stopped cultivating and held the diary as she pondered.

The diary's owner had written a great deal today, covering half a month in one go.

It seemed he only spent much ink on certain important events, or when there was an encounter with certain specific people.

Her name had been mentioned rarely, but each time had been important. This time, it was when she lent Xiao Yan money.

She had already forgotten about it. At the time, she hadn't refused for Xiao Zhan's sake.

A mere few tens of thousands of gold coins were no different to her from offering a cup of water to someone who was thirsty.

"Ya Fei." A light flashed in Xun'er's eyes.

She was wondering whether she was the only one who possessed a copy of the diary.

If others had one, was there some pattern to it?

For instance, people who could be written into the diary.

"If I get the chance, I can sound her out and have some contact with her."

Just then, a gust of wind suddenly came through the window.

Immediately afterward, a voice whose owner could not be identified as male or female came in: "Young miss, the clan has sent another message, asking when you will return."

"Are those people on the council of elders really that impatient?" A hint of coldness flashed in Xun'er's eyes.

If her father wanted her to return, he could make it happen with a single thought.

Taking advantage of the fact that her father had delegated his authority and stayed out of affairs, they insisted she return home on the pretext of clan rules. They were truly irritating.

"They want me to enter a marriage alliance with someone from the Lei Clan. Father finds it difficult to express an opinion because of the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, or perhaps he really does think Lei Dong is a good choice. But don't think you've got me in the palm of your hand." Looking at the diary copy, Xun'er felt ambition rise in her heart.

As long as her bloodline grade was high enough and she attained a high enough status, not even the council of elders could force her to do anything, and her father could openly support her.

It was only because these elders bore the surname Gu. If they had been from another clan, her father could have suppressed them all with a single slap.

"Tell them I need a few more days to consider it. We'll talk about it then," Xun'er said softly.

Originally, she had already planned to agree to return to the clan.

She would use the clan's resources to grow as quickly as possible. Only by becoming strong enough could she have a say.

But the diary copy's update, in which the protagonist was still Xiao Yan of the Xiao Clan, made her decide to wait a little longer.

"Here it comes." Xun'er's beautiful eyes lit up.

Sure enough, the diary's owner had written another review.

[The Endless Fire Domain has Yao Lao; the Divine Realm has no Yu Xiaogang.]

[Though this statement is overly absolute and overlooks some rules and facts about the background,]

[Xiao Yan's tendency to repay kindness is beyond dispute. Whether he was a Da Dou Shi or had broken through to Dou Di, his attitude toward his old friends and teachers always remained the same. He never considered himself above others simply because he had become powerful.]

[The present-day Dou Qi Continent has already entered the Age of Dharma's End. Xiao Yan is one of only two people capable of breaking through to Dou Di. To travel from a Lower Plane to the Great Thousand World, someone must first break through to Dou Di and open a passage between planes.]

[Signed: The Light Boat Has Passed Ten Thousand Mountains]

The women: ???

Did he know what he was saying?

Xiao Yan could break through to Dou Di!?

And he was one of only two people who could?

The Dou Qi Continent had already entered the Age of Dharma's End?

And what were this Lower Plane and the Great Thousand World?

If his reviews didn't answer questions but only raised more of them, he'd be better off saying nothing for now!