A Cheeky Trick! The Diary Upgrades, and Reviews

"Two chapters, just two chapters? Are you trying to fob off a beggar?"

"If you can't write, then stop. Give me the pen. I can write better than you."

"The Light Boat Has Passed Ten Thousand Mountains, if you've got the guts, tell me your real name. I'll draw circles and curse you every day."

"Aaah!"

Cao Ying scratched at her hair, feeling uncomfortable all over.

Habit was a terrible thing. Cao Ying had grown used to having ten chapters to read every day.

Although she still felt it wasn't enough, she could accept it as long as ten chapters came out on time every day.

But now, all of a sudden, there were eight chapters fewer, and it had stopped just as Xiao Yan had set out to gain experience, right when he was about to open a new map.

It was as if a hand had massaged her all over and stripped off all her clothes, only to suddenly stop.

"I'm so mad." Cao Ying jumped off the bed and stomped her delicate foot on the floor, lightly biting her teeth. "If I hadn't just entered the Little Pill Tower to cultivate and couldn't leave until I met the requirements, I'd rush straight to the Northwest Continent and beat Xiao Yan black and blue. Let's see how you'd write then."

Achoo!

On a road from Wutan City to Qingshan Town, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose.

"Nalan Yanran must be talking about me. I'll win the Three-Year Agreement."

Achoo.

Inside the Misty Cloud Sect Master's great hall.

Nalan Yanran, who had just entered the hall, covered her nose and frowned slightly.

She couldn't possibly be ill. Someone must be talking about her behind her back.

"Yanran."

Yun Yun's voice came from ahead, making Nalan Yanran immediately straighten up.

"Teacher, you wanted to see me." Nalan Yanran cupped her fists in greeting.

"Yanran." Dressed in brocade robes, Yun Yun sat upright on the sect master's throne, her bearing noble. She looked at Nalan Yanran with a complicated gaze. "I heard the Nalan Family head came to see you?"

"Yes, Teacher." Nalan Yanran's expression tightened, and she lowered her head. "Father was just here."

"Because of Xiao Yan?" Yun Yun's voice was ethereal.

"Yes." Indignation appeared on Nalan Yanran's face. "Father told me Xiao Yan's talent has returned. He said I was wrong to go to his home and break off the engagement, and he wants us to go there and apologize to mend relations."

"Why should they get to decide my life? Never mind that Xiao Yan was trash before-even if he wasn't, I still wouldn't want to. What gives them the right to make me marry a stranger? Am I supposed to sacrifice myself just because of their ridiculous promise and their pride?"

Nalan Yanran felt that Yun Yun was the only person she could confide in now, the only one who would still stand on her side.

Yun Yun looked down at her disciple, then closed her eyes.

Nalan Yanran was so willful, and she, as her teacher, bore some responsibility too.

But now that things had come to this, he could only try to make amends himself and gradually guide Nalan Yanran.

But the next moment, Yun Yun's eyes snapped open. An illusory picture book appeared before her, visible to her alone.

At the same time, several other people were as angry as Cao Ying.

There was Tang Huo'er, whose temper was also somewhat fiery.

And Feng Qing'er, who was diligently cultivating in the Wind Lightning Pavilion.

But now their eyes lit up too, and they hurriedly opened their diaries again.

[The world is like a chessboard, and the workings of heaven and earth are unfathomable; I smile at the winds and clouds and meet honor and disgrace with equanimity.]

[I fear not the floating clouds that obscure my view, for I stand at the highest summit.]

[I observe Xiao Yan's life as though studying the lines on my palm.]

[At this moment, I'm thinking...]

["Xiao Yi Xian"... "joins the party"... "enters the Magical Beast Mountain Range"... "cave"... "treasure hunt"... "danger in the cave"... "Ice Spirit Flame Grass"... "Flying Dou Technique"...]

[Calm returned to the empty stone chamber. Xiao Yan bent down slightly and was just about to open the box when his body suddenly stiffened. He quickly turned toward the stone door, his face abruptly darkening.]

["Someone's coming?!"]

"So it really works."

Seeing the notification that the upload had succeeded, Ye Qingzhou smiled.

The diary required him to record things that were true.

It didn't require them to be things he, Ye Qingzhou, was experiencing.

Nor did it require them to be happening at the present moment.

Strictly speaking, diaries recorded things that had happened in the past to begin with.

Ye Qingzhou had thought of a shortcut: he would record his past thoughts.

In short, he would first think through the novel's contents, then write them in the diary as a record of his thoughts.

Since he had had those thoughts, they were things he had experienced, and he could naturally write them in the diary.

When he had written a book review earlier, he had been conducting an experiment along those lines. Now he had merely confirmed that the method worked.

"This way, I can keep writing Xiao Yan's story."

"I can even write other people's stories in the future."

"As long as it's something I've thought about, it's something I've experienced."

Ye Qingzhou had even considered that if simply thinking about it wasn't enough, he could first write it down on paper with a pen in a secret chamber.

Then writing the novel would be something he had actually experienced, and there would definitely be no problem recording it in the diary.

But now, it seemed there was no need to go to all that trouble.

"This way, I can keep fishing."

"If the futures of Xiao Yan and certain other people don't change before they meet me, then I can write this diary without worrying."

"If someone can see the diary, though, I'll have to think carefully about how to write it and make use of it."

Ye Qingzhou closed the diary, formed a hand seal, and resumed cultivating.

Meanwhile, the women reading the diary were anything but calm.

First were Cao Ying, Tang Huo'er, and Feng Qing'er, those three impatient women.

They were happy to discover that the diary had been updated again.

When they discovered that the new update contained ten chapters, they were even happier.

But when they reached the end and found it had stopped at the most crucial point, they were very unhappy.

"Can't you just write it properly?"

"How about I teach you how to write!?"

Cao Ying felt as if a cat were scratching at her heart.

Immediately afterward, a pen suddenly formed in her mind.

Cao Ying: ?

Wait, you're really letting me write?

Wasn't my copy of the diary read-only?

The next moment, a piece of information entered Cao Ying's mind.

[You have read the diary for more than ten consecutive days. You have received a Review Pen.]

[Review Pen: Each day, you may post one review beneath the diary owner's latest entry. Its contents are visible to all copy holders, but not to the diary owner for the time being.]

[Other copy holders may use their Review Pens to comment on your review or give it a like.]

"A review?"

"Isn't that just a book review?"

"Visible to all copy holders... Sure enough, I'm not the only one with a copy."

She wasn't the diary's owner, but a copy holder.

So Cao Ying thought she wasn't the only person who had a copy.

Surely there couldn't be someone writing a diary just for her to read?

For some reason, everyone could definitely see this diary.

Being able to do things that could change the future based on the diary's contents was an opportunity in itself.

"I can write book reviews now." Cao Ying clapped her hands, immediately interested.

She plopped back down on the bed, one knee raised and her little foot lightly curled, and began to think.

"What kind of review should I write?"

"I've got it. This will definitely get likes!"