Qiu Wuji held her breath in the pool, sighing slightly, but not disappointed; it was within her expectations.
While small details like pressing down on her clothes could contradict the "records in the book," reversing major historical events was inherently fantastical.
If she could really reverse it, the entire world would inevitably turn out differently from what she wrote, wouldn't that create chaos?
Strictly speaking, Qiu Wuji didn't have an extremely firm resolve to reverse it this time—she knew the Poisonous Hand Demon Lord had released the centipede, yet she hadn't dealt with it beforehand and wanted to observe how it would react. This wasn't a "must-cut" approach; it was observation, and its ultimate failure wasn't surprising.
She didn't know why she wasn't so determined… Perhaps, just a little, she was worried that a real reversal would cause problems for Chu Ge? At best, the book would collapse and his grades would be ruined; at worst, it would affect his health or even his safety?
She didn't know.
Despite unleashing all his power and guarding against a sneak attack, his attack was strangely "corrected"... He didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved.
Qiu Wuji shook his head slightly. He hadn't even sorted out his own thoughts, so he stopped worrying and focused on suppressing the poison.
In Chu Ge's setting, this Dragon Fall Pool was formed when an ancient Azure Dragon fell here, leaving behind its shed scales. After recovering, it left, so the pool was full of the poison forced out by the Azure Dragon. The shed scales, suppressed on the surface of the pool, counteracted the poison within.
Theoretically, this poison wasn't too troublesome. The ancient Azure Dragon had ascended to the Heavenly Realm, and its cultivation before ascension was roughly similar to Qiu Wuji's current state. If it could force out the poison, Qiu Wuji could too.
However, Chu Ge hadn't written how much time and suffering the Azure Dragon endured, but it was easy to imagine how difficult it was. If Qiu Wuji had to force out the poison for ten thousand years, his sect would surely fall apart, and his own path to ascension would be in jeopardy. Therefore, forcing the poison out was definitely not advisable; an antidote was necessary.
Normally, someone who falls into a pool and becomes poisoned would immediately leave. But this time, Qiu Wuji not only didn't leave, but instead dived even deeper into the pool. Activating her divine sense, she pierced through the thick mist and indeed saw a brightly colored mushroom growing on the edge of the pool bottom.
It looked like a poisonous mushroom, but Qiu Wuji smiled instead.
This is what she later wrote in her revised draft: "You found the antidote at the bottom of the pool yourself; it has nothing to do with Chu Tiange."
This also fit her "logic"—things growing in highly poisonous places are often the antidote. It's just that normally she wouldn't search the bottom of the pool; once she decided to search, it meant she could save herself.
Qiu Wuji dived to the mushroom and gently touched it. It was brightly colored because it was poisonous, but now it looked cute; touching the mushroom head felt like playfully rubbing Chu Tiange's head.
Without hesitation, she picked the mushroom, swallowed it, and vanished from the bottom of the pool.
Just as Chu Tiange reached the pool and began meditating, he heard footsteps. He stumbled in through the hole the Poison Hand Demon Lord had smashed open earlier.
"Uh… Sect Master? Greetings, Sect Master." Seeing Qiu Wuji's pale face, Chu Tiange quickly asked, "Sect Master, are you injured?"
Qiu Wuji opened his eyes and smiled slightly, "I was accidentally poisoned, but I'm working on neutralizing it. I know you have a Snake Saliva Fruit in your pocket that can cure poison; keep it for your alchemy, it's a valuable item."
Chu Tiange: "…" The Sect Master's divination skills are truly unfathomable. Someone as powerful as him can naturally cure poison himself; there's nothing to ask. A deep sense of awe welled up in Chu Tiange's heart, and he retreated respectfully.
Qiu Wuji watched his departing figure, knowing that the red thread that someone had carelessly tied had truly been severed.
Theoretically, this instance was designed specifically for Chu Tiange; everyone else was just a supporting character. But since he was involved, Qiu Wuji wasn't without benefits.
The Azure Dragon's molted scales were essential for her to construct the Four Symbols Grand Array, so that's another story. Every cloud has a silver lining; the process of drawing out and detoxifying poison could be seen as a body tempering process on her level, and the dragon blood will on the molted scales was an excellent material for refining the soul.
Soul tempering… Qiu Wuji reached out and took the molted scales, stroking the faint crimson color on them.
How long can I stay next time I go there?
...
"The author is being ridiculous! Qiu Wuji picked mushrooms to cure himself?"
"Is this the mushroom I was thinking of?"
"Chu Tiange went through all that trouble, only to go in, say a few words to Qiu Wuji, and leave? He gained Qiu Wuji's favor, deeming him worthy of cultivation, and that's it?"
"Chu Ge, if you've been kidnapped, blink twice."
"Oh no! I initially thought this was a harem novel, but now it seems off."
"Is the author an idiot? Are you kidding me?" Chu Ge leaned back in his chair, silently watching the explosion in the review section, without replying to a single word.
This was the expected outcome. Harem novels usually involve the female lead getting poisoned. Leaving aside the cliché of using aphrodisiacs, at least the protagonist should go in and help her, there should be some flirtatious interaction. Whether it's good or not depends on the writing style. Many gentlemen have been skipping through the plot for days, waiting for this moment.
But they didn't even write that! The female lead being poisoned is practically useless. What's the point of this plot? What kind of harem novel is this? It's perfectly normal for readers to be in an uproar; if Chu Ge himself were reading this, he'd be cursing too.
But Qiu Wuji had said no more touching.
Not only did she forbid it, Chu Ge himself didn't want to either.
Get lost, Chu Tiange! Who does he think he is?
Hmph.
Risking the risk of the book completely flopping, and being jealous of his own protagonist, Chu Ge didn't know if he was a unique author, unprecedented and unparalleled. But he didn't regret it.
Just for Qiu Wuji's vibrant smile, he didn't regret it.
As for the book's future… it all depended on whether Zhang Qiren's initial proposal was feasible… Slowly turning it into a stock market saga, or even not a stock market saga at all, turning it into a no-female-lead story, where all the female characters are just skeletons, that wasn't out of the question either; there would be a certain audience.
Chu Ge even had an even more radical idea: to directly make Qiu Wuji the protagonist and write a female-centric novel. The thought made him chuckle. Switching to stock trading might improve his grades, or switching to a female-centric storyline might attract a new readership; neither was a guaranteed failure, there was still a chance. But switching to a female-centric storyline was certain death, because this wasn't a female-oriented genre.
After a moment of bittersweet self-mockery, Chu Ge finally sighed softly.
He was saying he was escaping the prison he had drawn for himself… but the future was uncertain; it was a gamble.
Besides, nobody wants to be bombarded with insults…
He shook his head, closed the webpage, out of sight, out of mind. He picked up his water glass, took a sip—it was empty—and stood up to get more.
Just as he turned around, he saw Qiu Wuji standing quietly behind him, his gaze seemingly just returning from the closed webpage to Chu Ge's face.
The two stood face to face, frozen in time, silently staring at each other. Chu Ge was still holding his glass; it looked a little comical, but neither of them seemed to notice.
Both of their eyes seemed shrouded in something, making them indistinct.
After a long while, Qiu Wuji smiled slightly and said softly, "Thank you."