[As for the so-called Novel, it can only serve as a reference. One mustn't take it as absolute truth.]
[Since I have come to this world, that in itself proves that this world truly exists. I cannot possibly be a fictional character in a Novel.]
The women holding journal copies: He's right!
We are absolutely not fictional characters in some Novel.
[In the Novel, I did not exist at all. I should have died ten years ago—on the road from the Jia Ma Sacred City back to Wu Tan City—together with my parents, when the Xiao Clan withdrew from the Sacred City.]
"From the Jia Ma Sacred City back to Wu Tan City?"
"Xiao Ting of the Xiao Clan in Wu Tan City of the Jia Ma Empire—this queen has found you!"
Deep beneath the desert, in the depths of the lava world, Medusa lazily stretched. A stunning smile blossomed on her peerless face.
Now that she had confirmed Xiao Ting's origins, she could go capture him and imprison him at her side.
A human who knew the growth path of a Dou God and was familiar with countless opportunities on the Battle Qi Continent, yet whose strength was still weak—
Someone like that was qualified to become her, Queen Medusa's, personal plaything.
But just as this thought arose, Medusa suddenly felt as though her heart had been clutched by a hand. Her own soul, together with the soul of the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python fused within the Quiet Purple Flame Serpent's soul, was cast into a realm of eternal, solitary darkness, as though about to be exiled from existence.
"No proactively harming him in any way is allowed. And I may not reveal the existence of the journal copies or their contents!"
This realization surged up in Medusa's heart. Her eyes changed slightly.
"This journal… is even more overbearing than I am."
If she could not harm him, then she simply… wouldn't.
She would just shift to another angle and keep Xiao Ting close—
Coax him instead of caging him.
[The fact that I am still alive is likely the butterfly effect brought by my reincarnation. It might also be because this world is truly real.]
[In my previous world, the author of Battle Through the Heavens—who in the terms of this world would be called a story master—wrote under the pen name: Tian Can Tuo Dou.]
[But a Novel is only a Novel. Every character within it is shaped by his personal biases, and its plot logic is simplistic.]
[Real people are far more complex. We are not puppet paper-figures on strings.]
[Tian Can Tuo Dou doesn't understand the whole Dou Continent. He is only a story master.]
"Well said." All the women with copies of the journal nodded in agreement.
They were living, breathing people with independent thoughts, not puppets dangling from someone's pen.
…
"Tian Can Tuo Dou doesn't understand the Dou Continent, and he doesn't understand me either." Little Fairy Doctor's eyes lit up with a sharp gleam. "If I ever reach Brother Xiao Ting's previous world, I'll make him give me an explanation—why he saddled me with such a miserable past."
…
"Tian Can Tuo Dou…" In the Desert Metal Mercenary Company base, the always cautious, worldly-wise Qing Lin had a hint of hatred flash in her eyes. "You'd best not be the one responsible for my misery. You'd best truly be nothing but a story master."
…
[The Great Dao Journal chose me and made me a World Observer. Its purpose should be to have me reconstruct the truest version of the Battle Through the Heavens world.]
[According to what I learned in my previous life, my cousin—the story's protagonist—is the child of fortune of this world.]
[From the Novel's perspective, as the protagonist under the story master's pen, his success is inevitable.]
[But from the perspective of reality, everyone is the protagonist of their own life. If someone were to record their entire life, that too would be an exciting story.]
[Since Cousin is the child of fortune, I can follow by his side, recording his rise and, incidentally, using him as a vantage point to observe and document this world.]
[In the process, I can also meet Yun Yun—whom I'll only know in passing; Queen Medusa—who is stone-hard everywhere except at the mouth; Little Fairy Doctor—who leaves countless readers with a bitter longing; Qing Lin—the benchmark for personal maids; and various other geniuses and beauties.]
"'Only know me in passing'?" Yun Yun felt as though a hostile aura had wrapped around her.
Linking this with the mortal feud between the Misty Cloud Sect and Xiao Yan, she couldn't help but speculate.
Could it be that Xiao Yan would fall for her, but she wouldn't particularly care, dismissing their bond with a mere we only met in passing, thus leaving the youth with a broken heart?
This wasn't narcissism on Yun Yun's part. Even if everything Xiao Ting wrote in the journal was true—
Even if Xiao Yan would indeed one day become a Dou God—
That was still in the future.
Right now, Xiao Yan was only a small cultivator from the Xiao Clan in Wu Tan City, not even yet a genuine Dou Practitioner.
As for her, Yun Yun, she was the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, a Dou Emperor powerhouse, the foremost female cultivator of the Jia Ma Empire.
The men who admired her were as numerous as carp crossing a river; even the Pill King Gu He was no exception.
For a youth whose heart had just begun to stir, yet who possessed the soul of an adult, to like her was only natural.
Love unfulfilled, turning to hatred—that would be entirely reasonable.
"I must find a way to naturally make Xiao Ting's acquaintance and confirm whether my suspicions are correct." Yun Yun knit her brows slightly and pondered carefully.
…
At the same time, in the lava world—
A variety of expressions flickered across Medusa's face, and her hand itched for something to seal away.
"What does he mean, 'stone-hard everywhere except at the mouth'?"
"Is he describing my serpent body?"
"That definitely doesn't sound like a compliment." Medusa softly snorted through her nose, secretly jotting down a mark on Xiao Ting's mental ledger.
She was not allowed to harm Xiao Ting—
But that didn't mean she couldn't scare him.
This queen had her own ways.
…
"Leaving countless men with bitter longing?"
"Is he talking about me!?"
Little Fairy Doctor held the journal copy, stunned. Then a faint blush spread across her face.
From this one line alone, she could infer that, from the perspective of female characters in the Novel, she was extremely popular.
And unlike the mercenaries' affection, this was a love built on fully understanding who she truly was.
…
"I'm the 'benchmark for personal maids'?"
Qing Lin had never expected to receive such an appraisal.
She wasn't foolish enough to think that this referred to another person with her exact name; after all, she was the one who had received the journal copy.
"So that means, someone out there will value and need someone like me?"
Brilliant light surged up in Qing Lin's eyes.
[For now, I'll go and meet the one known as the number one rich and beautiful heiress of the Battle Qi Continent—Xun'er.]
The moment this line appeared, all the women who possessed journal copies widened their eyes, their attention fully captured.
If someone like Xiao Ting—who understood everything about the Battle Qi Continent—called her the "number one" of the entire continent, the weight of that title was beyond question.
What kind of woman could receive such an evaluation?
"Let me see just how well Brother Xiao Ting understands Xun'er."
Xun'er propped her cheek in one hand, smiling pleasantly, her eyes warm.
If Brother Xiao Ting truly knew everything about her, then he wouldn't misunderstand her.
And he should also be fully aware of just how "fragrant" this bowl of soft rice she offered was—and how firmly he ought to hold on to it.
[As the World Observer, I feel obliged to record Xun'er carefully.]
[On the surface, she bears the surname Xiao, and is my distant cousin—our blood relation is quite faint. She came to the Xiao Clan ten years ago.]
[In reality, she hails from one of the seven Dou God clans, the Gu Clan. She is the only daughter of the Gu Clan's clan leader, a late nine-star Dou Saint powerhouse, the inheritor of the Gu Clan's perfect Dou God bloodline, and the possessor of the fourth-ranked Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame from the Heavenly Flame Rankings. She becomes a Dou Saint before the age of thirty, and breaks through to Dou God before fifty.]
Yun Yun, Medusa, Little Fairy Doctor, and Qing Lin: ???
For a moment, all four women felt as though they'd become illiterate.
With such an origin and such accomplishments, wasn't Xun'er the true protagonist of Battle Through the Heavens?
…