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Chapter Text

So Shen Yuan, or just Yuan to everyone who he knows outside of his numerous villain roles in several novels, finds himself sitting rigidly inside his bamboo hut. Many who knew him personally have claimed that he had a saint-like attitude that did not measure up to the Villain System that he got roped into personality-wise. He’d told them he had no choice because no one picks their own system partners, and that particular system was the one who picked him, amongst others. It was better than dying, even though at times (more like all the time) it had greatly pained him to hurt other people and laugh while at it.

Did he like it? Of course not. But by the time he wanted to quit because he couldn’t take it anymore, the Villain system he had nicknamed as 3, or San, for its Villain System number, had begged him for patience and pleaded with him not to leave it to another host, it liked its A-Yuan too much and it had gotten too clingy. At that point, he realized that the extra points he had gotten from his rewards were from San’s very own points, and Yuan found himself touched by the gesture. He empathized with San, really, and his system always created loopholes for him when the situation got a tad too much.

All in all, he wasn’t happy in his position but it was okay since he found a friend from it, even though San doesn’t have a body on its own. It’s apparently one of the senior systems around, as do almost all the systems who operated main roles. From what he heard in the Actor Break Rooms where actors primarily gathered when they finished their roles and are awaiting another, is that out of the existing Systems, one of the cruelest Systems who gave no shit and respect to their hosts and got infamous for it were Male Protagonist Systems #2 and #5, Heroine System #1 and Villain Systems #3 and #7. San was Villain System #3 so he really didn’t know what to think about that, not when San liked to clog him with numb pills for free when he’s being tortured or even in slight pain and he knows how much those pills cost. 

So yes, he has an overprotective friend for a system and Yuan defends it when he can. He got called out a fool many times for it but he’s not standing still when people are disparaging his friend. He also thinks that San must only have been lonely because it had undergone so many hosts and it didn’t like their characters. San DID start out as cruel to Yuan but after four to five worlds, San had mellowed out.

That aside, Yuan, now who plays the role of Shen Qingqiu, a major villain in the hit harem xianxia series Proud Immortal Demon Way, found himself sitting with a hot tea on hand and an expectant disciple right next to him. The said disciple was the protagonist and in about five seconds, according to script, he should be pouring the hot tea on the young man’s head. 

Out of all, what Yuan hated the most in his many roles were the ones which he had to hurt or abuse children in any way, as well as people who weren’t physically able and weak, like elderlies or sick people. Maybe because he was once a sick person himself and he was projecting his situation on them, but he knows how utterly helpless he would feel when he couldn’t defend his own self. He steeled himself and willed his hand to move, pouring the steaming liquid on his disciple.

His disciple’s face was as in the script, morphed in shock and hurt, wide dark eyes starting to fill with unshed tears, and Yuan wanted to abort the mission pronto, but dealt with it as he have so many times before. He barked at the boy to get out of his sight, and the poor boy ran on his heels in heartbreak.

Yuan exhaled when he was left alone, a tired hand scrubbing his face, “San, how many more abuses do I have to unleash on that boy? Please start a countdown.”

His request was met by heavy silence and Yuan knows San, after dozens of worlds. Yuan squeezed his eyes shut as he massaged his temple, “San, please.”

《…54 more instances, A-Yuan. The last instance is the one in the Abyss storyline.》

Another deep exhale, and Yuan nodded his head in confirmation, “Okay. Okay, I can hold out that long.”

《Do you want me to play a calming music as you work?》 

“Yes please.” Yuan agreed, after wiping off the remnants of the tea on the wooden floor and table, setting up his paperwork that he has to pass to Yue Qingyuan in their next Peak Lord meeting. The soothing music played in the background as Yuan moved his quill, trying to forget. The guilt doesn’t abate. It never does.

A slim cold hand slid on Yuan’s forehead before being replaced by wet cloth. Yuan’s eyelashes fluttered open to see who’s taking care of him again, but he had a hunch on his caretaker’s identity. 

Yuan passed out in the Actor’s Break room couch again, just as he finished his role as Jin GuangYao in the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi. It was probably one of his more lenient main villain roles, but it had still used up most of his energy. Despite popular opinion, actors do get unwell and sick. Yuan, who had previously died from sickness mostly take the brunt from the downside. Once a young person died before their time, Systems would make a contract with them and give them choices: to become an Actor, or to pass on to paradise.

To become an Actor is to have your body reset to a healthy state, but it’s not impervious to colds or becoming weak. The points that actors gather from different worlds isn’t only limited to buying pills for their roles, or advantageous items like halos or golden fingers; it could buy almost everything, from food to car to shelter within the Actor Break room. Actor Break room may be called “room” but it’s more like a high-tier neighborhood. You can go outside the main building and see skyscrapers, flying dragons and spaceships, skyways, plazas—it’s a mishmash of every world that actors could take away from the novels they finished. It was bought by their money of course. 

There were twelve “rooms” in total, considering that there are quite a lot of actors in existence. You’d be surprised how many people become Actors within a month. What Yuan is still uncomfortable with is that there’s a hierarchy, of all things. The higher your position is, the more the possibility that you get to live in the higher rooms. A promotion so to say. It’s as ridiculous as it may sound, considering that people don’t get to pick their own systems beforehand, therefore their standing is dependent on the level of the system that picked them. Yuan is amongst the lucky ones who didn’t have to work his ass off so hard, since San definitely have a higher standing and is even in the upper echelons.

Not that he uses his standing to his advantage. He has a lot of points stacked up and is very utterly rich at this point because he doesn’t buy anything and he frequently enters novels. All he has is the clothes on his back, an extra pair of glasses that he doesn’t need should he just fix his eyesight with his points, and the couch in the Break room lounge that the admin gave to him for free because he frequents it far too much. He’s spent his points in delicious foods and nothing more. Some actors who doesn’t know him and sees him on his couch always leave off with a sneer of disgust, looking down at him like he’s a beggar or something. Well, Yuan doesn’t give a shit.

The room that he belongs to is full of rude people who thinks they’re greater and richer than god, and maybe a lot of them are just proud because they’ve climbed all the way to the top, but Yuan still found it unpleasant. So, after all the years that he’s worked, he only had made three friends that were actors and eleven acquaintances. The acquaintances are admins who bow their head when he sees them like he’s royalty and the three friends are those who he met under interesting circumstances and had formed a bond with.

Which speaking of.

A click of tongue and a low mutter, Yuan was now definitely certain as to who his caretaker is. He doesn’t open his eyes but smiled widely all the same, “Hey, Hong.”

A scoff and a pinch on his cheek had him wincing and prompted him in finally seeing the other person, who is a woman with short straight hair. She’s definitely a beauty, with her button nose and wide phoenix eyes. She’s clad in designer clothes, a bit scanty in design and she has a petite frame. She looks like a child, yet she’s anything but. Yuan knows for a fact that she can kill people 435 ways with her nails and heels alone.

“Haven’t I told you many times to go straight to my penthouse the moment you feel ill? This couch doesn’t make you warm, A-Yuan.” She scolds icily, rearranging the blanket so it would cover Yuan more. There’s a sofa near the couch that wasn’t there before and an abandoned open magazine. Hong must have been looking after him longer than she would like to admit.

“Sorry, but I knew I couldn’t make it. Much safer if I just crashed here.” Yuan reasoned, and Hong’s glare softened. Hong is an independent woman who takes no shit from anyone and have clawed her way up to this room for hundreds of years. She dragged herself and her system up, considering that her system is just a Secondary Heroine one, a supporting role. Yuan’s respects her so much for being so strong and capable, yet at the same time she’d never really lost her kindness. 

“You haven’t went home yet?” Yuan asked, looking at how Hong pours water in his glass gracefully. Hong snorted and helped him sit up.

“I saw you here after I finished my role. I thought you were just tired and decided to wake you so I could bring you to my house but lo and behold! Not only were you passed out, you were having a really high fever too.” She shot him a glare again, handing the water over. It spilled a little when she emphasized her point, and Yuan winced. She must have been worried sick.

“Sorry, Hong. I feel a bit better now. San made me drink a lot of vitamin pills and medicine for fever before I got off my role, I only needed to rest for a bit.” Yuan slumped after he drunk the glass of water. Hong leaned on the arm of the couch, folding her arms.

“Thank god San is responsible, unlike you. Gee, A-Yuan, are you planning to die from overworking? Here in the afterlife?!” 

Yuan groaned, shaking his head slowly like a dejected puppy. There’s too many roles coming and he doesn’t have anything to do once he finishes a role. It’s only appropriate to pick another role after a two or three days rest.

Hong frowned, “This is why you should get your own place. I know damn well how loaded you are, you could buy a mansion in one of the wealthiest districts here and it wouldn’t put a dent in your savings. Don’t you want your own personal space?” 

“I’ve never really needed it?” Yuan shrugged and Hong made a sound akin to a boiling kettle.

“You do too! You get sick often enough!” Hong screamed, retreating back to her sofa which was angled to face him. She glared down at him as if he killed her child and Yuan tried not to shrink back to himself.

“We’ve talked about this.” Yuan responded evasively, looking away. Hong’s expression turned stricken, lips twisting down.

“I know.” Hong sighed, shoulders sagging, “God, A-Yuan, getting your own place doesn’t mean that you’re going to die there with no one knowing, okay? How about you live with me instead in my penthouse? You’re in there often enough anyway. And no, I’m not letting you freeload, you’re paying half my rent. How does that sound?” 

Yuan rolled his eyes, “I know how much you value your own space, Hong. Me permanently living in there would contradict your want to live alone and have your own space. I’m going to be okay, I’ll buy a house when I’m ready. Just, not yet okay?” 

Hong’s nose scrunched, “ You’re more important than my want for personal space. That way I could keep an eye on you too. But it’s your choice, in the end. You’re an adult now and you have to act like it, are we clear?”

Yuan giggled at Hong’s failed threat, warmth bursting in his stomach. He’s really blessed to have her and his other two friends. Should the other two be here, they’d be clamoring and screaming at him in worry too. That should be a negative thing, but Yuan found himself feeling content because somebody really cared about him and his well-being. They may be few, but all of them had too much to give.

“I get it.” Yuan confirmed, “Now, tell me about your latest role.”

Hong broke out into a grin, “Well, it’s about a girl named Cho Chang from the Harry Potter series—” 

Yuan stared blankly at Liu Qingge’s rapidly retreating back with another BaiZhan disciple who relayed the news. Yuan blinked because that was a … plot deviation? 

Liu Qingge should have died inside the cave. The cave which was currently behind him right now. It all started according to script—Yuan found Liu Qingge and tried to help him from his Qi Deviation. At this point, Liu Qingge wouldn’t have been able to overcome the Deviation despite the assist and should have died. But miraculously, Liu Qingge lived. And now, he’s heading towards the rainbow bridge where future wife Sha Hualing should be parading with her demon lot.

“San, did I fail the objective? Should I have killed Liu Qingge so that the plot would be followed?” Yuan asked in utter confusion as he mounted his sword and sped up to where he can see Liu Qingge pummeling demons left and right in the distance.

《It wasn’t under your responsibilities, no. I suspect that Liu Qingge himself must have done something to subvert his own fate.》

Subvert his own fate? Yuan blinked again and it clicked for him, “Like using an item?” 

《Like using an item, yes. Your reward for this mission is 10,000 points, plus upgrade to two stages in your cultivation.》 

“… San, I didn’t even cultivate. How can I explain to them how I managed to jump up to two whole stages of cultivation when I was busy stopping Liu Qingge from Qi Deviation? ”

《… Talent?》 

Yuan groaned in his hands in defeat. At this point he’d be more powerful than Luo Binghe and that guy was the peerless protagonist with the golden finger! Villains are not allowed to be more OP than protagonists! How can Shen Qingqiu be defeated when his own System rewards him with one or two stages of progress in cultivation every major mission he accomplishes? Is he supposed to hold half of his cultivation back when he crosses sword with anyone?! 

“Do you want me to ascend to godhood even before the abyss? Because both of us could get penalized for that.” 

《… I could buy you the item for anti-penalty. Liu Qingge’s actor and System paid more for his stunt.》 

“San, no. I can do it, okay? I’ve encountered much worse fate than that.” He could understand why San was worrying, really, he could. Playing the role of a human stick would be scarring, “Besides, maybe Luo Binghe would be pissed if I ascend and drag me back anyway. Maybe I’d have a much more grim fate if I do that.”

《Not when you’re more powerful than that mutt.》 

“San, seriously, stop it—” Yuan paused when San’s words fully registered to him. Mutt? “Er, do you have any hatred towards Luo Binghe? He hasn’t even done anything yet!” 

He could hear some rumblings from San and Yuan found it bizarre. San never really complained about the protagonists, even the ones who would torture Yuan’s role. So what makes Luo Binghe any different? He’d shelve that on a later date.

From his view, Yuan could see Sha Hualing and the main demons she brought, the bloody contest still ongoing despite Liu Qingge’s presence. It was now Luo Binghe’s fight and that was another deviation right over there. Wait, shouldn’t it be Shen Qingqiu in there to fight that specific demon? The one where he should use dirty tricks?

Yuan visibly panicked at the late realization, “Oh no, San—” 

《 A request from PIWD Main System just came in. Your penalty for not entering got paid already.》

“What?!” Yuan exclaimed, “San, you didn’t have to—” 

《Not by me this time. By her.》 

Yuan tilted his head in befuddlement, used that San always paid for his messes. Who was ‘her’ supposed to be? San had said it meaningfully. He looked down below the group of people and demons having the dirty contest, trying to find his benefactor. There wasn’t a lot of females there, maybe she has a male role—

Black eyes pinned his own, belonging to none other than the main perpetrator for this event’s attack. Sha Hualing, the demon saint and future wife of Luo Binghe. She wasn’t paying attention to the contest in front of her but at him instead, who was suspended mid-air on his Xiu ya sword.

“Oh shit, that’s Hong.” 

This just got complicated.

Yuan definitely didn’t have a break down once that event concluded. His brain was too preoccupied with Hong’s appearance. This is the second time they had roles in the same novel. The first time was when they also became friends after their role ended, congratulating each other in their performances. There was a lot of plot deviations in that one too, but minor ones. That was also when they started to grudgingly respected each other. It was an epic rivalry that had turned into a knit-tight friendship overtime.

And now, not only Hong, but another actor playing as Liu Qingge was present. That actor must have been rich, because Liu Qingge is a minor role. A role that doesn’t even reach the half of the plot. That was a major deviation too, and major deviations costs about 30x the minor deviations. By now, should there be any other actors aside from them, they would have known just from that that Liu Qingge is an actor as well. Or somebody paid for an NPC’s fate to be subverted, which is frankly ridiculous and unlikely.

《The next major event is the Abyss. You have one more stage to proceed to ascension.》 

Yuan stopped pacing, looking heavenwards as he threw his hands up, “Why do you want me to ascend so badly? Is it the torture in the future? Or is it because you don’t think I can push Luo Binghe in the Abyss and ascend so I shouldn’t have to?” 

《…Precaution. You can store the progress of your cultivation without destroying your mortal body from ascension, but you would still be considered a god despite staying in the mortal realm. You will also not be disqualified from entering the heavenly realm should you decide to.》

Yuan’s brows knitted at the answer. It wasn’t the answer he expected and San sounded almost desperate at the suggestion. Yuan knew full well that San’s investment in Yuan’s well-being surpasses any rules that the plot or even the whole Main system of the novel had set up. There was one instance where San pulled him out of the novel in the middle of a major plot point because Yuan acted up. It was also then that Yuan realized that his system friend may be a tad bit obsessed in keeping him healthy. If he also went through that plot point, Yuan would have most certainly been destroyed psychologically and San knew it, more than anyone else.

There’s something San wasn’t telling, and it’s probably important and dangerous—enough that it’s not telling him about it right away and even making a roundabout way of doing it. 

“So becoming obscenely powerful than everybody would make it safer for me?” Yuan guessed, a frown pulling down his lips. He had started tapping his feet anxiously, now truly considering San’s suggestion.

《Essentially. You can still continue with the plot without any deviations. As long as you stick to the script and only unleash the extent of spiritual prowess Shen Qingqiu had, you will not be penalized.》

Yuan smiled wryly, “So you found another loophole for me? Why should I even be surprised?” Yuan dropped his head and sat down ungraciously on the floor. 

《 The Main System only has eyes on what has been written in the novel. As long as you play your role perfectly, it will assume that everything is still going smoothly.》

Yuan slightly gaped. Is his friend being sarcastic? Yuan beamed, “San, you’re learning! I thought I’d had lost all hope in converting you!” 

 《 I exist to deliver.》 

Yuan laughed boisterously at the drawl that he could hear from its voice. He stopped a few minutes later and managed to catch his breath, “Hey, if that was the case then I could make contact with the other actors, right? I could count on two hands about the worlds I went to that has another actor in it. There’s two here, and Hong is the other one even!” 

《 Apologies, A-Yuan but that would be unwise. You should wait to reveal yourself only after you have finished your role. Despite the eyes not being trained on you, there’s another rule in place about actors consorting with each other and any interactions between actors are strictly prohibited, which would mean that even if it’s not part of the novel, the Main System would be watching you and the other actor should you make contact.》

Yuan deflated at the explanation. He’d never really bothered to ask about that before. It was taboo to talk to each other while working as an actor because it would trigger OOC, that’s the only extent he knows. But from the elaborate explanation, he could imagine that it was probably more than that. Yuan nodded in affirmation. 

“Going back to the matter of cultivation,” Yuan cleared his throat and changed the dour topic,” Most of the peak lords here are Late-stage Core formation to Middle stage Nascent soul cultivators, with the exception of Yue Qingyuan who is a Late-stage Nascent soul cultivator. I’m far past Nascent now and could hide it, but I doubt I could still do so once my tribulation starts.” 

《No one will know.》

“… say what now?”

《No one will know.》 

An eerie silence blankets the whole room and Yuan, after a few moments of paling, proceeds to lie down from being sat on the floor, arms and legs spread wide, like he’s waiting to dry, “I feel like a dirty cheater. You’re my in-built golden thumb, San. I doubt at this point, somebody could stop me if I tried to conquer the world.” 

《… Do you want to?》

“Oh god, no, can you imagine the paperwork—” 

The tribulation had indeed gone smoothly. Yuan excused himself from peak lord duties for an entire month and left the mountain, saddling him with minor penalization but he and San were rich individuals, whom together with all their points combined, were mega filthy rich. Yuan was used to minor penalties, but never so far had a committed a major one. 

It was rather strange though, the moment when he’d asked for permission for his “trip” during the peak lord meeting, every peak lord had gone silent and had stared at him for a long minute, before he had sneered at them and they finally snapped out. Was going to trips too strange? Hasn’t Shen Qingqiu always gone down from the mountain to head towards whorehouses in the common city? 

When he’d managed to get out of the mountain, he went to a merchant and bought a few pairs of commoner’s clothing, dirty hair ties, a beige cloak, sandals and a knapsack, as well as the merchant’s silence. He filled the knapsack  with mundane things while his real treasures were safely hidden in his qiaopao pouch along with his Xiu Ya sword. He’d rented an inn and changed there, before walking out with the unassuming front desk lady still expecting that the great immortal was still occupying his room.

His journey was normal, a few bandits here and there, and him just disabling them without spiritual aid didn’t raise any red flags. Actors tend to bring everything they learned with them from the novels they experienced, and most of Yuan’s roles had to do a lot of physical training and action—either a Wuxia, Xianxia or Xuanhuan setting. While it may help a lot of actors for their roles, it could be a disadvantage sometimes, especially when the next role they had to play had lesser abilities than what they were used to.

Which was also one of Yuan’s main conundrum, because Shen Qingqiu wasn’t gifted in physical fitness and even cultivation, and Yuan had once played as Jun Wu, the Emperor who had ruled the Heavenly realm for thousands of years in the Heaven Official’s Blessing series.

When he’d arrived on the border that separates the demon realm and human realm, there was no more hesitation in Yuan’s actions. He retrieved his Xiu Ya and mounted it, zooming for the Eastern Demon Kingdom. Unlike the Northern Kingdom, which was where the Mo Bei ruled, the Eastern Demon Kingdom were filled with man-eaters, slavery was rampant and discord was the norm-- a truly despicable Kingdom that fortifies the common belief associated with demons. 

His tribulation was its complete destruction. San had already made the run-downs that nothing in that Kingdom can be salvaged anymore. It’s apparently one of the Kingdoms that Luo Binghe would be destroying and subjugating in the future, so Yuan really wasn’t as riddled with guilt about it as he should be. He retrieved his fan inside his robe and spread it open. The fan was iron and considerably weighty. Its folds has intricate designs of dark branches against a pristine white background.

Yuan pursed his lips, looking over at the Kingdom critically. He always did have moments of remorse when taking many lives in one fell swoop. Initially, San had to remind him again and again that he was playing a role, that they may be real beings in the novel but in Yuan’s world, they were fictions. Yuan had to invalidate their existence, because if not then, Yuan would be a mass-murderer. 

Yuan raised his hand that was gripping the fan and poured half of his entire qi in it. By the end of the day, Yuan was a villain, the main antagonist even. He will not justify his actions because he’s fully aware that there’s a degree of wrongness to it, no matter how much the people he was about to kill deserved it. Moral ambiguity was something that he had a hard time dealing with in the beginning, but then again he’d destroyed countries and kingdoms with innocent people countless of times already. His role was built by rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.

Uttering no words, no wasted actions, he swung his fan horizontally, from left to right. There was a rumble, before a great whirlwind came to life, tearing and eradicating everything in its path, following the direction of Yuan’s swing.

High-pitched screaming, creaking of stone buildings that have easily broken into pieces, scrunching of fleshes from live beings, and thick black miasma from hatred mixed with demonic qi combined in the air as the whirlwind ravaged and silenced them. The wind was thorough; the part of the Kingdom that it destroyed had nothing left but sand. A wind so strong that it could pulverize living beings and large structure in an instant—that was the most extreme form of spiritual offense that Shen Qingqiu’s core from his cultivation could achieve. 

If canon Shen Qingqiu had achieved this sort of power, he would most definitely give Luo Binghe a run for his money. 

Yuan watched his work, not waiting for much too long because the whirlwind had finished passing through the Kingdom and left nothing in its wake. The Kingdom was now nothing but sand dunes, no signs of anything existing beforehand. Yuan drew several talismans from his sleeves and sent it on the non-existent Kingdom below, the talismans flying to eight different directions and creating an impregnable array. Static came out from the array and purged the remnant miasma and qi before thr talismans burned itself, ash becoming one with the sand dunes.

Yuan’s work was done, so very easily. There was no resistance because nobody saw him coming. A beam of light from the heavens descended, and Yuan hovered close to it, one arm entering the cylindrical elemental pillar. When his hand was now in the middle, he grasped something from it and pulled his entire arm out, feeling the texture of paper in his enclosed hand.

It was a scroll. Yuan poured qi in it to unlock it. The holding ribbon untied itself, followed by the entire scroll unrolling itself, suspended in the mid-air. Yuan read the scroll that contained the heaven realm’s terms and agreements, and ran through it twice. It’d be a bad thing to be scammed, as official as the scroll was. He knows because he was the one who did the scamming many times before, especially that time when he was Jun Wu.

Yuan threw the scroll back to the pillar and it dissolved into light particles, along with the beam that had dimmed out and gradually disappeared.

“So, I’m a martial god now. Are you satisfied already, San?” 

《Congratulations for becoming a Xiang Shan. Your rewards are 10,000 points plus an upgrade to one stage of cultivation.》

“…” 

《You’re now a Tian Xian! Three more stages and you can now dethrone the current Heavenly Emperor.》

“…You’re the biggest scam of them all, San. I don’t want to be the Heavenly Emperor! Do you know how many headaches I had to go through for thousands of years when I was Jun Wu because most martial gods are imbeciles?!” 

《Of course I do, I was the one who gave you the role.》 

“Oh my god.” Yuan mouthed several more times in disbelief, bending his knees and burying his head on his folded arms, “Please don’t tell me that you won’t stop until I’m the Heavenly Emperor.” 

《I won’t tell you that I’ll stop until A-Yuan is the Heavenly—》 

“Stop patronizing me!”

Ahem, well there was that. Back to track.

Yuan found his way back to the inn without using the entrance much hassle-free this time. He’d set up a teleportation array in his room before he left, and he threatened the front desk lady when he checked-in that no one was to bother him should they still wish to keep their puny lives. He locked the room beforehand with his qi and placed several concealment layer on the inn itself and his room, so that cultivators, or anyone with spiritual energy would be compelled not to enter the building at all.

He was transported to his room without incident and he immediately changed from the rough civilian’s clothing that he had been wearing to his high-quality silk robes of Qing Jing. The rucksack was shoved in his system inventory and he disabled the array and retrieved the talismans that had previously littered the room. He left the room and made his way outside, checking out and sending an approving nod to the front desk lady. The lady flushed from the attention, eyes as bright as stars.

Yuan went back to Qing Jing and barked at his disciples who he saw loitering around the peak, doing nothing. Probably because Yuan was a fortnight early than scheduled so they thought they could dilly-dally. Yuan snorted at this and went back to his bamboo house in a fairly good mood. All in all, his efforts were not in vain.

“You, beast. I want you to participate.” Yuan intoned in a disdainful manner and gestured at Luo Binghe, who stood too close to Ning Yingying than what was a comfortable distance away. Ning Yingying’s face bloomed in sheer joy and Ming Fan, who was glaring at Luo Binghe previously had been shocked still. Luo Binghe had frozen, looking at him with wide eyes, before he seemingly remembered himself and bowed respectfully, “This disciple will not disappoint Shizun!” 

Yuan breathed harshly in the recesses of his mind. The major plot point that will decide all is now looming beyond their heads, ready to come down on them without mercy.

If Yuan accidentally loses his body, he’d immediately enter the heavenly realm without preamble, and if Luo Binghe comes to know that he wasn’t able to destroy Shen Qingqiu completely, then there’d be a war between the heavenly realm and demon realm because Luo Binghe will definitely overreach. Martial gods’ disdain to anything demonic is honestly unwarranted—they’re the one who’re actively brewing the war, hence, Shen Qingqiu’s tribulation. They’d go to war “for” Shen Qingqiu, even though they really don’t know Shen Qingqiu that well. 

… Unless Shen Qingqiu dethrones the Heavenly Emperor, which just, no. Not going there, nope.

Yuan bit off the urge to groan at his life choices. Anyhow, the moment he decided to listen to San and proceed with his ascension, he was bound to change the plot, and in a major way at that. Defying death is under the subverting fate category of penalty, a major plot deviation that was very costly. Well, he wasn’t the one who started it, because Liu Qingge sure got the head-start. 

… Yuan also has this niggling feeling that Sha Hualing won’t be one of Luo Binghe’s wives this time.

He’d be very proud for PIWD’s Main System if it continues to exist after all these major plot deviations that Yuan could foresee.

For the second time, Yuan was left absolutely speechless. The Jue di Gorge event had gone without a hitch. Luo Binghe participated and Yuan awaited for the Abyss to open up, but when it did, it wasn’t the lowly nameless monster he expected that would come out to battle Binghe. No, it was Mobei-Jun. THE Mobei-Jun.

Then Shang Qinghua had started cussing right there and then beside him. In English. Which is another what the fuck moment to replay in his head because he did not know that Shang Qinghua was apparently another actor. Mobei-Jun’s appearance was a major plot deviation. Who the hell was going to pay for this? Is it Shang Qinghua’s fault? 

But even then, Yuan really tried to stick to his script even if it meant facing Luo Binghe AND Mobei-Jun. As much as Yuan didn’t really want to push Luo Binghe in the abyss, he can see the necessity of it. Luo Binghe needs to be blackened, as well as need his OP sword so he could start his counterattack and build his territory and harem and eventually conquer the world. 

So he arrived in the scene and both of them were already in the midst of an intense battle. Admittedly a bit one-sided considering that Mobei-Jun was definitely holding back or else little unexperienced Luo Binghe would be deader than dead right now.

Without forgetting to holding back himself, he entered the fray, and so goes the three-way battle. Mostly it was him and Luo Binghe tag-teaming Mobei-Jun, but Yuan was looking for the opportunity to just, shove down Luo Binghe in the abyss. Maybe he could make it look like an accident? 

But no, Luo Binghe unleashed his Heavenly Demon heritage and Yuan saw the glint of interest in Mobei-Jun’s eyes. Wait, maybe Mobei-Jun would kidnap him directly to the demon realm? Hoo boi. Yuan outwardly sneered in disgust at Luo Binghe at “realizing” that his beast of a disciple was a demon scum.

Then. THEN, Ning Yingying, of all people, arrived when his palm connected with Luo Binghe’s shoulder to push him back to the abyss. Yuan was too surprised and accidentally pushed a bit more than intended, making Luo Binghe fly a bit, rather than just fall. Well, shit, he can’t disguise that as an accident.

Ning Yingying looked at him in betrayal, with tears in her eyes before spitting at him, “I thought you’d change, but it seems like I was proven wrong!” 

And she dived to the abyss too. 

… What. The. Fuck.

What the absolute fuck was that. Ning Yingying went to the abyss with Luo Binghe?! Is she an actor too? What the hell are all these actors doing? The plot will be so disfigured by the end of this novel! Everybody is committing a major plot deviation! 

He can feel Mobei-Jun boring a hole through his back mixed with killing intent but Yuan pretended not to notice. A shift in space and Mobei-Jun was gone, presumably back to his castle.

“San, what the fuck?” 

《 Ning Yingying’s actor and her system has been penalized accordingly, as well as Shang Qinghua and  Mobei-Jun’s actors, and their respective systems.》

“They’re all actors?! Just how many actors are playing in this novel?! Is that even possible?”

《As what A-Yuan had just seen, it is indeed possible.》

“Oh my god. And they clearly have points to spend too! They know that this is a major turning point and is important for the overall outcome of the novel!” 

《… Indeed. Congratulations for completing a major event, your reward for this mission is 100,000 points, plus an upgrade of one stage of cultivation. Congratulations for becoming a Xian Wang! Please expect a letter of summons from the Heavenly Emperor soon.》 

“…So I really have to ascend, don’t I?” Yuan asked tiredly, running a hand through his hair. He thought he was going to do all fine without any trips to the upper realm but color him surprised. It was mandatory, of course it was. 

《 For a small amount of time, yes. Your fellow martial gods are curious as to who the new martial god is who have climbed three whole stages in less than 3 months.》

“I’m not even spending time and effort to cultivate!” Yuan defended because he really didn’t do anything. He’s also aware that the martial gods were now feeling threatened by the new force, even though they were all in the same side. Cowards, the lot of them.

《You shouldn’t worry about technicalities.》 

“Argh. You know what? What I’m going to do is report to Cang Qiong that I have lost two talented disciples and drink myself to oblivion, sleep, then hope that tomorrow there won’t be another stupid actor who’d cause a major deviation.” 

《Good luck, A-Yuan.》

“Oh my god, don’t sound so ominous!” 

Yuan stood confidently, silk lime robes decorated intrinsically with white bamboo patterns that started from the hem and looped upwards, as well as ample trinkets to go with the design and a simple golden hairpin that pinned half of his hair were his motif, Xiu Ya securely fastened beside his hip, and on his other hip were two iron fans. Yuan aimed for simplicity and efficiency, and the other martial gods had scoffed at him when they saw him because they thought he wasn’t garish enough.

Truly, being a martial god nowadays was a battle in superficiality rather than true skill.

It might be OOC but the Main System doesn’t have eyes in the heavenly realm because the heavenly realm wasn’t even mentioned in the passages of PIWD, and Yuan felt free enough to act like what he chose to portray. So he smiled, so very kindly. A Shen Qingqiu that has a benevolent countenance—canon Luo Binghe would have spat blood if he sees Yuan right now.

The other martial gods were of course, disarmed by the smile. They whispered as they stood by the sidelines, while Yuan was awaiting for the arrival of the Heavenly Emperor. 

The Heavenly Emperor appeared without flair. He just, appeared, from thin air. Yuan blinked and knelt down respectfully to greet the highest being in the Heavenly realm. 

“Raise your head and rise.”

Yuan did as instructed and finally got a glimpse of the Heavenly Emperor. He had the appearance of an old man with white long beard. He was wide and tall, with steely eyes that can cut through mountains just by looking at it. No one had to tell Yuan that this man was an absolute authority, he could see it from the way this old man stood. Secretly, Yuan felt exhilarated. He hasn’t felt anything like this for so long.

“State your name.”

“This one is called Shen Qingqiu, born as Shen Jiu, your excellency.” Yuan looked at him directly in the eyes without flinching. Cowing away from the gaze would mean that he would fail the man’s expectation of him. The Heavenly realm was a realm for the strong, everyone who managed to rise there were certainly far from weak. Even the weakest would be exalted by mortals and cultivators who hadn’t ascended yet.

“You must be aware of your own rapid progress, yes? Six stages of cultivation within the span of two years, and many decades before that spent in a single stage. This is indeed strange.”

Well, shit. This old man does not beat around the bush. The martial gods who stood witness to the summons were gaping at him now, disbelief marring their faces. Because it was an unbelievable feat, even Yuan had to admit that. Who wouldn’t be suspicious when you were barely talented in cultivation before and suddenly you were plowing through the ranks? 

“This one is… in a hurry.” 

Fuckk!! San!! Abort mission, abort!! 

The noises around them from the other gods increased in volume. The Heavenly Emperor raised a hand, and the voices died down. He stood up from his throne, gaze never letting up and the pressure doubling, “You are holding your tongue.”

There were no outward changes in Yuan’s expression, but inwardly, he was panicking.

《A-Yuan, I have prepared backstories for this, relax. Now you have to choose…》

Yuan opened his mouth, “This one has previously hesitated, whether to continue with cultivating or not. Therefore this one have stayed far too long in one stage and have hit bottlenecks upon bottlenecks, and even stagnated for a few painful years. In the recent years, this one have finally opened this one’s eyes and have rectified the mistakes that should have long been fixed. This one has not hit a bottleneck since and the cultivation goes on smoothly and strongly.” 

It was the most simple one. It did not have a sob background story nor its opposite. Instead, it just tells the story of a man who was talented, had trouble with decisiveness, and finally found the resolve within himself. It was a bit ridiculous but it was most likely the one that will be perceived ass the truth compared to the other excuses.

“And you are in a hurry?” The Emperor asked and Yuan had to beat himself up with his slip up. 

“This one’s disciple, well, former disciple now, has revealed himself to be a scion of a Heavenly Demon.” Gasps all around broke from the hall and the Emperor had to raise his hand again and gestured for him to continue, “This one wishes to be given full-responsibility in regards to any matter involving this one’s disciple, as the representative of the heavenly realm.” 

“That is a bold demand.” 

Yuan pulled off his determined face, “This lowly one will accept any punishment for making this demand, but this one is steadfast with his wish. This one does not desire any position and territories to rule, but only the full-responsibility of this one’s former disciple. This one wishes to oversee his disciple’s choices, and should he become a great threat, then this one will be the one to deal with him as well.” 

The Emperor raises a brow, stroking his lengthy beard hair, “And your reasons for not killing him the very instant you knew that he carries the accursed demon blood?” 

Yuan inwardly turned grim. This is when he plays with fire, “He is a scion of both a Heavenly Demon and a human. He is more human than demon, this one can guarantee you that.” 

“What makes you certain that your judgement has not been clouded? By your words, if they were to be believed, you have stated that you have struggled immensely with indecisiveness.” 

“This one is merely giving him the benefit of the doubt. This one have raised him, it is also this one’s right to end him should he prove to be an abomination. This one has proven to you in the tribulation that this one will do the right thing if this one must, this is true, especially in the matters of this one’s former disciple.” 

The Emperor was silent before he swept a look across the many martial gods that stood and gestured to them, “All of you, leave us.” 

The gods looked like they wanted to protest, but the glare that was sent their way had them running tails between their legs. Once they were left alone, the Emperor walked down from the few stairs that elevated the throne, standing half a hundred meters away from Yuan.

San, this is going to get real isn’t it. What if he decides to behead me right here and now?

《… Then I’ll gift you the last two stages of cultivation and you will dethrone him through a bloody battle.》

San’s voice had an insane and dark tinge to it and Yuan was almost about to roll his eyes in exasperation but just readied himself if the situation got out of hand instead.

“Tell me, what are your opinions about demons?” 

Yuan inhaled carefully and tried to calm his nerves, “No one is born evil, not even demons. Some are made because of unfortunate circumstances that could be avoided.” 

“Hoh? And what if that child grows up to be something that not even you can stop? The lives of the people that that child will take will be on your hands.”

“It is why I am hurrying.” 

The old Emperor smiled eerily, like a predator finally meeting another predator in a savanna filled with preys for a long long time, “And I ask again, what are you hurrying for?” 

San.

《Affirmative.》

“To become stronger than anybody so that no one could interfere with that child’s fate. Not even that child himself, nor you.”

The husk of the former Heavenly Emperor laughed gleefully as it was nearing the last vestiges of its immortal life, strong eyes never leaving Yuan’s victorious form that stood over his own lying prone body. After Yuan’s traitorous claim, it had quickly escalated, and the old man seemed to have found great enjoyment in the following impromptu battle to death and throne.

The old man was the oldest Xian Di that have served the heavens and also rather tired and is in need of retirement. Yuan could practically feel the desire (for retirement) as they crossed swords, which later turned into fists. The desperation to just leave these fools to fend for themselves was a damning thing, but then you remember that as the Emperor, you were shackled to your duties and can’t really retire unless you had a successor.

Which, ugh. He totally got baited didn’t he?

The throne room had collapsed rather easily and they moved onto the skies of the heavenly realm as the gods watched the ensuing battle in a mixture of horror and awe. They were all betting that the old man would win, but sucks to be them and their assumptions. Sucks to be Yuan too, for winning.

Yuan won the battle, but he lost the war.

“What is with that defeated look? How peculiar.” The former Emperor asked. For someone who lost, he looks extremely happy. This was what it must be like for two people to understand what it means to be the Heavenly Emperor because they’ve both experienced it.

“I was hoping you’d win. I have paperwork as a peak lord, and now a hefty additional as the Heavenly Emperor. Any chances that you, well, wouldn’t die and just forget this happened?” Yuan decided to throw away his hope on the wind and the old man only cackled when he heard his answer.

“No, I’ve finally found someone befitting the throne. Kids nowadays are too quick to judge without seeing the big picture. The moment I saw you, I knew there was something more that you were hiding. I was not disappointed.” 

“Who even expects someone who you just saw today dethroning you within the same day?” Yuan mutters under his breath, sitting sullenly on a debris from a column that had collapsed. His upper half had been torn from the battle and the right part of his hair was now shoulder length. He’d have to even that or suffer being the unique peak lord with the weird hairstyle.

“I had a prophetic dream a year ago that a successor worthy to become a Heavenly Emperor would finally arise. I have been awaiting this day for the entire year. The moment I saw you, I knew it was going to be you.” The old man sighed happily as he went ahead and placed both hands in his chest for a good burial pose. Yuan’s eye twitched repeatedly in annoyance.

“Wait, prophetic dream? That dream wouldn’t happen to be just a disembodied voice speaking to you, right?” Yuan has a bad gut feeling about this.

The old man blinked slowly at him, finally losing most of his motor function, “Indeed it is. It seems like… you have already been informed beforehand of your future. Very good, I shall leave everything in your hands now.”

“What?! Wait—” 

….

“Our conversation didn’t even reach twenty exchanges! God, old man, be more responsible!” Yuan screamed at the corpse and at the joyfully wiggling soul of the deceased Heavenly Emperor that rose from the corpse. He glared at the soul as it climbed up the ethers and finally disappeared, maybe to be reborn or truly pass on.

“So, we have something to talk about now, San.”

《…》

“A prophetic dream, really?! It’s like you scammed that old man by letting him hope that a good Emperor would lead this rot for thousands of years again!”

《 I’m sure the other gods will be ecstatic in managing heaven while you’re gone.》

“We’re so far off the script and canon now, it’s not even funny.” Yuan dropped down to sit on the ground before he noticed a glinting band on the old man’s index finger. Yuan slid off the ring and when he held it up to the sun, he realized that it was the ring that signifies the Heavenly Emperor’s position.

《You have obtained +1 Ring of the Heavenly Emperor. Congratulations in becoming the new Heavenly Emperor of the Heavenly Realm! You have now been gifted the Authority of the Highest God, and 50,000 points for your trouble.》

Yuan controlled his breathing and tried to calm himself. When he felt that he could now talk to people without outright murdering them, he snatched off the old man’s hanfu and draped it across his shoulder, considering that he’s naked on the top. He carried the old man’s corpse in his arms and flagged down the first martial god he saw-- who had been terribly shaken at the sudden change of power—and asked him where Yuan should lay the old man’s body before they place it in a more appropriate casket and do a ceremonial burial.

The martial god had been indignant at first, but when he saw the happy dying face of his former Emperor, he teared up and caved in, leading Yuan to the old man’s quarters. There were now more martial gods who had followed him, and Yuan laid the body down carefully and respectfully. 

Yuan turned to them and all of them took a step back, as if preparing for an attack, but Yuan stood still, nodding to them in acknowledgement, “Gather all the highest-ranking gods. We are due a meeting that will involve the entirety of the heavenly realm.”

Yuan came back to Qing Jing drained, officially crowned as the new Heavenly Emperor with a new council of high gods, a.k.a his replacements who San had ran background checks on and determined if they were decent people or the complete opposite. The process was long and painful, and Yuan had politely smiled all through out the entire thing, occasionally the smile would darken which would earn him a flinch or two.

Yuan fixed what he could, found some trustworthy martial gods and strong martial gods, “educated” and “trained” them some, which resulted in him being respected now by the entire realm in the span of a short week. Yuan was used to this, he had to be manipulative for most of his roles, bending these gaggle of children was a piece of cake.

And then he remembered to return home to Cang Qiong. He’d been gone for nine days now, since he also had to attend the funeral that he himself had arranged. There was so much to fix and too little time. By the ninth day, he excused himself and went back to his bamboo house and found Yue Qingyuan, of all people, inside.

“Why are you here? When have I ever allowed you to go inside as you please when I’m out?” Yuan asked coldly. He would’ve opted for a sharp tongue-lashing, but he was tired from delegating and working for literally nine days straight. He hadn’t even gotten a proper rest even once after the battle, which had considerably drained his qi resource.

Yue Qingyuan stood up, worry etched as clear as day but there was wonder in his eyes, “Where were you?  You haven’t informed anyone that you left and all of them are in a state of panic. And your hair… Shidi, I—” 

“Why do I have to tell anyone where I’ll go? I’m not a child anymore.” He emphasized the child part, which successfully made Yue Qingyuan stumble a bit, “Go back to your peak, this social call is unnecessary.” 

Yuan walked pass him, making sure that their shoulders didn’t brush. Yue Qingyuan’ shoulders hunched as he headed to the door. He seemed to gather himself and apparently gathered enough courage, because he turned around to face Yuan.

“Qingqiu-shidi, your hairstyle fits you.” Yue Qingyuan immediately left after unloading that compliment, and Yuan was left to look at the now shut door.

Yuan snorted at the lie, “Always trying to make me feel better, Qi-ge. That’s so like you.” 

Yuan still found himself grateful, nonetheless.

Chapter Text

Three years after the Abyss and Yuan was ready to collapse in on himself. After his first disappearing act, Yue Qingyuan had apparently informed the rest of the nosy people of his peak and the sect that Yuan was doing dandy and not to bother him. It seemed like he misunderstood Yuan’s tired look for grieving and being hunted, and Yuan wasn’t about to tell him that it was just because he was overworked. The assumption had worked to his advantage anyway, since most of the time he gets left alone in lieu of giving him “personal space”.

Now, after three years, Yuan was ready to keel over. The frequency of his disappearing stunts came in bursts and he’d only disappear for less than a week. While he was in the peak, he’d now teach his disciples instead of pretending they don’t exist, and when he was on the heavenly realm, he’d deal with paperwork that needed him to be the one who signed it specifically, as well as major matters that needed a proper council meeting to be resolved.

He had also generally just adopted his persona as Jun Wu from the Heaven Official’s Blessing again, because it was easier and effective than sticking to his character as Shen Qingqiu. He can’t even imagine being Shen Qingqiu when he worked in the heavenly realm, because it would be taxing not only for the martial gods around Yuan, but for Yuan himself too.

So to say, Yuan, as Shen Qingqiu, had been very active in the past three years compared to the last decades before that three years in his life. He thought that he would finally have a break in this world because when he initially read through his script, there wasn’t really any action scenes that he couldn’t do, and the peak lord’s workload was a bit on the kinder side compared to all the workload that Yuan had to do in his previous roles. The only thing that could really stress out Yuan in PIDW was his abuse of Luo Binghe. Being a human stick isn’t even in the level of causing Yuan distress considering that San would probably drug him with numb pills to the gills so that he won’t feel any single thing.

Yuan rubbed at his eyes, willing his eyesight not to double because the documents in front of him actually held significance over the welfare of the heavenly realm. He had been pouring over these thing for a whole day now, and it never seemed to end. The ones he finished were easily replaced by new, more problematic ones and Yuan was so very close to just up and shoot his appointed secretary who was too responsible for his own good.

Gods that dealt with logistics were monsters, how can they be capable of such amazing feats? How can all the bones of their body and blood that flowed through them held such responsible qualities? They should try being the Heavenly Emperor, maybe they’d lead the entire realm into prosperity for hundreds of millennia. 

Yuan put down the scroll in his hands on his desk and stood up from his extravagant, overly cushioned chair. His secretary raised his head from stacking up more documents for Yuan to finish, “Your Majesty?” 

Yuan smiled readily at his hardworking secretary who must have time as his power because there was only 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week and 672 hours in a month but the guy still managed to handle thousands of documents without looking like he hurried or skipped through them whatsoever. Maybe he did skip some, maybe he was just talented, and maybe Yuan should ask this guy to be the new heavenly emperor instead. At this point, Yuan was also semi-desperate to the point where he’s this close to probably taking his role as Jun Wu again and abandon ship the Shen Qingqiu role, and just shape someone as his successor by manipulating their life events and turning it to tragedy like what he did to Xie Lian.

The secretary paused, reluctance and maybe a little fear(?) flashed in his eyes before it was dumbed down by agreeable politeness, “Er, what can this one do for his majesty?” 

“What did you say your name was again? And what are you a god of?” Yuan asked casually, heading over to his secretary’s desk. The secretary turned stiff as a board, momentarily stopping from grouping together the scrolls from least important to absolutely very important, before resuming his job once more. Yuan wanted to applaud him for his bravery. If Yuan was the secretary, and the newly appointed heavenly emperor who become one through a barbaric session of dethroning, Yuan would be running for the hills.

“Th-This one is called Zuangli, your majesty; a mere minor god of water.” The secretary panicked, stuttered, and demurred in the span of three seconds, and Yuan found himself fascinated at the secretary’s clear show of self-discipline over self-preservation.

“A god of water! What territory?” Yuan continued to press, slightly invigorated at Zuangli’s uncomfortable, wiggling self that had shrunk into himself to avoid anymore movements, like throwing himself on the window next to him or melting into the ground to avoid confrontation. Now that Yuan thought back, this Zuangli had been his secretary for three years, and yet this was the first time they had any proper conversation that didn’t contain, “Yes, your majesty”, “No, your majesty.”, “Would you like to sign these documents now, your majesty?” and “When will you be back in heaven so I can inform the other officials, your majesty?”.

… Admittedly, half of those were kind of questioning his competence, but Yuan wasn’t a tyrant who beheaded his subordinates because they were rude, however subtle they may be.

“The,” Zuangli cleared his throat when he noticed that his voice had gotten the squeakier quality, “The North, your majesty.” 

“The entire North?” Yuan asked for clarification while looking Zuangli in the eyes. As far as the intimidation technique, the Lie To Me And I Shall Know version, goes, it had never failed Yuan. Ever.

Zuangli doesn’t shift his eyes, he doesn’t shift anything actually, not even his lungs for breathing, “The Upper North only.” 

“So your territory is nearby the border of the Northern Demon Kingdom or in it?” There was an unholy glint in Yuan’s eyes that most people who have witnessed it come to fear and have repetitive nightmares of, because it usually entailed pain much worse than death afterwards.

“This one has temples in the border too, yes,” Zuangli answered him truthfully, muscles bunching. Yuan could see his anxiety coming out of his person in literal waves. As in, Zuangli was starting to emit water out of thin air and make it flow in the air, sprinkling some on the documents and soaking it. Yuan avoided an errant water wave that would have splashed him across the face, and Zuangli had finally realized what he was subconsciously doing.

“A-Apologies, your majesty! I did not mean to do that! Sorry!” Zuangli shrieked, floundering and finally getting up his chair, ducking down and looking for something in his drawers. A moment later, a cloth was in Zuangli’s hand as he was now wiping at his table and the partially soaked documents.

Yuan didn’t drop his smile. It was as if his smile was a permanent installation that his face had the moment he was born. Maybe that was also what made him intimidating? 

“It’s quite alright, I was merely curious.” Yuan hummed as he watched Zuangli jerkily wipe away at a dry spot, “Say, A-Li—may I call you that?—How far are you in cultivation? How are your sword skills or archery? How many years have you been a,” Yuan waved a hand vaguely,” personal secretary to the Heavenly Emperor?” 

“Um. Um, I’m, ah, This one is barely a Shang Xian. This one’s sword skills are passable and this one cannot shoot an arrow without shooting myself first. This one has been the Imperial secretary for half a century now.” 

Well, San?

《 … There are no lies in his statements.》

Yuan hummed again in response, “So, A-li, how many years have you been Mobei-Jun’s lackey?”

Zuangli’s eyes widened, and he paled.

Zuangli, the Imperial secretary of the Palace of the Heavenly Emperor, who was born as Shang Zuangli, and was also the Cang Qiong sect’s An Ding peak lord, Shang Qinghua, had no idea how the hell everything went so wrong up to this point. 

Zuangli is an actor, bound to a canon fodder System which was a bit dumb, forgetful, generally useless, but well-meaning. This was also his first transmigration, and he was given extra points because he was the author. He didn’t know well about the rules of transmigration but he was still happy to see his creation coming to life before his very eyes, even though he was just the canon fodder and double timing traitor Shang Qinghua. 

But Zuangli was a persistent and smart cockroach; he made his system spill the beans about the possible loopholes in his world. He knew by heart the flow of passages of the plot, and knows how to avoid it like a pro, and act as Shang Qinghua perfectly to the letter when required to avoid penalties.

He didn’t waste time. He trained his cultivation the moment he could walk, scavenged and hunted down for cultivation advancement ingredients and was a master alchemist at age 14. He wasn’t planning to die by the hands of Mobei-Jun, no; he was going to live a full life! A full life of living lavishly, respected by everybody—he was going to change his fate as a canon fodder to a main character or a major supporting role to Luo Binghe, like being Luo Binghe’s shishu he owed to.

Well, big dreams.

All his efforts were paid and a century later, he was on the heavenly realm’s doorstep, about to accept the heavenly tribulation. He was excited! He was going to be a martial god while his disciple brothers were just peak lords in the Nascent soul stage! He was going to be more OP than Yue Qingyuan himself! He won’t be a pushover. What if he was going to become stronger than Luo Binghe? 

His heavenly tribulation consisted of apprehending a certain high-level demon, only known to many as the Crimson Saint. The Crimson Saint was an anomaly that you should never ever meet. The demon’s gender was unclear, maybe it didn’t have one, and its most tell-tale characteristics was the blood red hood cloak that obscured its form and an eerie luminescent lush green jewel, hanging by its neck.

The Crimson Saint got its title by doing multiple acts that did not crop up to a usual demon’s manner—that is saving innocent demons and utterly destroying the unruly bloodthirsty ones. The Western Empire had fallen after the Crimson Saint had laid its hand upon it and 23 martial gods, who have challenged the Crimson Saint were all defeated easily, with 18 of them losing their status as gods and the remaining 5 spared. How that came to be, nobody could really answer with certainty. But there was a speculation that Zuangli was heavily partial to be the truth, and that was out of those 23 martial gods, only the 5 were decent and didn’t have much blood and suffering built to fortify their reputation and standing.

It was jarring; a demon, fancying itself to be a warrior of justice. It was unnatural, and the world wasn’t kind to the existence it found as unnatural. The Crimson Saint was rebuked, opinion about them in tatters from both martial gods and demons alike. You would think that martial gods would be pleased to have their jobs done by someone else and they didn’t have to do it themselves, but no; a lot of martial gods are corrupt and found themselves at disadvantage when the Crimson Saint had removed a chunk of demons in their disposal. They were supposed to be the side of the righteous and yet, they abused their power further for their own agenda.

The moment Zuangli finished his research, he was stumped and utterly reluctant. It was clear to him that this Crimson Saint was a good guy! They probably only wanted some peace in the demon realm and must have a good sob background that pans out the reason why they were doing what they were doing.

“There’s really no alternative tribulation? Like you know, there’s always Plan A to Plan Z? There’s no Heavenly Tribulation B?” 

《 I’m sorry, Zuangli-Xiansheng!! ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ I’ve tried every method I could to find out but there’s only really one Tribulation! Please believe me!! Please don’t distrust this system! I--》

“Okay, okay, I get it! Sheesh, don’t cry!” Zuangli scratched at the back of his head after cutting out his own system and paced, before sighing and finally giving in to a bad decision that he thought up in his head.

“Fine, I’m going to do the tribulation. I’m sorry to whoever this Crimson Saint is, but I really need to ascend.”

Zuangli was going to survive, and no one was stopping him.

Or that was what he thought.

He stood at the devastation of a once bustling demon town. The demon town was non-descriptive, and just another vile demon town that sold slaves that were sexually and physically abused, some cannibalized each other on the street at broad daylight, even! The nerve of these demons.

Zuangli was going to confront the Crimson Saint here, having received a well-trusted intel about the Crimson Saint passing by. “Passing by” was a relative term. Destruction and obliteration would be a more accurate one. For all the divinity that Zuangli has, it was tamped down by an overwhelmingly violent demonic qi from a single source. Zuangli thought that the Crimson Saint would be stern on the outside and soft on the inside, like his favorite Kuudere types, but no, this Crimson Saint just wanted death, and death, they will get. 

White streaks of branches coated by illuminated red demonic qi travelled the skies, ground and underground of the town rapidly, over and over. Anything it hit was incinerated to death in agonizing pain. It was terrifying, especially when Zuangli had to counter it with his own defensive qi, and watch his shield slowly being shattered. It only meant that the Crimson Saint was absurdly powerful. Even one branch would have been a lethal attack and there were thousands of branches spreading, moving, seeking anything that lives that it hadn’t killed yet. 

Zuangli managed to defend himself from the branches, and a few other demons were still alive in Zuangli’s peripheral view and sensors. He could sense that the surviving demons already had a developed demonic core inside them, so they must be in the stage equivalent to core formation in demonic way.

Then the branches suddenly sprouted crimson leaves and Zuangli realized that he should be getting the fuck out of here ASAP, he couldn’t beat this foe even with investing a few items in the system online shop. The leaves were much MUCH worse than the branches could ever be, and that’s because everything that the leaves came in contact to disappeared. Appropriately, they burned first, but only in a second, before they became nonexistent. 

Zuangli gripped his sword and fortified his defenses, pouring a good three fourth of his entire qi in his shield. He tried to measure his breathing, as more of those tough demons that managed to survive the first phase of the attack were ultimately killed without even a shriek of pain. 

The attack was cruel because it made you hope that you would survive but in the end, it would consume you still. First, it would make you bear witness to its destruction and succumb to fear. 

Zuangli shuddered. This was no Saint or anomaly, this was just a demon in its most truest form. If Zuangli had been given the chance to give this Crimson Saint a nickname, it would be “Jukai”, or “Sea of Trees”-- a Japanese term used to refer to their very own infamous suicide forest, Aokihagara forest. It was used a lot in anime culture as a place, thing or person that garnered fear, and this was true in real life as well. A miserable place associated with death-- that was Aokigahara forest, the Sea of Trees that would make you lost due to its thick foliage and no pathways to follow.

Zuangli also didn’t remember writing such a demon in the entirety of PIWD.

If he wrote such an OP character, then the Sea of Trees would be Luo Binghe’s most loyal subordinate if they were male, and wife or a harem member if they were female. Maybe he thought it up subconsciously? He had found out after living for a good decade in this world that everything was a product of his mind, written or simply though out. Prime example was that the heavenly realm was a part of his draft that never got published for reasons that mainly revolves around copyright, the demonic realm that wasn’t just the Northern Demon Kingdom was something he had thought up and hadn’t written down, except obviously for Mobei-Jun’s Kingdom. There were monsters and plants that he remembered not writing because too OP or unreasonable, but existed here.

Zuangli pulled out from his thoughts when everything he could see was filled with white branches and red leaves, silence permeating the air. The branches were thick and firm and the only movement that was made were by the falling red leaves that killed even the soil when it made contact. There was no light from outside sources, just the illuminated branches and leaves, and his glowing qi shield.

Then there was a bell-like laughter and the sound of a bell chiming that followed.

Zuangli’s eyes widened because he knew very well who that kind of entrance belonged to. His expectation was proven correct when the branches formed a pathway, light from the outside finally streaming in. Zuangli had to squint his eyes at first, but a figure was closing in along with rhythmic chiming bells, presumably from every steps taken.

The first thing that Zuangli noticed amongst the sea of red was green—luminescent and eerie, as all the reports have stated. Then the fact that it was from a jewel, hanging on a lady’s neck. The lady was like a dark elf, with voluptuous body, red sharp eyes and red lips. He’d written this lady many times before, since she was a fan favorite, even amongst the hundreds of wives, and one of the very firsts.

He could also understand now where the “Crimson Saint” had come from. Every martial god thought it was just a nickname but no, it was apparently a title.

“Oh my, to think that a little pest could hold its own. How intriguing.” The Sea of Trees finally closed in, revealing itself to be the Demon Saint,  Sha Hualing. Sha Hualing was wearing a nonchalant smile, as if all the lives she took didn’t amount to anything. Zuangli didn’t remember Sha Hualing to be secretly this OP, but everything fits-- from her hair, to her clothes, to her porcelain skin. Except the ridiculous power and the green crystal necklace.

Zuangli kept quiet, but inside he was panicking and asking his system what the fuck was going on.

《I don’t know!!! I swear I don’t know! It says here that she’s really the real Sha Hualing! ＼(º □ º l|l)/ Quick, Xiansheng, RUN!! You can’t beat her, her power levels are seriously crazy! Is she the main protagonist?! Maybe Luo Binghe has become a female protagonist and that’s her—》 

Oh my god, shut up for a bit and let me think! Running would be kinda impossible with all these qi branches!

《Xiansheng, xiansheng, XIANSHENG—》 

ARGH!! SHUT.UP.

《Right, Xiansheng, right!! Shutting up now! But how are you going to escape???! ..・ヾ(。＞＜)シ》

“My, you seem to look rather preoccupied.” Sha Hualing drawled, dangerous chuckle from her mouth seemingly like a physical attack to Zuangli’s system, “I suggest you desist from such distractions; you wouldn’t like it if you were suddenly killed beyond your notice, no?”

Zuangli sweated his stress now, swallowing visibly that his adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His distress seemed to have amused the Demon Saint, smile widening and tilting her head in an almost animalistic gesture, “Now that I noticed, it looks like you’re a part of the Cang Qiong lot.” She eye-smiled at him, “Like, from the An Ding peak, perhaps?” 

Zuangli tried not to tremble, he really did. But how did Sha Hualing, of all people, guess that he was from Cang Qiong sect, and specifically from An Ding?! He wasn’t wearing his uniform! It didn’t make any sense! He wasn’t even a famous cultivator or anything, he made it seem like he was the most ordinary and untalented cultivator you could come across with! His Shang Qinghua persona was built with effort, tears and frustration!

“You do not have to be so uptight!” Sha Hualing cooed at his inner panic, “How about you tell the gods that you may have failed in your objective in apprehending me, but you managed to get good and juicy information, hm?” 

Zuangli blinked and then Sha Hualing was standing in his personal space in an instant, bypassing his qi shield. Sha Hualing held up a hand as it caressed Zuangli’s cheek tenderly, almost mockingly.

“Tell them, little bird, about my identity, and that if they wish to still remain high up above with a stick lodged up their asses, that they should look behind them and start repenting.” She patted his cheek, “I’m sure you know who I am, don’t you, Xiao-hua?”

She knew his name! How?! But still, she was going to spare him! A bit of bravery coming back, he asked, “ How, how did you know?” Who I am, went unsaid.

“Very easily!” Sha Hualing chirped, “I’m your informant.”

What.

《WHAT?!!! Σ(°ロ°)> 》

“However would somebody know for certain where I would go? Such a naïve Xiao-hua!” She giggled at his expense before he felt nausea climbing up his throat, sight darkening as he lost conscious. The last thing that he saw was the green emerald crystal that made him remember a certain somebody’s eyes.

Zuangli had failed the tribulation but was accepted in heaven because of his information. Apparently after Sha Hualing had knocked him unconscious, she proceeded to burn the temples of a good one-sixteenth of the overall count of the martial gods in heaven. Which is A LOT, because martial gods were as numerous as the stars littering the sky. It was a massacre, and Sha Hualing was declared as a dangerous demon that has a higher threat than all Heavenly Demons combined. 

They also re-nicknamed her as Zuangli had referred to her as, The Red Sea of Trees. It was an indication of what her abilities could do, and never once in the heavenly realm did a demon nicknamed with a vegetation garnered so much fear. What Zuangli found out next was that the Western Kingdom that Sha Hualing destroyed was apparently rebuilt and had instated her as the Kingdom’s Lord—Yes, Lord, not Lady --, and formally called her as “Xiling-Jun” or Western Forest Lord, on top of being the Demon Saint. She also has a demonic army in her disposal, a completely new development. Zuangli was appalled by the OCCness. How did an NPC manage to achieve this?!

《She’s an actor, Xiansheng.》 

His system’s admittance was uncannily subdued, which only made the author cough harder because he had been drinking water when his system had revealed that unexpected information and had spat the water out like a dying fish.

“She’s an actor too?! What—”

《I think it’s for Xiansheng’s own good not to be involved with her. She and her system are from the highest upper room, and I fear that if Xiansheng would butt heads with her, she would crush you very easily. (╯︵╰,)》

“That’s...” Zuangli trailed, not knowing what to say. The moment he died in the real world, he was immediately transported here in the world of PIWD with his system’s cheerful voice welcoming him and explaining how the whole transmigration system worked. What the actors like him are, how there was a hierarchy, and that there exists these so called “Actor Break Rooms” that are more akin to realms more than rooms and that there are twelve of them. His system was in the eight room, a bit higher room considering that the system was just a canon fodder one, because usual canon fodder systems are found in the tenth to twelfth rooms. It was unfair because it was a typical surrounding that condoned with abuse of power, and that just didn’t sit right with Zuangli.

“Okay, fine, I’ll do my best to avoid her.” Zuangli acquiesced, a small resolve taking root in his heart. He may not be able to become what he wanted in this world he made, but as an actor, he swears that he’ll become good enough for him and his system to rise in the ranks.

《Thank you, Xiansheng. I didn’t want you to become like my previous host.( ／。＼)》

“What? What happened with your previous host?!” Zuangli leaned from being sat, intently listening to his system’s reply. He was actually very curious who his system’s previous hosts were and what happened to them, and how his system managed to pick him up instead.

《 ( ﾟ，_ゝ｀) They faced something much greater than they could handle, and in defeat, they decided to just pass on to reincarnate. I wanted my hosts to become happy and fulfilled as they choose to reincarnate because that was the case, but I’ve failed every time. They always turn to reincarnate with bitterness and darkness in their hearts. Maybe because I’m a system with an insignificant role designation and I could never let them become the main protagonist that most of them wanted to be.》

“System...” Zuangli fell quiet, sympathizing with his system. He’s read hundreds of transmigration stories and the systems in there were cold and a simple technological help, like counting the exp that the MC gathered, or asking if the MC wanted to accept a quest or not. At first, he thought that his system was defective. It was too cheerful, sometimes forgot important details, but Zuangli always felt that it tried its hardest to make Zuangli comfortable. At times, it was unbearable because it chattered too much and worried too much, and only now did Zuangli fully realized that the systems of transmigrations weren’t just mere pieces of AI and that people, including him, might have seen their value as only that and nothing else.

“Hey, what are you called, System?” 

《What do you mean, Xiansheng? Haven’t I told you before that I was Canon Fodder System 10489? (・・ ) ?》

“Yi, then.” Zuangli nodded to himself.

《Yi what, Xiansheng?》

“Your name, what I’m going to call you. Yi for “One”, because you reached out to me first and you’re the one and only system I’m going to have!” Zuangli reasoned, before his cheeks burned in embarrassment at the cheesiness of his proclamation.

《...》

“Ah, did—did you not like to be called Yi? Sorry—”

《NO! Yi is okay! Yi is very fine! I—I’m just overwhelmed. No one has nicknamed me before, I—Uwaahh 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。It’s been so long and the other system got nicknames from their hosts too but never me. I’m sorry! This is the first time, and I’m just so--》

“Yi... That’s okay, you can cry all you want this time.” Zuangli allowed, a kind heartbroken smile curving his lips, heart going out for his newest friend that have never left him and probably won’t even in the future.

《Thank you, Xiangsheng. I, just—thank you.》

“You’re welcome.”

It was a start of a beautiful friendship.

It was then that Zuangli seriously took up his role as a canon fodder. He had a mental timeline of what to do. He was going to follow the canon-- that is get attacked by Mobei-Jun, become his glorified slave after sucking up to him, betray him, and die by his hands. After that, he could receive his rewards along with his system, and he was going to follow every plot of every novel that he finds himself from now on, so that he could gather points, use it wisely, and make him and Yi rise in this unjust hierarchy. Now that he knew Yi, he wasn’t about to abandon it. He was the person who never gave up. PIWD for example—even when it was flamed and trashed, he never gave up updating it, bringing it to its finale before he finally died. Even though he was disheartened that there were much more bashers compared to fans, as long as there was at least one person out there who appreciated his work, he would never stop writing.

He was persistent; he knew how to give up, yes, but that’s only when there’s an available opportunity that could support his choices before much better. He was the type to work hard on what he wanted and even if the world told him no, he would get back up again and again.

Things calmed down after that. He was promoted as the peak lord of An Ding, according to canon, and at the same time a martial god. He was going to abandon his position as a martial god at first, but then the one who dissuaded him was Yi, who had found the opportunity wonderful for the benefit of his Xuansheng. Zuangli couldn’t say no to it. Refusing Yi was like kicking a child, it would make you physically recoil with guilt and self-disgust because Yi was a sunshine that should not be mistreated.

So, he juggled his job as the An Ding peak lord and as the newly appointed Imperial Secretary of the Heavenly Emperor himself. The Heavenly Emperor, or just old man in his brain and he suspects that the old man knew he was mentally calling him as “old man” too, was a good leader and heavenly emperor, albeit a bit too tired. The old man appointed him when he saw him one time dealing with multitude of documents and was amazed at his speed of dealing with it. Zuangli once wrote tens of thousands of words per chapter everyday with an everyday release, of course he was going to be very fast. It was a skill that he was proud of, honestly.

The old man was someone he designed when he was binge watching Bleach and was greatly inspired by Yamamoto Genryusai, who was a badass old man. He was stern and he joked at inappropriate times, and Zualing just.. grew on him. He was like a grandfather slash boss to him, and a two decades and a half of service, the old man was like a family to him.

Then, the canon had reared its head again and he had to serve Mobei-Jun. 

Honestly, it wasn’t something special. It happened exactly how he wrote it—he travelled with his disciples, got attacked by Mobei-Jun and become his spy. Except, not really.

He was hesitant at first and doubtful. He never really wrote in PIWD how they met except for a general summary, but what was on his mind was that he begged Mobei-Jun not to kill him, licked up his boots, praised him a lot, offer Mobei-Jun with information and tremble like a terrified rabbit while at it.

What actually happened was that Mobei-Jun attacked his caravan, killed his disciples (rude), took one look at him and said “Serve me if you don’t want to die.” Before throwing an ice crystal that serves as a  portal and then the guy, he just left. Just like that.

Zuangli was still in shock because he wasn’t expecting Mobei-Jun to attack him that particular day and was nowhere near prepared to act as canon, except Mobei-Jun never really gave him the chance to act? There was no sucking up that happened, just Mobei-Jun choosing a random person as a spy. Did Mobei-Jun even know he was a peak lord? Was that okay? Zuangli hadn’t even said a single sentence before that guy left!

And so, Zuangli’s responsibilities increased. He now served three and his workload in each could amount to 50% of the entire workload of those he served. Like in Cang Qiong, most paperwork usually went to An Ding and to him; in the Heavenly realm, he had to deal with his own paperwork while dealing with the Heavenly Emperor’s insignificant paperwork that really didn’t need him to be the one who signed it; then there was the Northern Demon Kingdom, who never dealt with their fucking paperwork and so Zuangli was saddled with every possible paperwork that existed in there because fuck demons they were dumb as rocks.

There was one time that he had screamed at Mobei-Jun one particular frustrating evening because he hadn’t slept for a week and haven’t had any rest and the look of shock that the cold Ice Demon King had was gratifying, but he was too stressed to enjoy it. Yi had panicked in his stead because Zuangli honestly had none of that and did not give fucks whatsoever. Amazingly, the demon lord did not punish him for his transgression and had seemed, pleased instead. Like what? 

After speed working through the demon kingdom’s documents and finally snapping out from his zone, there was a tea that was iced on the end table that was next to his desk but wasn’t there before. It was in a glass pot, with a porcelain cup next to it and a bowl of… sugar? 

Zuangli’s eyes had widened and he doused four spoonful of sugar in the pot, mixed it and poured it on the porcelain cup and lo and behold, it was the dearly missed iced tea from his previous life! He almost cried in joy at the familiar taste. Everything was bland in this world, it was like people had something against spices and condiments. Rejuvenated, Zuangli set off to work once more in better spirits.

That wasn’t just the first time. The second time was the most clear one and Zuangli was far from an idiot. Who wouldn’t be when the guy dumped off cream, sugar, cow’s milk and strawberries on his lap and told him to heat it on fire and “This Mobei shall freeze it”. 

Zuangli had looked at the ingredients, looked up at Mobei, then back down at the ingredients and did what the man wanted him to do—he simmered the ingredients over low fire, dumping the squared and bits of cut up strawberry last, returned its thick liquefied form to Mobei-Jun as Mobei-Jun froze it up and made strawberry ice cream.

Like seriously, it was like seeing a billboard advertisement. It was that clear.

... Both of them did enjoy the damn ice cream though. 

When the storyline officially started and Luo Binghe started to have his days of torment in Qing Jing, Zuangli was still busy enough tending to his life that was slowly falling apart with all the jobs he had to do, except now he had to be extra cautious lest he suddenly lose points from penalties that he did not see coming. He was only going to start becoming active anyway during the Immortal Alliance Conference which was going to be set in five years.

... Five years was short in your normal cultivator life, oh god.

Life still continued on. The protagonist sometimes got sent to his peak to run errands and he acted as remotely as possible from the protagonist because that’s what the original Shang Qinghua treated Luo Binghe as. He thanked his martial nephew for a job well done and they parted ways. That was that. None of that “sucking up to Binghe” while he was still young so the boy wouldn’t turn to kill him once he became an adult, because that would be OOC and even the minor OOC penalty was a good 5,000 points. Which was a lot. Major OOC penalty was a staggering 150,000 points and Zuangli and Yi can’t afford that. Well, they can but they will be poor and it would be a contradiction to Zuangli’s planned future for him and Yi, and that would suck.

So Zuangli tried his best to become the distant Shang-shishu that Luo Binghe sometimes forgot the name of. Zuangli still attended peak lord meetings, hard carried Yue Qingyuan’s irresponsible ass in regards to dealing with important paperwork, avoided Shen Qingqiu’s eyes because of trauma since it has the exact same shade as the crystal associated with a very dangerous individual, offered ingredients to Mu Qingfang and got saddled with more responsibilities by Qi Qingqi. It was all dandy, until the Abyss event came.

So, okay, Zuangli was supposed to send Nu Yuan Chan so that... it could gruesomely feast on the corpses of late teen disciples, and he gave the signal and opened the demon realm a tiny little bit for the river demon to slither in. What came in wasn’t the expected demon but Mobei-Jun himself, which what the fuck.

He was going to fucking kill Mobei! What was that idiot thinking?! He’s going to receive major OOC penalty! He was cussing in english and just ran out from the observatory while Yi was also screaming at his ear, something about being OOC himself and Shen Qingqiu heard? He didn’t care; all he could think was Mobei’s stupid stunt and how that would affect the plot. What if Luo Binghe chose not to let Mobei become his subordinate because of his stupid actions today?! He was going to get more penalty then and Mobei was going to fail the entire damn role! 

When he arrived at the Cliffside where Luo Binghe was going to be dramatically pushed out of, it wasn’t just Mobei, Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu in there. No, Ning fucking Yingying was also there. And she just jumped after Luo Binghe in the abyss! Wtf?! 

What the fuck, Yi! What the actual fuck! 

《She’s an actor too, Xiansheng! Please calm yourself-ah!!! (″ロ゛)/》

That was a major plot deviation! 150 points, gone just like that! And Mobei’s going to get it too!

《PIWD Main System just handed out the verdict, Xiansheng! You have a minor OOC penalty and will be penalized 5,000 points accordingly. Mobei-Jun and Ning Yingying, along with their systems, will receive the penalty for major plot deviation. (｡•́︿•̀｡) 》

What the hell were they both thinking?!

Zuangli waited for Mobei to teleport back to the castle and Zuangli himself followed half a beat later. What happened afterwards was much screaming, mostly on Zuangli’s part. 

“What were you thinking, appearing there?! We only needed Nu Yuan Chan and you had to—Now you’re--”

“Look outside.” Mobei cut him off, flopping on a chair ungracefully, unlike the usual stoic and cold King he is. He looks drained, and Zuangli would be too, if he just lost 150 points from one stupid action. Zuangli still had his mouth open and he shut it close with a snap, walking rigidly to the nearest window to look outside. What greeted him was the very same river demon that they were supposed to send, trussed up like a trophy on the castle grounds by white thick branches made of qi and red leaves.

Zuangli gaped at the sight. Unlike what he believed what those branches and leaves were capable of before, it didn’t incinerate the Nu Yuan Chan’s body, but had instead just been used to suspend the creature’s corpse for all to see. 

“It came with this.” Mobei interrupted his though process and handed him a piece of red paper, florally scented. The paper had contained only seven words: “What are you going to do now?”

Zuangli turned to Mobei in a whiplash, eyes demanding for answers. The immovable Ice Demon King’s face gained an annoyed quality that fitted his regal countenance,” There was no time.”

Zuangli could hear the unsaid words: There was no time to replace the Nu Yuan Chan with another same demonic species to send out to Jue di Gorge and if no demon appeared to take its place, you were the one who was going to get the major plot deviation penalty.

Zuangli trembled, emotions that ranged from gratefulness to worry to frustration to helplessness flitted on his face and he crumpled the mocking piece of paper and bowed his head. It was uncharacteristic of him to get angry, but he was right now. He was really utterly pissed. What right did Sha Hualing have to interfere with the plot? Just because she was a first-class citizen doesn’t mean that she could just trample on the lower classes. Did she do it to gloat? Because she found it funny?

《... (｡╯︵╰｡)》

A cold large hand touched Zuangli’s forearm, and Zuangli’s head snapped up, his angry and frustrated gaze meeting squarely with Mobei’s cool gaze, “I won’t accept reimbursement.”

Zuangli snorted and looked at the side, “Of course you won’t.” A beat, then his head was swerved by Mobei so he could face Mobei again, as if demanding that Zuangli should look only at him and never at anything or anyone else.

“Think, Shang Qinghua.” Mobei whispered, words only heard by them due to the almost non-existent proximity of their faces, “I know her; she dislikes injustice the most. Look for the reason, outside and beyond the box.” 

Mobei then retreated and left Zuangli to his own erratic and muddled thoughts, looking at his King and now savior’s disappearing back. Zuangli turned to face the window again and saw the Nu Yuan Chan’s corpse bathed in the sunset.

A chime of a bell that Zuangli was positive that only he had heard, and the Nu Yuan Chan burned down to nothing, branches and leaves dispersing after a second.

What’s your goal, Sha Hualing?

Things only became much worse when Shen Qingqiu ascended to heaven and killed the old man on the same day. What the actual fuck? That Shen Qingqiu, a.k.a. Shen Jiu, his scum villain who had the fate of a human stick set the moment he laid a hand of abuse on Luo Binghe—had ascended and become the next Heavenly Emperor?! How did he have the power to become one? He wasn’t even that much better in canon Shang Qinghua’s cultivation and canon Shang Qinghua sucked at being a cultivator!

When he first heard the whispers that there was a cultivator who had just ascended and had already suddenly been a Xian Wang in the span of three short months, he was shocked. Not even him, who was an actor and knew the secrets of this world had been capable of such feats. When the amazingly talented guy got called in, that shock morphed into an earth-shattering reality check because he was pretty sure that the smiling dude was in fact, Shen Qingqiu. He was dubious and he cast a glamour on his face to be safe.

When the guy’s achievements were called out, and the eerie Shen Qingqiu had pleaded that he’ll be the one to take care of his former disciple who had been revealed to be an offspring of a Heavenly Demon, Zuangli was now 100% certain that this guy was indeed Shen Qingqiu. A Shen Qingqiu that had Yue Qingyuan’s personality, really. It’s actually scary now that he thinks about it; it’s like a true psychopath in the making. Then the old man had this suicidal gleam in his eyes and Zuangli couldn’t stop him this time, not anymore.

Enormous property destruction later and an epic battle that even Zuangli couldn’t take his eyes of off, the end to his old man’s story was now written on stone by fate, executed by Shen Qingqiu who Zuangli was suspecting may not be entirely Shen Qingqiu at all.

He was devastated at first when he got flagged down by Shen Qingqiu with the old man’s corpse and got ordered to tattle first hand as to where he could lay down the old man. He was hesitant and a bit indignant, reasonably so, but caved in when he saw the stupid satisfied look that the old man had. From Shen Qingqiu’s face that looks sullen despite the polite smile that he managed with his beautiful face effortlessly, it looked like the old man won the war despite losing the battle, and Zuangli was secretly pleased by this notion.

Zuangli didn’t even have time to grieve afterwards because things had become too busy—Shen Qingqiu was new, had to be shown the ropes of becoming a Heavenly Emperor because honestly, a peak lord’s responsibilities and a Heavenly Emperor’s responsibilities had a difference of earth to heaven, literally and respectively. Amazingly, Shen Qingqiu was very quick on the uptake—No, he was too quick. As if he already knew what being a Heavenly Emperor was like; he gave jobs to the right people in charge, implemented some rules and regulations that were ingenious and should probably have been implemented a long time ago, he punished the right corrupt ones and the accused ones who were innocent were let go with compensation—he was effective, more so than the old man had been, and was more responsible than the old man had been too. Zuangli’s workload just lightened considerably and Zuangli was a happy secretary.

Everything righted and slotted in place once Shen Qingqiu was in charge. He heard from his fellow martial gods that if the Red Sea of Trees (He twitched at this; he was still angry after all from what she did) hadn’t pulled down the other one-sixteenth of their population, then Shen Qingqiu would have a more difficult time managing the heavenly realm. Apparently most of those that were destroyed were the more corrupt gods that usually managed to hide skillfully under the radar.

Zuangli’s brows had scrunched so much at this. Seriously, what was Sha Hualing’s angle? 

And then three years passed by, and Zuangli was still hoping that Shen Qingqiu can’t see through him. At first, he thought that Shen Qingqiu adopted Yue Qingyuan’s personality because he saw Yue Qingyuan as a more effective leader with the right charisma, but there was something inherently different with it. He had come off as more charismatic than Yue Qingyuan could ever be; one raise of hand and the martial gods would listen to him like well-trained dogs. They didn’t question Shen Qingqiu’s choices for matters that usually made split opinions across the martial gods and his name was only exalted the more he ruled. He was lenient but strict, effective and just, perfect and genuine. It was like he was born to be a Heavenly Emperor.

If Luo Binghe could see his scummy Shizun like this, he would probably spit out blood and die from eating too much vinegar.

... He could probably bend Luo Binghe too.

And now, here, three years of service to a man who could probably rule the world effortlessly, Zuangli would be executed by this very same man for consorting with demons and being a spy. Seriously as a canon fodder, Zuangli once thought that he wouldn’t have much death flags but that wasn’t the case. He has too many death flags, not that the death flags weren’t from his own making.

He slumped down in resignation and looked Shen Qingqiu in the eyes, “Two decades and a half.” 

Shen Qingqiu raised a brow, his omnipotent smile widening by a fraction, “Well, good for you, Shang-shidi. Mobei is a good demon lord.” He patted Zuangli on the shoulder once before he stalked out of the door. Before he could completely get out though, he faced Zuangli again who stood stock still and watched him slack jawed, “I’m going back to Qing Jing and return back next week. Just put the documents I need to sign on my table and rest yourself. You look dead to your feet, A-li.” 

Shen Qingqiu waved once in farewell and shut the door quietly, as if respecting him. Zuangli’s legs turned to jelly and he crashed on the floor, on his butt, still looking at the door where Shen Qingqiu had made his exit.

Seriously, what the hell was up with this version of PIDW?!