Chapter 284: Your Female Protagonist

Chapter 284: Your Female Protagonist

Chu Ge felt somewhat moved, not by Abbot Great Compassion’s actions, but by his own emotions.

I’ve written you all so brilliantly!

No... seriously, as an author, when he saw the characters he had created coming to life in their own unique ways, the feeling was truly indescribable.

In his treatment of Qiu Wuji and others, he had a bit of a double standard, like not wanting to let others leave, and having to urgently bring Yan Qianli back when he went out. That was mainly because he was afraid of causing problems that would be uncontrollable.

But overall, he had concluded with Qiu Wuji sometime ago, “When the characters I create have their own souls, that is my path...” This principle had remained consistent and unwavering, without any changes or double standards. He treated Buddha and Demon equally, with no distinctions between close and distant.

Every person was a living being he created.

He had been doing this all along, and had always looked forward to it. Now, it seemed to be bearing fruit.

He could almost feel the power of a world in the palm of his hand, a world where Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism coexisted, and all living beings respected the Heavenly Dao. As a result, everything was within easy reach, and obstacles were minimal. If he could resolve the situation in the overseas regions, then he would truly have control over this universe.

This was the result of mutual understanding. He acknowledged each and every one of them, and the characters he created came to life in his mind, while others also acknowledged him, respecting the Heavenly Dao above.

As a result, there was a strong connection.

In fact, Chu Ge had a faint regret. If he hadn’t written so much about the Heavenly Realm earlier and had completed the book within the scope of this mortal realm, he might have completed the cycle and been able to take Qiu Wuji with him and let this world run on its own, without any worries.

But now, he still had the Heavenly Realm to deal with, and not only that, it was a rather significant undertaking.

Troublesome.

“Um...” Seeing that Chu Ge was lost in thought, Abbot Great Compassion hesitated, glanced at Qiu Wuji, then at Chu Ge, and finally mustered up the courage to speak, “Since Creator God has already used the ‘Great Bliss Sutra,’ can it be returned? It wouldn’t be good if it were lost...”

Chu Ge: “...”

Qiu Wuji: “?”

Her expression, which had been ice-cold and unrivaled in the battle just now, suddenly turned bright red. “Abbot Great Compassion! What do you mean by that look in your eyes? I didn’t use that thing! It wasn’t me!”

Abbot Great Compassion turned his head slightly, his voice sounding a bit choked, “Creator God had secretly made strange changes to the Golden Bell Shield technique for no reason. At that time, I sensed that the Heavenly Dao was a bit inexplicable, but I never thought that it would be related to Sect Master Qiu.”

Qiu Wuji was going crazy. “It has nothing to do with me!”

Abbot Great Compassion fell silent.

Monks could read fortunes, who are you trying to fool with that infatuated look in your eyes?

Qiu Wuji clenched her silver teeth, glaring fiercely at Chu Ge. “Say something!”

What can he say? Chu Ge’s lips trembled for a while before he managed to squeeze out a sentence. “I’ll return it later, I promise.”

Steam seemed to be coming out of Qiu Wuji’s head.

The Heavenly Realm had been separated for tens of thousands of years, and only legends and of the top-tier beings remained in the mortal realm. The basic social structure seemed impossible for anyone to know except for the Creator God.

“Of course, it’s not the lowest level.” Chu Ge explained, “The Heavenly Realm has many ordinary heavenly beings, which correspond to the powerful beings in the mortal realm. They are born stronger, you could say they’re a powerful race born with a cultivation equivalent to Foundation Building or higher. That’s about it. It’s impossible for a little Buddha in the Heavenly Realm to be more powerful than the strongest cultivator in the mortal realm. That wouldn’t be logical.”

Qiu Wuji asked, “Then... what’s the upper limit?”

Chu Ge sighed, “The strength of the upper limit.... it can easily crush you with just one finger.”

Qiu Wuji: “...”

“My level setting is not original; I followed the usual practice of dividing levels. You’ve probably seen the settings like ‘Heavenly Being,’ ‘Immortal,’ ‘True Immortal,’ ‘Mystic Immortal,’ ‘Golden Immortal’ in other novels. It may seem outdated now, but people are used to it. What’s different from others is that I like to keep it simple. I don’t use various prefixes like ‘Perfected’ or ‘Daluo’ to further subdivide the levels.”

“No ‘Perfected Golden Immortal’? But our legends in the book have that title. How does that work?”

“There is the title ‘Perfected Golden Immortal,’ but it’s not a separate level. It’s just an honorary title for a few select individuals at the peak of the Golden Immortal level. As for titles like ‘Heavenly Emperor,’ ‘Immortal Lord,’ ‘Buddha,’ ‘Daoist Master,’ they are all titles of status, not levels. There are no ‘Sage,’ ‘Saint,’ or anything like that. My story is not set in the prehistoric era.”

Qiu Wuji nodded slightly, getting a better understanding of the system. She had read many modern Daoist text. ‘Golden’ symbolized immortality and indestructibility. ‘Perfected’ referred to the highest heaven in Daoist cosmology, signifying eternal freedom in all spaces. These were the highest settings found in real Daoist classics.

In texts of this kind, such realms rarely mentioned “creation.” Of course, it depended on how the author decided. In this book, absolutely no one reached the level of creation; that was the protective barrier Chu Ge left for himself, and there could be no creators in the story. No one could challenge him.

In other words, the most powerful beings below the level of “creator” would find it easy to even shatter stars.

Qiu Wuji knew that she was far from that level; after all, she was a sword immortal from the mortal realm.

Earlier, when the Buddha referred to her as possessing “the power of a true immortal,” it implied that ascendants from the mortal realm would be considered at the level of true immortals in the Heavenly Realm, which was just a moderate level within the entire Heavenly Realm hierarchy. This was normal because it allowed for further development and progression. Chu Ge still had some integrity; he didn’t design a dozen or twenty levels to write endlessly.

Chu Ge said, “According to your current status, if you were to ascend normally based on my original settings, you would be stronger than ordinary true immortals. Actually, you have already deviated from the original storyline, and the settings have changed anyway. With your current accumulation, if you can ascend, I can easily set you as a peak true immortal with a few strokes of my pen. Then, with a random stroke of luck, you can break through to become a mystic immortal. In the Heavenly Realm, you would be considered a notable figure. Would you... be willing to let me set it?”

Qiu Wuji pursed her lips and pondered for a long time, but did not answer immediately.

Of course, she didn’t want to continue having her fate dictated by him, even her cultivation path was something that was written for her. It felt truly uncomfortable, as if all her efforts during these days had been thrown into the mud.

However...

In the mortal realm, she, Qiu Wuji, was already invincible, especially with the assistance of Yan Qianli and others. It would be effortless for Chu Ge to “spread his divine grace” there. But in the Heavenly Realm, things might not be so smooth...

The people in the mortal realm were fine with their constant cries of “defying the heavens,” but if the powerful beings in the Heavenly Realm started doing the same, it would become a headache. No need to doubt it; from the performance of this Buddha, it was clear that the Creator God had been thinking about this plot for a long time, and they were less informed because they had been in the dark. However, as the story progressed, the Heavenly Realm would naturally become clearer.

Of course, it was better to have the option to quickly break through to a mystic immortal, as it would provide the strength to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Even becoming a mystic immortal might not be enough for her, so why jeopardize everything over a small hesitation?

Seeing her deep in thought, Chu Ge smiled and said, “It’s alright, you don’t need to decide immediately. In the current storyline, there is no interaction between the Heavenly Realm and the mortal realm. The appearance of this Buddha was purely due to the connection with the Bodhi Tree. It can still be considered part of the storyline, an event that happened within ‘Yan Qianli’s visit to the Hongfa Temple.’ In any case, it will be some time before we truly progress to the Heavenly Realm map opening.”

Qiu Wuji shook her head and replied, “I can decide right now.”

Chu Ge turned to look at her.

Qiu Wuji smiled faintly, “Did you forget one thing... how the story continues primarily depends on your plot ideas. In your story, if I ascend to mystic immortality, then go ahead and write it. Your cooperation with my quest is a separate matter. As your female protagonist, completing your story is my responsibility, and it’s only right.”