Chapter 523: Substitute Fighter

The facts proved that Jing Shui ultimately wasn’t Yu Yin and couldn’t handle Bai Hongtu’s underhanded methods, quickly losing the match.

The more Yu Yin watched Second Senior Brother’s fighting style, the more familiar it seemed.

The Nine Provinces Grand Competition had become an internal conflict within Tai Shang Temple. Big Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother stood facing each other, both smiling warmly while speaking with extreme politeness.

“Big Senior Brother, you must go easy on me.”

“Second Junior Brother, what are you saying? It should be you going easy on me.”

Bai Hongtu suddenly attacked, using one-tenth of his Tribulation Transcendence Stage power.

A sly, triumphant smile spread across Bai Hongtu’s face. He had originally said he would use one-tenth of his power, but he never specified it would be one-tenth of his Nascent Soul stage power.

How could Jiang Li possibly win?

As Bai Hongtu struck, Jiang Li also moved, employing his Mahayana Stage power.

The moment they clashed, Bai Hongtu realized something was wrong.

“Damn you! Weren’t we supposed to conceal our true strength?” Bai Hongtu shouted angrily.

“I’m not using my full Mahayana Stage power,” Jiang Li replied nonchalantly, easily subduing Bai Hongtu with one hand and swiftly ending the battle. He dragged Bai Hongtu off the field like a dead dog.

What should have been an intense battle ended quickly because both knowingly used power far beyond the original story’s scope.

To outsiders, it appeared Jiang Li had simply subdued Bai Hongtu normally. They couldn’t tell Bai Hongtu had used Tribulation Transcendence Stage power, nor could they detect Jiang Li employing Mahayana Stage strength.

Yu Yin was speechless. While she might not recognize other things, the way Jiang Li dragged Bai Hongtu off the field was all too familiar.

These two troublemakers with hearts full of mischief had definitely entered the book world too.

…

Some time later, Yu Yin sat atop a mountain peak, assuming the five-element meditation posture with her eyes closed in contemplation.

“Unity with the Dao, celestial resonance—this is the Mahayana Stage path designed by Sister Jingxin. I have comprehended it completely.”

Yu Yin rose and summoned the heavenly tribulation.

Within the clouds, a figure controlled the clouds and rain, releasing heavenly lightning that struck toward Yu Yin.

Heavenly Tribulation Avatar—Bai Tu.

In the plot designed by Holy Maiden Jingxin, the Heavenly Tribulation Avatar Bai Tu would strike toward female lead Jing Shui, with Jiang He intervening to block the tribulation and brutally beat Bai Tu.

At this time, Jing Shui hadn’t yet undergone her tribulation, while Yu Yin had taken the initiative first, drawing the heavenly calamity.

Yu Yin attacked, using ninety percent emotion and ten percent technique, thoroughly beating Bai Tu before successfully passing the heavenly tribulation and reaching Mahayana Stage.

“Sister Jingxin’s design for this Mahayana Stage is truly… something else,” Yu Yin said with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. She had just entered Mahayana Stage but could feel no room for further advancement whatsoever.

She suspected that in Holy Maiden Jingxin’s setting, only Jiang He alone had reached Mahayana Stage, so no cultivation process for Mahayana Stage had been established. Whoever cultivated to Mahayana Stage would become exactly as powerful as Jiang He.

“Deputy Temple Master, you’ve reached Mahayana Stage?!” Jing Shui looked at Yu Yin with worship in her eyes.

Yu Yin gently patted Jing Shui’s head, sighing with emotion. “After all this trouble, it should finally end.”

“Jiang He, let’s fight!”

Yu Yin once again displayed the domineering aura of the Celestial Origin Empress reigning over the world.

Holy Maiden Jingxin, who had been conceptualizing her next novel, looked completely bewildered. What was happening?

“Let’s have one battle, and after we finish, we’ll leave this book world.”

“Alright,” Holy Maiden Jingxin replied confusedly but obediently agreed.

Jiang He drew the Desolate Heaven Halberd, looking majestic and imposing. The moment he drew his weapon, celestial phenomena manifested throughout heaven and earth.

Yu Yin had two jade bracelets around her ankles. She kicked out, and the bracelets enlarged, sliding off her ankles.

“Go.”

Holy Maiden Jingxin possessed considerable combat prowess, but her true weapon was the Twelve-Petaled Azure Lotus. Now using the Desolate Heaven Halberd to fight, she felt completely unfamiliar with it.

Jiang He swung the great halberd, tearing through space and summoning astral winds, using the wind force to restrain the jade bracelets.

Yu Yin brought two fingers together, and under her control, the jade bracelets moved with flexible naturalness. The astral winds stood no chance of restraining them.

Yu Yin grew more ferocious as the battle progressed. She closed in for melee combat with Jiang He, who quickly found himself at a disadvantage.

Truthfully, Yu Yin wasn’t particularly skilled at close-quarters combat—but Holy Maiden Jingxin was even less proficient.

“The Holy Maiden is going to lose,” Bai Hongtu commented lazily from where he sat on the steps, watching the two combatants above.

Holy Maiden Jingxin’s actual realm was inferior to Yu Yin’s, and her combat talent couldn’t match Yu Yin’s either. Her defeat was only natural.

“Then let’s switch,” Jiang Li stood up and sent a voice transmission to Holy Maiden Jingxin.

“Jingxin, let’s exchange bodies. I’ll fight for you.”

Holy Maiden Jingxin first looked startled, then overjoyed, obediently swapping bodies to become Big Senior Brother.

When Jiang Li began using Jiang He’s body, Yu Yin quickly noticed the difference.

“So you and Bai Hongtu both came to this book world after all.”

Yu Yin’s battle with Holy Maiden Jingxin wasn’t about defeating the Holy Maiden—she wanted to fight Jiang Li.

Now her wish had been fulfilled.

“I knew there was a reason you were bullying Jingxin for no apparent purpose—you were waiting for me to not stand by and watch, waiting for me to step in,” Jiang Li suddenly understood.

“How did you figure out that Bai Hongtu and I came here too? I thought we were being quite discreet.”

“…Next time you beat up Bai Hongtu, maybe try a different dragging position.”

“Oh.”

Their cultivation realms were identical, so Jiang Li didn’t hold any particular advantage, nor did he intend to use his original power.

Their fists and feet collided like muffled thunder—low, deep, and imposing, with momentum even greater than heavenly might.

Their movements were swift as lightning, making it impossible for those below to clearly see Jiang Li and Yu Yin’s actions.

“Holy Maiden, long time no see,” Bai Hongtu greeted lazily while snacking and speaking simultaneously.

The original work contained many descriptions of delicious food, with the male lead frequently buying treats to feed the female lead—an effective way to accelerate their relationship.

“Sect Master Bai came too?” Holy Maiden Jingxin expressed mild surprise. No wonder Big Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother had seemed familiar—it was actually those two.

“The world inside this book is quite interesting, so I decided to play around for a few more days.”

“We noticed that faction leaders frequently embezzled their organization’s funds, so we suggested accounting departments establish detailed ledgers to ensure proper tracking of income and expenditures.”

“We heard that women in this world often mock Jing Shui, especially those from noble families who look down on her commoner origins. Jiang Li and I taught them a lesson about respecting others.”

“Jing Shui’s thinking is too simple, so we secretly trained her as well. Now she’s completely immune to ambushes and has even learned how to ambush others.”

“There’s also this book’s second male lead—I forgot his name, something like a prodigy from somewhere—completely devoted to Jing Shui, willing to sacrifice everything for her, always protecting her. We convinced him to give up since being a simp has no future.”

“Future plot includes Jing Shui’s birth father and stepmother coming to demand spirit stones from the female lead. They claim Jing Shui’s brother isn’t intelligent enough to attend Great Zhou Imperial Academy because they spent all their money on Jing Shui’s education, leaving none for her brother’s schooling. Now that Jing Shui’s brother is getting married, they demand Jing Shui provide the betrothal gifts. Jing Shui gets coerced by family obligations, scrambling to put together an astronomical betrothal sum.”

“Considering that Jing Shui’s brother needed astronomical betrothal gifts to get married, we wondered—was this Jing Shui’s marriage or her brother’s? So we simply had Jing Shui’s brother take vows in the Buddhist Sect.”

“Both Jing Shui’s brother’s marriage problem and employment issue were solved—a win-win situation.”

“…”

Holy Maiden Jingxin began to question whether there were problems with her book. How could it be that out of four people who entered the book world, three were dramatically altering the plot?