Human joys and sorrows are not shared. Little Flame didn't know what kind of sentimental musing Zhong Yi was having along the riverbank in the pouring rain, nor would Zhong Yi know that a pitiful little flame was flickering in the wind behind him.
Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji also wouldn't know that, having both emerged from books, why one could be cuddling and kissing in the warmth of home, while the other was outside in the wind and rain, his flame almost extinguished…
"Holy crap… Ouch~"
A faint scream could be heard amidst the wind and rain.
In the heat of passion, Chu Ge subconsciously began to climb Cloud Peak.
He had barely touched it, before he could even sculpt a snowman to test the malleability of Cloud Peak's snow, when Qiu Wuji, reacting just as instinctively, grabbed him and pinned him to the bed.
Qiu Wuji: "…"
Chu Ge: "…"
"Is this why you and I must be able to beat you?" Chu Ge buried his face in the pillow, muttering.
"Who told you to be so indecisive all the time!" Qiu Wuji retorted, her neck stiff. "Boyfriends and girlfriends are boyfriend and girlfriend. Feelings should be kept within bounds of propriety. A kiss and a hug are enough. What else do you want?" Chu Ge lay there listlessly, speechless.
Qiu Wuji felt sorry for him. She bit her lower lip, thought for a long time, and hesitantly handed him a small pig-shaped pillow. "Your hands want to grab something so badly, so grab this. It's very comfortable."
"..." Chu Ge grabbed it a couple of times... It wasn't comfortable.
Waaah... Qiu Wuji glared angrily at Chu Ge, who was still pretending to be dead.
I've already given you that little pig that symbolizes Qiu Qiu, what more do you want! "I told you to wear stockings, but you wouldn't." Qiu Wuji sighed helplessly. "You're so obsessed with this now, it's really annoying." Chu Ge retorted, "My girlfriend is so alluring, what can I do if I'm obsessed? Now I see even a pig as handsome." She meant no harm, just being nonchalant, but the listener took it to heart… What happened to Mengmeng back then? If he kept holding back, next time he went back home, he might just run into some cheap slut… Qiu Wuji struggled with this for a long time before hesitantly saying, "If you don't use stockings, then… then I can use them, right…"
"Huh?" Chu Ge rolled over, looking at her, confused.
You want to use stockings? How do you want to use them?
Qiu Wuji interpreted Chu Ge's surprised look as anticipation and excitement. She pouted, leaned back, stretched out her long legs, and gently extended her small feet clad in stockings…
Chu Ge's eyes widened.
Qiu Wuji bit his lower lip and muttered, "Is this okay...?"
"I...I...Ouch...Hiss...Okay, great, waaaah..." Ten minutes later.
"Are you done yet?" Qiu Wuji said angrily, "You've almost crumpled the pig in your hands into a ball! Are you done yet?"
"Not yet, not yet, almost done, almost done..."
"My legs are sore!"
"Just a little longer, just a little longer..." Half an hour later.
"I shouldn't have taught you to practice the Golden Bell Shield." Qiu Wuji muttered, hugging his feet, "I'm so stupid. I only thought the Golden Bell Shield could protect me, but I didn't expect that a shameless father god would modify the technique." Chu Ge sat down beside him with a smile, "It seems that because of a breakthrough, the previous minor completion doesn't seem to count. Only Foundation Establishment counts."
Qiu Wuji glanced at him.
That's right, ever since the Heavenly Tribulation pulled her back and she recovered from her injuries, she seemed to be on the verge of Foundation Establishment... and then, with all that commotion just now, her dantian simultaneously condensed, and she actually succeeded in Foundation Establishment amidst all this...
Although her current realm doesn't completely correspond to the one in the book, it's already fast enough—only three months, Foundation Establishment...
Qiu Wuji could also see that it was the relief of a long-suppressed "knot" suddenly being released, a feeling of expansiveness, all pent-up emotions gone, beneficial to the Dao.
This breakthrough method is just too ridiculous.
Considering his current Golden Bell Shield transformation, is this Foundation Establishment or Chicken Building?! Will his Golden Core be a golden egg in the future?!
Qiu Wuji was very angry, sniffling as he took off his socks; they were sticky and disgusting.
Even the joy of discovering his breakthrough was gone.
Chu Ge cautiously asked, "Shall I wash them?"
"Wash them? What are you talking about? Throw them away, they're disgusting!" Qiu Wuji started to sulk.
Chu Ge patted his chest: "It's okay, it's gone, I'll just buy another box tomorrow!"
"You want to use another box! Dream on!" Qiu Wuji jumped off the bed, clenched her fists, and went out the door: "Don't even think about it again!"
At the door, she turned back, snatched the pig that Chu Ge had been rubbing for half an hour, and stormed off.
"Bang!" The door slammed shut, and the room was empty again.
Her goal of tricking her into sleeping with her failed, but she unexpectedly got a different result. Chu Ge rested her head on her hands, looking at the ceiling with a relaxed mood, almost humming a song. Once is enough, twice is enough; the "don't even think about it again" part was completely ignored.
Even the sound of the raging wind and rain outside sounded so pleasant, almost like listening to a symphony.
The torrential rain hitting the earth was like autumn leaving its mark on the world?
Right, don't forget the well-digger when you drink the water; she had to silently say: Sister Mengmeng, thank you.
...The next morning, Chu Ge got up, his excitement from the previous night finally subsiding somewhat, and began his daily meditation.
Only during this meditation did he realize how serious and important the breakthrough he had completely ignored the night before truly was.
Previously, he rarely felt the existence of "mana," because it was merely an invisible and intangible energy circulating within his body. After all, mana itself possessed no harmful power; it was needed to control certain spells to injure enemies, such as the Five Elements or sword control. Therefore, simply observing mana internally was like observing the water vapor already present within the body—you couldn't perceive any special value in it.
But now he did.
White energy swirled in his dantian, almost solidifying, and he could feel the surging energy contained within, experiencing a very clear sense of "energy storage."
This was truly crossing over from the novice stage, beginning the initial steps, and laying the foundation for the Great Dao—the stage of Foundation Building.
Not Foundation Establishment...
At the same time, his soul sea also became more solid, almost a vast ocean, quietly swaying within his Mingtang and Zifu.
Chu Ge was certain that if his spiritual power were tested now, he would definitely be at the seventh level.
Theoretically, this should be the power he used when he revised the plot earlier. He wasn't powerful enough then, so he suffered a backlash and injury, but he also explored his limits, gaining the foundation for a breakthrough, which he then achieved.
In other words, with his current level, making yesterday's revisions would probably be just right, without injury.
This also meant that taking things from the book's world shouldn't be so difficult; it was definitely something he could start doing.
Chu Ge opened his eyes and realized he was starving.
Strange, according to his own settings, once he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he could live on air and dew, and didn't need to eat much…
He jumped out of bed and went out to ask his master for help.
His female master, wearing a bathrobe, was making breakfast in the kitchen, looking at the freshly ground soy milk with a sour expression.
Now, seeing soy milk reminded him of certain things, and he felt disgusted.
"If I'd known I'd made porridge, why bother grinding soybeans for milk..." Seeing Chu Ge peeking in from outside the door, the female master said sternly, "Instead of training properly, what are you doing peeking around here?"
"Um..." Chu Ge pulled his gaze away from his master's bare feet and struggled to get to the point: "According to my setting, once you've reached Foundation Establishment, you shouldn't feel hungry anymore, so why am I even hungrier..." Qiu Wuji seemed to have known all along, and said calmly, "Whether you've reached Foundation Establishment or Core Formation, you're not a true immortal yet, you must acquire energy. If in the world of the book, spiritual energy is abundant..." "So, consuming wind and dew is simply about absorbing spiritual energy. However, the spiritual energy in this world isn't enough for that purpose, so we still need to eat."
"I see..." Chu Ge thought for a moment, then asked, "Then, theoretically, the energy from ordinary food isn't enough either?"
"It's never enough, otherwise why hasn't my clone broken through for so long?" Qiu Wuji poured him a cup of soy milk expressionlessly: "Drink first. We should prepare to refine pills. Put away those messy, lewd thoughts in your head. If you keep thinking about such things, I'll beat you up!"