Chapter 263: Yan Qianli's Backstory

Yan Qianli sat alone amidst the sea of clouds, casually drinking from a wine jug.

Yunxiao City’s Heavenly Qiong Cloud Brew was an excellent wine, with a profound artistic conception, like clouds descending from the sky. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough. After downing half the jug, he couldn’t feel a thing. It was like a sissy drink.

He missed the fiery liquor from the Fire Prison Sect. Those bastards ruined his sect and now he had to hide without any alcohol to drink. And on top of that, they were over there flirting and being annoying.

While he was irritated, Chu Ge arrived with a jug of wine and sat down next to him.

Yan Qianli glanced at him with disdain, moved his own wine jug three feet away.

Chu Ge scooted three feet closer.

“Get lost,” Yan Qianli said, “I’m just a little flame… there are plenty of women in Yunxiao City. Xie Jiuxiao’s wife and daughter both look good, and I doubt he’d dare to provoke you now…”

Chu Ge: “..”

Qiu Wuji, who was watching from a distance, gripped her sword hilt tightly.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Chu Ge said irritably, ” Sometimes, us men just enjoy drinking alone. As your father, I’ve come to have a few drinks with you. What are you thinking?”

“Heh,” Yan Qianli sneered, “So, you’re a man too, huh? The kind who gets his ear pulled and goes ‘uh, uh, uh’?”

Chu Ge gritted his teeth, “That’s called love. What does an elemental being like you understand?”

“I’m not an elemental being; right now, I’m a soul fire. . Don’t get confused!” Yan Qianli said, “If I had women back in the day, and they dared to nag me, I’d give them a good slap! Women should just take care of their men; they have no business talking nonsense!”

Chu Ge’s face turned green.

“If you don’t want to listen, then get lost. You’re not going to listen anyway,” Yan Qianli said. He wasn’t afraid of Qiu Wuji and glared at her, “What does it have to do with women when men are talking? Do you think I’m afraid to fight you?”

Qiu Wuji took a deep breath and endured it. Fighting with this guy would only lead to trouble. She’d go talk to Xie Jiuxiao instead.

On another note, Yan Qianli’s “disdain for women” setting had always been there. It was part of Chu Ge’s original design.

So, did he have such thoughts in his heart, which is why he could write it like this?

In the real world, Qiu Wuji forcefully inserted a spoonful of food in the demented-looking Chu Ge’s mouth.

“What the heck… I see you’re feeling down, so I came to accompany you, and you do this to me?” Chu Ge said to Yan Qianli.

Yan Qianli retorted, “You’ve been bullied over there right? Now you want to find trouble with me?”

“…”

Well, he had a point.

“Never mind. Since you actually came to drink with me, it’s somewhat interesting,” Yan Qianli lifted his jug and clinked it against Chu Ge’s, “I never thought our Heavenly Dao was like this. Looking at it now, it’s not bad. It makes me feel like I’m back in the old days, following a big shot, not losing face.”

“Cough.” Chu Ge took a sip of wine and tentatively asked, “Qianqian, is there something that’s bothering you? You can talk about it, and we can find a solution.”

Yan Qianli fell silent for a moment and then suddenly asked, “Besides helping you refine pills, I also took a peek at your book. It contains Qiu Wuji’s autobiography, right? In other words, Qiu Wuji’s millennial journey isn’t something you wrote; you just provided a basic setting, and it evolved on its own?”

“Yes, are you asking about yourself?” Chu Ge replied, “I haven’t even written much about my Qiuqiu, let alone you. From the moment your name appeared, you were described as the Sect Master of the Fire Prison Sect—a tyrannical, bloodthirsty, and aggressive Demon Lord. I never wrote about your past experiences; your experiences are based on reality.”

Yan Qianli fell silent again.

Chu Ge asked curiously, “What’s on your mind? Just say it; you’re not usually so hesitant.”

Yan Qianli whispered, “I’m thinking about something I regret from my past. If I were to ask you to change it, would it lead to another regret?”

Chu Ge was puzzled, “Why would changing something lead to regret?”

“I have to ask you to lower myself, to be humble, and to never challenge your authority again in the future,” Yan Qianli said. “If things eventually turn out well, it might be worth it. But what if, in the end, I realize it’s better not to meet you at all? Then I’ll be regretful beyond measure.”

“Emm… Qianqian, you have a story, too? You’ve been in love before?”

“I don’t know what love is,” Yan Qianli suddenly smiled, “Domineering, bloodthirsty, and aggressive like fire… It’s one of your settings, not something innate. Or perhaps it’s partially innate. I turned into this personality, and there’s a bit of a story behind it.”

Chu Ge became interested, “Tell me about it.”

“Regarding why I say it’s partially innate, I’ve always been brave and ruthless since I was young, looking down on those who worked diligently. As a young man, I was quite unruly. Later, when bandits raided the town, I simply joined them and started killing people and setting fires. There’s no story of a pure young boy turning dark.” Yan Qianli laughed indifferently, “Do you know the first secret they taught me when I joined the bandits? You probably won’t even guess.”

Chu Ge truly couldn’t guess, “What is it?”

“The big brothers taught me, first, speak loudly, use foul language when cursing, and maintain a ferocious expression. They trained me like that, practicing in front of a mirror or by the river. They said, ‘What kind of bandit are you if you can’t even speak loudly?'”

Chu Ge; “…Very spirited.”

“Later, when the demonic sect recruited from the bandits, I joined them. On the path of cultivation… ah, it’s either you betray me or I rob you. It’s all a mess. The one who’s more ruthless becomes the boss. The more ruthless you are, the more favor you gain from above. I was one of the more ruthless ones, and I was eventually noticed by an elder from the Fire Prison Sect, who took me in as a disciple.”

“Wait, hold on. Noticed you for what?”

“They called it becoming a disciple, but it was actually becoming a cauldron for dual cultivation.” Yan Qianli said nonchalantly. “It was a female elder, nothing special. The Fire Prison Sect’s techniques were originally violent, and the hostility within had to find an outlet. She thought that by absorbing me, she wasn’t using me but rather allowing me to vent my frustrations. That’s all there is to it.”

“Damn. And you’re still alive?”

Yan Qianli suddenly smiled, “In a sense, I can be considered a child of Heaven, right? Destined by the Creator God to be the dominant leader of the Fire Prison Sect.”

Chu Ge thought for a moment, “Yes, you can be considered one of the previous protagonists, I suppose.”

“Not long after, my master discovered my potential and realized that I was a truly outstanding seed with the potential to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. Naturally, she stopped her previous actions and began searching for other cauldrons to nurture and compensate for her losses.”

Chu Ge asked, “So, she started having high hopes for you, hoping you would inherit her legacy?”

Yan Qianli smiled, “I thought that at the time, but later I realized that she actually wanted me to reach the Nascent Soul stage, and then she planned to take my Nascent Soul to aid her in breaking through in her cultivation.”

“…”

Yan Qianli continued calmly, “After a battle of wits and strength, I killed her, and her Nascent Soul became a soul bead, the one I’m currently residing in. During my subsequent advancement to the Crossing Tribulation stage, it provided a lot of help.”

Chu Ge slapped the wine jug, “You might have killed her by mistake!”

Yan Qianli asked, “How do you know?”

“Because chaos in the demonic path always has its limits; it must operate within a basic framework. If everything descends into pure chaos, with masters killing disciples and sect members devouring each other, then there would be no room for new talents to rise. The sects would have self-destructed long ago, and there would be no need for the righteous path to intervene. This is my basic logic as the creator, and I can tell you that there must be a misunderstanding in this matter!”

Yan Qianli fell silent for a moment and then slowly continued, “Unfortunately, at that time, there was no Heavenly Dao to tell me these things.”

Chu Ge remained silent.

“In fact, by that time, her lifespan was already at its end, and there was a high probability that refining me into a pill could help her breakthrough. She had even prepared to make a move, and all the materials for alchemy were ready…” Yan Qianli whispered, “And at that time, I was not her match. I was inferior in cultivation, and she had taught me all my techniques. She knew me too well… I don’t know why, but in the end, she hesitated and revealed a fatal flaw, which I seized the opportunity to exploit and killed her with a single strike.”

Chu Ge opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.

Your master fell in love with you… fool.

At least, the original concept of “Chu Tian Wu Ji” was a story with a significant focus on emotional drama. So Yan Qianli’s character’s original concept was based on this…. thinking in this direction makes sense…

“After that incident, I didn’t think too much about it. In any case, all her resources became mine, and from then on, I made rapid progress, eventually ascending to the position of the leader of the Fire Prison Sect. I became even more ruthless. If I could kill my master, there was nothing I couldn’t do. I don’t even know how many people I killed on the path to becoming the Overlord Demon Lord.”

Chu Ge sighed.

“But as time passed, perhaps as I grew older, I would occasionally start to reminisce about why… she hesitated in the end,” Yan Qianli said, “After all, she had reached the end of her lifespan, and there was a good chance that my cultivation could have helped her. She had even prepared to make a move, with all the materials for alchemy ready…”

Chu Ge interrupted, “You’re avoiding it. You know the right answer.”

Yan Qianli fell silent, picked up the wine jug, and guzzled it down fiercely, smashing it into pieces afterward. “You… help me resurrect her. I want to ask her this question and resolve my inner conflicts. If it turns out that she made a mistake due to her own foolishness, I can always kill her again. If not…”

“If not, not only do you owe her for teaching you, but she also has feelings for you. In the end, she hesitated out of love and willingly died by your hand… emm, you might end up shrinking at the sight of her, even more timid than me.”

“…” Yan Qianli’s voice grew softer and gradually became almost inaudible. “I’m okay with it, and so is she. Covered in blood, committing countless atrocities, she deserves to die. Besides, it has been so many years… If you don’t want to resurrect her… I have no objections.”

Chu Ge laughed heartily, “You’re torn and hesitant yourself, evading and cowardly, yet you’re passing the decision to me and putting the blame on ‘fate’? Yan Qianli, whether you’re righteous or demonic, just give me one answer: Do you want her to be resurrected? I want to hear your own answer!”

Yan Qianli clenched the shard of the wine jug. Although his soul had no blood, he crushed the jug as if he were grinding it into dust.

After a long, long time, his hoarse voice could be heard, “Please, Creator God, help me… resurrect her. I… must ask her this question; otherwise, I will never be at peace in this lifetime.”