Chương 106: Against The Heavens Omake II: This wasn't in the script

Xianxia and jade beauties went hand in hand. The readers of Against the Heavens knew this very well, which was why the current situation surprised absolutely no one. Xiao Fan and Qi Xia had both accepted the same mission to hunt a fourth-stage Ironback Boar in the mountains outside the sect. Qi Xia was one of the Ten Beauties of the Outer Sect, and since they were heading after the same target anyway, the two had decided to travel together. Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly.

They found the beast, killed it, gathered the valuable materials, and were already on their way back when several cultivators stepped out from the surrounding forest and blocked their path. The man at their head wore expensive robes and carried a folding fan, though his eyes had been fixed on Qi Xia from the moment he appeared.

"Fairy Qi, why must you make things so difficult? Young Master Lu has invited you several times already. Countless women would dream of receiving his attention." Qi Xia's expression immediately cooled.

"Then tell him to invite one of them." The readers approved.

"Based."

"Qi Xia stocks are rising."

"Let me guess. Young Master Lu saw her once and decided she belongs to him."

"Most respectful xianxia young master."

"Guys, why are we acting like sending goons after a woman who rejected you is normal?"

"New reader spotted."

"Give him another hundred chapters."

"Bro still has morals 😭" The man snapped his fan shut.

"Fairy Qi, Young Master Lu has been patient because he admires you, but even his patience has limits." Xiao Fan, who had been listening quietly until now, finally spoke.

"She already said no." Only then did the man's attention properly settle on him.

"And who are you?"

"Ah, there it is."

"He noticed the protagonist."

"Rest in peace."

"He is cooked." The man's eyes narrowed as he looked between Xiao Fan and Qi Xia, seemingly reaching an entirely incorrect conclusion about their relationship.

"I see. So you're the reason Fairy Qi has repeatedly refused Young Master Lu." Xiao Fan frowned.

"What does that have to do with me?" Qi Xia sighed. The readers sighed with her.

"Brother Xiao, please."

"Man can detect killing intent from fifty meters away but not this."

"To be fair, this one genuinely has nothing to do with him."

"Doesn't matter anymore. Young Master's gonna get face slapped." Whatever explanation Xiao Fan might have offered was clearly no longer relevant. The man had already decided what was happening, and after a few more threats involving Young Master Lu and the Lu Family, swords were drawn. The resulting fight was considerably shorter than the conversation. Qi Xia took two of the cultivators while Xiao Fan dealt with the remaining three, including the man with the folding fan.

The latter discovered rather quickly that Xiao Fan's cultivation level was not a particularly reliable indicator of how difficult he was to kill, and several minutes later, the forest became quiet again. Xiao Fan wiped the blood from his sword before crouching beside one of the bodies and removing his storage pouch. Qi Xia glanced at him.

"You really don't waste anything." Xiao Fan, a firm believer in the Dao of Looting Corpses, calmly removed another storage pouch.

"They attacked us."

"That's fair." And with that, Xiao Fan continued the time-honored xianxia tradition of turning dead enemies into cultivation resources. The readers, naturally, approved.

"Another generous donation to the Xiao Fan Cultivation Fund."

"Young Master Lu sent assassins and accidentally funded the protagonist."

"Truly, enemies are Xiao Fan's greatest financial supporters."

"At this point, getting jumped is basically his main source of income." Most of the contents were nothing unusual: spirit stones, pills, talismans, spare clothes, a few medicinal herbs, and several miscellaneous items Xiao Fan quickly sorted through. Then he pulled out a book. The cover showed a beautiful senior sister leaning over a younger disciple, close enough that Xiao Fan stared at the illustration for a second longer than he probably intended. Across the top, several bold characters formed the title.

Senior Sister, Please Behave Yourself!

"..." Xiao Fan turned the book over. Qi Xia noticed what he was holding and immediately recognized it.

"Oh, that novel." Xiao Fan looked at her.

"You've read it?"

"I've seen it," Qi Xia corrected a little too quickly.

"It's quite popular recently."

"What kind of novel is it?" Qi Xia considered the question.

"Romance, mostly." Xiao Fan glanced at the cover again.

"That does not look like 'mostly' romance." Qi Xia coughed.

"It's more... straightforward than the usual ones." The readers immediately seized upon that.

"QI XIA KNOWS.""'I've seen it,' she says."

"That cover description is NOT helping your 'mostly romance' argument."

"Senior Sister, why are you suddenly avoiding eye contact?"

"Brother Xiao has discovered smut." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The novel had indeed become strangely popular throughout the Pure Qi Sect. Compared to the usual romantic stories filled with flowery metaphors and enough euphemisms to make readers decipher what was actually happening, Senior Sister, Please Behave Yourself!

was written in simple, direct language and came with illustrations that pushed remarkably close to the boundary of what could reasonably be sold in public. Nobody seemed to know who had written it. Xiao Fan looked at the cover for another moment before simply tossing the novel into his storage pouch with the rest of the loot. He made no attempt to open it, nor did he show any particular interest in what Qi Xia had described as a rather "straightforward" romance novel. The readers were almost disappointed.

"That's it?"

"Brother Xiao has no appreciation for literature."

"To be fair, he has more important things to do."

"Give it time. Curiosity always wins." The matter was soon forgotten as Xiao Fan and Qi Xia continued on their way. By nightfall, they found a small cave where they could rest before making the journey back to the sect. Qi Xia settled into meditation on one side while Xiao Fan did the same on the other, and for some time, the cave remained completely silent. Then, sometime later in the night, Xiao Fan opened his eyes. He sat there for a moment before seemingly remembering something.

His hand moved toward his storage pouch, and after a brief search, a familiar book appeared in his grasp. Senior Sister, Please Behave Yourself! The comment section immediately exploded.

"HE FELL."

"WE LOST HIM."

"Curiosity defeated the Dao Heart."

"I KNEW IT. Nobody stares at that cover for that long and just forgets about it."

"Brother Xiao waited until Senior Sister Qi started cultivating. This man knows EXACTLY what he's doing." Xiao Fan glanced once toward Qi Xia, saw that her eyes were still closed, and finally opened the novel. The readers grew increasingly amused as Xiao Fan's casual curiosity carried him through the first few pages, then the first chapter, and eventually well beyond the point where he could reasonably claim he was merely checking what kind of book it was.

The occasional turn of a page became the only sound from his side of the cave, while his expression shifted between interest, disbelief, and, at one particularly suggestive illustration, a very long stare.

"He's gone."

"Brother Xiao, that page stopped changing."

"He's appreciating the artwork."

"He didn't even concentrate this much when comprehending the Heaven Shattering Fist."

"Random pervert died and left Xiao Fan his greatest inheritance." By the time Xiao Fan finally closed the novel, he had made it considerably farther than anyone expected. He stared at the cover for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating something, before quietly putting it back into his storage pouch. The readers understood. This would not be the last time he opened it. The matter disappeared from the story after that, and for several dozen chapters, the novel wasn't mentioned again.

Then, one evening, Xiao Fan returned to his quarters after training and emptied his storage pouch onto the table. Pills, talismans, medicinal herbs, a cultivation manual, and several other miscellaneous items spilled out. Among them was a familiar-looking book. Senior Sister, Please Behave Yourself! — Volume Two. The comment section immediately exploded.

"WAIT."

"VOLUME TWO??"

"HE BOUGHT THE SEQUEL."

"WHEN DID HE BUY THE SEQUEL?"

"BRO DID THIS OFFSCREEN."

"Xiao Fan is a paying customer now 😭""Random pervert introduced him to peak fiction and changed his life forever." The readers never let him live it down.... The Outer Sect Competition had already given the readers plenty to talk about. Xiao Fan had taken first place, Qiu Han had taken second, and Ji Ning, the strange side character who continued being far more competent than anyone had originally expected, had taken third. The results themselves weren't particularly surprising.

After all, Ning had already fought Qiu Han earlier in the tournament and lost. At the time, the readers had assumed they understood exactly why that fight existed. It was one of the oldest tournament-arc clichés in the book: have a recognizable side character fight the main opponent first, let him lose, and use the battle to establish just how dangerous the opponent was before the protagonist eventually faced him. Ning had performed his role perfectly. Well, mostly.

He had taken one look at the difference in speed, decided he wasn't getting beaten half to death for the sake of proving a point, and surrendered. Still, close enough.

"Bro fulfilled his plot obligation and clocked out."

"Generic side character: gets brutally defeated so the protagonist has someone to avenge."

"Ning: Yeah, I'm not doing that."

"Honestly, based." Qiu Han had even given Ning the appropriate arrogant-genius speech afterward, declaring that iron would always remain iron while gold would always remain gold. Naturally, the readers had expected those words, or at least the defeat that followed them, to affect Ning somehow. Maybe losing to Qiu Han would shake his confidence, or perhaps those words would stick with him, motivating him to train harder until he could return one day and prove Qiu Han wrong.

Instead, Ning had simply walked away looking vaguely confused as to why Qiu Han had suddenly started monologuing at him, which, now that the readers thought about it, made perfect sense. That was probably the most normal reaction anyone had ever had to being on the receiving end of a dramatic xianxia speech. But enough about the side plot. The real event everyone had been waiting for was Xiao Fan versus Qiu Han. And Xiao Fan defeated him.

More importantly, he defeated Qiu Han so thoroughly that the proud genius who had spent the entire arc preaching about the absolute superiority of talent actually reconsidered his worldview. So when Qiu Han approached Xiao Fan after the competition and admitted that he'd been wrong, the readers were satisfied.

"I once believed strength was innate," Qiu Han said.

"That iron remains iron, and gold remains gold. But you proved that I was wrong." Xiao Fan smiled.

"I told you before. Nothing is impossible. Anyone can become strong."

"Your conviction defeated me." It was a good scene. A little cliché, perhaps, but this was Against the Heavens. Nobody had come here expecting subtlety.

"MY GOAT."

"That's what xianxia is all about."

"Hard work defeats talent."

"Okay, technically Xiao Fan also has Demon Subduing Sutra, three bloodline abilities, and enough luck to trip over treasures, but ignore that."

"LET US HAVE THE MESSAGE." Then Qiu Han turned toward Ning and apologized to him as well. Ning accepted the apology easily enough, and for a moment, it seemed that would be the end of it. Then he spoke.

"Brother Qiu, I do want to point out something about what you said earlier." The readers immediately became suspicious.

"What?"

"Ning, don't."

"I don't know what he's about to say, but Qiu Han has suffered enough." Ning looked completely serious.

"You mentioned that iron remains iron and gold remains gold."

"Yes."

"Well... strictly speaking, that comparison doesn't really work." Qiu Han's expression shifted slightly, clearly not expecting that response, while Xiao Fan seemed to realize where this was going. Ning continued before either of them could say anything.

"Iron is a metal that can be tempered and strengthened through heat treatment. Its usefulness actually comes from how much its properties can be changed. Gold, on the other hand, is extremely soft, which is why it isn't normally suitable for weapons." And suddenly, the readers understood.

"WAIT."

"HE'S FACT-CHECKING THE METAPHOR."

"NO FUCKING WAY."

"Qiu Han just underwent life-changing character development, and Ning is correcting his metallurgy."

"WAIT, HE'S SAYING WHAT WE SAID DURING THEIR FIGHT." That was the funniest part. When Qiu Han had originally delivered his grand speech about iron forever remaining iron while gold would forever remain gold, plenty of readers had pointed out that this was not, in fact, how either metal worked. Everyone else had simply told them to shut up and enjoy the dramatic xianxia dialogue. Ning, apparently, had been on their side the entire time.

"So technically," Ning concluded, perfectly satisfied with himself, "if we're comparing their potential as weapons, iron is actually the better material. Not counting rare spiritual materials like Profound Heaven Gold, of course." There was a long silence.

"HE ACTUALLY SAID IT."

"MY FUCKING GOAT."

"NING REPRESENTING THE COMMENT SECTION."

"WE THOUGHT HE GOT TRAUMATIZED BY THE LOSS. BRO WAS THINKING ABOUT METALLURGY."

"Qiu Han defeated Ning physically and somehow came out of it as the victim." That last comment gained an unreasonable number of likes. Ning had been the side character thrown against the arc's main opponent to establish his strength. He had lost the fight, listened to the obligatory arrogant-genius speech, and walked away without gaining so much as a minor inferiority complex. Then, after Xiao Fan finished fixing Qiu Han's worldview with his fists, Ning came back to correct his science.

"... I originally read that quote in a book," Qiu Han eventually admitted. Ning nodded understandingly.

"Then the author was wrong. It had been bugging me the whole time, you know." The comment section immediately exploded all over again.

"THE AUTHOR CATCHING STRAYS."

"Bro waited until Qiu Han finished his character arc just to get that off his chest 😭""Why does Ning sound so satisfied with himself?"

"Because this has clearly been bothering him since the fight lmao."

"Qiu Han: I learned this philosophy from a respected scholar."

"Ning: Your respected scholar was wrong too."

"Imagine having your entire worldview shattered and then finding out the metaphor was scientifically inaccurate on top of it."

"Qiu Han lost the fight, the argument, AND his favorite quote." Xiao Fan was visibly struggling not to laugh, while Qiu Han quietly returned to his registration form and began writing with considerably more focus than before. The readers almost felt bad for him. Almost. After all, the cliché was supposed to be that the side character fought the arc's main antagonist, lost horribly, and came away traumatized by the experience.

That defeat would then spiral into a character arc of its own, usually culminating in the side character eventually being forced to team up with their former antagonist against an even bigger threat, where they would finally overcome their fear and show just how much they had grown. Somehow, Ning had completely reversed the formula. He had lost to Qiu Han and traumatized Qiu Han instead. The readers had only one response to that.

"Based."... A/N: Another Against the Heavens omake, since you guys kept asking for more! Since I'm going in order with the story's progression, it'll probably take another chapter or so before we reach the Tower Arc. I'm mostly writing these little snippets during my breaks, so they won't cut into the normal chapter schedule. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one. As always, thanks for reading~