Chapter Text
Chapters 1-19
There is only a small number I remember (or that are worth mentioning), but here are the scenes that stayed in my mind;
Chapter 3
This chapter originally contained a few pages featuring Kexin's father. In it, he was on his way to bring Sha Yuan to Kexin, but the boy threw a tantrum. He spent some time calming him down, building his courage up, and talking some sense into him.
I eventually cut it because I was not going to reveal his identity anytime soon, so I thought to myself; why tf would they care about this random ass head servant yet?
Chapter 5
When Jiuchong-jun ends up telling Sha Yuan about Bloodpath, I initially had Kexin be the target, not Jiuchong-jun. There was a version where the king did a demonstration (but I thought okay yeah no this biitchh isn't that crazy as to simulate how Kexin got first caught but also it would have escalated and Kexin and him would straight up have another brutal fight, and I was like yeah no), and then one where Jiuchong-jun had Sha Yuan chase his mentor. Eventually, though, I chose Jiuchong-jun to be the target because I was going to bring them to Lihua at the end anyway, so I combined it.
Chapter 13
I don't have the scene changes I made, but oh boy, do I have something to share regardless; when I first planned this (this was smth I planned for at the beginning of this fic already, so it rly was an early stage idea (and the chaos in it reflects it)), it was supposed to go veeeeeery differently!
They weren't on the training fields, but all scattered around the palace. Sha Yuan went to first save Hualing and hid her in the family shrine (which was then getting invaded, prompting her to use Space Manipulation), then went to save Yuming, but it was too late (yes, she was originally going to die, too). At that point, the effects of the bloodpowder would have gotten really bad for Sha Yuan, and it would have taken Kexin to find and defend him (and she was supposed to get injured for the drama). That's when Jiuchong-jun would have returned, and the invaders fled. It is only afterwards (bc Yuming and Meilian (Yutong's other daughter) are dead), that Yutong would have gone crazy and killed Lady Chunhua and her kid (for failing to protect hers), which Jiuchong-jun brought an end to as well, killing her. Jiuchong-jun then named Sha Hualing the Demon Saintess for her powers which she used from their family shrine hehehe
Again, that was a super early plan, and I assume you all can see why I changed things up HAHAHA
Somewhere between 17 and 22
Okay so... there is a storyline that I scratched completely lmao
After Sha Yuan's Fatechanger with no sight condition is revealed, there was going to be a little hihi haha moment in an arena. It wasn't like full-on meant to be punishment, but let's just say if Sha Yuan hadn't been lying, Jiuchong-jun wouldn't have agreed to it... Basically, the crown princes would have been put in a pit to fight kjsdhjdshk. It's an event that I was going to sell as tradition in the Demon Realm to like test the newest generation of crown princes etc, and it would have been their first meeting jsdhffkdsj It's also the place where you would have met a lot of the future characters (like Meng Yuhang for exampe)! I ended up cutting it, though, because by the time we got closer to it, it didn't fit my narrative anymore.
And that's all for the earlier chapters!
Now, onto the proper cut scenes.
Chapter 20 - Cut Conversation between Lady Kexin and Sha Yuan
Sha Yuan put away the texts he had started writing in the afternoon of the day before; since he had been allowed to simplify, he had already managed to write down all of Luo Binghe’s childhood to the point he was at now. And after lunch - which the servants had just brought in - he would continue with the detailed part: the future Emperor’s story from now to his ascension.
He felt just a touch nervous about it; this part was going to be the most important one.
The crown prince let the story play through his mind many times, testing it for flaws - because, of course, he was not going to deliver it perfectly accurate so his father would actually end up outsmarting and killing the protagonist.
No. He made some adjustments.
They didn’t seem major in the sense that there wouldn’t be great room for faults in logic, but they did shield the protagonist from the man who had his Heavenly Demon father taken care of before him.
It will work… the tansmigrator told himself - perhaps to generate some courage; outsmarting his father had not worked out too well for him last time.
Taking a deep breath, Sha Yuan finally sat down at the table that was covered in food.
He could go back to worrying soon enough, but now was the time to eat and take a break - or so he thought, because as soon as he was seated, an invisible hand was put on the back of his head and another covered his mouth.
Before he could react, though, a familiar voice whispered into his ears.
“It’s me,” were Lady Kexin’s first words, and as soon as she felt the boy relax, the assassin let go of him but continued to whisper. “Don’t react - only subtle nods or shakes. Eat slowly and listen.”
Her pupil had to stop himself from throwing himself at her, his relief immense - not just because what had almost caused him a heart attack didn’t turn out to be dangerous at all, but because the concubine had somehow made it to him! Somehow she had snuck into this prison, visiting the poor, punished boy!
But his joy vanished when his mentor spoke her next words.
“I’ve been put under house arrest, and I might not make it out alive without your help,” she explained, being direct about it. “You can choose not to help me, and I would never blame you for it, but I must insist on you hearing me out.”
The crown prince felt his heart sink; had Lady Kexin gotten in trouble because of him?
“What I'm about to tell you will likely come as a shock, and I apologise in advance… Just know that it wasn’t at all what I had intended. Not exactly,” the Wishmaker continued. “But you having become a Fatechanger is my fault. In a way, this whole mess is my fault, and I’m sorry you’re at the centre of it.”
The transmigrator wished he could talk. He didn’t like hearing her blame herself for something that she obviously hadn’t had a part in. At the same time, it was also a blessing; how could he explain the truth about why he was a Fatechanger?
“Has your father ever told you how we met?” the assassin inquired, receiving a faint nod as an answer. “Good. That saves us some time…”
Sha Yuan continued to listen, of course, but picked up his chopsticks to eat - or try to.
“The day your father handed me out to Tianlang-jun, the former ruler revealed to me that his mother had the gift of Prophecy,” the woman recalled. “My cousin got us a way into their Holy Mausoleum, and we tried Death’s Door on her.”
Listening on, the crown prince felt secretly hurt by the fact that his mentor had never mentioned her cousin to him before, but…
If it wasn’t for his trained mask, he’d be blinking in confusion at something else; he was being thrown into cold water, he realised. He was suddenly being confronted with a story that felt like it was missing a few steps from point A to B.
The concubine continued. “It failed. I ended up having to use a wish - which worked. Because we had brought her back, Tianlang-jun’s mother then rewarded us with two things; knowledge of our family’s locked path and a prophecy.”
Here, she took a second to breathe; she was bracing herself.
“In the locked path, we failed to revive her and went into our plans blind. We… infiltrated the three territories with a plan that was doomed to fail,” the assassin continued. “After Tianlang-jun’s death, we sought to overthrow the remaining rulers, but didn’t foresee the rise of the future Emperor. When he came into power, our family returned to the Endlesss Abyss to avoid becoming tools to the man or being annihilated altogether. All of us fled, including me - or tried to, at least…”
The transmigrator remained quiet, but his thoughts were loud. He was being bombarded with too much information.
Lady Kexin was responsible for the fact that Tian Xi was alive and around to blackmail him?!
It suddenly also made a lot of sense why extremely capable assassins with incredible abilities such as hers had never appeared in the story; they had returned to the shadows…!
But also… had his mentor just confessed to scheming against the king? And all of the other ones as well?
I mean… his thoughts started. I can’t exactly blame her, but…
They were planning to become Supreme Rulers themselves, weren’t they…? The assassins that, according to Lady Kexin’s own account, were ‘looking for their place in the hierarchy’ after returning from the abyss, were aiming for the top spot!
Or were they more the anarchist type…?
Either way, that wasn't the last confession - and not the most shocking one, either.
“We tried to change the fate ourselves first,” the concubine then said. “I wished for the future Emperor not to be conceived, but it failed. We went out to try and find Tianlang-jun in the Human Realm together with the woman that he was supposed to be with, but… that was the time your father started becoming a problem for us again - a real one because after we got rid of the previous Jiuchong-jun and he came in to power, he rallied the other territories up with the knowledge of what we could do…”
Sha Yuan internally sighed; his father somehow really insisted on causing his own demise, huh?!
“We were running out of time, so we decided to go along with the locked path - but naturally in a way that would allow us to change it up,” Lady Kexin continued. “Before your father made us the offer of me entering his harem and demanding I’d seal my powers, we had the Heavenly Demon run a prophecy on our plans, and she said we would be able to succeed. So, to follow the plan and as my last wish, I wished for Fatechangers with innate knowledge to find each of us sisters.”
The crown prince’s eyes widened even if he had tried to keep his mask intact.
“You are here because of me. You are what you are because of me. And I’m sorry…” his mentor spoke. “I didn’t think it would be the crown prince who’d appear as a Fatechanger… And I didn’t raise you for that reason, just so you know.”
Swallowing an only half-chewn piece of food, the transmigrator couldn’t help but cough a bit. Wait, so… she actually IS responsible for me having been sucked into this world…?!
And there were… others…?! In every territory, there was a Fatechanger?!
“My sisters have found theirs as well,” Lady Kexin revealed. “But I realised that… I should have been more specific when making the wish because every Fatechanger arrived in a form we didn’t exactly suspect… However, all except you have remained undetected by the rulers so far, so that’s something.”
Oh, great…! Yay…! Fuck! Me!
Sha Yuan was ever so slightly spiralling - but at least that made eating slowly very easy since he could barely look at any of the plates and think of eating.
This was all too much.
“Now as to why I’m in trouble…” the concubine then started. “Your father figured out that we’ve infiltrated the territories. He also knows I’ve wished for a Fatechanger. I was able to deter him from the fact that I know of our future, and he hasn’t yet asked about there being others like you in the other territories, but it won’t take long for him to figure it out, either. He’ll want answers, and he’ll want to know our plans…”
Well, fuck, he thought to himself, feeling a drop of sweat run down his neck. But what am I supposed to-
“So now, there are three options: either he’ll force me to confess, and he’ll kill me, my family rescues me, and we will still end up fleeing to the abyss in the future, or you drop hints that will make him believe he figured out our plans already - plans that preferably put me in a better light,” the woman listed. “If you choose to help me, you mustn’t worry about lying; Truthsayers cannot ensure accuracy when reading a Fatechanger. Your father won’t make use of one.”
That was good to know, but… what in the hell was he going to lie about? How could he turn this around for Kexin…?!
“Is he making you write down all you know?”
Sha Yuan once again nodded faintly.
“Thought so,” she softly sighed. “That is probably why he hasn’t come back to interrogate me again; he’s trying to see if he can figure it out with your account…”
Meaning that…
“If you’d be willing to help me, you could… potentially reinvent my family’s part in the future,” the Wishmaker suggested.
So… I’d just have to make it look like she’s doing it to help strengthen the fronts fighting Binghe…
But that was a gamble…
His father had consulted Seers before to check if the stories aligned… who was to say he wasn’t going to do it again? The transmigrator likely didn’t have to worry about the adjustments he’d make in Luo Binghe’s story, but that was only because the Seer Council was on his side in this! They wouldn’t necessarily cover for Lady Kexin, though!
The boy broke the rule for a second, very quietly saying one word; “Seers.”
“Don’t worry about them,” the assassin reassured him without hesitation. “If your father had wanted to consult Seers, he would have done so already. He’s trying to avoid relying on those, though; he obviously suspects I have connections, and given that shielding me might one day make a wish come true, he won’t trust them when it comes to me.”
A faint nod - not an answer, but a show of understanding.
“He trusts you a lot more than the Seers,” Lady Kexin then said. “But he trusts himself the most. You just have to make him think he figured something out… If you manage that, I might just survive…”
Silence reigned for a moment, then; both were lost in thoughts, speculations, and feelings.
But Sha Yuan also felt a headache coming up; too much information had been revealed to him - by the Seer Council, by his father, and by his mentor.
Why was it that every time he had just managed to calm himself down from a crisis, a new one arose? Why was he suddenly forced into some sort of boot camp for scheming?! Why him?!
That question also applied to the wish he had learned of.
Why him…?
As to why I cut the scene:
It was such an infodump that when I reread it, I figured you guys would pretty much feel like Sha Yuan getting bombarded with way too much information. I thought I’d make it more interesting by making the chapter follow Jiuchong-jun, trying to make sense of it! I then scattered that info in smaller parts to make the whole ordeal more digestible!
Chapter 21 - Sha Yuan on Cang Qiong Mountain
1 - After the beef sequence between Jiuchong-jun and Meng Jingyi
One hour. That was the window.
He had very willingly taken the artefact - which was nothing more than a shard, really - just to get away from those two!
Really, what the fuck was that about?! Do Demon Lords always pick stupid ego fights out of nowhere?! The transmigrator wondered. To be fair; Meng Jingyi had been the one who started it, and given that the man was a member of the Seer Council, which made him immediately a shithead, it wasn’t that much of a surprise.
Either way, after a short briefing in which he was told what to do, the crown prince found himself on Cang Qiong Mountain.
The second he was there, though, he was suddenly hit by the realisation of what he was doing; he, a demon, had invaded the greatest sect of the cultivator world in Proud Immortal Demon Way.
Again.
Naturally, he had turned invisible before even setting foot on there, but a shiver ran down his spine when he realised how alone he was in this.
Last time, there was an entire troop of demons there with him, but…
This time, it was just him.
If he were found out or accidentally stepped into some alarm ward, it would be over for him…
Luckily, his mission was quite simple: get in, shard in or under the pillow, get out. He had also been trained as an assassin, so working in the shadows should be easy enough… But he recalled how, after the invasion of the palace, his father naturally put a lot of effort into getting security up… why would Cang Qioing Mountain not do the same…?
Well, it had been possible for his father’s assistant to open a portal inside the sect’s barrier regardless, so it couldn’t be that bad… right?
The worries haunted the crown prince for a while, but as he walked out of the bamboo forrest and reached the woodshed Luo Binghe supposedly slept in, he found his concerns gradually lessen; the disciples here on Qing Jing Peak just passed by without sensing a single thing - and even when the Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu, that villain, walked out of the Bamboo House for a bit of fresh air, he didn’t seem to notice him nearby.
Perhaps his Stealth had actually gotten better after all…
That or…
Cultivators’ senses were really fucking dull.
One didn’t have to have Sonar to notice the presence of something unseen, nor did one need Sense to feel when things were off - yet, these cultivators all just went about their day!
No wonder we robbed you blind…!
Sha Yuan took a deep breath then, determined to get this over with as fast as possible and get back right away - but just when he was about to turn into the woodshed, he saw two people steering right towards it.
He had seen them before; Ming Fan and Ning Yingying.
The girl seemed upset with her shixiong, and the boy seemed to follow in an attempt to rectify the mistake.
“A-Luo left because of you! Because you and the others wouldn’t stop bullying him!”
“Xiao-shimei, that’s not true! We were never that harsh with him!” Ming Fan protested. “Consider where he went to; Bai Zhan Peak! Just like that demon had advised him to! This isn’t my doing, your shidi has taken the advice from a devil!”
“Stop it!” Ning Yingying barked at him, turning to get in his face. “Everyone here was horrible to him! Even Shizun sabotaged A-Luo! Of course, he left!”
“Xiao-shimei!” the boy pleaded. “Not so loud!”
The invisible demon found himself blinking; Luo Binghe had actually taken his advice…? That was actually shocking; he truly had changed the protagonist’s story already - just like Tian Xi had said…
And all of that by one short conversation…!
When Sha Yuan recovered from the initial shock, the two disciples were just passing by him, and for a split second, the demon felt the incredible urge to trip Ming Fan up, but managed to contain the desire.
With Luo Binghe now being a disciple of Bai Zhan Peak, punishment would find that bully tenfold!
You just wait… You’ll come to regret it all…
Once they disappeared into the shed to bring some wood to the Bamboo House, the intruder made his way off Qing Jing Peak, heading for the protagonist’s new home.
As to why I cut the scene:
I just didn’t feel like the scene was important enough. The revelation was transmitted without it anyway!
2
Sha Yuan regarded the sleeping boy, taking note of how Luo Binghe, who had previously been forced to sleep in a woodshed, was in the same dorm as all the other disciples, not needing to hide his shoes or anything.
He looked so much more at peace on Bai Zhan Peak… Well, he also looked a bit bruised, but so did all the rest.
Either way, Luo Binghe wasn’t hiding away and singled out; he was together with the others - even though those were known to be the biggest bullies of Cang Qiong Mountain.
Initially, the transmigrator had suggested Bai Zhan Peak simply because he’d be able to catch up on sword skills quite quickly if he were there, fighting all day, and because he’d likely end up an even better swordsman, but now, he felt like changing peaks had had a far greater effect than he had imagined.
The wronged, rejected, and shunned protagonist had found a place where he was welcome.
This realisation made it even harder to place the artefact under his pillow; it would inadvertently push him towards demonhood, away from the cultivators, eventually…
But Sha Yuan had no choice.
Either he’d do this, or he'd be in trouble on both the Seer Council front and that of his father.
I’m so sorry, little, white lotus… I hope you can forgive me one day...
With that, the artefact that was a mere shard had made it to Luo Binghe, and the invisible demon who had done the deed once again snuck off Cang Qiong Mountain, unnoticed.
As to why I cut the scene:
Pretty much for the same reasons as before; just not significant enough. I decided I would show Luo Binghe’s life on Bai Zhan Peak through him and not Sha Yuan.
Chapter 22 - End of night for Lady Ehuang and Lady Kaiming
Finally, the guests were gone.
Lady Ehuang hated celebrations on their own already; crowds could be so annoying, pretending not to want to jump at each other’s throats was ridiculous, and there was way too much noise…By the end of the night, when she could finally make her way to her room, she was always haunted by a damn headache.
This night was no different.
It made her miss her family; no superficial parties, no hanging out with people she didn’t give a fuck about, no expectations to behave like anyone but herself…
Really, all she needed and wanted was to lie down - which made Linguang-jun’s presence even worse; while it had not been uncommon for them to wordlessly walk the long corridors of the icy palace together, it had been weird when he had opened the door to her private quarters and walked inside.
They did not share rooms, after all.
The woman could naturally not tell the king’s brother to get the fuck out, but she crossed her arms and kept her distance.
“Jiuchong-jun’s boy is a special one, isn’t he?” the Ice Demon then started as he turned to her.
And as soon as those words had been spoken, Lady Ehuang’s entire being craved to open the Death’s Door over her husband’s life, hoping he would die on the spot. But, of course, she couldn’t.
Instead, she took a deep breath, then answered. “Indeed. From what I understand, elemental powers are uncommon to be found on the throne of the Central Territory.”
Linguang-jun let out a half-amused chuckle, then walked closer. “Are we pretending to be dumb?”
“I doubt it. Only one of us would have to pretend.”
“Careful,” the Ice Demon mused gently, but the cold air that was starting to freeze her lungs was telling her that he was done playing.
Lady Ehuang swallowed, her body tense but starting to involuntarily shake a bit from the extreme cold that was engulfing her. “What is it you want me to say, husband?”
“How about the truth?” he suggested, stepping closer, only coming to a halt when he stood right before her, looking down, knowing his cold bothered her. “How about you tell me about the boy?”
“You’re asking the wrong sister…” his wife said calmly, but he knew better than to believe her mask to reflect what she felt.
“I don’t think so, Ehuang,” the ice demon smiled, not too benevolent.
The assassin felt the ice that was creeping up her feet and ankles; Linguang-jun was making sure she was not going to run away from this conversation in any way.
“We both know it was you who threw the glass at the Southern crown prince,” Linguang-jun started up again. “We also both know I didn’t step in to help the situation out for the sake of the boy.”
“Why did you do it, then?”
“Because I had to see it from up close…” the ice demon smirked and leaned in a little. “How every single one of you moved to protect him…”
***
“We really tried to be quick, but it was a matter of mere minutes!” the young Tiger Demon explained as they entered their cave residence. “If it hadn’t been for Mobei’s Teleportation, we would have been in a lot more trouble!”
Shulin-jun smiled. “I was surprised to see you’ve been hanging out with that Sha prince.”
“I was also hanging out with the Northern crown prince, so it wasn’t that weird!” Nanfang chuckled. “That Sha has a bad temper, but he’s not that bad otherwise!”
The uncle regarded his nephew and moved a hand to pat the boy’s head a bit. “We’re keeping this ourselves, yes? Your father won’t want to hear you’re making friends with someone inferior like that…”
Chuckling a little, the crown prince smiled with an undertone of nervousness. “Right…!”
They then arrived in the corridor where their paths would separate them, and Shulin-jun gave his nephew’s chin a gentle scratch. “Goodnight, now. Rest well.”
“Goodnight, Shushu!” Nanfang chirped, turning to Lady Kaiming, then. “Goodnight, Shenshen!”
And with that, the couple went one way, the cup and his pet another.
“What a night,” Shulin-jun commented as they stepped into their room.
The moonlight shining through the panoramic opening serving as a window lit up the room enough for Kaiming to see without needing a Tiger Demon’s night vision. “Mh…”
She was about to take off the heavy coat, but her husband beat her to the chase, opening the small tie with gentle, careful hands that then threw the thing into the chest they had kept their winter clothing in. “That prince had it tough, huh?”
Lady Kaiming let out a sigh as she continued with the rest of her clothes. “With you being one of the reasons why…”
“That boy had no business insulting me,” the Tiger Demon casually argued, closing the chest, then. “Even if I had actually been mean about his circumstances, he should have known better than to pick a fight with a proper Demon Lord! Those princes are always the same, and their arrogance has to be curbed sooner rather than later…”
“So you have taken on the noble task of educating him,” the woman flatly commented as she got onto the bed, lying down. “How admirable.”
Shulin-jun chuckled and joined, lying down on top of her - something he did pretty much every night since finding out she liked getting compressed under his weight a little, relaxing when he did it. “At least I would have, if you had let me…”
Lady Kaiming took a deep breath and exhaled again, closing her eyes in an attempt to relax. “Starting a fight like that over the insult voiced by a child…”
“That child is going to grow up soon, my dear,” the tiger argued with an amused tone. “Are those not the words you used when you helped me raise my nephew? That these things should be addressed early on?”
Her hands moved to his back - not to caress him but to steal his warmth. “You got me there…”
At that, Shulin-jun leaned back just enough so their faces were right in front of each other. “I wish we could have cups together without them being disgusting little abominations…”
“You think I’d just give you children?”
The Tiger Demon smirked a little. “You’ve always struck me as someone who likes them!”
“I can only like a person, not an entire age group,” his wife had him know.
“Is that so?” Shulin-jun mused, now grinning. “So when your tone became soft, your words tender, and your touch gentle to soothe me into not attacking the boy, it was because you liked him?”
Lady Kaiming was quiet but looked directly into the golden, in this light ever so slightly glowing eyes of her husband.
“What?” he softly chuckled. “Did a cat eat your tongue?”
As to why I cut the scene:
The chapter was already long lmao, plus I figured I could steer towards the uncles trying to figure out what was going on in future chapters. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have cut this since I was actually enjoying shedding light on the relationships and situations Kexin’s sisters are in!
Chapter 23 - Siblings
Sha Yuan hated to tell his siblings he wouldn’t be around. He loved spending time with them, and they loved having him around. “I have to get ready. Proper regalia and all…”
“Huh?!” Hualing let out. “The hell do you have to put on proper regalia for? And why weren’t we told?!”
Yuming rolled her eyes a bit. “Probably because we aren’t invited…”
“Fucking bullshiit!” the older sister sneered. “Gege, what’s happening?”
The crown prince sighed. “I can’t tell you the specifics, but I have to attend a meeting with some important guests about something…”
Jiawei raised a brow. “Does it have anything to do with whatever earned you that house arrest?”
When the older prince nodded, Yuming crossed her arms. “This is ridiculous! I get that you can’t tell us without getting in trouble, but what are you and Father hiding from us?! It’s been a few months now, and it keeps getting weirder!”
“Yeah, what the fuck?!” Hualing let out.
“It really is weird…” the younger prince agreed.
Cao Gang, who had been standing nearby, eventually brought an end to their conversation. “Enough. Training has begun, and your brother has to get ready. He’d do well to remember not letting important guests wait.”
Letting out a dramatic sigh, the crown prince gave up. “Enjoy your training. Think of me, dearly beloved!”
Gui opened a portal for him, chuckling. “This isn’t a funeral, you know…”
As to why I cut the scene:
It would have been a small intro before the meeting, and I cut it because it didn’t add much. I’m planning for a more significant harem member chapter in that regard, so the impact of this wouldn’t really have compared anyway.