Chapter 99: Will There Be New Novels?

Chapter 99 Will There Be New Novels in the Future?

By the time this month had completely passed, the exam candidates had already stopped their piano practice. However, Sheng Qingquan noticed that Li Hongli had not awakened at the time she was supposed to according to the plot.

She didn’t awaken, and without awakening, she wouldn’t cross over. Without crossing over, she wouldn’t lead all of humanity down the road to ruin.

Logically, this should be considered a good thing.

That is, assuming Sheng Qingquan had repeatedly checked the novel.

“No new credits have appeared. Not a single Qiankun Coin has been added.”

In other words, the doomsday crisis had not been resolved.

“Did I get the timing wrong?”

Sheng Qingquan instinctively thought.

But no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t deduce any other possible time from the plot. On the contrary, he found clear evidence woven into the text that Li Hongli had crossed over before the 30th.

“‘I need to buy a new light bulb tomorrow, and I might even have to call an electrician. My monthly budget probably got blown again. I’ve been waking up to pee a lot tonight—maybe I ate too much salt. I shouldn’t have had that fermented bean curd.’”

At first, Sheng Qingquan didn’t pay much attention to this passage. It wasn’t until he passed by the market on his way home and remembered a stall there that specialized in selling pickled vegetables, preserved radishes, and other appetizers.

Most of their appetizers were ordinary, nothing particularly outstanding. However, the stall owner’s homemade salted duck eggs were exceptional, and their fermented bean curd was the crown jewel.

To put it simply, even after the worlds merged and top-tier chefs became a dime a dozen—when even imperial cuisine could be tasted by ordinary people if they pinched pennies and splurged—this stall’s fermented bean curd remained the most raved-about in all of Yunteng City. Those who had tried it agreed it was the best they’d ever eaten.

Even now, people would drive dozens of kilometers just to buy a small piece of this half-dollar bean curd.

Delicious, cheap, and makes plain rice irresistible—it was the go-to fix for children who refused to eat and adults who had no appetite.

This fermented bean curd had many advantages, with only one drawback: its typical freshness window was extremely short. If not eaten within two or three days after purchase, the flavor would spoil, even if stored in the fridge.

And unlike supermarkets, this stall only sold it loose, not in jars.

So people always bought it fresh and ate it immediately.

Sheng Qingquan looked at the empty stall—the neatly arranged jars that had once been filled with appetizers were all gone. The only thing left was a line of chalk-written words on the counter:

[Owner's celebrating good news—we'll reopen on the 10th of next month.]

After asking the neighboring vendors, Sheng Qingquan learned that the stall owner had left several days earlier.

“He hasn’t been here since the 28th.”

Although people in the nearby neighborhoods generally didn’t buy mass-produced jarred fermented bean curd, Sheng Qingquan still checked with Li Hongli to confirm that she wouldn’t buy the bottled kind for convenience.

“I’ve been eating from that stall since I was a kid. I grew up buying from them. I tried some name-brand stuff out of curiosity before, but after realizing none were as good as theirs, I stopped wasting money.”

So, unless something weird happened, the fermented bean curd Li Hongli ate that day in the plot must have been from that market stall—likely purchased before the 28th, before the owner left.

A pregnant woman would be extra careful about food safety, so she wouldn’t have kept the fermented bean curd for too long. Based on the stall’s typical freshness window, the day she ate it couldn’t possibly have been after the 30th.

If she hadn’t bought the fermented bean curd before the 28th, then it would have had to be after the 10th of the next month. But considering she also heard music that day, the former scenario was way more probable.

Yet even after this month ended, after the market stall reopened, and even after the authorities secured fresh shipments of Wildflower Honey from the pixies—not only was doomsday a no-show, but it never came to pass.

She's stuck.

Sheng Qingquan thought of another possibility.

"The ability to world-hop is an uncontrollable ability Li Hongli gained after her bloodline awakened. This is already confirmed, as explicitly stated in the plot."

"It's known that Wildflower Honey has an effect on Li Hongli. Though the effect is slight, it still works."

"Given that Li Hongli had no control over her abilities after awakening, her initial awakening was clearly flawed."

"After obtaining Wildflower Honey, is she now strengthening her foundation, thus delaying her awakening?"

"It's like someone malnourished who could still go out to work and earn money for survival. However, not only would their efficiency be very low, but they might also pass out or even die from exhaustion."

"But if they receive support funds and use it to seek medical treatment and buy food to improve their health before working, they would naturally work more effectively without the burden of a weak body."

"The situation is the same."

"Li Hongli is continuously building up her foundation with Wildflower Honey. Although her awakening is delayed, once her foundation is strengthened, she should be able to wield her abilities freely—or at least with much greater control. She wouldn’t fail to notice when linking worlds."

Officials agreed with Sheng Qingquan’s speculation.

Most importantly, as Li Hongli consumed more Wildflower Honey, instruments finally detected her bloodline activating.

Some of her DNA was unlike normal humans.

It was also distinct from that of others who had consumed Wildflower Honey.

Scientists created a model using the collected data, and after running simulations, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

If the model was correct, the initial goal of giving Li Hongli Wildflower Honey would be achieved.

At least, after awakening, she would be able to connect or disconnect from the new world at will.

That alone was a huge win.

As long as she didn’t connect or cross over to the new world, Li Hongli would be safe, and so would everyone on Earth.

As for why the safety of all Earthlings was tied to Li Hongli, the novel didn’t explain. Currently, there were two theories.

One was that after world-hopping, the wheels of fate started turning, and Li Hongli directly gained this ability.

The other was that the race from which Li Hongli’s bloodline originated would, upon awakening, bind others for protection during their vulnerable phase.

Since Li Hongli was of mixed blood, the bound party automatically became the other source of her bloodline—humans.

In the plot, linking an entire world was likely due to shared origins, combined with the unexpected weakness of humans.

Because they were weak, linking was easy. And because they were weak, numbers made up for weakness.

Regardless of which theory was correct, giving Li Hongli Wildflower Honey would solve the problem.

The only problem left was the insufficient supply of Wildflower Honey. Even though Earth intentionally boosted trade quantities with the pixies, the amount obtained each time was limited.

Moreover, not all of it could be allocated to Li Hongli, as she couldn’t awaken quickly even with full access.

With insufficient supply, the time needed to strengthen her foundation seemed dragged on indefinitely.

This was also part of the agency’s strategy—to stall for time.

The longer they delayed, when she eventually awakened, no matter what surprises arose, given how fast Tianlanxing is evolving, what seems impossible now might not remain so in the future.

Taking it slow ensures success.

In short, they would dangle Wildflower Honey as a monthly lure to keep Li Hongli's bloodline from giving up and triggering an immediate awakening. This way, it would see the hope of a perfect awakening with a solid foundation but couldn’t achieve it all at once, leaving it no choice but to wait.

The scarcity of Wildflower Honey, once a disadvantage, became an asset instead through this strategy.

However, this also meant that the novel’s Qiankun Coin payout was indefinitely delayed. It implied that this apocalypse was postponed rather than resolved.

Likely, only after Li Hongli awakened would they see a definitive outcome.

But this led Sheng Qingquan to worry about one thing:

"The golden finger only ever shows one novel at a time. With this one in suspense, will a new apocalyptic novel appear?"

"If the old one doesn’t conclude, and a new one can’t arrive, then if another apocalyptic crisis emerges, wouldn’t Tianlanxing be completely unprepared?"

Though relying too much on the golden finger wasn’t ideal, who’d willingly pass up such an edge, especially in the face of danger?

Besides, Tianlanxing wasn’t banking entirely on this. The authorities had been working hard to grow stronger. Knowing the plot hadn’t made them complacent—on the contrary, the relentless crises kept them on their toes.

Precisely because of this awareness, Sheng Qingquan had always used the golden finger without worry, unafraid it would make the authorities complacent.

So when he realized the golden finger might temporarily stop functioning, Sheng Qingquan even regretted employing the delay tactic on Li Hongli.

The staff shared his unease after hearing his worries.

"Maybe I should brainstorm a better fix?"

"One that could quickly resolve this apocalypse without affecting the appearance of new novels."

But if a solution were that easy to find, they wouldn’t have resorted to delaying in the first place.

Sheng Qingquan was so troubled that he checked the novel twice daily—morning and night—hoping for either a spike in Qiankun Coins or a new doomsday novel.

He swore he’d never longed so hard for a fresh disaster.

Yet, even after the New Year passed, neither the balance nor a new novel appeared.

The calm was downright eerie.

It was as if the endless crises had cut humanity some slack for the New Year, giving them a break.

Amid the celebrations, Sheng Qingquan’s New Year wasn’t joyless, but beneath it lay a nagging undercurrent of worry.

Until the golden finger updated, he couldn’t relax, fearing that a new apocalyptic crisis might arrive unnoticed, catching them off guard.

Of course, the authorities would likely manage to stop it. But doing so would require far more resources, let alone staggering financial losses—and, most importantly, heavy casualties.

Sheng Qingquan naturally wanted to avoid all that.

With each passing day, his nerves frayed.

Then, one morning, as usual, the first thing Sheng Qingquan did upon waking was pull up the novel to check his Qiankun Coin stash.

It remained unchanged.

With a sigh, he tucked the novel aside and got up to start his day.

Just as Sheng Qingquan trudged into the bathroom dejectedly to wash up, brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, a sudden flash lit up before him. The familiar face in the mirror was replaced by a translucent page.

The novel materialized on its own.

The old novel had barely appeared when it was abruptly shoved aside by a new book.

The old novel staggered from the impact, and once it was pushed out, the new book strutted into place, taking over unceremoniously.

"Great, it didn’t affect the appearance of a new book!"

Though the old novel seemed completely pushed out, Sheng Qingquan was just thrilled at this moment.

He opened the old book to skim, confirming it was indeed the previous novel starring Li Hongli. The Qiankun Coin balance remained unchanged, just as before.

As for the new book, the Qiankun Coin balance matched the one displayed in the old book. Good—the coins were still interchangeable.

Reassured, Sheng Qingquan turned his attention to the new book’s contents.

Then he gagged on toothpaste, hacking violently.

"What? Xi Zhengtian discovered his underwear is missing?"