The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu had no memory of exchanging Communication Talismans with Gu Jue, but she did recall Luo Linlang saying that he was the one who had taken her back to their camp that night.

’Perhaps... it was then?’

’What could Gu Jue want with her all of a sudden?’ A little curious, she opened the Communication Talisman.

Since Luo Linlang was there, Lu Sangjiu didn’t want her to overhear and start gossiping again, so she used her Divine Sense to read the message.

Gu Jue’s cool, aloof voice resounded in her mind.

”Fellow Daoist Lu, I wanted to talk to you about the Qilin Sect.”

At the mention of the Qilin Sect, Lu Sangjiu’s expression immediately grew serious.

With Duan Xingyun in a coma, Lu Sangjiu and her faction now carried little weight.

This was especially true with Bai Heng targeting her. The Sect Leader was wary of Bai Heng and, in the end, wasn’t as reliable a backer as Duan Xingyun.

That was why after leaving the Qingyu Secret Realm, Lu Sangjiu had avoided making trouble for herself by not reporting the matter of the Qilin Sect to the Sect Leader.

Gu Jue had said he would investigate, so she planned to just wait and piggyback on whatever information he found.

She just hadn’t expected news from Gu Jue to arrive so quickly.

”After leaving the Secret Realm, I reported the matter of the Qilin Sect to my master.”

”My master took this very seriously. He discussed it with our Sect Leader overnight, and they reported the matter to the Immortal Alliance.”

The so-called Immortal Alliance was an organization the Cultivation World had formed several hundred years ago to resist the Western Demon Realm.

Each of the major sects involved sent a representative, and together they formed the initial Immortal Alliance.

After several hundred years of development, the Immortal Alliance now had its own disciples and had become a considerable power in its own right.

However, because its core personnel were all from the major sects, the Immortal Alliance had never managed to become truly independent. It now acted more like a representative body for the various major sects.

Nowadays, whenever a sect had an issue that required external investigation and intervention, it was the Immortal Alliance that stepped in to resolve it.

The Qilin Sect affair was no small matter, so it was perfectly appropriate for the Immortal Alliance to step in.

Gu Jue’s voice continued, ”The Immortal Alliance members reached the Qilin Sect as quickly as possible, but the place was already deserted when they arrived.”

”Although they had cleaned the sect grounds meticulously, the Immortal Alliance’s subsequent investigations confirmed that someone in the sect was practicing an Evil Technique.”

Lu Sangjiu narrowed her eyes. ’Evil Cultivators.’

Many people liked to lump Evil Cultivators and Demon Cultivators together, but in reality, orthodox Demon Cultivators simply cultivated normally using Demonic Qi. At most, due to the fierce and untamed culture of the Western Demon Realm, most Demon Cultivators were just more hot-tempered and tended to act as they pleased.

An Evil Cultivator, however, could be either an Immortal Cultivator or a Demon Cultivator.

They strengthened their cultivation through wicked means, including but not limited to extracting the souls and blood of the living. In short, mastering an Evil Technique was usually accompanied by the brutal deaths of countless beings.

Therefore, among both Immortal and Demon Cultivators, Evil Cultivators were a scourge that anyone had the right to eliminate.

Thinking back on the behavior of the Qilin Sect disciples in the Secret Realm, she was certain it wasn’t a simple case of one or two Evil Cultivators. It was highly likely that the entire sect was pooling its strength to support a select few, while everyone else was complicit.

This time in the Qingyu Secret Realm, the Qilin Sect disciples hadn’t just been after the Lightly Arrogant True Monarch in the desert. They had also deliberately hunted and killed disciples from other sects and might have even mastered a special method for entering the realm.

In short, their series of actions made it clear that they were a significant power with even greater ambitions. There was definitely a conspiracy afoot.

And this conspiracy was most likely aimed at the entire Cultivation World.

After hearing what Gu Jue said, Lu Sangjiu’s mind raced. A faint sense of worry crept in, along with an even more urgent desire to grow stronger.

Only after sorting through this information did she reply to Gu Jue.

”Thank you for the information. Also, about the other night... I drank too much and don’t remember what happened, but my senior sister told me you brought me back to the camp. Thank you for that.”

Lu Sangjiu didn’t overthink it, simply taking the opportunity to thank him for that as well.

After she sent the message, there was a long silence before he replied, ”You... really don’t remember?”

His tone was somewhat complex, which made Lu Sangjiu pause.

’Huh? Is there something I’m supposed to remember?’

With a puzzled expression, Lu Sangjiu hesitated for a moment before cautiously replying, ”Did I... make a drunken fool of myself?”

’That couldn’t be it, right? Then again, she’d never been that drunk before, so she really wasn’t sure what her drunken comportment was like.’

This time, his reply was swift. ”If you don’t remember, then never mind.”

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

’Now that he put it that way, it really felt like something had happened.’

But Gu Jue didn’t give her a chance to press the issue, steering the conversation back to the original topic.

”In any case, the Qilin Sect is very dangerous. We killed many of their members in the Secret Realm. Now that they’re lying low, they might be looking for an opportunity to take revenge on us.”

”You need to be extra careful from now on. It’s best not to go off anywhere by yourself.”

Lu Sangjiu was a little touched to hear Gu Jue showing such concern for her.

’Gu Jue is a genuinely good person. When I think about it that way, Ye Zhiyao’s taste in men isn’t half bad.’

’It’s just that if someone so wonderful were to end up with Ye Zhiyao, it would be like planting a beautiful flower in a pile of manure.’

’But now that I’ve wrecked the plot, Gu Jue doesn’t have a favorable impression of Ye Zhiyao, so the two of them probably won’t end up together, right?’

With that in mind, she replied to Gu Jue, ”Don’t worry. I’m in the territory of the Gold and Silver Gate, waiting for the Sword Seizing Conference to start. There are so many people here right now; they wouldn’t be foolish enough to make a move against me here.”

’Thinking about it, maybe boarding Xiang Qian’s ship was a good thing after all. Otherwise, I might have actually run into assassins from the Qilin Sect on my journey.’

’After all, not only did I kill many of their members, I also snatched away the Lightly Arrogant True Monarch’s inheritance...’

「Lingjian Sect.」

”Senior Brother, are you in?”

Hearing Liu Xi’s voice outside, Gu Jue put away his Communication Talisman and answered coolly, ”Come in.”

Liu Xi pushed the door open, glanced cautiously at Gu Jue’s expression, and said in a wheedling tone, ”Senior Brother, please don’t be angry with me anymore. I know I was wrong.”

She had caused trouble again a few days prior, earning a lecture from Gu Jue, who had given her the cold shoulder ever since.

Now, thinking his anger must have subsided, she had come to act cute, hoping to smooth things over and move past the incident.

Gu Jue’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at Liu Xi with a hint of exasperation.

”Junior Sister, you’re not a child anymore. It’s time for you to be more sensible.”

”I had thought you would do some self-reflection after leaving the Secret Realm, but you continue to act as you always have. It’s truly disappointing.”

Liu Xi said hastily, ”I have been reflecting! I realize now that my abilities are still lacking, so I’ve decided I need more practical experience!”

”I came to tell you, Senior Brother, that Master has been invited to watch the Sword Seizing Conference at the Gold and Silver Gate. I plan to go with him. I can participate in the matches and gain some dueling experience...”

Before Liu Xi could finish, she was interrupted by Gu Jue. ”...I’ll go with you.”

”Huh?” Liu Xi stared at him, baffled. ”But Master said he already asked you, and you refused...”