The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu finally let out a cold snort. ”Good, you know what’s best for you.”

”Then start by telling me what the deal is with this Qilin Sect.”

Sighing, Mo Long had no choice but to recount the origins of the Qilin Sect.

It turned out that several hundred years ago, when the Sect Master of the Qilin Sect was still just a Loose Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had stumbled upon the Demon Soul Pearl containing Mo Long’s remnant soul.

To quickly repair his remnant soul and pave the way for his future rebirth, Mo Long had manipulated him. He offered to help the then-weak man grow stronger in exchange for his servitude.

Mo Long had been a Great Demon Cultivator in the Body Integration Realm before he died, and his knowledge was not much less extensive than Lu Sangjiu’s.

Despite being a Cultivator of mediocre talent, the man progressed rapidly under Mo Long’s guidance. In just a few hundred years, he advanced from Foundation Establishment to Divinity Transformation and even single-handedly established the Qilin Sect as his own power base.

However, Mo Long needed a constant supply of human souls to quickly repair his own remnant soul. Combined with the fact that he had mastered a host of Evil Techniques in his lifetime, the Qilin Sect was destined to stray from the righteous path. It was only natural that it would become an organization of Evil Cultivators.

Mo Long said sheepishly, ”That kid and I just had a partnership. He helped me mend my remnant soul, and I helped him get stronger. That’s all there was to it.”

Lu Sangjiu now had a general understanding of the situation. Thinking of the Qingyu Secret Realm, she asked another question, ”Were you the one who told him about the altar in the Qingyu Secret Realm?”

Mo Long, however, was taken aback. ”What altar?”

Lu Sangjiu was stunned too. ”You don’t know?”

Mo Long shook his head blankly. ”I don’t.”

His Divine Soul was currently inside Lu Sangjiu’s Sea of Consciousness, so she could tell with a single glance whether he was lying.

He was telling the truth. He really didn’t know about it.

’A bad feeling suddenly welled up in my heart... From my first encounter with the Qilin Sect, I could clearly sense that the altar in the Qingyu Secret Realm was critically important to them.’

’After finding Mo Long’s remnant soul, I subconsciously assumed he was the true power behind the Qilin Sect. But now, he doesn’t even know this crucial secret!’

This didn’t add up. Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but press on urgently, ”Then what about him infiltrating the major Cultivation Sects with his forces?”

Mo Long looked even more bewildered, perhaps even more shocked than Lu Sangjiu. ”Huh? He was capable of that?”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Damn it,’ she thought. ’I thought I’d caught a big fish, but it turns out he’s a clueless idiot who doesn’t know a thing!’

For a moment, she felt a complex mix of emotions.

After a long silence, she sighed and asked with little hope, ”Then do you know where the Qilin Sect’s Sect Master learned the curse technique he uses?”

Mo Long sensed Lu Sangjiu’s disappointment and was feeling uneasy. But upon hearing this question, his eyes lit up, and he answered hurriedly, ”I know about that!”

He stated with a hint of pride, ”I taught him all the Evil Techniques he knows, including the curse technique!”

”My curse technique is incredibly powerful, but that kid only scratched the surface. He’s quite useless.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’You’re actually proud of that, aren’t you? The deaths of all those people who fell to the Qilin Sect’s Evil Techniques should be on your head!’

Mo Long, completely oblivious to Lu Sangjiu’s speechless anger, kept talking.

”Speaking of which, while he’s a good-for-nothing, his disciple is actually quite talented in this area... What was her name again?”

He wracked his brain for a long moment before saying uncertainly, ”I think it was... Qin Miao?”

’Qin Miao?’ Lu Sangjiu thought back. She hadn’t seen anyone by that name at the camp these past few days.

A thought struck her. She suddenly remembered the woman who had used a Puppetry Technique to place a curse on her in plain sight... ’How could I have forgotten about her?’

”What’s her cultivation?”

”I don’t know. The last time I saw her was several decades ago.”

Mo Long recalled carefully, ”That girl’s talent is extremely high, far superior to her master’s. She had already advanced to Divinity Transformation back then. By now, she’s probably at the Mid-stage or even Late Stage?”

It wasn’t strange for a talented disciple to surpass their master; it happened all the time.

’Besides, that level of cultivation matches the skill required to fool so many Divinity Transformation Cultivators with a puppet. It must have been her.’

But she found one thing strange. ”Why haven’t you seen her in so long?”

Mo Long said nonchalantly, ”How should I know? Maybe she got too strong, and her master couldn’t stand her anymore.”

’That’s clearly nonsense,’ Lu Sangjiu thought. ’Otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken the risk of planting a curse on me to lure me to Qingyun State.’

It seemed Mo Long truly only cared about whether he was being fed living people and paid no mind to anything else.

She wasn’t going to get any answers from him. Lu Sangjiu could only set the matter aside for now.

”Last question. Do you know if the Qilin Sect’s Sect Master was in frequent contact with anyone from outside the Qilin Sect?”

”Actually, yes,” Mo Long said, a bit sullen. ”It’s only been happening for the last hundred years or so. But the person is very mysterious, and that kid intentionally kept it from me, so I don’t know who it is.”

Lu Sangjiu frowned. ”Any distinguishing features?”

Mo Long held it in for a long moment before finally squeezing out, ”...It’s a man.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Oh, thank you so much,’ she fumed internally. ’With that one sentence, you’ve helped me rule out a good half of the entire population of the Spirit Void Realm!’

’Tch. Utterly useless!’

She said nothing. Mo Long couldn’t help but ask nervously, ”Um... I’ve told you everything I was supposed to. S-shouldn’t you let me go now?”

”Oh,” Lu Sangjiu said. ”Logically, yes, I should let you go. But...”

A sense of foreboding instantly washed over Mo Long.

Sure enough, he then heard her say in a chilling tone, ”But unfortunately for you, I don’t just enjoy breaking promises... I also enjoy devouring souls!”

Mo Long let out a shriek of disbelief. ”You tricked me!”

But before he could protest, Lu Sangjiu had already seized the screaming wisp of his remnant soul and swallowed it whole.

*Burp.* Crunchy. Tastes like chicken.

Lu Sangjiu was very clear about who she was. She was a Demon Cultivator, not some honorable person who always kept their word!

’Mo Long is a cunning bastard. If I don’t finish him off now, he’ll just go and manipulate someone else into becoming an Evil Cultivator and wreaking havoc on the world.’

’Giving him a chance to live means denying one to countless innocent people. As if I’d ever let him go!’

After eliminating the foreign entity in her Sea of Consciousness, Lu Sangjiu opened her eyes again.

”Xie Ningyuan.”

She called out to him. Turning her head to meet his questioning gaze, she announced with the utmost seriousness, ”I think I might have stumbled upon a massive conspiracy.”

Xie Ningyuan: ...?

’She was just resting with her eyes closed. Now she opens them and says she’s stumbled upon a massive conspiracy?’

He was silent for a moment before asking with a look of concern, ”Did you have a nightmare?”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

She took some time to properly explain the whole story of the Qilin Sect to Xie Ningyuan.

She said, ”I’ve killed the Qilin Sect’s Sect Master, Great Elder, and Second Elder—all three of their known High-level cultivators. It seems like they’re a headless snake, a scattered mess.”

”But now, besides the known Qin Miao, it’s highly likely there’s someone else behind the scenes. And that person seems to be hatching some unspeakable plot.”