The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Ye Zhiyao had struggled for a long time, sustained only by the thought of finding some treasure.

How could she possibly accept such an outcome? She immediately charged into the room and, refusing to accept it, began rummaging around everywhere.

Looking at her, it was clear she had completely dropped her act in front of them, no longer putting on a pretense.

Gu Jue’s brow furrowed slightly. Recalling her behavior in the Illusion Realm, he had a clear picture of her true nature.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’Trusting Lu Sangjiu was the right call, after all.’

Seeing Ye Zhiyao go in, he tilted his head slightly toward Lu Sangjiu. ”Should we go in too?”

Lu Sangjiu nodded. ”There are three rooms. Let’s split up.”

After a moment, she lowered her voice. ”We don’t necessarily have to find Magic Treasure and Elixir Pills. Pay attention to anything that seems strange, and don’t overlook it. We still don’t know how to get out of here, after all.”

Gu Jue and Xie Ningyuan agreed. Finding a safe way out was far more important than hunting for treasures that might not even exist.

So upon hearing Lu Sangjiu’s words, they both nodded. One went left and the other right, each heading toward a separate room.

Lu Sangjiu, meanwhile, entered the middle room, where Ye Zhiyao already was.

The central area was actually two rooms: a kitchen and an outer hall for dining that also served as a corridor.

The hall contained a dining table and two chairs. A portrait of a beautiful woman hung on the wall, but other than that, there was nothing else.

That was why Ye Zhiyao hadn’t lingered, having already charged into the kitchen.

Lu Sangjiu glanced around before her eyes finally settled on the portrait of the beautiful woman.

The painting was covered in dust, making its subject difficult to see clearly. However, the entire piece was devoid of any Spiritual Power fluctuations, which was enough to prove it was just an ordinary painting.

This was also why Ye Zhiyao had paid it no mind whatsoever.

Lu Sangjiu, however, not wanting to miss a single clue, grabbed the bottom of the painting and gave it a vigorous shake.

Dust immediately showered down, and the figure in the painting was finally revealed.

The portrait was of a stunningly beautiful woman with a cool, detached expression. Her eyes seemed to be looking directly at Lu Sangjiu.

Though her face was expressionless, Lu Sangjiu inexplicably sensed an aura of acceptance and compassion emanating from her.

It was a profound, almost mystical feeling that was difficult to put into words.

Lu Sangjiu stared in a daze for a long moment. ”Are you... the master of this place?”

Of course, the painting did not answer.

And among all the portraits of past masters that had been passed down, she had never seen anyone who resembled this woman. ’I have no idea who she is.’

After examining the rest of the painting for a while and finding no other secrets, Lu Sangjiu was about to turn away when a sudden impulse struck her. She moved the painting once more.

This time, she looked at the wall behind it.

The wall appeared perfectly normal, but for a brief instant, she thought she had felt a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

Just as she was about to take a closer look, Ye Zhiyao emerged from the kitchen.

Not wanting to get into a confrontation with her, Lu Sangjiu immediately pretended she hadn’t noticed anything and turned toward the kitchen.

Ye Zhiyao shot the painting a suspicious glance but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She did, however, find the way the woman in the portrait seemed to look at her incredibly annoying.

She frowned. The failure to find any treasure had put her in a foul mood, and she impulsively raised a hand, unleashing a blast of Spiritual Power to destroy the painting.

At that exact moment, Gu Jue came out of one of the side rooms. Seeing what was happening, he immediately intervened to stop her, preventing the blast of Spiritual Power from destroying the artwork.

”What are you doing?”

Seeing her Spiritual Power blocked, Ye Zhiyao was furious. ”None of your business!”

Gu Jue’s expression was just as cold. ”This is someone else’s home. We’re already intruding and disturbing our predecessors. How can you then try to destroy their belongings?”

Ye Zhiyao was not pleased with his lecturing tone and sneered. ”Spare me the righteous act.”

With that, she ignored him and walked straight into the room he had just come from.

Gu Jue couldn’t be bothered to argue with her further. He had intended to go find Lu Sangjiu, but after taking two steps, he suddenly stopped. As if drawn by some unseen force, he turned his gaze to the portrait on the wall.

For an instant, his eyes seemed to lock with the woman’s in the portrait. A wave of vertigo washed over him, and his consciousness felt as if it were being pulled into another space.

When Gu Jue came to, he found himself standing before a pleasure barge... ’Isn’t this the exact boat from the painting?’

Standing on the prow was the very same woman from the portrait, her calm gaze fixed upon him on the shore.

Gu Jue was stunned for a moment, then he gave the woman a respectful bow. ”This junior pays his respects to you, Senior.”

He could sense that the woman meant him no harm, so he naturally responded with courtesy.

The woman said nothing, but the pleasure barge began to drift slowly toward the shore.

A moment later, she moved, appearing on the shore directly in front of Gu Jue.

”Gu Jue, do you know why I wished to see you?”

Gu Jue was taken aback. ”Senior, you know who I am?”

’Or could it be,’ he wondered, ’that she’s been watching us ever since we entered this Secret Realm? Is that how she knows my name?’

Seeing his surprise, the woman just smiled. ”I don’t just know you; I also know the other three outside. In other words, I know everyone on the Lingxu Continent—down to every blade of grass and every tree.”

That was quite a claim. Gu Jue’s expression filled with doubt; he clearly thought she was just being intentionally mysterious.

The woman, however, simply looked at him and slowly uttered a sentence that shocked him even more.

”Because... I am the Heavenly Dao of this Spirit Void Realm.”

”Or, to be more precise, I am a sliver of will manifested by the Heavenly Dao.”

Gu Jue’s pupils contracted. He was clearly staggered by this revelation.

But more than anything, he was skeptical. ”Senior... how can you prove it?”

The woman was not angered by his suspicion. She simply held out her hand to him. ”Give me your hand.”

Gu Jue hesitated for a moment, but still sensing no ill will from the woman, he finally extended his own hand.

The woman took his hand and said softly, ”Close your eyes and feel.”

Gu Jue did as she said and closed his eyes. He felt himself dissolve, as if he had become a gust of wind, or a beam of Light.

He saw all of creation. He even saw his master, at that very moment, standing inside the Joyful Union Sect, speaking with an exquisitely beautiful woman.

In the next instant, he saw his own sect, where his martial brothers, their faces so familiar, were laughing and roughhousing just as they always did.

In that moment, he felt that he could perceive anything and everything in the world, just by willing it.

Soon, the woman released his hand. ”Now, do you believe me?”

Gu Jue slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with utter shock.

’That feeling just now... it was absolutely real. No Illusion Realm could ever achieve that.’

He could clearly sense that everything he had seen was real. He even felt a faint, indescribable connection—a bond—with all the living beings of this world.

After a long silence, he looked at the woman again. ”Are you... truly the Heavenly Dao Will?”

The woman nodded calmly. ”I have no reason to deceive you.”

At this, Gu Jue’s expression grew even more solemn. ”Then... why have you appeared before me? Or rather, why choose me?”