The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Xie Ningyuan said hesitantly, ”I noticed that as well, but I gathered all these items from various Cave Heaven Blessed Lands. Wouldn’t it make sense for them to be a bit more potent?”

Lu Sangjiu said, ”...No, that’s very strange!”

She stated firmly, ”It would be incredible for a normal person to find one or two special items, but you have this many. How is that not strange?”

”At the very least, it means you have exceptionally good luck.”

Xie Ningyuan couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. ”Me... A perfectly good Buddha Son, plagued by a Heart Demon for so many years. You call that good luck?”

And now that his Heart Demon was finally gone, he was suffering a backlash from his Cultivation Technique. He’d never known a moment of peace.

”Er...” Lu Sangjiu was at a loss for words, realizing she couldn’t really argue with that.

”But that has to do with your personal cultivation. I don’t think that counts as ’luck,’ does it?”

She scrambled to salvage her argument, quickly bringing up other examples.

”There’s one more thing that’s especially noteworthy.”

She said with a serious expression, ”In the beginning, Ye Zhiyao’s ’protagonist halo’ was incredibly strong. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t cause her any harm.”

”Later, I tried to seize her opportunities, but all sorts of accidents would always happen to stop me. You were there at the time; you must have seen it all.”

Xie Ningyuan recalled their first meeting and nodded. ”Now that you mention it, Ye Zhiyao does seem to have some uncanny luck about her.”

”But!” Lu Sangjiu grew frustrated at the memory. ”But back then, no matter how hard I tried, I failed. Yet you easily took away the most important thing there—the Ten Thousand Yang Pill.”

”None of the rest of us could do it, only you. Why?”

Xie Ningyuan’s brows furrowed slightly as he grasped her implication. ”...But you succeeded later on, didn’t you?”

Lu Sangjiu explained, ”That’s because the incident with the Ten Thousand Yang Pill weakened Ye Zhiyao’s ’protagonist halo’! That’s why I was able to succeed when I risked everything again later. And each time I succeed, her ’protagonist halo’ weakens a little more.”

”Now, it’s not that difficult for me to seize opportunities from her anymore.”

She concluded seriously, ”Considering all of this, plus your innate Buddha Heart, and the fact that the story outline from the Pseudo Heavenly Dao doesn’t mention your existence at all, I have reason to suspect... that you were an Upper Realm Cultivator in your past life.”

Xie Ningyuan had already started to grasp her point over the course of their discussion, so he wasn’t overly surprised when she finally voiced it.

”But if I was an Upper Realm Cultivator, why would I have come to this realm?”

Lu Sangjiu speculated, ”Perhaps you died and were reincarnated at random. Or maybe you were killed by an enemy in the Upper Realm, and someone sent your soul here for protection. Or perhaps you chose to be reborn here to undergo a tribulation?”

”There are many possibilities, but based on the sheer power of your Bodhi Pearl, I’d say there’s a ninety-percent chance you were an Upper Realm Cultivator.”

’What normal person has a symbiotic treasure? Especially one this ridiculously powerful!’

Xie Ningyuan’s expression grew solemn. After a long, pensive silence, he spoke softly, ”If that’s really the case, then do you think... the Pseudo Heavenly Dao might be targeting me?”

Lu Sangjiu froze. She had never considered that possibility.

After a moment’s thought, she said, a little uncertain, ”But if it is targeting you, why not just get rid of you directly? Why take such a roundabout approach?”

Xie Ningyuan guessed, ”Perhaps... there are restrictions?”

”Of the three possibilities you mentioned, the last two would have been arranged in advance, not the random reincarnation one. If so, there must have been preparations made beforehand—at the very least, to prevent my enemies from the Upper Realm from taking the opportunity to ambush me, no?”

”That makes sense,” Lu Sangjiu conceded.

Xie Ningyuan continued, ”Take what you said, for example. The story outline the Pseudo Heavenly Dao provided for this world never mentioned me. Could it be that because my status is special, it’s unable to control my destiny?”

Lu Sangjiu’s eyes lit up. ”...That makes perfect sense!”

She was convinced, and her expression grew even more grave. ”But doesn’t that put you in incredible danger?”

Seeing her reaction, Xie Ningyuan simply smiled and shook his head. ”I’m just speculating. You don’t need to take it to heart.”

’Besides, I’m on the verge of getting myself killed as it is,’ he thought. ’Who knows if I even have a future? No sense in borrowing trouble.’

’Of course, even if I’m lucky enough to survive, I still won’t be worried.’

’That entity and the Cultivators of this realm are natural adversaries. Whether it’s targeting me or not, we are bound to fight it to the very end.’

’So, no matter what, there’s no need to dwell on it. I just have to follow my heart and keep moving forward.’

After telling Xie Ningyuan everything, Lu Sangjiu felt inexplicably lighter, and she had indeed received some useful feedback from him.

She couldn’t help but remark with a sigh, ”I really should have told you sooner. I would’ve felt this relief much earlier.”

”It’s not too late,” Xie Ningyuan said, facing her with a faint smile on his lips.

He casually plucked a flower petal from her hair and said naturally, ”In any case, then and now, I have always stood firmly on your side.”

”We are kindred spirits. We always have been.”

THUMP THUMP.

Lu Sangjiu heard her own heart pound twice, hard.

She nervously clenched her fists, forcing an unnatural smile. ”Why so sentimental all of a sudden...”

”We already agreed we’re partners, right? No need to go around emphasizing it... Haha...”

As she spoke, she tried to hide her fluster by playfully punching him on the shoulder.

Xie Ningyuan, who was almost sent flying off the cliff by her punch: ”...”

’Leave it to her to be literally lethal when she gets shy.’

The atmosphere froze in awkward silence. But seeing her mortified expression, Xie Ningyuan couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Instantly relieved, Lu Sangjiu started laughing along with him.

The faint light of dawn fell upon their smiling faces, freezing the moment into a beautiful memory for them both.

By the time the two of them returned, the others were growing anxious.

The moment Luo Linlang saw them, she shot up to greet them. ”What took you two so long? If you didn’t come back soon, I was going to go up there and drag you down myself!”

She paused, then pulled Lu Sangjiu aside and whispered, ”Little Junior Sister, you didn’t get taken advantage of, did you?”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Senior Sister, everyone here is a Golden Core Cultivator. Do you really think whispering is going to work?’

She didn’t want to deal with Luo Linlang, but faced with that blazing stare, she could only whisper back awkwardly, ”No! Don’t be ridiculous!”

Luo Linlang breathed a sigh of relief. ”Good, he behaved himself.”

Lu Sangjiu was speechless. Thankfully, Gu Jue walked over, giving her a perfect excuse to escape Luo Linlang.

Gu Jue got straight to the point. ”Fellow Daoist Lu, I’m returning to the Lingjian Sect.”

Lu Sangjiu was taken aback. ”So suddenly? Is it for something urgent?”