The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu thought that after she’d gone this far, Cangming would surely release Ye Zhiyao.

But... she had still underestimated Cangming’s madness!

His expression, which had been relatively calm, suddenly broke into a smile. It was a look of intense excitement.

”Ha... Hahahaha, I never expected to stumble upon such a treasure.”

His eyes glinted, a chilling smile playing on his lips. ”Tell me, if I eliminate that Tribulation Crossing Ancestor from the Seven Emotions Sect, what then? Of the remaining three at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage in the Cultivation World, two are on the verge of Ascension and daren’t use their cultivation freely. Will the last one be any match for my Western Demon Realm?”

Lu Sangjiu’s pupils contracted. She stared at Cangming in disbelief. ”...You’re going to attack the Cultivation World?”

Her reaction seemed to sting him, and his face instantly turned cold. ”You people can attack the Western Demon Realm, so why can’t we attack the Cultivation World?”

”Even though the lands outside the Western Demon Realm lack Demonic Qi and Demon Essence Stones for now, once we have the Cultivation World in our grasp, we can transform it into a paradise for Demon Cultivators sooner or later.”

”Those damn old bastards, how many people from the Western Demon Realm did they kill back then? Now that I have the chance, why shouldn’t I attack?”

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

She could understand Cangming’s desire for revenge, but the Immortals and Demons could actually coexist. It wasn’t necessary to fight to the death. Why must there be war?

She was also someone who believed in an eye for an eye, but she knew that if this continued, both sides would just be worn down by hatred. In the end, who would truly benefit?

Lu Sangjiu tried to persuade Cangming to abandon this absurd idea. ”War won’t do the Western Demon Realm any good! Besides, you’re only at the Body Integration Realm. How can you be so sure you can trap and kill someone at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage?”

”If you fail, a single cultivator at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage could wipe out more than half of the Western Demon Realm! Have you thought this through?!”

Lu Sangjiu was getting agitated. She forgot her plan to act meek and submissive, and instead, just like many years ago, she found herself arguing directly with Cangming over their conflicting ideals.

Seeing Lu Sangjiu berate him like this, Cangming froze, a dazed look in his eyes. It was as if he was seeing that other person standing before him again, completely rejecting all his ideas.

His expression suddenly turned cold. He lunged forward and grabbed Lu Sangjiu by the throat, his eyes filled with malice. ”Why do you always have to reject me?”

”Then and now, you never understand! Everything I do is for you!”

Lu Sangjiu struggled to breathe. To save herself, she summoned the Domination Map Blade and, without hesitation, swung it at his neck.

Of course, as expected, she failed to injure him.

The gap between an Integration Stage Cultivator and her was simply too vast. Even if he just stood there and let her hack away, she couldn’t kill him. It was merely a desperate struggle.

Although she failed to injure Cangming, the act seemed to snap him back to his senses. His grip suddenly loosened, and Lu Sangjiu fell to the ground, coughing violently.

Cangming looked down at her, his eyes swirling with an unreadable emotion. After a moment, his expression returned to calm.

”Lu Sangjiu, recognize your place. My decisions are not for you to question. If you want to live a long life, you’d better wise up.”

Lu Sangjiu was seized by a fit of coughing. By the time she recovered and looked up, Cangming was long gone.

She took out a mirror and looked. A ring of purple bruises circled her neck, a testament to the force Cangming had used.

A sharp pain shot through her neck at the slightest touch. Fuming, she gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath. ’He’s a real psycho!’

But once she had calmed down, she recalled Cangming’s words.

”Why do you always have to reject me?”

”Then and now, you never understand! Everything I do is for you!”

’That... doesn’t sound like something he should be saying to me, does it?’

Lu Sangjiu stroked her chin. ’Did he just get confused and mistake me for his ”white moonlight”?’

’Tsk, so his white moonlight must have always rejected and misunderstood him. Is that why he got so angry when I, the stand-in, did the same thing?’

Lu Sangjiu figured her guess was probably right. But that only made her more curious. ’Who exactly is this ”white moonlight” of Cangming’s?’

’Was it someone who showed up after I died? Maybe I should find a chance to ask around later?’

’From the looks of it, this person has a huge influence on him. If she’s not dead, or if I can find some other clues, maybe I can use her to persuade Cangming to change his mind?’

Then, Lu Sangjiu remembered something else... The business with the trafficking of Demon Cultivators. Ah Ming had told her it was connected to the Cold Crow Sect.

The person behind it was cultivating a Demon Flower and also seemed to be preparing for war. ’Could it be... they’re allies?’

At this thought, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but slap her forehead. She had really been led astray by that book.

’After coming to the Cold Crow Sect, I was so focused on understanding Cangming through the lens of that book. I only thought about his romantic drama with Ye Zhiyao and completely forgot that Cangming himself is an incredibly ambitious man!’

’How could he possibly be someone who would just get lost in romance?’

A faint, uneasy premonition grew in Lu Sangjiu’s heart. She had a feeling the war between Immortals and Demons was about to start much sooner than expected.

Duan Xingyun hurried to Yan Lingzhi’s room. ”Supreme Elder, Cangming sent another message! He says he won’t release Little Jiu or Ye Zhiyao and dares us to attack the Cold Crow Sect if we have a problem with it. What are we going to do?”

Duan Xingyun was frantic. He knew that Lu Sangjiu and Ye Zhiyao were important to the sect, but attacking the Western Demon Realm for their sake was hardly a reason that would convince the entire Cultivation World.

And if the Seven Emotions Sect were to face the Cold Crow Sect alone, it would be tantamount to mutual destruction... unless their Tribulation Crossing Ancestor was willing to intervene.

But that Tribulation Crossing Ancestor was Master Xuanming’s master. To get him to act, they would need Bai Heng’s group to make a move first. No matter how anxious they were, all they could do was worry.

Yan Lingzhi frowned slightly, not understanding either. ”Is Cangming insane? Why would he risk making an enemy of the Seven Emotions Sect just to keep two little Golden Core Stage disciples?”

They had already learned from Cangming that the rest of their people had been taken by the Divine Tomb Sect. It was no longer a secret that Li Qiancheng and the others were with them.

Since they knew the others were currently safe, they couldn’t spare the attention for them at the moment and had to let them be.

Yan Lingzhi was truly puzzled now, so he told Duan Xingyun to contact Li Qiancheng’s group and see if they had any idea what was going on.

As it turned out, Li Qiancheng’s group was just as baffled. They could understand holding Lu Sangjiu captive—that was for the Domination Map Blade.

But why insist on keeping Ye Zhiyao?

It was Luo Linlang who recalled Fa Shan mentioning he’d seen Ye Zhiyao in Cangming’s courtyard. She replied with a guess, ”Maybe... Cangming has taken a fancy to Ye Zhiyao? You know, a ’forced romance’ type of thing?”