The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

A faint sense of unease settled in Lu Sangjiu’s heart. Unfortunately, she was trapped here and could do absolutely nothing.

But then, she suddenly remembered the key Cangming had given her last night.

’Well... he might be a bastard, but the stuff is innocent.’

Besides, when she left back then, she had left most of her belongings at the Moon Palace. They had probably all ended up in Cangming’s hands.

’This is just taking back my own things. It’d be a waste not to.’

With that thought, Lu Sangjiu went to the storeroom door. The moment she used the key to open it, the key dissipated into nothing.

’Tsk... so it was a one-time-use item?’

The items inside the storeroom were arranged very neatly. She swept her gaze across them... heh, most of them were indeed familiar.

’Have all my ”relics” been gathered here?’

’That’s not hard to understand. It must be another one of Cangming’s ”deeply affectionate” gestures, wanting to keep my things close to him.’

Lu Sangjiu didn’t hesitate for a second, stuffing everything into her storage bag, planning to leave him nothing.

However, as she tried to leave, a restriction at the doorway repelled her, the force of the blow nearly making her vomit blood.

”What’s going on?”

She frowned slightly. There was no restriction when she came in, so why did one suddenly appear on her way out?

’Did Cangming deliberately set a trap to lock me in the storeroom?’

’But that shouldn’t be it. Dealing with me is as easy for him as crushing an ant. Why would he need to resort to such underhanded tricks?’

Then, a thought struck Lu Sangjiu. ’Could it be...?’ She hesitated for a moment before taking all the items she had just packed and putting them back.

Finally, she carefully sifted through them and chose a Water Spirit Pearl.

A Water Spirit Pearl was a treasure formed by absorbing the world’s water vapor, immensely helpful to those with a Water Spirit Root.

As for Lu Sangjiu herself, Magic Treasures and talismans were of little use to her at the moment. There were also no Elixir Pills here that could raise her cultivation. So, after some thought, she decided against picking something for herself.

Luo Linlang, on the other hand, possessed the Jue Pearl and the Word Spirit Technique, both of which were things others coveted. She desperately needed the ability to protect herself.

Lin Lang had even thought of sharing the Spirit Stones she earned with her; Lu Sangjiu certainly couldn’t forget her at a time like this.

’It just so happens there’s a Water Spirit Pearl here. It should be a great help to her. This is the one.’

After stowing the Water Spirit Pearl, Lu Sangjiu casually grabbed a few other items and tentatively tried to leave again.

The result... she was blocked by the restriction again.

She had no choice but to drop two more items and try again. Still no luck.

It wasn’t until she was holding only the Water Spirit Pearl that she finally managed to leave the storeroom.

And the moment she stepped out, the storeroom door shut on its own, and the lock fastened itself.

Lu Sangjiu was chagrined. ’So that’s how it is.’

’No wonder Cangming was so at ease. The key he gave me wasn’t just single-use; it also only let me take one item!’

’It’s a bit of a shame, but... whatever. Getting a Water Spirit Pearl for free is still a gain.’

With nothing else to do, Lu Sangjiu prepared to return to her room to continue her cultivation. But just as she got back, the Bicolor Mirror began to vibrate again.

Her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly took out the Bicolor Mirror.

It was Yan Lingzhi again in the mirror. His expression was grim, and his first words were a bombshell. ”Little Jiu, the Ancestor has gone to the Cold Crow Sect.”

Lu Sangjiu froze, then grew anxious. ”Didn’t I tell you it was a conspiracy? How could he...”

Yan Lingzhi sounded helpless. ”I told Bai Heng about this, but by then, Xuanming had already gone back to find the Ancestor. I thought Bai Heng would understand the gravity of the situation, but I never expected that, in his haste to save Ye Zhiyao, he wouldn’t inform them at all!”

”The Ancestor came here directly just now. I stepped forward to stop him and explained the situation, but...”

He sighed. ”If I had caught him before he left, he might have listened to me after careful consideration. But since he was already here, he couldn’t bring himself to lose face by turning back just because he was afraid of Cangming, a Body Integration Realm cultivator.”

Lu Sangjiu understood. To put it bluntly, he was too proud to back down and had underestimated Cangming deep down.

She was speechless. But it was too late to say anything now. All she could do was pray that the Ancestor was lucky enough to survive.

After a moment of silence, she asked, ”Did he go alone?”

”Yes. The Ancestor was also worried about a trap and felt that bringing us along would be a burden, so he entered the Western Demon Realm alone.”

”However, I remembered what you said last time—that if we could keep Cangming occupied, you would have a chance to escape.”

”So your master has also secretly entered the Western Demon Realm to find your senior brothers. He should take advantage of the chaos to come and get you. You need to be on the lookout.”

Lu Sangjiu was suddenly worried. ”I can escape on my own. Maybe it’s better if my master doesn’t...”

Yan Lingzhi cut her off before she could finish. ”That’s your master and senior brothers; of course they’re worried about you. How could I possibly stop them?”

In fact, if he didn’t have to stay behind to keep up appearances, he would have wanted to go as well.

Although Lu Sangjiu wasn’t his disciple, he was genuinely fond of the junior. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have traveled thousands of miles to come here.

Hearing this, Lu Sangjiu was at a loss for words and could only nod. ”I understand.”

After cutting off the connection, Lu Sangjiu sighed. ’Things are really heading in the worst possible direction... But no matter what, escaping during this opportunity is more important.’

’Yan Lingzhi just said the Tribulation Crossing Ancestor had already set out, so he should have arrived by now... Even if they haven’t started fighting yet, Cangming should be tied up for a while.’

Thinking of this, she immediately focused her mind, marshaling the Spiritual Energy and Demonic Qi within her body to push the Spell Cangming had left inside her toward her Dantian.

There, aside from her two slowly revolving Golden Cores, the Heavenly Punishment Qi lay quietly.

Only when Cangming’s Spell was pushed in did the Heavenly Punishment Qi seem to sense something and stir.

In an instant, it swallowed Cangming’s Spell in one gulp, leaving not a trace of its aura behind, before lying quietly again.

’Heavenly Punishment Qi is truly worthy of its name. Even a Body Integration Realm cultivator like Cangming gets devoured so easily.’

’Speaking of which, the Heavenly Punishment Qi has been fluctuating less and less recently, and its effect on my body is almost nonexistent. It doesn’t feel like a punishment anymore, but more like a help?’

Lu Sangjiu suddenly wondered, ’The Pseudo Heavenly Dao’s interference in this world doesn’t seem to be absolute. Could this Heavenly Punishment Qi be a form of help left for me by the true Heavenly Dao?’

The thought flashed through her mind, but she had no time to dwell on it.

With Cangming’s Spell erased, the next step was the Barrier around this courtyard...

Just as she was about to gather her power to use the Immortal Demon Attraction, Lu Sangjiu suddenly felt the entire Array tremble!

She froze, then saw someone tear an opening in the Barrier at the main gate and step through.

Seeing the person, Lu Sangjiu ran over in joyful surprise. ”Master!”