The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

This time, before Lie Rufeng could say anything more, Ruxin spoke up as well.

”Senior Brother Tang, she chose to leave on her own. Even if she runs into danger, that’s her own problem.”

”We’re all adults. We all need to take responsibility for ourselves. No one can help her forever.”

”As for us... frankly, Junior Sister Duan’s cultivation is decent, but she lacks combat experience. You should have been able to tell when we were dealing with the Fire Scorpions earlier.”

”It makes no difference whether she’s here or not, so why worry?”

Ruxin was genuinely annoyed by Duan Yiyi, but since Duan Yiyi had a good master, Ruxin couldn’t afford to offend her directly, no matter how irritated she felt.

But now that they’d finally managed to drive her away, how could she let a nice guy like Tang Ming persuade her to come back?

’Good riddance. She was just an eyesore anyway.’

Ruxin was usually quiet on their journey, so this was the first time Tang Ming had ever heard her say so much. He finally realized that, aside from himself, the other two team members found Duan Yiyi incredibly annoying.

’Now that she’s gone, everyone seems pretty happy...’

Tang Ming wasn’t annoyed with Duan Yiyi, but he didn’t particularly like her, either. It was just his nature; he was relatively tolerant of everyone.

But now that both Lie Rufeng and Ruxin had made their feelings clear, he couldn’t very well keep going against them. He had no choice but to hold his tongue and let Duan Yiyi walk away.

After walking some distance, Duan Yiyi realized no one was coming to stop her. A wave of fury washed over her, and she angrily cursed them in her heart. ’I hope you all die here!’

And so, she walked away with even greater resolve, not entertaining the slightest thought of turning back.

Lu Sangjiu, who had watched the whole thing as an innocent bystander, was a little speechless about Duan Yiyi’s departure, though inwardly, she was naturally pleased.

’The pest is gone. Now I can finally relax a little.’

At the same time, however, they had lost a Heavenly Immortal Level fighter, which made Lu Sangjiu a little worried about the other three.

’It wasn’t that she was worried about them, per se. She was more worried about whether she could continue to happily coast along.’

’If I’m forced to reveal my cultivation later, it might just cause me some trouble. What a headache.’

Although Lu Sangjiu knew full well that Duan Yiyi’s departure only seemed to be because of her, it was actually because of long-standing resentment within the team.

But since she was the catalyst for the whole affair, she had to play the part of the innocent party now.

So she looked timidly at Lie Rufeng. ”Mr. Lie, did I cause trouble for you all?”

”Thank you for sticking up for me, but I feel so uneasy seeing you argue with your own sect members because of me...”

’Ugh...’ Lu Sangjiu felt a little nauseated by her own deceptively innocent act.

But Lie Rufeng didn’t seem to think anything of it. His expression remained calm as he closed his eyes to meditate, not even sparing her a glance.

”You’re overthinking it. I didn’t do it for you. I just can’t stand her.”

Seeing how cold Lie Rufeng was, Lu Sangjiu nodded in satisfaction. ’Yes, yes, that’s exactly how you should treat someone acting all innocent and manipulative!’

’I can play my innocent part. As long as they don’t try to kill me, they can be as cold to me as they want!’

Tang Ming, however, saw Lie Rufeng’s attitude and, worried Lu Sangjiu might feel awkward, spoke up. ”Mr. Lu, don’t mind him. Senior Brother Lie has always been cold on the outside but warm on the inside.”

Lu Sangjiu nodded repeatedly. ”Yes, yes, I understand!”

And so, Duan Yiyi’s departure caused barely a ripple within the team. Everyone calmly accepted the event, and once they had rested enough, they immediately continued forward.

Free from the harassment of the Fire Scorpions, the rest of their journey was relatively peaceful, and they encountered no major setbacks.

That is, until pools of lava began to appear around them, and the temperature grew hotter and hotter.

Suddenly, Lie Rufeng’s expression darkened. ”It’s here!”

Everyone but Lu Sangjiu knew that this ”it” referred to the Fire Python.

Tang Ming and Ruxin immediately went on high alert. Tang Ming didn’t forget to add a warning, ”Mr. Lu, be careful! This Fire Python should be at the Heavenly Immortal Level!”

If it weren’t, there would have been no need for two Heavenly Immortal Level Cultivators to team up to feel confident about taking it on.

Hearing this, Lu Sangjiu decisively positioned herself behind Lie Rufeng and said with utmost sincerity, ”Mr. Lie, rest assured, I will stick to you like my life depends on it!”

Lie Rufeng: ”...”

As they were speaking, the Fire Python drew ever closer.

Soon, all of their expressions changed. ”This is bad... There’s more than one!”

The information they’d received mentioned only one Heavenly Immortal Level Fire Python, but now they could clearly sense two Fire Pythons of that level approaching!

To make matters worse, their team was now short one Heavenly Immortal Level expert. The only option was for Lie Rufeng to take on one by himself, while Ruxin and Tang Ming handled the other together.

But regardless of the matchup, it would undoubtedly be a grueling battle for both sides!

Lu Sangjiu groaned inwardly. ’My good luck must have finally run out,’ she thought. ’All my bad luck is piling up at once.’

’Whatever you fear most is sure to happen.’

’This is just great. Two at the Heavenly Immortal Level. Forget about coasting; I’m not even sure I could beat them if I used my full strength.’

Although she had fought those three Earth Immortal Loose Cultivators before, Lu Sangjiu still didn’t have a very clear grasp of her own power level.

She didn’t dare imagine she could be a match for a Heavenly Immortal, so deep down, she was naturally anxious.

’But there’s no other choice right now... What else can I do but fight for my life!’

The next moment, two Fire Pythons appeared before them. They looked to be a male and a female.

The two Fire Pythons coordinated with perfect tacit understanding, striking at the four of them from two directions at once!

Fortunately, Ruxin and the others were quick to react. Without a word needing to be said, Lie Rufeng immediately blocked the female python, while Ruxin and Tang Ming went to deal with the male.

As for Lu Sangjiu... ahem. It was obvious no one considered her part of their combat force. It didn’t matter what she did; perhaps in their eyes, as long as she didn’t cause more trouble, that was good enough.

That being the case, Lu Sangjiu was in even less of a hurry to act. She planned to observe for a bit before deciding whether to intervene.

Lie Rufeng was fighting one Fire Python by himself and, for the time being, was surprisingly not at a disadvantage.

But the Fire Python’s defenses were extremely high, and neither side could do anything to the other.

They were also tying each other down, preventing either from going to help their companions.

It was clear there was nothing to worry about on his end for now, but things were looking a little more grim for Ruxin and Tang Ming.

Both of them only had Earth Immortal Cultivation, and neither was some kind of peerless genius.

Facing a Heavenly Immortal Level Fire Python, they were both injured almost as soon as the fight began.

Fortunately, Tang Ming’s defenses were strong, so he could stall for a bit. But it was clear he could only stall for a little while longer; any longer and the two of them would likely be picked off one by one and killed.

To be fair, these people—Duan Yiyi excepted—were all decent enough. Lu Sangjiu couldn’t just stand by and watch them die.

So, after observing for a moment, just as she saw the Fire Python send Tang Ming flying with a whip of its tail and lunge to bite Ruxin, Lu Sangjiu hesitated no more. With a swing of the Domination Map Blade in her hand, she instantly blocked the Fire Python for a crucial second!