The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu hadn’t used her full strength in that strike, but it was undoubtedly at the Earth Immortal level.

Moreover, she was using a Demon Artifact, yet there wasn’t the slightest fluctuation of Demonic Qi from her. The whole situation felt discordant.

The rescued Ruxin looked at Lu Sangjiu with shock and suspicion. ”You...”

Before she could finish, she heard Lu Sangjiu say, ”I’ll explain later. For now, let’s work together to deal with this Fire Python!”

Although it would have been more efficient for Lu Sangjiu to help Lie Rufeng first, Ruxin and Tang Ming simply couldn’t hold on any longer. She had to help them finish off their python before going to Lie Rufeng’s aid.

Tang Ming and Ruxin were wary of Lu Sangjiu, but they had no other choice at the moment. They could only cooperate with her for now.

So, without another word, they focused all their energy on the Fire Python before them.

Tang Ming excelled at defense, so he took the front line to shield Ruxin and Lu Sangjiu, creating an opportunity for them to attack.

Ruxin was a Magic Cultivator, better suited for long-range attacks.

Lu Sangjiu was a jack-of-all-trades, so she filled in the gaps, closing in for melee with her blade.

With the three of them coordinating, they finally turned the tables, and the Fire Python was now cornered with nowhere to run.

Finally, Lu Sangjiu seized an opportunity, swinging her Domination Map at the Fire Python’s eye!

A piercing shriek rang out. The giant python’s body writhed in agony, and tears of blood streamed from its eyes.

The commotion alerted the other Fire Python, which was still entangled with Lie Rufeng. It grew anxious and tried to rush over to help.

But Lie Rufeng wouldn’t let it have its way. He seized the opportunity while it was in disarray and pressed his attack.

Seeing that the giant python had lost all semblance of strategy, Lu Sangjiu and the others pressed their advantage, all of them attacking its weak points.

A short while later, under the combined assault of the three, the giant python breathed its last.

Lu Sangjiu lopped off its head with her blade. Once certain it was no longer a threat, she didn’t even pause to rest, immediately turning and saying, ”Let’s go help Fellow Daoist Lie!”

Ruxin and Tang Ming had just caught their breath, but hearing this, they couldn’t just rest. They forced themselves up and followed her to help.

Lie Rufeng had already wounded the second Fire Python. Now, with Lu Sangjiu and the other two joining in, they quickly finished it off.

The exhausted cultivators gazed at the two lifeless Fire Python corpses and let out a collective sigh of relief.

After confirming there were no other dangers around, they could finally sit down and rest.

But just as Lu Sangjiu was about to rest, Lie Rufeng pointed his longsword directly at her.

”I need an explanation.”

Lie Rufeng stared at her coolly. His face showed no anger at being deceived, nor any strong killing intent.

He simply needed a reasonable explanation.

Lu Sangjiu paused for a moment, then plopped down on the ground. She looked at Lie Rufeng with a relaxed posture and said, ”The explanation is... I was indeed hiding my cultivation level before.”

”But I have no ill intentions toward you. At first, I just wanted to avoid you and accidentally ended up in this cave. Later, when I couldn’t avoid you anymore, I put on a little act to keep from being silenced.”

Lu Sangjiu frankly explained her thought process, finishing with a sincere expression. ”You should be able to tell I mean you no harm. Otherwise, I could have just watched you die, waited until you were both grievously injured, and then stepped in to reap the rewards.”

”So... a good person like Fellow Daoist Lie wouldn’t hold my little expedient measure against me, right?”

Lie Rufeng didn’t speak, nor did he withdraw his sword. He just stared at her, as if trying to discern the truth in her words.

Over on the side, Tang Ming was the first to speak up for Lu Sangjiu. ”Senior Brother Lie, I think what Fellow Daoist Lu said makes sense. She doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

Ruxin hesitated for a moment, then nodded. ”She did just save us.”

After a pause, she added, ”But Fellow Daoist Lu is very strong. Keeping such a powerful and mysterious person by our side is definitely not a wise decision.”

”So...” She looked at Lie Rufeng and suggested, ”we should probably part ways with her after this.”

Lie Rufeng was silent for a moment before finally withdrawing his longsword. He then said to Lu Sangjiu, ”Once we leave this place, we’ll go our separate ways.”

Lu Sangjiu nodded in complete agreement. ”Of course!”

Lu Sangjiu had contributed a great deal in the fight against the two Fire Pythons, so she naturally deserved a share of the spoils.

Lie Rufeng carved up the two Fire Python corpses, divided the useful materials into four equal shares, and gave one to Lu Sangjiu.

”We came here for the Fire Pythons’ inner cores. Since there are two, the three of us will take one, and you can have the other.”

”Consider it thanks for saving Tang Ming and Ruxin.”

A Fire Python’s inner core was a valuable item, excellent for both Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

Lu Sangjiu naturally wasn’t going to turn it down. ”Then many thanks!”

After they had rested enough, they searched the Fire Pythons’ lair together and found quite a few more good things.

Among the items were several Cultivators’ storage rings, likely left behind by some unlucky souls who had perished here.

They didn’t open them to see what was inside. Instead, they put the storage rings together and each chose one at random.

Whether they got something good or bad was purely up to luck.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t have much faith in her luck right now, but she couldn’t very well say anything. So she simply waited for the others to choose and took the one that was left.

In addition, the Fire Pythons had collected a large number of top-grade Spirit Stones to build their nest—a true luxury.

The group dismantled the nest and each received over five hundred top-grade Spirit Stones.

They also discovered over a dozen Immortal Stones that the Fire Pythons had treasured. Lu Sangjiu received three of them as her share.

Looking at these stones, Lu Sangjiu was blooming with joy internally. ’Relying on honest, hard work to make money is just too conservative after all. Whether it’s robbing people or adventuring to fight high-level monsters, getting rich is so much faster!’

Just when they thought that was the end of it, they unexpectedly discovered something even better!

”This is... Fire Essence!”

Tang Ming’s face was full of delighted surprise. ”There’s so much Fire Essence here! We’ve struck it rich!”

Ruxin, beside him, was also staring wide-eyed. ”There’s accompanying Immortal Liquid here too! The concentration of Immortal Qi inside is extremely high!”

The Qiyue Sect’s territory was already wreathed in Immortal Qi, but the concentration in this Immortal Liquid was still enough to make them ecstatic. One could only imagine how precious it was.

Everyone immediately took out porcelain vials to divide the Immortal Liquid. Meanwhile, Lie Rufeng divided the Fire Essence into four equal portions, giving one to Lu Sangjiu as well.

In the end, Lu Sangjiu received three pieces of Fire Essence and six vials of Immortal Liquid.

Her harvest was bountiful. Lu Sangjiu suddenly had a thought. ’Maybe coming here wasn’t a sign of bad luck, but incredible good luck? And Duan Yiyi’s sudden departure... if she hadn’t left, it wouldn’t have been my turn to contribute and share in these spoils. When I think about it that way... hmm, my luck is actually pretty good!’