Chapter 206: So I’m the Protagonist After All (2)
The Heavenly Dao never expected her to be so rebellious, to add fuel to the fire of this already precarious world order.
Perhaps because this world-ending war was not part of the predetermined trajectory, the Heavenly Dao’s rules had already developed a loophole. So, faced with Su Mingxiu’s heaven-shattering sword strike—
It actually, as she wished, tore open a terrifying vortex.
“Su Mingxiu!”
“Compared to your previous pretentious attitude, this flustered look suits you better.”
The person rebuked by the Heavenly Dao recalled her natal sword. The sword light, which had previously been capable of cleaving through anything, became gentle and docile around Su Mingxiu, circling her affectionately. Even if its master wanted it to be the enemy of the whole world, it would gladly point its blade.
Seeing the irreparable tear in the sky caused by her sword, Su Mingxiu’s eyes showed a hint of contemplation, but more so, mockery.
It had reached a point where it couldn’t even mend such a small mistake. It seemed that the Heavenly Dao was not far from collapse. Su Mingxiu once again confirmed her judgment of it… She really couldn’t believe a single punctuation mark of what this damn thing said.
“Have you thought it over?” The sword light surrounding her became sharper. If any other cultivator trapped in this frozen time were to regain consciousness, they wouldn’t dare to approach this sword light, and even a glance might tear their vision.
But she seemed completely unaware of the earth-shattering threat she posed, still maintaining that leisurely tone, “Are you ready to resurrect my person?”
The Heavenly Dao had never been threatened like this since its birth. If it could take human form at this moment, it would probably cough up blood. It never imagined that Su Mingxiu would act so recklessly in those other worlds. After all, those were just its subordinate three thousand worlds, and restoring order was a simple matter.
But here, the person who had been reborn was just as stubborn, wanting to fight against the fate it had given her. Why was this happening?
After a moment of thought, the Heavenly Dao decided it was because Su Mingxiu, having regained her soul, did not possess her past life’s memories.
So it cast down a beam of light, returning a portion of her memories to Su Mingxiu, memories of her sect and the first half of her life with her fellow disciples.
Deliberately allowing enough time for Su Mingxiu to digest the memories, the Heavenly Dao then asked again, with a hint of restraint, “What now? Even so, do you still insist on letting this world shatter in this senseless war?”
Su Mingxiu’s answer was a number that puzzled it:
“Three.”
Heavenly Dao: ?
“One.”
As this last number fell, the sword light surrounding Su Mingxiu, with the force of a thunderbolt, once again pierced a hole in the already riddled and potentially collapsing sky.
She raised her hand and yawned, making it unclear whether she had received the memories or not. She calmly “negotiated” with the Heavenly Dao, “How many more hits do you think you can take?”
“Are you crazy?! If this world collapses, you won’t survive either, let alone your precious beloved being resurrected!”
It seemed her sword light was quite powerful, judging by the Heavenly Dao’s forceful, fluctuating, and emotional response.
But this immortal-like female cultivator seemed tired, lazily using her sword to carve out a large piece of ice from the hole created by the previous lightning strike on the frozen lake.
She even meticulously, like a sculptor, directed her natal sword to carve out a standard ice throne for herself. Then she slumped into it bonelessly, propping her chin on one hand, her eyes half-closed. Only the bright mole at the corner of her eye was visible, making the scene even more startling.
“I’ll give you ten more seconds to think about it.”
But now the Heavenly Dao didn’t believe she would really give it that much time. Judging by her unreasonable countdown earlier, this woman…
Or rather, the protagonist chosen by it to carry the fate of this world, was a complete lunatic.
A lunatic who wouldn’t stop until she achieved her goal.
Su Mingxiu wasn’t afraid of death, but it was. It wasn’t that the Heavenly Dao didn’t want her to change her mind, but in the process of restoring her soul earlier, the Heavenly Dao had already tried all sorts of methods to brainwash Su Mingxiu completely, to mold her into the shape it desired.
But whether it was tampering with her memories or hiding important figures from her, she still grew into the person furthest from what it wanted.
The Heavenly Dao was frustrated and threw down a few more bolts of lightning, this time avoiding Su Mingxiu’s location.
It looked… more like impotent rage.
Seeing that Su Mingxiu’s countdown was getting closer, the Heavenly Dao had no choice. In the end, it could only put on a brave face and say to her with difficulty, “This matter, I can agree to it.”
“But you must also agree to a few conditions.”
If it were anyone else, being able to negotiate with the Heavenly Dao and this so-called fate in this way, and obtaining such benefits, they would already be ecstatic. But for Su Mingxiu, she just lazily opened one eye, “Tell me first.”
She would decide whether to agree based on the conditions.
Heavenly Dao: “…”
It was furious.
But now all its plans had to be based on Su Mingxiu’s cooperation, even the reversal of time. If Su Mingxiu refused to cooperate, it still couldn’t maintain the order it desired.
And the Heavenly Dao’s conditions were very simple.
It could turn back time, returning the entire world to a thousand years earlier, to the time when Su Mingxiu first met that person. But it had only one condition—
It would compile the core trajectory of the entire world into a book and transmit it to Su Mingxiu. In this book, Su Mingxiu was an important supporting character who needed to help the protagonist complete all the tasks. And she also needed to stay away from the person who would eventually become the Demon Lord.
According to the Heavenly Dao, this Demon Lord carried the bloodline of the demon race and was destined from birth to bring war and chaos to the entire world, ultimately leading to its destruction.
But as long as Su Mingxiu was willing to cooperate with it, it could give them both a way out. As long as they helped the protagonist of the story complete all the plot points, in the end, it would also give them a path to be together.
This seemed to be all the concessions the Heavenly Dao could make in its desperate situation.
But Su Mingxiu closed her eyes, read the story, and connected it to her various confrontations with the Heavenly Dao after her rebirth. She let out a soft laugh.
“Alright.”
Originally, the Heavenly Dao should have been satisfied with her straightforward agreement. But coupled with her previous ambiguous laugh, the Heavenly Dao felt a little uneasy. It cautiously negotiated with her, “You must make a heart demon oath to never disobey the tasks I give you and to never actively approach this future Demon Lord.”
Su Mingxiu let out another chuckle, as if mocking its current timidness. She made the oath as it wished. As long as this Heavenly Dao existed, this oath would still be binding on her.
Reversing time, a forbidden technique that required cultivators to pay a huge price, also consumed a lot of the Heavenly Dao’s energy.
Su Mingxiu saw everything in this world dim as if it had lost the sun’s illumination. When the boundless darkness enveloped her, she saw faint white lights appearing around her.
She suddenly remembered that she had been to this place before—
After completing the task in Yu Yinglan’s world, she was placed in this very place, listening to the system tell her that the surrounding lights were the three thousand small worlds, and they would not actively accept her.
At that time, Su Mingxiu had no idea that she was so close to the final truth.
Even though she still hadn’t recovered her past memories of that person, thinking about returning to the moment they first met, Su Mingxiu was already filled with anticipation.
What would she be like, the one who would grow into the future Demon Lord…
Before she could even imagine it, the light suddenly broke through. The frozen lake that she could carve a throne from was gone, replaced by a captivating scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers. The pollen count in the air was so high that a sudden inhale could trigger a sneeze.
Startled birds and butterflies took flight. Su Mingxiu looked around and realized that the entire valley was occupied by flowers of all seasons, blooming together.
The morning light was soft, and the unopened blossoms were still covered in the cold dew of the night. The light was hazy with mist, and even the flowers in front of her seemed sleepy and dazed.
“Senior Sister!”
While Su Mingxiu was still in a daze, she suddenly heard a clear, sweet voice calling to her from beside her, “Are you looking at your little garden again?”
She turned her head and saw the person who matched the impression given by her voice. She was dressed in a goose-yellow robe, her hair styled in cute twin buns adorned with small apricot blossom-shaped magical artifacts. Her hair was fine and soft, complementing her delicate features, naturally inspiring affection in others.
Upon seeing the person’s face, Su Mingxiu’s mind naturally recalled her name, Yan Miaomiao.
She was the youngest junior sister in the sect and the apple of the Hundred Flower Sect Leader’s eye. Unfortunately, the sect would later face a catastrophe.
This little junior sister died in the chaos, her soul dissipated. Su Mingxiu was fortunate enough to find her reincarnation in the mortal world but ultimately failed to protect her.
This was part of the memories the Heavenly Dao had given her earlier, about the Hundred Flower Sect. Although Su Mingxiu had spent some time in this sect in her youth, because the Hundred Flower Sect was weak, she later chose the path of a sword cultivator. So, in her exceptionally long cultivation life, this was only an insignificant part.
But she always remembered this little junior sister.
Failing to save her had made Su Mingxiu feel guilty for a long time… Apart from these past regrets, this cute little junior sister was also the one she had taught in Yu Yinglan’s world, Ying Ke’er.
Presumably, this was also a manipulation by the Heavenly Dao. If she had been able to discard some unnecessary actions in the first world and stayed further away from Yu Yinglan, perhaps the Heavenly Dao would have been able to reshape her emotions and memories more thoroughly.
Thinking of this, Su Mingxiu’s anger towards this damn thing grew even stronger. But she didn’t show it on her face, only giving Yan Miaomiao a gentle smile, “Junior Sister.”
As for the garden the other person mentioned—
She looked back at the flamboyant display of flowers in front of her, belatedly remembering those details.
The disciples of the Hundred Flower Sect had spiritual power that leaned towards the wood element. They were naturally favored by spiritual plants and flowers and possessed a corresponding affinity.
Therefore, each person had their own piece of spiritual soil from the moment they entered the sect, where they could plant their favorite herbs and spiritual plants.
Only Su Mingxiu, because her spiritual power was of the lightning attribute, had no natural affinity with these flowers and plants.
Therefore, her spiritual soil was filled with ordinary flower seeds that she had brought back from her travels in the mortal world.
At most, because of the constant temperature barrier she had set up here, these flowers, which should bloom in different seasons, were in eternal bloom. Compared to the precious herbs, poisonous plants, and more ornamental spiritual flowers of her fellow disciples, her wildly growing mortal flowers were truly insignificant.
But she preferred them, often coming to her little garden to daydream after cultivating, which is how she frequently encountered her little junior sister, whose garden was right next to hers.
Yan Miaomiao took off a colorful woven band from her wrist. The small ornament that had been tied to her wrist transformed into a spiritual hoe that fit perfectly in her hand. This spiritual hoe was forged from special minerals and shimmered with a silver light, complementing her perfectly.
She was about to walk towards her own garden when she remembered something and turned back to Su Mingxiu, “By the way, Senior Sister, the weeds in your garden haven’t been removed for a long time. They might affect the growth of these flowers. If you don’t mind, I can help you with your garden later.”
Su Mingxiu released her spiritual power into the ground below and expanded her perception, allowing the wandering spiritual power to remove the roots of these weeds from the soil. The weeds, which had been wantonly absorbing vitality from the spiritual soil with their roots, suddenly wilted a little.
But the person who did all this stood there with an exceptionally relaxed expression, replying, “Such trivial matters need not trouble Junior Sister.”
“Oh…”
Yan Miaomiao didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She didn’t insist after being rejected. She stared at the fragrance in her garden for a while, then suddenly tapped her head, “Look at my memory, I almost forgot. My master and the other elders are all in the Sect Leader’s Spring Hall. They said to remind you after your cultivation to go there for a meeting.”
“What is the meeting about?”
Su Mingxiu had been surrounded by the overwhelming fragrance of the flowers here and had forgotten to calculate the time. She couldn’t remember what daily agendas the Hundred Flower Sect had.
“Senior Sister, don’t you remember?” Yan Miaomiao looked at her with wide eyes. “The 1361st ‘Cultivation Conference’ is being held at our Hundred Flower Sect this time. Inner disciples from all the major and minor sects in the nine continents who are above the Foundation Establishment stage and below the Golden Core stage will be coming here to cultivate.”
Su Mingxiu: “…”
She had indeed forgotten.
This “Cultivation Conference” was an alliance organization created by the major sects of this world to exchange ideas and maintain relationships. The most prominent sects in the nine continents were “One Sword, Four Sects, Thirteen Schools.” The Sword Sect was located in the center of the nine continents, occupying one continent alone. The Hundred Flower Sect was one of the Four Sects, located in the warmest part of the southern continent. The remaining three sects were the Western Ten Thousand Buddha Sect, the Northern Beast Taming Sect, and the Eastern Joyful Union Sect.
The Thirteen Schools were a collective voice for the smaller sects on the overseas immortal islands.
Apart from these One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools, there were many smaller sects scattered throughout the nine continents, perhaps numbering over a thousand.
The smaller sects naturally wanted to participate in this Cultivation Conference to see the foundations of the major sects in the nine continents. However, firstly, these unnamed sects might find it difficult to receive an invitation to the Cultivation Conference. Secondly, the Hundred Flower Sect, as the weakest and declining among the Four Sects, could only rely on its old reputation and had little appeal.
Therefore, how to set up the curriculum for this Cultivation Conference and how to properly arrange the disciples from the various sects were the biggest headaches for the Sect Leader and elders of the Hundred Flower Sect.
Su Mingxiu sorted out the related stories and smiled at Yan Miaomiao, “I remember, I was just testing you. You did well on your homework.”
“Then will Senior Sister give me a reward?”
Hearing that it was a test, Yan Miaomiao thought about her answer and looked at Su Mingxiu with bright, expectant eyes.
She was clearly waiting for something.
“Wait for me at the sect entrance at noon. I’ll secretly take you down the mountain.”
“I knew Senior Sister was the best to me! Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone! I’ll enjoy this good thing all by myself!”
Spring Hall was located in the eastern part of the Hundred Flower Sect. The east belonged to the wood element, and wood-type spiritual power was abundant there. The Sect Leader Ye Qingbai’s Grass and Wood Peak was also nearby. Su Mingxiu was the last closed-door disciple accepted by the Sect Leader, arriving earlier than the disciples of the same generation of elders, which is why she was the Senior Sister.
However…
Su Mingxiu thought about the reason for the destruction of the Hundred Flower Sect, which was related to her master, and felt a sense of sorrow and regret that things were no longer the same.
But these thoughts only flashed through her mind for a moment. She entered the vibrant Spring Hall and respectfully saluted the elders in front of her, “Disciple greets Master, greets all the elders.”
“Mingxiu, you are always punctual. Why are you so unruly today?” The first to speak was her master, Ye Qingbai.
“Presumably, she was diligent in her practice and lost track of time.” The one who came to her defense was Yan Miaomiao’s master, Elder Xuehan.
Because Su Mingxiu had always been gentle, knowledgeable, courteous, and handled matters with fairness and clarity.
So, she had good relationships within the Hundred Flower Sect, and now the elders were all speaking up for her.
Ye Qingbai’s originally stern face softened a little because of their words, “Whose disciple is she really? You all speak up for her, making me seem harsh.”
The other elders laughed along, easing some of the previous tension in the discussion.
Although Su Mingxiu had the elders to defend her, she still maintained her saluting posture until her master dismissed her.
Only then did she walk to the side and stand at the bottom. A martial uncle next to her asked, “You came at just the right time. There have been some rumors in the nine continents recently, saying that a Heavenly Demon is about to be born, which may cause chaos in the world. The elders of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect calculated based on this and said that this demonic creature will appear in the south! Mingxiu, you are close to the disciples of the sect. Have you noticed anything unusual in the sect these days?”
Before Su Mingxiu could answer, another voice interjected from the opposite side, with a hint of disdain, “A Heavenly Demon is a rare occurrence, once in ten thousand years. Recently, even demonic creatures have decreased at the foot of the sect’s mountain. It is a time of peace and prosperity. Why scare ourselves?”
“In my opinion, the so-called Heavenly Demon theory is probably just scaremongering by certain sects to disrupt our ‘Cultivation Conference’.”
“The Joyful Union Sect has always been in conflict with us regarding disciples, and we look down on each other’s cultivation methods. Sect Leader, if we are to investigate this matter, I think starting with the Joyful Union Sect will definitely yield answers. Those who cultivate evil techniques are the most devious and like to use underhanded methods.”
Speaking of the Joyful Union Sect, the elders of the Hundred Flower Sect had a lot of old scores to settle. The feud between the two sects could be traced back to the ancient times when the sects were founded. Legend has it that the founder of the Hundred Flower Sect, the founder of the Joyful Union Sect, and the founder of the Sword Sect were involved in a love triangle that is still talked about in teahouses and storytellers throughout the land, even after ten thousand years.
This even involved the dispute over the geographical location of the Hundred Flower Sect and the Joyful Union Sect.
Su Mingxiu listened attentively, reminiscing about the peaceful days in the cultivation world, listening to these elders talk about the conflicts and disputes with the Joyful Union Sect. On the other hand, she restrained herself from looking in Ye Qingbai’s direction.
【Please remember your identity and do not interfere with the normal progression of the plot.】
The Heavenly Dao seemed to have developed a fondness for residing in other people’s sea of consciousness. After reversing time and making her swear a heart demon oath, it now appeared again to give her instructions.
Su Mingxiu’s mood instantly soured.
Many of her memories could only be recalled by returning to the original timeline and being triggered by the environment.
But the story the Heavenly Dao had given her, and its constant presence now, made her extremely unhappy.
“I didn’t intend to interfere, but seeing you shamelessly residing here again, I really want to do something to get your attention,” she sarcastically replied in her mind.
Heavenly Dao: 【?】
It defended itself, “I am not residing in your mind. It’s just that only you can hear my voice. I hope you understand that I am always watching you—you don’t need to do anything to attract my attention.”
【Understood, you may leave.】
Su Mingxiu casually dismissed it and heard the elders, after listing all the wrongdoings of the Joyful Union Sect, under Ye Qingbai’s guidance, return the topic to the Cultivation Conference. During this, one of the elders read out the list of sects that had applied to participate in the conference. After a long list, someone raised a question.
“This… Qiangshan Sect, what kind of sect is it?”
“It is said to be from the overseas immortal islands.”
“Then why didn’t they submit their application to the Thirteen Schools? Don’t all matters concerning the overseas islands fall under the jurisdiction of the Thirteen Schools?”
The elders in the hall couldn’t answer, clearly not knowing how this sect had bypassed the Thirteen Schools to submit their application.
In their view, perhaps this small sect had some conflict with the Thirteen Schools, or they were ignorant of the rules. In any case, it was not appropriate to approve this application.
Su Mingxiu stood there with her eyes lowered, but she heard Ye Qingbai speak again, “Guests are guests. The purpose of our Cultivation Conference is to have friendly exchanges with fellow cultivators. Since it is for mutual learning, why should we judge based on origin?”
Her fingertips, resting at her side, twitched slightly.
The next second, she heard the person at the head of the hall say in an unquestionable tone, “You will be responsible for all matters concerning this conference, Mingxiu. Do not disgrace the name of our Hundred Flower Sect.”
Su Mingxiu swallowed lightly, stepped out from the furthest point, and bowed towards her, “Disciple obeys.”
However, at the moment she raised her head, she couldn’t help but look at the person at the head—
Ye Qingbai, as the Sect Leader of the Hundred Flower Sect, perhaps because of the gentle nature of wood-type spiritual power, had a non-threatening appearance. Her eyebrows were curved, and the corners of her eyes were slightly downturned. None of her features were sharp, and coupled with her oval face, she naturally gave off a sense of approachability.
Only the red dot in the center of her forehead added a touch of elegance and charm to her appearance, which became even more pronounced when she had a cold expression.
It was this person who had led Su Mingxiu to the point of killing her master, betraying her sect, and becoming an outcast of the righteous path.
It was also she who made the person Su Mingxiu cared about the most…
Fall into the demonic abyss, causing them to drift further apart in this lifetime.
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