The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Xie Ningyuan nodded. ”He really did have terrible luck. In that situation, no one would care whether he did it on purpose or not. All they knew was that their home base had been plundered, so naturally, they directed all their anger at Sword Bu Gui.”

Feng Lin frowned. ”Several Divinity Transformation Stage cultivators targeting Sword Master Bu Gui, who was only at the Golden Core Stage at the time... How could he have escaped?”

Chi Yan guessed, ”Could it be that Elder Hua unleashed her might?”

”You’re half right.”

Xie Ningyuan said, ”Sword Bu Gui was practically powerless to fight back in that situation. But Hua Jianzhi, even injured, was still in the Divinity Transformation Stage. It was no problem for her to use all her strength to block a few attacks for him.”

Chi Yan’s eyes lit up. ”The hero saves the beauty, and then the beauty saves the hero! With all that back and forth, feelings were bound to develop!”

Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but glance at him. ”You seem to know a lot... Could it be that Mr. Chi has a rich romantic history of his own?”

This one sentence made Chi Yan a bit embarrassed. He squirmed and scratched his head. ”Not at all... *Ahem*, as they say, books are a treasure trove. When you read a lot, you naturally learn a thing or two.”

Feng Lin nodded, translating for him. ”Got it. It all comes from reading romance novels.”

Chi Yan: ”...”

He grew flustered and angry. ”Don’t just talk about me! It’s not like you all have tons of romantic experience. Do any of you have partners?”

Everyone: ”...”

After a moment of silence, Feng Lin coughed lightly. ”Mr. Xie, why don’t you continue the story?”

Xie Ningyuan propped his head on his hand. ”Hm? I was waiting to hear your gossip. Aren’t you going to keep discussing the topic of partners?”

Feng Lin: ”...”

It was as they say: you can’t make something out of nothing. How could they discuss something they didn’t have?

After his sarcastic remark, Xie Ningyuan finally continued the story.

”In order to save Sword Bu Gui, Hua Jianzhi’s injuries worsened, leaving her with no strength left to fight.”

”The remaining Divinity Transformation Cultivators developed malicious intentions. They didn’t just want the Phoenix Cry Sword; they wanted to take the opportunity to cut down Hua Jianzhi right then and there.”

”Of course, if they did that, they couldn’t possibly let Sword Bu Gui, who had witnessed the whole thing, leave alive.”

”The two were forced into a desperate situation. Hua Jianzhi didn’t want to drag him down with her, so she prepared to sacrifice her life to buy Sword Bu Gui a chance to escape.”

Gu Jue didn’t doubt it for a second. He said without hesitation, ”Master definitely wouldn’t have left alone.”

Xie Ningyuan scoffed. ”Obviously. Otherwise, Hua Jianzhi would have died centuries ago. Where would this tangled web of love and hate with Sword Bu Gui have come from?”

”At the critical moment, Sword Bu Gui used his Golden Core Power to forcibly wield the Phoenix Cry Sword. He caught the Divinity Transformation Cultivators by surprise, repelling them for a moment, and used the opportunity to escape with Hua Jianzhi.”

”To save her, he showed no greed for the Phoenix Cry Sword. Instead, he threw it in the opposite direction, intending to lead the pursuers away.”

”But these people had already moved against Hua Jianzhi. Worried about her retribution, their only thought now was to eliminate the problem at its root.”

”So, while some went after the Phoenix Cry Sword, others continued to relentlessly pursue Hua Jianzhi and him.”

Gu Jue’s brow furrowed. After a long hesitation, he finally couldn’t help but ask, ”You said before that it was Cultivators fighting over the Phoenix Cry Sword... For them to be at the Divinity Transformation level, they couldn’t have all been Loose Cultivators, could they?”

”Back then, the major Sects of the Cultivation World jointly formed the Immortal Alliance. They should have been in a cooperative relationship.”

”My Master is from the Lingjian Sect, and Elder Hua is from the Joyful Union Sect... They should have been allies. Why would they try to annihilate their own allies?”

”Mr. Xie, you speak of all this with such certainty, as if you saw it with your own eyes. Regardless of where you learned this, I think... since you’re able to say this much, you must also know exactly who those Divinity Transformation Cultivators were, right?”

Gu Jue’s words hit the heart of the matter.

Actually, Feng Lin had her own doubts, but she felt it would be impolite to voice them, as if she were questioning Xie Ningyuan, so she had held her tongue.

Chi Yan, on the other hand, hadn’t thought about it that deeply at all. He was completely absorbed in the dramatic, twisting plot. Only now that Gu Jue had asked did he realize some of the problems with the story.

They couldn’t help but look at Xie Ningyuan with curiosity, awaiting his answer.

For once, Xie Ningyuan wasn’t angry at Gu Jue’s questions; he was in a good mood with him.

”A very good question, Mr. Gu.”

He gave a playful smile. ”Everything you said is correct. It’s just... you forgot to consider human nature.”

”So what if they were allies? In the face of personal gain, an alliance means nothing.”

”As for their names...” Xie Ningyuan glanced at Feng Lin and Chi Yan. ”For your own good, it’s better that you don’t know.”

Feng Lin’s expression immediately turned grim. Even though he hadn’t been explicit, she could feel the implication in his words.

’Is he trying to say that people from our Lingyin Pavilion or the Golden Elephant Sect were involved?’

’That’s impossible!’

She looked at Xie Ningyuan coldly. ”I haven’t said much until now, but I’ve always had my doubts about the source of your information, Mr. Xie. You describe it in such detail. Don’t tell me you actually saw it with your own eyes?”

They didn’t know Xie Ningyuan’s true identity, and his cultivation had always appeared to be only at the Golden Core level.

So they subconsciously thought of him as being from their generation. They asked the question, but in their hearts, they didn’t really believe he could have possibly seen it himself.

The atmosphere suddenly grew a little awkward.

Faced with Feng Lin’s sudden aggression, Xie Ningyuan simply raised an eyebrow. ”And what if I said I did see it with my own eyes?”

Feng Lin retorted instinctively, ”Impossible!”

Xie Ningyuan laughed. ”See? Even if I told you I saw it with my own eyes, you wouldn’t believe me. That’s because deep down, you don’t believe in the depravity of the Cultivators I described.”

”You don’t believe me, so what’s the point of asking for my source? No matter what my answer is, you still won’t believe it, right?”

Feng Lin opened her mouth to say something, but she didn’t know how to refute him... because Xie Ningyuan was right.

At this point, the nature of the matter had shifted from simple gossip to a much deeper issue.

What everyone cared about was no longer the little affair between Sword Bu Gui and Hua Jianzhi.

After a moment of silence, Lu Sangjiu suddenly spoke up. ”This story is starting to get a little tiring. Why don’t we... just stop here for now.”

”It’s getting late. Shouldn’t we all head back to our rooms and sleep?”

Xie Ningyuan paused slightly, sighing inwardly. ’She’s still too soft-hearted. She doesn’t want them to face this kind of issue head-on.’

’Or perhaps... it’s not just that she doesn’t want them to face it. She’s running away from it herself.’

’But if this is her choice, then there’s nothing more for me to say.’

So he didn’t say anything to stop them, just quietly waited for the other three to respond.

’Although... I don’t like Gu Jue, at this moment, I find myself faintly hoping he won’t disappoint me.’

Feng Lin and Chi Yan remained silent, which was as good as agreeing with Lu Sangjiu.

But Gu Jue, after a brief silence, looked at Xie Ningyuan stubbornly.

”You say we don’t believe you from the bottom of our hearts, but you haven’t given us a single reason to believe you.”

”You say they ambushed my Master and Elder Hua for their own selfish gain, but in fact, neither of them died, and I’ve never heard any related rumors.”

”The Immortal Alliance has always existed, and the relationships between the major Immortal Gates are very harmonious... If it were really as you say, today’s peace would be impossible!”