The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu had a hard time describing her feelings.

Cangming and Fa Shan had once been her closest family. She’d believed that even with their disagreements and arguments, the bond between them would never change.

She had suspected Cangming, and she had suspected Fa Shan. But more than that, she had prayed countless times, ’Please, don’t let it be them.’

But now, the stark, naked truth was laid bare before her.

If Cangming had been deceived, or if he’d ultimately chosen to betray her for his own benefit, perhaps she wouldn’t be in so much pain.

And yet... was it all just because his petty possessiveness wasn’t satisfied? ’If I can’t have her, I’ll destroy her?’

What a ridiculous reason!

Cangming didn’t answer her this time. After a long silence, he gave a slight smirk. ”Lu Sangjiu, do you find me horrifying?”

This was probably not the time to provoke him, but Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help herself. ”Don’t you find yourself horrifying?”

”Loving someone shouldn’t be like this. What you feel isn’t love, it’s just possessiveness.”

”After killing her, you pretend to miss her, find someone who looks like her as a substitute, and continue to satisfy that ridiculous possessiveness of yours.”

”Cangming, you’re not just horrifying, you’re pathetic!”

She spoke mercilessly, each sentence a stab to Cangming’s heart. But Cangming didn’t fly into a rage from the shame. Instead, his gaze was unusually calm as he looked at Lu Sangjiu.

”You think I’m horrifying. What about you?”

”The person you like doesn’t like you back, does he?”

”You must have felt the pain of unrequited love by now... If he were to leave you in the end, what would you do?”

Lu Sangjiu fell silent for a moment, Xie Ningyuan’s face appearing in her mind.

’Love springs from unknown origins... but by the time I realized it, I had already fallen for him.’

She had never run from her feelings for Xie Ningyuan, but she had also never thought of speaking them aloud.

Xie Ningyuan was a person of truly great compassion. His Buddha Heart had shattered over the good and evil of Demon Cultivators, so she believed he would one day restore it, extending his compassion equally to all living things under heaven.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t know the true essence of being a Buddhist Practitioner, but she felt... Xie Ningyuan had always been worthy of the title Buddha Son.

Therefore, his future was to ascend to the Upper Realm and become a true Buddha.

She liked him, but never thought of holding him back. Instead, she looked forward to seeing him in the future, radiant with boundless Buddha Light.

She liked him, but she never considered halting her own journey for his sake. ’Everyone belongs to themselves first. Only when you have become the best version of yourself do you have anything left to give to others.’

She never planned to voice her feelings for him, let alone expect a response.

So Cangming’s question was actually very easy for her to answer. ”If he were to leave me to pursue a better version of himself, I would wish him well.”

”But if his departure was not of his own free will... I would do everything in my power to make him stay.”

”As long as it’s his own true choice, I will respect it.”

”Unlike you, who defines love by your own narrow possessiveness.”

Lu Sangjiu stared at Cangming and said, word by word, ”You... are utterly unworthy of speaking about love.”

After speaking, she didn’t look at Cangming’s expression again and turned to walk toward her room.

A mystery that had long troubled her was now solved. She should have been happy.

But... she truly couldn’t feel happy at all.

’Do I hate Cangming? I should.’

But perhaps too much time had passed since her helpless despair under the Heavenly Thunder, and her resentment seemed to have long since faded.

She had thought about killing Ye Zhiyao and Cangming, but that desire was far less intense than her yearning to break free from the shackles of fate.

To put it bluntly, whether it was love or hate, pinning her hopes on others was not as important as living her own life well.

At this moment, Lu Sangjiu could clearly feel her state of mind ascending. The problems with her mental state that had arisen from her death quietly dissipated.

She walked back to her room, step by step. The moment she stepped inside, she broke through to the Late-stage Golden Core, calmly and smoothly.

Her steps paused for a fraction of a second, and then Lu Sangjiu let out a soft laugh.

In the instant of her breakthrough, she seemed to feel the very heavens and earth stir for her... She suddenly seemed to understand why her Ascension had failed back then.

Perhaps there were external factors, but more likely, it was because she had been missing this one trial.

Her death and rebirth—perhaps they were never a bad thing.

At the very least... it had allowed her to see a wider world.

「In the courtyard」

Cangming sat there, motionless, for a very long time.

Finally, he tilted his head back slightly, looked at the countless stars in the sky, and broke into a silent, wide grin.

It was a smile of utter self-mockery. He muttered to himself, ”Someone like me... really does deserve to be despised.”

He despised himself, so much so that he didn’t even dare to utter a single word of regret, not even to Lu Sangjiu, who was a stranger to this past.

The truth was, he had regretted it long ago. He’d regretted it the moment he secretly placed that object capable of stirring the Heaven and Earth Power into Gu Huang’s courtyard.

At that time, Gu Huang had already reached Late-stage Tribulation Crossing and was on the verge of Ascension.

He was afraid she would succeed in her Ascension and disappear from his world forever.

So, when that person gave him the object, they told him what to do. After the Heaven and Earth Power was stirred, all he had to do was make her disperse a portion of her cultivation. Her Realm would fall, but she wouldn’t die, and she wouldn’t leave him. He agreed.

But he had forgotten—this was Gu Huang. How could she possibly choose to save her own life by dispersing part of her cultivation?

So when he rushed over with all his might, he was still too late. All he saw was her figure vanishing into the horizon and Fa Shan’s worried gaze.

He comforted himself. ’She’s so powerful. Maybe... maybe she’ll be alright.’

Unfortunately, they never saw the phenomenon of the Heavenly Gate opening wide for her Ascension. In addition, the Life Token she had left in her room shattered.

In the end... she never came back.

He regretted it, but he had still killed her.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Cangming’s gaze had become calm once more.

’...It’s alright. Once I’ve made everyone in this world who ever deceived or humiliated you die as your funeral offering, I too will die in despair amidst the Heavenly Thunder, just as you did. I will experience what you experienced and walk the path you walked.’

’Gu Huang, the annihilation of this entire Cultivation World will be the last gift I give you.’

’Wait for me.’

「The next day」

When Lu Sangjiu came out of her room, Cangming was already gone from the courtyard.

Lu Sangjiu’s gaze swept around, then landed on the door of Ye Zhiyao’s room next door... The door was open.

Frowning slightly, she quickly walked over and went inside, only to find the room completely empty. There was no one there.

’Cangming took Ye Zhiyao?’

Lu Sangjiu guessed, ’Is he still planning to use Ye Zhiyao as bait?’

But it didn’t matter. She had already sent a message to Yan Lingzhi. The Tribulation Crossing Ancestor of the Seven Emotions Sect probably wouldn’t be foolish enough to walk right into a death trap.

’But... why do I still have this uneasy feeling?’