Life is as fragile as a severed limb.
Just like Li Nanzhu’s right now. One second, she was being blown to bits in a bombardment zone while trying to save two children, and the next, she was being forced to her knees.
She knew her luck had always been poor, but she hadn't expected it to be this abysmal. She was supposed to be starting over in the afterlife, so why was she alive again?!
Staring blankly at the celestial-looking square before her, God only knew how much she wanted to just lie down on the ground and lose it.
Did they not know that forcing someone to kneel without warning would hurt like hell? Honestly, could life not show a little kindness to a twenty-something old lady like her?
"What, is joining our Sword Heart Sect beneath you?"
Another wave of spiritual pressure crashed down. Li Nanzhu coughed up a mouthful of blood. Intense pain accompanied by dizziness washed over her as a flood of memories surged into her mind, finally making her realize the situation.
She had transmigrated into a book. Specifically, she was now a cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name. In the original story, her ending was glossed over in a single, indifferent sentence:
'It was her honor to die for Junior Sister Dongqing.'
To hell with that honor! Should she just perform an immediate ascension to the afterlife right now so she wouldn't have to take a blade for the female lead later?
While she was caught in this mental storm, the person above grew even more frustrated by her silence. With a slight flick of his finger, Li Nanzhu felt as if her kneecaps were about to be crushed.
Before she could speak, a gentle, soft female voice drifted from her side.
"Sister Nanzhu, why provoke the elder? You were born with triple spiritual roots; you might not even reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime. The Sword Heart Sect is the number one sect. Letting you be an outer disciple is already a great blessing. Hurry and apologize. If the elder truly gets angry, you might not even be able to become a miscellaneous labor disciple. Or is it truly as the elder said? Do you actually look down on the Sword Heart Sect?"
Li Nanzhu desperately wanted to give the speaker a resounding slap. 'Oh, so you're not the one kneeling here spitting blood?'
Thinking with her brain—which had likely been blown into pieces in her previous life—she knew the speaker was the female lead, Cang Dongqing. Only she could add fuel to the fire like this.
It was just like the original novel. Although the original owner had triple spiritual roots, she could have become an inner disciple with decent resources at an ordinary sect. The Sword Heart Sect was prestigious, but everyone knew that being an outer disciple in a Great Sect was just a fancy way of saying you were a servant.
Cang Dongqing kept instigating until Ling Xiao flew into a rage, using his spiritual pressure to coerce Li Nanzhu. Left with no choice, the original Li Nanzhu had joined the Sword Heart Sect.
However, the injuries she sustained during her entrance were never properly treated, damaging her foundation. This caused her to stall before reaching Foundation Establishment, suffer under the female lead's suppression, and finally die acting as a human shield for her during a sect mission.
'Fine, fine, if that's how it's going to be.' She would die if she went to the Sword Heart Sect, and she would die if she didn't. She might as well go crazy now and let Ling Xiao kill her quickly so she could reincarnate again. She couldn't stand this idiotic cultivation world for another second.
With that thought, Li Nanzhu didn't hesitate. She went limp under the pressure, flopped onto the ground, and began to rage.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right! I do look down on your Sword Heart Sect! Everyone knows you sword cultivators are so poor you have to buy pills on credit! Joining your sect means practicing the sword every single day. Five thousand swings a day? Only an idiot would go there to suffer! Do you offer health insurance? Social security? A pension? You have nothing, yet you expect people to work for you for free? You call them disciples, but they’re just beasts of burden. Not only do they get no resources, they have to hand theirs over to the higher-ups! Is it because you’re all so shameless? Humans only have one face—can’t you try to save a bit of yours instead of throwing it away? Of all the things you could master, you just had to master being a prick!"
Li Nanzhu rattled off her tirade in one go. The entire square fell into a deathly silence. Everyone stared at her in stunned silence. The sword cultivators present felt like they had been stabbed in the heart. 'Wait, if you're going to insult him, just insult him! Why the collateral damage?'
Catching her breath, Li Nanzhu continued to scream at Cang Dongqing while writhing and crawling frantically on the ground.
"I’ve seen foot-binding, but I’ve never seen brain-binding! Why do you have to be the one to stand out? If you love fanning the flames so much, why don't we just strap you to the mountain protection array and use you as fuel? That way the disciples won't have to pay spirit stones. And what's this about triple spiritual roots not reaching Foundation Establishment? Are you selectively blind to all the average people in the cultivation world? No way, right? Surely nobody actually thinks that just because they joined a Great Sect, everyone else is trash?"
Cang Dongqing’s face turned pale instantly. She opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn't out-argue Li Nanzhu. The looks from the people around her were gradually becoming unfriendly.
After all, the vast majority of people in the cultivation world had average spiritual roots. Hearing Li Nanzhu’s words, they felt insulted as well.
Her lips quivered for a long time before tears finally streamed down her face, and she threw herself into the arms of the senior brother beside her.
"Senior Brother Nanyi, I really didn't mean it like that. I didn't want to belittle anyone."
Li Nanyi hurriedly patted Cang Dongqing, comforting her softly before turning to glare at Li Nanzhu. However, before he could speak, a snort of laughter erupted from the other side.
Everyone turned to look. They saw a handsome man in a royal blue robe embroidered with gold thread. His shoulders were trembling as he tried his best to suppress his laughter.
"Please, continue. Don't mind me. I just... thought of something funny."
With this interruption, the originally tense atmosphere softened slightly.
But Ling Xiao did not intend to let Li Nanzhu off. His chest was heaving; he was clearly infuriated by her words.
"You arrogant brat! How dare you slander the reputation of our Sword Heart Sect? You ungrateful girl, today I shall teach you a lesson!"
As he spoke, a golden sword light shot directly toward Li Nanzhu’s dantian. It looked as though he intended to destroy her cultivation base entirely. Seeing that he was truly enraged, the others didn't want to interfere. There was no need to offend a sect elder for the sake of a little girl.
Li Nanzhu simply closed her eyes peacefully, waiting for the sword light to pierce her body. Insulting people without restraint felt truly amazing; now she just wanted a quick death and a new life.
But the expected pain of being pierced never came. Instead, Ling Xiao let out a scream of agony.
Li Nanzhu opened her eyes curiously, only to see Ling Xiao being sent flying, crashing heavily into a nearby stone wall. Li Nanzhu was stunned. The Grandmother Meng’s soup and the Bridge of Helplessness she was expecting were all gone!
"Ling Xiao, has your Sword Heart Sect become so shameless that you’d bully a mortal girl? If your sect's founder knew of your behavior today, he’d probably be kicking his coffin lid open."
The speaker was the man who had laughed earlier. Feng Yi smiled as he summoned his long sword, casually popping a pill into Li Nanzhu’s mouth.
"I like you, little girl. You've got a silver tongue. If I win against that old fogey, how about you become my disciple?"
Without waiting for Li Nanzhu to reply, Feng Yi launched an attack at Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao, who had just managed to stand up, hurriedly raised a spiritual shield to block the attack. But Feng Yi’s assault was relentless, forcing Ling Xiao to fly into the sky to engage him.
The other sect elders didn't dare interfere in their battle. They could only set up temporary protective shields to prevent the fallout from affecting the crowd. Who didn't know that although True Person Ling Xiao was only an elder of the Sword Heart Sect, his cultivation had already reached Soul Transformation?
That man was somewhat of a stranger, but anyone who could injure Ling Xiao had to be at the Soul Transformation stage as well. When did such a powerhouse appear in the cultivation world? And why did he want to take this girl with triple spiritual roots as a disciple?
The way the crowd looked at Li Nanzhu began to change. They had thought she was finished after offending Ling Xiao, but now that she was about to become the disciple of another Soul Transformation master, her status was naturally soaring.
The only ones still dissatisfied were likely Cang Dongqing and Li Nanyi. One hated Li Nanzhu for stealing her spotlight, and the other felt Li Nanzhu was utterly devoid of upbringing.
No matter how unwilling Cang Dongqing was, Li Nanzhu’s earlier words had been far too aggressive. She didn't dare say another word now, fearing Li Nanzhu would unleash another verbal assault on her.
As the pill dissolved, Li Nanzhu felt her body become warm. It seemed as if something was boring into her. She sat cross-legged on the ground, and the world seemed to drift away from her.
A breeze caused by spiritual energy brushed past the faces of the onlookers. Their attention shifted from the battle above to Li Nanzhu as they watched the scene before them in disbelief.
"She... she!"
"She seems to be drawing qi into her body!"
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