A Consequence of Opposing the Heroine’s Halo (GL) - Chapter 21

After Guan Rong and her lackeys left, Bai Tong silently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and walked to Liu Sanye’s bedside. Liu Sanye’s consciousness was hazy, but she vaguely sensed that something bad had happened. She reached out a burning hand from under the quilt and gripped Bai Tong’s hand.

Bai Tong deliberately avoided mentioning what had just transpired. Holding Liu Sanye’s hand, she said, “Eldest Senior Sister sent me a bottle of medicine just now. Once you take it, you won’t feel so bad.”

With that, Bai Tong brought the medicine to Liu Sanye’s lips. Though her consciousness was unclear, Liu Sanye’s mouth remained tightly shut.

Bai Tong grew anxious. “Be good, open your mouth.”

Liu Sanye half-opened her eyes, her head swimming. She mumbled incoherently, “You… have to… tell me… what happened…”

Bai Tong had no choice but to say, “Fine, I’ll tell you. Take the medicine first.”

Liu Sanye let out a soft “mm” and obediently opened her mouth.

The Yuan-Nourishing Pill melted the moment it touched her tongue, its effect nearly instantaneous. As soon as Liu Sanye took it, her fever broke. Once she felt she was mostly recovered, she sat up immediately.

“A group of people came here just now and mentioned a challenge. Did they come to issue a challenge?”

Bai Tong hesitated for a moment before replying, “Yes.”

Liu Sanye was so startled she scrambled off the bed. She stared at Bai Tong. “Did you accept it?”

In the original plot, during next month’s Outer Sect Grand Competition, that overbearing girl was supposed to challenge Bai Tong, and Bai Tong was supposed to refuse. But now that she was here, things had clearly changed, causing Liu Sanye to feel extremely anxious.

Bai Tong comforted her, “Don’t worry.” She appeared perfectly calm.

One look at her expression and Liu Sanye knew it was over. “You accepted the challenge?”

Bai Tong nodded.

Liu Sanye felt the world go dark. She flopped back onto the bed. Looking at the pills in Bai Tong’s hand, she suddenly understood. “You didn’t accept it because of me, did you?”

Bai Tong remained silent.

Liu Sanye buried her face in the bedding, her heart filled with only one thought: It’s over.

In the original text, Ma Shi was a mad dog. If anyone made Guan Rong unhappy, he would fight to the death to destroy them. Now that Bai Tong had accepted the challenge, that mad dog Ma Shi would definitely use forbidden techniques if he couldn’t win on the arena! Although Bai Tong was the protagonist and would surely turn the danger into a blessing in the end, Liu Sanye was still worried.

Only Heaven Class disciples were allowed to attend the Grand Competition. No matter what, she had to worm her way into the Heaven Class within this month, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to rest easy with Bai Tong going to the duel alone.

Sorting out her thoughts, Liu Sanye sat up and grabbed Bai Tong’s hand, heading for the door.

Bai Tong didn’t ask why; she just followed along, waiting for Liu Sanye to tell her. Liu Sanye panted as she ran, “You just got that Dust-Spirit Sword Manual, but you don’t even have a sword! How can you practice it?”

Bai Tong asked, “So we’re going to find a sword?”

“Exactly! There’s a Treasure Pavilion in the Heaven Class territory. You can obtain dharma treasures based on personal luck. Go and pick a few!”

Bai Tong looked doubtful. “But the treasures in the pavilion require fate to obtain. Many senior brothers and sisters go in and come out empty-handed…”

Liu Sanye cut her off immediately. “Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get something!”

Bai Tong: “…”

Finally, to make it sound less forced, Liu Sanye added an explanation: “Because of your face! One look at you and I can tell you’re someone with great destiny!”

Bai Tong touched her face and reluctantly accepted the explanation.

Liu Sanye dragged Bai Tong along in a wild dash. Her legs were about to snap before they even left their own mountain ridge. Liu Sanye was practically foaming at the mouth from exhaustion; meanwhile, Bai Tong wasn’t even flushed or out of breath.

Liu Sanye turned back to look at her, eyes wide. She suddenly realized: “Bai Tong, can you circulate internal qi now?”

Bai Tong nodded, a hint of a smile on her face.

Liu Sanye was furious. “What! You didn’t even remind me! You just let me drag you along for this long?! Did you do it on purpose? Were you honestly trying to tire me to death?!”

Liu Sanye shouted several sentences in a row, clearly very angry.

In the past, when Bai Tong had no cultivation and couldn’t see the path, Liu Sanye always led her. Wherever Liu Sanye went, Bai Tong followed. Both had grown used to it. Bai Tong felt quite wronged. “I forgot for a moment.”

Liu Sanye huffed, her anger partially subsiding. “Fine. Since you’re so sincere, I’ll forgive you.”

Then, she naturally threw her arms around Bai Tong’s neck, using her as a human taxi. “Use your qi! Let’s go to the Heaven Class!”

Bai Tong laughed. “Then you’d better hold on tight.”

Liu Sanye locked her hands together. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a firm grip!” Then, feeling slightly uneasy, she pulled Bai Tong’s hands around her own waist. “For safety’s sake, you have to hold me tight too. If you drop me, I’m never letting you hear the end of it.”

“I definitely won’t drop you,” Bai Tong promised.

“Haha, good.”

With everything ready, Bai Tong held Liu Sanye, tapped her toes, and a fierce gale swept around them. Bai Tong sped through the dense forest, riding the wind.

Perhaps because Bai Tong flew quite low, Liu Sanye didn’t feel any fear of heights. She even had the leisure to fix Bai Tong’s hair, which was being blown messy by the wind. “I’ll braid your hair in a French braid later. Having it loose looks messy when the wind blows; it doesn’t fit your serious image.”

Bai Tong replied, “But your hair is loose too.”

“Do you know how to braid hair?” Liu Sanye countered.

Bai Tong: “…”

Liu Sanye rubbed her hands together excitedly. This was a great reason; now she could legally play with Bai Tong’s hair forever.

Bai Tong, seeing right through her: “…”

Liu Sanye didn’t stop for the whole trip. After playing with Bai Tong’s hair, she looked at the scenery. “It’s so good to be able to fly. Once I can fly, I’ll take you everywhere too.”

Bai Tong smiled. “Okay.”

“But speaking of which, you can’t fly very high yet, can you?”

“To fly high, one needs a flying treasure,” Bai Tong explained. “My spiritual power is currently too low to fly at high altitudes using just internal qi.”

“It’s fine,” Liu Sanye said. “While you’re at the Treasure Pavilion, pick up a flying treasure as well.”

Bai Tong: “…” She makes it sound so simple, like the Treasure Pavilion is her own backyard where she can just take whatever she wants…

Facing Bai Tong’s speechless expression, Liu Sanye gave her a “fighting” gesture. “Believe in yourself! As big as your heart is, that’s how many treasures you’ll get!”

After encouraging Bai Tong, they reached the Heaven Class barrier. Liu Sanye wasn’t a Heaven Class disciple and couldn’t enter. “Alright, you go in. I’m going to the Earth Class next door. Find me once you’ve got your treasures.”

“Mhm, okay.” To temper Liu Sanye’s expectations, Bai Tong added softly, “But I might not get any treasures…”

Liu Sanye repeated the gesture. “Believe in yourself! As big as your heart is—”

Bai Tong, afraid she’d start again, interrupted her. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely get a treasure.”

Liu Sanye nodded in satisfaction. “That’s the spirit~” Then, like a mother hoping her daughter would become a dragon, she watched intently as Bai Tong stepped into the barrier.

While Bai Tong went to the Treasure Pavilion, Liu Sanye wasn’t idle. She used her pass to go to the Earth Class.

The Earth Class focused on cultivation techniques; one could only graduate to the Heaven Class after successfully “Drawing Qi into the Body.” The teaching elder was Xun Qiu, who taught both the Heaven and Earth classes simultaneously.

The moment Liu Sanye used her pass to enter, Xun Qiu sensed her. She drifted behind Liu Sanye like a ghost. “I’ve finally waited long enough for you. You’re quite slow; who would believe you’re a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root?”

Liu Sanye: “…”

On her very first day in the Earth Class, Liu Sanye took a direct hit from Xun Qiu’s tongue. Is my cultivation speed actually considered slow?

There were many students in the Earth Class, old and young alike—some had been stuck here for decades. Xun Qiu couldn’t handle them all alone, but she had a Division Technique. Using her three tails, she could manifest three versions of herself: one to lecture, one to answer questions, and one to play.

Clearly, the Xun Qiu in front of Liu Sanye was the one who liked to play.

As Xun Qiu drifted around her, Liu Sanye realized that the elder seemed to be flying 24/7. How immense must her spiritual power be! When she hadn’t started cultivation, she hadn’t noticed, but now she realized Xun Qiu was a true powerhouse.

“Since you’ve come to the Earth Class, follow me.”

Xun Qiu led her into a three-dimensional space where cultivation manuals were suspended. “Here are the techniques created and perfected by the elders of Hegui Sect over millions of years. See which one you like. Remember, you can only pick one, and once chosen, you cannot go back on your word.”

Liu Sanye’s eyes were dazzled by the selection. Finally, she picked a Green Wood attribute technique: The Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll.

Xun Qiu looked surprised. “I’ve seen Wood-root disciples favor healing types; why did you pick an offensive one?”

“I like it,” Liu Sanye replied.

In her heart, she was thinking: Staying by the protagonist’s side is like being at the eye of a storm. If I don’t pick something powerful, I’m afraid I won’t survive until the final episode. This name sounds epic, so it must be strong.

“Fine,” Xun Qiu replied. “Since you like it, I won’t stop you. But as your teacher, I must warn you: if the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll is improperly controlled, it will cause a backlash. As far as I know, out of a hundred disciples who practiced this, ninety turned into wood and became part of the forest, and nine fell into the demonic path.”

Liu Sanye suddenly felt like she was holding a hot potato. Her voice trembled as she asked, “What about… the last one?”

Xun Qiu smiled. “The last one was the former Lord of Green Wood Peak, Su Lin. A prodigy of his generation, though unfortunately, he perished a thousand years ago in the Immortal-Demon War.”

Liu Sanye decisively handed the hot potato back. “I suddenly feel like the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll isn’t for me. Let me pick another one.”

Xun Qiu wagged a finger. “No can do. I already said: once chosen, it cannot be changed.”

“No, no, no!” Liu Sanye argued. “I haven’t ‘chosen’ it yet, I’m just holding it in my hand!”

Xun Qiu shook her head. “Did you forget what you learned in the Mystery Class? A cultivator can choose an item, but the item also chooses its master. The moment you gripped the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll, it chose you. Otherwise, did you think you could just pick up a Saint-Rank Upper-Tier manual?”

“Saint-Rank Upper-Tier?!” Liu Sanye nearly spit blood. “Does this scroll have another name? Like… The Immortal Wood Treasure Scroll?”

Xun Qiu nodded. “Yes. The Sect Leader thought ‘Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll’ sounded too much like a demonic technique, so he changed it to something nicer.”

Liu Sanye wanted to slap the male lead, Yun Yixian. Why change the name for no reason?! You’ve screwed me over!

In the original novel, the villainous Liu Sanye was precisely the one who practiced this technique and eventually fell to the demonic path!