After Being Struck By The Love Gu, I Reached A Happy Ending With My Frail Best Friend - Chapter 1

Two Realms Mountain

Shen Fangzhou thought, This time, I really am going to die.

A deafening uproar surrounded her. Countless cultivators who had only reached the Foundation Establishment realm trembled as they crowded together atop Huizhou Pass, as though they could use their flesh-and-blood bodies to withstand the Golden Core demon general beyond the city walls.

Unfortunately, that was all but impossible.

A cold sneer hung at the corner of the Black Tiger Demon General’s lips. His hand was still stained with the blood and gore of Huizhou City’s lord when, without warning, he casually waved it.

In an instant, thousands upon thousands of tiny demonic swords materialized from the wind. Their force was so sharp it seemed capable of slicing through faces as they roared toward every cultivator present, mercilessly harvesting lives.

“Run! Hurry, run!”

“Stop blocking me! Get out of the way—all of you, move!”

“Huizhou Pass is about to fall! Run!”

Countless cultivators fled the battlements in terror. Shen Fangzhou was nearly knocked off balance, but before she could steady herself and think of a plan, every hair on her back abruptly stood on end.

She snapped her head up.

A vicious demonic sword had locked on to her like a savage beast spotting its prey, hurtling gleefully toward her throat.

“Clang—”

Shen Fangzhou’s hand paused halfway to Longming at her waist.

Ning Ruyue gritted her teeth and raised her sword horizontally, blocking the attack. Her entire body was drawn taut like a bow as she unleashed the full power of a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Even then, the tip of her blade only barely managed to stop the demon general’s casual strike.

“What are you staring at? You in the green robes—do you have a death wish?” Ning Ruyue knocked the demonic sword aside with both hands, then turned back with a cold laugh. “Everyone else is running. Why are you just standing there? Don’t tell me you’re planning to die together with that demon general. He’s at the Golden Core realm. No one here can kill him!”

Shen Fangzhou thought, That’s not necessarily true.

She thanked Ning Ruyue and drew a deep breath, already preparing herself to endure the punishment of heavenly lightning.

Under Ning Ruyue’s stare—as though she were looking at an idiot—Shen Fangzhou remained where she was and called silently, “System?”

The system, which had been waiting for this moment, answered excitedly, “I’m here, Zhouzhou! I’m ready to fight at any time!”

In Huizhou Pass, where the entire city was filled with Foundation Establishment cultivators, if anyone could kill a Golden Core cultivator, that person could only be her—Shen Fangzhou, who had been entrusted with a mission by the Heavenly Dao.

More precisely, it could only be Shen Fangzhou, who had transmigrated into a book.

The Crane Travels the Heavens was a fraudulent yuri novel disguised as a fluffy romance. It mainly told the story of the female lead, Xie Guiwan, temporarily staying at the Sword Pavilion, meeting Bian Yingxue, the successor of Solitary Peak, and joining forces with her to resist the demon realm.

The novel was long-winded and the plot was bizarre, but Shen Fangzhou had endured it all the way to the end just to see the romance.

At the novel’s conclusion, Bian Yingxue killed the Demon Lord, Zhou Han, with a single strike and brought the calamity to an end. Shen Fangzhou had thought the romance, which had been as good as dead the entire time, would finally make some progress. Surely what followed would be the two of them kissing, professing their love, and confessing their feelings to each other.

Filled with anticipation, she turned the page—

“Thunder rolled as divine punishment descended. A colossal demonic shadow emerged from among thousands of black souls. With a single wave of its hand, it took Bian Yingxue’s life. Xie Guiwan attempted to resist, but because her soul was incomplete, she was powerless and died in vain beneath the demonic shadow’s claws. The survivors were horrified, only to see the shadow race forward and destroy the entire Sword Pavilion.”

Shen Fangzhou: “???”

Hello? Author, are you there? Are you asleep?

Do you think this is reasonable?

Where did this black-souled demonic shadow even come from? How did my entire protagonist group—all those people—just die?!

She went to sleep filled with fury.

When she woke, she found herself inside the novel, bewilderedly accepting a mission to change the ending and save the protagonist group.

Oh, and naturally, she had also received the standard transmigration accessory: a system assistant that was every bit as useless as the novel’s romantic subplot.

The system solemnly claimed that her fate had already been bound to the female lead, Xie Guiwan. If Sect Master Xie died, Shen Fangzhou would be buried along with her.

And even if Sect Master Xie survived…

Shen Fangzhou would still die unless the progress bar for changing the original story reached one hundred percent.

Shen Fangzhou: “?”

Has staying alive become a luxury these days?

With no other choice, Shen Fangzhou had spent the past three years diligently guarding the female lead’s side, desperately searching for healing medicines in an attempt to mend Xie Guiwan’s damaged soul.

Unfortunately, her efforts had produced very little result.

Returning to the matter at hand, this was the first official plot arc in the novel.

Two Realms Mountain was a battlefield between the immortal and demon realms. A restriction surrounded it, allowing entry only to cultivators below the peak of the Golden Core realm. Yet no one had expected Huizhou Pass, one of the immortal realm’s four great passes, to come under a sudden attack.

Within moments, half the city had fallen.

Xie Guiwan, who happened to be passing nearby, was ordered to take command in the crisis and defend the pass alone.

The two sides remained locked in a stalemate for five days and five nights. Just as everyone was racking their brains over how to kill the Golden Core demon general, the Demon Lord, Zhou Han, unexpectedly tore through the restriction and personally appeared before the city.

With Huizhou on the verge of becoming a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, Xie Guiwan—who had been forced to take over the Tianji Sect after her master’s sudden death—had too little strength to contend with him.

Worse still, the great formations atop Huizhou Pass had already been completely destroyed and could offer the female lead almost no assistance.

With no other choice, Xie Guiwan used her own body as the formation’s core. She sacrificed half her lifespan and three senses—hearing, sight, and sound perception—to withstand Zhou Han and hold the city until reinforcements from the Immortal Alliance arrived.

When Shen Fangzhou reached this part of the novel, she had thought, How is this only half of Sect Master Xie’s lifespan? Half of my life is mixed into it too!

Therefore, she had to win this battle to defend Huizhou Pass.

But that raised a problem.

Even if she was the disciple of the Sword Pavilion’s master, she could not cross three cultivation realms to fight the Black Tiger Demon General.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, being able to fight an early-stage Golden Core cultivator to a draw would already make her a once-in-a-generation genius.

But a peak Golden Core cultivator…

Even for her, facing one head-on was rather troublesome.

At times like these, she could only thank the Heavenly Dao for mercifully granting her an extremely powerful advantage.

Hidden deep within this ordinary background character’s body were thirteen seals bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.

It was precisely because of those seals that she possessed Sword Bones, causing the Sword Pavilion’s master to recognize her talent at a glance and accept her as a disciple.

Whenever she encountered danger, the system could help release the seals and increase her cultivation. Once all thirteen were completely undone, her strength would rival that of a True Immortal.

Although using this advantage carried the risk of being struck by heavenly lightning, it was still enough to let her save the protagonist group at critical moments.

Like now.

The Nine Songs Sword Case began to tremble excitedly. Its first sword, Longming, was already impatient to drink the enemy’s blood.

Shen Fangzhou gripped the sword’s hilt and was just about to leap from the battlements when—

Behind the countless fleeing cultivators, Ning Ruyue rushed against the tide and blocked her path, demanding imperiously,

“You’re really going to throw your life away? Hey, don’t you understand that when you can’t win, you run?”

Shen Fangzhou smiled. “Then why aren’t you running?”

“Ha. I’m staying precisely to keep an eye on reckless cultivators like you.” Ning Ruyue snorted impatiently. “All right, I can see you’re also a sword cultivator. Keeping yourself alive so you can go to the Sword Pavilion and train is the wiser choice. Hurry up and leave. Go!”

“Perhaps leaving isn’t necessary.”

Ning Ruyue froze for a moment.

She was just about to frown and tell Shen Fangzhou not to show off when a bloodcurdling scream rang out behind her.

Shen Fangzhou looked up.

In the distance, the demon general was laughing wildly as he lifted the dying former lord of Huizhou City. Bloody saliva dripped from his two protruding tiger fangs as he swept his gaze over the cultivators fleeing in every direction atop the walls, nodding in satisfaction.

But when his eyes passed over the unmoving figure in green, standing as steady as a mountain, he paused.

Why was someone still standing on the wall?

The Black Tiger Demon General sneered.

Without hesitation, he hurled the lord of Huizhou City to the ground.

A crisp crack pierced straight into everyone’s skulls, and an indescribably foul, bloody stench suddenly filled the air.

The fleeing cultivators, the demon soldiers guarding their positions…

Everyone stared in terror and began trembling uncontrollably.

Under gazes filled with horror and fear, the Black Tiger Demon General extended his blood-soaked hand and slowly, gradually pulled the former city lord’s skull from his body.

The demon general leveled his sword directly at the walls of Huizhou Pass.

Everyone present heard him threaten coldly, enunciating each word.

“Every last one of you standing on that wall, listen carefully. Anyone who stubbornly resists or dares fight back will share this man’s fate!”

Before his words had even faded, the demon general clenched his fist.

The skull shattered into countless pieces and turned to powder. Thick, blood-red remnants of the human body dripped from his hand and were carried by the wind toward everyone atop Huizhou Pass.

Beside him, however, one of the subordinates who was usually skilled at currying favor shuddered. He quietly offered the general a cup of spiritual wine, then cautiously said,

“General, perhaps we should show a little restraint?”

The Black Tiger Demon General looked at him with contempt. “Restraint? Ordinary people may need to restrain themselves before me, but as for someone on Two Realms Mountain capable of making a Golden Core cultivator like me exercise restraint… I’m afraid they haven’t even been born yet!”

“B-But according to the rumors, the sect master of the Tianji Sect, who is proficient in talismans, formations, and divination, is very close by. Because she possesses an Innate Dao Body, her cultivation also remains below the Golden Core realm. If she comes…”

“If she comes?” The demon general scoffed. “She’s nothing but a sickly invalid who can calculate a few fortunes and disasters. Even if she came here and divined an auspicious result for herself, I could forcibly turn it into the worst possible omen!”

A vicious light blazed in the Black Tiger Demon General’s eyes. It was as though he could already see the honor of receiving an audience with the Demon Lord after completing his task.

The more he spoke, the more exhilarated he became.

In the end, he simply planted one foot on the lord of Huizhou City’s corpse. The cold light in his eyes intensified, as though he were openly challenging the entire human race.

“Here on Two Realms Mountain, who can kill me?”

“Who dares kill me?!”

No one answered.

The Black Tiger Demon General was immensely pleased with himself. He casually accepted the spiritual wine offered by his subordinate and was just about to drink when someone suddenly laughed.

Her voice was clear, like shattered jade.

“I dare to kill you.”

The demon general abruptly looked up.

He saw a figure in green.

Shen Fangzhou drew her sword.

An unimaginable torrent of spiritual energy surged around her. The thirteen seals hidden deep within her dantian lit up at once, and power that transcended space and time erupted from within.

Thunder rolled as heavenly lightning faintly began to take shape.

In the final second before divine punishment descended, one of the thirteen chains snapped with a thunderous crack.

Cultivation comparable to the peak of the Golden Core realm poured violently into Shen Fangzhou’s meridians!

The Nine Songs Sword Case opened once more.

The second divine sword, Cangze, let out a long cry that pierced the heavens.

Shen Fangzhou dove downward.

Longming was in her left hand, Cangze in her right.

She crossed the two swords before her, and overflowing sword qi slammed violently into the demon general.

In that instant, the sun and moon seemed to lose their light, and a hundred swords fell dim.

An unrivaled pressure swept outward in a flat, unstoppable wave.

The demon general’s expression of astonishment froze.

Amid the cold sword force and boundless spiritual energy, a blow comparable to the peak of the Golden Core realm exploded against him.

Everything ended in the blink of an eye.

By the time everyone recovered their senses, the black clouds filling the sky had already dispersed, while the green-robed figure had vanished without a trace.

It was as though nothing had happened.

The deputy generals snapped out of their daze and began cursing, mocking the intruder for doing nothing but making empty threats.

The cultivators, however, sensed that something was wrong.

“Wait. Never mind that the demon general isn’t saying anything—why is he still holding the wine?”

The moment those words were spoken, the demon general abruptly closed his eyes, and his head drooped forward.

One deputy cautiously reached out and patted him.

Perhaps a breath passed.

Perhaps it was only an instant.

Without warning, the demon general’s head exploded!

A series of deafening booms rang out. Sword qi roared through the air, and the Black Tiger Demon General’s body was completely sliced apart into bloody pulp.

Blood sprayed over everyone nearby.

Amid the terrified, chaotic screams behind him, the deputy general trembled as he touched the remains of his superior splattered across his face.

At that moment, a steady voice rang out from the walls of Huizhou Pass.

“Two thousand three hundred cultivators of Huizhou Pass!”

The Golden Core demon general was dead, and the enemy forces had collapsed into chaos.

Everyone’s spirits soared.

All two thousand three hundred cultivators answered in unison,

“Present!”

A sword pointed directly at the demon army.

Then the voice gave a low command.

“Kill—”

“Kill—!”

The horn of the counterattack sounded.

Unable to suppress the surging excitement in their hearts, every cultivator charged out of the city, eager to sever the demons’ heads and exchange them for rewards.

Only Ning Ruyue, who had witnessed everything, remained frozen with her eyes wide.

Trembling, she stared at the sword cultivator across from her, who had entered the enemy ranks and taken a life as effortlessly as reaching into a bag.

“Y-You… You… Who exactly are you?”

The green-robed sword cultivator smiled faintly.

“The Sword Pavilion’s chief disciple, Shen Fangzhou.”