I Rely On My Archenemy To Defy Fate - Chapter 5

Shang Que sat in her room, with nothing to do for the moment.

Subconsciously, she wanted to open her broken system, but she was afraid Su Tanghua might suddenly wake up and see the eerie sight of her staring intently at “empty air.”

Shang Que hesitated for a moment, then decided to be a little wandering cultivator who pursued benefits and avoided harm. She decisively went out, intending to catch a senior sister and have Su Tanghua sent back to her own room.

After all, she had only just arrived and did not know where Su Tanghua lived.

As it happened, the person she caught was the very gatekeeping disciple who had received her upon entry.

The gatekeeping disciple’s surname was Han, and her name was Yuzhu. As she listened to how Shang Que had rescued Su Tanghua, her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

She had just been about to say that only cultivators at Foundation Establishment or above could enter the forest behind the mountain when she heard Shang Que say she had met Wen Qingyin.

What Shang Que had actually said at the time was, “Then I ran into someone. She was the woman from today’s sword formation. When I first saw her, she really gave me a fright. I thought Jiuxiao Sect was full of sword formations everywhere. And I could feel that this sword formation was truly very strong. I couldn’t handle it at all.”

Hearing this, Han Yuzhu lifted her brows slightly. “You mean you met Senior Sister Wen?”

“I suppose so. She should have been a real person, but she really didn’t seem like one. She was honestly so strange. Her smile was very gentle and very scary!”

As Shang Que said this, her face was filled with genuine fear. In truth, she did not know whether the person listening to her pour out her feelings could understand that fear.

Because Wen Qingyin’s reputation in the cultivation world was simply too good. So good it was uncanny.

At one point, Shang Que had even thought that this sword cultivator’s Dao heart was related to her reputation.

But wasn’t that putting the cart before the horse?

As expected, after Han Yuzhu heard this, she actually curved her lips, as though she had come across something very amusing.

“Junior Sister Shang, you’ve only just entered the sect, so you don’t understand Senior Sister Wen.”

She knew this junior sister was a wandering cultivator without much knowledge of the world. Since Shang Que was also not a sword cultivator, she did not even know the famous Wen Qingyin.

So she very kindly introduced Wen Qingyin to Shang Que.

“The person in the sword formation was Wen Qingyin, Senior Sister Wen. She is the best sword cultivator in the entire world, and also the strongest sword cultivator in the cultivation world. Don’t be fooled by how cold she looks. Senior Sister Wen is actually a very gentle person.

“Whenever senior sisters or junior sisters have any questions about cultivation, she patiently answers them. She can even notice the small injuries on their bodies and gives us many precious pills.”

Han Yuzhu sighed with great emotion. She was clearly also one of Wen Qingyin’s fans, probably an especially devoted one, because just praising Wen Qingyin a few times was obviously not enough for her. After a slight pause, she began talking about just how good Wen Qingyin was, even giving detailed examples of how she respected the sect master, supported the elders, and cared for her fellow disciples.

Shang Que: …

In her heart, she let out a cold hehe. Respected the sect master… Did she mean the kind of respect where Wen Qingyin still left the former sect master alive?

Supported the elders… Did she mean the kind of support where she beat every elder into submission, and none of the other elders dared to cause trouble anymore?

As for caring for fellow disciples…

Shang Que had nothing to say about that.

Because Wen Qingyin really had helped. No matter what Wen Qingyin had been thinking at the time, or whether she had been impatient, she had indeed guided one disciple after another who had encountered difficulties in cultivation.

Her foundation among the masses was excellent.

Shang Que had nothing to say. Following Han Yuzhu’s words, she affectedly clasped her hands over her heart, her eyes sparkling as if she had suddenly learned of someone worthy of worship.

Seeing Shang Que’s reaction, Han Yuzhu immediately felt honored by association. She originally wanted to keep chatting with Shang Que for a while, but seeing that the sky was truly getting late, she regretfully carried Su Tanghua on her back, intending to send her back to Su Tanghua’s room.

Shang Que rose to see her off. When Han Yuzhu first began walking, she felt as if she had forgotten something, so she kept chatting with Shang Que in bits and pieces. Shang Que also wanted to know where Su Tanghua’s room was, so naturally, she followed along.

And so, halfway there, Han Yuzhu finally remembered what she had forgotten.

She looked at Shang Que with a complicated gaze. “Junior Sister, you said Senior Sister Wen was especially gentle today?”

“She even smiled.”

Shang Que: !!

You finally realized that?

Never mind whether Wen Qingyin was gentle or not. The key point was that Wen Qingyin was not someone who liked to smile!

Shang Que nodded frantically. Then she saw Han Yuzhu’s expression become extremely complicated, the emotions in her eyes seeming both unwilling and envious.

“Senior Sister Wen may already know that you broke her sword formation.”

“She probably went there specifically to see you.”

Han Yuzhu stopped at that point and did not say more, but sourness kept bubbling up in her heart.

The reason Wen Qingyin, the number one sword cultivator, was still called Senior Sister Wen was because she was not any elder’s personal disciple.

Nor had she accepted anyone as her own personal disciple.

Senior Sister Wen had suddenly gone to see Shang Que. Did she want to accept her as her personal disciple? Han Yuzhu thought this very naturally.

Unfortunately, Shang Que failed to receive such complicated emotions from her. Shang Que was even shocked with horror.

The sentence Wen Qingyin specifically went to see her was already terrifying enough.

Even if she knew she probably had not exposed herself, she still could not help feeling uneasy.

As for Wen Qingyin wanting to take a disciple?

Shang Que had never thought of that.

Because she knew that Wen Qingyin had long been accustomed to selfishness and self-interest. She had neither the patience to raise a child nor the desire to give anything for another person.

Rather than accepting a disciple, it was more likely that Wen Qingyin wanted to display something, then reveal at the appropriate moment that she was unsuitable to take disciples.

Still, Shang Que merely nodded as if she half-understood, looking as though she had not understood Han Yuzhu’s hint at all.

Having obtained the information she wanted and dealt with Su Tanghua, Shang Que returned to her room perfectly satisfied. Now, at last, she could open the system with peace of mind.

Only, opening it this time was different from every time before.

The moment she entered, a large, bold pop-up appeared.

【Major Update!】

But Shang Que searched for half a day and still could not find where the update content was.

This mentally impaired system did not even have an option to refuse the update.

Shang Que took a deep breath and could only choose to update.

She had a vague feeling in her heart. The reason for the update was probably that she had already begun interfering with the comic’s plot.

The system updated very quickly. It was still the same crude, deep-blue panel. Only, the buttons on the left side had changed from two to three.

【Main Quest】

【Comic Updating】

【Forum】

Comic Currently in Preparation was gone. In other words, the comic author’s notebook was gone.

Shang Que took a deep breath, wanting to comfort herself that the notebook had not actually been very useful.

Because the author of this comic was a complete newcomer to the comic industry. She was very good at drawing, and she had drawn short fan comics before, but she had never drawn an original comic.

She was always very enthusiastic about this comic and could write eight hundred setting ideas in a single day, but very few of them could actually be used.

Her personality was also extremely conflicted and repetitive. For example, she could add Shang Que into the protagonist squad eight times, then kick her out nine times.

Everything depended entirely on instinctive development.

So there was no need to look at her notebook. Even she herself did not know what would happen in the future.

Shang Que forcefully suppressed the unease in her heart, but she could not hide her anxiety.

She clicked open the main quest. Unsurprisingly, her popularity value was still 0.

After all, the comic had only updated one chapter, and she had not appeared in the comic yet.

She clicked open the comic again and carefully read through the plot several times.

She felt the author’s art was quite good-looking. Beyond that, she had nothing else to say.

Because she truly did not understand the comic market. Even things like comic paneling were knowledge she had learned from the author’s notebook.

Do not be anxious.

Shang Que silently advised herself.

At least the author’s drawings were very good-looking, and the artwork was very refined.

The author was still very capable!

After forcibly comforting herself, Shang Que opened the forum.

This was a new function. It was probably a forum specially for discussing this comic.

Because the comic had only just begun updating, there really was not much splash.

So there were only two or three stray cats on the forum.

【Feng-da’s new comic. The art style looks pretty good. Camping here.】

Shang Que clicked into this thread.

Original Poster: This time, Feng-da is drawing an original. I’ve eaten so much of her fanwork that even if her original is a pile of crap, I have to support it.

1F: Feng-da’s art style is beyond question. The protagonist little sister is so cute. But why is there only one character in the protagonist column? And why does the comic have such a retro title?

2F OP: This one seems to be no-CP. As for the title… Feng-da’s personal kink, I guess… wipes sweat

5F: …Hey, serious plots are hard to get popular these days!! And the first chapter really is the protagonist properly entering an immortal sect. If it keeps developing like this, what year and month will the protagonist finally ascend?!

6F: Upstairs, look on the bright side. This is a long epic… a cultivation long epic with gorgeous art. nods certain

9F: But Feng-da draws short gag strips!!

10F: 9F, you and I have the same worry!!! I’m so afraid this will turn into an abandoned pit!!!

Shang Que kept scrolling down, only to discover there was nothing else.

Because there was only one chapter, there was not much plot discussion either.

Shang Que could only read and reread this tiny bit of forum content.

Serious plots were not popular?

That was fine. As long as the supporting characters were a little interesting, it would not be a completely serious plot.

The comic was easy to abandon?

Not necessarily.

Because just as she was thinking this, the comic dinged and updated!

The first chapter had talked about how Su Tanghua, as a farmer’s daughter, assisted the senior sisters of Jiuxiao Sect in subduing a yao creature, accidentally obtained some spoils of war bound to her, and successfully entered Jiuxiao Sect.

The second chapter continued the plot from the first.

First, it used a chibi version of Su Tanghua to show her busy daily life after entering Jiuxiao Sect, including but not limited to choosing a cultivation path and receiving sect uniforms. Because Su Tanghua chose to become a sword cultivator, her daily life also included practicing the sword.

But these daily scenes only took up a few panels. Very soon, the author showed Su Tanghua’s interpersonal relationships within the sect.

There was the senior sister who had personally recruited Su Tanghua, who had lived and died alongside her for a period of time and therefore treated Su Tanghua especially well. There was also the young lady of a cultivation clan who had always lived in the sect, possessed extraordinary talent, and had originally thought she would be the first to finish walking the Heart-Inquiry Stairs, only for Su Tanghua to beat her to it.

That young lady was Changsun Yu, the most promising young girl Han Yuzhu had introduced to her at the beginning.

Elder Changsun’s daughter. A single metal spiritual root. A born seedling for sword cultivation.

The comic used four or five panels to clearly explain why Changsun Yu targeted Su Tanghua.

Because she worshiped Wen Qingyin and wholeheartedly wanted to become Wen Qingyin’s disciple. As a result, Su Tanghua’s appearance meant that Changsun Yu was no longer the most outstanding one.

The rivalry between young girls was understandable.

Shang Que was reading the daily-life scenes with great interest. But when she flipped down further, the comic rendered a moonlit night with a full moon hanging high in the sky.

Su Tanghua’s spoil of war, a black stone, suddenly began to heat up. It even flew around the room, seemingly searching for something.

Shang Que sat up.

She knew.

She was about to learn why Su Tanghua was able to obtain Jingchuan.