**Chapter 190: Protagonist 28**

The tug-of-war between the Cultivation World and the Demon Realm had dragged on for quite some time. During this period, several minor conflicts flared up, mostly due to disciples from the Cultivation World who had been trapped in the Demon Realm. But in the end, just as Gongxi Yue had predicted, things played out as expected.

The two sides agreed to settle their grievances through the Immortal-Demon Convention.

Originally scheduled to take place ten years later, the Convention was moved up at the request of the Lord of the Demon Realm and would now be held in just two years.

If the Demon Realm won, border cities like Twelfth City and Ninth City would be ceded entirely to them.

If the Cultivation World emerged victorious, all demonic cultivators would withdraw from the border, retreating a hundred miles into the Demon Realm, and vow not to set foot in the Cultivation World for the next sixty years.

But that was just what was stated on the surface. Beneath the official terms, there were countless undercurrents that ordinary disciples could never hope to understand.

As the oldest sect in the Cultivation World, the Yunyin Immortal Sect took on the responsibility of leading the charge.

Many disciples who were out traveling received orders to return and prepare for the upcoming Immortal-Demon Convention two years hence.

The current Talent Showcase Assembly had yet to begin, and the new disciples were still too inexperienced to take on major responsibilities. Naturally, this left Gongxi Yue, the Chief Senior Sister, with her hands full.

In the past, when she got busy, she would leave Qian in the care of her Master, Jing Lingzhao, at Zhaoming Palace. A group of junior sisters would take turns looking after the child.

But lately, everyone had been overwhelmed with work, and somehow, the responsibility of watching over Qian had quietly fallen to the only unofficial member of the sect—Wen Xunzhen.

The busy disciples of Yunyin Immortal Sect often spotted Wen Xunzhen and Qian in various corners of the different peaks.

It was hard to say who was leading whom—whether Wen Xunzhen was taking Qian out to play, or if the child was dragging her companion around on a grand inspection tour.

Every time someone saw them, it was the same scene: Wen Xunzhen desperately clutching Qian’s hand, trying to reason with her:

“Qian, let’s not take this. That statue is way too heavy to carry back!”

“Qian, that’s not a wild chicken, it’s a Spirit Crane! It’s alive and well—we’re not eating it!”

“Qian, that’s not a vegetable garden, it’s your martial uncle’s spiritual herb patch. You can’t just pick things!”

“Qian! Come out of the library! Don’t go in there to play with the books!”

“Qian! That’s a formation! Don’t doodle on it! If you mess up the lines, the whole thing will break!”

Thanks to the doting affection of the sect’s founder, the Lingzhao Sword Immortal, Qian had grown up wild and fearless within the sect, firmly believing the entire place was her personal playground.

Whenever the martial uncles saw that adorable little face—so much like Gongxi Yue’s—and she looked up at them with innocent confusion after being caught in the act, asking, “Is that not allowed?” or “But I wanted it,” they would all surrender on the spot, unable to scold her.

Forget punishing her—some even went so far as to praise her, just to see her laugh, even if it meant letting her destroy things.

As for the grandmasters of the sect, they would never stoop to scolding the youngest child in the entire sect over such trivial matters.

Once, there had been a statue of an immortal placed on the Main Peak as a symbol of the Yunyin Immortal Sect’s prestige. But Qian insisted it looked like her mother and demanded it be moved to the Crane Cauldron Mountain.

And somehow, that ridiculous request was granted. With the Sect Leader’s approval, a few disciples worked together to relocate the statue to the courtyard of Crane Cauldron Mountain. It wasn’t until Gongxi Yue returned and saw it that she scowled and had it sent back.

Still, even Gongxi Yue—the only one capable of disciplining the child—couldn’t always steel herself to do so.

Qian had once trampled through her martial uncle’s herb garden, picking all the spiritual herbs like they were wildflowers.

But when she came back covered in mud, proudly holding out a bunch of those herbs like a treasure and saying she picked them just for her, Gongxi Yue’s heart softened.

In moments like that, she couldn’t help but think, “She only did it to bring me flowers—how could that be wrong?”

Faced with Qian’s eager little face offering her flowers, Gongxi Yue couldn’t bear to scold her. All she could do was ask her martial uncle to hide the herb garden better.

Gongxi Yue considered herself fairly strict with Qian. But after Wen Xunzhen had lived with them for a month, she suddenly said to her:

“I think you’re spoiling Qian too much.”

Gongxi Yue was stunned.

Spoiling her? She was the only one in the entire sect who even tried to stop Qian from causing trouble!

Wen Xunzhen said, “I saw Qian freely entering your treasure vault. Last time, she took a box of luminous pearls and smashed them on rocks just for fun. You saw it and didn’t stop her.”

Gongxi Yue replied, “But those pearls aren’t that valuable. Can’t she play with them?”

Wen Xunzhen sighed and asked, “Did you know Qian often gives me treasures as gifts?”

Gongxi Yue nodded. “I know.”

Wen Xunzhen took a deep breath. “And you’re just going to let her hand out rare treasures to people like that?”

Gongxi Yue looked puzzled. “What’s wrong with giving gifts? They’re just presents.”

Wen Xunzhen pressed on, “Do you know she’s been sneaking into the sect’s forbidden grounds?”

Gongxi Yue said, “It’s not that dangerous. She has protective artifacts—she won’t get hurt.”

Wen Xunzhen exclaimed, “But it’s forbidden!”

Gongxi Yue replied calmly, “I’ve snuck in there too.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Realizing they couldn’t see eye to eye, the conversation ended inconclusively.

After finishing her work outside, Gongxi Yue returned to Crane Cauldron Mountain, only to find her sword training ground covered in elaborate doodles. What had once been simple and austere was now gaudy and chaotic.

Looking closer, she saw the drawings included various formation patterns—some clearly the work of a beginner, others unmistakably drawn by a child.

Wen Xunzhen and Qian were on the ground, drawing intently. Qian was practically lying flat, her body smeared with colors, her hands filthy.

But she looked so happy, nestled close to Wen Xunzhen, occasionally leaning over to nuzzle her.

When she noticed Gongxi Yue had returned, Qian jumped up and ran over with a smile, leaving two dirty handprints on her white dress.

“What are you two doing?” Gongxi Yue asked.

Wen Xunzhen brushed the dust off her skirt and walked over. “Qian took me to watch her martial uncle repairing formation lines. She seemed really interested, so I brought her back to draw for fun.”

“I’ve noticed Qian really enjoys drawing. Look over there—those are all her works. She can even replicate some of the more complex formation patterns with surprising accuracy.”

Gongxi Yue watched them, and suddenly recalled a time in the past when Qian had run off to play near a teleportation array in the sect.

The disciples were repairing the array, and Qian was causing mischief nearby, grabbing a talisman brush and scribbling all over it, ultimately ruining the formation.

When Gongxi Yue found out, she simply thought Qian was being naughty and scolded her, forbidding her from going near formation patterns again. She thought she had disciplined her—but all she did was discipline, not teach.

At that moment, Gongxi Yue suddenly understood what Wen Xunzhen had meant in their previous conversation.

Though they both lived on Crane Cauldron Mountain, Wen Xunzhen and Gongxi Yue rarely spoke. That night, Gongxi Yue unexpectedly sought her out.

“Is something wrong?” Wen Xunzhen looked at the box Gongxi Yue handed her, puzzled. “What’s this?”

“A thank-you gift. For looking after Qian,” Gongxi Yue said.

Wen Xunzhen opened the box. It was a spatial treasure chest containing a hundred different spiritual herbs, many of which she had been trying to collect for refining the True Restoration Pill—ingredients to cure her physical deformities.

Her expression grew complicated as she accepted the gift. In return, she pulled out a jade bottle and handed it to Gongxi Yue.

“This is a pill that can neutralize the Medicinal Qi from the Medicine Worm inside your body.”

Gongxi Yue had accidentally ingested her Medicine Worm earlier, which led to temporary blindness. Though her eyes had been healed by Wen Xunzhen’s pills, the lingering effects of the Medicine Worm were not so easily dispelled.

Even without considering its other effects, the daily clash of Medicinal Qi alone was enough to be unbearable.

After being brought to Yunyin Immortal Sect, Wen Xunzhen, mindful of her own situation, had refined this pill to help Gongxi Yue absorb the Medicine Worm and alter her constitution. But for reasons she couldn’t quite explain—even to herself—she had never offered it.

And Gongxi Yue had never asked, silently enduring the Medicinal Qi backlash all this time.

Gongxi Yue glanced at the pill, then said, “Thanks.”

As she turned to leave, face calm as ever, Wen Xunzhen couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you endure the Medicinal Qi backlash for so long without ever asking me for a pill?”

Gongxi Yue replied, “I forgot. Besides, my daily cultivation is harsh—I have to endure countless trials. Compared to that, this backlash is nothing.”

She said it so matter-of-factly that Wen Xunzhen felt a silent, inexplicable shock.

Since childhood, Wen Xunzhen had been force-fed medicine by her father, her body constantly wracked by Medicinal Qi. She had a higher tolerance for pain than most.

But Gongxi Yue—someone born into privilege, adored by many—what drove her to endure such pain and remain so resilient?

A few days later, Gongxi Yue returned with a towering stack of formation books for Qian.

Qian flipped through a couple, tossed them aside, and ran off to the Sword Courtyard to doodle.

Gongxi Yue looked at Wen Xunzhen, puzzled. “Didn’t you say she liked formation patterns?”

Wen Xunzhen: “…”

Even if a child loves drawing formations, that doesn’t mean they’ll enjoy poring over dense, complicated texts.

Still, the books didn’t go to waste. Wen Xunzhen carefully selected a few simple and visually appealing formation patterns and began drawing them with Qian.

Soon, the courtyard around Crane Cauldron Mountain was covered in formation markings.

Gongxi Yue hadn’t noticed the growing number of these “traps” until one morning, stepping out her door, she accidentally triggered a small Ice Formation drawn near the threshold.

Her foot was instantly encased in a thick layer of ice, freezing her in place.

She looked down at the childish strokes of the formation, paused for a moment, then shattered the ice with the sheath of her sword and flew off to meet her Junior Disciples.

They were headed to Sword Valley for training. On the way, the usually reserved Gongxi Yue suddenly spoke up. “Do any of you know how to draw formations?”

The Junior Sisters were bewildered, exchanging guesses. “Why? Did Sword Valley add new formations?”

“Did Senior Sister encounter a formation she needs help breaking?”

After a round of speculation, Gongxi Yue casually said, “Qian can draw formations now. She drew an Ice Formation by the door and froze me solid.”

The Junior Sisters: “…” Was that… was that a humblebrag? Was Senior Sister showing off?

Before long, Qian’s “artwork” spread from Crane Cauldron Mountain to other peaks. A number of Elders began inviting her to leave her mark on their courtyards too.

The most over-the-top was Lingzhao Sword Immortal’s Zhaoming Palace. Both grand doors were completely covered in Qian’s drawings before Jing Lingzhao finally nodded in satisfaction.

Wen Xunzhen witnessed firsthand the affection and indulgence this group had for Qian—again and again over the next two years.

Her time in Yunyin Immortal Sect became the most peaceful period of her life.

No one demanded anything of her. No one tried to take anything from her. On the contrary, she felt as though she had gained so much.

Qian relied on her, and from that reliance, she drew strength.

Aside from spending time with Qian, she also trained with Xue Yingying on Qixiu Mountain under the guidance of her Master, Lang Qingyue, cultivating spiritual herbs.

Unknowingly, she had gathered all the ingredients needed for the True Restoration Pill. Some were gifts from Gongxi Yue, some from Qian—who loved giving her things—and others from Lang Qingyue.

When she left Medical Valley, she thought it would take her a lifetime to collect those herbs. She never imagined it would happen so easily.

Back then, she was obsessed with the idea that only by fully becoming a woman could she be with the one she loved. But now, it had been a very long time since she last thought of Xiao Shou.

When she did think of him again, there was no emotion left.

In the Demon Realm, Xiao Shou failed once more to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage. Pain tore through his body as if it were splitting apart.

Since his arrival in the Demon Realm, the Lord had taken a liking to him and provided countless rare resources. Yet despite it all, his cultivation refused to progress. He had failed twice to reach the Nascent Soul Stage.

Since coming to this world, he hadn’t managed to win over even a single three-star character.

The character with the highest affection rating for him, Wen Xunzhen, had seen her feelings steadily decline until they vanished completely. That meant she was no longer under his influence.

And it was all because of interference from another System Host!

The character he had chosen to pursue ended up being taken by the other host, and not only did he fail, but the backlash from the disrupted fate left him plagued with misfortune. Nothing was going his way.

Even his System had started to downgrade in this battle of attrition, gradually suppressed by the rival System, becoming less and less capable of offering him any real support.

This couldn’t go on.

He still had a chance, Xiao Shou thought. If he could win over Tu Hongying—a character rated nearly five stars—he could turn everything around!