Good News, I Transmigrated, But What the Heck is a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character? - Chapter 19

On the way back to the outer sect disciples’ quarters.

Meng Ke’er was as excited as a little sparrow, hopping and chattering non-stop around Yu Wanwan.

“Sister Wanwan! You’re so cool! So amazing! That was a Flame-Winged Tiger! A king-grade bloodline Flame-Winged Tiger! My god! You should have seen Zhao Tieshan’s face, it was practically liver-colored from anger, hahahaha, I nearly died laughing!”

She gesticulated wildly with her hands, “And, and, when it rubbed against your hand, it was such a huge lump, like a giant kitten, so cute! No, no, it was so majestic! From now on, let’s see who dares to bully you. A mature Flame-Winged Tiger can directly contend with a Golden Core cultivator! Sister Wanwan, you’ve made it big!”

Yu Wanwan looked at Meng Ke’er’s excited expression, a faint smile also showing on her face, but a hint of solemnity flashed deep in her eyes.

Zhao Tieshan’s venomous, snake-like gaze when he left, she saw it clearly.

An innocent man is guilty only when he possesses a treasure. This king-grade Flame-Winged Tiger cub, in the eyes of greedy people, was a fatally tempting piece of meat.

“Sister Wanwan, why do you seem unhappy?”

Meng Ke’er finally noticed Yu Wanwan’s silence, tilting her head and blinking her big eyes as she asked.

Yu Wanwan’s fingers unconsciously brushed over her sleeve, lightly tapping the cold little snake coiled on her wrist through the fabric, her tone carrying a hint of “trouble”: “I’m thinking… this little guy’s diet is going to be a problem.”

Within her sleeve, the little golden snake instantly bristled, its slender body stiffening. Furious divine thoughts, like a barrage of cannon fire, exploded in Yu Wanwan’s mind: “What are you touching me for, Yu Wanwan? You can’t just cross the river and demolish the bridge, being ungrateful! This old grandpa just helped you suppress that little orange cat, and you’re already thinking of feeding this old grandpa to it?! This old grandpa is a noble flood dragon! A flood dragon is still a dragon! Not food! I warn you, if you dare touch a single scale on this old grandpa, this old grandpa will… will…”

Yu Wanwan’s lips curved imperceptibly, her divine sense calmly responding: “Then what?”

Little Golden Snake: “…Yu Wanwan! I #$%^&! (A string of expletives)”

That night, in Yu Wanwan’s simple dwelling.

She sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, her five centers facing upward, eyes closed in meditation. Within her Dantian and Sea of Qi, that drop of Phoenix True Blood slowly rotated, emitting a gentle yet powerful aura. Just as her mind settled, a sudden change occurred!

“Hum!”

A vast, pure, and scorching spiritual energy of heaven and earth, without any warning, surged forth from the depths of her Dantian.

This was not something she actively absorbed; rather, it was spontaneously and continuously feeding back to her.

Behind her, the majestic phantom of the Flame-Winged Tiger appeared and disappeared, not a solid entity, but more like an energy projection. With the phantom’s breathing, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within dozens of feet was invisibly drawn, like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea, forming a visible, faint crimson-gold spiritual energy vortex, wildly surging into Yu Wanwan’s body!

Her meridians slightly swelled under the cleansing of this pure spiritual energy. Her Dantian and Sea of Qi were like a severe drought meeting timely rain. The barrier of the third layer of Qi Condensation actually loosened and increased at a clearly perceptible rate!

“Spiritual energy feedback?!” Yu Wanwan’s eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing and disappearing, filled with astonishment.

She could clearly feel that her cultivation was slowly increasing, even without her actively cultivating.

The little golden snake’s lazy voice resounded in her mind at the opportune moment, with a hint of sourness that it reluctantly admitted: “Hmph, fools have their own blessings. Now you know the benefits of this little tiger, right? A king-grade bloodline spirit beast is naturally close to the Great Dao. Even when it’s sleeping, it can automatically absorb the essence of heaven and earth, and feed it back to its master through the co-existence contract. This little cub has extremely high bloodline purity and immense potential. If it can find suitable fire-attribute heavenly materials and earthly treasures, or… well, even stronger fire-attribute true blood to advance, it’s not impossible for it to grow into a demon king in the future.”

“Demon king…” Yu Wanwan’s heart trembled, and astonishing brilliance burst forth in her eyes. That meant a terrifying existence comparable to a human Nascent Soul stage.

It seemed to be getting more and more interesting. The plot still had some deviations from the original novel. Was it because of her transmigration?

However, just as her heart was surging with emotion, immersed in this unexpected joy,

Outside the window, a black shadow, almost melting into the night, quietly swept past like a ghost, silently stopping in the shadow of an old pagoda tree not far away.

Zhao Tieshan crouched like a night owl on a thick branch, his gaze piercing through the darkness, locking onto Yu Wanwan’s faintly lit window, his eyes terrifyingly sinister. The spirit beast bag at his waist pulsated uneasily, emitting the suppressed and agitated low growls of his Tier 3 Iron-backed Azure Bear.

“Spirit-body co-existence… automatic feedback…” Zhao Tieshan licked his somewhat chapped lips, his voice low and hoarse like sandpaper rubbing, filled with undisguised greed and killing intent. “Such compatibility, such pure fire spiritual energy… as expected, it’s the legendary king-grade bloodline! Priceless…”

His calloused fingers gently caressed the agitated spirit beast bag, and a cruel and ferocious arc formed on his lips.

“Yu Wanwan! Flame-Winged Tiger!”

In the night wind, his whisper was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, icy and chilling. “Outer sect disciples, you know, sometimes things go wrong in cultivation, or… they get torn apart by a ‘accidentally’ rampaging spirit beast… such things always happen a few times every year… Hehehe…” A cold laugh drifted in the silent night, carrying a bone-chilling malice.

Pill Peak, Inner Sect Luxurious Dormitories.

Carved jade marrow window lattices filtered in soft sunlight, making the expensive rosewood furniture and the gently rising spiritual mist incense in the room appear even more elegant. However, Yu Wange, currently sitting cross-legged on the cold jade bed, had a face so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

Her slender jade fingers tightly clutched the warm phoenix jade pendant, her knuckles turning pale from the effort. The jade pendant felt slightly hot in her palm, but this warmth now stung her nerves like a poisonous needle.

“Why?!” Yu Wange gritted her pearly teeth, almost squeezing out these words.

She once again circulated the Spirit Guiding Art. The pure fire and wood dual spiritual energy within her body, like a rushing stream, surged violently into the jade pendant. The surface of the jade pendant immediately lit up with a layer of hazy red light, vaguely showing an extremely blurry, almost transparent phoenix phantom struggling to fly within it.

Once, twice, thrice…

Each time she refined it, Yu Wange poured in all her mind and spiritual energy, trying to awaken the legendary vast and powerful Phoenix essence blood deep within the jade pendant.

That layer of red light only flickered weakly, like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment. The phoenix phantom was even more pitifully illusory. Forget about majestic divine might, it couldn’t even maintain a clear outline, like a wisp of smoke that could dissipate at any time.

The red light finally dimmed, and the jade pendant returned to calm, leaving only a faint, imperceptible warmth in her palm.

“How is this possible?!” Yu Wange’s eyes snapped open, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief and a furious rage at being fooled. She stared intently at the jade pendant, her voice sharp due to extreme emotional fluctuation, “This… this essence blood is so diluted it’s like nothing! Only a pitiful trace.”

She seemed unable to accept this result and frantically activated her spiritual energy several more times, but the jade pendant no longer showed any strong reaction. That faint aura was like a drop of water in the ocean, a grain of sand in the desert, a world apart from the immense energy she had expected, which would transform her and send her soaring into the sky.

“Master!!” Yu Wange suddenly looked up, screaming at the ancient ring on her finger, her voice filled with grievance, anger, and accusation. “You tell me, why is this?! I spent so much effort, begged Father to break off that engagement, endured the criticisms of my clan members to bring her into the Plum-Winged Sect… and all I got in return was this tiny bit of essence blood?! What’s the difference between this and nothing?”

She felt she had suffered a huge loss.

On the ring, a divine sense fluctuation, perceivable only by Yu Wange, emanated. The old voice also contained confusion and solemnity: “Strange… I clearly sensed an extremely dense and pure Phoenix essence blood aura within this jade pendant that day, vast as the sea, fiery as fire… Why is it… so diluted now?”

“Exactly! Why?!” Yu Wange’s emotions completely spiraled out of control. She abruptly stood up and slammed the jade pendant onto the cold jade bed with a crisp “thwack!” “Did it fly away on its own?!”

The old man in the ring was silent for a moment. That wisp of divine sense fluctuated again, carrying a hint of icy chill and an unbelievable inference: “Unless… unless it was refined and its essence stolen by someone beforehand!”

“What?!”

Yu Wange was struck as if by lightning, her pupils sharply constricting. “Yu Wanwan?! How could she, a mere third layer Qi Condensation trash, possibly detect and refine Phoenix essence blood? Master, didn’t you say the restriction on this jade pendant couldn’t be broken by anyone below the Golden Core stage?”

She couldn’t believe that her cousin, whom she viewed as an ant to be manipulated, could possess such cunning and means?

How could she know that Yu Wanwan was familiar with the novel’s plot and naturally knew how to open the restriction within it?

The old man in the ring’s voice was solemn: “The restriction is indeed complex, but what if she had some fortuitous encounter we don’t know about, or if the jade pendant itself has some special resonance with her bloodline? Or perhaps she had guidance from an expert behind her?”

The mysterious powerful being’s speculation made Yu Wange’s heart sink little by little into an ice cave.

If that were truly the case, then she, Yu Wange, the proud talent of the Yu family, the new star of the Plum-Winged Sect, had been completely played by Yu Wanwan from beginning to end.

She had begged her father to cancel the engagement, helped Yu Wanwan out of trouble, brought her into the sect… all of this was part of Yu Wanwan’s carefully designed scheme, a foolish act that she, the “kind-hearted” cousin, had willingly stepped into.

She was like an idiot, completely used by Yu Wanwan, and even pleased with herself!

“Yu Wanwan… you actually dared… you actually dared to trick me like this!” Yu Wange’s face twisted with extreme rage. Her originally beautiful features now appeared somewhat hideous, her eyes burning with the blazing fury of betrayal and being fooled.

Just as she thought of going out to get some air, she heard others discussing: “Did you hear? We just got news from the outer sect.”

“What news? Tell us quickly.”

“It’s about that little girl from the Yu family who came to the Plum-Winged Sect with Yu Wange. She’s incredibly lucky. Yesterday, she successfully contracted a Tier 2 Flame-Winged Tiger cub in the Myriad Beast Valley!”

“That’s outrageous?”

“An outer sect disciple contracted a Tier 2 Flame-Winged Tiger?”

Boom!

Hearing the crowd’s discussion, like the last straw, it completely crushed Yu Wange’s crumbling sanity, and it also fully confirmed the old man’s speculation in the ring.

“A Tier 2 Flame-Winged Tiger?! How can she, at the third layer of Qi Condensation, do that?! Without powerful spiritual consciousness, without special beast-taming techniques, how could she contract a Tier 2 demonic beast?!”

All her doubts were answered.

Only by refining Phoenix essence blood, even if only partially, could a trash at the third layer of Qi Condensation have her spiritual consciousness nourished and strengthened, and perhaps even gain some ability to communicate and resonate with fire-attribute spirit beasts.

Otherwise, with the Flame-Winged Tiger’s violent nature, how could it possibly submit to a cultivator at the third layer of Qi Condensation?

“Heh… hehe…” Yu Wange suddenly let out a chilling, low laugh, filled with biting hatred and icy killing intent. “Good! Yu Wanwan! What a Yu Wanwan! You hid it so well! You acted it so well! You tricked me so cruelly!”

She picked up the phoenix jade pendant, which had already turned cold and, to her, seemed like a huge irony. Her thumb rubbed hard against the jade pendant, her fingernails almost digging into the jade.

“Phoenix essence blood… Flame-Winged Tiger…” she said, enunciating each word, with no trace of pity or condescension for her cousin in her eyes, only a venomous cruelty. “What you swallowed, I’ll make you spit it all out, with interest—with your flesh and blood, your soul, everything you have!”