He'd rather run than be turned into a cannon fodder for the broken engagement.

"Ah! Senior Sister Leng is back!"

Leng Huan, unusually dressed in formal attire, appeared at Ruyi Pavilion. He encountered Che Li at the main entrance, and the young man exclaimed in surprise, looking at Leng Huan with considerable astonishment.

It's no wonder he was making a fuss; usually, Leng Huan is more like a man than a man, so who wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly did this?

Well, that's just great. No sooner had he finished speaking than Liang Boyu and the others came over and quickly greeted Leng Huan and Fu Xun: "Junior Brother Yin, Senior Sister Leng!"

Leng Huan grinned, showing off his white teeth, and nodded amicably at them: "Everyone's here..."

As they walked back to the entrance of the left courtyard, they encountered the ethereal fairy Ji Linlang again. Her eyes lit up as she stared at Leng Huan for a moment, then smiled and said, "Junior Sister Leng, you look radiant today. Is there something good to celebrate?"

happy event?

What a fart!

"More like a nightmare," Leng Huan replied with a smile. "No, I'm just buying a robe so I can compete on stage the day after tomorrow. Senior Sister, where are you going?"

Ji Linlang: "I'm planning to meet up with my junior brothers at the training ground to hone our skills, and I intend to challenge the Golden Core Ranking in the last few days."

So that's how it is. The last five days are the time to challenge the Golden Core stage after the Foundation Establishment stage. Ji Linlang and her two junior brothers from the same period have all broken through to the Golden Core stage in recent years, so it's normal for them to want to challenge.

In the original book, the male protagonist, who became an apprentice at the Huanyue Immortal Sect, met the ethereal fairy on the Golden Core arena after a fight. Ji Linlang, only twenty-eight years old, was already a Golden Core cultivator; although her talent couldn't compare to Fu Xun's...

But he's still much better than Leng Huan. For people with average talent, it becomes increasingly difficult to break through as they progress. Leng Huan doesn't even know if he can reach the Golden Core stage before he turns thirty. He's only just reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, and he's still a long way from the Great Perfection stage.

As for Fu Xun, if he continues his seclusion, breaking through to the Golden Core stage in one fell swoop is not a problem. Leng Huan sighed silently, greeted Ji Linlang, and turned to return to his room.

To be honest, I'm quite envious of other people's natural talent.

He rubbed his stiff face, started taking stock of the things he would need for the competition, then practiced the Divine Soul Technique, and went through the weapon-refining manual, sword techniques, and water magic.

Except in special circumstances, Leng Huan's morning lessons and daily cultivation routines were always on schedule, showing that he took his cultivation very seriously.

Speaking of which, apart from the water-attribute techniques of the Misty Immortal Sect, Leng Huan was most familiar with the Leng family's water techniques, which the original owner knew by heart. They were even more advanced than the techniques of the Misty Immortal Sect!

She always felt that the original owner's status as a saintess was somewhat questionable. She never practiced physical training, only cultivated magical techniques, primarily water-based ones. Her late-stage Qi Refining cultivation was entirely due to the encouragement of her elders, and also—

The Wen family's daughter-in-law urged her to cultivate diligently in order to acquire more resources. The original owner of this body did so only by barely meeting the requirements in order to obtain resources to give to her beloved, and also because she did not want her cultivation level to fall too far behind her beloved's.

Snapped!

Leng Huan slapped the original owner's forehead, showing his admiration for her.

"Can't you be a little more capable?"

As the first female cannon fodder in the early stages, the original owner's buffs were fully stacked, only appearing when she was jumping around, and were otherwise glossed over, with her growth experience and background being mentioned only briefly.

Therefore, Leng Huan is unaware of the Leng family's background, and even Wang Chen only knows the general outline. He assumed Leng Huan knew and didn't mention it at all.

Leng Huan also thought that the Leng family was just a far-fetched family of cultivators, and never thought about why they had the title of Saintess.

When today's cultivation was completed, the moon was already suspended in the air.

Leng Huan sighed suddenly. Yesterday, he was too shocked to think much about it. Now that he had calmed down, he realized that even if he was going to leave first, he should at least say goodbye to his elders.

But once this is mentioned, I'm bound to be interrogated about it again.

-

"Yin Xun? You're here so early?"

The next day, as dawn broke, Leng Huan went to the ancient pine tree in the backyard to do his morning practice, only to find that there was already a figure practicing swordsmanship.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Fu Xun. He was holding a sword with both hands, and the sword's momentum was so strong that Leng Huan could feel the sharp sword energy even from a few feet away.

She waited quietly, and only spoke softly after he finished his movements.

This was the first time Leng Huan had seen him wield a sword. The speed was incredibly fast, dazzling Leng Huan. He felt that the sword moves looked familiar, but he had no idea what the specific moves were.

Leng Huan was puzzled but impressed.

"Good morning, Senior Sister." Fu Xun sheathed her sword and took a few steps closer.

Leng Huan hummed in agreement. She had originally planned to practice the technique, but now... she suddenly pulled out a frying pan and pointed it at Fu Xun: "Junior brother, come and practice."

Fu Xun raised an eyebrow: "How do we train?"

Leng Huan just wanted to see how long he could last against him, "to see how many moves I could defend against."

-

After an incense stick had burned, Leng Huan, covered in sweat, leaned on a frying pan as a cane, while Fu Xun stood quietly to the side, not even panting.

He held back all his strength as he fed Leng Huan his moves. Leng Huan looked at Fu Xun with disbelief in his eyes, which then turned into relief.

In just over half a month, Fu Xun has made further progress compared to the last time he was at Lingjian Manor. His spiritual power is immense, and it feels like he has more than half as much as she does. Is this the difference between being at the Great Perfection stage and not?

Thinking about how far she was from the Golden Core stage, I felt a little helpless. But what can you do when someone is a genius like Long Aotian? It's infuriating to compare yourself to others.

"Junior Brother Yin Xun, bring some marbles with you during the competition later, just in case." Leng Huan handed him the remaining marbles, after all, from now on, Fu Xun's adventure has truly begun.

Having known each other for several years, Leng Huan couldn't remain indifferent to his future experiences. Although she couldn't stop things from unfolding, she could only offer him some reminders.

Fu Xun shook his head: "No need, keep it for self-defense."

Leng Huan has a skill: no one has ever been able to refuse anything she truly wants to give away!

She raised an eyebrow: "You mean I'm a weakling? Or do you think this thing is... useless?"

Fu Xun: "..."

Seeing her unfriendly expression, Fu Xun had no choice but to reach out and take it.

Leng Huan finally nodded in satisfaction, and the two of them simply sat down to meditate.

Suddenly remembering something, she looked at the brightening sky and asked hesitantly, "Yin Xun, if one day you find that this world is just like that, and you feel that life is meaningless, will you go crazy?"

Not knowing why she asked that, Fu Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Probably not. I want to see the view from the highest point."

"...The view from above disappointed you greatly?"

"No, you won't come with me to enjoy the scenery."

"Ah I……"

"Leng Huan, didn't we agree to ascend together?" Fu Xun narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Leng Huan.

"..." You said it yourself, that was back then!

"Leng Huan...you won't go back on your word, will you?"

"Hahaha, you know my aptitude is terrible, I'll probably never ascend in ten thousand years, maybe I'll even die before that day comes..."

Fu Xun forcefully interrupted her: "No, you only have a single spiritual root, and you are slightly lacking in other aspects, but you have excellent comprehension and will definitely be able to achieve enlightenment!"

Leng Huan fell silent.

She was just cannon fodder. Although she could have avoided courting death, it seemed that certain things were predetermined by her nature. She just wanted to live a good life, and it would be even better if she could go home and visit her family someday.

What they said back then was just a joke, how could we take it seriously?

After a long silence, she suddenly sighed: "Oh, that's not what I wanted to say. I just wanted to tell you that no matter what difficulties you encounter in the future, you must persevere. Whether it's saving yourself or all living beings, never forget your original intention: you must ascend!"

Leng Huan slapped his arm hard, emphasizing, "You absolutely must!"

Please don't do anything rash and destroy yourself!

That would cause this world to collapse.

Seeing her so serious, Fu Xun smiled faintly and said, "Okay."

In fact, Leng Huan was quite looking forward to seeing Long Aotian grow to his peak, making both the righteous and demonic paths tremble with fear.

Reaching the pinnacle of life, marrying a rich and beautiful woman... and so on!

Wait a minute!

Where are the rich, beautiful, and successful women?

I almost forgot about that! Something was wrong!

The ethereal fairy, as the main wife, is definitely a rich, beautiful, and successful woman!

Although Leng Huan, as a pure love god, does not approve of harem novels, Fu Xun is clearly clueless!

"Ahem, Yin Xun, what do you think of the Fairy of the Misty Clouds?"

"very good."

"anything else?"

"As expected of the chief disciple, senior sister of the same sect."

"That's it? Don't you think she's beautiful and kind-hearted? Is she... a good match for you?"

Fu Xun immediately turned to look at her: "What do you mean?"

Leng Huan awkwardly looked away: "Um, don't you like her?"

Fu Xun's eyes were cold: "I don't like it!"

Leng Huan could only scratch his forehead: "I quite like her."

Fu Xun's voice was somewhat indifferent: "Oh."

"..."

Leng Huan was taken aback by that "oh".

—