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By the rules of爽文, there were always countless bit-part characters leaping about like tools for the protagonist. Some delivered fortuitous opportunities and weapons to him; others gave him pointers that helped him improve his swordsmanship. Ning Ning belonged to the third kind of character.

The vicious supporting female who kept stirring up trouble.

The original Ning Ning had the same name. She was the personal disciple of Tian Xianzi, an elder of the sect. Born into a wealthy merchant family, she had been pampered by her family from childhood and gradually developed a rotten temper, believing herself superior to everyone else.

The imperial dynasty was now flourishing, and martial arts, the Dao, Confucianism, and cultivation were all thriving side by side. The Xuanxu Sect, which Ning Ning had joined, was the foremost sword sect among them.

She had extraordinary talent. Tian Xianzi had spotted her at a glance during the disciple recruitment ceremony and taken her as a personal disciple. Her master was immensely powerful yet kept to himself; including Ning Ning, he had only a handful of personal disciples.

The original Ning Ning had enjoyed smooth sailing all the way, cherished by her sect. But she never expected that everything would suddenly change today.

Every year, on the day of First Spring, the Xuanxu Sect held a tournament for its disciples to test their skills against one another. The original Ning Ning was haughty and thought nothing of the others. She never expected to be assigned Pei Ji as her opponent.

Pei Ji's bloodline was impure, and demonic energy suppressed most of his Sword Intent. As a result, he had performed poorly at the mountain entrance test and been assigned to become an Outer Sect Disciple.

But the protagonist was the protagonist, after all. A brief fall from grace was only the prelude to a face-slapping comeback. Through relentless practice, Pei Ji gradually learned to rein in his demonic energy, revealing an extraordinarily fierce Sword Intent. No one knew his secret. Only he could feel the changes in his body as he waited for the day he could play the pig to eat the tiger.

The original Ning Ning was that tiger.

How tragic. Truly tragic.

If she had fought with all her might, she shouldn't have lost.

But the girl had looked down on an ordinary Outer Sect Disciple and used only about half her strength. By the time she realized her opponent was no pushover, she was already trapped in a hopeless deadlock.

Losing to him made the girl explode.

Ning Ning had arrived at that very moment.

According to the plot, she had to follow the vicious supporting female's path of self-destruction step by step. Not only did she have to keep making trouble for the male lead, she also had to shamelessly torment the other characters around her, all the way to the story's conclusion.

The first step in this path of self-destruction was to visit Pei Ji after the tournament and humiliate him to his face.

The system that had brought her here had said, "Think about it. It's like you're third in the class, but then the student who ranked third from the bottom overtakes you in the final exams. Wouldn't you be furious? Wouldn't you want revenge?"

Ning Ning had never experienced that.

She had been at the top of her class for years.

And she had barely ever sworn in her life, let alone bullied anyone.

"You don't need to feel too guilty."

The system comforted her. "Villains are a necessary part of the plot! Think about it: if you don't bully the male lead, he won't work himself to the bone to surpass you. If he doesn't work himself to the bone, his cultivation won't improve by leaps and bounds. With his personality, if his cultivation doesn't improve, how could he survive in the cultivation world? He could kick the bucket at any moment."

Then it added, its tone growing emphatic as it delivered the final blow: "He's heaven's favored son! The male lead of the whole story! If he falls because you refused to bully him, how could you live with yourself?"

What utter nonsense.

And yet Ning Ning was pathetic enough to be persuaded. She felt like a spineless little loser.

After all, according to the plot, the original Ning Ning's attempts to make trouble wouldn't cause the male lead any real harm. Instead, they would accidentally help him obtain all kinds of fortuitous opportunities and precious artifacts.

She, on the other hand, would reap what she sowed, ending up in a humiliating mess every time.

So whenever the supporting female started stirring up trouble in the original novel, Ning Ning couldn't help thinking: Great, the male lead gets to show off and slap someone in the face again.

Seeing her attitude soften, the system continued, "Most importantly, once the mission is over, I'll help you fake your death and slip away so you can start a new life in this world. You died so easily in your last life—you're not okay with that, are you?"

At those words, Ning Ning fell silent and stopped arguing.

In her original world, she had died of a serious illness.

She was seventeen, with late-stage stomach cancer. She had lain in bed in agony, unable to move or speak. Even breathing was a burden.

The system was right. She really didn't want to die so young for nothing.

Ning Ning wasn't one to make a fuss. She nodded at once. "Of course, boss. Thank you, boss. I'll work hard, boss!"

And so, in the end, she still went to the male lead Pei Ji's quarters.

Unlike the personal disciples, who had their own little courtyards, Outer Sect Disciples lived three to a room. As a result, Pei Ji had endured the unchecked bullying of his roommates for a long time.

He had come from a truly poor background, growing up in a small village with painfully little exposure to the outside world. On top of that, Pei Ji had demonic energy in his body and was the child of a demonic cultivator. Bloodline discrimination existed in the Cultivation World, too.

They mocked him as a filthy half-breed and often beat him. And as for Pei Ji's emergence as a standout in today's tournament...

It was dinnertime, and most people weren't in the dormitory. Earlier, while standing outside the door, Ning Ning had vaguely heard voices coming from within.

"Come on, tell us. What underhanded trick did you use? You're a useless piece of trash. How could you improve so much overnight?"

"Let's search his clothes. We're bound to find something shady!"

"You little brat, you dare hit me? I'll kill you!"

The voices gradually faded, and she could no longer make out what they were saying. She could only faintly hear rustling sounds like fists and kicks landing.

When the room fell quiet, Ning Ning worried that the male lead had been beaten half to death. Without stopping to think, she pressed her palm against the wooden door and gently pushed it open.

With a creak, the overwhelming crimson outside poured in with her, looking almost like a tide of blood. Beneath the dim candlelight and fragments of the setting sun, she saw what was happening inside.

There were three people.

A white-robed disciple stood to one side with his back to her, his whole body trembling violently for some reason. When he turned around, his face was filled with terror, as if he had seen a man-eating flood beast.

The black-haired youth in black robes stood with a sword in hand, its point aimed directly at the throat of another person. As Ning Ning pushed open the door, she caught the end of his sentence, chillingly cold: "...I don't mind killing you."