Supporting Female Character Survival System

"Master, what is so good about this woman? Why do all of you insist on protecting her?"

Atop a towering cliff, a woman in robes redder than fire screamed herself hoarse.

"Enough." The man dressed entirely in white spoke coldly. His face was as beautiful as a god's, yet his eyes were icy, devoid of even the slightest emotion.

"Ning Xiang, you defied your elders, colluded with demonic cultivators, brought disaster upon the immortal sects, and harmed your fellow disciples. Your crimes tower to the heavens. As your master, I shall now rid the immortal sects of a demoness like you."

With that, the man summoned his bonded treasure-the Canglang Sword. He directed it straight into the red-robed woman's heart.

Seventy-two Soul-Locking Nails had sealed every meridian in her body, and her dantian had been destroyed. The Nascent Soul she had painstakingly cultivated had long since been gouged out.

There was no escaping this strike.

Ning Xiang spat out a mouthful of blood with a choking cry.

"Ha ha ha!" Ning Xiang threw back her head and laughed wildly.

Her eyes widened until their corners split, and crimson tears of blood streamed down.

The wind whipped her red robes, making them snap and flutter.

Ink-black hair, a scarlet dress, and blue-green mountains formed a richly colored tableau that no one present would ever forget.

A gaping hole pierced Ning Xiang's chest, and blood poured endlessly from it.

Though her cultivation had been stripped away, leaving her no better than a cripple, everyone shuddered at the sight of her madness.

"Lu Qingchen." Ning Xiang looked at the white-robed man, her gaze now deep and boundless, as though sparks of vengeance danced within it, eerily bewitching. "In my next life, I will repay every last bit of suffering you inflicted on me, debt by debt."

With that, Ning Xiang spread her arms and fell into the cold, pitch-black abyss like a weary bird returning to its nest.

"Well? Well? My performance just now was flawless, wasn't it?" Ning Xiang asked excitedly.

The system's adorably chirpy voice rang out:

[Unfortunately, according to the Heavenly Dao's assessment, your performance did not meet the expected standard. Host, you must start over from the beginning.]

Ning Xiang stamped her feet in fury. "Are you messing with me? I quit! I'm not doing this moronic plot all over again!"

This was a very old-school cultivation novel. Its heroine, Jiang Miaomiao, came from a small cultivation lineage. The Jiang family had been massacred, leaving Jiang Miaomiao as its sole survivor. Later, she entered the Profound Heaven Sect under True Lord Qingchen, becoming Lu Qingchen's youngest disciple.

After that, thanks to her heroine's halo, Jiang Miaomiao barely improved her cultivation and never seemed to avenge her family. Instead, she won over all sorts of male leads, including her ascetic, ice-cold master Lu Qingchen, her upright and noble eldest senior brother Su Lang, her sweet puppy of a junior brother with a black-hearted core, Yu Tingchao, the arrogant and swaggering Demon Lord Mingyuan, and the obsessive, dangerously lovesick Demon King Zhu Yu. From then on, she lived a shamelessly steamy life.

In the original novel, the body's original owner was a vicious supporting female character who opposed the heroine at every turn and stole her opportunities. Her ultimate fate was exactly what had just happened.

Ning Xiang bitterly regretted it. Had she known she would transmigrate into this brain-dead, melodramatic novel, she never would have read it just because the supporting female character shared her name!

She still remembered how the system had solemnly promised her that, as long as she reached the supporting female character's ending in the book, she could return to her own world and receive untold riches.

And this was what she got?

So all that work had been for nothing!

[Apologies. Host, you do not have the right to choose. However, as compensation, the system can give you a cheat to help you complete your mission sooner.]

"What kind of cheat? There aren't more strings attached, are there?" Ning Xiang did not believe this damn system could be so kind.

[Ding. Welcome to the Supporting Female Character Survival System. As a reward, every time you advance the plot, you will receive one prize draw. Prizes include heavenly treasures, pills, magical artifacts, spirit beasts, and more. In addition, you will receive one chance to randomly increase an attribute, including attack, defense, speed, stamina, beauty, and more.]

[Furthermore, you may bring all of the above rewards back to the real world.]

"Wow!" Ning Xiang exclaimed. "Why didn't you give me something this good before?"

The system replied:

[In consideration of your failure to complete the previous mission, an exception has been made to give you special privileges. We hope you will strive diligently and complete your mission soon.]

"Say no more! Hurry up and send me back!"

A blinding flash of white light swept past. Then Ning Xiang found herself kneeling in the snow.

She recalled the plot. At this point, she had led her junior brothers and sisters, who had just successfully reached Foundation Establishment, into a secret realm. Ning Xiang had accidentally discovered Jiang Miaomiao meeting with a male cultivator who carried demonic energy, so she had reported it to Lu Qingchen.

Lu Qingchen had simply assumed Ning Xiang was framing her junior sister and ordered her to apologize to Jiang Miaomiao. Ning Xiang had stubbornly refused to bow her head, so Lu Qingchen had punished her by making her kneel outside and reflect until she recognized her mistake.

Ning Xiang had the system turn her resistance to extreme cold up to the maximum. Cultivators had different constitutions from ordinary people, but even their bodies could not withstand prolonged kneeling amid ice and snow.

"Ning Xiang, do you acknowledge your mistake?" A voice laden with spiritual pressure rang out. It was clearly Lu Qingchen's.

The Ning Xiang of her previous life would certainly have been crushed beneath that voice, unable to straighten her back. But she was different now!

After cultivating throughout her previous life, her spiritual sense was already immensely powerful. She was no longer that weak, helpless, pitiful Ning Xiang. She was Ning Niohuru Zhen Xiang!

"I do not! What wrong have I committed? I clearly saw my youngest junior sister secretly consorting with a demonic cultivator." Ning Xiang delivered her lines from the original novel with righteous conviction.

"Incorrigible. Then keep kneeling outside." Lu Qingchen's voice seemed tempered in frost, even colder and more bone-piercing than the snow and ice beneath her.

Tch. Ning Xiang grumbled inwardly. He wore two completely different faces when dealing with her and Jiang Miaomiao. She had clearly known Lu Qingchen longer, yet twenty years spent together day and night could not compare to a heroine who had joined them less than two years ago.

Inside, Lu Qingchen was cultivating with his eyes closed when a strange buzzing suddenly sounded in his sea of consciousness. It vanished in an instant, before he could even react.

[Why isn't Jiang Miaomiao here yet? I'll starve to death if she doesn't come soon. I wonder what new storybooks have come out lately. Is there any sect gossip? If not, I'll just reread The Ascetic Master and His Enchanting Junior Disciple, which I finished last time.]

What was that voice?

A trace of confusion flashed through Lu Qingchen's eyes, as cold and deep as an icy pool.

He extended his spiritual sense outside. Ning Xiang was kneeling on the ground, but she had not opened her mouth.

Where exactly were these ridiculous voices coming from?

He formed a hand seal and appeared before Ning Xiang in a flash.

She looked at him in surprise, then immediately straightened her back and said stubbornly, "I did nothing wrong! I refuse to admit guilt!"

It was unmistakably Ning Xiang's voice.

Then that voice sounded again.

[Why did this idiot come out? Did I remember the plot wrong? Wasn't he supposed to wait until his precious little disciple arrived before coming out?]

That voice called him an idiot over and over, making it impossible to ignore even if he wanted to.

Ning Xiang blinked blankly. How was she supposed to act now? This scene was not in the original novel.

I can't break character as the vicious supporting female character! Ning Xiang lifted her chin haughtily and fixed Lu Qingchen with a blazing stare.

"Master, all you know is how to favor my junior sister. Have you ever considered my feelings? Punish me however you like. As long as I remain alive, I will never let her live in peace. I mean every word!"

"My junior sister is only in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Either protect her forever, Master, or I will challenge her every single day until I beat her out of the Profound Heaven Sect!"

She considered her tone. Excellent-aggressive and overbearing! This would surely make Lu Qingchen feel even more protective of Jiang Miaomiao. Then, after she stirred up trouble a few more times and framed the heroine a few more times, her final curtain call would not be far off!

[Hurry up! I've threatened your precious little disciple this much, and you're still not rushing to protect her? Hurry up and punish me by sending me to reflect on the Dao-Seeking Slope, then go be lovey-dovey with your little disciple! Barf!]

[Goodbye, you rotten man. One more look at you makes me sick! If I weren't trying to slog through the plot, I wouldn't bother wasting all these words!]

[Why hasn't Jiang Miaomiao appeared yet? Is she watching the sunrise and sunset with Su Lang, chatting about everything from poetry to the philosophy of life?]

[Or is she getting all lovey-dovey with Martial Uncle Liu from the neighboring peak?]

[He looks pretty lean, but judging by my fiery, all-seeing eyes, his figure should rival a top male model's. The kind who looks slim dressed and muscular undressed! Slurp!]

Lu Qingchen restrained himself again and again. Even his usually placid expression rippled, though the change vanished almost immediately.

He was finally certain: these were Ning Xiang's inner thoughts.

He would keep listening and find out exactly what Ning Xiang was thinking!

Ning Xiang estimated the time. Jiang Miaomiao should have arrived, so she deliberately raised her voice. "Master, you simply favor my youngest junior sister! In what way am I inferior to her? I've admired you for ten whole years. Walking, I think of you; sitting, I think of you. I miss you so much that I can neither eat nor sleep in peace. But you? Why won't you spare your disciple another glance?"

Ning Xiang performed with heartfelt emotion, her delivery wildly exaggerated.

The three fellow male disciples who had just arrived with their youngest junior sister all heard Ning Xiang's passionate confession.

The three of them: ...

Their third junior sister-or senior sister-was truly bold!

[Oh my god, why do I have to say these sickeningly cheesy lines a second time? Just kill me! What brain-dead author wrote this dialogue?]

All three male disciples wore strange expressions at the same time.

Goosebumps rose all over Ning Xiang, but she kept acting. "Junior Sister, you've come to laugh at me, haven't you? Ha! If you hadn't butted in, how could Master and our senior and junior brothers have let you lead them around by the nose?"

"Third Senior Sister, you've deeply misunderstood me. I never wanted to ruin your bond with Master and our senior brothers. I only wanted to join you!" Jiang Miaomiao said sorrowfully. Tears shimmered in her eyes, making her a sight that would stir anyone's pity.

[Wow, a beauty in tears! Those big morons must be heartbroken!]

[Let me think. Next in the plot, Jiang Miaomiao will come plead with that idiot Lu Qingchen on my behalf. What will she say?]

[Master, please spare Third Senior Sister. Even if she was wrong, Miaomiao wasn't hurt. It's all Miaomiao's fault for upsetting Third Senior Sister.]

Ning Xiang gleefully mocked her inwardly. [Such fake-innocent, manipulative drivel. I'm going to puke. That idiot Lu Qingchen has a decent face, but why is he so stupid?]

[Forget him. Aren't the disciples Lu Qingchen taught each stupider than the last?]

The master and his three disciples: Meow, meow, meow?

As their emotions tangled, Jiang Miaomiao lifted her little face and gazed up at Lu Qingchen at a forty-five-degree angle. Affection and expectation filled her expression, while a pitiful melancholy lingered between her brows. "Master, please spare Third Senior Sister. Even if she was wrong, Miaomiao wasn't hurt. It's all Miaomiao's fault for upsetting Third Senior Sister."

They were all startled. This...

How had Ning Xiang predicted what Jiang Miaomiao would say?

[Although Senior Sister falsely accused me, I believe she didn't do it on purpose. Besides, she's True Lord Shangyang's daughter. If anything happens to her, True Lord Shangyang will hold us responsible.]

A friendly reminder:

1. This is a short, silly comedy. There is no need to hunt for plot holes or scrutinize the logic. This is neither a strong-female-lead story nor a career-building story, so just enjoy it happily! There is no canonical pairing in the main story. Early on, the female lead treats the male lead as a fictional character. Both leads have histories and ties from the past, which will be revealed one by one later;

2. The author's will reigns above heaven. If something exists in the book, it makes sense. After all, they're already cultivating immortality-what could be more contrary to common sense than that?

3. This story takes no responsibility for shaping or guiding readers' worldviews, values, or outlooks on life;

4. If this book really isn't to your taste, please be merciful and refrain from giving it a low rating. Perhaps we simply weren't meant to be. Plenty of other excellent works are waiting for you on the site~~