Only after Shi Sheng had run for a bit did she get startled awake. For some reason, she derped out and ran when she saw Ye Qingqiu dragging her male lead and charging towards her.

‘What am I(bbb) running for? It’s not even after me(bbb)! My(bbb) IQ has dropped after meeting the female lead…’

Just as Shi Sheng was about to slip away, the large creature behind them charged forward and blocked their path with its body.

Shi Sheng “…” ‘What happened to the dragon? How come it turned into a snake?’

This was a python around 15 meters in length and had a width of around the size of three people. It raised its head and glared menacingly at them. When its tail swept from side to side, the surrounding trees collapsed.

Ye Qingqiu felt a bit doubtful. She had clearly seen a dragon, so how come it had turned into a snake?

‘Could it be… Is my luck really that good?’

Boom! Kaboom!

As if in agreement with Ye Qingqiu’s thoughts, the previously clear sky was now filled with dark clouds. The clouds gave the impression of thousands of troops charging across them for a deafening rumbling could be heard.

“f.u.c.k!” Shi Sheng cursed before running the other way. ‘This d.a.m.n snake is undergoing its tribulation ah!!! I’m just a Foundation Building cultivator, I can’t withstand Tribulation Lightning! Ruuun!!!’

Ye Qingqiu dragged the unconscious male lead as she ran after Shi Sheng. She could actually keep up too!

The most important point though was that…

‘That snake that’s about to undergo a tribulation is following ah!!!’

In the original storyline, though Shan Shu had also partic.i.p.ated in this trip, she hadn’t gotten off halfway. Naturally she wouldn’t have encountered this either. But in the storyline, all the female lead had done was to save the male lead! There was nothing about being chased by a snake!!!

‘Is the plotline broken because I chopped at the male lead a few times?’

Shi Sheng split some of her attention to the big snake. She noticed that it seemed to be targeting Ye Qingqiu specifically. Even if she fell behind a bit, the snake wouldn’t attack her, instead focusing on chasing Ye Qingqiu.

“…” ‘She couldn’t have taken something that belonged to this fellow, could she? Then again, with her character setting, it’s not impossible…’

[Hidden Quest : Overlooking the World.]

‘Chotto matte kudasai[1]! You’re still issuing quests when my life is on the line?! Have you no humanity?!’

[Host, I’m not a human so of course I have no humanity.] System replied drily to Shi Sheng’s curses.

‘So what’s with this overlooking the world thing?’

[a.s.sist Feng Ci in ascending the Celestial Throne.]

‘Feng Ci? f.u.c.k! It’s another villain! Are all the hidden quests you issue going to have something to do with villains? And the final boss type ones too???’

[The Host cannot take any shortcuts in this quest nor are you allowed to twist the meaning of the words. I hope the Host will not court death and instead diligently complete the quest. A friendly reminder: If the Host is the direct cause of the death(s) of either the male or female lead, this quest will fail. A corresponding amount of Life Points will be deducted. When it reaches 0, the Host will be terminated.]

Shi Sheng “…” ‘This rule… why does it seem like it was made up at the last minute? And even if I(bbb) can’t kill them directly, I(bbb) can still do so indirectly! Wait a second! What are life points? I(bbb) didn’t see it before? System, don’t add all sorts of weird add-ons!’

[A friendly reminder: The Host only has 10 Life Points remaining. If this mission fails, it will be reduced to 0.]

Shi Sheng “…” ‘System, does your manufacturer know you’re just making things up randomly?’

[……] ‘And who do you think is the cause? I was forced to by you!’

Shi Sheng once again continued questioning System’s entire family. ‘This System only issues hidden quests when the conditions are met. It has to be a final boss-level character and has to be in my vicinity. So… Feng Ci is somewhere in my vicinity?’

The dark clouds in the sky grew increasingly more numerous. They nearly blotted out the sky above the entire Forest of Death. All the spirit beasts in the Forest of Death hurriedly found a place to hunker down. The entire forest was eerily silent.

It was in this silence that a man wearing a robe the colour of moonlight slowly walked. Everywhere he went, a bright yellow flame burned. Every step he took would cause flames to appear. Yet those flames did not consume the surrounding underbrush. It was a very strange sight.

The flame carpet was at least 10 meters long. Whenever it stretched out for more than 10 meters, the fire would slowly die down and vanish. The man lifted his head slightly. The cloud-covered sky was reflected in his pupils. Though his features weren’t much to look at individually, when put together, there was a soul-shaking beauty. It was like a white lotus that opened in a wildfire, an unworldly beauty.

That was the type of beauty that could only be admired from afar but not desecrated.

Crash!

The man tilted his head slightly and saw a small figure sprinting towards him. Behind her was a Snakekin[2].

‘So that’s what’s undergoing its tribulation.’

The man moved to the side to make way.

Seeing the endlessly burning flames, Shi Sheng knew that this fellow over here was Feng Ci. Without stopping to think, she charged over and yelled, “Hey hot {ba-dum-tss} stuff, I’m borrowing your flames!”

Feng Ci’s expression didn’t change. He just continued looking at Shi Sheng with a placid expression as she stood beside his flames.

The Snakekin seemed to have felt that the flames were far above what it could tolerate for it screeched to a halt. Its tail, however, continued swinging due to inertia. Feng Ci lightly lifted his hand and a heatless flame burst out, flicking the Snakekin’s tail away.

Shi Sheng “…” ‘Woah, as expected from a final boss. There’s definitely no problem in one-shotting the main character with that kind of combat strength!’

Ye Qingqiu turned the corner and had a slight moment’s pause upon seeing Feng Ci before calmly shifting her gaze.

‘See, main characters and villains just don’t have any chemistry.’

The Snakekin roared unwillingly a few times but it seemed to fear Feng Ci’s flames for it didn’t come closer. Hence, Ye Qingqiu became the Snakekin’s unlucky target.

“You… don’t feel anything from these flames?” Feng Ci didn’t pay attention to the fight, instead turning to look at Shi Sheng. His eyes were dark red in colour. Under the lighting from the flames, they didn’t seem dark though. Instead, they seemed bright and clear, like a ruby one would find on display; they dazzled with a captivating light.

Shi Sheng lowered her head to look at her feet. Though the flame was flickering around her, she couldn’t feel any heat.

She just felt a bit uncomfortable. After all, she did have Ice Spirit Veins which was the opposite element of fire.

Feng Ci reached out to carefully touch Shi Sheng’s face. The flame in his hand suddenly intensified when he touched her, blocking Shi Sheng’s vision.

She still couldn’t feel any heat though. Even though the flame was so close to her, she didn’t receive any harm.

A hint of a smile flashed in Feng Ci’s eyes. “You’re very special. You’ll follow me from now on.”

Shi Sheng was speechless. ‘The h.e.l.l? I(bbb) haven’t said anything though? Also, wouldn’t this clash with Shan Shu’s wishes? If I go with Feng Ci, what about Yu Xiao? That d.a.m.ned System did say if this quest failed I’d be done for… Wait a second…

I think she said accompanying him was optional?

Which means to say that as long as I don’t let him die, I wouldn’t fail my quest!’

[1] I’m serious. That’s the phrase she used. I searched it and apparently it was this. It’s j.a.panese for those of you who can’t recognise it. It means ‘Wait a moment!’

[2] It was ‘胤蛇’ in the raws. The first character means heir/descendant/inheritor. The second means snake. So Snakekin.

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