Chapter 13: May There Be No Slacking in Heaven

Within the sect, discontent and despair filled the air, and the people were barely surviving. This situation had lasted for two days.

The training grounds were packed from dawn till dusk, the stone floor polished spotless by the countless swishes of robes. The spirit swords swung so fiercely sparks flew, and the statue of the Sword God before the Elders’ Pavilion was piled high with offerings of fruits and tributes. Every day, a long queue of people came to bow and pray for blessings.

Under this oppressive atmosphere, each day felt like a year. Finally, the monthly exam arrived.

That day, the sky was clear and bright, without a single cloud in sight. Even the breeze was gentle—a rare day bathed in brilliant sunshine.

The junior disciple beside her glanced up at the sky and sighed with a weary tone, “Such beautiful sunlight, and we won’t see it again for a whole month.”

If he got beaten badly today, his master would definitely force him into seclusion for a month afterward!

At the hour of Chen, the drawing of lots for matchups began. All the disciples hung their heads low, except for a few top students who remained composed, among them Pei Zheng and Xie Lin.

Jiang Lingyi’s gaze shifted from Xie Lin’s face to the sword he was holding—the Ming Yi Sword.

In the original story, the night before the monthly exam, Pei Zheng had secretly cast a forbidden spell on Xie Lin’s sword while he was unaware, causing the sword’s energy to be sealed and making Xie Lin suffer greatly in the competition.

Now, seeing Pei Zheng’s open and straightforward expression, Jiang Lingyi was filled with envy.

Look at him—an evil antagonist through and through, yet his mental resilience was unshakeable. Unlike her, every time she did something wrong, her guilt was written all over her face.

Jiang Lingyi sighed deeply. Beside her, Jiang Yuanshan pretended to cough, raised a hand to cover his mouth, and whispered softly.

“Don’t be so down. The towel’s already prepared for you. After Xie Lin finishes the first match, you can go wipe his sweat.”

Jiang Lingyi propped her chin on her hand, utterly unenthusiastic.

She had no intention of going before everyone to wipe his sweat.

If she wiped his sweat now, next he’d stomp on people and humiliate others. That’s the kind of thing only someone with split personalities would do.

Jiang Lingyi yawned, ready to take a short nap and wait until Xie Lin stepped onto the arena.

This part of the plot had no major highlights. In the original story, to emphasize Xie Lin’s suffering, he was matched in the preliminary round against Shen Jiwen, a disciple of Elder Mo Yun renowned for his superior swordsmanship. When Xie Lin went on stage, he discovered his spirit sword had been tampered with, so he was mercilessly beaten from the start.

He barely managed a narrow victory, and just as he caught his breath in the intermediate round, he faced Pei Zheng in the advanced round.

Rival lovers meeting stirred intense jealousy. Pei Zheng showed no mercy against Xie Lin, striking hard when he was vulnerable. But unexpectedly, Xie Lin, under the impenetrable protagonist’s aura, managed to turn the tables with only a thread of health left and defeated Pei Zheng!

Jiang Lingyi had no interest in such cruelly contrived plots. When she first read the book, she had skimmed past these parts. Now, if she were to witness Xie Lin’s suffering firsthand, she might even hesitate to humiliate him afterward.

Damn it, after all, she was the wicked female supporting character. She wished she could at least be the grand elder sitting quietly on the Martial Viewing Platform, as long as she stayed alive!

A collective sigh of regret arose from the crowd. Jiang Lingyi looked up and saw the man opposite Xie Lin nodding towards him.

Jiang Yuanshan slapped his thigh and gasped, “Oof! Xie Lin’s luck is really rotten! How did he end up drawing Shen Jiwen?”

Shen Jiwen was the prized disciple of Elder Mo Yun, with sword skills considered among the top of the entire cohort of Xuyang Sect disciples.

It was completely expected.

Jiang Lingyi glanced briefly and then lowered her eyes again, closing them to nap.

Soon, the clang of swords rang out across the martial arena, sword blossoms flying. When the Return-to-Origin Sword Technique was truly unleashed, it surged with overwhelming momentum, shattering the heavens and earth. Layer upon layer of sword intent seemed to pierce through the morning sunlight, casting the entire arena in a misty white glow as seen from the Martial Viewing Platform.

Amidst this radiant sword intent stood a figure oddly out of place.

Xie Lin was not a disciple of the Xuyang Sect and did not use the Return-to-Origin Sword Technique. His swordplay was varied and unpredictable, each move more elusive than the last, with fierce and aggressive sword intent. Within the span of an incense stick’s time, Shen Jiwen was already struggling to keep up.

Jiang Lingyi, nearly asleep, heard Jiang Yuanshan repeatedly praise, “No wonder he’s Xie Xuan’s son—he inherited most of his father’s sword skills. Not bad, really not bad!”

Jiang Lingyi: ?

He’s been beaten up that badly and it’s still “not bad”?

She opened her eyes groggily and looked over—dumbfounded.

What about the Ming Yi Sword being tampered with, turning into a worthless piece of scrap?

What about Xie Lin being pierced through his scapula by Shen Jiwen’s sword?

What about the tragic, pitiful hero waiting for his beloved to rescue him?

She was stunned. She had only dozed off briefly, yet upon waking, the world had collapsed.

Jiang Lingyi stared fixedly at the Ming Yi Sword in Xie Lin’s hand. The blade shimmered with a pale golden amber light, radiating sword intent fiercely. There was no sign it had been tampered with!

She turned to look for Pei Zheng instead, heartbroken and wretched.

How does a villainous supporting character even do his dirty work? You only fiddled with the sword briefly, but I lost my very life!

It was over.

Jiang Lingyi felt utterly despondent. With Xie Lin’s cultivation, if his sword hadn’t been sabotaged, he really wouldn’t have been bullied by Shen Jiwen.

If he hadn’t been badly beaten, entering the intermediate round with nearly full strength, easily dispatching the junior disciple NPC, he would have still been almost at full health facing Pei Zheng!

Pei Zheng...

Pei Zheng’s cultivation was weaker than Xie Lin’s, and all he had was his scheming mind. Now, he wasn’t even bothering to use that last bit of trickery.

Jiang Lingyi held her forehead, aching with a headache and wearing a face of utter torment.

Looking at it this way, with Xie Lin storming onto the arena unscathed, where was her chance to take advantage and bully him?

No, no, this was going to be a total disaster.

Jiang Lingyi scratched her head, no longer in the mood to nap. She opened her inventory and studied the few items inside.

The rollback item was useless. The main plot was broken, and the problem lay with Pei Zheng, not her, so rolling back wouldn’t help.

The forgiveness item was even more useless. She’d been behaving like a well-behaved quail today, no mischief at all.

Only the modification item was usable. Jiang Lingyi closed her eyes in despair, her heart aching as if bleeding.

She silently wept inside, “System, when will you give me more of these items?”

[Rewards will be distributed after completing the second phase of the task.]

“Do I have to wait for you to give them? Can I buy them with money?”

[That wouldn’t help even if you had money.]

“...”

Reluctantly, Jiang Lingyi cast one last look at the modification item and resolutely clicked to use it.

A flash of golden light passed before her eyes, and a line of glowing text appeared.

[...Xie Lin, seeing that Shen Jiwen was struggling to match him, thought to himself: Shen Jiwen is already one of the best among these disciples. If he defeated Shen Jiwen too easily, later opponents might hold back to conserve strength, which would affect his ability to discern others’ techniques. Therefore, Xie Lin deliberately showed a few flaws and allowed Shen Jiwen to pierce his scapula.]

Jiang Lingyi: ?

[Host, please select the plot you want to modify and input the desired direction to replace it.]

Jiang Lingyi: ???