22 Original Intentions Are Easily Altered

The system shrieked sharply in Cui Huai’s mind: "Cui Huai, you are here to woo the Dragon Overlord, not to make an enemy of him."

Compared to the system that kept the mission of wooing on its lips at all times, the Dragon Overlord himself seemed far less annoying.

Hearing that Cui Huai intended to speak ill of him to his face, Jiang Xuan drooped his brows and eyes. He looked rather like that Gale Rabbit squatting at Cui Huai’s door, which had gone hungry for two days without managing to beg for food—clearly a nuisance, yet somehow pitiful and endearing.

"Junior Sister, if you want to speak ill of me to my face, then go ahead. If I have faults, I shall correct them; if I have none, I shall strive to improve. But could we perhaps speak in private? Please, show your Senior Brother some face."

A private conversation?

This was exactly what Cui Huai wanted. She was just short a little bit of time on the "solitude" task with Jiang Xuan; completing it would be just right.

Cui Huai pulled Jiang Xuan toward the courtyard exit, catching a glimpse of Fu Qin about to follow and ruin the moment.

Cui Huai immediately called out loudly to Master Qingyan: "Master! The eldest senior brother and I are going out to discuss that 'Hidden Edge' technique. I feel his execution is still lacking something. Third Senior Brother practices it very well, so I shall trouble him to join you in guiding the senior sister and the junior brother."

Qingyan agreed. Cui Huai secretly cheered; she had finally managed to shake off that tag-along, Fu Qin, in a perfectly legitimate way.

Once outside the courtyard, Jiang Xuan’s face was filled with disappointment, yet he kept gazing at Cui Huai with eager eyes.

Yes, he looked even more like that unlucky rabbit seeing Cui Huai’s empty hands.

Just as she could never bring herself to heartlessly turn away the Gale Rabbit begging for food at her door, Cui Huai did not utter harsh words, but instead asked Jiang Xuan: "Senior Brother, why did you become a sword cultivator?"

Jiang Xuan answered without hesitation: "Because it’s cool."

This answer was no surprise. Cui Huai continued: "Besides it being cool, what else?"

Jiang Xuan was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. Just as Cui Huai began to think he had taken up the sword purely for the sake of coolness, Jiang Xuan spoke slowly, carrying a weight she had never seen before: "Because everyone says sword cultivators are the strongest. I want to see if, once I become strong enough, I can go home."

Go home.

Cui Huai should not have known where Jiang Xuan’s home was, nor why it would require great strength to return there.

But through the system’s constant nagging, she had long since learned that Jiang Xuan hailed from a place called Earth.

And through the system’s own words, she also knew that even as the protagonist of a storybook with the power to move mountains and drain seas, Jiang Xuan never returned to Earth in the end.

He remained in the immortal cultivation world forever.

Cui Huai felt that Earth must surely be inferior to the world of immortal cultivation; after all, there was no spiritual energy there, and everyone was a mortal.

Later, when Jiang Xuan’s cultivation reached greater depths and he witnessed the wonders of the immortal world, possessing the ability to command the winds and rain, a land devoid of spiritual energy would surely fade from his vision.

In the future, he likely wouldn't want to return to Earth at all.

Even knowing the ending, the days ahead still had to be lived. The pressing task was to help Jiang Xuan reach the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible.

Cui Huai did not spare Jiang Xuan’s feelings, speaking bluntly: "Senior Brother, your sword forms are technically flawless, but compared to a sword cultivator, you are like a little lamb. When you spar with me, one could say you hold back for fear of hurting me, but when you spar with the Third Senior Brother, or even with Master, why do you still hesitate before striking?"

"Before you swing your sword, you begin to worry about whether you might hurt someone. If you are afraid of harming others with your blade, why bother picking it up? And why do you cultivate at all?"

"You say you want to go home. I do not know where your home is, but since you must become stronger to return, your current fighting spirit is far from enough. With this soft, limp sword of yours, if you were to encounter someone ruthless, you would be broken—let alone ever making it home."

These words from Cui Huai were undeniably harsh, but they rang like a deafening wake-up call for Jiang Xuan.

He had been born in a peaceful era, and the constant fighting here was already a result of his efforts to adapt. He was afraid before striking:

What if Master loses focus and gets hit by this strike?

Though Junior Sister has superb swordsmanship, she has no spiritual power; even if he loses, it doesn't matter, as long as he doesn't hurt her.

He asked Cui Huai: "But what if I am just afraid of hurting you all?"

Cui Huai waved her hand dismissively: "Senior Brother, you think too highly of yourself. As long as you don't bully the weak, commit massacres, or go out of your way to hack at mortals, then for those whose cultivation is on par with yours or even higher, if you don't harbor a murderous intent, even if you land a hit, they’ll be fine after taking a pill. Don't trouble yourself over nothing."

This remark hit Jiang Xuan like a flash of enlightenment. This was the world of immortal cultivation; his destructive power was high, but the others were not so fragile—they were all made of steel and iron.

After realizing this, Jiang Xuan bowed deeply to Cui Huai: "Thank you for your guidance, Junior Sister. You truly are a good teacher and a helpful friend."

Cui Huai nodded, thinking that she should retract what she said last night; she hadn't taken on apprentices before simply because she didn't want to, not because she couldn't.

See? She had quite a talent for teaching.

The task of spending time in solitude with Jiang Xuan was completed without her noticing. The system chimed in abruptly:

[Seven-Day Sweet Date: Please spend over seven days in solitude with Jiang Xuan. Completion 1/1]

[Task Reward: High-grade Mind Technique for reducing spiritual roots by half *1, Low-grade Spirit Stones *100]

[Congratulations to the host for completing this task. Please collect your rewards!]

As soon as the reward was issued, Cui Huai’s heavy frame felt much lighter. Through her tireless efforts, she now truly possessed seven spiritual roots.

When a person is happy, they tend to meddle in other people’s business. Cui Huai asked the system with rare curiosity: "Jiang Xuan eventually gave up on going home, right? After all, you said he became a top-tier powerhouse later on; it shouldn't have been hard to go back if he wanted to."

Thinking of the much firmer look in Jiang Xuan’s eyes as he practiced today, Cui Huai teased: "It just goes to show that people’s original intentions are easily changed. Jiang Xuan must have realized that the cultivation world is much better than that 'Earth' place."

The system, however, replied: "In the plot, Jiang Xuan never gave up on going home, but he could no longer find the anchor point to project back to Earth. He simply lost the way home."

Cui Huai fell silent, instantly feeling that her earlier teasing was truly loathsome.

Thick-skinned as she was, she felt a rare moment of self-reflection. She really was a terrible person.

***

Just as she returned to the courtyard with Jiang Xuan, they were bumped into by Fu Qin.

"Junior Sister’s swordsmanship is excellent, though I never see you practice; all your focus goes into teaching the Eldest Senior Brother in private."

He placed the emphasis on "in private," sounding exceptionally sarcastic.

"Junior Sister, your family’s precious manual has benefited me greatly, and my strength has improved. Why don't we have another spar?" Fu Qin was full of confidence. It had been a while since he had been defeated by Cui Huai; he thought he should be able to fight to a draw today.

The system watched all this, already feeling a bit sorry for this Third Senior Brother of Cui Huai’s.

If Cui Huai hadn't received the reward for reducing her spiritual roots, Fu Qin might have had a chance at winning. But the Cui Huai of this moment was no longer the one from a moment ago. Wasn't Fu Qin just asking for a beating?

Sure enough, after Cui Huai accepted the challenge, the two exchanged a few cool and swift moves, and in the end, Cui Huai’s sword was successfully held at Fu Qin’s throat once again.

Cui Huai was calm and composed, with the air of an expert, and said lightly: "Senior Brother, I concede the win."

As she sheathed her sword, she performed a flick of the wrist, graceful and sharp.

The system couldn't help but scream secretly, its data stream even glitching for a second. This host was truly strong, and truly cool.

If it weren't for the Main System’s rule that it must force her to complete the wooing mission, it might have fallen in love with her.

Sigh, if only it had a physical form, it would be willing to bow at the host’s feet—it would even want to date her!

Fu Qin, who had been used as a control group and soundly defeated, felt less of Cui Huai’s personal charm and more of the deep frustration he had felt back in the Phoenix Valley—that feeling of being surrounded by peers who were talented enough, yet never being able to beat her.

The Xiaoyao Sect and the Phoenix Valley were far apart, and communication was difficult. He hadn't received a reply to his last letter to the clan elders yet; it seemed it was time to add another, asking the Clan Leader to search the library for any secret techniques to boost strength and have them all sent to him!

At over a thousand years old, he was at the prime age for hard work.

***

In the dead of night, Cui Huai stayed up late again to finish her daily vocabulary quota. Counting it up, two more months and her CET-6 level vocabulary should be just about done.

Now that she had gotten the hang of it, her speed in memorizing words had increased significantly. She estimated that if things went fast, she might be finished in a little over a month.

Cui Huai sighed: "Victory is just ahead."

Today, Cui Huai had reduced half a spiritual root, soundly defeated her creditor Fu Qin, and her cultivation progress in the Xiaoyao Sect was going smoothly. The system deemed it a good opportunity to announce some bad news.

After all, it didn't dare to cross her when she was unhappy. Although Cui Huai couldn't do much to it, she could still kill the Dragon Overlord with a single strike—and it wasn't as if she hadn't done it before! Wasn't that how the previous book collapsed?

The system: "Cui Huai, for the 'Common Language' mission, memorizing vocabulary is the foundation. If the foundation is not solid, the earth will shake. You have done very well."

The art of language: praise first to increase her receptiveness to the content that follows.

Cui Huai used to fall for this, but after being swindled by the system so many times, she had gained some wisdom.

She narrowed her eyes: "What do you want to say? Just say it; don't feed me sweet talk."

"Learning English well isn't just about dead-set studying; you have to practice speaking! Memorizing words is only the first step. You have to be able to communicate smoothly—'mute English' won't do!" The system gathered its courage and rattled it off quickly.

After finishing, fearing a scolding, the system immediately retreated and pretended to shut down, staying completely silent.

Cui Huai raised an eyelid, revealing a look of lifelessness. She truly hated that she wasn't someone who could kill the innocent, and that she felt life was still slightly worth living—otherwise, she would have dragged this damn system down with her!

After a silent breakdown, she remembered how she had been feeling sad for Jiang Xuan not being able to go home earlier, and realized she had been wasting her empathy.

If she had time to pity Jiang Xuan, she might as well pity herself!