Chapter 20: Useless Old Thing, Get Ready to Drop Those Gold Coins!

Fetching tea and water?

No.

Making the bed and folding the blankets?

No.

Massaging shoulders and legs?

Definitely not.

Even the three meals a day were delivered by the puppet attendants on the flying boat!

“I’m practically the most conscientious employer in the cultivation world, aren’t I?

Room and board, transportation, plus free medical treatment for family members.

And yet, in their eyes, I’m some evil exploitative woman.”

Bai Yue sighed.

At that moment—

A crisp mechanical chime suddenly rang out in the silent depths of her mind.

[Ding!]

[Detected that the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden—Xiao Yueluo—has undergone a significant breakthrough in her state of mind.]

[The original plotline “The Fallen Prodigy in Despair” has deviated from its course.]

[Xiao Yueluo’s emotional attitude toward the host has shifted: from “Fear/Resistance” to “Respect/Rival.”]

[Favorability increased!]

[Current favorability: 15 (No longer in the negative danger zone).]

[Ding!]

[Opportunity to seize the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden Xiao Yueluo’s “Old Grandpa” cheat has been triggered!]

[Calculating deviation in fate value…]

[Congratulations, host!

Obtained Villain Reversal Points: 500.]

Huh?

Old Grandpa cheat?

Seeing the points credited, Bai Yue was stunned for a moment.

Then it clicked.

She had forgotten about that old thing.

Xiao Yueluo did indeed have a “Old Grandpa” cheat as her golden finger.

Well, technically, it was more like a “Old Granny.”

Although the game didn’t go into much detail about Xiao Yueluo’s Old Granny, as a veteran player, Bai Yue had pieced together the full picture of this “Old Granny” through various fragmented texts and hidden quest information.

This Old Granny was a remnant soul that had survived from the previous era.

Back in the day, she had helped the first patriarch of the Xiao family establish their foundation.

But unfortunately, as the Xiao family declined over time and spiritual energy grew scarce, she had fallen into a long slumber.

It wasn’t until Xiao Yueluo, a prodigy with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, appeared that this old thing finally found her chance.

After absorbing all of Xiao Yueluo’s cultivation—and the nascent energy of the Ancient Divine Bloodline that awakened when Xiao Yueluo was pushed to the brink and fell into darkness—this remnant soul was able to fully awaken, becoming one of the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden’s golden fingers.

A cheat just like Xiao Huohuo’s.

However—

Bai Yue had only one comment on this thing: “Completely useless.”

Originally, Xiao Yueluo’s Heavenly Spiritual Root becoming a crippled root only meant she couldn’t cultivate anymore.

But this thing had outright parasitized her, draining the little cultivation she had left completely dry.

When Xiao Yueluo was forced into marriage and humiliated, this thing did absolutely nothing—stayed silent and played dead.

It only decided to show up and play the “guiding light” when Xiao Yueluo was truly cornered, had lost everything, and her very spirit had twisted into darkness, awakening the Ancient Divine Bloodline that the parasite could profit from.

There was a CG where, if the original owner chose not to intervene with Xiao Yueluo and the Su Qingyan plotline was skipped, Xiao Yueluo was never pushed to the brink of blackening.

Instead, on her wedding night, she tried to kill the City Lord’s son before committing suicide.

But the fool was too thick-skinned to be stabbed to death.

She was then forced to take a potent aphrodisiac, and in front of a crowd, she was brutally violated and tortured to death on the bridal bed.

But now, Xiao Yueluo was being taken to the Du Xian Sect—a path completely different from the “good ending” in the original timeline, where Su Qingyan is taken away by the original owner, and Xiao Yueluo, alone and at her most desperate, awakens the Old Granny and leaves the Xiao family to wander on her own.

As for whether the Old Granny not appearing would hinder Xiao Yueluo’s future growth?

Not a chance.

With her Heaven’s Chosen Maiden fate and a better environment to grow in, she would rise sooner or later.

Besides, in the original plot, Xiao Yueluo still ended up coming to the Du Xian Sect later anyway.

Going early would only make her stronger faster than stumbling around blindly like a headless fly in the original story.

And with a “villain” like herself, who knew the entire plot inside out, around—she was infinitely more useful, reliable, and versatile than that self-proclaimed “divine” old leech that could do nothing but drain blood!

As for the concern that her intervention might reduce Xiao Yueluo’s hardships and make her mentally unstable?

To that, Bai Yue could only say: pure overthinking.

These Heaven’s Chosen Maidens were naturally “trouble magnets.”

Wherever they went, problems would spring up, or some minor villain slightly stronger than them would jump out and pick a fight.

There was no need to worry about them lacking hardships.

As long as they lived, trouble would always be on its way.

Bai Yue silently reached this conclusion in her heart.

Later on, once her favorability was high enough, she’d find an opportunity to take that ring housing the useless old thing and force it to drop some serious loot.

Since that remnant soul was a latent threat, better to extract and refine it.

Who knew, maybe she could even extract some ancient secret techniques from it.

Still, 500 Reversal Points was a nice little windfall.

Bai Yue opened the system panel to take a look.

Combined with her previous savings, she now had enough Reversal Points to exchange for some life-saving trump cards in the system shop.

With these points, she would have much more backing once she returned to the Du Xian Sect.

After all, the Du Xian Sect was no safe haven.

The original owner had left quite a mess behind in the sect.

Though she had titles like “genius” and “saintess,”

those were only privileges she enjoyed while wearing a mask.

The Saintess identity was on a limited-time appearance schedule—meaning only a few of the sect’s top higher-ups actually knew who she was.

So normally, the original owner operated without the mask.

And since her unmasked personality was arrogant and domineering, she had made countless enemies.

Add to that an incredibly lazy master who knew her identity but dumped everything on her shoulders,

and a bunch of junior and senior sect siblings just waiting to see her make a fool of herself and kick her while she was down,

the original owner had only left the sect this time because she had caused trouble inside and was punished with a mission assignment.

Though in reality, as the Saintess, she was actually sent to investigate a newly discovered secret realm.

But now, the mission wasn’t fully completed, and she was bringing back two outsiders of unknown background.

One was a mortal, the other a cripple with destroyed meridians and ruined spiritual roots.

The sect’s old fossils and the Enforcement Hall certainly wouldn’t let her off easily with her Bai Yue identity—there was bound to be some trouble.

“Xiao Yueluo’s entrance trials will probably be sabotaged from the shadows too.”

Bai Yue strategized her next moves in her mind.

“Whatever.

I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

If all else fails, I’ll bring out the Saintess identity.

As long as the girl can stand on her own, I’ll find a way to protect her.”

She shook her head, clearing away the distracting thoughts.

Without absolute strength, words were empty.

In the cultivation world, fists were the ultimate logic.

Bai Yue closed her eyes, no longer paying attention to the commotion on the deck outside.

She formed a strange hand seal, resting it on her knees.

Her breathing gradually grew long and deep.

The pure spiritual energy around her was drawn to her, transforming into wisps of white mist that seeped into her body through her mouth, nose, and every pore.

Spiritual power rushed through her wide, unobstructed meridians, emitting a faint sound like a river’s roar.

With each circulation through her body, her flesh and bones were cleansed and strengthened.

Within her dantian, a round, smooth golden core slowly revolved, radiating a cold, powerful glow.

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