Returning to that secluded courtyard in the valley, he pushed open the bamboo gate.
"Finally back." Fang Xuan placed the cloth bag and the re-wrapped black sword on the stone table, giving a long, satisfying stretch.
Ning Xian didn't say anything, merely setting about categorizing and putting away the rice, grains, and seasonings they had bought.
Once the items were stored, there was still plenty of time left in the day.
Ning Xian changed into an even older set of clothes and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her porcelain-white forearms. She picked up a water ladle from the corner and began watering the somewhat desolate herb garden.
After watering, she brought out a smaller cloth bag from the house and poured out some colorful, ordinary-looking seeds.
"Are these... vegetable seeds?" Fang Xuan leaned in, asking curiously.
"Yes." Ning Xian nodded. She crouched down, picking up a small herb hoe from nearby and began digging shallow pits in a relatively flat patch of open ground.
"Spirit rice is expensive. We can't sustain ourselves for long with just my previous savings. Planting some mortal vegetables will help save on expenses."
She spoke flatly, but Fang Xuan could hear the hardship behind her words.
A former pride of the heavens, a Void Core Realm cultivator, now forced to reclaim wasteland and plant vegetables just to make ends meet...
Watching Ning Xian clumsily dig pits, plant seeds, and cover them with soil, he stepped forward and naturally reached out.
"Senior Sister, let me do it. I'm familiar with this."
Ning Xian’s movements froze. Her cold eyes fixed on Fang Xuan, filled with obvious surprise.
This junior brother of hers, who hailed from a top-tier clan and possessed extraordinary talent... even knew how to farm?
Fang Xuan had already taken the small herb hoe from her hand and crouched down at her side.
He swung the small hoe with practiced ease. The depth of the pits and the spacing between them were perfect. His movements in planting and covering the seeds were fluid, even more precise and efficient than what Ning Xian had just been doing.
He truly was familiar with farming.
Before long, a small, neat vegetable patch began to take shape, with several different types of seeds planted in their respective sections.
Ning Xian crouched to the side, watching in silence.
Not only did he know how to plant, but he also seemed to do it much better than she did.
"All done, Senior Sister."
Fang Xuan stood up and patted the dirt off his hands, looking at his masterpiece with considerable satisfaction.
"Just give it a good soak, and they should sprout in a few days."
"We have cabbage and radishes over here, and chili peppers, green onions, and ginger over there. They grow fast and are easy to maintain."
Ning Xian also stood up. Looking at the orderly vegetable patch, she gave a soft, "Mhm. Thank you, Junior Brother."
"It’s nothing." Fang Xuan waved it off and walked to the stream to wash his hands.
By the time they finished, the sun had risen high in the sky.
Ning Xian checked the time and turned toward the small kitchen to begin preparing lunch.
Fang Xuan originally wanted to help, but Ning Xian turned him away, telling him to go practice his sword instead.
He had no choice but to pick up little brother and continue practicing the Qingyun Sword Scripture and condensing his sword momentum in the courtyard.
After practicing for about half an hour, the aroma of food began to waft out.
Fang Xuan immediately poked his head into the kitchen. "Senior Sister, do you need help?"
"No. Set the table." Ning Xian’s voice came through over the sizzling sound of a spatula stir-frying.
"Alright."
Lunch was still simple: one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup.
The meat dish was a bit of beast meat left over from yesterday stir-fried with wild vegetables, the vegetable dish was stir-fried pickled dried bamboo shoots, and the soup was a simple egg drop soup.
However, prepared by Ning Xian's hands, the meal was still full of color, aroma, and flavor, greatly stimulating Fang Xuan's appetite.
The two sat across from each other to eat, the atmosphere feeling more natural than it had at the inn that morning.
Fang Xuan ate with gusto while Ning Xian took small, delicate bites.
Occasionally, she would look up at him as he worked hard at his meal, a faint trace of a smile seemingly flickering in her eyes for a brief moment.
After the meal, Fang Xuan took the initiative to handle the dishwashing.
Ning Xian didn't decline, sitting by the stone table in the courtyard to quietly regulate her breathing.
Everything seemed peaceful and warm.
But Fang Xuan knew this was merely the brief calm before the storm.
Shen Qingqing's scheme had failed, and she had lost several foundation establishment subordinates; she certainly wouldn't let the matter rest.
Shen Chen would likely make a move soon as well.
Fang Xuan calculated his moves while washing the dishes.
According to the original plot in his memory, the upcoming period was the critical point that would push the tragic female lead, Ning Xian, into the abyss.
First, not long from now, Shen Qingqing’s old injuries would flare up, and her spirit bone backlash would intensify, causing her agonizing pain.
Shen Chen would then stand in the main hall, in front of several elders and disciples, and force Ning Xian to transfer a portion of her origin blood essence to Shen Qingqing in the name of "sect camaraderie" and "the greater good."
This was no different from pulling the rug out from under her. For Ning Xian, who was already injured and had suffered a drop in cultivation, this would severely drain her foundation and lifespan.
Then, a few days later, the sect would issue a mission to eliminate demonic cultivators who had appeared near Qingshi Town.
This mission seemed ordinary, but it was a trap meticulously arranged by Shen Qingqing.
At the critical moment of the mission, she would stab Ning Xian in the back, colluding with demonic cultivators to gravely wound her and framing her for being involved with them.
After suffering the successive blows of the blood transfer and the betrayal, Ning Xian's cultivation would plummet again, and she would eventually be confined at Sin Cliff.
Later, Shen Qingqing would strike again with a lethal hand, and Ning Xian would die from her injuries after hovering on the brink of death.
Following that was the script of her rebirth.
After awakening the great love template, Ning Xian's personality would undergo a drastic change.
She would start from this small world, refining myriad living beings to supplement her own power, embarking on a bloody path toward eternal life and killing everyone in her way.
In the later stages, she would even assault the heavenly courts and crush the laws of fate...
To achieve her path of eternal life.
...
And where he was now was the original world before Ning Xian's rebirth, so he absolutely could not allow Ning Xian to die according to the original plot.
There were two reasons for this.
First, and most importantly, the system's rewards and tasks were tied to Ning Xian, the master.
If she died, would the system collapse?
His training career, his spirit buns, and even his foundation for standing in this world would all be gone.
Second, according to the settings of many novels he had read, this kind of rebirth trope was terrifying.
After the female lead was reborn, the original world she came from would likely be directly annihilated, or be overwritten and forgotten, becoming a non-existent, erroneous timeline.
When that time came, he, a transmigrator, would probably vanish into thin air along with it, as if he had never existed.
Therefore, these two key points—the blood transfer in the main hall and the mission to eliminate demonic cultivators—were critical.
Although dangerous, they were also great opportunities to increase favorability.
Just think about it: when Ning Xian was being pressured by her master, abandoned by everyone, and feeling hopeless and helpless, his intervention as the junior brother would surely cause her favorability to skyrocket.
And then, when she was betrayed during the mission, gravely wounded and on the verge of death with no one to turn to, he would step in and save her again...
Fang Xuan dried the last bowl.
Sigh...
Desperate and helpless Senior Sister, just wait for me to save you.
Rate on N.U.
