Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 25

“Senior Sister Su, Yunzhi is useless. Young Sect Master Yu discovered my true identity, and I’ve brought harm to you.”

For an entire night, Su Weiyun leaned against an ancient tree, staring blankly at the campfire, replaying this message from the Sound Transmission Talisman over and over.

The disciples of Piaomiao Sect and Hehuan Sect had never seen Su Weiyun like this. One by one, they dared not approach her, fearing they would provoke her wrath.

It wasn’t until the next morning, when sunlight dappled through the dense canopy, that Su Weiyun finally stood up. Only then did a Piaomiao Sect disciple dare to speak to her. “Senior Sister Su, the Miaoyin Sect has sent a message inviting you to meet at Liuyu Pool.”

“Meet?” Su Weiyun gripped her sword tightly, as if pondering something.

Seeing her reaction, the disciple assumed she didn’t want to go. “Senior Sister Su,” he said, “since the Miaoyin Sect has already severed ties with Piaomiao Sect, there’s no need for us to honor their invitation.”

Su Weiyun remained silent. The disciple, unsure of her intentions and sensing the oppressive atmosphere around her, didn’t dare utter another word.

After a long silence, Su Weiyun finally spoke, “Let’s go. We have an appointment to keep.” The others snapped out of their daze, immediately astonished by her decision.

[Is Su Weiyun going to avenge the Fox Spirit?]
[Oh my god, Su Weiyun really loves the Fox Spirit!]
[To avenge the Fox Spirit, Su Weiyun is even abandoning the Tianyan Sect and going straight for the Miaoyin Sect!]
Su Weiyun: “Damn it, I’ve developed a love-struck brain.”
[Every wild vegetable in the Water Moon Secret Realm should be dug up by Su Weiyun.]
[From career-driven to love-struck—Su Weiyun, you’re losing your mind!]
Su Weiyun: “She has feelings for me!”
Su Weiyun: “She only sent a Sound Transmission Talisman to me! She must love me!”
[Don’t forget, the Piaomiao Sect can’t afford Sound Transmission Talismans. So when the Fox Spirit sent one to Su Weiyun, it really struck a chord in her heart.]

In the bushes near Liuyu Pool, Hu Li crouched, holding two forked branches and watching the comments. She extracted one crucial piece of information: Su Weiyun was coming to keep her appointment.

“Perfect!”

Hu Li smiled, then looked up at Yu Yan, who was waiting in plain sight for Su Weiyun.

Yu Yan’s flute transformed into her personal Artifact—a Moon-Gazing Konghou, taller than a person and shimmering with iridescent light.

Behind her, seven disciples sat on either side, each with a high-grade zither crafted from paulownia wood.

This was the Miaoyin Sect’s Soundfall Array, its boundaries shifting at will. Within the array, musical notes could be amplified countless times or transformed into sonic blades to attack those who entered.

Zheng! A disciple’s hand suddenly moved across the strings.

Hu Li’s gaze shifted to the distance. Su Weiyun was approaching with her entourage.

“Young Sect Master Yu, what is the meaning of this?” Su Weiyun asked, her smile strained as she took in Yu Yan’s imposing formation.

Yu Yan met Su Weiyun’s gaze coldly. “Fairy Su, we’ve reached this point. There’s no need to pretend any longer.”

Hearing this, Su Weiyun drew her sword, its tip pointing directly at Yu Yan. “Hmm,” she replied. “Indeed, there’s no point in pretending anymore.”

Without hesitation, she launched the first attack against Yu Yan.

Behind her, the Piaomiao Sect disciples followed closely, charging toward Yu Yan in a coordinated assault.

As for the Hehuan Sect’s decorative members, they tried to flee but were intercepted by Wanfo Sect disciples lying in ambush. Forced to join the battle, they reluctantly entered the fray.

The resonant music mingled with the clash of blades as the Four Great Sects clashed back and forth, their eyes gradually turning bloodshot with battle lust.

Within the Soundfall Array, whenever a Miaoyin Sect disciple fell, another emerged from the shadows to take their place, maintaining the fierce stalemate against the three Piaomiao Sect members.

“Yu Yan, you shouldn’t have touched Fang Yunzhi,” Su Weiyun hissed, pressing her blade against the sonic blade Yu Yan had unleashed. A murderous glint flashed in her eyes.

Yu Yan strained to parry the solid blow, her mind flashing back to the Hehuan Sect disciple she had long since tossed into the bushes. She sneered, “Why shouldn’t I? Didn’t you attack Qin Beilu?”

Su Weiyun’s grip tightened. “But I didn’t eliminate her from the competition.”

Yu Yan, however, had directly eliminated Junior Sister Fang! The thought reignited Su Weiyun’s fury.

With a twist of her wrist, she guided the sonic blade along her own blade, then slashed through the strings of Yu Yan’s Moon-Gazing Konghou.

As the strings snapped, Yu Yan retreated, sweeping her sleeve to retract the konghou. She then drew a long flute from her sleeve and began playing it swiftly.

The Soundfall Array would remain unbroken as long as its guardians stood firm.

A sonic blade shot from Yu Yan’s flute. Su Weiyun dodged too late, and the token at her waist was struck, a corner chipped off, its glow dimming.

This is bad, she thought, glancing at her junior brothers, who were also nearing exhaustion. She decided to go all-in, even if it meant her own elimination.

She might be forced out, but the Piaomiao Sect wouldn’t fall!

Forcing open her Spiritual Meridians, which had been sealed by the Spirit Sealing Mark, Su Weiyun hurled her blade into the air. With focused concentration, she split it into eight separate blades, each targeting one of the Soundfall Array’s guardians.

Zheng! The zither’s strings snapped.

The Miaoyin Sect disciples mirrored Yu Yan’s earlier move, waving their sleeves to retrieve their Artifacts and prepare their flutes.

But Su Weiyun gave them no time to react. With swift strikes, she shattered the identity tokens at their waists, instantly ejecting them from the Secret Realm.

This time, Yu Yan wasn’t lucky enough to escape.

As she was being expelled from the Water Moon Secret Realm, Yu Yan hissed at Su Weiyun, “You won’t escape either. The Champion will belong to the Miaoyin Sect!”

She had left behind the spark of hope: Fang Lanshi. As long as Fang Lanshi remained, the Miaoyin Sect would not be defeated.

Su Weiyun smiled at Yu Yan’s naivety. But just as she braced her sword against the ground, preparing to break through the Soundfall Array that still lingered for a moment, a flute melody erupted—a sound that could only be described as earth-shattering and soul-stirring.

The flute’s terror was absolute. Within the Soundfall Array, everyone heard a piercing “beep—” before collapsing to the ground, clutching their heads as if they were about to split open, writhing in agony.

[Miaoyin Sect, you shameless bastards!]

Su Weiyun knelt, massaging her throbbing head, and soon collapsed completely.

Her eyelids gradually closed. As consciousness faded, she suddenly remembered that on their first day in the Water Moon Secret Realm, the Miaoyin Sect cultivator named Fang Lanshi had not been eliminated.

So, Fang Lanshi was their trump card all along?

Before her eyes closed completely, Su Weiyun thought that if Fang Lanshi eliminated her, it wouldn’t be too unbearable.

Everyone within the Soundfall Array had fallen.

Hu Li emerged from the bushes, twirling Fang Lanshi’s jade token in her hand, then crushed it.

“Miaoyin Sect’s Fang Lanshi eliminated. Tianyan Sect’s Gu Sheng’s token count increased by one, ranking forty-fifth.”

Hu Li then crushed Qin Beilu’s waist token.

“Miaoyin Sect’s Qin Beilu eliminated. Miaoyin Sect entirely eliminated. Overall ranking: fifth. Gu Sheng’s token count increased by one, ranking: fortieth.”

Hu Li raised an eyebrow, surprised that crushing two tokens had only moved her up to fortieth place.

Still, she grinned at the pile of fallen cultivators, leisurely playing with the tokens like a child with toys.

“Tsk,” Hu Li clicked her tongue after a long while, muttering, “Seriously, my hand’s getting sore. How many more of these things are there?”

[The Fox Spirit truly understands the art of humblebragging.]
[Su Weiyun sacrificed herself for love like this? Waaah!]
[Where’s Kou Kou? It’s been ages! What’s he even doing? I’m tearing my hair out here!]
[Kou Kou isn’t here, but his shadow looms everywhere.]
[The Fox Spirit is truly in love with Kou Kou.]
Su Weiyun: “So, you never loved me. It was always Kou Kou.”
[The most heartbroken aren’t Su Weiyun, but the elders watching through the Water Moon Mirror.]

[Day 1: Lingqing Zhenren: “My sect’s Weiyun will surely sense something amiss at once.”]
[Day 2: Lingqing Zhenren: “My sect’s Weiyun will eventually sense something amiss.”]
[Day 3: Lingqing Zhenren: “My sect’s Weiyun is beyond saving.”]

[Shen Heyin: Crowdfunding to get Yu Yan a new brain.]
[Yu Shibai, the ultimate winner: I’m laughing so hard I’m about to split.]

After collecting all the tokens, Hu Li collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

She reverted to her Gu Sheng appearance just as the identity token at her waist chimed its final announcement:

“Piaomiao Sect’s Su Weiyun eliminated. Piaomiao Sect eliminated. Overall ranking: second. Gu Sheng’s token count increased by one. Ranking: first. Tianyan Sect overall ranking: first.”

Simultaneously, the System, which had witnessed Hu Li’s meteoric rise to the top over the past three days, took a deep breath and went online:
[“Ding—Male lead and second male lead quests completed. Host, please keep up the good work~”]

Hearing this, Hu Li closed her eyes and projected her consciousness into her Sea of Consciousness, addressing the System:
[“System, in other transmigration stories, hosts get rewards for completing quests. I want one too.”]

The System paused before replying:
[“Host, opening your eyes right now is a massive reward in itself.”]

Hu Li let out an “Huh?” and opened her eyes, only to realize she was no longer by Liuyu Pool.

She lay in a forest—a forest of dazzling gold and jade.

Yes, dazzling gold and jade.

Hu Li sat up, staring in disbelief at the golden and silver leaves that carpeted the ground. She gasped, then shouted: [“We’re rich!”]

Then she remembered the Immortal Forest where Xi Qingyang had fallen after the Immortal Sect Grand Competition in the original novel, and her excitement instantly subsided.

“System, is this the Immortal Forest?” Hu Li asked.

The System scratched its head guiltily. “Yes.”

Hu Li fell silent for a moment, then resumed her Gu Sheng act.

This Immortal Forest was still within the Water Moon Secret Realm, and the elders were still monitoring her. She couldn’t let her true intentions slip.

With this in mind, Hu Li cleared her throat and announced loudly, “Why is the hygiene here so terrible? Doesn’t anyone clean this place? Honestly, they have no concept of maintaining a civilized Secret Realm!”

With that, she pulled a broom from her Storage Bag and began sweeping the fallen leaves with earnest dedication.

Before the Water Moon Mirror, Yu Shibai, who had just been basking in his triumph, couldn’t bear to watch. [This is too much. I can’t even look.]

Lingqing Zhenren, who had been glaring at Su Weiyun, turned to Hu Li and slapped the table, roaring with laughter. [“Is the Tianyan Sect skimping on Young Sect Master Gu’s monthly stipend? Why does she act like she’s never seen money before?”]

Meanwhile, Yu Yan, who had been locked in a heated argument with Shen Heyin, also had her attention drawn to the scene.

She stared at the Water Moon Mirror, her eyes burning with envy as she watched the girl whose face practically screamed “Jackpot!” Yu Yan sulked, muttering to herself, “How could I have fallen for her trap?”

Unaware of all this, Hu Li continued sweeping, completely oblivious to the chaos she had caused.

She swept the fallen leaves into her Storage Bag, then resumed her role as a gardener, stripping the Immortal Forest’s trees bare, one by one, until the bag was full. Only then did she stop.

[Kou Kou is finally online!]
[Can the Fox Spirit find Kou Kou while she’s wearing the Invisibility Cloak?]
[The Fox Spirit is too caught up in her overnight fortune to notice Kou Kou lying unconscious at her feet.]
[Fox Spirit, pick up Kou Kou already!]
[Hurry up, Fox Spirit! Seize the opportunity!]
[Literally seizing the “opportunity.”]
[In fanfiction, it would be seizing the “opportunity.”]
[Wow, these comments are hilarious!]
[Huh? What are you guys talking about?]
[LOL, some of you are already on the highway, while others are still stuck in Makka Pakka Land.]

Hu Li: “……”

Her smile froze as she scanned the comments. Then she dropped to her hands and knees, beginning a thorough search of the ground.

After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, she was covered in golden and silver burrs. Finally, her left hand brushed against something that felt different from the grass.

Support Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration]