The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Captured the Villainous Demon Venerable - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: No Self, With Yun.

Mo Xun was worried about how to send away the demonic cultivator who was suffering from heartbreak, not heart disease. Yun Wushang’s sudden appearance and tossing the person away saved her a lot of trouble.

Mo Xun looked at Yun Wushang standing at the cave entrance, and seeing her still flawlessly beautiful face, she couldn’t help but curve her lips into a bright, sunny smile: “You’re out of seclusion?”

Yun Wushang didn’t reply, her gaze fell upon the medical banner Mo Xun had erected, and her expression showed disdain: “Your handwriting…”

“Is comparable to a child’s, right?” Mo Xun was ready with the answer. “When it comes to handwriting, as long as it’s legible enough for people to understand… although I admit your handwriting is very beautiful.”

Yun Wushang’s handwriting was vigorous and magnificent, yet still readable. Although it felt somewhat disconnected from her appearance, Mo Xun quite liked it.

Yun Wushang: “Ugly handwriting damages your reputation.”

Mo Xun: “My handwriting shouldn’t be considered ugly, at most it’s just neat, conventional, and unpretentious. Doesn’t that make me look honest?”

“You, honest?” Yun Wushang made no attempt to hide the doubt on her face.

However, she didn’t continue arguing with Mo Xun over such a trivial matter. Instead, she asked again what she truly wanted to know: “I allowed you to leave the cave to practice your sword. Who told you to treat demonic cultivators here? What exactly are you up to?”

“I am… sigh, actually, it’s like this,” Mo Xun collected the medical banner, walked up to Yun Wushang, and continued, “I’ve hit a cultivation bottleneck. Sword techniques, spells, arrays, pill refining—nothing can bring me new insights. Since you won’t let me refine artifacts, I can only try a different approach and see if practicing medicine can inspire me.”

“So that’s it,” Yun Wushang’s expression softened slightly, then she asked confusedly, “Your cultivation speed isn’t slow. What’s wrong with cultivating like this for another decade or two?”

Hitting a bottleneck didn’t mean one couldn’t improve their cultivation, but that they couldn’t make a major leap to break through to the Integration stage.

However, there were many in the cultivation world who were stuck at the Nascent Soul stage for hundreds of years. In contrast, Mo Xun’s cultivation speed was already enough to astonish the entire cultivation world.

Yun Wushang didn’t understand why Mo Xun was in such a hurry.

Mo Xun naturally couldn’t tell the truth, and could only cajole: “I just want to increase my combat power for you. Otherwise, if the Tianshan Immortal Sect attacks again, let alone fighting back, I won’t even be able to help you escape. At the very least, I don’t want to hold you back.”

Hearing this, Yun Wushang lowered her head and remained silent for a moment. When she spoke again, she no longer questioned Mo Xun but said this: “Advancing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul requires clarifying your Dao. Advancing from Nascent Soul to Integration, in addition to clarifying your Dao, requires comprehending the mental domain.”

Mo Xun was stunned. Realizing that Yun Wushang was giving her pointers, she immediately listened intently.

Mo Xun: Oh right, although Yun Wushang fell to the Demonic Path, her memories from when she cultivated immortals are still intact.

Yun Wushang paused before continuing: “The mental domain, you can understand it as a kind of territory. When battling someone, pulling your opponent into your domain allows you to constrain them with the Dao in your heart, creating a situation where you are strong and the enemy is weak. The mental domain each person can comprehend is different. In a fight, it cannot simply be measured by strength; it depends on whose mental domain causes greater damage to the other. For example, extreme malice can easily destroy hypocrisy.”

“I think I generally understand.” Mo Xun nodded, then curiously asked Yun Wushang, “What is your mental domain?”

I only use killing to stop war; Yun Wushang uses killing to stop everything, Mo Xun thought. No wonder she is extremely decisive when killing anyone.

However, so far, Mo Xun felt that everyone Yun Wushang had killed deserved to die; she hadn’t seen her kill anyone truly innocent.

While she was still thinking, the System’s voice suddenly rang out: [Learned Yun Wushang’s mental domain, received 3 reward points! Already stored 55 reward points for the Host!]

Mo Xun snapped back and smiled at Yun Wushang: “Thanks, I think I have an idea. I’ll go try it now.”

As she spoke, she was about to return to the cave to cultivate, but Yun Wushang abruptly blocked her way.

Mo Xun let out a confused “Huh?” and looked at Yun Wushang.

Yun Wushang didn’t look at her. She blocked her path with one arm, looking distastefully at the void and saying, “Wash your hands before you go.”

Mo Xun: “…” Is that really necessary?

Mo Xun felt she shouldn’t indulge Yun Wushang too much, lest she become increasingly demanding.

Thinking this, she said: “I won’t wash them. I’m not a mortal. It’s just…”

Yun Wushang: “Wash. Your. Hands.”

Mo Xun: “Oh.”

Mo Xun formed a hand seal, activated her Water spiritual qi, and obediently washed her hands.

Mo Xun: It’s just washing my hands, no big deal.

After Mo Xun washed her hands, Yun Wushang placed her hands behind her back, allowing Mo Xun passage. Mo Xun walked past her, entered the cave dwelling, and sat down on the ground.

Without confusion or procrastination, she crossed her legs, entered meditation, and began to comprehend the mental domain.

Having received Yun Wushang’s guidance, she roughly understood that the mental domain was a state that allowed her to achieve more with less effort, like a fish in water.

In those moments, she focused almost all her attention on what she was doing, achieving extreme concentration and forgetting herself.

Therefore, the state most suitable for her was “No Self,” and the most suitable mental domain for her was the “Domain of No Self.”

Mo Xun further perceived, confirmed, and created her mental domain.

Yun Wushang quietly walked around her, sat on the stone bed, and looked down at her.

The woman sitting cross-legged on the ground had her eyes closed and an expressionless face, fully immersed in her own world, in a posture that suggested no one could disturb her.

Yun Wushang had more than once marveled at Mo Xun’s comprehension. Many people, after learning about the existence of the mental domain, still needed decades to establish their own, yet Mo Xun found the right direction with just a few pointers from her.

Yun Wushang remembered that when she broke through to the Integration stage, she was just over 500 years old, which had already astonished the entire cultivation world.

Mo Xun was less than 200 years old now. If she could truly break through to the Integration stage at this age…

Mo Xun did indeed find her mental domain immediately and entered that state very smoothly.

Yun Wushang dislikes heartless and gutless people.

Mo Xun violently spat out a mouthful of blood, staining her clothes.

Yun Wushang was so startled that she immediately jumped off the stone bed: “Mo Xun!”

“…Don’t panic, I’m fine.” Mo Xun opened her eyes, endured the severe pain, raised one hand to stop Yun Wushang from approaching, and then, with the fastest speed, formed a seal, smoothed out the spiritual qi in her body, and repaired her fractured meridians one by one.

Mo Xun: That was close. Thankfully, I have spiritual qi for healing.

“What happened to you?” Yun Wushang stood by the bed, frowning as she asked, “What caused your mental domain to shake like this?”

The mental domain was an extension of the Dao of Heaven and the Dao Heart. A shaking mental domain was no small matter. In minor cases, cultivation would regress; in severe cases, one would fall to the Demonic Path.

Yun Wushang herself had fallen into the Demonic Path because her mental domain shook and her Dao Heart shattered.

Having used the Heart-Questioning Mirror, Yun Wushang knew that Mo Xun’s Dao Heart was herself. She had always wondered why Mo Xun hadn’t fallen into the Demonic Path with her even after she revealed her true Demonic Venerable identity.

But now, Mo Xun’s mental domain merely shook, and she panicked.

She realized that deep down, she didn’t want Mo Xun to fall into the Demonic Path.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to cultivate the demonic path with Mo Xun; rather, Mo Xun didn’t seem like the kind of person who would fall into it. The calm and focus that attracted her were not qualities easily found in demonic cultivators.

Facing Yun Wushang’s question, Mo Xun briefly thought and replied calmly: “Nothing, I just got distracted. I’ll just try again.”

She said, smiling at Yun Wushang: “Did you forget? I have spiritual qi for healing. It’s quite hard for me to die.”

Yun Wushang continued to look at her with a frown, showing no signs of being relieved: “…The mental domain is born around the Dao Heart and must not contradict it. If you cannot determine your mental domain for now, it’s better to study cultivation techniques for a while. Don’t act rashly.”

“Must not contradict the Dao Heart,” Mo Xun repeated the phrase, roughly understanding the problem with her choice of mental domain.

Her Dao Heart was Yun Wushang, yet Yun Wushang was absent from her mental domain.

If that was the case, wouldn’t letting Yun Wushang appear in her mental domain solve the problem?

When she reversed Wen Yuchan’s meridians, she didn’t focus all her attention on Wen Yuchan. She allocated a portion to observing Yun Wushang.

Didn’t she condense her Golden Core, integrate her Nascent Soul, and advance her realm all to catch up with Yun Wushang?

Thinking this, Mo Xun closed her eyes again and entered meditation.

Yun Wushang frowned at her, wanting to speak but holding back.

If there was one thing Mo Xun had in common with demonic cultivators, it was this relentless determination.

This trait moved Yun Wushang but also made her feel deeply uneasy.

She felt that whatever Mo Xun set her mind to, even her high realm couldn’t stop it.

If one day Mo Xun finally had enough of her and chose to escape from her side, even at the cost of death…

What good would maintaining a one-sided life-and-death contract do?

Mo Xun redefined and reconstructed her mental domain.

Her mental domain still contained no trace of herself, but it contained Yun Wushang.

This time, her mental domain did not collapse after forming. Her cultivation speed accelerated severalfold due to the formation and stability of her mental domain.

After many days, she finally felt the stagnation again—the feeling that her spiritual qi was too full to circulate easily.

She forcefully circulated her spiritual energy, making it break through the constraint.

In an instant, the cave dwelling, thick with demonic qi, was filled with spiritual qi. A few wisps of spiritual qi escaped the cave, causing nearby demonic cultivators to look surprised.

System: Congratulations to the Host for breaking through to Nascent Soul Great Perfection!

Finally!

Nascent Soul Great Perfection! Is Integration far away?

Mo Xun opened her eyes, fully satisfied, and immediately sensed Yun Wushang beside her.

She realized that Yun Wushang had been guarding her for the entire three days.

Mo Xun looked at Yun Wushang in surprise: “You…”

She only managed to utter one word before Yun Wushang interrupted: “Congratulations.”

The two words were flat, betraying no emotion, but Mo Xun returned the smile: “Thank you.”

“So what is your mental domain? Release it for me to see,” Yun Wushang said.

Mo Xun pondered for a moment, appearing to have reservations, but finally agreed: “Alright.”

She released her mental domain and pulled Yun Wushang into it.

Yun Wushang felt herself standing on a windless lake surface.

The lake water was clear, like a mirror, clearly reflecting her figure. But besides that, there was nothing.

Here, Yun Wushang felt nothing, as if she had arrived on an uninhabited, desolate island. Yet, she didn’t feel lonely; instead, she had a strange sense of groundedness, and her mind was incredibly peaceful.

This feeling of not needing to overthink anything, just focusing on the present, was long overdue.

It felt very comfortable.

She wanted to stay here forever.

Yun Wushang stayed in Mo Xun’s mental domain for a little while longer, then forced herself to withdraw and return to reality. Then she asked Mo Xun confusedly: “What kind of mental domain is this? Why is there nothing?”

Mo Xun stared at Yun Wushang for a moment, tentatively confirming with her: “You didn’t see anything?”

Yun Wushang: “I can’t say I saw nothing… but I truly saw nothing.”

Mo Xun smiled: “That’s right. There is nothing in my mental domain.”

Her mental domain was “No Self, With Yun.” Others entering might see Yun Wushang, but Yun Wushang entering could only feel the “No Self” part.

Because Yun Wushang was unique. There would be no second Yun Wushang.

Mo Xun considered whether to confess to Yun Wushang but ultimately abandoned the idea.

Firstly, she didn’t solely take Yun Wushang as her Dao Heart and “No Self, With Yun” as her mental domain purely because she liked Yun Wushang.

Secondly, she was not yet able to be single-mindedly with Yun Wushang. Telling her now would only create unnecessary expectations.

So, let Yun Wushang believe that there was nothing in her mental domain.

But this unspoken secret created a void in her heart, which she constantly wanted to fill in some way.

Mo Xun tentatively asked Yun Wushang: “Can I kiss you?”

Yun Wushang looked at her in surprise: “Why?”

Mo Xun: “No reason, I just suddenly want to kiss you… maybe I’m a bit tired from cultivating.”

Yun Wushang lowered her eyes, was silent for a moment, and then replied: “Just a kiss?”

Mo Xun smiled: “If you want to go further, I would certainly welcome it.”

Yun Wushang pressed her lips together, shifted her gaze from one side of the floor to the other, and then said: “…If you welcome it, then I will also sweetly accept it.”

This was permission. Mo Xun then got up and went to Yun Wushang, raising one hand to touch her face.

Yun Wushang let her touch her, closed her eyes, and carefully felt the sensation of Mo Xun’s fingertips.

Before Mo Xun could do anything else, her body was already restless.

Before reason abandoned her, she forced herself to make a sound: “…This time, no Desire Inciting Pills allowed.”

Mo Xun smiled and said, “Alright,” then lowered her head and kissed Yun Wushang’s lips.

She felt Yun Wushang’s touch and temperature, sensed Yun Wushang’s increasingly erratic breathing, held her waist with one hand, and supported the back of her head with the other, gently laying her down on the stone bed.

They had done the same thing many times, and even without the pill this time, Yun Wushang’s body was still sensitive.

Midway through, Mo Xun mischievously brought her lips close to Yun Wushang’s ear: “At a time like this, why don’t you refer to yourself as ‘this Venerable One’?”

Yun Wushang, eyes red, raised her hand and gripped the back of Mo Xun’s neck: “You… are courting death.”

Mo Xun felt the gentle force she applied to the back of her neck and, far from being scared, laughed out loud: “If you threaten me now, I might stop.”

Yun Wushang remained silent.

Mo Xun: “If you are too shy to call yourself ‘this Venerable One,’ then call me Senior Sister?”

There was another long silence, but eventually, Yun Wushang closed her eyes and uttered those two words: “…Senior Sister.”

“Good girl,” Mo Xun continued, unable to resist giving Yun Wushang another deep kiss.

After a while, Yun Wushang was gasping, her arms hooked around Mo Xun’s neck, tears brimming in her eyes, looking aggrieved.

Mo Xun tenderly kissed the corner of her eye, licking away a salty tear.

She considered herself gentle enough, so Yun Wushang was crying, certainly not because of physical discomfort.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Xun softly asked in her ear.

“I miss my Senior Sister… but, not those Senior Sisters…” Yun Wushang replied.

Mo Xun: “Then which ones?”

Yun Wushang: “Not which ones, just…”

Mo Xun: “Mm, you just recalled the beauty you once believed was real.”

Yun Wushang didn’t reply, seeming to implicitly agree. She closed her eyes, and warm liquid continued to flow from her slightly reddened eyes.

Mo Xun held her in her arms, stroking her head to comfort her until she fell asleep.

Mo Xun still didn’t know what happened the day Yun Wushang fell to the Demonic Path, but she knew that even if everyone who had hurt her was already dead by her hands, the things that had happened and the memories she held would never disappear. Even fake beauty had once felt truly beautiful.

Deep down, Yun Wushang probably yearned for her Master and Senior Sisters, which was why she protected the Shuiyue Immortal Sect in that manner.

Did she once want to protect the Tianshan Immortal Sect like that? But the Tianshan Immortal Sect was unworthy.

After Yun Wushang fell asleep, Mo Xun kissed her forehead again, carefully slipped out of bed, and pulled Yun Wushang’s robe over her.

Then she left the cave alone.

She wanted to solidify her mental domain further.

The System’s voice echoed in her mind: Received 5 reward points, already stored 60 reward points for the Host, maximum 126.

Mo Xun acknowledged with an “Mm,” saying nothing else.

She stood at the entrance of the cave dwelling, beside the throne that dominated all demonic cultivators, closed her eyes, and felt the entire Demonic Realm, sensing all the demonic cultivators, including Yun Wushang, while ignoring her own existence.

She could feel Yun Wushang’s slightly heavy breathing, and she could sense the flow of demonic qi stirred by demonic beasts flying through the sky.

Suddenly, sensing Meiyan’s approach, Mo Xun abruptly turned and warned her with her eyes.

Meiyan was startled by her glare, then smiled playfully: “Not bad, you’re already at Nascent Soul Great Perfection. I really envy you alchemists. As long as you refine enough pills, you can break through even lying down.”

It certainly wasn’t as easy for alchemists to break through as she claimed, but Mo Xun didn’t intend to argue with her. Instead, she looked at her and curved her lips: “Sister Meiyan, you’ve come at a perfect time.”

Meiyan narrowed her eyes, a bad premonition rising in her heart.

Through several encounters, she was already very clear about how cunning and calculating this alchemist, captured by the Demonic Venerable and brought to the Demonic Realm, was. Every time she smiled and called her “Sister Meiyan” like this, nothing good ever happened.

So, Meiyan said nothing, quietly observing Mo Xun, trying to see what mischief she was brewing this time.

Mo Xun didn’t mind, speaking to herself: “I just comprehended my mental domain. Come and feel it for me.”

After she finished speaking, she didn’t give Meiyan a chance to reply. She released her mental domain and pulled Meiyan into it.

The mental domain of a Nascent Soul cultivator was weak against Meiyan, a Void Refinement stage demonic cultivator.

However, with the Demonic Venerable looming over her, she dared not do anything to Mo Xun and could only patiently experience her mental domain.

Then she saw Yun Wushang, dressed in a snow-white robe, descend from the sky, her eyes cold as frost as she looked at her.

Meiyan: “…”

By the time Meiyan reacted, she was already kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath.

The moment their eyes met, she felt like her entire body had been frozen into ice. A numb sensation spread from her fingertips all the way to her head.

Although she didn’t feel the Mahayana stage pressure, she still felt a terrifying dread, as if a sword was pressed against her throat.

She knew it was an illusion created by the mental domain, but it felt too real—so real that she dared not gamble. Let alone resist, she couldn’t even manage a single word of questioning.

Mo Xun hadn’t expected her mental domain to force a Void Refinement stage demonic cultivator to her knees and couldn’t help but show an interested expression.

After Meiyan recovered, she frowned, stood up, and asked her: “What kind of mental domain is this? Fear? How can you, a cultivator and an alchemist, comprehend such a domineering mental domain?”

Mo Xun: Domineering? Clearly, someone has a guilty conscience and is terrified of Yun Wushang.

But she really saw Yun Wushang in my mental domain?

Mo Xun decided to avoid releasing her mental domain as much as possible during battles in the future. Otherwise, if this secret was exposed and Yun Wushang asked about it, she wouldn’t have a good answer.

Thinking this, Mo Xun smiled at Meiyan: “Yes, my mental domain can make opponents see the person they fear most. I wonder who you saw?”

Meiyan snorted coldly, turned around, and flew away.

She was drawn in by Mo Xun’s spiritual qi, and the fact proved that nothing good ever happened when she interacted with Mo Xun.

She secretly vowed that she would never come here again unless the Demonic Venerable summoned her, no matter what happened!

Mo Xun watched her leave, sensed movement inside the cave, and quickly returned, only to see that Yun Wushang had already woken up.

Yun Wushang sat up from the stone bed, draped the dark robe over her body, and met Mo Xun’s gaze with a slight frown: “What did you say to that Meiyan this time?”

“She told me some things related to the war between the immortal and demonic realms,” Mo Xun replied calmly. “She said you once started the war, and when you realized you couldn’t win, you turned around and killed one of your capable generals.”

Yun Wushang sneered at this: “You believe it?”

Mo Xun: “If I believed it, I wouldn’t have come to confirm it with you.”

Yun Wushang’s expression softened slightly, and after a moment of silence, she replied: “The demonic cultivator I killed was named Chimo. She was one of the Palace Masters of the Chimei Palace. She hated immortal cultivators and used my name to provoke the war. I killed her to end the war, not because I feared immortal cultivators, but because I don’t like being used.”

“I see,” Mo Xun smiled. “I knew it. If it were truly you who started the war, you would rather perish together with the entire cultivation world than compromise.”

Yun Wushang let out a soft snort, saying “Don’t think you know me so well,” but her expression was actually somewhat pleased.

The System prompted Mo Xun that she had gained 3 reward points, meaning Yun Wushang did not lie.

Mo Xun didn’t dwell on it. She sat down next to Yun Wushang and asked her: “Not going into seclusion anymore?”

Yun Wushang nodded: “My demonic qi has mostly recovered. I don’t need to be in seclusion.”

“Is that so?” Mo Xun was momentarily lost in thought, then asked, “Above the Mahayana stage, immortal cultivators have the Tribulation stage, and demonic cultivators have the True Demon Realm. Don’t you want to break through sooner?”

She now had 63 reward points saved up, enough to boost her movement speed by 1890%. If Yun Wushang were in long-term seclusion, she could sneak out of the Demonic Realm, help Chu Jiuqu survive her death tribulation without Yun Wushang knowing, and then return.

However, Yun Wushang’s answer was: “Heh, what’s the fun in becoming a True Demon? I want to enjoy life in the mortal realm for a few more days.”

Mo Xun: If the mortal realm truly made you happy, why would you wear a cold face every day…

Wait, is the “enjoying life” you mentioned legitimate?

However, for the next half month, Mo Xun did indeed make Yun Wushang “enjoy life” once every day. Yun Wushang seemed to be addicted to her, and Mo Xun was also happy to complete missions and earn reward points this way.

Finally, half a month later, the System prompted: Host, you have accumulated the maximum reward points for the second stage. You can no longer gain new reward points. Would you like to redeem all rewards now?

Mo Xun didn’t reply.

After thinking to herself for a while, she asked Yun Wushang, who was in her arms: “Wushang, would you teach me how to draw the Thousand-Mile Divine Swiftness Talisman?”