"Something is making noise down there?"
A single swing of the Demon Staff silenced everything.
Yao Ranran stared at the massive cloud of smoke and dust the Demon Staff stirred up. Suddenly, she realized she had caught hold of something in her hand.
She fixed her gaze on the ancient characters carved upon it and read aloud:
"Diagram of a Small Transmission Array."
"Cough, cough!" Lu Ziqian stumbled out of the smoke.
"Master, there's actually a small transmission array hidden down here!"
The Demon Staff had shattered not only the magma pool but also scattered fragments of the transmission array everywhere.
Yao Ranran stared at the falling debris in surprise and tightened her grip on the diagram.
"No, wait. Besides the array, there were three moles down here. Did I just slaughter innocent little creatures?!"
Ever since arriving in this world, she had learned that even a tree or a small beast might have the chance to cultivate. Because of this, she had avoided killing recklessly. Who would have thought there would be moles living beneath a burning magma pool?
"Master, those don't look like moles!"
Lu Ziqian stepped into the ruined pool and probed carefully.
As he brushed aside the broken fragments, two streams of strange light shimmered, revealing the people inside.
"It's the Demon Sovereign and that woman!"
Lu Ziqian's pupils dilated in disbelief.
"Master, you came straight here just to strike them down with one blow!"
"What? You're saying that's Li Luoqi and Pei Xianqiao?"
Yao Ranran darted through the smoke in shock, only to freeze when her eyes fell on Pei Xianqiao's disheveled figure.
"Pfft!"
The moment Pei Xianqiao noticed Yao Ranran's gaze, blood spurted from her mouth.
The spray of blood splattered across Elder Shang's face, waking him from his haze.
"The sky… why did it suddenly brighten?"
Half-conscious, he thought he glimpsed Yao Ranran's face in that moment.
"Master, should we execute them here, or throw them into prison?"
Lu Ziqian turned and asked for her decision.
Yao Ranran hesitated. "It ended… this easily?"
Li Luoqi, his cultivation lost, lay like a mere mortal, his organs shattered. Even opening his eyes seemed impossible.
"There is no end between us… pfft!" Pei Xianqiao forced the words out before vomiting another mouthful of blood.
Clearly her internal organs were also badly injured.
Lu Ziqian studied her weakened expression and mused aloud, "She is a disciple of Wuxiang Sect. If we imprison her, Elder Yue could ransom her back."
"As for the Demon Sovereign… this disciple would ask Master to spare his life and lock him away forever in the dungeon, never to step out again. Would Master agree?"
His plea was earnest.
Yao Ranran cast a single glance at Li Luoqi's fallen body, then nodded.
"Station heavy guards. He must not be given another chance to escape."
"Yes!" Lu Ziqian smiled faintly, sketched a rope with his brush, and with ease bound Li Luoqi before tossing him out of the magma pit.
"Do… not… touch… him!"
Elder Shang, now fully conscious, immediately roared in protest.
Lu Ziqian turned toward him in puzzlement. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"I am a man of the Upper Realm. If you don't want to die, then kill Yao Ranran at once!"
His hoarse voice carried urgency.
Lu Ziqian blinked, then laughed in realization. "So you are the Demon Sovereign's accomplice. Since you are from the Upper Realm, that means you must die!"
How had this suddenly become a death sentence for him?!
"Did you not hear me? I am a cultivator from the Spirit Realm!" Elder Shang roared in fury.
Lu Ziqian's brush never paused. His tone was sincere. "I heard you clearly. That's why… execution on the spot!"
Elder Shang: "…" Who was really the cultivator from the Spirit Realm here? Had the younger generation in the lower world all become this arrogant?
"Yao Ranran, I will fight you to the death!"
Pei Xianqiao pulled out the Cangling Snow Sword and thrust it straight at Yao Ranran's chest.
Clang!
The metallic ring echoed as Pei Xianqiao was blasted a hundred meters away. She smashed into the cavern wall of the Demonic Abyss before sliding to the ground, her yellow dress stained crimson.
"Pei girl!"
Elder Shang's eyes widened, bloodshot veins bursting with rage.
Yao Ranran frowned slightly. "I wonder how many spirit stones Yue Qingsu would be willing to pay for her. Little disciple, should Master keep her alive?"
Lu Ziqian calculated seriously. "Master, you don't lack spirit stones at all…"
Yao Ranran thought about it and realized he was right.
The Eastern Wilderness was already in her hands, with supreme spirit veins at home. The spirit stones she had now could never be exhausted.
"Then… should I just kill her?"
A trace of hesitation flickered in her expression.
Was the so-called fated female lead of the story about to die by her hands?
Lu Ziqian looked at Pei Xianqiao's stubborn face, then flicked his sleeve to snatch away the Cangling Snow Sword she was reaching for.
"Master, she challenged you to a fight to the death. She lost. So she must die."
After saying this, he silently turned his back, refusing to look at Pei Xianqiao again.
With Yue Qingsu supporting her, leaving her alive would only invite future disaster.
Yao Ranran held the Nine Lotus Ring and began to walk forward slowly.
Elder Shang tried desperately to rush to Pei Xianqiao's side, but before he could even touch the edge of Yao Ranran's robe, Lu Ziqian blocked him.
"Your opponent is me."
Elder Shang glared with rage, unleashing his full strength as he clashed with Lu Ziqian.
Meanwhile, Yao Ranran stepped in front of Pei Xianqiao. The latter lay sprawled on the ground, struggling in vain to rise again and again, her eyes fixed unyieldingly on Yao Ranran.
"I never even tried to sabotage your feelings with Shen Yuefu. Why won't you let me go?"
Yao Ranran was confused. She had avoided the original storyline, refused to play the villainous second female lead, yet why was the so-called heroine still clinging to her?
Pei Xianqiao spat more blood, glaring with unwilling eyes. "You stole my phoenix. It is mine. Mine!"
"All because of this?"
Yao Ranran looked at her in disbelief.
Pei Xianqiao's gaze was desperate. "That is the divine Phoenix, the only one in all the realms!"
"The Phoenix chose to remain at my side of its own will. Pei Daoyou, your complaint is nothing but jealousy toward my Master's ability."
Even as he dodged Elder Shang's furious strikes, Lu Ziqian's words pierced directly into Pei Xianqiao's heart.
"Nonsense! The divine phoenix had already decided to recognize Pei girl as its master. If Yao Ranran hadn't deceived it while she was injured, the phoenix would never have followed her!"
Elder Shang's attacks grew fiercer as he shouted his rebuttal.
Yao Ranran glanced at their furious expressions and suddenly smiled faintly.
"From your perspective, everything here was meant to belong to you. But now, your strength is insufficient. Even if I did snatch Da Huang away, what can you do about it?
Pei Daoyou, I will not waste more words with you. Talking too much before killing someone often leads to unexpected mishaps."
Her smile deepened. The Nine Lotus Ring drew an elegant arc through the air, unfolding like blossoming azure lotuses before Pei Xianqiao's eyes.
Pei Xianqiao gazed at Yao Ranran's serene, devastatingly beautiful face. Terror suddenly filled her eyes.
Yao Ranran truly meant to kill her.
Elder Shang had never imagined Yao Ranran would act so against all reason. With his eyes bloodshot and filled with fury, he threw himself against Lu Ziqian's palm strike and rushed toward Pei Xianqiao.
===
So, a little random ramble from me ( ･ω･)ﾉﾞ
I rarely go searching for new novels to read ever since I started posting on Webnovel. If you haven't noticed yet, my favorite tags are NoCP first, then FemaleMC. Those two are my "core" tags, so whenever I go hunting for something new, I always start with those. After that, I'll look at "sub tags" or other tags that pair well with them, like #Infrastructure, #Historical, #Xianxia, #Rebirth, #Game, #Counterattack, #Transmigration, #System, #Apocalypse, #QT (quick transmigration), #BehindTheScenes, and #Entertainment. Basically, all those are genres I love, as long as they're built around a NoCP + FemaleMC setting.
It's already been 157 days since I uploaded my very first translation, I Became a Fairy and Lived Forever in the Fairy World, up to my latest project, The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. And in all that time, I honestly haven't gone looking for new novels—I've just been focused on translating nonstop, from the moment I wake up at morning/noon until I crash at morning. I haven't had a job this whole time (◞‸◟;), so honestly, your donations on my Ko-fi and Patreon are my main source of income. That's also why I can pour all my time into translating. This is what my schedule has been like: I usually sleep around 4 am and wake up at 6 or 7. If I have something to do in the morning, I just sleep for those few hours. If I have no activities or my sleep quality was good, I go back to sleep and don't truly wake up until 2 pm in the afternoon.
Out of my ongoing projects, 3 are the ones that need the most attention: Troublemaker's Guide to Immortality and The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast both already have more than 200 chapters queued up in drafts, while True Heir of Chaos: From Villainess to Empress has around 100 (because I've been rushing to finish Mom's Apocalypse Survival Log and Reborn as the Fallen Idol, I Leaned Into the Chaos!). And for the 2 projects that are serialized, I've also stocked up plenty of draft chapters for those like what I said yesterday.
So, since I've been feeling a little "free," I wandered over to xxsypro, which is usually where I search for novels rather than other sites. The reason? The filters there are actually useful! You can pick "state" (all, serial, completed), "property" (all, free, paid), and even "renew" (last update within 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, or a month). There's also word count filters (like within 200k, 200k–300k, 300k–500k, 500k–1m, 1m–2m, or more than 2m), plus sorting options like "Comprehensive Popularity," "Best Seller," and "Most Favorites."
You can even narrow it down by "type" (Ancient Romance, Modern Romance, Fantasy Romance, Sci-fi, Fairy Tale, Short Stories, Game Competition, etc.), and "labels" (Popular Tags, Profession, Identity, Character, Background, Plot, School, Style). For example, under "Popular Tags" you'll see things like System Flow, Farming, Strong Women, NoCP, Game Alien World, Quick Wear, etc. Basically, the filters are complete, easy to understand, and—most importantly—actually clickable (unlike some sites that write categories/tags but don't let you click them… so annoying).
Anyway, since I was already there, of course my first stop was the NoCP section, and wow, there were tons of new novels with really interesting intros. And now I'm kinda tempted to add another serialized novel project to translate. Don't worry, if I do pick one up, it'll definitely be something with a smaller chapter count or word count. I'm not crazy enough to throw myself at a monster-length novel right now with the way things are (¬_¬;)
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And guess what… I just came back from browsing the NoCP section, and my eyes were literally sparkling ☆:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:☆. I found 13 new novels with less than 200 chapters and 7 more that already have over 200 chapters. The intros were so good, my soul got hooked instantly.
Not to mention if I start diving into other sections like Female Supporting Role, Strong Women, Cultivation, Infrastructure, Playing Pig and Eating Tiger, Empress, Boss, Game Otherworldly, Apocalypse, Counterattack, Heroine, Super A, Rebirth, Entertainment, and Vest… that's basically heaven on earth for me (≧◡≦).
Of course, sometimes "NoCP" isn't listed under the tags. Instead, you'll see it written in the description/intro like "无CP", or sometimes not mentioned at all, which means you have to either catch the hints in the intro or rely on your NoCP radar being strong enough (lol).
Anyway—decision, decision, decision. (Important things must be said three times!) (╯✧▽✧)╯