After Rebirth, the Love-Struck Cannon Fodder Woke Up - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Decision

◎Past Events, Nighttime Talks◎

Du Lianxin wondered, if this current world was truly a world within a book, then were her actions in her past life purely intentional, or were they influenced by a predetermined fate?

Regardless of the answer, from her perspective after rebirth, her actions in her past life were not worth it.

Love yourself first, then others. How could casting aside all dignity and pursuing love without boundaries yield a positive outcome?

Now that she had returned to her youth, she would absolutely never repeat the mistakes of her past life!

Ye Qiuwan saw Du Lianxin, and a smile appeared on her bright face.

“Junior Sister Du, the fruit wine I prepared some time ago is ready. If you are free tonight, I’ll bring a pot over.”

“My sect mission for the month is complete, so I am certainly free. Senior Sister Ye’s wine-making skills have always been excellent. I’ll have a good treat tonight.”

“Then it’s settled! I’ll be there before the hour of Xu (7-9 PM).”

“Mhm!”

Du Lianxin watched Ye Qiuwan’s retreating figure and recalled her past life once more.

In her past life, her heart was entirely preoccupied with Shen Anlan at this moment.

Hearing Ye Qiuwan’s words, she had immediately made an excuse, claiming to have something else to do.

Perhaps her expression unconsciously carried a hint of impatience, and from that moment on, their relationship began to sour.

Later, Ye Qiuwan learned of her infatuation with Shen Anlan, and every time they met, she would be sarcastic and mocking.

Du Lianxin remained silent most of the time, occasionally fighting back with insults.

After losing her cultivation and becoming a mortal, when she saw Ye Qiuwan again, she initially thought the other party would intensify her mockery. To her surprise, what she received was comfort.

In this life, the path of fate was changing from this moment on. In the future, they might become very good friends.

Returning to the sect, Du Lianxin immediately went to the Mission Hall, handed over the mission to the outer sect deacon, and smoothly received twenty contribution points.

Outer sect cultivators of the Qinghe Sect received five spirit stones and a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pill to boost cultivation every month.

Apart from these, all other cultivation resources had to be exchanged using contribution points.

Du Lianxin had been in the sect for nine years since her initiation.

Through monthly missions, she had accumulated nearly two thousand contribution points.

In the Tai Xuan Realm, cultivation levels, from lowest to highest, were Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, and Mahayana.

Du Lianxin, with her four-spirit-root aptitude, was currently at the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

Although the deacon asserted upon her initiation that she wouldn’t achieve great things, she never gave up.

Du Lianxin’s comprehension was actually quite good. Every time she went to Enlightenment Peak to listen to the sect elders’ lectures, she was among the first to grasp the concepts.

Compared to her peers who were initiated at the same time and also had four-spirit-root aptitude, she was considered outstanding.

However, cultivation was not enough with just comprehension. The more spirit roots one possessed, the greater the spiritual energy required for advancement. Therefore, the gap in cultivation speed compared to those with heavenly spirit roots and dual spirit roots remained very obvious.

In her past life, before Du Lianxin fell in love with Shen Anlan, she greatly yearned for the path to immortality. After joining the sect, she spent almost all her time on cultivation, and was even nicknamed by a few familiar fellow disciples: the “Cultivation Fiend.”

Unfortunately, later on, because she dedicated herself entirely to Shen Anlan, she distanced herself from her peers, and they no longer interacted.

Now that she had been reborn and returned to a time before everything began, she should cherish her current life and no longer engage in wishful thinking.

Carrying complex emotions, Du Lianxin returned to her familiar bamboo dwelling.

This was her residence in the outer sect of the Qinghe Sect. The room’s furnishings were simple: one bamboo bed, one bamboo chair, one bamboo table, and a single rush cushion.

She hadn’t been in the room for long when a chirp suddenly reached her ears.

Du Lianxin looked up and saw a seven-colored parrot flying to the window ledge.

Its bright feathers shimmered in the sunlight.

This parrot, named Hua Li, belonged to a third-tier peak-stage spirit beast, a very rare species. It was the beloved pet of Gu Xianzi, the daughter of the Pill Peak Master.

In her past life, Gu Xianzi disliked Du Lianxin intensely, simply because she also liked Shen Anlan.

However, Gu Xianzi’s character was decent. She did not rely on her status to intentionally make things difficult for Du Lianxin.

Or perhaps, with her proud nature, she disdained doing so.

However, as the daughter of the Peak Master, Gu Xianzi was often surrounded by disciples trying to curry favor with her.

Initially, some fellow disciples noticed her subtle hostility toward Du Lianxin. To please her, they deliberately set traps to tease Du Lianxin, watch her make a fool of herself, and then mock her widely.

One incident that left the deepest impression on Du Lianxin was the Pill Refinement Assessment.

There were six arts in the cultivation world: Artifact Refinement, Pill Refinement, Array Formation, Talisman Creation, Beast Taming, and Spirit Plant Cultivation.

Outer sect cultivators of the Qinghe Sect, limited by their aptitude, often chose one of the six arts to specialize in, seeking an alternative path.

Du Lianxin chose Pill Refinement.

The assessment was held bi-annually. Passing it meant becoming a Pill Refinement Apprentice, earning an additional fifty contribution points as a monthly reward.

Of course, the contribution points were not always freely given. If the Pill Peak had heavy mission load and issued a call, anyone with the identity of a Pill Refinement Apprentice must go and help.

Failure to attend three times resulted in the permanent cancellation of the Pill Refinement Apprentice status.

In her past life, Du Lianxin chose Pill Refinement. During the assessment, the relevant pill refinement materials were deliberately swapped by those who followed Gu Xianzi.

She discovered it in time and reported it to the supervising elder, who only gave them a mild, ineffectual reprimand.

As for Du Lianxin, she faced intensified retaliation.

Those people quietly released a Black-Lined Three-Faced Snake into her assessment pill room.

Although the snake’s venom was not fatal, it could seal the spiritual energy in the Dantian.

At that time, Du Lianxin was fully focused on controlling the furnace fire and had no spare capacity for defense.

The Black-Lined Three-Faced Snake bit whoever it saw. By the time she noticed it, it was too late.

A sharp pain instantly shot through her left wrist.

After being poisoned, her spiritual energy stagnated, forcing the pill refinement to stop, and she failed the assessment.

Du Lianxin reported the full story to the supervising elder, but those wrongdoers did not receive the punishment they deserved.

Later, when Gu Xianzi learned about the incident, instead of gloating, she severely disciplined the perpetrators. They were punished according to the sect rules and sent to the Cliff of Contemplation for ten years of reflection.

With this incident as an example, no one on the Pill Peak troubled Du Lianxin again.

However, she was utterly disappointed with the Peak Elder’s handling of the situation and never participated in the Pill Refinement Assessment again.

Du Lianxin didn’t know why Hua Li flew here. She remembered that this spiritual pet liked to eat fermented fruit, but there were no such spiritual plants near her residence.

What was happening now had not occurred in her past life.

Given Gu Xianzi’s focus on Hua Li, she would likely follow soon.

As expected, about half a cup of tea later, a young woman riding an Immortal Crane descended from the sky. She wore a floral and bird patterned dress, had a flying knot hairstyle, and her phoenix eyes were slightly upturned.

“Are you Du Lianxin?”

“I am.”

“I heard Senior Sister Shen saved your life today?”

“That is true. Lianxin was outside on a sect mission and was inadvertently surrounded by a group of demonic beasts. I was overwhelmed. Senior Sister Shen passed by and saved Lianxin with a casual effort.”

Gu Xianzi folded her arms and lightly scoffed: “Senior Sister Shen is naturally benevolent. Since you clearly know that saving you was a casual act, there’s no need to take it too seriously.”

“Lianxin understands.”

Seeing her being sensible, Gu Xianzi nodded in satisfaction. She rode the Immortal Crane and left the area with Hua Li.

She admired Shen Anlan and paid extra attention to Senior Sister Shen’s affairs.

Today, Hua Li was playing and flew out of the Pill Peak. While chasing it, she happened to hear a returning cultivator mention that Senior Sister Shen had saved a fellow disciple outside today.

After asking around, she confirmed the identity of the person saved.

Gu Xianzi knew that Senior Sister Shen had many admirers in the sect and worried that the rescued person would use this as an excuse to cling to Senior Sister Shen.

Therefore, after catching up with Hua Li, she deliberately had her beloved pet fly to Du Lianxin’s residence, using the opportunity to come over and give a warning.

The result greatly satisfied her. Judging by Du Lianxin’s reaction, she didn’t seem to be infatuated with Senior Sister Shen.

After Gu Xianzi left, Du Lianxin returned to the bamboo dwelling.

Due to the events of her past life, she held no ill will toward Gu Xianzi.

If not for this woman’s intervention, she didn’t know how much more hardship she would have suffered.

Furthermore, Du Lianxin’s ability to obtain the secret method to save Shen Anlan in her past life was greatly linked to Gu Xianzi.

Shen Anlan was harmed by the Demonic Sect and lost all her cultivation. Gu Xianzi, upon hearing the news, spared no effort in gathering information on how to treat her.

Initially, she had no results. She then offered a hefty reward: anyone who provided a method to treat the Dantian would receive an elemental treasure; those who couldn’t offer a specific method but provided a valid clue would receive a magic treasure.

If no treasure was needed, the reward could be exchanged for spiritual stones, elixirs, talismans, or array discs of equal value.

Under this multi-faceted reward system, the secret method was finally obtained.

Gu Xianzi originally planned to perform it herself, but the Pill Peak Master did not want her daughter to make such a sacrifice. Thus, he found a way to disclose the method to Du Lianxin, which led to the subsequent events.

At that time, Du Lianxin’s infatuation with Shen Anlan was well known throughout the sect.

When providing the corresponding method, the Pill Peak Master did not hide anything but honestly informed her of the secret method’s pros and cons.

He was highly confident that with Du Lianxin’s deep devotion to Shen Anlan, she would surely proceed.

The facts were exactly as he predicted.

Du Lianxin saved Shen Anlan, became a mortal, and embarked on a path of self-destruction.

The Pill Peak Master felt guilty, but thinking that his daughter also deeply loved Shen Anlan, he hardened his heart. When he learned that Du Lianxin had lost her cultivation and was chased out of the Qinghe Sect by the outer sect deacon, he did not intervene.

Otherwise, with his status, Du Lianxin could have remained in the sect with just a single word.

Du Lianxin did not know the hidden truth.

Even if she did, she wouldn’t care.

Reborn in this life, she naturally wouldn’t choose Pill Refinement again.

In this life, she planned to focus on Talisman Creation.

She had four spirit roots: Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth. This gave her various options for talisman creation, not being limited to a single element.

In fact, many four-spirit-root and five-spirit-root cultivators like her in the sect chose the path of Talisman Creation.

In her past life, Du Lianxin chose Pill Refinement because she considered her poor aptitude and wanted to rely on elixirs to boost her cultivation.

Purchasing finished elixirs was expensive. Refining them herself could significantly lower the cost.

If she could become a Pill Refinement Apprentice, she could receive a certain amount of spirit plant materials for free each month, and the pill furnace could also be used for free.

Since this path led to trouble, Du Lianxin would not try it again in this life.

Actually, her past life’s thinking was not entirely wrong, but it was not the best.

The cultivation level boosted by elixirs was relatively superficial. Unless she constantly engaged in combat with others to improve her strength in the future, she would always be at the bottom among those of the same level.

Du Lianxin avoided this path in her past life due to being bullied by the Pill Peak cultivators. Changing her mind in this life was a good thing for her.

That night, Ye Qiuwan arrived with the fruit wine as promised.

The two drank under the moonlight. Halfway through, Ye Qiuwan was slightly intoxicated.

“Junior Sister Du, have you considered your future?”

Hearing this question abruptly, Du Lianxin was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: “Senior Sister Ye, why do you suddenly ask this?”

“Hmm, just wondering.”

“The future will naturally be about cultivation, doing my best to improve my strength, with no other plans.”

Ye Qiuwan stared intently at the young woman before her.

“Junior Sister Du, have you considered… finding a companion on the Dao (Dao侶)?”

Du Lianxin answered without hesitation: “No.”

Ye Qiuwan pouted: “Why? Such a firm answer. Could it be that Junior Sister Du has suffered a heartbreak?”

Du Lianxin’s right hand, holding the wine pot, paused. She said calmly: “Senior Sister Ye is overthinking. I joined the sect at age seven, and it’s been nine years. Inside the sect, besides daily missions, I only cultivate. How could I have suffered a heartbreak?”

Ye Qiuwan didn’t believe her words and still asked: “If you haven’t suffered heartbreak, why are you so firm? Then let me rephrase the question: Has Junior Sister Du ever felt moved by someone?”

This time, Du Lianxin didn’t respond immediately but remained silent.

The heartbreak was from her past life, which she could deny. But feeling moved…

Setting aside the experiences of her past life, she naturally liked women. Shen Anlan’s appearance completely matched her aesthetic. Seeing her again, saying she felt no touch would be deceiving herself.

However, in this life, she knew where she stood and would not repeat her mistakes.

Seeing Du Lianxin not responding, Ye Qiuwan guessed the answer. Her right hand gripping the wine pot tightened, and she asked again: “Can you tell me who it is?”

“Apologies, this is a secret that belongs only to me. No one will ever know in this life.”

“So, you are certain that the person who moved your heart would not like you back?”

“Mhm, absolutely certain.”

Ye Qiuwan was a little curious: “Why? Did they reject you?”

“Something like that.”

In her past life, Shen Anlan had clearly rejected Du Lianxin.

This was not a lie.

Ye Qiuwan returned to her casual demeanor.

“There are so many beautiful people in the world. If you’re rejected, just find another person to like. Why hang onto a dead-end tree?”

Du Lianxin shook her head and smiled wryly.

“If it were that easy, where would all the heartbroken people in the world come from?”

Ye Qiuwan seemed to think of something and did not retort.

For a moment, neither spoke again. Only the occasional chirping of cicadas and birds reached their ears.