When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 54

The training in the Ten Thousand Beasts Forest comes to an abrupt end, with fewer than half of the cultivators making it out alive. Even so, they are considered lucky. The aftermath of the beast tide’s breakout requires extensive efforts to contain.

Three months later, the barrier sealing the Ten Thousand Beasts Forest is restored, forcing the beast tide back within its confines.

Thousands of miles north, over the glacier snowfields, the ominous tribulation clouds finally disperse.

Cultivation defies the will of heaven. Even reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is merely a threshold that eliminates those unfit for the path. Upon reaching the Core Formation stage, one must face heavenly tribulation. Countless cultivators fail to survive even the most basic Forty-Nine Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, their cultivation journey ending—or their lives. Even those who successfully form a Golden Core should not grow complacent. With every breakthrough into a higher realm, heavenly tribulation descends again. Only by overcoming it can one advance.

The path of cultivation is always harsh; no one walks it unchallenged.

If Foundation Establishment is already so perilous, then the tribulation faced when breaking through from the Nascent Soul stage to the Soul Formation stage is even rarer to witness. This time, Yun Zhuoran encounters a 99-day tribulation, something he has never experienced before. Likely due to the rapid increase in his cultivation, compounded by the fact that he has borrowed the little black-hearted demon’s power to cheat, he barely manages to endure the 99-day ordeal—only for the final strike of heavenly lightning to transform into a Heart Demon Tribulation.

This trial lasts nearly three months.

Ultimately, Yun Zhuoran overcomes the tribulation. The difference between his former half-step Integration stage and his current true Integration stage is vast—so vast that the combined strength of ten pre-tribulation Yun Zhuorans would not match the one who emerges afterward.

Now, standing just a step away from the Great Ascension stage, Yun Zhuoran finds that his sea of consciousness has expanded hundreds of times. The once-murky depths of his mind have become clear.

During the tribulation, he glimpsed a faint golden light within the chaotic expanse of his sea of consciousness—something calling out to him. But now, as he peers inward with newfound clarity, all he sees is an endless, silent void.

Sky and sea merge into a frozen expanse, as cold and still as a glacier.

Unable to make sense of it, Yun Zhuoran pushes the thought aside. His sea of consciousness belongs to him—he will have plenty of time to explore it later. What matters now is that three months have passed. Without delay, he rises to search for his little black ball inside the ice cave.

Since devouring the Chimera, the heart demon has greatly boosted Yun Zhuoran’s cultivation, forcing him into his tribulation. At the same time, many cultivators have entered from outside, and Penglai Immortal has sensed the presence of the Buddhist Son from the Tianqing Sect. To prevent interference, Penglai Immortal has parted ways with Yun Zhuoran to lure the Buddhist Son away.

At that moment, Yun Zhuoran had no choice but to focus on his tribulation. He had taken the heart demon with him as he fled to the snowy region to undergo the trial. However, upon arrival, the heart demon had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep—one from which he could not be awakened.

Left with no other choice, Yun Zhuoran had placed the Heart Demon inside a heaven-grade artifact, keeping it far away to avoid the impact of the heavenly tribulation. He set up multiple layers of barriers around both the artifact and the entire ice cave before focusing on overcoming his tribulation.

Now that it is over, he feels a rare sense of relief. Soon, he finds the little black ball nestled in the corner of the ice cave—fast asleep atop a golden lotus, as if it has never stirred.

The devastating force of the heavenly tribulation has long since shattered the cave’s barriers. Yet, the layers of restrictions surrounding the golden lotus remain untouched—not even a trace of lightning or external interference has disturbed them.

The heart demon has never left the magical artifact.

This is unlike the heart demon’s usual temperament. Has it truly been asleep the entire time?

Yun Zhuoran’s chest tightens. Without hesitation, he removes the restrictions. One by one, layers of golden-red light fade, releasing the cool, distinct aura of the Golden Lotus artifact.

Suddenly, the tip of the little black ball’s tail twitches, inching outward.

“Brother?”

His eyes remain half-closed, his voice soft and drowsy.

The Little Black Ball has always been a small creature, no larger than a palm. Yun Zhuoran can only judge if he has grown by the sound of his voice.

When he sees the heart demon stir, he finally lets out a sigh of relief—he can tell the heart demon has grown again.

That makes sense. Whenever it devours powerful demonic beasts or evil entities, the Heart Demon always becomes lethargic afterward. The Chimera it consumed must have had exceptionally strong demonic energy, requiring more time to digest—thus, it has slept even longer this time.

After enduring the tribulation, Yun Zhuoran’s cultivation has advanced directly to the mid-Integration stage, making it abundantly clear just how formidable the ninth-rank ferocious beast Qiongqi had been. If even he has gained such immense benefits indirectly, then the Heart Demon, having devoured the creature directly, must have profited even more.

Yun Zhuoran gently picks up the little black ball, who is struggling to crawl out of the golden lotus nest but lacks the strength to move. He rubs him lightly.

A familiar cool fragrance fills the air as the black ball squints his watery black eyes in contentment. He clings to Yun Zhuoran’s hand, his voice soft and pleading.

“Brother… Xiao Weiran feels uncomfortable…”

The gentle light in Yun Zhuoran’s eyes flickers with helplessness. He dares not move his hands.

“Where does it hurt?”

The black ball droops his head. “I’m so sleepy… My stomach feels bloated… I don’t want to move.”

Yun Zhuoran pauses, then carefully presses his fingertips against the soft little body.

“Here? Are you too full?”

“Brother, rub it.” The black ball shamelessly uses his youthful voice to act spoiled, complaining in an aggrieved tone, “The Chimera was too big.”

Yun Zhuoran sighs and, despite his stiffness, complies. He massages the small black ball in slow, gentle motions.

The heart demon lets out a contented hum, blinks drowsily, and soon drifts back into sleep in Yun Zhuoran’s arms.

Exhaling lightly, Yun Zhuoran holds his heart demon close and steps out of the ice cave, which is now a wreck after the heavenly tribulation. He has been gone for three months—he has no idea if the Tiandao Sect still remembers him. No, they will definitely remember. The real question is how they will deal with him.

And then, there is Penglai Immortal.

Before Yun Zhuoran leaves, Penglai Immortal hastily hands him the exquisite jade bead he has carried for years. It is said to have been left behind by his mother. Yun Peiran has one as well—both are small, round, and no larger than a fingernail. At their center, mist-like crystal swirls, a bright red flame flickering deep within.

Yun Peiran’s jade bead is identical to his. However, Yun Zhuoran’s had once been broken. He painstakingly repairs it, embedding it into a hollow gold wire setting.

Since then, he never takes it out, afraid of breaking it again. But knowing his tribulation could last an unknown length of time, he entrusts the jade bead, which carries his lingering breath, to Penglai Immortal.

The underground ice cave is vast. As Yun Zhuoran makes his way out, he notices something unusual within his storage ring. Without hesitation, he removes the pendant he has long worn and slips the ring onto his finger. Slowly, he retrieves a blazing-hot Mingguang Lock.

As expected. The people of the Tianqing Sect are still searching for him—they haven’t given up.

With a cold expression, Yun Zhuoran tosses the Mingguang Lock back into his storage ring and steps into the wind and snow.

If the Tianqing Sect thinks they can track him with just a Mingguang Lock, they are dreaming.

Still, he has to return. At the very least, he has to see Penglai Immortal. After that, he will go looking for Gu Shenshu.

Compared to Yun Peiran, who has been missing for years, Gu Shenshu will be far easier to find.

Not far from the ice cave, Yun Zhuoran spots someone on the road—or rather, someone crawling out from a pile of corpses.

The young man in white has an oddly familiar silhouette. Yun Zhuoran has no intention of getting involved, but then he notices a faint purple thread connecting them.

Dressed in bloodstained white robes, the youth limps toward the frozen pond.

Amidst the howling snowstorm, a small blue flower trembles in the icy wasteland.

Yun Zhuoran takes just one glance and immediately recognizes the Netherlight Grass, a rare heaven-grade spiritual herb. Judging from the situation, this is clearly the aftermath of a murder for treasure—an all-too-common occurrence in the cultivation world.

The young man in white is gravely injured. He struggles to make his way to the Netherlight Grass, but before he can pluck it, he collapses. His blood slowly spreads across the thick layer of ice, blooming like a crimson flower against the crystalline surface. His pale skin only makes the blood-red flower appear even more striking.

Though he knows he can’t hold on much longer, the young man grits his teeth and continues crawling toward the Netherlight Grass, holding onto the last thread of his consciousness.

But just as his fingertips are about to touch the herb, he faints.

A second white figure slowly approaches. In his unconscious state, the young man mumbles softly, “Father… I will find the Netherlight Grass…”

Yun Zhuoran acts as though he hasn’t heard the words. Instead, he raises his hand and examines his fingertips. Following the faint purple thread that connects them, his gaze lands on the blood-stained fingers of the young man in white. With a slight flick of his fingers, he turns the unconscious man over.

As he does, a jade bead slips from the young man’s disheveled robes.

Yun Zhuoran’s pupils contract sharply. In an instant, he crouches down beside the youth.

The jade bead bears an uncanny resemblance to the one he entrusted to Penglai Immortal before—but this one is a light gold color.

Yun Zhuoran hesitates, his hand pausing midair before he reaches for the blood-red jade pendant at the young man’s waist instead.

“Yuncheng?”

The pendant bears the engraved seal of Yuncheng’s demon clan. This young man is from Yuncheng.

A gust of wind sweeps past as Yun Zhuoran sends out a breeze to brush aside the stray locks of hair covering the unconscious youth’s face.

What he sees makes him pause.

Truthfully, this young man doesn’t necessarily resemble Yun Zhuoran more than Ji Ruo does, but with both dressed in identical white robes, the similarity reaches nearly 80%.

At that moment, a name surfaces in Yun Zhuoran’s mind—Yuncheng’s Yun Shaowei.

“Fate works in strange ways.” Yun Zhuoran narrows his eyes, contemplating for a moment. Then he stands up and infuses a gentle strand of spiritual energy into the young man who resembles Yun Shaowei.

“If I get the chance, I’ll visit Yuncheng.”

With those parting words, Yun Zhuoran turns and leaves. In the blink of an eye, his figure vanishes into the vast, snowy landscape.

As for the identity jade pendant he has taken from the young man—since he has done him a favor, it is only natural that he takes some form of payment in return.

This jade pendant is no ordinary item. He is certain it will be of use when he eventually travels to Yuncheng.

After leaving the snowy region, Yun Zhuoran uses a disguise artifact and slips into the nearest town.

The town lies beside the Wanli Glacier, surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains. Cold and blanketed in snow year-round, it has scarce spiritual energy. However, on his way from the city gates to the inn, Yun Zhuoran notices an unusually high number of rogue cultivators.

This place is far from the Four Great Sects, making it rare to see sect disciples. There is something odd about these independent cultivators. Fortunately, Yun Zhuoran is well-prepared—those with weaker cultivation than his see only an ordinary young man.

Thus, when Yun Zhuoran checks into a modest inn, he attracts no attention.

Perhaps because most of the townspeople are mere mortals, the cultivators in the area aren’t overly cautious. As a result, Yun Zhuoran overhears quite a bit.

It turns out that these people are searching for someone—him, Yun Zhuoran.

Since the incident in the Ten Thousand Beast Forest, two major events have shaken the Tiandao Sect.

The first is that Shen Lingshu, the personal disciple of Gu Shenshu, has been crippled by Juefei.

The second is that Gu Shenshu’s registered disciple, Yun Zhuoran, has gone missing.

These two incidents have infuriated the Tiandao Sect. Their carefully nurtured future sect leader, cultivated for twenty years, has been crippled at the hands of the Tianqing Sect. Even other sects that support Tiandao Sect and Gu Shenshu are voicing their discontent.

Moreover, Yun Peiran’s brother, Yun Zhuoran, is missing. How will they lure Yun Peiran out in the future to avenge their leader, Gu Shenshu?

Of course, some believe that Yun Zhuoran’s cultivation isn’t high and that he might have perished during the beast tide. However, both the Tiandao Sect and the Tianqing Sect refuse to give up and continue searching for him across the entire cultivation world. They not only dispatch their own disciples but also recruit numerous independent cultivators to assist in the search.

In their efforts to find him, these independent cultivators even venture thousands of miles north of the Ten Thousand Beasts Forest.

However, these cultivators aren’t just here to track down Yun Zhuoran in exchange for favors and resources from the Tiandao and Tianqing Sects. They are also drawn by rumors of natural treasures. Someone has spread word that an unusual phenomenon has occurred in the snow region recently, fueling speculation that a spiritual treasure or a hidden realm has emerged. This rumor attracts even more cultivators to the area.

Yun Zhuoran hasn’t intended to eavesdrop. He hasn’t even released a trace of his spiritual sense, yet all the conversations around him naturally enter his ears. This is one of the advantages of being a high-level cultivator, though listening for too long can be rather unpleasant.

Tuning out the chatter, Yun Zhuoran places two spirit stones on the cabinet and heads upstairs to find a room.

In reality, these cultivators have completely misunderstood the situation. Judging from their excited discussion, the so-called celestial phenomenon heralding the birth of a spiritual treasure is nothing more than the heavenly tribulation lightning he has summoned not long ago.

The inn is small, and the upper rooms are simply furnished. Fortunately, Yun Zhuoran isn’t picky. Upon entering, he first performs a hand seal to set up a protective barrier. Then, he carefully takes out the small black orb nestled in his arms.

Instead of bothering with the bed, he retrieves the golden lotus artifact, spreads layers of soft shark silk over it, and fashions a small nest before placing the heart demon onto it. Throughout the entire process, the heart demon remains completely still.

Yun Zhuoran frowns slightly. The little black orb has been asleep for far too long—it isn’t even waking up for food.

Without the heart demon’s usual complaints and spoiled antics, Yun Zhuoran finds the silence unsettling.

Penglai Immortal has sharp insight. He should be able to tell if the heart demon is unwell…

With that thought, Yun Zhuoran decides to locate Penglai Immortal and seek him out immediately.

Outside, the wind and snow howl louder than usual. Circulating his spiritual energy twice, Yun Zhuoran opens his eyes briefly, then instinctively pulls a small blanket over the heart demon.

At that moment, he hears a commotion outside the door.

Spreading his spiritual sense, he quickly discerns the situation—a group of demon cultivators has surrounded the inn and engaged in battle with the rogue cultivators. The rogue cultivators are overwhelmed and have all been captured. Now, the demon cultivators are searching the guest rooms one by one, and Yun Zhuoran’s turn is imminent.

“Come out if you don’t want to die!” The voice outside belongs to a Golden Core stage demon cultivator.

Startled in its sleep, the heart demon trembles slightly. Yun Zhuoran, who has originally intended to stay out of it, catches the small black bundle in his hands, a flicker of displeasure appearing in his eyes.

The demon cultivator outside raises his foot, intending to kick down the door. However, the door doesn’t budge. Alarmed, he hesitates, assuming he has encountered a formidable opponent. He quickly gestures for reinforcements, but before they can arrive, his shoulders suddenly sink, and his knees buckle beneath him!

An invisible force presses down on him—it is suppression.

Realizing he has provoked someone truly powerful, the demon cultivator’s face turns pale.

Then, a chilling voice slices through the air, sharp as a blade piercing his ears—“Get lost.”

Even though the demon cultivator has steeled himself for an attack, the sheer force of the voice sends him staggering backward, coughing up blood.

The pressure intensifies. Despite bracing himself, the demonic cultivator still spits out a mouthful of blood. Inside the inn, rogue cultivators and demonic cultivators are already locked in battle. Seeing their leader suddenly vomiting blood, the other demonic cultivators are alarmed and rush to his side.

But just as he registers that the oppressive force has vanished, he finds himself drenched in cold sweat, as if he has just been fished out of water. A terrifying chill creeps down his spine—he feels as though an invisible sword hovers over his neck, ready to strike.

After driving away the demon cultivator, Yun Zhuoran reinforces the barrier on his door. He hasn’t expected so much trouble from simply stopping at a small inn. First, rogue cultivators have come searching for him, and now demon cultivators are stirring up trouble. It seems that staying here any longer is out of the question.

Yun Zhuoran’s gaze darkens slightly. He gently strokes the trembling little black orb still nestled in sleep.

“Rest well. We leave at dawn.”

The little black orb, still lost in slumber, instinctively nuzzles against Yun Zhuoran’s fingertips.

The frost on Yun Zhuoran’s face suddenly dissipates into nothingness, and his gaze softens.

Only when the heart demon finally stops trembling and falls into a peaceful sleep does Yun Zhuoran sit cross-legged with a calm mind, using his spiritual power to stabilize his cultivation.

Yun Zhuoran immediately understands—the demon cultivators from last night must have captured all the rogue cultivators.

It has nothing to do with him. There is no reason for him to rescue people who had wanted to capture him for spirit stones.

Still, from his observation, several demon cultivators remain stationed outside, clearly lying in wait.

Yun Zhuoran sneers inwardly. He doesn’t take them seriously.

Stepping out of the inn, he immediately spots someone standing outside. The moment their eyes meet, the man smiles.

“Yun Zhuoran, Fellow Daoist Yun.”

It is Ji Wuwang.

He regards Yun Zhuoran with a faint smile. His eyes flicker briefly before settling on the little black ball in Yun Zhuoran’s arms, his expression turning thoughtful.

The street is completely deserted. It seems that after the demon cultivators entered the city the previous night, the remaining inhabitants have all gone into hiding.

Yun Zhuoran makes no effort to deny his identity. He has no desire to cause trouble with Ji Wuwang, but now that he has reached the Mid-Integration stage, dealing with him wouldn’t be difficult. There is no need to conceal his strength.

Ji Wuwang’s sharp gaze makes Yun Zhuoran wary. He instinctively prepares for a confrontation, but Ji Wuwang holds back. This time, he is unexpectedly polite.

“Relax, Fellow Daoist Yun. I mean no harm,” Ji Wuwang says with an easy smile. “I’m here today to extend an invitation—to welcome you as a guest. Of course, if the opportunity arises for a spar, that would be even better.”

Yun Zhuoran’s gaze flicks to the demon cultivators lingering near the inn. His meaning is clear.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, you misunderstand!” Ji Wuwang quickly clarifies, his tone laced with amusement. “I had no idea you were staying here last night, nor did I intend to disturb you.” Then, with a meaningful look, he adds, “Besides, doesn’t Fellow Daoist Yun wish to hear news about Penglai Immortal?”