The male supporting character was actually myself.

Although this move was not ideal, in order to avoid falling into a trap, I could only leave something behind as compensation to sever the karmic ties. From now on, how Gu Xingzhou would proceed on his path of cultivation would no longer be my concern.

"Forget it, it's enough that you know you were wrong." Hong Luo sighed and said perfunctorily, then thought for a moment and earnestly advised, "Xingzhou, you are already eighteen years old and an adult. In the future, you should think more carefully when you encounter problems. The path of cultivation is inherently difficult. Doing good deeds, forming good relationships, and keeping a kind heart will also benefit you."

[Sure enough, beauties are so easy to fool; they believed just a few words!]

Gu Xingzhou was overjoyed and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."

Honglu rolled her eyes in exasperation at the "inner thoughts" being read, and said in a deep voice, "It's getting late, you should get some rest. I need to go back and rest too."

"Master, I have some things I'd like to discuss with you." Gu Xingzhou, who thought himself clever, was smug, completely unaware that his aura had dimmed a little more.

He looked at the other person with anticipation and eagerness and said seriously, "I've thought about it. No wonder the Gu family suddenly became rich and powerful after we returned from the martial arts tournament. They even provided more spiritual medicines for their clansmen to cultivate. It seems that all the wealth and spiritual medicines they have squandered over the years should have belonged to my father and me!"

It must have been his grandfather, who was the clan chief, who secretly withheld a huge sum of compensation.

Not only did they abuse our family of three, but they also squandered our gold, silver, jewelry, and countless elixirs that rightfully belonged to us, and pretended to be good people.

My father is now a cripple with no chance of recovery. I'm eighteen now, an adult, and I must stand up for him and seek justice!

Hong Luo replied expressionlessly, "But your strength is too weak right now. You should cultivate properly for a while and advance to level two before you think about it. Otherwise, judging from the attitude of your grandfather and the others you mentioned, they definitely won't speak to you kindly. If they get into a fight, you're only at the peak of level one, which is far too weak."

“That’s why I need Master’s help!” Gu Xingzhou quickly chimed in and coaxed, “Master, all the things that should have belonged to us have been taken by them because of their bullying and oppression!”

The sooner we go there, the more damage we can mitigate, though I know my abilities are limited. But... this matter is different from causing trouble; it's a righteous act of the weak seeking justice.

Your disciple humbly requests your assistance, Master!

You don't need to take action yourself. Your disciple has already planned to go to their door, make a bet, and outwit them to get justice. When the time comes, just have your master secretly teleport you to quickly replenish your spiritual power when it's insufficient.

After all, in battle, when spiritual energy is insufficient, drinking spiritual medicine or absorbing spirit stones are the most common and legitimate methods. Your disciple is short of spiritual medicine and spirit stones, and you, Master, are merely providing support from the sidelines; this doesn't count as outnumbering the enemy.

His halo shone brightly and enveloped Hong Luo, but was swatted away by the little white cat's paw, failing to achieve its goal.

Hehe, as long as my beautiful master agrees!

If I follow the plan and have everyone attack together, we definitely won't be able to win in a fight, but in an emergency, if I ask my beautiful, foolish yet kind-hearted master for help, she will definitely lend a hand.

At worst, I can apologize later, say a few nice words, and then trick her again, promising it won't happen again. Anyway, I've already slapped those old guys in the face, gotten my benefits, and even made a name for myself in Junxi Town. Then I can buy her some cheap trinkets to appease her. The naive and foolish beauty is the easiest to fool...

The voice deep within her heart once again refreshed Hong Luo's understanding of the "some shameless people" the little demon cat had mentioned. She took a deep breath to suppress the urge to punch them and coldly refused, "I'm in a state where I can hardly protect myself, so I really can't help you."

Either you take the challenge yourself and bear the consequences, whether you live or die;

Either focus on your cultivation and wait until you have the strength to seek justice, it's not too late. Anyway, eighteen years have passed, so a few more days won't make a difference.

Also, I would like to advise you to have a good talk with your father first thing tomorrow morning before making a decision—when Gu Qinglang gave him the huge compensation, he had already woken up from his coma, which means your father was fully aware of it.

If that's the case, then the fact that your grandfather was able to take all that gold, silver, jewels, and elixirs suggests there might be some kind of agreement between father and son. Frankly, that huge compensation has little to do with you; your father is still alive and he's the owner. You should probably ask him for his opinion first.

If you were truly powerless to stop it from being taken away, it is only right that you seek justice for it.

But if there are still hidden circumstances, don't impulsively set any goals. Find out the details before deciding what to do.

After speaking, Hong Luo's figure drifted back into the dark ring space. A lot had indeed happened tonight, and she needed to calm down and think it over.

"Hey hey hey, the great demon isn't so stupid after all, it's turned the tables on us!" The fluffy dumpling looked at the now empty scroll, smiled slightly, and skipped back to report to its host.

Jiang Chen was squatting on a treetop, seemingly doing nothing. After listening to the little white cat's chattering while being petted, his whiskers twitched. "Not bad, not bad. Hong Luo's generalship was really effective. I wonder if the wild pseudo-master and that arrogant supporting character can spark anything. I hope we can help Ling Qiye regain his halo soon..."

"Speaking of which," the little white cat perked up, twitched its ears, and whispered, "Host, the main system just replied."

Chapter Twenty-Six: A Woman Three Thousand Years Older...

"Oh? What kind of reply?" Jiang Chen asked hurriedly.

It seems the main system's reply was a file. The little white cat scratched its two short paws for a while before finding the useful information. "It's about that black mass that the cat sees and finds terrifying but the host can't see. The main system replied that if nothing unexpected happens, something definitely has happened—meaning that the black mass is a virus."

As the host knows, the mission world we are in is a virtual world created by the scriptwriting team to write the story and other departments based on the setting. Since it is virtual, its components are data, and too much data can occasionally cause some problems.

For example, a bug that appeared that we already knew about occurred;

For example, there's that thing that might have been generated on its own or maliciously released; it's still a virus.

The main system advises Meow that the virus is currently an unknown instruction or code, and is stealthy, infectious, and destructive. Therefore, Meow, which is also a component of the data system, should not come into direct contact with it to avoid being infected by the virus and causing incalculable consequences.

The analysis basically means that the anomalies in the mission world are definitely caused by that virus, but we don't know where it came from yet. Our current task is to maintain the balance of the mission world and buy time for the main system to find and eliminate the virus!

Jiang Chen couldn't help but rub his forehead with his paw, "It sounds like it'll take a long time. We can't just keep searching for wild pseudo-masters to step on their halos, can we..."

"Um, there's also a suggestion for maintaining the mission world." The fluffy dumpling glanced at it a few times and continued to explain: "First, we need to ensure that the chosen one's aura created by the script team is stable, so that he can gather all the luck and be useful when necessary. In other words, we need to preserve the classic scene—a powerful tremor to save the world;

Secondly, while ensuring our own safety, we must investigate the specific details of the virus, promptly detect, report, and handle it, striving to ensure the main system catches it red-handed and eliminates it directly!

"Didn't you report the virus immediately when you saw it last time? The main system only responded now. Waiting for it to catch and eliminate the virus doesn't seem very reliable to me."

Fluffy dumpling: (⊙x⊙;)

The host is right!

Even if we meet again, given the main system's reaction speed, the virus will have already vanished without a trace by the time it tries to capture us!

"What should we do then?" The little white cat stroked its ears, humbly seeking advice.

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and instructed, "Immediately submit a report requesting that we be equipped with a logistics team with zero response time, so that we can quickly capture the virus if we encounter it again next time."

Additionally, inform the main system of the situation we are facing—the invasion of unknown energy is very likely to merge into a demon realm that doesn't even exist in the original setting, and the cultivation system there is far superior to ours.

The mission world is at best a high-level martial arts world, while the other side is already at the level of immortal cultivation, so they definitely can't beat them.

We need off-site support. We need the main system to unlock the items we brought back from cultivation-themed quest worlds using system space permissions. This way, at least during the artificial spiritual energy revival, we can provide some powerful magical artifacts to maintain world peace.

"Doesn't that mean...we'll have to pay for it ourselves?" The fluffy little dumpling twitched its ears immediately after hearing this, and a greedy yet intelligent glint flashed in its deep blue eyes. "No, I have to make it clear in the report."

"We can't possibly be expected to pay out of our own pockets to help the main system save the day, maintain stability in the mission world, and even help catch the virus. We're providing all the time, effort, manpower, and resources, and we're even risking infection ourselves! The main system has to give us an explanation!"

After receiving the host's approval, the little white cat, with unprecedented caution, squatted to the side, carefully considering its wording and figuring out how to maximize its gains from the inventory. Then, it went to revise the report word by word and sentence by sentence before submitting it.

Finally able to escape the cat's claws and no longer be petted, Jiang Chen licked his fur, put his hands in his pockets, squatted in the abandoned bird's nest on the treetop, and began to sleep soundly.

Hong Luo sat listlessly in the dark ring space, resting her chin on her hand and lost in thought.

Having failed to persuade his beautiful mentor to help him regain face and reclaim his assets, Gu Xingzhou tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep...

The wind howled outside the window, sounding like the unwilling roar of a wild beast.

As dawn broke, Gu Xingzhou drifted off to sleep, and the halo around him, which had dimmed considerably, suddenly brightened again with his even breathing.

"Host, something terrible has happened!" Early in the morning, accompanied by the chirping of birds in the branches, came the panicked cry of the little white cat. It hopped into the bird's nest in three steps, holding the scroll anxiously, and said, "In less than six hours, the wild pseudo-master has actually recovered!"

"Huh? This plot..." Jiang Chen glanced at it and frowned.

The familiar, old routine came rushing towards us.

The old man who accompanied the wild pseudo-master Gu Xingzhou chose to leave and find another good master. In order to repay the kindness of awakening him, he left behind a heaven-level cultivation technique and a beast-taming method that could control demonic beasts.

Originally, the idea was simply to allow him to walk in the desolate mountains without worrying about attacks from wild beasts, and occasionally to use them to help him pick spiritual plants. Little did they expect that it would become the winning formula for Gu Xingzhou to surpass the demon race in the future.

Despite losing a beautiful master, the wild pseudo-master, in a rather cliché way, gains a sister who is not related to him by blood.

This little princess from a mysterious sect was fostered by the Gu family in Junxi Town for some reason. She was of noble status and had been frail since childhood. Her peers in the Gu family avoided her and no one wanted to associate with her. Only Gu Xingzhou, who was also ostracized, disregarded her status and her frail health and became the closest to her.

The little princess spent several warm years in Junxi Town, during which time she would often faint due to her cold body. Gu Xingzhou would go to great lengths to help her, even sneaking into her room in the middle of the night to warm her body.

Years later, the little princess was taken back to a mysterious sect and disappeared without a trace.

Until recently, news of Gu Xingzhou and his family of three being "expelled from the Gu family" and subsequently having their engagement annulled reached the sect. Upon hearing this, the little princess, who had already become the sect's heir thanks to her talent and awakened special physique, felt that her opportunity had come!

She led a group of elites from her sect to Junxi Town, where they found Xingzhou, a man who was down on his luck but still determined to improve himself, on a desolate mountain. The two rekindled their old feelings for each other.

The arrival of the little princess caused the Gu family in Junxi Town to be unable to bear the wrath, and they were humiliated and whipped by Gu Xingzhou.

Even the Gu family clan in Kyoto was shocked and terrified, and hurriedly tied up Gu Qinglang and sent him over to beg for forgiveness. Thus, Gu Xingzhou, who had been living off a woman, became arrogant and started showing off everywhere, slapping people in the face.

More importantly, the mysterious sect's little princess gave Xingzhou the opportunity to tame the sect's guardian beast, a descendant of a little divine beast that no one else could subdue. He then openly and legitimately took the little divine beast under his command, using the beast-taming method left behind by Hongluo.

This mythical beast grows extremely slowly; in the early stages, it only serves to be cute.

However, when Gu Xingzhou reached a bottleneck in his attempts to show off in the human world and could not go any further, the loyal little divine beast finally grew up and played a huge role—opening the gate between the two worlds.

The little princess, who had long been taken into the harem and had lost her novelty, was left in the human world to guard the main camp. She was given the nominal title of queen as a consolation for being alone in her empty room, while Gu Xingzhou took the little divine beast to the demon realm.

After a series of life-and-death adventures, the little divine beast successfully transformed into human form and retrieved a wisp of divine will left over from its previous life. It became a goddess who had lost her memories of her previous life and was devoted to Gu Xingzhou. From then on, she rose to the ranks of immortals and led Gu Xingzhou to conquer the demon realm.

In the end, Gu Xingzhou finally stood at the pinnacle of both realms with the help of two women...

"There are so many flaws, I don't even know where to begin." After reading the sequel on the scroll, the fluffy dumpling looked up at the sky and sighed, tears streaming down her face. "The virus is even more ridiculous than the scriptwriters!"

Jiang Chen frowned and pondered for a moment before circling the key point: "Something must have happened last night to cause Gu Xingzhou's fate to be changed so quickly."

Moreover, the virus is clearly much more powerful than the script team; haven't you noticed that it has already started to modify the mission world settings?

The initial setting was logical: in a world of high martial arts, the royal family holds absolute power, and everything is governed by laws and regulations to maintain a balance between superhumans and ordinary people.

But now that Gu Xingzhou's fate has been rewritten, the virus has added an illogical patch to the setting—there are mysterious sects in the world that are above imperial power, and judging from the descriptions between the lines, the setting is obviously biased towards the cultivation world.

They showed contempt for imperial power and regarded mortals as ants; even their sects had divine beasts guarding them.

The virus is pushing the plot forward very quickly. After last night's conversation, Hong Luo only had the thought of leaving Gu Xingzhou but hadn't taken any action yet. However, the updated content has already arranged for her to find a better place to settle down.

besides……"

He patted the scroll with his paw and lowered his voice, saying, "Have you noticed a very strange key point? I'm not a trace in the entire story from beginning to end."

Whether it was my attack on Gu Xingzhou or my attempt to take Hong Luo away, it wasn't mentioned once in the story.

Another point is clearly illogical: the phrase "Hong Luo chose another master" sums up the whole story, and this great demon has no further role in the story.

While Gu Xingzhou was rampaging through the demon realm, slaughtering countless beings, where was Hong Luo? Given her mysterious identity and her peaceful nature, she would never have stood idly by.

The fluffy little thing tried its best to keep up with its host's thoughts, and tentatively asked, "Could something have happened to Hong Luo after she left with us? Or perhaps..."

Its eyes suddenly lit up and its fluffy tail began to wag happily. "I understand, host! We don't belong to this world!"

We were essentially smuggled in by the main system, so you can't become human yet!

But if the virus wants to cause trouble, it must have read the mission world script. Judging from such a cliché plot, it probably also read and borrowed scripts from other worlds. So, in the end, it is still using the data that already exists.

We are not under the control of the virus!

Honglu followed us... Uh... Host, do you think she might...?"

The cat and the system realized they were on the same page, their eyes met and they smiled knowingly. "Hong Luo is very likely the wisp of divine will that was forcibly absorbed, so she is not a demon but a goddess!"

"After all, she was originally set up as a close and beautiful master, so her background must be quite impressive." Jiang Chen washed his face with his paws, stretched, and nimbly jumped down from the treetop. "Judging from the updated plot, the virus probably came to help the wild pseudo-master replenish his halo last night, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to rely entirely on the halo to unleash his ultimate skill without any logic."

Let's take a look, and while we're at it, we should change our plans and have Hong Luo stay with Gu Xingzhou for the time being. Maybe she can even nip it in the bud and weaken his aura. As long as the virus comes to replenish his supply, we can just wait and see!