Chapter 38 "Not Your Average Hero: A Taoist’s Rebellion"

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Jiang Cheng stood in silent terror as the Qi energy in the inn intensified. Suddenly, Liu Ying's cultivation surged from the initial stage of Qi Refining to the peak of the Fifth level. The atmosphere shifted as her aura filled the space with commanding force, overwhelming Jiang Cheng.

She opened her eyes and shouted, "Brother Jiang, I have not let you down." In an instant, she teleported directly in front of him, startling Jiang Cheng out of his wits.

His reaction was anything but good. Panic seized him as he instinctively grabbed the little girl and, without a second thought, unleashed the Wind Step Technique at full force. He fled from the inn, dashing towards the cover of the mountains and forests.

"Brother Jiang, why are we running away?" Liu Ying asked in confusion as they sped through the wilderness.

Jiang Cheng couldn't hold back his frustration. "You made such a huge commotion! Someone's bound to come investigate. What if an evil cultivator shows up and decides to kill us—or worse, refine us into puppets?"

Hearing this, Liu Ying's face paled with fear. Without warning, she grabbed his hand and activated her teleportation ability, dragging him along as they blinked across the landscape.

After five minutes, her spiritual energy was finally depleted. They stopped, gasping for breath, now hundreds of miles away from their original location.

As Jiang Cheng was catching his breath, Liu Ying glanced at him and said seriously, "Brother Jiang, your speed is too slow."

Jiang Cheng's face remained calm and composed, but inwardly, he was cursing nonstop.

" What an ungrateful little bastard! She's saying I'm dragging her down? Now that she's gained power, she's already looking down on me? With her potential, she'll definitely bully this Taoist Priest in the future… probably even dig up my ancestors and stomp on their graves! … !" he muttered inwardly, but he still has smile on his face.

But Jiang Cheng still maintained a stiff smile on his face—though his eye was twitching ever so slightly. He forced a kind tone:

"Little girl, you have a very rare spirit root… you could even call it legendary."

Liu Ying tilted her head, puzzled. "So… what about it?"

Jiang Cheng's smile froze. He looked at her like he was staring at the dumbest person under the heavens. The kind of look a master carpenter would give if someone used his chisel to stir soup.

He sighed sadly , like a teacher about to explain why two plus two is four. "Since you have a very, very rare spirit root—especially one related to space—it means your domain is speed…" he explained patiently, his tone calm, almost scholarly.

But the moment he finished that part, something snapped inside him.

His calm tone exploded into a storm of righteous fury.

"So how the hell do you expect me to keep up with you? "

His face twisted in exaggerated grievance, arms flailing wildly like he was conducting an orchestra of complaints. Spit flew everywhere, his saliva forming a mist around them like an aura of suffering. His voice grew louder and louder as he unleashed his frustrations like a long-suppressed volcano.

"do you think i'm some god of speed? i'm a normal person, okay, you're a cheat character, and i'm just an extra!! what kind of injustice is this? who wrote this damn script ? author, come out! let's fight

He pointed to the sky like he was challenging fate itself, his veins bulging as he ranted to the heavens. It was the kind of outburst that would make passersby think he was possessed. Liu Ying took a small step back, eyes wide, as she watched her calm, serious Brother Jiang turn into a deranged old man yelling at clouds.

She blinked a few times and quietly added, "It's actually… Void and Space Roots."

Silence.

The ranting stopped mid-sentence, Jiang Cheng's mouth still open, his hand still raised in defiance against the sky.

His pupils shrank. His mind blanked. His jaw slowly closed like a creaky door. His whole body stiffened like he had been petrified. He stared at her as though she had grown three heads.

"...Two… TWO roots? Void and Space? Both ?!"

His thoughts froze. He could practically hear the sound of his future self getting bullied and buried repeatedly by this monstrous little girl.

For several seconds, he remained in this shocked state, staring at her like he had just met the reincarnation of a celestial emperor.

That same stiff smile returned to Jiang Cheng's face, though it trembled slightly, betraying the internal collapse of his spirit.

"Haha… amazing… truly amazing… Little girl, this Taoist priest wishes you the best of luck on your grand path."

With those words, Jiang Cheng slowly turned around. He silently took out two small cloth bags, slinging them over his shoulders. His back hunched, his steps heavy, like an old man who had seen too much of life's cruelty. He began walking away into the distance, each step filled with the sorrow of a man bidding farewell to his dignity.

The scene looked like a tragic wandering hero, but in reality, it was a man desperately trying to flee for his life.

However, before he could disappear into the forest, Liu Ying's eyes welled up with tears. Her small face scrunched up as she ran forward, grabbing his hand tightly.

"Brother Jiang… you're trying to abandon me… Did I do something wrong?" Her voice trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Jiang Cheng's body stiffened. His lips twitched, but he didn't dare look at her.

"No… You didn't do anything wrong… It's the world… and the author… They're the ones who keep humiliating this Taoist priest…" His voice cracked with grievance. "I can't bear it anymore… I'm just a small supporting character, but they keep sending heaven-defying monsters like you into my life! I'm tired… I just wanted to live quietly… but fate won't allow it!"

He clenched his fists as if cursing the heavens. His eyes were filled with the pain of an ordinary man forced to share the stage with a protagonist blessed by the gods.

Liu Ying blinked, confused, not fully understanding his existential crisis. She hugged his arm tighter.

"Brother Jiang, I don't care about the author or the heavens… I just want to follow you…"

Jiang Cheng's heart wavered. He looked down at the little girl's teary eyes. His stiff smile softened—though inside, he was still thinking:

"I'm doomed. This little ancestor is sticking to me for life…"

Jiang Cheng paused for a moment, his face hardening, and then looked at her with a cold, look. "Are you sure about this? I'm not someone who enjoys fighting and killing. I'm not a hero, Liu Ying. If you think I saved you that day out of some noble sense of righteousness, then you've misunderstood."

His voice dropped, taking on a ruthless tone that sent a chill through the air as his gaze turned even colder. He was no longer joking around, no longer the easy-going Taoist priest she had seen before. This was the real Jiang Cheng, speaking with the raw honesty of someone who had no time for illusions.

"Liu Ying, the only reason I appeared that night and dealt with the flower thief was because he had something I needed. If he hadn't been useful to me, I wouldn't have cared if he took you. It's not about justice, it's about me. My life is worth more than any righteous cause."

He paused for a moment before adding, "So, my style of doing things is... well, it's not quite what you might think. If you stay with me and follow my rules, you're welcome. But if you're the kind of person who chases justice blindly and will seek death everywhere in the future, then we should part ways here—as friends, better than becoming enemies.

He said this seriously. In his heart, he thought to himself, "I will definitely not follow those bullshit plots from novels.

the kind where the protagonist sacrifices everything for the heroine to break through, whoever want it he can have it but not me.

In his heart, Jiang Cheng couldn't care less about her potential. She was a genius, sure, but that wasn't his problem. "Her potential is terrifying? Good. But that's her journey, not mine. I'll walk my own path, not hers."

He stared at her, his face cold and unreadable, waiting for her answer

Liu Ying stood there, eyes wide with shock, her heart pounding as the weight of his words sank in. She had never expected him to say such things. Her hands trembled slightly, and the bright, innocent expression she had carried for so long faltered. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. The air around them seemed to grow heavier, and for a moment, the world felt still.

Her eyes searched his face, looking for any trace of the man she had followed, but all she saw was a cold, detached expression that made her chest tighten. Her mouth went dry, and she took a small step back, her heart heavy with the realization that Jiang Cheng, the person she had trusted and relied on, had no interest in being the hero she might have imagined him to be.

"I... I didn't expect this..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Jiang Cheng stood there quietly, his gaze unwavering as his words dropped like stones.

"This world doesn't reward the good or punish the evil—it simply moves on, indifferent to your desires. Those who wish for fairness are blind to the way things truly are." He spoke slowly, with a hint of finality, as if he had already accepted the harsh truths of the world. His eyes met hers, and his voice took on an almost philosophical tone.

"You must understand, the flower thief's actions, as twisted as they were, may have been shaped by his upbringing. Tortured by his master, he grew up in a world where cruelty and power were the only truths. To him, mistreating mortals like you might seem normal—just a reflection of his reality, not evil. But to you and me? It's monstrous."

He paused for a moment, his expression unchanging, before adding, "There is no such thing as pure good or evil in this world.

Cultivators walk a path of constant choices—each action has its price, and the consequences blur the lines between right and wrong. I hope you can understand a little and make sense of what I've said, little girl."

With that, Jiang Cheng finally let a small, knowing smile curve his lips. It was a smile that didn't reach his eyes, but it was there nonetheless—an attempt at reassurance, though it felt distant and impersonal.

Liu Ying stood frozen, her thoughts swirling. She had never imagined the world in such a bleak light. The words he had said echoed in her mind, each one heavier than the last. The reality of Jiang Cheng's indifference, his pragmatic acceptance of the world's cruelty, was a hard pill to swallow. For the first time, she wasn't sure if she truly understood him—or if she ever could.