The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

It started to drizzle after the elders and others had left. As Lin Dan's bones were shattered, she could only stay still in the rain. Even so, she was protected from the cold wind and drizzling rain as Bai Yan created a barrier using his vigorous inner force.

"If your skill is far beyond the Grandmaster, what level is it exactly?" Lin Dan stared at the cloud-like barrier and asked curiously.

"Probably at the Martial Saint." Bai Yan had never let go of her soft hands.

"Martial Saint?" Lin Dan's eyes lit up.

Bai Yan nodded and said, "Yes, there is also Martial God after the Martial Saint level but I have no idea what’s beyond."

"We can find it out, as long as we keep moving forward." Lin Dan was full of confidence in the future and her eyes were brighter than usual.

Bai Yan seemed to be pleased with the word "we" and chuckled, "Yes, we will find out one day. Have you ever regretted mastering the Asura Sword Technique?"

Lin Dan shook her head without hesitation and said, "How can I regret if I didn't have a choice in the first place? If not mastering it will bring me death, I rather live in pain. You probably don’t know that I’m an orphan who was adopted by He Chongling’s father and was trained to be his suicide squad. He threw me into the forest to fight with the beasts so that we would have to kill in order to survive. After escaping from the beasts, he made me kill my comrades. He did this so that we could turn into cold-blooded humans and eliminate our weaknesses. We were not given food or clothes and we had to face death every day. There was no one we could rely on, no one we could trust. We were treated worse than ants and were even more insignificant than dust."

Lin Dan took a sigh of relief and continued, "This is why, I must get stronger so that I won’t be trampled on again. I have no other choice and won’t regret walking on this path. I’m unlike you who came from a prestigious orthodox sect and have an extremely good background. Countless resources will be delivered to you even without you asking. I’m just like the mud in the ground, who will be crushed into dust if I don’t learn to fight."

As Lin Dan spoke about her past, instead of looking resentful or upset, she looked peaceful. She was suffering from an immense pain all the time, but she lived with her head held high and that was good enough.

Bai Yan was heartbroken upon hearing her story and said, "But I have my regrets. I wish I could know you earlier. If I weren’t blinded by my own prejudices, you wouldn't become who you are now."

Lin Dan smiled lightly and shook her head, "I chose this path myself and it is of no one’s fault."

Bai Yan kept silent for a moment before closing his eyes with a pained look. After a short while, he took out a porcelain bottle that contained a liquid and gave it to Lin Dan. He said tenderly, "This is Lianyun City's special nectar that can dispel hunger and thirst with just one bottle. Since you can’t eat or drink now, you will have one bottle of this each day so that your wounds can heal faster. I will get them to clean your body up later and help you change a set of clothes so that you feel more comfortable."

He wiped away the remaining nectar on the corners of Lin Dan's mouth and looked at her in silence for a long while before turning around to look at his female sect members.

They were all wet standing in the rain as they came in a hurry and did not bring an umbrella. Facing their city lord who was the only Martial Saint on the entire Eastern Tang, they did not even dare to breathe or look at him in the eye.

Having gone through many events with Bai Yan, He Yufei stepped forward and said, "Master, I have something to tell you. Could you come over here?"

Bai Yan glared at her before walking towards her and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Master, Lin Dan is a practitioner of a forbidden technique. You will be going against the world by protecting her. I thought it’s best if you…"

Before she finished speaking, Bai Yan responded coldly, "He Yufei, who are you to say this to me? You are now a saintess of the Eastern Holy Sect. Because of Lin Dan's reputation, you are well respected by the people. When you were serving as her maid, you were well-protected and was never mistreated in the Eastern Holy Sect. Besides, she also saved your life from the evildoers. Your identity, status, and even life are all given to you by her. Others have the right to want her dead but not you!"

His words made He Yufei unable to continue. She hesitated before uttering with difficulty, "But Master, I said all these for your own good! You are the leader of the orthodox, you are pure and powerful. Why must you be associate yourself with Lin Dan and tarnish your good reputation? "

"Why did you become the saintess and leader of the Eastern Holy Sect, then?" Bai Yan said coldly without even looking at her, "Looks like my judgment was wrong. I thought you had a pure and kind heart and wanted to groom you. Since we have never gone through the rites of mentorship, you may go now. In the future, you better not act in the name of the Eastern Holy Sect, let alone Lianyun City. It is not wicked evildoers but the ingrates whom I despise."

Before He Yufei could continue, she was sent down the mountain by Bai Yan's palm wave. In a short while, Lianyun City and Eastern Holy Sect received a handwritten letter from Emperor Yun to deny He Yufei's identity. She could neither return to Lianyun City nor the Eastern Holy Sect anymore. In an instant, she fell out of heaven and into hell.

Lin Dan was unaware of what had happened. Under Bai Yan’s meticulous care, she recovered quickly and wanted to leave Mount Kunlun the next day.

Bai Yan followed her and asked with a smile, "Where do you want to go?"

Lin Dan pointed to the beautiful rivers and mountains under the clouds and said, "Let’s travel all over the Eastern Tang and kill all evildoers before crossing the sea and exploring other lands."

Bai Yan asked, "Do you mind if I come with you?"

"Can you leave Lianyun City?"

"Of course, why not?"

"Let’s go, then!"

Lin Dan waved and Bai Yan came after her, smiling. He knew that Lin Dan had lost the ability to love, but he was willing to spend the rest of his life with her. The first time when he saw Lin Dan along the Qing River, he knew the technique she was practicing and thought he would bring calamity to Lin Dan’s life. Little did he know that, it was Lin Dan who brought calamity to his life instead.

But he did not resist it and was more than willing to face it.

In the heavens on earth, she was the only one…

—

Aftermath:

Under Bai Yan’s guidance, Lin Dan quickly broke through and became the second Martial Saint of Eastern Tang. But unlike other great martial experts, she was approachable and loved fighting against injustices. Over time, she became famous and respected in the entire continent. In order to be associated with her, the Eastern Holy Sect did not dare to commit any evildoings but often do good deeds and turned into an orthodox sect.

However, the Asura Sword Technique that Lin Dan hid in the sect was stolen and had gone missing for the past ten years.

In a remote mountain forest of the Eastern Tang, He Yufei who was filled with hatred and sorrow finally lost her ability to love and mastered the Asura Sword Technique. In those days, she often had the same dream – she got along with Bai Yan, who was hiding his identity, and became his disciple. Over time, they fell for each other and even married to each other. As Bai Yan taught her all the best techniques he knew, she was able to rise up and become a legend in the Eastern Tang. On the other hand, Lin Dan was mummified after being devoured by He Chongling, and not even a single bone was left.

But once she woke up, she had to face the harsh reality – she was only a lonely and poor woman while Lin Dan was someone people respected and looked up to.

She thought she could challenge Lin Dan to a duel after mastering the technique and wanted Bai Yan to regret his decision. Little did she expect that mastering the Asura Sword Technique meant that she would have to endure the constant and endless pain. She could not withstand the pain even though she was promoted to a Half-step Grandmaster.

She lifted the knife and slashed frantically, realizing that her pain would lessen from the movement. She hurried out, wanting to fight against someone. But there was no one in sight as she was practicing the forbidden technique in a secluded forest.

Quickly, she used her inner force and ran wildly in the jungle, but this only made her feel slightly better. The pain of being slashed a thousand times was still present and tormented her. She could not imagine how Lin Dan had been enduring it. Back then, she saw that Lin Dan could still eat and sleep, and was no different from ordinary people. Yet, she was certain that they had mastered the same skill, the Asura Sword Technique! Only then did He Yufei understand why the first elder said that Lin Dan would go crazy someday. She realized that her willpower was nothing compared to Lin Dan’s.

After only two days of running in the jungle, He Yufei was already tiring of living. She slashed furiously with her sword and howled to the sky with bloodshot eyes. After struggling for two more days, she could not resist the attack of the death aura and died after her heart ruptured. She did not even have the chance to leave the jungle and show her mastered technique to the world.

Many years later, someone strayed into the deep forest and found bones lying beside a book that clearly wrote, “Asura Sword Technique.”

—

Although Ding Mujie was the senior grand secretary who held political power, on his deathbed, he held a tablet tightly and was full of regret. Before he died, he muttered, “If I could start anew, he would definitely not fall into Lin Dan's trap and be forced to marry her, let alone watch Lin Wan marry the brutal King Kang and squander her life away.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was no longer in the netherworld, but was walking on a path full of flowers. A servant was leading the way, turning his head and apologizing from time to time, "Master Ding, please forgive me for taking too much time. Linshui Pavilion is right ahead, it is a specially designed rest stop for men. A new set of clothes will be prepared and you may change your dirty clothes there so that you won’t catch a cold. I still have something else to attend to, do you mind heading there by yourself?"

Ding Mujie immediately recalled that this was the scene where he could change his fate. Although the servant worked under Marquis Jiang, he had already been bought over by Lin Dan. He deliberately spilled a drink on his clothes and led him to the Linshui Pavilion, where he would be locked up by Lin Dan, who was already waiting for him. When Madam Lin realized that her daughter did not return, she would beg Madam Jiang to find her daughter before discovering that they were locked in the same room together.

As he could not prove his innocence, he had to call off his engagement with Lin Wan and instead marry Lin Dan. This made others think that he was a greedy and opportunistic man who gave up the second daughter of the family to marry the first. But none of them would have thought that this was all Lin Dan’s scheme. She had fallen for him for a long time and would often send letters to him. She did not give him up even though she knew that he was engaged to her own sister.

Whether it was a dream or an illusion, Ding Mujie did not want to associate himself with Lin Dan anymore.