The Rhythm of a Cannon Fodder Villain, No Doubt About It — Just Unknown How Many Chapters He'll Survive
The Rhythm of a Cannon Fodder Villain, No Doubt About It — Just Unknown How Many Chapters He’ll Survive
Wang Zijin felt that her instincts had not been wrong.
Smooth sailing, for her, was a perfectly normal thing.
Because in this life, she had never encountered any setbacks.
From the moment she was born, she had displayed her immense talent, and her cultivation had directly reached what this world called the Sacred Realm.
But thanks to her familiarity in her past life with all sorts of male-oriented and female-oriented web novel tropes,
Wang Zijin chose the method that seemed the most unwise, yet was actually the steadiest and smartest — severing her own cultivation, in order to raise the ceiling of her future achievements.
Later facts proved that her choice had not been wrong.
Now, every step of her foundation appeared incomparably solid and firm.
Wang Zijin was even more convinced that she was destined to become a True Immortal in the future. Although Jiang Chuchu, the other Saintess of the Mortal Palace, was said to be the reincarnation of an ancient immortal, when it came to an actual fight, she might not necessarily be able to steadily defeat her.
So Wang Zijin was very confident.
This was confidence born of powerful strength and hidden trump cards.
And so, she planned to leave the Mortal Palace and roam freely through this world. With talent as strong as hers, even if she didn’t cultivate diligently, she would still be a goal that ordinary prodigies could never catch up to in their entire lives.
The so-called Young Prodigies, in her eyes, were nothing more than existences she could suppress with a flip of her palm.
Wang Zijin didn’t take them seriously at all.
The grand world she had yearned for in her past life — bizarre and dazzling, blood-pumping and passionate — was now slowly unfolding before her eyes.
Although Wang Zijin was a woman, at this moment she couldn’t help but feel her heart surge with excitement.
This was the first time in her twenty-some years that she planned to go out and gain experience, to travel through this boundless, vast fantasy world.
Before this, she had always cultivated within her family and the Mortal Palace, and had never properly gone out to see this world. Now that such an opportunity was placed before her, she naturally wouldn’t let it slip by.
Wang Zijin recalled that saying from her past life.
The world is so big — she wanted to go see it.
This world was countless times more wonderful than her previous one: prodigies contending for supremacy, a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, beauties in their grace, charms of every kind.
“Other transmigrators all get those cold, aloof princes or domineering demon lords and such tropes... so why is it that when it comes to me, it’s all a bunch of brain-dead suitors... every one of them supposedly a prodigy, yet acting like idiots with unpaid brain bills and negative EQ.”
Inside the carriage, Wang Zijin propped up her exquisite, flawless chin, her eyes watching the magnificent scenery outside as she muttered casually.
She felt that the world she had transmigrated into was definitely not the female-oriented novel world she had known in her past life.
Fortunately, she had also read quite a few male-oriented novels, so she felt that handling all sorts of tropes would still be quite simple.
Moreover, compared to all the scheming and backstabbing in those female-oriented novels, this world that pursued power, where the Great Dao was supreme, was considerably more straightforward.
Power decided everything. Any conspiracy or trickery would vanish like smoke before absolute strength.
“Xiaojie, when you said this time that you were going out to find an ideal husband to marry, was that true or false?”
Suddenly, Xiu Er spoke up and asked.
The expression on her little face was very conflicted, and very puzzled.
In her view, her own xiaojie was so outstanding that describing her as the bright moon of the Nine Heavens would not be an exaggeration at all.
Was there really a man in this world worthy of her xiaojie?
Hearing this, Wang Zijin quietly rolled her eyes and said crossly, “Xiu Er, how can you be so silly? Of course those words were fake!”
“Your xiaojie is destined to become a peerless female Immortal King in the future. A supreme being who single-handedly battles three thousand emperors and sweeps across fourteen provinces with both hands — how could I possibly be tied down by some measly ideal husband?”
That said, Wang Zijin was also well aware that whether it was her talent, her background, or the perspective from her past life, all of it made her completely different from other women.
She figured she would probably grow old alone.
Thinking of those transmigrator predecessors in the female-oriented novels of her past life, who came to other worlds and built vast male harems, enjoying all sorts of devastatingly handsome men — Wang Zijin had thought it sounded pretty nice back then.
But when it was actually her turn to transmigrate, she discovered that such a thing was truly off-putting and nauseating.
Her standards were too high.
The moment she imagined herself one day being cheaply handed over to some pig-trotter of a man, Wang Zijin felt weird all over, goosebumps rising across her whole body.
She was so outstanding that even if an ancient emperor were to reappear in the mortal world, she probably wouldn’t care in the slightest.
“Single-handedly battling three thousand emperors, sweeping across fourteen provinces with both hands! Xiaojie, your ambitions are so grand!”
“Still, I just knew it — how could you ever do something like that, Xiaojie?”
Xiu Er nodded in sudden understanding.
An ideal husband? Although she often heard such words from her xiaojie’s mouth, Wang Zijin always said them in a carefree tone — purely just teasing.
“However, I could consider finding an ideal husband for that Jiang Chuchu and marrying her off.”
“Keeping a cold face all day long, acting like the whole world owes her something, so self-righteous.”
“Someone like her just needs a man to sort her out, so she stops thinking that all the men in the world are nothing special, that apart from that so-called Mortal One, they’re all mediocre...”
When Jiang Chuchu came up, Wang Zijin shook her head repeatedly.
Although she could be considered the only friend Wang Zijin had been able to really talk to over the years, in Wang Zijin’s view, her personality was far too righteous and glorious.
In the words of her past life, that was called a “Holy Mother.”
A Holy Mother and a Holy Mother Bitch were not the same thing. A Holy Mother held justice in her heart and had her own convictions she held fast to.
While a Holy Mother Bitch was... hard to sum up in a few words.
Wang Zijin wouldn’t harshly criticize a Holy Mother, but when encountering a Holy Mother Bitch, she naturally stayed as far away as possible — and if that wasn’t feasible, well, slapping them to death worked too.
Things like that, living in this world, served no purpose besides wasting resources and disgusting people.
“Saintess Chuchu — I think she’s a good person. It’s just that her personality is too cold, always wanting to uphold justice...”
Xiu Er said, somewhat troubled.
“Yes, she’s a good person, which is exactly why it’s fitting to find her an ideal husband and marry her off.”
“So she doesn’t fall into the fiery pit that is the Mortal Palace — an early escape from the sea of flames.”
Wang Zijin laughed, speaking with an expression of complete agreement.
Whether in her past life or this one, she had never had contact with men, but when it came to theory, Wang Zijin had it down pat, one line after another.
All sorts of lofty discourse — she could go on for three days without repeating herself.
“Ah, Xiaojie, this time you secretly left the Mortal Palace and don’t plan to search for the Reincarnation of the Mortal One — won’t this matter make the elders of the Mortal Palace angry~?” Xiu Er remembered another matter and began to worry.
“If they’re angry, they’re angry. Do I really have to watch their moods?” Wang Zijin’s face was full of displeasure.
“Finding the Reincarnation of the Mortal One is their business. I don’t want to get involved — is being a tool person any fun?”
Back then, she had been tricked and hoodwinked into being brought to the Mortal Palace to cultivate, and at first she had no idea there was this kind of mission.
Put nicely, it was called the Mortal Palace; put bluntly, wasn’t it just a place for raising tool people?
Wang Zijin had zero interest in this kind of inherited purpose of the Mortal Palace.
If the successor were male, fine, whatever — but if it was female, didn’t that mean raising a future harem for that Mortal One she’d never even met?
Thinking of this, Wang Zijin felt sick, wishing she could wipe away every trace of the Mortal Palace from her body.
Perhaps for other women, such a thing would make them feel incomparably honored, eager to offer themselves up.
But for her — no thanks. Respectfully keeping her distance!
“Xiaojie, look — up ahead is the Boundless Heaven of the Inner Domain. I heard that Young Master Wushuang is there right now. Why don’t we go see him?”
“Maybe we’ll even run into quite a few outstanding young talents...”
After passing through one Star Territory and Transportation Array after another, Xiu Er lifted the curtain and looked out at the vast world beyond, suddenly speaking with delight, a little excited and thrilled.
During this period, they actually still had some understanding of the various news from the outside world.
Although the Beyond was boundlessly vast, it was roughly divided into the Sky Domain, the Inner Domain, the Middle Domain, and the Outer Domain.
Major events occurring in each region could actually spread in all directions very quickly, at speeds almost inconceivable.
The events that had occurred at Skyward Schloss during this time had shaken many distant places across the Beyond.
The Successor of Demonic Arts appearing in the world, the Celestial Path emerging within the Celestial Ancient Continent...
Every single one of these had caused great waves, and the master and servant pair, far away in the Sky Domain, had actually heard of them all.
“Wushuang? That cheap little brother of mine?”
Wang Zijin was slightly taken aback, then remembered.
She was no brother-obsessed siscon. Before this, she had never even met that little brother of hers — they were no different from strangers.
What she knew about Wang Wushuang had all come from the family’s communications.
Still, he was her blood-related little brother in this life, after all. Since they were passing by, going to take a look wouldn’t be a problem.
In this life, she likewise had family.
And so, after thinking it over, Wang Zijin nodded and said, “Then let’s go take a look.”
“Yay! Skyward Schloss is the most ancient orthodoxy in the Boundless Heaven. This period is practically a gathering of storms — lots of Young Prodigies have come. Maybe we’ll even meet one who catches your eye, Xiaojie.”
Hearing this, Xiu Er immediately spoke with immense joy.
Clearly, she was the one who wanted to witness the splendor of the crowd of Young Prodigies.
“Didn’t they say that the current successor of Skyward Schloss is called the number one of the younger generation? I wonder how the rumors really stack up,” she kept muttering.
As if that were her true purpose.
“Number one of the younger generation? That’s only because your xiaojie hasn’t made her debut yet. Otherwise, how could those fellows be so impressive?”
Wang Zijin smiled, looking like she didn’t take these rumors to heart at all.
Born into the Sacred Realm, she fully had the confidence for this.
Although she was now cultivating anew, she had already reached the early Quasi-Sacred Realm. This kind of cultivation speed could already be called world-shaking.
If word got out, who knew how many people would be stunned and alarmed.
As far as she knew, those Young Prodigies’ cultivation was currently only at the Partial-Enlightened Realm. How great was the gap between them and her? Simply impossible to describe!
So she didn’t care about any of this at all.
“Xiaojie, aren’t you curious? They say he’s a Walking Taboo with the aptitude of a True Celestial Being! Young Master Changge, Gu Changge — his might in the Boundless Heaven is simply unmatched!”
“He’s both the young master of the Longevity Gu Family and the successor of Skyward Schloss, and behind him there’s even the support of Cults of Immortality like the Primal Demonic Temple...”
“I simply can’t believe that one person could possess so many halos!”
Contrary to Wang Zijin’s reaction, Xiu Er appeared full of yearning and admiration, quite excited and thrilled.
A complete one-eighty from her earlier attitude toward the successor of the Immortal Zhao Clan.
Wang Zijin, however, appeared very indifferent, even letting out a scoff. “Xiu Er, what do you know?”
“True Celestial Being? Wasn’t it his father who coined that, saying ’my son Changge has the makings of a True Celestial Being’?”
“Let me tell you, prodigies with titles like that usually die fast. They’re cannon fodder who won’t survive more than a few chapters.”
“And Gu Changge? A name like that—one listen and you know he can’t possibly be the protagonist. In the usual male-oriented webnovel formula, if your name doesn’t have a ’Fan’ or a ’Hao’ in it, you’ve got no business calling yourself the main character.”
“So this guy you’re talking about is really just a cannon fodder character. Look at you getting all excited over it.”
The moment Xiu Er heard her xiaojie say this, she was dumbfounded. She didn’t understand much of what was said, but she still grasped her xiaojie’s meaning.
Gu Changge, whose power reached the heavens and who wielded terrifying influence across the Boundless Heaven, was, in her xiaojie’s eyes, nothing special.
Just a minor character?
“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it. These are all tropes. For all we know, right this moment there’s some guy named something-Fan who’s offended that Gu Changge and is about to slap his face in spectacular fashion...”
Wang Zijin shook her head and said helplessly.
With the eye for male-oriented webnovels she’d developed in her past life, what kind of idiot author would give their protagonist a name like that?
This was obviously a cannon fodder character designed to look impressive just so he could get face-slapped.
And yet Xiu Er still wore that look of admiration.
“Hmph, Xiaojie, I won’t allow you to talk about Young Master Changge like that. He wounded his Source fighting against the Successor of Demonic Arts and nearly perished in the Celestial Ancient Continent.”
“He even rescued his junior sister who had clashed with him from the hands of the Successor of Demonic Arts. The rumors all say Young Master Changge is as handsome as jade, otherworldly and transcendent...”
Xiu Er puffed up her cheeks in indignation, every bit the little fangirl of Gu Changge.
“Stop right there. Why don’t you just go be his maid instead?” Wang Zijin hurriedly shut her up. Seeing her like this, she was utterly speechless.
Compared to this rumored Walking Taboo, she was actually more interested in that even more mysterious Successor of Demonic Arts.
Hong long long!
Soon, accompanied by violent tremors, the carriage crushed through the spatial barrier between the two domains.
Chaotic currents raged, like enormous meteors crashing down, giving off terrifying fluctuations.
However, these dreadful fluctuations were swept aside with a casual wave of the old coachman’s sleeve, a ripple spreading out and dispersing them as easily as a breeze—an exceedingly practiced, natural motion.
“Xiaojie, up ahead lies the territory of the Boundless Heaven. Do we leave directly, or head to Skyward Ancient City?” the old coachman asked indifferently.
“Grandpa She, let’s go to Skyward Ancient City,” Wang Zijin replied with a smile.
Hong!
The next instant, the carriage tore through space, instantly vanishing millions of kilometers away, heading toward the land of the Skyward Schloss.
These past days, that place had grown even livelier.
Numerous orthodoxies and great sects had all dispatched disciples and experts to descend upon it.
Especially when word spread that Gu Changge had appeared within the Celestial Ancient Continent, intending to force the Celestial Ancient Dragon Clan into submission in one fell swoop—it had shocked and stunned countless people.
Gu Changge’s methods could truly be called astonishing.
A member of the younger generation, yet he dared to move against the entire Celestial Ancient Dragon Clan. Such audacity made even many old-generation experts’ hearts palpitate.
Soon, Wang Zijin, Xiu Er, and the old coachman—two servants and one master—arrived within Skyward Ancient City.
However, to avoid drawing attention, Wang Zijin still disguised herself, dressing as a man in a long cyan robe, her waist slender, her skin fair and delicate.
She deliberately made her voice rough, yet it still carried a hint of coquettish softness.
“Xiaojie...” Xiu Er was just about to speak.
“Dong!”
Wang Zijin knocked her on the forehead and glared at her. “How many times have I told you—outside, you call me Gongzi. Got it?”
“Ow ow ow, got it, Gongzi...”
“Digging out a bone in childhood, and now returning his sister... what kind of trope is this...”
Wang Zijin pinched her exquisite, flawless chin, listening to the recent news circulating in Skyward Ancient City, and couldn’t help but be taken aback.
Her main purpose in coming here was actually to meet that cheap little brother of hers.
But now, things suddenly felt a bit strange. That said, going by this, Gu Changge’s rhythm as a villainous cannon fodder seemed all but guaranteed.
She just didn’t know how many chapters he’d survive.
Thinking this, the master and her two servants followed the crowd of cultivators toward the Celestial Ancient Continent, eager to join the excitement.
...
Celestial Ancient Continent, outside Dragon Island.
Countless Array Patterns blazed with light soaring into the sky, resplendent in five colors, dazzling and brilliant.
The situation was tense, the atmosphere incomparably heavy. This place, ordinarily a pure sanctuary like Holy Lands, was now filled with the murderous aura of clashing arms and warhorses.
Hong long long!
One Primordial Ancient Battleship after another crushed forward, spanning across the sky like primordial devil mountains, majestic in momentum, towering and terrifying.
Demonic qi surged to the heavens; battle intent shook the world.
“You whelp of the Gu Family, don’t even think of making our Dragon Clan submit! Since ancient times, our Dragon Clan has roamed free between heaven and earth—even before Immortals we never yielded, and we dared to fight them! A brat still wet behind the ears like you dares spout such madness?”
Above Dragon Island, the void blurred, and a middle-aged man of towering stature and naturally awe-inspiring countenance appeared.
Upon his head sat the Dragon Clan’s golden dragon crown, and he bore the dragon horns unique to the Dragon Clan. His aura was that of the Sacred Realm!
He was none other than the current Patriarch of the Dragon Clan!
“The Dragon Clan’s Patriarch misspeaks. How would a mere junior like Gu dare to coerce you?”
“Rather, back then the Dragon Clan issued the True Dragon Decree and sent the Feathered Clan to assassinate Gu. Now the entire Feathered Clan has submitted. How should we settle this debt?”
At this moment, Gu Changge stood with his hands clasped behind his back, overlooking the many Dragon Clan experts below. Hearing this, he asked with a faint smile.
“Slanderous lies! Junior, if you want a fight, then fight! At a time like this you still scheme to seize the moral high ground and frame our clan’s innocence—such a crime deserves death!”
Some Dragon Clan experts shook with fury at these words, their eyes full of rage and hatred.
Never before had they suffered such humiliation—their entire clan, top to bottom, oppressed by Gu Changge!
“No, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood. This junior isn’t trying to seize the moral high ground—I merely wish to demand justice for myself,” Gu Changge said with a smile, gently shaking his head.
“Since the Dragon Clan would rather die than submit, then don’t blame Gu for showing no mercy.”
As he spoke, his expression turned cold, and behind him a black, blazing great sun abruptly began to rise.
Its fluctuations seemed to reflect across the Nine Heavens and Eight Wastelands, like a burning black sun, black radiance in the thousands upon thousands, supreme laws seething.
That was an imitation of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s Dao Artifact—the Ancient Wheel of Reincarnation—which Gu Changge had obtained from Ye Ling’s hands when he killed him.
Of course, if it were the true Ancient Wheel of Reincarnation, its divine might would be vast and boundless, capable of evolving the Six Paths of Reincarnation and governing life, death, and fate, with limitless power!
But even as an imitation, it now appeared exceedingly powerful, far surpassing ordinary Transcendent grade weapons.
Hong!
At this moment, countless runes roared, golden light surging like a tide, sweeping forth.
Since Gu Changge now intended to present himself as the successor of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, this was naturally the perfect opportunity.
Moreover, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being held extraordinary significance from the Celestial Ancient Times.
With this layer of status upon him, Gu Changge could save himself a great deal of trouble.
“Sss, this is actually...”
“The Ancient Wheel of Reincarnation—not the true Dao Artifact...”
“An imitation of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s Dao Artifact from back then!”
“It’s actually this thing—who would’ve thought Gu Changge had such an identity!”
The instant this black sun rose, all the various orthodoxies and cultivators nearby were collectively stunned, their eyes going wide.
This was something no one had expected.
If Gu Changge hadn’t revealed it himself, none of them would have imagined that he was actually the successor of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being from the Celestial Ancient Times.
“How is this possible? Gu Changge actually possesses this artifact?”
“What exactly is his relationship with the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being?”
The many Celestial Ancient Races watching from afar felt their hearts roar, the Ancient Wheel of Reincarnation stirring up monstrous waves among them.
Their ancestors had, to varying degrees, crossed paths with the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, received his grace, and so on.
Now it seemed that since Gu Changge possessed this artifact, he must be the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s successor.
And if Gu Changge didn’t know the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s Reincarnation Art, there would be no way for him to activate this imitation Dao Artifact at all.
Looking at all these circumstances, Gu Changge and the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being were absolutely inseparable.
No matter how strong the Celestial Ancient Dragon Clan was, they were now merely a cornered beast putting up a last struggle. They couldn’t possibly withstand the forces behind Gu Changge—let alone the fact that the Great Elder now stood at his side!
At this moment, the higher-ups of many Celestial Ancient Races began to have thoughts stirring in their hearts. In the current turbulent situation, following Gu Changge might not be out of the question.
“Damn it! This guy actually has this layer of identity too...”
“This is bad! Why don’t we just surrender!”
Within the many Dragon Islands, the faces of countless Dragon Clan members changed drastically, turning deathly pale.
Today’s situation held little hope left for them.
They were no longer the Dragon Clan of their glorious heyday.
“Junior, our Dragon Clan’s proud bones endure forever—we would rather die than submit! Don’t even dream of making us yield!”
Hong!
From the depths of Dragon Island came a heaven-shaking voice, as several auras of the Sacred King Realm awakened, incomparably powerful.
Moreover, these were by no means ordinary Sacred King Realm beings—they were supreme figures of at least the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Sacred King Realm!
“Great Elder...”
Gu Changge smiled faintly and spoke to the Great Elder beside him.
The Great Elder’s expression was complicated. He glanced at him and sighed helplessly.
Weng!!
He extended a single palm.
Supreme power surged through heaven and earth, as if the very world would be sunk.
Almost in that same instant, that Sacred King Realm existence also unleashed his own ultimate techniques.
Countless dragon chants and prayers resounded through heaven and earth, light and meridians spreading everywhere—these were Sacred King Realm laws.
Dong!
The void trembled, divine light of every color shooting skyward!
An Ancestral Weapon was awakening, its vast divine might threatening to sweep across the firmament.
Pu!
But the next moment, he instantly coughed up blood, instantly defeated and sent flying. Back then, even the phantom of the Founding Ancestor had been no match—how could he possibly resist the Great Elder?
“Kill!!”
“Kill! Charge!”
“Kill!!”
And at that moment, from other directions of heaven and earth, three more heaven-shaking murderous auras arrived.
A vast army came killing forth, a dark, dense mass like a flood.
This scene was like the final straw that broke the camel’s back, plunging the many Dragon Clan members into despair.
The Black Hawk Family, the Ancient Teng Serpents, the Divine Crocodile Clan, and other races came killing over in mighty force, blotting out the sky and sun.
But clearly, they had not come to aid the Dragon Clan!
“The Dragon Clan is finished today...”
In the distance, every cultivator of the various orthodoxies and great sects watching all this thought the same thing, their hearts and minds trembling.
“Gongzi, look quickly, that’s definitely Young Master Changge! That bearing—as expected, he’s on a whole different level from ordinary people!” On a mountain ridge even farther away, Xiu Er tugged at Wang Zijin’s hand, speaking with excitement and exhilaration, like a little fangirl beholding the person she worshipped most.