Recently, there were barely any active Eastern ghosts left around the Sanchaha Reservoir in Hongcheng. It was time to pick a new ghost site and dig up some corpse mud to fill cursed paper figures.
A secluded ghost site was perfect for testing these spiritual tools.
Song Miaozhu reviewed the files on ghost sites across the country once again. This time, she committed all the details to memory. She picked one that had a direct high-speed rail connection to Lingcheng: Qilidun, located in Mingcheng.
After sealing the spiritual tools inside the ghost shop's yin-wood box, she drove straight to the train station. Two hours later, she arrived in Mingcheng rented a car, and headed toward Qilidun.
The ghost site was deep in the wild mountains, unreachable by car.
Song Miaozhu parked on the roadside and entered the mountains on foot.
Once she reached the dense forest, she picked up her pace. When thick brambles and thorny undergrowth blocked the path, she either leapt over them or relied on the defensive power of her Paper Armor to force her way through. Her speed barely slowed.
After crossing two ridges, she saw the ominous surge of resentful energy rising from the next mountain. This ghost site wasn't much weaker than the one behind the Golden Rose Summer Villa. But she was no longer the same person she had been back then.
Starting from that point, Song Miaozhu placed a little paper servant carrying a proxy figure every three thousand meters. Her current teleportation range for the proxy figures had increased from one thousand meters to three thousand. After setting down three of them, she reached the base of the ghost mountain.
The entire mountain was cloaked in dense yin energy. Stepping inside meant entering the domain of the Eastern ghosts. She now wore Grade-Four Yang Paper Clothes, which could actively release a spiritual energy shield. The inside of the outfit was lined with small interior pockets.
The one over her chest held the spiritual version of Paper Armor she had nurtured over a long time—her most powerful defensive gear yet. The other pockets weren't empty either. Each contained a spirit-charged Paper Armor talisman, capable of shielding her from harm on their own.
Along with the proxy paper figures she had arranged as her retreat path, and the 196 paper soldier bodyguards waiting inside the ghost shop's yin-wood box, she was well prepared to explore the ghost mountain herself.
Even so, she still felt it wasn't quite enough.
She pretended to retrieve several spiritual tools from her Thousand-Eyed Bodhi strand: the Spirit-Breaking Tang Saber, the Lanting Sword Scroll, the Tiger-Bear Embroidered Fan, and the Fire Dragon Head made of festive paper.
One by one, she armed herself with them.
A moment later, she was holding the Tang Saber, with the Lanting Sword Scroll strapped to her chest, the embroidered fan at her waist, and the fire dragon head fastened to her shoulder. Then she dove headfirst into the ghost mountain, thick with yin energy.
This entire scene was captured clearly by a high-resolution satellite trained on the ghost mountain.
In the capital, a special task force from the SEIU monitored the spread of yin energy from ghost mountains. The moment they saw this footage, they alerted the appropriate authorities.
Zhao Quanshu, Director of the SEIU in the capital, and Zhao Huoyan, Head of the Lingcheng Branch, were both key personnel. They immediately tapped into the live feed from Qilidun.
However, the ghost mountain was thickly forested and shrouded in yin energy. Nothing inside could be seen clearly.
Song Miaozhu had already learned from the SEIU reports that satellite surveillance failed in areas of dense foliage and heavy yin fog.
So, as soon as she entered the mountain, she pulled out all 196 paper soldier bodyguards. A soft breath of spiritual energy sent them fluttering to the ground, where they transformed into tall, twin-bun-headed guards, each over two meters tall.
Muscular and fierce, they surrounded her like a living fortress.
She then scattered a handful of little paper servants and had them ride tiny paper horses to scout ahead, looking for places where Japanese ghosts gathered. Meanwhile, she stayed in place, safely guarded by the paper soldiers.
Thanks to her credentials as the ghost shop's owner, the mountain's heavy yin aura did not harm her at all.
Soon, the mounted little paper servants found a direction thick with yin and resentful energy. Song Miaozhu followed them, escorted by her paper soldiers.
They hadn't even reached the core of the resentment field when she already sensed a sharp spike in yin energy ahead, accompanied by rolling waves of fury. In the images sent back by the leading scouts, Japanese ghosts had appeared. Even without a command from Song Miaozhu, the little paper servants and paper soldiers instantly went on alert.
The Japanese ghosts had gathered in a bone-burying site, relying on resentment to resist the sun's energy during the day. Suddenly, they sensed a living human entering their territory. The presence of the living ignited their bloodlust. They trembled with excitement, and despite the fact that it was still daylight, they rushed forward, eager to hear the lost lamb scream.
Song Miaozhu was equally excited. She could finally engage in a real fight and test her abilities. As the ghost horde approached, the circle of paper soldier guards parted just enough to let her step forward. She channeled spiritual energy into the paper fire dragon head on her shoulder.
Blazing flames burst from the dragon's mouth, instantly driving the ghost horde back in a panic.
Screams rang out everywhere. The formation fell apart.
Song Miaozhu was stunned. "It even burned through the resentment of vengeful ghosts? This isn't ordinary fire!"
She had only wanted to test the weapon's power, but this result exceeded her expectations. Not only had it scattered the ghosts, it burned away a layer of their resentment. The fire's only drawback was that it quickly died down once it ran out of spiritual energy. Aside from that, it was flawless.
Good thing she hadn't infused too much energy into it. If she had accidentally incinerated the entire ghost horde, she would've lost all her cursing materials. Today was about testing tools and her skills, and collecting new cursed materials—not wiping out the entire ghost population of the mountain.
She didn't dare use the fire dragon head again. Instead, she reached for the Tiger-Bear Embroidered Fan at her waist. She infused it with spiritual energy and gave it a gentle wave. A powerful tiger spirit burst from the fan and charged into the ghost horde, biting a ghost with heavy resentment cleanly in half.
With another wave, a thickset panda spirit emerged, sending several ghosts flying with a single paw swipe.
"Hey! Easy!" Song Miaozhu shouted. "Don't kill them!"
Since when were tigers and pandas in zoos this insanely strong?
The fan could boost the animal spirits' strength if she kept fanning, but after seeing that, she dared not pour in more spiritual energy. Having learned her lesson from the previous two tools, she was far more cautious when testing the Lanting Sword Scroll.
She channeled her energy into the first character on the scroll, the tiniest stroke of the word—a single "dot."
As soon as the dot touched spiritual energy, it lit up. Fully charged, it lifted off the paper like a sword stroke and flew toward a ghost blocked by her paper soldiers.
"Whoosh—"
The stroke pierced through its chest.
Not only did it shatter the ghost's protective yin aura and resentment, it even damaged its soul.
Song Miaozhu stared in disbelief. "What kind of overpowered spiritual tools are these? Why is the damage so ridiculous?"
===
Wei Yunxi transmigrated into the novel she was reading—great, right? Wrong. She's now the tragic female supporting character who exists solely to prop up the flawless heroine, her half-sister Wei Yuqing. The original Yunxi handed over treasures, resources, and even her own cultivation, only to die horribly in the end. Nope. Not happening this time.
Yunxi has a new motto: If it's mine, I'm keeping it. No more playing ATM for the heroine. Especially since Yuqing is the Heavenly Dao's Darling—blessed with insane luck. Try to steal her opportunities? The universe just hands her a better one. Oppose her? Heavenly lightning says bonk.
But Yunxi isn't completely helpless.
First, she snatches the mahogany plaque—her golden finger—right from under Yuqing's nose. Boom! Instant cheat code: a cross-dimensional chat group filled with overpowered allies from the apocalypse, interstellar world, and even the divine realm. Now, Yunxi can trade resources, scheme, and finally fight back.
Too bad the heroine (and the male lead?) won't stop clinging to her. What part of "I'm not your personal loot box" do they not understand?
"Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite"
===
"They called her the 'Vicious Female Supporting Character'—so she decided to live up to the title."
After her brutal death, Song Wanníng realized she was nothing but a disposable villainess in a twisted fate.
Her childhood sweetheart? Now the female lead's devoted lover.
Her beloved disciple? The male lead who personally crushed her bones and ashes.
And the sect that raised her? Complicit in her family's massacre.
Reborn with the knowledge of her past life, the Three Lives Mirror warns her: "To survive, you must whitewash your image and beg for the protagonists' favor."
Song Wanníng smiles.
Whitewash?
Why play the pitiful victim when she can burn the entire script?
-The Medicine King Sect's inheritance is reserved for the female lead? She shatters the guardian spirit and loots every last treasure.
-The divine beast rejects her for the male lead? She skins it alive and drains its blood—no blessings for traitors.
-The sect sides with her enemies? Then let them all fall from grace, exiled from the cultivation world!
They called her insane, ruthless, a demon in human skin—but so what? If kindness earned her only a blade in the back, then she'd embrace the madness instead.
But power comes at a price. To defy fate, she willingly embraces demonic cultivation, fusing it with her righteous Dao in a dangerous, delicate balance. The Heavenly Dao favors the protagonists with blatant, unfair luck, but Song Wanníng?
She doesn't need luck. She has wrath.
And this time, she'll make sure everyone burns with her.
"The Villainess Refuses to Repent"
===
Both of these novels share a similar theme—they revolve around characters who are forced to face a Darling of Heaven.
But unlike the usual side character vs protagonist setup, their pain, their helplessness, and their bitterness are portrayed in a raw and striking way. The protagonist's plot armor isn't just there to move the story forward—it actually makes us feel the depth of the supporting character's despair.
This is especially true in Song Wanníng's story. Her past life, along with all the betrayal and pain she endured, is woven into every corner of the plot.
Compared to Wei Yunxi, Song Wanníng is clearly the more extreme character.
Yes, Wei Yunxi has her share of hardships, but alongside her future knowledge, she still possesses a kind of golden finger.
Song Wanníng, on the other hand, has nothing—just her memories. And because of all the torture and betrayal she experienced in her past life, her mentality is far more twisted than Yunxi's.
There's another key difference too:
Song Wanníng is an authentic cultivator who was given a second chance at life.
Wei Yunxi, despite everything, originally came from the modern world—whether through rebirth or transmigration. That means her mindset, especially her sense of morality, is more rigid and righteous, like most people from a modern setting.
Even if she kills, just like any cultivator in that world, there's still a line she's reluctant to cross.Her internal restraints and modern values set her apart from the cultivators who were born and raised in that world. (Though, I'm not sure whether she eventually steps into the gray—or even black—area by the end of her story.)