Female Protagonist Assistance System

The extreme south had long been known as a place of utmost danger, for no one had ever emerged from it alive. The land there was forever parched and cracked, tinged with a blood-red hue. This land had never known vitality, as if abandoned by the gods themselves.

Deep within the southern extremity, a vast crater occupied about a quarter of the forbidden area. The soil within was charred black, as if struck by lightning, and still emitted heat.

At the center of the crater sat a naked young girl in a cross-legged position. Her skin was as smooth as polished jade, with black hair cascading to the ground. She seemed like a painting, starkly out of place in this savage land.

Surprisingly, with each slow, deep breath the girl took, arcs of blood-red lightning flickered across her skin, yet they did not appear garish.

An immense and profound pressure radiated outward from the girl. The Dao contained within this pressure seemed to transcend humanity, more akin to the rules of the great Dao, vast and boundless.

After an indeterminate time, the pressure receded like the tide, and the blood-colored lightning arcs on the girl’s body disappeared. Now she appeared like an ordinary person who had not yet begun cultivation, unremarkable save for her striking features.

[Congratulations, Host, on taming the Tribulation Lightning, breaking through to the fifth layer of the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, reaching the “Self-Forgetting” realm, and advancing to nine-star Dou Ling.]

Suddenly, a mechanical voice resonated in the girl’s mind. Though devoid of emotion, it somehow conveyed a hint of excitement.

Hearing this voice, the girl’s long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly. Then, she slowly opened her eyes.

A blood-red tinge gradually surfaced in her ink-black pupils, quickly fading away. This person was none other than Xiao Han, who had come to the extreme south months ago in search of heavenly anomalous lightning.

Feeling the powerful energy brimming within her, even the usually composed Xiao Han couldn’t help but reveal a trace of joy.

The power of Tribulation Lightning was beyond imagination, let alone the mightiest blood lightning within it. Now that she had tamed the blood lightning, her true combat ability far surpassed others of the same level by an unimaginable margin.

“What time is it now?” Xiao Han rose and retrieved a set of clothes from the system space to dress herself. Her original clothes had been incinerated by the Tribulation Lightning and were no longer wearable.

[Reporting to Host, only four months have passed since you began taming the Tribulation Lightning!]

Xiao Han pondered for a moment, brushing off non-existent dust from her clothes: “Where is the complete version of the ‘Flame Mantra’?”

[Host need not worry about that. Our system has the authority to provide some conveniences for you. As it happens, the system has internally stored the complete version of the ‘Flame Mantra’. After all, the complete ‘Flame Mantra’ is not a technique native to this small world; it comes from a higher plane. If Host were to search for it personally, it would be absolutely impossible to find,] the system said happily.

Feeling that it had once again helped its host accomplish something, the system was truly elated.

A hint of a smile touched Xiao Han’s eyes, feeling that her system was indeed considerate: “Thank you.”

The system’s circuits involuntarily blushed: [Does Host want it now?]

Xiao Han shook her head: “Not now. Just keep it with you for now. I’ll ask for it when I need it.”

[No problem, Host. What shall we do next?]

Xiao Han said: “First, return to the Xiao family briefly, then we need to travel around and make some advance preparations.”

By now, the system had unwavering faith in Xiao Han’s decisions. It responded seriously: [Mm-hmm, I remember Host saying that this time needs to be used to maximally alter the course of the plot.]

Xiao Han nodded: “If successful, it won’t be too difficult when the future plot officially begins.”

She took one last deep look at the enormous crater behind her, then strode towards the exit of the southern extremity without looking back.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

Time flew by swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, a decade had passed.

Xiao Han, still clad in black robes, reclined on a tree branch with her eyes closed, resting. Time had indeed passed quickly; ten years had gone by in an instant. She was now fifteen years old, her figure having grown taller, and though still somewhat immature, she had begun to resemble her previous life’s appearance.

“Hey, are you really leaving today?” Suddenly, a clear, melodious young woman’s voice came from below the tree. Xiao Han lazily glanced down to see a girl of about fourteen or fifteen standing with her hands on her hips, looking up. Green jade pendants hung from the girl’s delicate earlobes, tinkling softly as they swayed, lending her an air of nobility.

“There are some matters I need to return for,” Xiao Han said.

The girl snorted lightly, then with a slight bend of her knees, leapt onto the tree, sitting cross-legged beside Xiao Han. Her eyes gazed into the distance: “I’m going to the Xiao family to break off the engagement in a couple of days. Don’t you want to stay a few more days and accompany me to break it off before you leave?”

Xiao Han chuckled, saying: “What’s this? Is the great young miss of the Nalan clan, the Young Sect Master of the Cloud Mist Sect, afraid?”

Nalan Yanran immediately bristled: “What joke are you making?! Me, afraid?? How could I, the young miss of the Nalan family, be afraid??”

“Well, there you have it,” Xiao Han yawned, extremely perfunctory.

During these ten years, she had done many things, changing many characters from the original plot, making their current lives more than ten times better than in the original story. Take Nalan Yanran before her, for instance. After becoming acquainted, she would occasionally give her pointers on cultivation. Xiao Han, being a transmigrator, had unique insights and could always pinpoint issues accurately, helping Nalan Yanran avoid many detours in her cultivation. Now, at just fifteen years old, she was already a five-star Dou Practitioner, two full stars higher than in the original story. Moreover, she was very proficient in various Dou Techniques, and under Xiao Han’s intentional nurturing, her combat experience was extremely rich.

However, there was one point that greatly vexed Xiao Han: this young miss was mischievous and full of unexpected ideas, making her hard to guard against. In a moment of carelessness, she had managed to lift Xiao Han’s hood, exposing her true appearance.

Xiao Han still vividly remembered the shocked expression on the Nalan young miss’s face when she saw her youthful visage, her mouth agape.

Subsequently, this young miss had thoroughly become her little fangirl.

After all, a six-star Dou Zong at fifteen years old was quite rare.

System: Host, please mind your words. A six-star Dou Zong at fifteen is not just rare; it has never existed before except for you.

If Nalan Yanran hadn’t sworn to absolute secrecy, not even telling her beloved master Yun Yun, Xiao Han would certainly have found a way to make her “accidentally” lose her memory.

Having had her fun, Nalan Yanran became a bit shy and embarrassed: “I’m just a bit worried…”

After all, this was a marriage arrangement made by their grandfathers’ generation. Nalan Yanran’s inner turmoil at insisting on breaking the engagement against her grandfather’s wishes was evident.

“What is there to worry about?” Xiao Han’s voice remained lazy, but upon closer listening, a trace of coldness could be detected. “You’re now a five-star Dou Practitioner. Neither the Nalan family nor the Cloud Mist Sect has ever produced a disciple with such remarkable talent. Who would dare stop you if you want to break off the engagement? If the Nalan family values face and insists on marrying you to Xiao Yan, you can simply reside permanently at the Cloud Mist Sect. As the Young Sect Master of Cloud Mist Sect and the personal disciple of Sect Master Yun Yun, they’d have to carefully consider Cloud Mist Sect’s stance before trying to force you.”

“Moreover, Xiao Yan is not a suitable match. We won’t speak of when his talent was good in the past, but now who doesn’t know that his cultivation has regressed for some unknown reason? I’m sure many in the Nalan family are dissatisfied with this marriage arrangement.”

It was only Nalan’s old patriarch who insisted on saving face at the cost of his own granddaughter’s happiness. Xiao Han didn’t even want to criticize anymore. Accepting someone else’s kindness and then promising one’s own granddaughter as a wife to another’s grandson, completely disregarding the granddaughter’s feelings. Who exactly received the kindness, and who was repaying it? It wasn’t Nalan Yanran who received the kindness, so why should she be the one to repay it?

Moreover, when the Nalan patriarch made this arrangement, he didn’t consider the character of the other party’s grandson at all. If he turned out to be a wastrel, wouldn’t that ruin his own granddaughter’s entire life?

Xiao Han’s words made Nalan Yanran feel much better, but she still felt the need to correct one point: “My breaking off the engagement isn’t because Xiao Yan’s cultivation has regressed. I simply don’t like him and don’t want to marry someone I’ve never met and don’t understand at all.”

Xiao Han nodded. She was quite clear about Nalan Yanran’s character. Although she was somewhat prideful and occasionally displayed a young miss’s temper, she was indeed a kind-hearted girl and not a shallow, vain person.

“Don’t worry, just maintain a good attitude when the time comes,” Xiao Han said. “But you don’t need to be concerned. If anything unexpected happens, I’ll come to help you.”

Nalan Yanran’s eyes lit up: “You’ll come to help me?”

“We’ll see,” Xiao Han said vaguely.

Although Xiao Han’s response was rather noncommittal, Nalan Yanran was still very happy because she knew that if something truly went wrong, given Xiao Han’s personality, she would definitely not stand idly by.

System: Young miss, you’re thinking too much. Given its host’s personality, turning a blind eye to others in danger is a common occurrence.

During these ten years, although Xiao Han had been busy traveling all over to improve her strength and alter the plot in advance, she still spent the majority of her time at the Xiao family. After all, Xiao Yan, with an adult’s soul, had plenty of ways to win Gu Xun’er’s favor. Xiao Han often secretly sabotaged Xiao Yan’s series of flirtatious maneuvers, maintaining an absolutely friendly distance between Gu Xun’er and Xiao Yan. The most direct change was that in the original story, Gu Xun’er called Xiao Yan “Brother Xiao Yan,” while now, Gu Xun’er still only distantly addressed him as “Cousin Xiao Yan.” Though the difference is just one word, the affection contained within is worlds apart.

To consider future plot developments, Xiao Han had begun gradually revealing her cultivation talent from the age of six. However, to avoid drawing too much attention, she still carefully controlled the extent. Currently, her displayed strength was only at six stages of Dou Disciple, placing her in the upper-middle tier of the Xiao family.

After all, a significant portion of the future plot would unfold at Jia Nan Academy. Without the appropriate strength, she wouldn’t be able to accompany Gu Xun’er to Jia Nan Academy, which would restrict her subsequent actions.

“I have to go now,” Xiao Han sat up and said to Nalan Yanran.

Nalan Yanran pouted: “Go on then, remember to help.”

Xiao Han nodded, and with a flash of silver light, she disappeared.

Nalan Yanran snorted, jumped down from the tree, and went off to seek guidance from her master on some cultivation matters.

The reason Xiao Han was in such a hurry to leave was that the official plot was about to begin, after which she wouldn’t have such freedom.

[Ding! The official plot is about to begin. Please prepare yourself, Host.]

Hearing the familiar mechanical voice in her mind, Xiao Han’s lips curled into a cold, hard smile, her eyes icy.