Chương 96: Non Canon Omake: Who is Ning?

Against the Heavens. At first, everyone knew exactly what kind of novel they were reading. The cover had Xiao Fan standing on a cliff, one fist wrapped in golden light, one eye glowing, his robes fluttering in a storm that clearly existed only for dramatic effect. Behind him were nine vague beauties, and phantoms of various beasts, and a sentence in blood-red font:"I Shall Seal the Very Heavens." The readers understood immediately. This was a classic.

Xiao Fan began as a fallen young master with a defective spiritual root. He was mocked by his clan, humiliated by arrogant geniuses, nearly died in some conveniently located forest, found an ancient inheritance, repaired his meridians, and began his journey of face-slapping. It was pretty standard xianxia slop. For most readers, it was a classic novel with all the cliché xianxia components. The only thing that stood out was that the writing was pretty good compared to others.

The characters had their own personalities, though they still stayed true to their archetypes. Xiao Fan, as the protagonist, was fairly standard, but he wasn't brainless; he was actually quite snarky, so he didn't come across as a flat cutout. Fatty Li was the standard fat friend every xianxia protagonist had. Xiao Qing was the talented, non-blood-related little sister. They were all standard slop. So, the first time the character Ji Ning was introduced... Nobody really raised an eyebrow.

He was introduced as a random merchant-type disciple selling materials Xiao Fan happened to need. Demon cores at reasonably fair prices. It became clear. Ji Ning was the merchant friend. Every protagonist needed one. Someone had to sell maps, pills, secret information, and demon cores without asking why the protagonist was always covered in blood, carrying suspiciously expensive treasures, and being followed by a trail of increasingly powerful enemies.

"Ah, the merchant NPC."

"Calling it now. He becomes Xiao Fan's personal supplier."

"He seems nice. Forty chapters at most before he becomes irrelevant."

"Merchant friends do not become irrelevant, unlike everyone else. They mysteriously own branches in every city the protagonist visits. That's just a common trope." This was reasonable. For several chapters, the readers continued following the ever-escalating life of Xiao Fan. Then the Mi Family quest happened. Xiao Fan entered a dangerous situation, as expected. There were schemes, hidden enemies, treasure, bandit slaying, and the usual amount of "Junior, you dare?!" energy.

The readers settled in, already predicting the rhythm. Xiao Fan would be surrounded, injured, underestimated, and then suddenly reveal a new trump card. Perfectly normal. Then Ji Ning showed up. The readers blinked. After all, he was just the merchant friend. They thought he was there to arm Xiao Fan with some supplies for the upcoming boss fight. Then Ji Ning started helping. Not in the useless side-character way, either. He didn't shout warnings five seconds too late. He didn't get captured.

He didn't faint from the aura of a stronger enemy. He actually kept up with Xiao Fan, complemented his fighting style, covered his openings, and understood how to bring out his strengths. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. It was the first time the readers felt that Ji Ning was a multifaceted character.

"Wait."

"The merchant can fight?"

"Author accidentally gave the NPC combat skills."

"No, no. This is foreshadowing. He's secretly from a powerful clan."

"Why does he coordinate better with Xiao Fan than even the female leads we've seen?"

"A competent xianxia friend who doesn't get in the way. What the hell is going on?" It only became more solidified when Ning gave an easy-to-understand explanation of the Pure Qi Sutra, cementing himself as a genius. This was acceptable. Hidden genius side characters existed. Sometimes the protagonist had a smart friend.

Not as talented, of course, but smart enough to provide strategies, analyze enemies, and say, "Brother Xiao, I have a plan," before being ignored because the protagonist had already chosen violence. The readers adjusted their expectations. Ji Ning was the hidden genius ally. Fine. The next time the readers saw Ning was during one of the most classic arcs of all: gambling on spirit ores.

As usual, Xiao Fan managed to antagonize the shop owner in record time, and within moments, the two sides were on the verge of fighting. For the readers, this was nothing new, though they did find Ning's sheer dumbfoundedness rather funny.

"My guy Ning is really thinking, 'Can you stay quiet for even a moment?'""Ning: I was gone for literally one second. Why the hell is there already a fight about to break out?"

"You know, reading this xianxia slop made fighting everyone seem so natural that it was only after seeing Ning's reaction that I felt it was not normal again, lol." Then what the readers saw next shocked them to their cores. Ning managed to talk the shop owner down. Not only that, but he even managed to make a profit out of the entire situation.

"The sheer charisma and communication skills this man has are ridiculous.""'Corruption is only bad when I am not doing it' ahh talk, lol."

"Wait. Where is the face-slapping?"

"Did he just solve a treasure-shop conflict through communication?"

"Ji Ning just prevented several chapters' worth of face-slapping. I don't know whether I should be impressed or disappointed." Then came the ore-breaking. Ning had an ore. Xiao Fan had absurd luck. Any normal side character, except Fatty Li, would have protected his own treasure and then regretted it when the protagonist casually opened a heavenly inheritance. Instead, Ning handed his ore to Xiao Fan.

"Your luck is better. You break it." The readers froze yet again, though they soon recovered after hearing Ning's reasonable explanation for why he believed Xiao Fan was lucky.

"He knows."

"Ning has eyes and can see Mt. tai. Talk about subversion."

"I feel like no one is talking about how Ning just made a big brain play letting Xiao Fan open the spirit ore." Then, when Ning openly shared the inheritance with Xiao Fan without any betrayal, misunderstanding, or unnecessarily drawn-out conflict, the readers truly began to feel that there was something strange about this character. Then came the Outer Sect Competition. In the semifinals was a match between Ning and Qiu Han. Finally, everyone understood Ji Ning's purpose. He would fight Qiu Han.

Qiu Han was clearly the final enemy of the Outer Sect arc, with all his "iron can never beat gold" talk. Ji Ning, being Xiao Fan's clever friend, would surely face Qiu Han first, struggle bravely, reveal some hidden strength, and then lose tragically. The readers could already see it. Ji Ning would be injured and taken out. He might even smile weakly and say, "Brother Xiao... be careful. His speed... is not normal." Xiao Fan would clench his fists. The crowd would mock him. Qiu Han would say something cold.

Then Xiao Fan would step onto the stage and avenge his friend. It was classic. The chapter title was even suspicious:"A Battle Against Quick." The readers gathered like hungry wolves.

"This is it. Ning is getting folded. It was good while it lasted."

"Alas, you can never be the friend of the protagonist in a face-slapping novel."

"Guys, you are judging too hard. But yeah, that's the biggest death flag I've ever seen." Then Ji Ning walked onto the stage, looked at Qiu Han's speed, judged the difference, and surrendered. There was no desperate struggle, and certainly no "avenge me" moment. Facing overwhelming power, he didn't stubbornly let himself get beaten into becoming a motivation pack. He just surrendered. Reasonably. The readers were dumbfounded.

"He can do that?"

"Apparently."

"Since when was surrender allowed?"

"Since the rules were explained fourteen chapters ago."

"So this proves it, right? Ji Ning is something more than a normal side character. He's the female lead."

"Tsk. Shippers, take the hint, will you?" Nonetheless, they had to accept the fact, though one question remained. How did a reasonable character with common sense sneak into this xianxia slop? But the true confusion came afterward. Ji Ning didn't simply surrender and leave. No, he went to Xiao Fan and handed over everything he had learned about Qiu Han, from his weaknesses and movement habits to even his battle tendencies.

The readers watched in horror as Ji Ning refused to become emotional motivation and instead became tactical intelligence.... At this point, the theories about Ji Ning's character archetype began.

"Second protagonist for sure."

"Hidden old monster."

"Final villain."

"Secret son of the Sect Master."

"The true female lead."

"Higher realm expert with sealed cultivation."

"Time traveler." Then, as Ning continued appearing throughout the series, the readers had to accept one simple fact. A person with common sense had somehow appeared in a xianxia.... A/N: Just a silly omake I wrote in class. If you guys like it, I may write more. Feel free to give me ideas and such. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading~