My Host Only Marries the Strong

Echo stored her trophy in her storage ring and nodded to Yu Xuefei and Feng Zhen as they flew down from the spirit vessel.

Thick snow had accumulated on the ground. After Tan Yue was possessed by the demon, her barrier had collapsed with her, and the people inside had awakened.

They huddled together anxiously and fearfully, like newly hatched chicks in a cage, staring up at the “divine beings” overhead with trembling lips, unable to speak a single word.

At this moment, Meng Xiangfei also flew over on her artifact, frowning: “What happened in Pingjin City? I only went out to patrol, but when I returned, I found something unknown blocking the city’s north side. I couldn’t enter at all.”

“A demon cultivator was hiding among Pingjin City’s residents.” Echo said. “We just fought, but I failed to completely eliminate her. She escaped. I’ve already reflected on this.”

Her negligence. Echo felt very regretful.

It was clearly a trash-tier demon cultivator, yet she’d managed to escape. This was due to her overconfidence leading to carelessness. Echo hung her head and wrote a thousand-word self-criticism in her mind.

“When did this happen?” Feng Zhen frowned.

When they heard that the demon cultivator had been in Pingjin City from the very first day they’d arrived from the Insight Academy Palace, shock appeared on all three faces—Feng Zhen’s, Yu Xuefei’s, and Meng Xiangfei’s.

Meng Xiangfei’s eyes showed no trace of deception. She looked at the terrified humans on the ground and murmured: “When did you know?”

“About the residents, the first day,” Echo said. “About Tan Yue and her master, today.”

Tan Yue and her master??

Feng Zhen’s body trembled, her eyes full of disbelief: “Elder Zhao and Tan Yue were also controlled by the demon?”

Echo nodded hesitantly and explained today’s events to the three of them. “Their timing and behavior were too obvious.” she concluded.

“They haven’t awakened?” Echo asked.

Feng Zhen shook her head.

Yu Xuefei said softly: “If that’s the case, their soul loss syndrome has an explanation. That demon sounds like a soul cultivator.”

“Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Xi’s cultivation is excellent, and since these city residents are all mortals, the soul cultivator only controlled Tan Yue and her master. Otherwise……”

Everyone felt a chill, suddenly understanding how those missing sect disciples had disappeared.

“A soul cultivator……” Meng Xiangfei’s face paled as she clenched her fists. Yu Xuefei looked at her curiously.

Noticing Yu Xuefei’s probing gaze, Meng Xiangfei composed her expression and said tearfully: “How terrifying! I’m so frightened!”

“But this matter has become even stranger……” Feng Zhen said.

How many demon cultivators were there?

Why appear so suddenly? They already had control over so many cultivators, enough to rally them into a joint assault on Pingjin City. Why resort to threatening common folk instead?

Could it be…… that their true aim was to force Tan Yue and her master into striking down Xi Lingren and Meng Xiangfeithemselves?

Where had all those controlled sect disciples gone……?

Various doubts swirled in their minds.

Yu Xuefei said softly: “From what Senior Sister Xi described, that demon cultivator wanted to attack the heart first, trying to confuse and control Senior Sister Xi when her mental defenses were unstable. Soul cultivators generally operate this way.”

Meng Xiangfei laughed: “Little Sister Yu, you know so much! Where did you learn about soul cultivators?”

“I just read about them in books,” Yu Xuefei replied calmly.

“Oh, I see. Little Sister Yu is so well-read—I truly admire you!” She giggled as she spoke.

Yu Xuefei frowned, feeling there was something snide in her words. She gave Meng Xiangfei a cold look and turned to check on the residents’ condition.

Feng Zhen, worried about Tan Yue and her master’s missing souls, said calmly: “The demon took a major loss at Senior Sister Xi’s hands and won’t return anytime soon. But demon cultivators are always cunning with strong vengeful natures.”

“I’ll immediately send people to garrison Pingjin City in case the demon returns to harm innocent residents. Senior Sister Xi, I’ll need you to come to the Taiyan Sect to explain the situation to Master and the others.”

Echo suddenly asked: “You didn’t receive any messages from Tan Yue at the Taiyan Sect? You weren’t summoned here by her?”

Echo remembered Tan Yue saying she’d sent many messages to the Taiyan Sect, all of which had sunk without a trace.

Feng Zhen shook her head quickly.

“I see.” Echo said. “Earlier, we took turns scouting outside the city and returned safely each time. Unless the demon cultivator set up an array over this entire region to intercept messages, Tan Yue must have been controlled long ago.”

But Tan Yue’s acting was much better than the city residents’. Were there other demon cultivators involved? Echo fell into thought.

Hearing Echo’s words, Feng Zhen closed her eyes, her heart already filled with shock. This demon cultivator was incredibly capable—Tan Yue was Nascent Soul stage, Elder Zhao was Soul Transformation. If even they could be controlled so easily, what about everyone else!

She said urgently: “This matter is of great importance. As soon as replacements arrive, we’ll immediately return to the Taiyan Sect.”

Fine by her.

Echo didn’t particularly care, her mind still focused on her disappointment at letting the demon’s soul remnant escape.

Echo walked back to the spirit vessel with a dejected expression, her steps slow. As she passed a family of three—parents holding a child—she glanced at them.

The parents holding their child immediately dropped to their knees to kowtow to the immortal, trembling all over, not daring to raise their heads in their terror. But when they finally looked up, there wasn’t a trace of anyone in front of them.

“Not your fault, not your fault.” Echo muttered, sitting at her desk to write a letter to Seraphine. She filled ten whole pages with a remorseful confession.

She wrote twenty pages of tactical adjustment plans, guaranteeing she would never make similar mistakes again.

⁂

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of meters from Pingjin City, in a barren mountain, Wen Chunsheng lit incense for a roadside shrine. As he inserted the incense sticks, he asked: “You failed?”

The soul remnant, reduced to mere wisps that seemed ready to dissipate in the wind at any moment, said shamefully: “Master, please forgive me! I couldn’t penetrate Echo’s mental defenses—she’s more formidable than I imagined!”

The man with his back to her laughed softly and said gently: “Then you still dare to return?”

The soul remnant lowered her head in terror, about to speak when Wen Chunsheng crooked his finger. The soul remnant flew uncontrollably into his hand like a ball of thread held in his palm.

Wen Chunsheng closed his eyes as the soul remnant’s memories flooded his mind.

“Heh, you even wasted two of my pawns. Was I too hasty, releasing you before you’d fully matured?” Wen Chunshengmuttered to himself, toying with the soul remnant.

His brow furrowed then smoothed as he smiled: “No, you were just too stupid. I didn’t feed you to Soul Transformation stage just so you could be an idiot.”

Demon cultivators really were only good for casual use. But Xi Lingren was more troublesome than he’d anticipated.

Still, with such excellent talent, no matter how many pawns he had to waste to get her in his grasp, it would be worth it.

Wen Chunsheng’s lips curved upward. Looking at the trembling soul remnant in his palm, he said softly: “Considering that you delivered the item to her without exposing……” His remaining words were drowned out by the soul remnant’s screams.

Wen Chunsheng flicked his finger, and the soul instantly shattered. Two golden fragments slowly drifted down into his palm.

“The jade pendant—” Wen Chunsheng tenderly collected the fragments, gazing toward Pingjin City as he murmured to himself: “Xi Lingren, where have you hidden it?”

⁂

Echo finished writing thirty pages of her “Pingjin City Incident Report” with a heavy sigh. Just as she set down her pen with an “aiya”, Yu Xuefei knocked on her door.

“Senior Sister Xi, I’ve examined all the city residents. None show the soul loss syndrome that Tan Yue and her master have—they just caught a bit of cold.”

“I’ve had people prepare medicinal soup to distribute. A couple days of drinking it should cure them.” Yu Xuefei said gently.

Echo took out her tea set and began brewing tea, inviting Yu Xuefei to sit with proper ceremony.

Yu Xuefei watched Echo’s serious motions, remembering how Palace Lord Velka had brewed tea in exactly the same manner when she visited the Phoenix Perch Terrace for medical treatment.

Yu Xuefei couldn’t help but smile, but thinking of the events in the Central Continent, her smile gradually faded.

“Now we’ve confirmed it was demon cultivators causing trouble. But throughout this period, Senior Sister Xi, you’re the only one in the Central Continent who’s actually fought a demon cultivator and beaten her soul to pieces,” Yu Xuefei said softly.

“After I went to the Taiyan Sect, I discovered that among the countless sects across five continents, less than half responded to Sect Leader Taiyan’s call. Some people don’t even take the demon cultivator threat seriously. It’s quite frustrating.”

Echo nodded. The plot was exactly like this—they needed their faces slapped before they’d learn their lesson.

“But Senior Sister Xi, how did you discover something was wrong with Pingjin City’s residents?” Yu Xuefei asked.

Now you’re asking the right system!

Echo set down her teacup and said seriously: “Their character settings were too uniform—their personality templates were identical, and they were all extremely polite with very logical speech patterns!”

It was one thing for scholars and nobles, but illiterate commoners who could roast geese, uneducated bun sellers, and tavern cooks—they all had the same personality.

“Their character development didn’t match their backgrounds. This demon cultivator was inexperienced,” Echo criticized.

If she’d been one of her transmigration-type hosts under her guidance, she absolutely couldn’t have made such a fundamental error!

If you want to expose your true nature, you have to do it gradually.

“You understand, right?” Echo looked at Yu Xuefei with complete sincerity.

Yu Xuefei understood—she even grasped why Echo was asking her specifically. She pressed her lips together briefly, then took a book titled “New Records of the Sword Seeks Phoenix” from her storage ring and placed it on the table.

After glancing at Echo, she smiled faintly: “I wrote this casually while traveling on the spirit vessel. I’m giving it to Senior Sister Xi.”

A gift for her?

Echo quickly thanked her, scanned through it rapidly, then put it away, saying: “I’ve finished reading it!”

“?” Yu Xuefei blinked, thinking Echo was politely declining.

She smiled: “Since I’ve given it as a gift, there’s no taking it back. Besides, after today’s events, I have new inspiration. What do you think about having Xi Ling Immortal and Phoenix Girl swap souls? Wouldn’t that be quite interesting?”

Oh! Yu Xuefei really was a qualified story creator—a rare talent in their system realm! Without creators writing stories, how could they systems have missions to complete?

Echo expressed deep respect for Yu Xuefei in her heart and enthusiastically introduced many world settings she’d encountered during her missions.

Besides soul swapping, she gave detailed explanations of rebirth, transmigration, past and present lives, second chance romance, and countless other concepts.

Yu Xuefei was greatly enlightened, her eyes sparkling with interest.

“If you ever need anything, feel free to ask me anytime.” Echo said, offering tea to Yu Xuefei again.

She thought perhaps the stories from her brush had already been collected by the Mission Hall. Someday, some unknown system would select them and enter those worlds to complete missions.

How wonderful!

Yu Xuefei sipped her tea and looked at Echo’s completely satisfied expression, her mind racing with guesses.

She couldn’t help asking: “Senior Sister Xi, do you have any thoughts about the two characters Xi Ling Immortal and Phoenix Girl in the book?”

Echo blinked, not understanding why Yu Xuefei was asking. Seeing the expectant expression on her face, Echo said: “I respect them!”

A system respects every story and all the characters within those stories!

“……Alright then.” Yu Xuefei understood: Senior Sister Xi didn’t get it.

She set down her teacup and rose with a smile: “Senior Sister Xi worked very hard defeating the demon cultivator today. Please rest early. If you feel unwell in any way, don’t hesitate to find me. Though of course, I hope Senior Sister Xi will never need to seek me out for health problems.”

What a beautiful blessing!

Echo thanked Yu Xuefei with genuine emotion.

After Yu Xuefei left, she returned to her desk and packed the thickest love letter she’d ever written into her system inventory.

Before departing, she thought for a moment and added Yu Xuefei’s novel as well.

Seraphine loved reading novels most of all—she would ask her to read this one!

Giving gifts to someone you like is one of the most common pursuit tactics. She’d write love letters and give gifts to Seraphine, and she’d quickly fall for her. It was perfectly logical!

[Author’s Note]:

Work Log…

Main System, why hasn’t our scanning function developed the ability to see through objects even at this technological stage? This doesn’t match the capabilities we should have as higher-dimensional beings. Please reflect on this shortcoming!

Main System Response: You never mentioned this deficiency before. Did you suffer some kind of loss during mission execution?

Echo Reply: =(

Let me write my report. Ten pages of self-criticism. Twenty pages of tactical adjustments. Thirty pages of incident reports. Seraphine is going to love it! Don’t miss the next love letter I write—or the gifts I give her—20 chapters ahead at Pxtreon➡️LoveisLove520!