A Life-bound Spirit Treasure was a rare weapon that could be enhanced even after its creation. Su Min chose this weapon and the skills that matched it in order to make the early stages easier. Otherwise, with her meager talent and abilities, life would have been pure torment. Now, it was time to finally put her preparations to good use.
As Niu Ma lunged forward, a flash of light sliced through the darkness. Even the lowest-grade spiritual weapon was still a spiritual weapon. Ordinary items couldn't hope to block it. The net split apart like paper, and Niu Ma's body followed—cleanly severed at the waist. The cut was so swift, so precise, that for a moment, Niu Ma didn't even realize what had happened. He only felt his legs give out before his upper half crashed to the ground.
"Aaaah—!!!"
A miserable scream tore through the midnight sky, stunning the gang of thugs who had come with him. Just moments ago, their leader had been alive and well—how had he suddenly been cut in half?Everyone knew that a waist-level cut wasn't instantly fatal; you even had enough time to drag yourself along the ground and use your own blood to scrawl a giant 'tragic' character before dying.
"Well?"
Before they could snap out of their shock, Su Min spun her sword with a graceful flourish and casually licked her lips. Her already delicate face, illuminated by the faint light, now seemed wickedly alluring—and dangerously deadly. "Who's next?"
"Witch!!!"Someone shrieked. Then, like rats fleeing a sinking ship, the entire mob scattered—leaving only Niu Ma's twitching corpse behind.
"Ugh—"
Looking at the people who had completely disappeared, the sword in Su Min's hand instantly turned into a stream of light and disappeared. She also knelt on the ground and retched twice. This feeling was too shocking.
"Can't stay here. I've got zero cultivation. Manifesting that spirit weapon just now was already pushing my limits. I'd better find somewhere safe first." Forcing a spiritual weapon without qi reserves was reckless. If those thugs had called her bluff, she'd have been doomed. Scaring them off was the best outcome.
As the saying goes: "Keep the green hills, and you'll never run out of firewood."
First, she needed to find a safe place to recover and maybe comprehend a cultivation technique. Before long, only the two halves of Niu Ma's corpse remained in the little ravine, quickly drawing swarms of insects.
---
"Damn it... can't... run... anymore..." Soon, Su Min ran into a dilapidated temple in the mountains in a very embarrassed manner. She was wearing a rather expensive silk long dress—an outfit ill-suited for running through rugged terrain.
"Since there is a panel, what about the backpack? I remember there are some beginner items in it, which are free. Also, once dawn breaks, that brothel is definitely going to start reacting."
Looking at her delicate, soft hands, Su Min let out a bitter chuckle. She thought back to what those thugs had shouted earlier—"Witch"—It seemed she was about to experience a medieval witch hunt firsthand.
As she focused her thoughts—
Ding!
A crisp chime sounded in her ears. However, instead of opening an inventory screen, a pitch-black, gleaming ring dropped from thin air, landing right by her feet.
"Space ring?"
Bending down curiously, she picked up the ring and slipped it onto her finger. The moment her thoughts touched it, the contents inside appeared before her eyes:
- Practical outfits (Goodbye, ruined noble robes).
- Bigu dan (No hunger for days).
- Alchemy & Artifice Manual (Crafting 101).
- Herb & Ore Compendium (Forage like a pro).
"Nice."
Su Min immediately pulled out one of the outfits without hesitation. She stripped off her torn, ragged silk robe—which had been shredded by tree branches during her escape—and quickly changed.
"This feels much better. This set looks like night gear, actually."
After stretching a bit, she found the new clothes far more comfortable and mobile.
"And my skill...I remember that when I first entered the game, I was supposed to be able to comprehend one cultivation method."
Popping a bigu dan into her mouth, Su Min felt her stomach settle. With that, she wouldn't have to worry about food for at least a day or two. Time to focus on breaking through. Only with some cultivation could she truly protect herself. Settling down cross-legged, she opened her system panel and looked over the available skills.
Closing her eyes, she let herself be guided by instinct. The "Heavenly Dao Insight" activated. Darkness enveloped her. Countless floating scripture fragments swirled in the void—each a potential technique.
"So this is my innate skill... those characters must each represent a different cultivation method."
She glanced at the pitch-black surroundings and at her own now translucent hands. Somehow, she knew intuitively: Each character contained massive amounts of information. She only needed to choose one.
"Trust instinct. Don't force it."
Her ethereal hand brushed a cluster of characters.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
BOOM.
Knowledge flooded her mind:
[Everlasting Spring Art / Changchun Gong (Incomplete)]
The longer cultivated, the greater its effects.
"I finally have a cultivation method... I need to start immediately!"
Without opening her eyes, Su Min began to slowly guide her inner energy according to the instructions of the Changchun Gong. She desperately needed to take that first step—onto the road of immortality.
---Meanwhile, in Yu City's Chunhong Brothel...
"She's a witch! A witch!" The thugs who had fled were now screaming at a middle-aged woman.
The woman was tall—nearly 1.8 meters—and powerfully built, with thick, ropy muscles. At a glance, she was enough to make even grown men instinctively tremble.
She was the madam of Chunhong Brothel. Under her management, the courtesans were so thoroughly disciplined that they would obediently fulfill any request a customer made.
"A bunch of useless trash. You let her get away, didn't you?"
The madam sneered coldly at the trembling thugs. She knew exactly how weak that little girl was. If she herself had been there, she could have subdued her with a single hand. It was just because the girl had only arrived today and she hadn't yet had time to "train" her properly. Give her a week, and she'd have the girl eating out of her palm.
"It's true! If you don't believe us, we can go look! The body's still there! She killed Niu Ma!"
"Hmm?"
The madam narrowed her eyes at the panicking thugs. Normally, these men were unruly and fearless. Their terror didn't seem faked. Her expression darkened, and she turned sharply to head deeper into the courtyard.