"This old hag… looks like I'll have to report this to His Majesty."
The governor said nothing aloud, but inside, he was cursing. Setting fire to the mountains would bring the wrath of the mountain gods upon them. According to ancient tales, burning the mountains often led to plagues of mice and crop failures — disasters of divine punishment. And if the heavens decided to blame someone, he would be the one suffering.
In truth, he felt a bit of pity for the Su family. A good Ministry of Revenue official, now completely ruined. With that thought, he lost interest in lingering any longer. He turned his horse around and rode back toward the city, leaving behind the madam of the brothel, who watched everything with a venomous gaze.
Her master had not punished her yet, which meant she still had a chance. Otherwise...Just thinking about it made her shudder uncontrollably.
A few days later, inside the imperial palace.
"Escaped? Useless fools. You can't even keep track of a little girl, and now you expect me to send more troops? Summon ten thousand soldiers from three neighboring provinces to hunt one person? You've gone too far!"
Emperor Wei of Great Wei narrowed his eyes, staring at the memorial in his hand while stroking a jade ruyi scepter.
"I even gifted you the daughter of the Su family. You let her slip away, and now you want me to move the army. Do you have any idea how much a mobilization of this scale costs?"
"Your Majesty... do you desire immortality?"
Before his voice had even fully fallen, a sharp, rasping voice emanated from the jade scepter — the same mysterious figure the madam had seen days before.
"Hoo..."
At these words, Emperor Wei's breathing grew slightly rapid. But clearly, the voice felt that wasn't enough — it continued:
"That girl is naturally suited for cultivation. In a moment of desperation, she already managed to release minor spells. But without proper cultivation methods to assist her, she cannot refine and absorb spiritual energy properly. Right now, if we send a few fearless men, she can still be captured easily. However..."
"Speak!"
The emperor, tinged with jealousy, urged impatiently.He lacked the girl's innate gift — and he was too old to change that.
"You must realize that now the heavens have reopened. Beings like me are no longer unique. If she by chance encounters another fateful opportunity... don't forget, Your Majesty, you wiped out her entire family. She will surely hold a grudge."
"Therefore, Emperor, stop hesitating. I am only one step away from full restoration — and she is that step. This is not something you can fix later by throwing more men at the problem."
"I understand. Summon General Mu. I have a task for him."
Hearing all this, Emperor Wei no longer hesitated. A being like that girl, one bearing such hatred toward him — he could not allow it to exist. No matter the price, he would capture her. No one could be allowed to threaten him — not even the smallest chance.
In the mountains.
"Huff... so hot... but it should be done. This body really is like a standard player's physique."
Carefully extinguishing the fire before her, Su Min retrieved a freshly crafted pill. Sniffing it under her nose, a bright smile crossed her face. She had successfully refined bigu dan. At the same time, she noticed some peculiar traits about her new body — very much like a player's setup in a game.
In cultivation, most practitioners would face bottlenecks. But player characters — heroes in games — did not. Instead, players could choose to delay their advancement voluntarily to gather better resources. For example, at the Foundation Establishment stage, there were three paths: Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao.
Almost all players would hold off until they could walk the Heavenly Dao, spending years gathering rare items. It was not because they couldn't advance — but because they chose not to. There were also secondary professions — alchemy, forging, arrays — that players could freely master.
Thus, a main character inserted into a cultivation world would naturally be an unrivaled genius.Su Min's situation was the same — otherwise, how could she possibly have entered the Body Tempering stage overnight, using only a damaged and incomplete cultivation method?
Now, with the Fasting Pill refined, she at least no longer had to worry about food. The next step was cultivating — only by becoming stronger could she survive. Thinking this, Su Min slowly pulled out her spirit weapon. Unfortunately, to further refine it, she needed to reach the Qi Refining stage first.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
The Body Tempering stage merely prepared the body for Qi Refining — guiding energy into the body. Her current method, the Changchun Gong, was a Qi-gathering method. Even during idle moments, she needed to constantly absorb spiritual energy, tempering her body.
That's what she had been doing these past few days. Now, being hunted by the authorities, she dared not even sleep deeply — using her cultivation to maintain a semi-meditative state, alert to any threat. After all, in the deep mountains, wolves, tigers, and leopards roamed freely. Sleeping too soundly meant courting death.
However, she hadn't been cultivating for long when a series of heavy footsteps reached her ears. Su Min's eyes snapped open immediately, scanning her surroundings warily. Her sword was already drawn — ready for action.
Swoosh!
A piercing sound split the air. Su Min reacted instantly, slashing her sword forward — splitting the incoming projectile.
"An arrow?"
Seeing the object she had struck down, Su Min's heart tightened. Only then did she realize she was surrounded — soldiers armed with shields and machetes had closed in around her. The arrow had merely been a probe — fired by a single archer. After seeing her deflect it, the archer too had abandoned ranged attacks and raised his shield, moving in.
"A hunter mixed in among them... no wonder."
Despite being encircled, Su Min remained calm. She quickly assessed the situation — and noticed a rugged hunter among the soldiers. Although Su Min had been cautious, she wasn't professionally trained. No doubt she had left subtle traces behind — unnoticeable to ordinary soldiers but easily spotted by an experienced hunter.
"Daughter of the criminal Su clan, surrender your weapon immediately!"
A soldier barked loudly. Su Min rolled her eyes at him. That yell caused a moment of distraction among the soldiers — they were all waiting to see what she would say.
"Now's my chance."
Seizing the moment, Su Min leaped forward — stepping on the shoulders of two soldiers, crushing their bones beneath her feet, and vaulting out of the encirclement. In an instant, she appeared before the hunter — and before he could even react, she slit his throat with a single stroke.
Then she darted into the dense forest, vanishing from sight — leaving behind two screaming soldiers clutching their broken shoulders and a fresh corpse. The rest of the soldiers could only stare in stunned silence.
Such agility!
This move was too agile, and the mountains were high and the forests were dense, so it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Although they had received training, they were ordinary people after all and naturally could not stop it.