Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: The Plot Unfolds

"Swish—"

The girl in blue gripped her sword as she remembered, thrusting it forward with all her might. The sword light shimmered as the tip pierced steadily into the beast’s skull.

The beast roared in pain, its breath heavy and labored like thunder. After a feeble struggle, its limbs scraping the ground, it closed its eyes in defeat and collapsed, lifeless.

"I did it!" Ming He exclaimed, pulling out her long sword and gazing at the tip with a spark of excitement.

After three months here, she had finally grasped sword energy, marking her first step into the world of swordsmanship. The girl in blue sheathed her sword, her tightly wound heart easing slightly.

As she relaxed, a sharp pain in her right shoulder reminded her of the wound from her battle with the beast. With no time to tend to it, she let the blood stain her clothes.

Ming He sighed with a wry smile, retrieving a small porcelain bottle from her storage pouch. She poured out a pill and swallowed it.

Though injured, she was alive. Not only had she grasped sword energy, but she had also slain the beast.

She had only meant to pick a spirit herb, but the beast had chased her for three days and nights, nearly costing her life.

Ming He glanced at the spirit herb in her arms, her eyes gleaming as she looked at the beast. Though she had only been here for three months, she knew the beasts were treasures.

She would harvest materials from the beast and exchange them at the task hall for spirit stones, adding to her resources.

With a smile, the girl in blue bent down and drew a sharp blade, clumsily beginning to dismantle the beast.

The beast that had chased her seemed formidable, but only because her skills were still developing. In truth, only its hide and horns held value.

Still, Ming He believed in not wasting anything. She cut the beast into pieces, filling her small storage pouch to the brim.

Done! Ming He clapped her hands, wiping away the blood, and turned to leave.

"Stop!" A commanding voice rang out behind her.

Ming He paused for a moment, then dashed forward with even greater speed.

If you tell me to stop, why should I listen? That would be too embarrassing!

"Bold, aren’t you?" The voice behind her seethed with anger.

"Whoosh—"

The sound of something slicing through the air reached her ears. Before she could react, a pebble grazed her right knee, causing a slight sting.

Though unharmed, the distraction slowed her, and the pursuers quickly surrounded her.

Ming He retracted her spiritual energy and landed, raising her gaze to see about ten people. At their head stood a boy in gray, exuding arrogance.

Beside him was a young man with a knife-shaped scar on his face, his expression fierce and menacing, a stone still clutched in his hand.

He was the one who had struck her.

A cold glint flashed in Ming He’s eyes. "Why are you blocking my path?"

"Hand over your storage pouch," the boy in gray demanded, his tone haughty.

"Heh!" Ming He let out a cold laugh, amused by the situation. "So you’re here to rob me? How naive."

"How dare you speak like that in front of Senior Brother Wang!" the scar-faced man barked, turning to the boy in gray with exaggerated respect.

"Senior Brother Wang?" Ming He echoed with a faint smile, her eyes sharp. She couldn’t sense any superior cultivation from the boy in gray.

In fact, among everyone present, he seemed to have the lowest level of skill.

"You don’t understand? Senior Brother Wang’s brother, the one from the outer sect?" The Scar-faced Man boasted proudly. "Looking at your outfit, you must be an outer sect disciple of the Liu Yun Sect? What, you don’t even recognize Senior Brother Wang’s status?"

The Senior Brother Wang he referred to was not the same as before.

The man spoke rapidly, not noticing the gradual coldness in the Boy in Gray’s eyes behind him.

"Oh, are you talking about Wang Feilong?" Ming He glanced around, secretly calculating her escape methods.

"Enough, hand over your storage pouch," the Boy in Gray interrupted her impatiently, adding, "I don’t want your belongings or spirit stones; I just want to check if that stolen spirit herb belonging to Senior Sister Liu is with you."

Spirit herb?

Ming He’s eyes flickered. So, the spirit herb she obtained also caught someone else’s eye?

Still—first come, first served! Once it was in her hands, no one could take it away.

"That’s impossible!" Ming He firmly rejected, channeling her spiritual energy and swiftly attacking the Boy in Gray, her eyes resolute and her heart determined.

Since he was Wang Feilong’s brother, these people wouldn’t dare not save him. Moreover, with her cultivation so much higher than his, they were naturally drawn to the powerful figure behind him.

If that was the case, the credit for saving the Boy in Gray would far overshadow that of blocking her.

As Ming He had guessed, seeing her wield her sword fiercely, the cultivators who had originally surrounded her all gathered by the Boy in Gray, leaving a large space around her.

"Go!" Ming He whispered, using all her strength to hurl her long sword toward the spot where the Boy in Gray stood, her body retreating several meters from the force of the throw.

The Girl in Blue gathered her spiritual energy and leaped onto the treetops, quickly darting through the branches and disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Senior Brother Wang, are you alright?"

"Senior Brother Wang, are you injured?"

"Senior Brother Wang…"

About ten people surrounded the Boy in Gray, appearing tense, yet their eyes were calm and composed.

"What are you all crowding around me for?" The Boy in Gray roared, "Bring her back!"

"No, just kill her!" The Boy in Gray was deeply unsettled.

How dare she attack him? She was simply asking for trouble! Hmph, so what if they were all outer sect disciples of the Liu Yun Sect?

There were so many outer sect disciples; no one would even know if one of them died. Besides, even if they did, who would punish him?

"Understood." The Scar-faced Man was the first to agree, his figure flashing as he pursued the direction in which Ming He had disappeared.

"We’re going too," the others said, unwilling to show weakness.

Outer area of the Liu Yun Mountains.

Ming He moved swiftly, feeling several powerful presences relentlessly pursuing her, growing a bit annoyed.

It’s so hard to shake them off! Their cultivation levels were higher than hers; she had just managed to escape through a mix of cunning and luck.

But if she got caught again, she wouldn’t have a second chance at good luck.

At that time, she might just lose her life.

This cultivation world is so difficult, Ming He thought of the novels she had read in her past life, full of killing for treasures, where the weak were devoured by the strong. Her heart was filled with both anxiety and excitement.

However, it would be more thrilling if her cultivation were higher! Dancing on the edge of a sword was fun, but getting killed in the process would be disastrous.

The Girl in Blue silently cursed, her feet not slowing as she darted into a deep forest, lightly stepping over branches on her way toward the sect.

"I found you!" The Scar-faced Man emerged from behind the towering tree in front of Ming He, his gaze locked onto her like a predator eyeing its prey, filled with a mix of fervor and chill.

Ming He was startled and immediately turned to flee.

"You can’t escape," the Scar-faced Man whispered, not wanting to alert others. He was determined to claim this victory for himself.

With this thought, he raised his large knife and swung it down with formidable force and speed.

Ming He quickly ducked behind a tree, her mind racing with strategies.

Her sword had been thrown at the boy in gray earlier, leaving her unarmed and vulnerable.

The girl in blue watched as the blood-stained dagger split the tree in half, and a flicker of fear crossed her eyes.

The Scar-faced Man noticed and felt confident about her predicament, believing victory was within his grasp.

Not wanting to cause a commotion, he looked at Ming He with evident pride and said, "Senior Brother Wang ordered me to take your life. If you want to blame someone, blame him."

He gathered some spiritual energy to prevent any sound from escaping and swung the knife towards Ming He again, his expression relaxed and carefree.

Now’s the time!

Ming He’s eyes sharpened, and she nimbly sidestepped to avoid the attack, but instead of running away, she crouched low and charged straight into the Scar-faced Man’s arms, leaving no room for retreat.

The Scar-faced Man panicked; he had anticipated her dodging toward a particular spot, so his attack was aimed there. However, Ming He’s unexpected reaction left him struggling to counter her.

Ming He couldn’t care less about his thoughts; she had only one chance, and it would vanish in the blink of an eye, so she had to seize it.

She gripped the sharp small blade she had taken out while he wasn’t paying attention and plunged it into his chest, hitting her mark perfectly.

This small blade could cut through the bones of beasts, and it was sharper than her sword, more than enough to kill a cultivator who hadn’t developed protective violent energy yet.

"You…" The Scar-faced Man widened his eyes in disbelief, unwilling to accept his fate as he fell, soon taking his last breath.

"Ha…" Ming He took a deep breath, staring blankly at the blood on her hands, her emotions churning inside.

In her two lives, this was the first time she had killed someone. A lively life extinguished in an instant; she truly could not remain indifferent.

Even though in the cultivation world, lives were as cheap as grass, and killing for treasures was common, she still… couldn’t accept it.

What just happened was a primal instinct for survival in a life-and-death moment, but now that the danger had passed, looking at the body on the ground made Ming He feel a mix of pain and conflict.

"He wanted to kill you first; if he didn’t die, you would have died." Ming He comforted herself, but her mood remained heavy.

She knew, however, that this wasn’t the time to dwell on heavy feelings. The boy in gray had about ten others with him, and one was dead, but there were still more.

She couldn’t defeat any of them; not everyone would fall for the same trick. Some schemes only worked the first time. Ming He understood this well.

Thus, the girl in blue bent down to pick up the Scar-faced Man’s storage pouch and knife, thinking that now she could easily make it back to the sect without those people noticing. She decided to head deeper into the mountain, to hide for a while before returning to the sect.

Beasts were far easier to deceive than humans!

Feeling pleased with her decision, the girl in blue turned and headed deeper into the mountains.

A quarter of an hour after she left, several presences approached and soon reached the spot where Ming He had just stood.

"Should we continue searching?" someone asked, looking at the body of the Scar-faced Man and the empty space at his waist, hesitating.

"Let’s go back and report to Senior Brother Wang first," another replied.

In the face of life and death, of course, one’s own life was the most important.

"A bunch of useless fools!" The boy in gray muttered in anger, "I’ll go talk to Senior Sister Liu." He turned and walked away, unaware of the icy ridicule in the eyes of those behind him.

Inside the inner area of the Liu Yun Mountains,

Ming He cautiously avoided beasts as she felt no more chasing presences behind her. She stayed a little longer, then chose a different path to return to the sect.

Hmm? What’s that?

As she looked around, Ming He spotted an ancient flag hanging in mid-air, fluttering in the wind with a rustling sound. Curiously, she hid behind a broken stone and peered out, using the gnarled branches to get a better view.

Before her was a low valley; the ancient flag hung above it, and below the flag stood a few people, seemingly arranged in a certain formation.

In the center stood… a Woman in White?

The distance was a bit far, so Ming He couldn’t see clearly. Curiosity tugged at her as she stretched her head to try to catch a glimpse of the woman’s face.

The air was eerily quiet when suddenly the sound of cicadas erupted. Ming He was startled, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

In the next moment, reality struck—

Her neck suddenly felt cold, something icy pressed against her vital point: a sword against her throat.

"Come with me," a deep, hoarse voice ordered from behind her.