Chapter 5

I cut down every obstacle in my path and fought my way into the top fifty.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but the rust on Big Sword seemed slightly thinner, revealing the faint outlines of several strange runes beneath it.

I had no attention to spare for them.

At that moment, I was counting so many spirit stones my hands had gone weak.

As an impoverished disciple of Forgecraft Peak, I was experiencing the pure joy of a newly rich upstart.

Just then, a shadow abruptly fell across me.

Surrounded by admirers and dressed in moon-white robes, Ah Yuan landed before me and said sweetly, “I challenge her.”

The seven-stringed zither in her hands obligingly bobbed as she spoke, almost as if nodding.

Under the rules of the Immortal Examination, a higher-ranked contestant could challenge anyone below them. Ah Yuan was in the top twenty, so she naturally had the right to challenge me, and I had no right to refuse.

She smiled at me again. “Sister, I thought you would never be worthy of becoming my opponent. I didn’t expect you to be rather capable.”

There it was.

That feeling of being enveloped in dense spiritual energy whenever she came close had returned!

I narrowed my eyes in bliss and happily accepted Ah Yuan’s challenge.

The reason was simple.

Cultivation was inherently harder for spirit plants than for human cultivators. Besides, I had placed first in the Immortal Trials. My circumstances since then might have been poor, but victory after victory had swollen my confidence considerably.

Even if I could not defeat Ah Yuan, dragging the match out would let me absorb some of her spiritual energy.

And perhaps I could defeat her after all.

My reasoning was simple.

I never imagined that in only two moves, Ah Yuan would send me flying. Her soft-soled boot ground brutally into my face, while her gentle, innocent features twisted with obsession.

“Master said I was born without a spiritual root. Even if I can cultivate, I will never develop immortal bones. He never said it outright, but I know he is disappointed.

“That is the one regret Master and I share. You could have had what I want without effort, yet you squandered your talent and chose a good-for-nothing as your master. In what way could he possibly compare to Master?

“But it doesn’t matter. Once I destroy your spiritual root, we’ll be the same. No, you’ll be even worse off than I am. Master will no longer regret losing you, and from then on, I’ll be the only person he cares about.”

As Ah Yuan spoke, she plucked her seven-stringed zither. A single note shattered every bone and sinew in my body, and I spat out a great mouthful of blood.

The elders watching the match noticed, but they merely frowned. Not one stepped in to stop her.

Death was permitted in the Immortal Examination. They had no grounds to interfere.

This could not continue.

My mind raced through every cultivation art I had read in the library. Useful or not, I tried them all.

At some point, Big Sword suddenly gave a resonant hum. I raised my hand on instinct, and murderous sword qi shot straight toward Ah Yuan.

At the critical instant—

Pain stabbed through my wrist. Big Sword flew from my grasp, and the taut string in my mind snapped at the same moment.

With immense effort, I raised my eyes. Through the haze, I glimpsed a white figure breaking through the training ground’s barrier and gathering Ah Yuan into his arms.

It was Shen Du.

Goddamn Shen Du.

His precious Ah Yuan had nearly beaten me to death, and he had played dead and pretended not to see.

I fought back once, and he came out to beat me half to death.

You cheating little bastard. You can dish it out, but you can’t take it!

I crashed to the ground. Before losing consciousness, I stubbornly raised one middle finger in their direction.