Yue Rin was currently in tears, and it almost made her angrier than the wound itself.
Not when that cultivator's sword bit into her neck. Not when death brushed past her throat. Only now, while she sat with her back to a tree and safety close enough to taste, did the pain bloom properly and drag the tears out of her.
"Hsss… why does it hurt so bad… sob."
Her fingers shook as she sprinkled the hemostasis powder over the cut. The powder stung like it was chewing through her skin, then slowly, grudgingly, the bleeding began to slow.
After a few breaths, once it felt 'good enough' to not drip freely, she smeared on the infection paste. The wound probably wouldn't get infected, not from a clean cut in open air, but she did it anyway. Better safe than sorry as they say.
When she finished, she packed everything back into her backpack with careful, clumsy hands.
"Oh right. Almost forgot."
She pulled out her Qi-replenishing pills and sorted them where she could grab them without thinking. Ten low common pills into her left pocket. Three mid common pills into her right.
Only then did she take out a biscuit and a waterskin. She set her backpack to the side, leaned against the trunk, and let out a long, shaky breath before eating and drinking.
She actually won!
The thought hit so hard it made her lightheaded. A laugh bubbled up, ugly and disbelieving, and she almost choked on the biscuit. She had to gulp water fast just to force it down.
She had fought another cultivator. Not a beast. Not a spar. A real human trying to kill her, and she had won.
A grin spread across her face before she could stop it. She could not wait to leave the realm and find A-Ling. She would tell her everything and brag until A-Ling rolled her eyes.
As for that last villain line the man threw out before he escaped, Yue Rin refused to fear it. She beat him once. What was a second time? And if he really went down some demonic path and came back stronger… well, good luck finding her. She could take off her cloak, change her clothes, and vanish.
After her quick meal, she secured her backpack again and took out a shield talisman. She pressed it against her clothes and fed a thin thread of Qi into it until warmth settled over her skin like an invisible layer.
Then she settled into a meditative posture and began to cultivate.
Qi ran through her meridians and returned to her dantian in slow cycles. But cultivation was not sleep. Though her body loosened, her mind stayed half-awake, listening. Worse, after a fight like that, her focus kept slipping, as if her thoughts wanted to replay the blade flashing toward her throat.
Still, her dantian had dipped under 20%. She needed to fill it back before she moved.
While her Qi recovered, she planned her next steps.
She did not know where she was. As the realm was simply too vast. The best step right now was to find higher ground, locate a landmark from memory, then secure a temporary shelter where she could rest, eat, and find water. From there, she could work out which direction led toward the forest that held the orchid and the Mantle Canopy Ape.
When Yue Rin opened her eyes again, night had already swallowed the forest.
Moonlight filtered through gaps in the trees, thin and pale. Cultivation left her calmer, but it did not leave her rested. Her limbs still felt heavy, and the sting in her neck reminded her she was not allowed to relax.
She needed a place to sleep, and sleeping out in the open was an invitation for trouble.
Hoisting her backpack, she went deeper into the trees, one hand always a heartbeat away from her sword.
Walking through a forest at night still felt unreal. The first time she entered the secret realm, she had been terrified, shaking so badly her teeth clicked. Now she was steadier. Still scared, yes, but not trembling like a leaf.
Maybe she was braver.
Or maybe winning a fight had inflated her ego a little.
As she moved, faint sounds drifted through the trees ahead. Metal on metal. Shouts. The rough, ugly rhythm of a battle.
Yue Rin slowed.
Last time, the realm had not been this lively on the first day. Back then, most people only turned to robbing each other near the end, once they realized how bare the realm was and started trying to recover their losses the easiest way.
So were there more cultivators than usual this time? A-Ling had mentioned higher demand. The entry price had risen too.
Yue Rin's first instinct was to turn away and go the opposite direction.
Then curiosity dug its nails into her.
Curiosity had dragged countless cultivators into graves, and Yue Rin had never been good at walking away from a mystery.
She told herself she would only peek. One look, then leave.
Her feet, unfortunately, agreed to the first part and ignored the second.
The fight was near a clearing beside a large pond. Yue Rin crouched behind a tree at the edge of the brush and peeked out.
Three cultivators were pressing two others hard, forcing them back toward the water. The five of them moved in bursts and flashes, blades catching moonlight in quick, sharp lines.
"We found this pond first!" Han Lu shouted, breathing hard as he dodged. "Are you shameless enough to steal it from us?"
"Steal?" Qiao Min laughed, "I would call it borrowing."
Han Lu tried to retreat, but he failed to anticipate a strike from the side. He swung his sword in a short arc to block, and in that instant, the Qiao Min in front of him slashed across his flank. The wounded man screamed and stumbled back.
His partner's face tightened. "Brother, we should leave!"
Han Lu, wounded, could only nod, jaw clenched, pride bleeding out of him as fast as the cut.
They disengaged at once, and both disappeared into the dark forest.
"Should we chase them?" Deng Hai asked.
Qiao Min shook his head. "The realm won't close anytime soon. If fate wills it, we'll cross paths again. We've walked too long, and that fight took more out of us than it should've. Since we found water at last. let's rest."
The other two agreed and walked toward the pond.
Yue Rin clicked her tongue silently.
She backed away, choosing a path that avoided the direction the fleeing pair had gone. Better not to run into them either, injured and angry.
She had only taken a few steps when a shout ripped through the clearing.
"Watch out!"
The pond exploded.
Water blasted upward, and something massive surged out of it, sending a heavy wave rolling across the surface. The three cultivators barely managed to react, but even so, the force of the water struck them and threw them back like they were toys.
As the spray fell, the creature revealed itself.
A turtle, ancient-looking and huge, with a wide shell mottled in moss. Faint blue patterns ran along the it like flowing water etched into stone. Algae clung to its back, and even a few lily pads rode the shell as if it had been part of the pond for years.
Its eyes were amber and steady. Its skin was a muddled green-blue.
A heavy pressure rolled out the moment it appeared and settled over the clearing, revelaing it's realm.
Peak Qi Foundation.
Yue Rin's throat tightened.
The turtle hissed, deep and rough, displeased. It had likely ignored animals coming to drink before, but these intruders had not come quietly. They had shouted and clashed steel right beside its home, disturbing it until even a patient beast snapped.
It gulped a mouthful of water and spat.
A jet of water lanced out like a spear toward Qiao Min.
He dodged sideways, barely, and barked, "Are you both alright?"
Deng Hai groaned, pushing himself up. "Only bruises. Though I'm quite dizzy."
"Same."
Qiao Min let out a breath, then his eyes sharpened as another jet tore past him.
"I'm thinking of taking it," he said quickly, breath coming hard. "What do you two think?"
"Boss, that's dangerous," Deng Hai protested. "Kang Loen and I are only at the mid layer."
"So what?" Qiao Min snapped, then grinned like he was already counting profit. "It's just a stupid spirit beast. There are three of us. So far all it's done is spray water. We test it. If it has nothing else, we kill it and get rich off its materials."
The other two hesitated, then nodded and split to either side, trying to flank.
Yue Rin watched, calculating.
Those three weren't bringing that turtle down any time soon. Not quickly, and not without paying for it.
But Yue Rin's attention drifted to the pond itself.
A peak Qi Foundation turtle did not sit on an ordinary pond for fun.
If it was guarding this place, there was a reason. A spirit herb, perhaps. Something valuable, likely beneath the water.
Her gaze fixed on the dark surface.
But, how could she enter it without being noticed?