Without paying any more attention to the weeping thugs, the old madam made her way alone through the lavishly decorated courtyard to an unremarkable corner. Lifting a wooden panel, she descended a spiraling staircase into a hidden chamber.
Unlike the glittering luxury outside, the air here was thick with the stench of rot. The source of that stench was the "person" in the center of the room. Or rather, it could hardly be called a person anymore — the decaying body was covered in thick calluses, resembling a withered tree trunk from a distance.
"Mistress... the girl escaped today."
The madam, who had been so imperious and domineering before the thugs, now cowered like a guilty kitten before this decaying figure, trembling uncontrollably. From a distance, she even looked a bit like a golden ingot tossed on the floor.
"That girl... The one meant to be offered to you... the one with exceptionally strong innate spiritual energy..."
Boom!
A terrifying gust of force erupted, sending the old madam tumbling through the room like a kicked ingot. She rolled several times before crashing into a wall and finally stopping. Through the raging wind, bones could be seen piled under the bed where the decaying figure lay — all slender and delicate, clearly the remains of young girls.
"Just one more... just one more, and this old body will regain youth and grant you all immortality. At dawn tomorrow, you must go into the city and find the Governor. Tell him to mobilize everyone in Yu City (Yucheng) to search — even if they have to dig three feet into the ground, they must find her. Such an innately gifted girl is a rare treasure."
"Yes!!!"
"No... don't wait for dawn. Take my token now and find the Governor. Have him set out immediately to capture her before sunrise."
With that, the old monster tossed a token at the madam. She caught it hurriedly, not daring to delay for even a moment. She knew very well: disobeying the Master's orders meant certain death.
—
Dawn. The Mountains.
"Hu—"
As the first rays of sunlight pierced the sky, Su Min awoke from her meditation and let out a long breath.
"I've finally crossed that threshold... This Changchun Gong really suits my talents... though it's a little..."
Feeling the changes within her body, Su Min showed a rare, faint smile. The only downside was that the Changchun Gong wasn't the kind of martial art that offered quick boosts in power.
---[Name: Su Min]
[Cultivation: Early Body Refining (Mortal)]
[Talent: Immortality (having infinite lifespan and not aging)]
[Divine Ability: Heavenly Dao Insight(Over time, comprehend techniques from the cosmos)]
[Cultivation Art: Changchun Gong (Fragmented)]
[Skill: Basic Sword Control – Three Forms]
[Life-bound Spirit Treasure: Flying Sword Embryo (Yellow-Grade, Low-Quality)]---
At her current level, she could easily wipe out the thugs she encountered the night before, even without help.
"Still... I've only just started refining my body, not even reaching the Innate Qi Cultivation stage. This doesn't really count as true cultivation yet — it's more like martial arts. Right now, the most important thing is to find a remote and quiet place to properly cultivate."
Despite her small achievement, Su Min remained clear-headed. She knew she needed to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible. However, her expression darkened a moment later.
"I can't remember any safe places around here, and this dynasty..."
Now that she finally had a sliver of peace to sift through the memories she had inherited, Su Min's heart grew heavier by the breath. This wasn't just some unfamiliar land—this was a dynasty that had marked her for death. The Su Clan had been exterminated, the name erased from records and memory alike. And she remembered it all.
Every moment from infancy to the age of fourteen—every fear, every humiliation, every long night staring at the walls of a prison cell too cold for a child. Even if those memories hadn't originally belonged to her, they were carved deep into her bones now, threaded through her soul like old scars that wouldn't fade. She was Su Min, in every sense that mattered.
But even with all those memories—no, because of them—she knew she could do nothing right now.
Her body was still weak, just stepped into the Early Body Refining stage. Even if she hadn't suffered as badly as the others—being a government official's daughter and a girl had spared her from the worst—her body still bore the weight of that place. The brothel hounds had nearly dragged her back in just las night.
All she could do now was hide, and endure. She exhaled slowly, forcing down the tightness in her chest.
"Ten years," she murmured, almost to herself. "Twenty, if needed. Let them forget me. Let them think the last Su is already dead."
Her eyes gleamed, not with grief, but with quiet resolve.
"I'll take it all back when I'm ready."
And when she did, not a single soul who had wronged her—past or present—would be spared.
However, just as she made up her mind—
"There! The tracks lead that way! Looks like she went into that abandoned temple — hurry, catch her and there's a big reward!"
A burst of shouting startled her. Su Min's breath caught. Instinct took over—she forced her aching body upright, gritting her teeth against the sharp pull in her side. Without hesitation, she pushed off the ground and scrambled into the trees. Her limbs protested every movement, but she didn't stop.
She vaulted from one branch to another—not gracefully, but urgently—her balance shaky, her vision swimming slightly from the exertion. It wasn't elegant. It wasn't efficient. But it got her far enough to reach a thick clump of brush, where she dropped low and stilled her breathing.
Moments later, several men in constable uniforms charged into the spot where she had been resting. They were armed with wide blades, their eyes scanning the undergrowth with trained precision.
"Damn it. Fan out! She couldn't have gone far!"
Su Min narrowed her eyes.
"Huh?"
She frowned slightly in confusion. "This feels… wrong."
Even in her weakened state, she could tell this wasn't a normal manhunt. The timing, the urgency—something about it reeked of more than just capturing an escaped girl.
"I should check somewhere else."
Sensing that something wasn't right, Su Min chose not to reveal herself. Instead, she stealthily retraced her steps toward where she'd first come.
At the Early Body Refining stage, she should have been able to move with ease—scaling walls, leaping rooftops, dashing across rugged terrain like the martial heroes of legend.
Should have.
But her body wasn't there yet.
She slowly crept away, moving low to the ground to avoid detection. The weight in her limbs hadn't lessened—in fact, her body screamed with every crouch and stretch. Under normal conditions, as someone who had stepped into the Early Body Refining stage, she would've been able to flit between rooftops or scale cliffsides like a martial arts heroine from the storybooks.
But right now, she was far from her best. Her muscles were still recovering, her qi circulation sluggish, her stamina poor. Every movement was forced—driven not by power, but by necessity.
Still, necessity was enough.
Meanwhile, deep in a ravine at the base of the mountain, a group of people had gathered around examining a corpse.
"The wound is smooth and clean, as if carved by the finest blade. Are you sure it was that girl? To cause injuries like this would require considerable strength."
The Governor of Yu City frowned as he inspected the cross-section Niu Ma' corpses, looking deeply troubled. They were too neat.
"I saw it with my own eyes! That witch conjured a sword out of nowhere and, with just one swipe, Niu Ma boss was chopped into several pieces — he didn't even die immediately!"
"Governor, no need to hesitate. The girl must have fled into the mountains. Please mobilize the city's forces and seal off this mountain range. Search every inch if you must."
The madam, speaking bluntly and arrogantly, cut in. The scene was disturbingly strange — a mere brothel madam ordering the city's Governor around like a servant. Yet, shockingly, the Governor said nothing to oppose her, only furrowed his brow.
"Very well. Before His Majesty sent me here, he did grant me certain special authorities... I'll deploy five thousand troops to surround the mountains. That pampered little girl won't last long. I will just treat it as getting rid of harm for the people."
He turned to a middle-aged officer clad in armor and whispered a few instructions, which made the latter look a little surprised.
It was a bit too much to mobilize 5,000 troops just like that. But since the order was here, he couldn't say anything. He turned around, got on his horse, and went to the city to mobilize the troops.
When Su Min arrived at the ridge and looked down, she saw the Governor and the old madam conversing politely. Unfortunately, she was too far away to hear what they were saying.
"That's the Governor... talking so courteously to a brothel madam? Something is seriously wrong. It seems that the one targeting me is not an ordinary person."
After observing for a while, Su Min realized the situation was far more dangerous than she had first imagined.