Chapter 4: The Fall

The Gale Leopard’s movements halted, its massive body lurching violently.

Then…

“Yueh!”

Song Zhiyou’s eyes lit up.

It worked!

After realizing the question mark she’d drawn had a special effect, she’d been pondering this very idea.

If a question mark could make her brain spin, what would happen if she unleashed Op Art? How would that scoundrel cope?

She’d tested it on herself and vomited on the spot.

But she wasn’t sure how it would affect cultivators or demon beasts with higher cultivation.

Now she had her answer—the effect was just as impressive.

Before the Gale Leopard could recover, Song Zhiyou whipped out a dagger and stabbed it viciously in the eye.

The beast howled in pain and went berserk, wind blades materializing from the void and slicing indiscriminately at everything around.

Song Zhiyou dodged, searching for another chance to strike.

The Leopard’s roars and thrashing seemed to make the ground itself tremble.

No… wait!

The ground really was shaking!

Violently!

She looked up. Rocks and earth collapsed with a thunderous roar. Massive cracks spiderwebbed toward her, arriving in an instant.

Finally, the ground split beneath her feet!

Fragments of stone and dust showered down. The world spun. Song Zhiyou tumbled, caught off guard, and fell into the chasm.

It finally dawned on her why the Gale Leopard had been at the edge in the first place.

It must have sensed the mountain collapsing ahead of time!

But even though it had fled to the outskirts, it still couldn’t escape.

How massive was the underground collapse in the core area?

The thought flickered through her mind, and she immediately curled into a ball, frantically circulating her spiritual power to protect her head and heart. Upon landing, she rolled to absorb the impact.

Even so, she was struck several times by rocks, scrapes covering her body.

After an unknown amount of time, the beast’s roars and the tremors ceased. The air fell silent. Song Zhiyou gasped, lifted her head, and looked around.

Darkness surrounded her, with only faint light filtering down through the fissure above, dimly illuminating tunnels leading to unknown places.

And the crack she’d fallen through had vanished after more earth-shaking.

Her leg was broken—a stone had hit it—but she felt lucky.

Not far away, the Gale Leopard that had fallen with her lay buried under rocks, unconscious.

The dizziness from her spell and its injured eye had greatly hindered its movements.

The chaos had driven it mad, and its frantic thrashing during the earthquake had only caused more rocks to fall, doubling the damage it took.

Just then, the unconscious Leopard stirred.

It slowly opened its remaining eye, struggling to rise from under the rubble.

Song Zhiyou tensed every muscle and crawled toward it step by step.

Sensing the approaching danger, the beast struggled more violently. Grip tight on her dagger, she took a deep breath and plunged it into the Leopard’s abdomen, ending its life.

Afterward, Song Zhiyou sat blankly against the rock wall for a long time.

The thick smell of blood lingered in her nose. The sensation of the blade piercing flesh still echoed in her mind. Her fingers trembled.

She had truly killed a living being.

Finally, she couldn’t hold it in—she vomited violently, until not even a trace of bile remained.

The Gale Leopard was no longer just data in a game or a name in a novel. It wasn’t even a piece of processed meat on a cutting board.

It was a real creature, alive and kicking right in front of her moments ago.

This was the first time Song Zhiyou so clearly realized that where she was now was a world of immortal cultivation and slaughter, utterly different from the peaceful era she knew.

She wanted to run, but she eventually erased that thought.

She wouldn’t flee.

Survival of the fittest—that was the rule of this world.

From now on, she would kill more demon beasts, and maybe even… people.

Like her brother—she definitely had to kill him.

Pinching her palm, Song Zhiyou pulled herself out of the suffocating emotions.

The fine wounds on her body still ached, oozing blood.

She dug out the Blood Coagulation Pill, thought for a moment, split it into four parts, and reluctantly consumed a quarter.

Her injuries improved. She groped around and found her scattered backpack and the Heart-Calming Orchid.

She tore bamboo strips from the backpack, ripped her clothes, and made a simple splint for her broken leg. Then she tied the orchid to her clothing.

Song Zhiyou crawled back to the Gale Leopard, took out a blank paper, and smeared some of the blood pooling on the ground.

She couldn’t carry the massive leopard with her, but she wanted to test if its blood could be used as paint.

She flipped the paper over—no trace remained.

Her gaze returned to the beast.

Taking a deep breath, she stabbed her dagger into the spot above its heart.

A splash of vermillion blossomed on the blank paper.

Ten drops of essence blood—she caught them steadily.

After deliberation, she laboriously dug out the Leopard’s demon core and teeth.

She took nothing more—anything extra would be too heavy to bring back.

Leaning on the rock wall, Song Zhiyou stood up, chose a direction, and limped forward in search of an exit.

Wind blew through the cavern, and cracks in the ground offered a path. If she found the right way, she could surely get out.

She was full of hope.

An hour later…

Damned Song Lingtian! Damned plot!

She saw clearly that the plot, seeing her foundation still intact, wanted to destroy it again!

That was it—it had to be!

And that Gale Leopard—if she hadn’t had her painting trick, she would probably have had her dantian ripped out by now!

One trap after another, all aimed at her foundation!

If she ever got her hands on that bastard, she’d strip his tendons, break his bones, and slice him into a thousand pieces!

That was what Song Zhiyou thought as she circled the labyrinthine cavern three times, returning to her marked spot twice.

“Brother…?” At another turn, seeing a young man coming toward her, the murderous expression on her face instantly vanished without a trace.

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