"Since you're already here, there's no need to hide." Su Min's voice cut through the heavy mountain silence, sounding calm and clear against the rustle of the pine needles. "An alchemist must use their spiritual sense to control the shifting flames of the furnace. My perception is far beyond the ordinary. Your pitiful attempts at concealment are useless against me."
As she spoke, she slowly rose to her feet from the smooth stone where she had been sitting. Her steps were light and graceful as she moved, each movement effortless as a butterfly fluttering across the surface of a still pond in the morning mist.
Before the echo of her words had even faded into the trees—
Pfft!
A sharp, wet sound tore through the air in the stillness. In the blink of an eye, Su Min had vanished and reappeared several yards away, striking down a dark figure lurking atop a nearby rocky outcrop with lethal precision.
By the time a cultivator reaches the Qi Refining stage, they're no longer truly human in the eyes of the world. Even those at the peak of Body Refining could still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers or mortal persistence. But once one steps into Qi Refining, the gap becomes an insurmountable chasm of power.
The spiritual energy a Qi Refining cultivator can command is dozens of times greater than any mortal could imagine. They can shield themselves with layers of intangible, protective aura; physical attacks without spiritual reinforcement are as useless as striking a mountain with a blade of grass. Their speed and power are elevated to a level that defies all mortal understanding.
The man she killed had clearly underestimated her, convinced her warning was nothing more than an empty boast. But since these intruders had come with hostile intent, she would show no mercy to them. Their fatal mistake was their own arrogance. One of them had arrogantly dismissed her and paid the ultimate price for his ignorance. His head was severed from his shoulders before his mind could even register the threat.
Thud.
The headless body collapsed onto the stony ground, rolling a short distance down the slope before coming to a gruesome stop. On the corpse's rigid, frozen face, one could clearly see strange, emerald-green patterns snaking across the skin like vile, pulsing tattoos.
"A poison soldier?" Su Min muttered. Her eyes narrowed as she examined both the cooling corpse and its distinctive uniform. Understanding dawned immediately in her mind.
This was the unmistakable handiwork of the Demon Queen, a notorious technique for creating living weapons whose very bodies were saturated with virulent toxins from birth. Every drop of their blood and every movement they made was a potential death sentence to those around them. Even defeating them in combat carried the risk of fatal contamination to the victor.
Sect Master Zhao had nearly been driven mad dealing with these creatures in the past. As for why they were targeting her now, it was simple. The old saying was true: fame brought trouble just as a fattened pig invited slaughter. Even someone living deep in the mountains would eventually find unwelcome "guests" knocking on their door.
Clearly, they had learned that an alchemist named Su Min could refine a pill capable of neutralizing their master's toxins, and they had followed that trail straight to her mountain home.
"I'm the Captain of Heaven-Rank Team Three, under the Demon-Slaying Division of the Great Wei Empire," one of the remaining intruders announced. His voice was as cold as iron. "By decree of His Majesty, we have come to invite you to the capital."
With one of their comrades already dead on the rocks, the others saw no point in hiding any longer. They stepped out from behind the trees and jagged boulders, forming a loose circle around her. Each one wielded a menacing hooked chain that gleamed with a ghostly blue light in the shadows, clearly coated in a lethal, concentrated poison.
Su Min glanced around at their formation and offered a faint, dismissive smile. "It seems I was mistaken earlier. Not a single one of you has advanced through proper cultivation."
She had initially been surprised by the level of their strength during her first scan. But now, up close, the truth was clear to her senses. Every one of them had been forcibly elevated to the late stages of Body Refining using forbidden, soul-burning arts. Their auras were unsteady and hollow, like drums filled with rotten wood. Their foundation was a complete sham, but what they lacked in genuine power, they made up for with their ever-present, lethal poisons.
"No need for the invitation," Su Min said. Her tone was turning icy. "I'm quite comfortable where I'm. You can all piss off."
She didn't doubt that the so-called Dog Emperor was genuinely interested in recruiting her. A skilled alchemist was a priceless treasure to any ruler. But Su Min had no intention of becoming anyone's pawn or a caged pet in the palace. Settling her own score with that particular emperor was a matter for another day.
"Hmph. It seems you lack a sense of occasion," the Captain sneered. His expression darkened with malice. "You're surrounded. Escape is impossible."
Su Min tilted her head slightly and let out a soft laugh, the sound as light and clear as jade bells ringing in the wind. "You're right about one thing. This is an encirclement. But you have it backwards." Her smile vanished, replaced by a look of utter contempt. "You're the ones surrounded by me. All of you're just ants."
Swoosh!
The moment her words fell, a flash of white light, ethereal and predatory, streaked across the small clearing with the force of a sudden gale. Another man was devoured in an instant.
It was the Tiger Spirit.
Although it couldn't stray far from Su Min's physical presence, within a range of several dozen meters, it was a deadly, unstoppable hunter. These poison soldiers, their senses dulled and corrupted by the very arts that empowered them, stood no chance against it. Silently, the Tiger Spirit had crept behind one of the late-stage Body Refining puppets and struck, killing him in a single, brutal blow that crushed his chest.
Her intention was simple and final. Since they had come with blades drawn, none would leave this place alive.
This mountain was far removed from the Great Wei Empire's core territories. Even if she slaughtered them all, the imperial court would need at least a year, perhaps even three to five, to investigate the disappearance and send new forces. By then, it would be far too late for them. It reminded her of ancient tales where major sects besieged a distant mountain. A nearby sect might respond quickly, but for those from the far corners of the land, a single journey could take years of travel.
"!!!"
The Captain was the first to react to the sudden and overwhelming new threat. Pure horror twisted his features as he spun on his heel to flee toward the dense forest.
He knew now that he had kicked an iron plate. Though his own strength was artificially boosted, he wasn't a complete fool, and that was enough to recognize the terrifying truth. The delicate-looking woman before him, with her slender figure and quiet presence, was a true monster in disguise.
But it was far too late for any regrets. The chasm between Body Refining and Qi Refining was absolute and cruel. Moreover, he was no real cultivator, just a cripple raised by forbidden arts.
Thud!
The squad leader's head hit the ground a fraction of a second before his body did. Toxic blood sprayed in a wide, dark arc across the grass, but Su Min was utterly unfazed. A single, powerful kick sent the headless corpse flying into another operative, and she used the momentum to blitz through the remaining men in a blur of motion.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
In less than thirty seconds, the brief, one-sided battle was over.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The last of the corpses collapsed into a heap on the ground.
"Interesting toxins," Su Min remarked, examining the black-green blood sizzling on the edge of her spiritual blade. The corrosive fumes hissed, trying to eat into the translucent energy of the weapon. "A cultivator of the same level could easily be caught off guard and poisoned by this."
But against a genuine Qi Refining practitioner like herself? It was useless.
She simply blew lightly across the blade, a whisper of pure spiritual energy dispersing the vile substance into nothingness.
"It seems the court won't let things rest so easily," she said softly. Her gaze turned toward the distant horizon where the capital lay hidden by the mountains. "But the birth of the treasured gourd isn't far off. I must finish refining the Tiger Bone Ring before then."
After casually incinerating the corpses with a flick of her wrist, leaving only piles of fine ash for the wind to scatter, Su Min turned her focus back to her craft. But just then, a strange sensation coursed through her, a palpable shift in her own spiritual makeup. Her body trembled slightly as a new understanding of the world unfolded within her.
"The Path of Slaughter..."
Having slain multiple poison puppets, her connection to this violent path had deepened and advanced. Among all cultivation paths, this one offered the fastest growth and the most immediate power; it was a seductive and dangerous shortcut. But it also carried the highest risk of losing one's self to the endless bloodlust.
A new line of text glowed in her mind's eye as the interface updated.
[Four Symbols Slaughter—Tiger:
① Can summon a Tiger Spirit in battle (if dispersed, can't be resummoned for a period).
② Tiger Spirit Possession: Temporarily enhances speed and attack power.]
"A strengthening secret art, huh," Su Min murmured to herself. A faint, dangerous smile finally tugged at the corners of her lips as she felt the energy hum. It was a power born of necessity, and she would wield it without hesitation.