The moon hung like a tarnished silver coin in a sky salted with stars, its cold light doing little to pierce the desolation of the wilderness below, leaving the gnarled shapes of trees and jagged rocks drowned in deep shadow. Against this vast, empty darkness, a ragged flock of crows beat a frantic path southward, their harsh cries a grim omen that tore at the silence. Closer to the earth, several torches darted and weaved like angry fireflies, their flames clawing uselessly at the thick night. Furious shouts, sharp and guttural, rode on the wind, carrying clearly across the barren landscape.
"Where did that little bitch vanish to? The madam will have our hides! She's prime merchandise!" a man roared, his voice raw with panic and anger.
"Remember the orders from Chunhong Brothel—unharmed! She's worthless if she's bruised!" another voice shouted back in warning, the words a stark reminder of her value as an object.
The clamor echoed across the barren hills, a dissonant chorus to the silent, uncaring moon. Dozens of shadowy figures, armed with coarse hemp nets and sacks, fanned out with practiced efficiency, their movements tightening a noose around the rocky terrain where she was hidden.
"Agh, my head...! Is this damn AR helmet trying to boil my brain alive...? Huh?"
A faint groan, fragile as cracked glass, broke the stillness of her little hollow. Su Min clutched her throbbing skull as she pushed herself up from the cold, unforgiving ground, every movement sending fresh jolts of pain through her temples. She had invested a full month's salary in that premium gaming helmet, had spent a painstaking half-hour meticulously crafting her character's every detail, from the curve of an eyebrow to the shade of her hair. But the moment her finger had clicked 'Confirm,' the world had dissolved into a searing, painful whiteness, yanking her brutally from her comfortable reality into this chilling new one.
"So this is Path to Immortality," she whispered, the words tasting of dust and awe. "The 'fully immersive, living breathing' cultivation game." The hype had been a profound understatement. The very air felt different here, thick and carrying the complex scent of damp earth, decaying leaves, and something else, something metallic and cold. She scooped up a handful of the dark soil with her delicate, now-grimy fingers, watching intently as it trickled through her grasp. There was no pixelated disintegration, no digital fade. Only the gritty, unforgiving reality of crushed stone and dirt clinging to her skin.
It was perfect. Unnervingly, terrifyingly perfect.
"What's happening to—"
"FOUND HER! Over here! Don't let the little fox escape!" a triumphant roar cut through her dazed thoughts.
"No blades! I said nets! A single scratch and she loses half her value!" another voice urgently reminded the others.
Before the thoughts could even fully form in her mind, the world went dark as rough, heavy hemp netting slammed down upon her, the coarse fibers scratching at her skin and trapping her arms.
"Ugh!"
Su Min didn't struggle against the ropes. Kneeling in the dirt, she pressed her palms hard against her temples as a cold sweat beaded on her brow. A torrent of fragmented memories, not her own, flooded her mind—a frantic, heartbreaking slideshow of a life already lived and lost.
Su Min. Of the Su Clan in Yu City. A family caught in the wake of the Yong Prince's rebellion. Parents, kin—all executed beneath the cold steel of imperial justice. Only her father's final, desperate plea had bought her life. But for a fourteen-year-old noble girl stripped of her name and protection, "mercy" was merely a prelude to a far crueler fate. After being forced to bury the loved ones she had lost, she had been collared and sold like livestock. And for the brothels, a fallen noblewoman was the finest merchandise, her former status only adding spice to her degradation.
"That 'emperor' never intended to show mercy," she realized with a cold knot tightening in her stomach. "He wanted the last of the Su to grovel in the mud."
As the ghost of the other Su Min's memories settled into her bones, a modern curse died on her lips, replaced by a sudden, stark horror.
"Shit. I should've rolled a male character. Years of gaming, and my muscle memory still defaults to a female avatar..."
"Tsk, tsk. Such foul language from a lady!" a rough voice mocked from just beyond the net. "But what a beauty. A pity, really. Virgins always fetch the highest prices."
Jeering laughter rang out, harsh and devoid of warmth. The hulking figures closing in triggered another flash of memory: Niu Ma, a local enforcer for Chunhong Brothel, known for his cruelty and crude hands.
Her new body trembled on instinct, a visceral reaction bred from terror. Chunhong was no back-alley operation; it was an institution, one even the city magistrate knew better than to cross. The original Su Min had fled on her first night, only to slip down a ravine in the panicked darkness, her life extinguished just as this new one began.
Now, the current Su Min's eyes darted from the encroaching men to the crude, slatted pig cage being hauled behind them. Her stomach churned. Brothels had their methods. They caged disobedient girls, dunking them into icy rivers until they gasped at death's door, their spirits broken by suffocating terror. And if that failed, there were other ways—methods that left no visible marks but shattered wills into dust.
"Breathe," she commanded herself, the word a silent anchor in the storm of her panic. "If this is truly the game, then I have a chance."
She steadied her racing heart. Path to Immortality granted every player starter assets. A mental flicker, a thought like reaching for a familiar menu, brought the interface to her mind's eye, a familiar comfort in the alien night.
[Name: Su Min]
[Cultivation: None]
[Talent: Immortality (infinite lifespan, no aging)]
[Divine Ability: Heavenly Dao Insight (comprehends techniques from the cosmos over time)]
[Cultivation Art: None]
[Skill: Basic Sword Control, Three Forms]
[Life-bound Spirit Treasure: Flying Sword Embryo (Yellow-Grade, Low-Quality)]
~Edited and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
The game randomized talents, and characters aged in real-time. To die without an heir meant permanent deletion. Since she had, perhaps foolishly, chosen a female avatar, she had leaned into the "Immortal Turtle" strategy: avoid all conflict and simply outlive her enemies through sheer, inexorable longevity. The thought of marriage or children had been a distant, irrelevant calculation. It was a routine choice for a lazy player—start slow, survive long. If things got boring, she could always find a quiet mountaintop and skip through centuries infinitely.
It was the perfect plan for a slow-paced, peaceful virtual life.
And it was utterly, completely useless right now.
"I'm at absolute zero. No cultivation base, no qi reserves, nothing," she thought, the reality of her helplessness crashing down.
As the men advanced, Niu Ma leered, his eyes roving over her trapped form with a possessive gleam.
"What's wrong, little flower? Scared stiff?"
He wouldn't dare cause real harm—she was the future top courtesan, her purity her price tag. The brothel had its own discreet ways of verifying a girl's condition. But that didn't stop him from enjoying the hunt, from savoring the fear. Smirking, he stretched out his grimy hands and shuffled forward, his posture feigning a playful pounce.
"NOW!"
A flicker of golden light, faint but determined, ignited in the depths of Su Min's pupils.
Modern gaming instincts, sharpened by countless battles, took over. When hopelessly outnumbered, you maul one enemy so viciously that the rest hesitate. Even if it means trading blood for blood, pain for fear.
A slender sword, ethereal and cool to the touch, materialized in her grip—the Flying Sword Embryo, answering its master's call.