Five years have passed.
Bai Sinan had surged forward to become a Rank 5 Minor Spirit Master. This rate of cultivation was already remarkably fast, but she had done much more than just cultivate over those five years.
Her daily basic training remained, though the difficulty had increased significantly. She could now carry ten buckets of water at once to the Back Mountain, and her pole-walking exercises had evolved into stepping on leaves. Later, Luochen added numerous tasks to improve her control over spirit power, such as threading a needle through a grain of rice, turning water into needles, and shattering stones into powder. She also frequently pestered Lingyun to teach her alchemy.
On the Qihuang Continent, alchemists are categorized into seven star-levels, each divided into low, medium, and high grades—a system that applies equally to medicinal pills. Bai Sinan possessed an astonishing talent for alchemy; she was already a 3-star low-grade alchemist. Even Lingyun was stunned by this.
Luochen decided that Bai Sinan was ready for field training. It worked out perfectly, as Bai Sinan felt she was dying of boredom at Qingxian Palace and longed to venture out into the world. She had imagined her training would involve her master sending her down the mountain to travel across the various nations of the Qihuang Continent. In reality, her master dumped her in the depths of the Back Mountain of Qingxian Palace, equipped with nothing but a pill furnace, a dagger, two sets of clothes, and an empty storage ring.
"Master, if you wanted me dead, you didn't have to go through all this trouble."
A miserable Bai Sinan was left to navigate the Back Mountain on her own. She had only ever been to the fringes of the Back Mountain to fetch water; she had never set foot inside. She had tried to enter before, but her master had caught her and strictly forbidden it, making this her first time venturing deep into the woods.
Bai Sinan decided to gather some spirit herbs first, just in case. If she got injured, she could refine them into pills to save her life.
While lurking in a tree, secretly observing the surroundings near a patch of Green Spirit Grass, she failed to conceal her presence well and was discovered by the guardian beast.
"Hiss—"
A massive black python was staring at her with predatory intent.
Bai Sinan gasped, "A Rank 2 Spirit Beast, a Black Flame Snake?!"
Good heavens, why was her luck so rotten? She was no match for it. A Rank 2 Spirit Beast was equivalent to a human Minor Spirit Master, but the combat prowess of a spirit beast was far superior to that of a human cultivator. Furthermore, she had never engaged in real combat! Even though the hellish training had made her strong, she lacked any practical experience.
Bai Sinan gripped her dagger tightly, thinking, *It’s either me or the snake. If I don't kill it now, I’m the one who dies. Strike at the seven-inch mark... but where exactly is the seven-inch mark?*
Sensing her nervousness, the Black Flame Snake lunged straight for her neck. Bai Sinan’s pupils contracted, and she leaped aside to dodge. Though she escaped the strike, she was so close to the snake's body that the air current from its lunge scraped her neck, leaving a stinging pain.
The Black Flame Snake, frustrated at having missed, whipped its thick tail toward her. Bai Sinan scrambled to shield her body with spirit power and dodged quickly, but she was still too slow. The residual force of the tail-swipe sent her flying, slamming her hard against a tree.
Ignoring the pain, she pushed off the ground and dodged another lunge from the snake. *I can’t keep dodging passively like this. I have to go on the offensive, or I’m dead for sure!* She tightened her grip on the dagger and charged at the Black Flame Snake, which retaliated with a tail whip.
Again, she was a step too slow and was sent flying once more. Time and again, Bai Sinan charged, and time and again, she was struck down. She felt as if her bones were shattering, and blood began to spill from the corner of her mouth.
*Dammit, I won't die here!*
The will to survive pushed Bai Sinan back to her feet. This time, she finally evaded an attack and delivered a strike with her dagger. However, the one-hit kill she had imagined didn't happen; instead, the cut only enraged the Black Flame Snake. It lashed out with its tail, forcing her into a desperate, shambolic retreat. She couldn't get close to it! *What should I do?*
She was sent flying again, the impact shaking the tree trunk and causing the leaves overhead to rustle. Bai Sinan coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked up at the leaves. *Perhaps...*
She pushed off the ground, sprang into the air, and tore a handful of leaves from the tree, infusing them with spirit power. Enhanced by the power, the leaves became as sharp as blades. She flicked her wrist, and the leaves shot out like projectiles, carving several bone-deep wounds into the snake. The intense pain caused the Black Flame Snake to slow down.
*A perfect opening!*
When the leaves had flown toward the snake, the areas it had instinctively twisted to protect must have been its seven-inch mark.
She fired another volley of leaves. The Black Flame Snake swiped its tail, attempting to shatter them with its spirit power. While it was distracted, Bai Sinan shifted position and launched another flurry. The snake scrambled to dodge, and in its panic, it no longer had the energy to guard its seven-inch mark!
Bai Sinan leaped forward, dagger held tight. "Die, you bastard!!!"
She plunged the blade deep into the snake's seven-inch mark. The Black Flame Snake let out a pained hiss and collapsed to the ground with a thunderous thud.
The Black Flame Snake was dead, and Bai Sinan collapsed right along with it. Fortunately, some of the spirit herbs she had gathered earlier were medicinal. Too exhausted to refine pills, she grabbed a handful of the raw herbs and ate them.
*Sigh, life is hard,* Sinan lamented.
She didn't blame Luochen for leaving her in the Back Mountain to train, though. She knew that unless she planned to stay in Qingxian Palace forever, she had to grow stronger to survive in this world. Being the world's heroine wasn't an easy task—without power, even the heroine would get herself killed.
Bai Sinan dug out the Black Flame Snake's spirit core and sliced off a few chunks of meat before tossing them all into her storage ring. A spirit beast's core was a valuable treasure; it could be used for cultivation, or even in alchemy and forging. Because the stench of blood from the dead snake would attract other spirit beasts, she didn't rest and left the area immediately.
*The first rule of survival is to find a water source!* Although this wasn't a deserted island, the situation was much the same. She had been on her way to find water when she had stumbled into the fight with the snake.
Bai Sinan felt as if her entire body were numb with pain. She had no idea how she finally found a water source, but as she prepared to rush toward it, her reason warned her that there might be danger. A person from the 21st century who had never experienced any real turmoil, she had managed to forge a sense of vigilance within these past few days.