Lei Mingxing silently stared at the dead snake lying next to her.
She recalled what happened just now, before patting chest and thinking 'fortunately, she met a kindhearted criminal'.
But her luck probably wouldn't continue being so good.
Lei Mingxing rose from her croutching position and shook her legs.
She should probably continue on her way, at least she knew her next destination now.
Dark Spirit Town.
The town closest to the Dark Spirit Woods, but far away enough from Black Leaf City where she had escaped from her guards.
Majority of the population in Dark Spirit Town was composed of mercenaries, hoping to strike it rich with some rare material or spirit beast. At first, this town was but a humble village barely surviving through the frequent beast attacks, but soon mercenaries caught wind of the rare mutation beasts appearing there and with the mercenaries, the merchants came, smelling a great business opportunity. This caused Dark Spirit Village to rapidly develope into what it had become now.
But the large number of mercenaries and merchants weren't just positive, their ruthlessness, trickery and violent tendencies causing the simple villagers a lot of suffering. It wasn't until the civilians became just the same, that the crime rate lowered again.
Unfortunately, this also meant that Dark Spirit Town's citicens weren't exactly the soft-hearted type.
Well, still better than surviving in this forest alone.
After her legs regained their feeling and stopped prickling, Lei Mingxing took a step towards the road, but halted again.
Her sight fell on the snake.
Now that she thought about it, this didn't look like a normal snake at all. The horn was also highly unusual...
Maybe she could sell it for a few yuan, so she wouldn't be entirely penniless?
As she pondered a sudden thought started to bloom in her mind.
It was very unlikely but there could be a chance that...
She picked the dead beast up, furrowing her eyebrows as she carefully slid her hands over the snake body, kneading the soft flesh carefully. Lei Mingxing was no butcher or mercenary. Actually she had never come in such close contact with a wild beast before in both her lifetimes, so she had no idea where she should search or whether the thing even existed in this snake. After all, the beast couldn't have been that strong judging from its size and swiftness of its death.
Lei Mingxing sucked in a quick breath.
A pearl-like sensation had been transferred to her brain via her fingertips.
There was no way, right?
Her eyes opened wide as she continued examining the pearl-sized hardness beneath the snakes skin at the bottom of its jaw. It moved from side to side with her touch.
A bone wouldn't shift around so much and wouldn't be so perfectly spherical, right?
Lei Mingxing really wanted to peel the snake skin away and examine the sphere more carefully.
But the value of the carcass would diminsh a lot if she damaged it...
Hesitating for only a moment, determination soon appeared in her eyes.
Even if she ruined the snake's potential value, a few yuan were easily gained if she put in enough effort, the chance to transform a pheasant into a phoenix was much harder to come by.
She grabbed a sharp stick and began digging into the snake's flesh, it took a long time and all her strength to break through the snake's tough scales, but she eventually succeeded. Lei Mingxing held her breath as she slowly stuck her fingers in the small hole, widening it in the process. She started to feel around the muscles, bones and tendons of the beast.
Soon, a smooth texture, different from bones, slid against her fingers. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips and her heart started pounding against her chest. She failed several times to get ahold of the pearl-like item, but when she finally caught it, she quickly pulled it out of the dead snake.
The sphere was covered in blood, so she couldn't make out its exact appearance.
Lei Mingxing decisively ripped off a part of her outer robe, while clenching the sphere in her blood-stained hand, to prevent it from accidentally dropping to the ground. If she actually dropped it, there was no hope of ever finding it again, The Dark Spirit Woods was just like its name suggested, very dark, and a blood-covered pearl-sized sphere would dissapear without any trace between the fallen leaves and plants.
She carefully cleaned the sphere, revealing its sparkling appearance.
Lei Mingxing was almost stunned silly, rolling it around in her hand and examining every possible angle, before she was finally sure.
The gem she carefully wrapped in her hand was actually a Spirit Core!
With this discovery, one of her worries had been solved just like that.
She marvelled at its beauty, slowly rotating it in front of her face.
Excitement filled her entire body and she couldn't help herself, she laughed out loud.
Was the world itself aiding her in her quest for vengence?
Or was it the residual spirit of her old friend that granted her some help on the way? Regardless, she was infinitly grateful, with this, as soon as she got the chance, she would use it to forcefully clear her meridians and awaken her Dantian. Officially taking her first step into the cultivation world and the realm of her enemies.
For her, for everyone who had suffered like them, and for him.
Lei Mingxing looked at the Spirit Core in her hand again and swore if she encountered that teenager again somewhere, she would return the favor ten fold, no, a hundred fold!
Glancing at the bead one last time, she stuffed it into her ample bosom.
This was the safest hiding place she could think off. Her pockets were just not secure enough, in case she had to run away.
Finally, she set foot on the road to Dark Spirit Town.
It actually didn't take that long for her to reach the town, only a couple of hours on foot. She took a few breaks in between, but never resting longer ten minutes, continuing on her way right after. About halfway, she had ditched her uncomfortable shoes, rather walking barefoot than having to deal with all the blisters. The stinging from cuts was much less annoying than the constant painful rubbing of the shoes at her heel.
She fortunately didn't encounter anymore dangerous incidents along the way and reached her destination safely.
Did her luck suddenly improve after her rebirth? Well, maybe the Gods felt guilty for what they had done to her.
Lei Mingxing thought self-depricatingly.
While standing at the border of the Dark Spirit Woods and Qingshui Kingdom's very own Dark Spirit Town, a sudden thought flashed through Lei Mingxing's mind, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
She had forgotten one crucial problem, no, actually two!
How would she enter the town without exposing her identity?
And.
Where could she actually use the Spirit Core that she had aquired like a pie falling from the Heavens?
After a while, Lei Mingxing sighed.
No matter how long she thought about it, there was no solution to the first problem currently, and the second one... guess, she had no choice. A pie falling from the Heavens was a fortunate thing but only if you had the capabilities to catch it.
Lei Mingxing walked around the Dark Spirit Woods border almost leaving the perimeter of Dark Spirit Town again, before she heard the faint gurgling of a river. Highly focused she followed the sound into the forest depths.
Sigh, just as she thought she had overcome the her first obstacle, she returned into the forest.
Finding the river, Lei Mingxing sighed once more while looking at it. Her eyes lingered on its surface for but a moment, before she began to undress. As soon as she had stripped down to her inner robe and dudou, she stepped into the gently flowing river. The biting cold didn't bother her in the slightest, she continued to walk to the river's center until the water reached her belly button. Her soft black curls dipped into the clear river, swaying with its currents.
She looked around for a suitable spot, soon finding a few rocks that formed a bath tub-like space. She waded through the water and entered the enclosed space. Satisfied with the tub's security, Lei Mingxing pulled out the Spirit Core and held it in front of her eyes.
Its brilliant sparkle reflected the hidden sadness in her deep black eyes. Clenching the Spirit Core in her hand, she pressed that fist against her fair forehead, whispering with tightly closed eyes and chocking voice.
"Thank you for this chance."