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It was quite clear that the old man's intentions weren't good, if not completely malicious and evil. Katherine had already realized, before this, how lucky she was that no man had ever attempted to force their way into her. Many had offered her the chance to become their wife; they were quite infatuated by her exotic beauty, as her Western appearance was considered more beautiful than most of the girls around here by the men, who often praised her as a "Snow-Skinned Beauty".
However, because they were under the watch of a Righteous sect, the crimes here had to be done very, very carefully. And therefore, she lived in a relatively secure part of this harsh world, although she had already been scammed many times and attacked by a thief too, which took away all her savings once.
But this was definitely different. The old man had come to see her in plain daylight, bringing two paid bodyguards, both of whom were still mortals but clearly physically gifted and strong. Against a single woman in her thirties, they were going to easily overpower her.
Katherine was still undergoing her Awakening, and the Meridians of her body were burning, flaring with a colorless wave of Ki that slowly became a bright gold color. However, the pain and exhaustion she felt made her incredibly easy to handle.
"W-What the fuck are you talking about?! I won't give you my body, disgusting piece of shit!" Katherine screamed, grabbing a wooden chair and throwing it at the man.
However, the bodyguards caught it as the man hid behind them, slowly making their way toward her and subduing her, pushing her to the ground by grabbing her arms and legs.
"T-This is illegal! The sect will kill you after they learn of your crime!" Katherine screamed, tears flowing from her eyes. "Let me go! Stop!"
She felt so powerless!
Throughout these entire ten years, she has never felt so powerless.
This sensation of utter despair, of anger, of fury!
Why?
Why is this world like this?
Why can't a woman like her do anything to change her fate?!
"That might be the case usually." The old man smiled, caressing his long, whisker-like mustache. "However, you are a foreigner, Katherine. Someone who hasn't been registered as a citizen. You came here ten years ago, thinking you could simply become part of our community. But you are not protected by the laws! I've already researched enough. A poor and beautiful girl like you shouldn't even dare think she can cultivate! You should be kneeling in front of a man and begging to become their wife instead! You should be begging me to give you a child!"
The man's legs descended towards Katherine, kicking her stomach with as much strength as he could.
BAAM!
"AGH!"
Katherine felt her innards twisting. The man then kicked her face as she felt one of her teeth fly away. Her body was still burning, and now she was being beaten once more.
"You should be an obedient woman!"
The man kept beating her as she continued bleeding and crying. Yet the pain she felt was minimal; her Awakening's burning sensation overpowered any other sensation she felt.
"This is how this world is! Do you think you can make a difference?!"
As the horrid man kept screaming like a pig, Katherine's mind was slowly fading away, darkness consuming her entirety.
"Why…"
"Why is this happening to me?"
"Mom…"
"Ruby…"
"I hate…"
"I hate this world so much…"
As she almost gave in to the darkness encompassing her mind, a bright golden light surged from within her own consciousness.
Something was flaring up within her.
"Huh?"
The light extended through the darkness, forming endless roots of light, which then spread through the rest of her body. The burning sensation of her body slowly receded as all five Meridians fully awakened.
"And you should simply beg, BEG TO ME RIGHT NOW TO-"
FLASH!
Shen Xi was temporarily blinded by the bright light coming from Katherine's body, so bright and warm that it made even the men pulling her down step back in pain, their eyes burning.
"Aaagh! My eyes!"
The old man fell over his own butt, and the other two bodyguards ended up hitting the walls right behind them.
Their burning eyes were barely able to discern what was happening.
However, Shen Xi saw something.
Within the endless light is the silhouette of a woman.
"S-She awakened successfully?!"
A cold sensation filled his entire body; it felt as if his spine had frozen solid!
Paralysis!
Fear!
A Rank 1 Cultivator had appeared.
The pressure of those who wielded Ki greatly overpowered any mortal, even in their lowest rank.
It was like the difference between a wolf and a small rat!
The rat had no other alternative than running and hiding.
It would never, ever win against the big wolf!
And this was the same between Rank 1 Cultivators and Mortals.
Katherine's pain faded away as she felt her own wounds heal. The power of Light manifests itself. It was an element often considered a "supporting element" that only healed wounds and could temporarily blind others.
But that was more than enough for Katherine.
In fact, it was perfect.
"I awakened…" Katherine looked at her own hands.
Yet there was something weird about this.
Old man Shen Xi could tell!
"T-This is not right! I've been under the pressure and might of a Rank 1 Cultivator before! Yet none of them have this much power; this is equal to Rank 2 instead?! Almost!" He thought, stepping back. "But how… How is her Ki Levels so high when she absolutely had none before?!"
Even mortals are born with small, sealed quantities of ki inside of them; depending on the level of sealed ki within their bodies and meridians, they can awaken more easily than others.
People with no sealed ki at all, however, are "useless and talentless," usually sickly at birth, die at a young age, and are unable to cultivate, even less than these mortals.
Katherine was like that, yet she was always full of vitality and unmoved by her defect.
What old man Shen Xi didn't know was that she was like this because Katherine came from another world.
In this world, humans did not rely on any supernatural ability; they walked on their two feet from birth and grew into adults by resisting the pressures of their planet's gravity.
Naturally, powerful muscles grow to contain our skeletons and bodies. Katherine had developed a strong body since birth; she might have been rather small in size, but she inherited her deceased father's stamina and strong vitality.
And right now, what would happen when a giant, empty vessel was suddenly able to finally absorb Ki, not only from the elixir but from the environment itself?
A tremendous quantity of Ki would fill her completely, more than any cultivator at her Rank could ever hold!
"I feel so good right now." Katherine felt like she was in the clouds.
Yet her eyes quickly descended toward the men in front of her.
"This world… Just as you said, it's unfair; look how the tables have turned."
"P-Please! Spare me! I was wrong! Please don't kill me!"
The man in front of her kneeled before Katherine. It was such a bizarre sensation to be praised and respected just because she was strong now. It was something she had never experienced.
"I kneel and respect the great cultivator!"
Shen Xi knew that there was nothing he could do now! He felt utter horror and fear and did the only thing a rat before a wolf could do, kneel and ask for forgiveness.
To act as small and harmless as possible!
And hope for the big bad wolf to walk away.
"…"
Katherine sighed and extended a hand towards him to help the old man stand back up.
"You're forgiven, Shen Xi."
For a moment, the old man's rotten heart was filled with hope. He immediately thought about something malicious, however.
She was stupid! Why would she forgive him?!
He wanted to laugh right now; everything seemed to go well in the end.
"I'll simply hire some cultivator later and then make him break her meridians…" He thought maliciously.
"A-Ah, s-such benevolence!"
However, he pretended to be happy and nice, quickly standing back up.
"I… Please take this, and- Eh?"
CRACK!
However, he quickly realized something: his hand was bent the other way. Pain quickly erupted through his entire body as he screamed out loud.
"GYYAAAAH!"
He fell to his knees again, as Katherine had yet to let go of his disgusting hand.
"Yes, I forgive you." She smiled. "I forgive you. This is my forgiveness for you. My gratefulness. My pure-hearted benevolence!"
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
Mercilessly, and as if a murderous demon had possessed her, Katherine tore apart the man's hand, blood splattering everywhere, and the endless screams of old man Shen Xi reverberated through the entire village.
"Gyyaaaah! M-MY HAND!"
People gathered around the cabin, but Katherine wasn't done yet. The bodyguards had already run away; she didn't care about them; they were hired to do this and probably were desperate for money.
She let them go.
But not the rat in front of her, no.
This rat was going to receive all her forgiveness!
"N-No! Please forgive me! Please forgive me, great immortal!" The old man, Shen Xi, started running away, crawling out of her house.
It reminded her of the time she had to crawl to the house of someone else for help. Nobody had empathy for him.
"If I have to adapt to this world…"
She kicked the man's spine and pummeled him into the ground.
BAAAM!
Crack!
His spine broke.
"Gyyaaaggh!"
His screams reverberated across the small hut and the rest of the village as he looked at Katherine with his once malicious eyes, now full of tears and horror.
"Please forgive me! Katherine! I am so sorry! I will give you anything, but please, please don't kill me!"
"When I begged you to stop, what did you do? You kept beating me."
Katherine followed by crushing the man's left arm and breaking the bone.
CRACK!
"Uuuaaggh!"
"When I told you to go away, what did you do? You barged into MY HOUSE!"
Katherine kicked the man's crotch, crushing it. Blood splattered everywhere, covering the floor of the small cabin she bought with money she had gathered for ten years.
"Hyeeeegghh!"
As the man kept screaming like a pig, Katherine, still possessed by her adrenaline, anger, and power, looked down on him.
Her right hand flared with Light Ki, resembling the tip of a sword made of light.
She did this instinctively. With a mere thought, Ki obeyed her will!
"N-No… Please stop…! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU! PLEASEEEE!"
As the man screamed and asked for forgiveness, what did Katherine give him?
"You're forgiven, Shen Xi." She smiled. "Please, take my forgiveness with you to the afterlife."
Tired of this world.
Furious at the man in front of her.
Wrathful about her own powerlessness!
All these negative emotions swirled within her own mind as Katherine did something she never thought she would do.
"Please…! No!"
CLASH!
She killed someone.
Her hand pierced Shen Xi's head, splitting it open into two halves. The people outside watched in utter horror as brains spilled over the wooden floor, screaming and running away, scattering like rats.
"Hahhh… Ugh…"
Katherine grabbed the coins that the old man's purse had and the things she had, placed them inside a bag, and ran. She already knew she couldn't stay here anymore.
She ran and ran and ran. Between blood and tears, she thought about what she had done.
Even if it was an asshole, she killed someone.
She felt shame, she felt guilt, and she felt terrible.
And below the rain falling once the night arrived, she fell to the mud, completely exhausted after having spent all her Ki.
While being unable to move, she heard someone approaching—the figure of a woman. Her vision was all muddy, but she thought she might be dreaming.
Because the woman held her in her arms and carried her away.
For a moment, she thought it was her mother.
"Mom…"
"I am not your mother, girl. Look at you, all muddy. Despite being a cultivator, you're on the border of dying too! Your body is a mess! Your Meridians are about to explode! Just what sort of Physique is this?!"
"Ugh…"
Before she could hear any other word, Katherine fell asleep.
She dreamed of finally meeting her family again—her mother, her sister, and her friends—at the office.
A dream that has been repeating itself for the last ten years.
And slowly, she woke up the next morning.
Her eyes slowly opened, now glowing with golden light.
"Huh… Ugh… Ah!"
Finding herself inside a cabin again, she quickly stood back up, getting ready to fight.
But the only thing she found was an old lady, a granny with gray hair and a small, old body.
"You're awake… Calm down, child. I am not your enemy. If it wasn't for me, you would have died mauled to death by a bear outside."
"E-Eh? You're the person that…"
"Sit down first, you insolent little brat!"
"Y-Yes!"
Katherine instinctively sat down in front of the granny.
"Much better! My name is Zhi Hui! You can call me Granny Zhi Hui from now on."
"Eh? I see… My name is Katherine."
"Pick a new name; that one sucks and only brings unwanted attention."
"What?"
"From now on, you'll have to repay me for saving your life. Do you know how expensive the materials I used to heal your almost broken Meridians?! You'll be working on my rice field and herb farm for the next five years!"
"WHAT?!"
And that's how Katherine met her first master.
Granny Zhi Hui.
An old lady with a bad temperament but a heart of gold.
A rare sight in this world full of despair and bloodshed.
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