Wuming Continent, Zhuming City.
While grinding monsters, Niman kept an eye on her surroundings, a faint, almost imperceptible smile gradually touching the corners of her lips.
Sometimes, people were just bizarre. Even when their own interests were not harmed in the slightest, they would lash out at someone else purely because they found them displeasing to the eye—not hesitating to harm others even at no benefit to themselves.
Niman manipulated her flying swords, dispatching several monsters ahead in an instant, and then called out, "Come out, all of you. Lurking around like that—are you waiting for me to exhaust myself? If so, you're going to be disappointed."
The next moment, more and more class-users appeared all around, their eyes fixed on Niman.
A coquettishly dressed woman in a short red skirt stepped forward from the crowd. Smirking smugly at Niman, she said, "Flower Sword Immortal, since you've noticed us, I'll give you a chance. Kneel before me and beg for mercy, and I might consider letting you off."
"I'm curious—why?" Niman asked flatly, looking at her. "I don't believe we know each other."
It was the truth. She had virtually zero social life right now, single-mindedly focused on leveling up. This was the heavenly path Yu Xian had given them; reaching Level 250 would make her an exalted Mighty One—a realm she hadn't dared dream of in the past.
Why would she bother with anything else? Every day was spent either grinding levels or heading back to the city to eat and rest. She didn't recognize a single one of these people.
"That look in your eyes!"
"Don't you know how disgusting your gaze is?"
Seeing Niman's placid, almost dismissive gaze, the seductive woman flared with fury, speaking through clenched teeth.
Hatred could indeed spring up without reason.
Women's hatred especially—she loathed Niman's eyes, loathed Niman's beauty, and loathed the calm, unhurried poise with which Niman faced everything.
Even though Niman had never paid any attention to her, she had seen Niman time and time again. The fire in her chest had burned hotter and hotter; if she couldn't use it to burn Niman to ashes, that fire would inevitably consume herself.
"I understand now. So it's jealousy," Niman said in sudden comprehension. Then, like a devout believer, she looked around at the other class-users and offered a well-intentioned warning. "I can give you all a chance. Back off and leave. This is the most precious opportunity of your lives; you should treat it with care."
These people were short-sighted, completely unaware of what a monumental opportunity and blessing it was to enter the Zhen Realm. Pitiful and pathetic as they were, Niman didn't want to play the villain.
"Drop the act! You're dead today! Get her!"
Seeing that Niman still wore that very attitude, the seductive woman's face twisted in rage as she snarled.
The surrounding class-users immediately surged forward. Having received favors and benefits from the woman, and already being here, there was no way they would leave empty-handed.
Niman sighed softly. "First, I gave you a chance. Second, I'm not a Flower Sword Immortal. Third, once I make a move, I never leave anyone alive."
The moment she finished speaking, the ground around them cracked open violently. Before many class-users could even react, they plummeted into the fissures with bloodcurdling screams.
Immediately after, flying swords adorned with petals swept across the area. Even if a few class-users managed to react in the chaos, their courage mysteriously evaporated in an instant, and they were cleanly decapitated by flying blades.
Within ten seconds, only Niman and the seductive woman were left standing.
"Your foolishness harmed yourself, and it harmed a lot of people," Niman told her with deep regret. She truly hadn't wanted to be the villain. Severing someone's path of cultivation was a blood feud she had never wanted to involve herself in, but once pushed to act, she would make sure to finish it completely.
A look of pure terror washed over the woman's face. She spun around to flee, but in the next second, her body was torn to pieces. To her dying breath, she had no idea what skill had killed her.
[Name: Niman]
[Enhancement +1]
[Level: 43]
[Class: Divine Script Kotodama Master]
[Skills:]
[Word of Lin: Imbue the divine script into a target to inflict the effect of 'Lin' upon them.]
[Word of Bing: Launch the divine script to form weapons attacking the target; if enhanced by kotodama, lethality increases by 200%.]
[Word of Dou: Imbue the divine script into a target to inflict the effect of 'Dou' upon them.]
[Word of Zhe: Imbue the divine script into a target to inflict the effect of 'Zhe' upon them.]
[Myriad Script Meanings: The meaning of words is ever-changing and follows the user's will; all written characters carry immense impact force.]
[Great Form Is Shapeless: Divine scripts can turn invisible; targets no more than 10 levels above oneself cannot see through it.]
Niman recalled all the divine scripts she had deployed and sighed softly. She hadn't done anything wrong; today was truly rotten luck.
While confronting them earlier, she had already been preparing in secret; otherwise, she wouldn't have been confident in wiping out so many people in one go.
First, she had driven multiple "Lin" characters into the ground. Thanks to their immense impact force, the earth had fractured, instantly taking down the majority of the class-users.
Next, she used the "Bing" character to manifest longswords that swept through the surviving class-users.
Because the two attacks occurred almost simultaneously, most of the class-users never had a chance to retaliate. And the few who could have put up a fight instantly lost their will to battle due to the "Dou" character, dying before they could break free from the debuff.
Finally, the seductive woman had been struck squarely in the back by the "Lin" character, its tremendous kinetic force instantly killing her on the spot.
Niman's class wasn't inherently invincible, but in her hands, it was startlingly formidable. Even though it was a squishy caster-type class, she wielded it with a palpable aura of invincibility.
"I wonder how everyone else is doing?"
At this moment, Niman missed Yu Xian deeply.
If Yu Xian were by her side, this long, arduous road perhaps wouldn't feel so dull, nor quite so cruel.
That evening, she returned to her room. After drinking a glass of juice, she opened the livestream interface, planning to gather more information by watching high-level class-users' streams.
However, when she turned to the third page, she froze. On a small screen right in the center, Yu Xian's grinning face was beaming straight out at her.
…
…
Sen Continent.
Gong Qian and Shui Yuetian sat in a jail cell, both starving half to death.
"Do you think we might be the most pathetic of the bunch?" Gong Qian asked, looking across at Shui Yuetian in the facing cell.
Shui Yuetian replied weakly, "I think if I keep talking to you, I'm going to starve to death in a minute."
"..."
Gong Qian sighed, feeling terribly frustrated.
After entering this world, her class had actually turned out to be Talisman Daoist, while all of her brute strength was gone.
Every single day, she had to draw talismans and fight using them. The financial strain was terrifyingly steep. This time, all she had wanted was to dine and dash for one free meal, but an NPC had tossed her straight into jail, where she had to serve twenty-four hours before being released.
And she was so hungry.
Shui Yuetian was just as depressed.
Her class was Flowing Water Blacksmith. Her first skill was forging equipment, and her second was enhancing equipment—she didn't even possess a single combat ability.
If she hadn't happened to spawn in the same beginner village as Gong Qian, she doubted she would have ever made it out. After all, beating zombies with her bare hands was a bit too difficult for her.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Both Gong Qian and Shui Yuetian heard each other's stomachs growling.
Their eyes met in tacit understanding, and both let out a long, heavy sigh. Life was hard.
Chapter 489