"Stop struggling, you bitch!"
The pirate yanked the little girl's hair, dragging her forward.
"Waaah!"
Peng Xinyi, who had lived like a princess since birth, sobbed as tears rolled down her dirt-streaked face. Her eyes had long since gone dry, but after being slapped and beaten again and again, her small body still shook with every blow.
Just a few hours ago, she had been the dignified daughter of the Peng Clan Head, happily traveling to Sang City to visit her cousins.
Now...
Her world had been turned upside down.
At only ten years old, she had already witnessed the ugliest side of humanity.
In the Murim world, the later a child was born, the lower their standing within the family. As the fourth child, and a daughter besides, most of the clan's attention naturally went to her three older brothers.
The pirates knew that.
Even if they returned her... broken... the consequences wouldn't be severe enough to make them hesitate.
In fact, some of them were already looking forward to the night.
That had been the plan.
Until one particular someone ruined everything.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
FWOOOSH!
A figure shot through the dense forest at incredible speed.
"Finally! I can use the System Points the moment I earn them. Since I'd already reached the limits of a mortal body, it wouldn't let me invest any more points."
Jin grinned as he felt the Intent coursing through him. Though only a short time had passed since his body had changed, to him, it felt like an eternity.
"Oi. Don't waste those healing pills or the Blood Ginseng," Shuye said as she floated beside his head. "Keep circulating your Intent like I told you."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Jin focused inward.
Though qi was known as the Source of All, Intent guided it in an entirely different way.
Instead of nourishing the body, the qi drawn through Intent was absorbed by the soul. Since Intent itself was born from one's will, it was an even more elusive force than ordinary qi.
That meant Intent alone couldn't temper the body.
It could only strengthen the soul.
Therefore, anyone cultivating through Intent needed external treasures to refine their physique.
And Jin had something far more terrifying than any heavenly treasure.
The System.
Guided by the broken branches and fresh footprints the System pointed out, Jin never once slowed his pace.
WHOOOM!
Finally, the forest thinned, and Jin reached the edge of a cliff.
The scene below came into view.
Four pirates were running ahead while a fifth dragged Peng Xinyi along by the hair.
She struggled, of course.
No one in her position would let even the slightest chance of escape slip away. But it was futile.
Jin didn't waste a second.
He drew his sword and aimed. A white glow bloomed along its blade.
Using his newly enhanced strength, he hurled the sword toward the pirate.
A resounding boom echoed atop the cliff.
The sword ripped through the air, leaving behind a piercing whistle.
The terrifying force behind it came not only from his increased strength, but from the Intent infused within it.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact shattered the ground, hurling chunks of rock and dust high into the air.
"What the fuck?!"
"Who was that?!"
"Show yourself!"
The four pirates looked back in horror.
They had assumed such a violent explosion came from an artifact or some kind of bomb.
Instead, all they saw was a massive crater.
Scattered within it were the mangled remains of one of their own, and at its center stood a sword radiating a faint white glow.
Peng Xinyi, who had been yanked away by an invisible force the instant before the impact, stared ahead in disbelief.
A calm voice sounded behind her.
"Looks like the dye finally burned away."
Jin brushed a few strands away from his face.
Xinyi turned around.
The sight before her left her stunned.
She, too, had heard of the prodigal heir of the Jin Family. The young master who had been exiled after committing the murder of his own family.
When she'd first seen him, his situation had reminded her of her own.
Humiliated.
Beaten.
Used as entertainment.
While watching him fight Cao Lin, she'd pitied him.
Yet beneath that pity...
...was a guilty sense of relief.
Because, for the first time, she'd found someone who seemed just as helpless as she was.
Even in a situation like this, the old saying still held true.
Shared joy is double joy. Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
But now, looking at him...
It felt as though she were staring at an entirely different person.
A golden-haired cultivator stood before her.
Radiant locks flowed behind him, framing a pair of piercing eyes. His tattered robes hung in shreds over a powerfully built physique.
Meanwhile, Jin stared at his own palms, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists as Intent surged around him.
THWACK!
Jin struck the back of Xinyi's neck, knocking her unconscious instantly.
He tore off his already ruined robes, draped them over her, then gently laid her to the side.
Completely ignoring the horrified faces of the pirates.
"Y-Y-You... G-Golden hair?!"
The remaining pirates stared at him in panic as Jin calmly pulled his sword from the crater.
The terror of golden-haired cultivators was known throughout the world.
In the entire Lower Realm, those born with golden hair could be counted on one's fingers.
Such people came from only two origins.
The Royal Heritage.
Or...
Upper Realm Descenders.
Both were powers of such unimaginable standing that even the Sect Masters of the Seven Great Sects would have to bow before them.
And now...
Such a person stood before them.
"N-No way! It has to be fake! We already confirmed he's the exiled young master of the Jin Clan!"
"Y-Yeah!"
'This hair... I'll have to hide it until I find a proper way to deal with it.'
Not wanting to waste another second, Jin charged forward with his sword.
The pirates, who had barely recovered from their earlier shock, froze once again as Sword Intent bloomed along the blade.
This time, however, the shock came with understanding.
Jin cut through the remaining pirates with ease.
It was a one-sided slaughter.
Most of them were only in the Qi Refinement Realm. The strongest among them had merely reached its peak. Against Jin's current strength, they stood no chance.
"Phew..."
Jin looked around at the now silent forest.
Even a moment of peace had become a luxury in his life.
"But the S-rank mission still hasn't been completed," Jin said with a frown.
He had rushed straight into the forest after killing Cao Lin. If Peng Xinyi were injured, it might affect the mission rewards. He trusted his companions could hold on until he returned.
With the Golden Core cultivator now free, Jin knew the battle back at the camp would eventually settle itself.
But after coming all this way...
He wasn't about to settle for a few storage rings looted from pirates.
[Perhaps you have to escort her back to the Peng Clan. Or there may still be enemies on their way.]
"Hmmm..."
The idea sounded reasonable.
Jin relaxed slightly and sat down beside the unconscious Xinyi.
He closed his eyes and examined the changes within his body.
"The Blood Ginseng was strengthening my body the entire time I was running." He paused before looking at Shuye. "Actually, I forgot to ask earlier. Why did you tell me to consume it while I was chasing after her?"
"Wouldn't it have been better to absorb it now?"
Shuye, who had been hiding among Jin's golden hair ever since he tore off his robes, poked her tiny head out before floating down in front of him.
"That would've been true if we were using qi to strengthen your body. But since we're using Intent, I figured it'd be better to absorb it while your emotions and adrenaline were at their peak."
She scratched her cheek and let out an awkward laugh.
"But... to be honest, this is my first time seeing someone cultivate with Intent too."
"So I'm kind of... experimenting."
Jin's lips twitched.
"...This mad scientist."
Shuye puffed out her tiny cheeks.
"I'm a researcher! Your System was the one who defined me that way!"
Jin only shook his head.
"Fooooo..."
Letting out a long breath, he called up his status screen.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity...
He wanted to see just how much had changed.