Chương 2

Ming Xuan Ji soared through the canopy, her body a whisper against the wind. The forest blurred beneath her in a rushing sea of green and shadow, an ocean of ancient trees with bark like weathered armor and leaves that rustled in a constant, roaring symphony. Every leap sent a rush of wind through her long black hair, her flowing robes fluttering like living wings behind her.

She could feel the sharp air resistance against her skin, intimately aware of the way her muscles coiled and released with perfect, instinctive timing. This body was flawlessly responsive in a way her old one had never been; there was no lag, no heavy neural interface, just pure unadulterated motion. Each powerful bound carried her farther away from her starting point, pushing her into territories where the ambient spiritual energy thickened like sweet honey in the air.

It pulled her forward with an invisible, irresistible force. She could almost taste the density of the mana on her tongue, rich, ancient, and full of violent potential. It was the kind of energy that made her newly formed Dantian hum with anticipation every time she drew a breath. The sun had dipped below the horizon hours ago, painting the sky in deepening shades of indigo and violet, but her [Divine Eye of Veritas] pierced the gathering dusk without the slightest effort.

The world unfolded before her in a breathtaking tapestry of vibrant Qi threads. Greens and blues pulsed through the dense undergrowth, revealing the steady, ancient life force of the towering pines. Faint reds flickered in hidden, subterranean dens where unknown predators waited, their primal hunger visible to her as glowing crimson strands. She moved with clear, lethal purpose, but an underlying caution still tempered her excitement. This was not UBAO anymore.

There was no quick respawn screen waiting if she miscalculated a jump. No chat full of memes to keep her company while she ran back to her corpse. One wrong step in this primordial wilderness meant absolute erasure. Scanning the miles ahead, she cataloged the shifting auras with the practiced ease of a veteran raid leader reading boss mechanics. She actively bypassed a colossal, ape-like creature radiating a stormy vortex of crimson and black mid-tier energy.

It was a beacon of raw power that would have been a field boss in her old game, definitely too strong for her current foundational level. But farther ahead, a cluster of significantly weaker presences caught her attention. Four wolf-like creatures hummed at a steady, manageable low-mid-tier threat level. They were grotesque parodies of earthly wolves, their sleek midnight bodies covered in jagged, obsidian spikes that leaked corrosive, dark mist.

They moved in a loose, coordinated formation, tracking some unfortunate smaller creature through the ferns. Ming Xuan Ji didn't hesitate. Coiling Qi into her legs, she dropped from the canopy like a falling star, plunging directly into the center of the pack. She landed squarely on the largest wolf's back with a sickening crunch of spinal bone. [Demonic Echo Palm] surged through her right hand, a violent vibration of pure destructive force that entirely bypassed external flesh and armor.

Her palm slapped against the beast's skull, and the echo boomed inward like a thunderclap trapped in a cave. The wolf's brain matter liquefied instantly, the massive creature dropping dead before it could even voice a yelp. The remaining three wheeled around, snarling viciously as their spikes flared with dark poison Qi that withered the surrounding flora. Ming Xuan Ji twisted away from the first lunging jaw, her [Heavenly Demon Raiment] fluttering like ink in water, magically avoiding every snapping tooth.

She struck the second wolf mid-leap, her palm connecting perfectly with its temple using [Echo Strike], a lighter but exponentially faster variation she was actively testing. The true-damage multiplier targeted the vulnerable weak point at the base of the skull, snapping its neck with a wet, resonant crack. The last two circled her warily, their growls low and vibrating with fear. Instead of finishing them quickly, she decided to push this new body's limits.

Adopting a fluid, weightless stance, she employed [Yin-Yang Dance Stride]. Her form blurred into afterimages as frost trailed her left foot and faint, scorching embers trailed her right. She danced effortlessly between their coordinated, desperate strikes, turning the lethal encounter into an artistic performance. A pivot here avoided a poisoned spike; a gentle, gravity-defying vault carried her cleanly over a sweeping paw. The wolves grew frantic, their howls echoing their rage, but they could not touch her.

Finally, satisfied with her real-world reflexes, her hands blurred in a rapid succession of lethal slaps that dropped them both to the forest floor. Stolen novel; please report. As the bodies settled, threads of refined golden essence unraveled from the carcasses, flowing straight into her Dantian like smoke to a flame. The Heavenly Demon Scripture activated automatically, devouring the energy and rewriting her physical limits in real time.

Her bones densified, her meridians widened, and a euphoric rush of power surged through her veins. Kneeling beside the kills, she quickly swept the beasts, venomous spikes and all, into her [Void Storage Ring], building her stockpile of resources. Energized by the kill, she pressed on. Hours blurred as she hunted methodically, bounding from tree to tree. Eventually, the night deepened completely, and the air grew sharp and crisp with a heavy dew.

Ming Xuan Ji paused on a high branch to catch her breath, staring upward as the cool wind tugged at her robes. Three moons hung high in the sky: one incredibly large and pale, flanked perfectly by two smaller orbs that cast a disorienting, triple-shadowed silver glow across the canopy. The realization hit her like a splash of freezing water. UBAO's continent of Xantia only had two moons. This wasn't a simulation, and it certainly wasn't just the game world brought to life.

There were no familiar quest hubs, no established lore she could exploit, and no safety nets. She was flying completely blind in an alien, unforgiving universe. A wry, dangerous smile tugged at her lips. Could be worse, she thought. At least the cheats carried over. Her thoughts shattered as a massive, powerful signature flared violently in her [Divine Eye of Veritas]. A colossal bear-beast, easily three meters tall at the shoulder, lumbered into a nearby clearing, uprooting small trees in its path.

Its fur looked like rusted, thick iron, and its heavy claws gleamed with a lethal, metallic sheen. It radiated a roaring torrent of earth and metal-aspect Qi, far stronger and denser than the wolves. Confidence swelled in her chest. She accelerated into a blistering, vertical dive, dropping straight at the monster with the wind screaming past her ears. The bear sensed her approach instantly, rearing onto its massive hind legs with a thunderous roar.

Its right paw swept in a devastating, wide arc, claws whistling through the air. Ming Xuan Ji twisted mid-air at the last possible millisecond, the displaced wind violently brushing her cheek. Landing in a perfect, low crouch, she surged forward like a shadow and slammed a [Demonic Echo Palm] directly into its shoulder. The vibration ripped violently through the beast, exploding flesh, iron fur, and bone outward in a spray of blood.

The bear's limb went completely limp, but the monster howled in primal agony, countering with a furious downward smash that cratered the earth. She used [Yin-Yang Dance Stride] to seamlessly circle its flank, leaving a wake of freezing frost and scorching embers. Exploiting the beast's compromised balance, she leaped high above its sweeping retaliation. Her palm descended like absolute judgment, connecting squarely with the top of its iron skull.

The true-damage shockwave boomed inward, instantly turning the bear's brain to pulp. The giant collapsed with an earth-shaking thud. Another massive influx of golden essence flooded her core. Her Dantian swelled noticeably, the intoxicating, addictive bliss of leveling up momentarily drowning out her physical fatigue. She stored the massive, iron-furred carcass, a guaranteed fortune in materials if she ever found a merchant, and leapt back into the shadows. The hunt continued relentlessly without pause.

She met a flock of razor-beaked avian predators head-on, detonating their coordinated, aerial ambush with a devastating combination of [Flame Jab] and [Qi Burst Strike]. Deeper in the woods, she rattled the crystalline armor of a burrowing mole-beast using [Echo Vortex], finishing the stunned creature off with a point-blank [Demonic Chain Palm].

Between the slaughter, she selectively harvested glowing clusters of Jade Spirit Grass and Moonbloom Flowers, absorbing some for an immediate energy boost and storing the rest for future trade. Yet, as the triple moons arced slowly across the alien sky, the initial thrill of combat began to wane. The isolation crept back in, quiet but incredibly persistent, like a shadow that refused to detach itself from her heels. Back in her old life, she had never truly been alone.

Even during the most grueling, twenty-four-hour marathon streams, the chat had always been there. Thousands of viewers watching, memeing, donating, and cheering her on. Now, there was only the wind, the endless sea of leaves, and the distant, echoing roars of unseen horrors. She paused on a thick branch, letting her legs dangle over the edge as she looked out over the endless green expanse.

"You know what would be really nice right now?" she murmured aloud, her voice sounding desperately small and fragile in the vast emptiness.

"A hot meal. Actual seasoning. Maybe some rice. God, I miss rice. And someone to argue with about whether pineapple belongs on pizza. Even if it's just chat spamming 'ratio' at me." She laughed at her own joke, but the sound felt hollow. It died almost instantly, swallowed entirely by the indifferent, primordial woods. The loneliness was a heavy, suffocating debuff. But she knew sitting still would only let it fester into dangerous despair. Power was the only true currency in this reality.

She would keep hunting, keep moving, and keep growing stronger until the silence simply became background noise. She would grind until nothing in this world could ever threaten her, until she finally broke through this endless green maze and found a civilization worth conquering. Ming Xuan Ji stood up, her flawless, cold mask slipping back into place. With a sharp flare of Qi, she launched herself back into the night, a beautiful, deadly monster hunting in the dark.