Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Stumped the System

’Oh, a kill-stealer?’

Seeing the longsword stuck in the Demon Horned Snake’s corpse, Mu Qiu’s brow twitched.

What a beautiful longsword.

It seemed as if snowflakes were drifting across the blade. A single glance made one feel as if they were standing in a world of ice and snow.

Meanwhile, the longsword’s owner was still coughing uncontrollably.

As the brilliant light faded, Mu Qiu saw the slender, elegant back of a woman.

She was wearing a long black dress. Following her coughing fit, a violent retching sound was heard.

The woman spat out a pool of black blood.

’She’s injured?’

This was clearly not an injury a Demon Horned Snake could inflict.

Mu Qiu didn’t know what was going on, so she didn’t rashly climb down from the tree.

Down below, the female cultivator, Xue Ru, had already sensed Mu Qiu’s presence. Just a disciple in the Qi Refinement Realm.

Even though her divine soul was in turmoil and her body was on the verge of collapse, killing a mere Qi Refinement Realm disciple before she died would still be as easy as flipping her hand.

If the girl made any sudden moves.

"COUGH—"

The thought sent another wave of intense pain through her.

Her face turned pale as she felt her Spiritual Energy draining away.

She had suffered a fatal wound. The Spirit Root within her body was completely destroyed, making it impossible for her to circulate Spiritual Energy.

Unable to recover her Spiritual Energy, death was her only path.

After a long moment, Xue Ru, gasping for breath, ignored the filth on the ground and leaned back against a tree trunk.

The Demon Horned Snake’s corpse was right beside her, some of its pus still not fully dissipated, but she didn’t seem to fear being soiled by it at all.

Xue Ru stared ahead, her eyes unfocused.

She could feel her life slipping away, bit by bit. Even for Cultivators, until they broke through to the profoundest Dao, they could not escape the threat of death.

After a long while, the girl’s hesitant voice came from above, "Senior, are... are you all right?"

Mu Qiu knew she was stating the obvious.

This female cultivator’s condition was visibly terrible.

She didn’t know exactly how bad it was, only that dragging this out couldn’t be good.

She wanted to dig out the Demon Horned Snake’s Gallbladder, but with this female cultivator, whose aura was clearly stronger than hers, right in front of her, she didn’t dare to make a move.

Xue Ru lifted her eyelids and saw Mu Qiu in the tree.

She said nothing.

After a moment, Mu Qiu hesitantly took out an Elixir Pill.

A Second-order Qi Replenishing Pill.

This was already the best Elixir Pill she had. Third-rank ones were too expensive for her to afford.

She controlled the pill, which glowed with a lustrous aura, and made it fly to Xue Ru.

A trace of surprise appeared in Xue Ru’s eyes.

’I’m fatally wounded right now; anyone with eyes can see that.’

’The only reason I didn’t kill her first is because I have a natural aversion to killing. But for her to not wait for me to die and then come pick up the treasures I leave behind...’

’And instead, she dares to offer me medicine?’

Xue Ru’s eyelids trembled. Then, she spoke weakly, "Take it back. It’s useless."

Even a Fifth-grade Elixir wouldn’t be able to save her life now.

The best Elixir Pill this Qi Refinement Realm disciple before her could possibly offer would only be a second-order one.

Mu Qiu pressed her lips together. "I don’t have anything better."

Xue Ru’s voice already carried the decaying scent of imminent death. "I know..."

Mu Qiu said, "You’re badly injured."

"Yes..." Xue Ru gave a bitter laugh. "I’m going to die."

She gazed at the sky and murmured, "I’m going to die..."

For one last gamble, she had entered that legendary Secret Realm.

But she got nothing and lost her life in the process.

She wasn’t destined to be the special one. She was just one of the countless Cultivators on the Yunzhou Continent, as ordinary as could be.

Hearing this, Mu Qiu’s brow twitched violently.

Although she liked watching gory films, she didn’t like watching sad ones.

She felt they just made people feel miserable.

The aura in Xue Ru’s voice conveyed just such a feeling of sorrow.

Mu Qiu knew that the Cultivators of the Yunzhou Continent lived by the law of the jungle, and she had prepared herself for struggles against other Cultivators.

But she was just a person from the modern world; she treated this place like a game.

Watching a stranger’s life drain away right in front of her was an indescribable feeling, one that left her deeply unsettled.

’This game is too realistic,’ Mu Qiu thought.

She didn’t know what she could do. Maybe doing nothing would be better.

But she didn’t want to witness a scene like this.

Xue Ru suddenly asked her, "What’s your name?"

Still in a daze, Mu Qiu replied, "Mu Qiu."

Xue Ru gave a pale smile. "I’m already a dead woman."

Her meaning was clear: there was no need to hide anything from a dying person.

Mu Qiu said, "My name is Wanqiu. Dongfang Wanqiu."

’She had just told a game NPC her real name.’

"Dongfang... COUGH COUGH... Wanqiu."

Xue Ru repeated her name. Suddenly, a series of cracking sounds echoed from within her body—the death throes of her Spirit Root as it completely collapsed.

Xue Ru’s soul and spirit were about to be extinguished, and she couldn’t stop a mouthful of blood from escaping.

"BLEGH—"

She was in extreme agony, cold sweat pouring down her face.

In that instant, Mu Qiu’s pupils contracted for a moment.

Xue Ru saw a complex emotion flash in her eyes—it seemed like sadness, but also a look she didn’t understand.

But there was no malice in her, nor the typical cautiousness of a Qi Refinement Realm disciple.

Xue Ru suddenly raised her hand, and the longsword pulled itself from the Demon Horned Snake’s head with a SHING.

It trembled, letting out a mournful hum as if sensing the fading of its master’s life force.

But it was, after all, only a longsword used by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

"Can you do me a favor?"

Mu Qiu was stunned. "What is it?"

"My... my name is Xue Ru. My parents live under the Xue Cang Sect... in a small sect called the Hundred Butterfly Sect. If one day... you can make your way there, please... offer a stick of incense for them on my behalf. I think... I think it’s been over one hundred and fifty years since I last went back... I can’t... I can’t remember... what they look like anymore..."

The more Xue Ru spoke, the dimmer her eyes became.

Before Mu Qiu could refuse, the sword flew in front of her. "This sword... is named Feixue. Although it’s only a Xuan-grade Magical Treasure, COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH... it’ll be enough for you... before you reach Golden Core..."

"If you can’t make it, that’s all right too... I just... I just can’t remember..."

As she spoke these words, her eyes suddenly widened.

But her pupils had changed.

The sound of her voice grew fainter and fainter.

"Senior Xue Ru?"

Watching someone’s life fade away right before her eyes.

Mu Qiu, who had never witnessed someone die in person, truly found it a bit much to bear.

’Why did they make every detail in this game so realistic?’

Her eyesight was too good; she could even see the immense loneliness in Xue Ru’s eyes, which wouldn’t close even in death.

’This must be the reality of Cultivation, a truth the path to longevity cannot erase.’

Mu Qiu climbed down, silent. Seeing the body, now completely devoid of Spiritual Energy, she bowed her head slightly and closed the woman’s eyes.

At that very instant, something suddenly bored its way into Mu Qiu’s body.

She felt a strange sensation on her wrist. Looking down, she saw that a mark in the shape of a door had inexplicably appeared there.

It was black, and looked ominous at a glance.

Mu Qiu frowned.

She subconsciously asked her system, "System, what is this?"

System: "..."

’Good question!’

’You’ve stumped me too!’