Chapter 21: Intersecting Paths

Su Liu had already accumulated enough fiber grass and bone powder for her little cub’s upgrade. She was only missing one legendary-grade primary core, four space-type evolution stones, and two wind-type evolution stones.

Thanks to a steady supply of spirit beast food and the little cub’s active participation in slaying monsters every night, its experience bar was full; only the materials remained a hurdle.

Oh, and there was that mysterious seed. After a few days of acceleration via the Hourglass of Chen, the count had gloriously dropped from 999,999 to 999,873.

Looking at the long string of numbers, Su Liu felt both gratified and weary. She could find neither Chronos Crystals nor Time-Gap Sand in the trading hall, and such items had never appeared in the public chat.

Su Liu had no choice but to pin her hopes on the "Anti-Roll" blind boxes. She had spent three hours the day before yesterday wishing for Time-Gap Sand, raising its acquisition probability to fifty percent. She currently had 57 hours of leisure time remaining; in three days, she would be able to perform a ten-pull.

Surveying her increasingly abundant supplies, Su Liu closed her eyes with satisfaction. She mused to herself that the novice protection period supposedly included a mandatory dungeon challenge, likely at the end of the first week.

She would aim for an S-rank rating...

[Day 7 of the Spirit Beast Survival Game]

A gentle alarm roused Su Liu. She prepared a simple but comforting breakfast to start the new day. There was no helping it; after enjoying fresh, delicious food for several days, she could no longer stomach the instant meals from the supply crates. They were bland and tasteless, and even the compressed biscuits she had relied on in her past life were now difficult to swallow.

Su Liu listed the excess food on the trading hall. Food was a hot commodity at any time, as not everyone was lucky enough to open crates containing sufficient provisions, so she could trade them for quite a lot.

In the morning, Su Liu was walking at a steady pace under the scorching sun of the grasslands. To conserve stamina, she refrained from running at full speed, yet she maintained a respectable pace. She habitually used a parasol to block the sun, sweat soaking into her temples.

Suddenly, the edge of the straight path ahead rippled like a pond disturbed by a stone, the space rapidly expanding and twisting. A "swamp path" of equal width, permeated with thin grey-black mist and lined with withered, crooked trees that looked as if they had been corroded, smashed into Su Liu’s grassland path. The intersection formed an irregular crossroads.

[Road intersection detected, please be careful!]

Su Liu stopped instantly, her vigilance spiking to the maximum. Past experience told her that road intersections were a danger signal—the probability of monster attacks increased, and the chance of encountering other players was even higher.

Right at the edge of the intersection, on the side of the "swamp path," a young male player dressed in a faded, worn-out jacket, appearing dusty and exhausted, happened to materialize. He seemed startled by the intersection, freezing for a moment. Upon seeing Su Liu, he immediately plastered a smile on his face that was meant to look harmless, even a bit sheepish, and took the initiative to wave, calling out:

"Hey! Hello! God, I finally ran into a living soul! I’ve been walking in this hellhole for nearly a day without seeing a shadow! Did you just arrive too?"

Gu Ping’s tone carried an exaggerated sense of "surviving a disaster" and the warmth of "a fellow countryman meeting another." As he spoke, he moved a few steps closer to Su Liu, his hands empty to show he was unarmed, attempting to lower her guard.

Su Liu’s sharp gaze swept over him. Despite his worn clothing, he did not look like someone who had been struggling through the sixth or seventh day of the novice period. Deep in his eyes lay a hint of undisguised shrewdness and urgency, rather than pure exhaustion or surprise. His greeting was a performance of calculated harmlessness.

Su Liu did not relax. One hand remained gripped tight on the umbrella handle, while the other hung naturally at her side, close to the dagger at her waist. Her tone was cold, maintaining distance: "Yes. Stay alert; this place looks dangerous." Her eyes flickered toward the mist-filled path behind him.

Gu Ping’s smile remained, appearing even more "sincere": "Yes, yes, you're right! I’m Gu Ping, what should I call you, sister? By the way, that’s a nice umbrella; it shades you well! I’m about to be baked crisp over here." He continued to close the distance, his eyes casually scanning Su Liu.

"Dreaming of Desire," Su Liu offered a fake nickname, concise and to the point. Her body language conveyed a clear signal of rejection. As he approached within ten meters, she stepped back half a pace, adjusting her stance to ensure the safe expanse of the grassland was behind her, rather than a blind spot at the intersection.

"Great name, sounds impressive!" Gu Ping flattered her, his eyes flickering. "Sigh, my luck is terrible. I got stuck in a dump, and all I open in crates is junk. I’m almost out of water..." He put on an expression of extreme desperation for supplies, his gaze "inadvertently" darting toward Su Liu.

As Gu Ping closed in, Su Liu caught a glimpse of a fist-sized, writhing shadow in the darkness at his feet—likely his spirit beast companion—but she pretended not to notice.

Just as the distance between them narrowed to about seven or eight meters, the "friendliness" and "distress" on Gu Ping’s face vanished, replaced by violence and greed!

He lunged forward, his body lowering as he exploded into a charge! A short, jagged bone spike slid from his sleeve into his hand, aimed directly at Su Liu’s vital spot at her waist. The angle was extremely devious and lethal!

At the same time, Gu Ping’s spirit beast, a Shadow Mink, lunged from the shadows to her rear-side, launching a [Claw Strike] straight at her neck!

Su Liu understood in an instant: he intended to kill her and loot her gear!

Almost the moment he dropped his mask and began his assault, Su Liu’s extensive combat experience and the sixth sense of a reincarnator allowed her to anticipate his move.

Su Liu did not hesitate; she instantly channeled the Hourglass of Chen!

Accelerating her own evasion maneuver! Consumed time: 0.5 seconds!

The hourglass flickered once and vanished. Su Liu’s figure, as if pushed by a faint surge of spacetime power, slid sideways half a step at an uncanny speed that defied her agility stat! The bone spike whistled through the air, narrowly grazing her clothing at the waist!

The "Shadow of the Gale" buff from the Gale Rabbit steak bolstered the acceleration effect, and Su Liu pivoted backward to dodge the [Claw Strike].

Even as she dodged, her mind moved with lightning speed!

"Tuanzi! [Void Scar]!"

Gu Ping had committed fully to his strike, his momentum spent and his center of gravity leaning forward. Suddenly, just a dozen centimeters in front of his right arm, a thin, pitch-black space fissure tore open without warning!

A cold, absolute sensation of cutting arrived!

*Rip—! Pfft!*

The [Void Scar] skill activated with precision!

The space fissure swept across the exact moment Gu Ping’s arm was fully extended, acting like the sharpest, invisible blade! Gu Ping felt an indescribable, frigid agony in his right forearm. He looked down to see his entire forearm severed at the wrist!

After the [Void Scar] severed Gu Ping's arm, the Shadow Mink was forced into a state of paralysis due to the skill's cooldown and spirit energy expenditure.

The severed arm, still clutching the dagger, hit the ground with a cut as smooth as a mirror! Blood spurted out like a fountain!

He let out a heart-wrenching scream: "Ah—my hand!!!"

In the midst of his agony, Gu Ping tried to order his Shadow Mink: "Kill her! Hurry..."

The Shadow Mink attempted to rescue Gu Ping, but Su Liu struck it with the pommel of her dagger, sending it flying. It let out a whimper and vanished into the black mist by the side of the road.

Su Liu’s expression remained icy, without a moment’s pause. The lingering effect of "Shadow of the Gale" still pulsed, and her movements were fluid and seamless. The moment her evasion was complete, her left hand had already drawn the short dagger from her waist.