But for Luo Taozhi, this skill—which others found extremely difficult or even practically impossible to use—was as natural as a fish in water. She handled it with effortless ease.
After all, she had cultivated using much more difficult Spiritual Power for hundreds of years. Using something this elementary was nothing to her.
She casually swung the longsword once more, releasing the Qi attached to the blade.
As a streak of sword Qi slashed through the air, the longsword in Luo Taozhi’s hand returned to the scabbard at her waist.
Glancing at the forest bordering the Novice Village Plain, Luo Taozhi walked inside without hesitation.
The Little Wild Wolves on the Novice Village Plain could no longer satisfy her efficiency requirements for leveling up. It was too slow.
Once she reached Level 6, the experience gained from killing one Little Wild Wolf dropped to only 200. It was far too little.
It required 3,500 experience points to reach Level 7 from Level 6, while a single Little Wild Wolf only gave 200 experience points. This meant that if she still relied on the Little Wild Wolves despite the experience decay, she would need to kill nearly eighteen of them.
It was just too slow.
This forest was already beyond the plains near the Novice Village. There should be higher-level monsters inside, right?
With that thought, Luo Taozhi decisively stepped forward.
The moment she entered, the system’s notification pinged in her ear.
**[Level check…]**
**[Player Level > 5, check successful.]**
**[Congratulations, Player, for entering the 【Forest of the Newborn (Level 5-10)】.]**
**[Please note: The current map difficulty is significantly higher than the Player’s level. It is recommended to explore this area after reaching Level 8 or 9.]**
**[Please note: Once you leave the 【Novice Village Plain】, death will result in a Level -1 penalty.]**
A series of voices rang out continuously in Luo Taozhi’s ears. By the time the last two sentences played, bright red warning text even appeared before her eyes.
The map level was Level 5–10, but the recommended entry level was Level 8 or 9?
And there was a death penalty?
It sounded like… the monsters inside were the type that would definitely drop great equipment!
Luo Taozhi’s eyes lit up. She ignored the system’s warnings and walked straight in.
Was she afraid of high difficulty?
The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish!
Although the previous Little Wild Wolves dropped equipment, the drop rate was far too low, and they were all scattered, low-quality pieces. They clearly weren’t the “endgame” set for the Level 0–10 stage. It was obvious where that set would be located.
Just as she entered the forest, the first thing Luo Taozhi saw wasn’t a monster, but a woman leaning against a tree, visibly injured.
The moment she saw the woman, Luo Taozhi immediately drew the longsword from her waist, her Qi surging and clinging to the blade.
It seemed that if the woman by the tree made even the slightest move, she would slash out without hesitation.
Was this a joke? Even though this was a forest, she had only just stepped in from the plains.
There had been no loading screen or scene transition, yet she hadn’t seen any woman standing by this tree when she was looking from the outside just moments ago.
Thinking this, Luo Taozhi turned around and walked directly out of the forest, stepping back onto the plain.
Sure enough, the figure of the woman by the tree vanished.
‘An NPC? Or a scene rendering issue?’
Luo Taozhi found it difficult to understand. Logically speaking, since this game had been developed to such a high standard, how could such a blatant bug exist?
She walked back into the forest, and the woman appeared once again.
Luo Taozhi gripped her sword and walked over.
Such an irrational occurrence clearly signaled that the player was meant to approach. Since the game wanted her to go over, she would go over.
However, if the woman showed even a hint of hostile movement, she would strike immediately.
As long as a health bar appeared, she would dare to act. The worst-case scenario was just dying and respawning back at the Novice Village.
As Luo Taozhi drew closer, a name and basic information appeared above the woman’s head.
[Yoshimura Umeko]
[Level 15]
[Class: Jujutsu Master]
[HP: 200/1,200? (Heavily Injured)]
[Introduction: A highly respected Exorcist in the forest. She is the strongest person in these woods!]
Level 15. She certainly counted as the strongest in a Level 5–10 forest.
However, the state of this “strongest” individual was clearly not good. Her 1,200 HP was currently down to only 200.
Combined with her apparent inability to fight back, it gave one a strong urge to take a swing at her.
‘200 HP… doesn’t seem that hard to deplete.’
Qi circulated around the longsword.
‘Friend, you are fated to meet me today. You were going to die anyway, so helping me out can be considered your final good deed.’
-25
Tsk. Not even a Critical Hit. It seemed the system was preventing it.
“Cough! Cough, cough! Was… was it you who woke me?”
-25
“Thank you, unknown kind soul. I am Yoshimura Umeko, a Jujutsu Master from the depths of this forest. Cough, cough!”
-25
‘Tsk, so slow.’
“To show my gratitude, kind soul, would you be willing to listen to my story?”
-25
“This forest wasn’t always like this. It’s all because of a terrifying demon. We call her Hannya…”
-25
-25
…
“Thank you for being willing to listen to my story, kind soul. I am dying… can you take me back to the village?”
**[Will you accept the quest 【Hannya in the Village (I)】?]**
**[Quest Requirement: Agree to escort Yoshimura Umeko back to the village.]**
**[Yes] [No]**
Luo Taozhi looked at Yoshimura Umeko’s health bar, which only had 50 HP remaining, and then at the quest prompt.
**[Yes]**
“Of course I’m willing, Miss Yoshimura Umeko. Perhaps I came to this place specifically to save you.”
Luo Taozhi smiled as she sheathed her longsword and stepped forward to help Yoshimura Umeko up.
“So, Miss Umeko, where is the village?”
“Kind soul, the road to the village is very treacherous. It will be hard on you. This way.”
**[Completed 【Hannya in the Village (I)】]**
**[Reward: 500 experience points]**
**[Received Quest 【Hannya in the Village (II)】]**
**[Quest Requirement: Defeat the monsters blocking the path and successfully escort Yoshimura Umeko to the village. (Quest fails if Yoshimura Umeko dies.)]**
The smile on Luo Taozhi’s face froze. She glanced back at the health bar over Yoshimura Umeko’s head.
[Yoshimura Umeko]
[HP: 50/1,200 (Near Death)]
‘Crap, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have hit her. She only has 50 HP left; can I still escort her successfully?’
She hoped the monsters on the road wouldn’t be too strong. Otherwise, she might have to look forward to the death drops of this Level 15 “strongest Jujutsu Master.”
The moment Luo Taozhi accepted **【Hannya in the Village (II)】**, Yoshimura Umeko began to move.
She didn’t look like she was on the verge of death at all. She stood up straight and started walking toward the depths of the forest.
Luo Taozhi hurriedly followed her pace, vigilantly watching for any movement in the surroundings.
Most of the monsters blocking their path were extremely fast flying insects. They charged straight for Yoshimura Umeko with their sharp mouthparts.
However, with Luo Taozhi by her side, these low-HP insects couldn’t even get close to the NPC.
Every single one of them perished under Luo Taozhi’s sword Qi.
A large wave of enemies appeared just as they sighted the village entrance. The insects no longer flew in one by one; several of them swarmed at once.
Clearly, a melee class’s attack speed wouldn’t be high enough to clear them all. The NPC would have definitely lost health during this stage.
But Luo Taozhi was different. She had **【Qi Gathering】**, and the sword Qi she unleashed functioned as a ranged attack.
This allowed her to wipe out the insects completely, enabling Yoshimura Umeko to enter the village successfully.
If it hadn’t been for her, no matter which melee class stood here, it would have been impossible to escort the critically low-health Yoshimura Umeko into the village!
As for why Yoshimura Umeko’s health was so low to begin with… well, don’t you worry about that.