Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Opening
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Thanks for deeply appreciating my 5700-character manifesto on wuxia.
But the future ahead felt utterly daunting.
"...You don't know the reason?"
Of course not.
Our spirit beast responded with remarkable confidence.
Furrowing my brow, I tossed out another question.
"Why... why did I turn into a little girl...?"
Fro...ggy? Hmm, sorry, but this lord doesn't quite grasp what a froggy is...
The spirit beast, coiled up comfortably, tilted its head curiously.
As I admired the glossy sheen of its pristine white scales, I explained what a "froggy" meant.
So... you're asking why I turned Seo the young lady into such a fragile girl.
"Yeah, now we're getting somewhere."
I let out a sigh and snapped my fan open with a sharp whoosh! The spirit beast seemed mildly impressed.
Then it promptly explained the reason to me.
Because... she's beautiful, isn't she?
"......"
She's cute, too. Wandering the martial world with some grown man would make this lord's... appearance stand out too much.
"...Crazy pervert."
With shadows darkening my face, I covered my mouth with the fan and spat that out. The spirit beast's face flushed ever so slightly.
'Yeah, I should just kill it right here.'
Thinking that, I reached out again.
S-Sorry...!! This lord apologizes!
"Tch... Try riding on my body one more time."
It really creeped me out when it slithered over my skin, crawling inside my clothes.
Like some pervert groping my soft, tender body. Gross.
Glare at the sly spirit beast, and it whimpered, shrinking back.
That was the moment I realized getting angry any further was pointless.
This thing was ridiculously weak to begin with.
A spirit beast that wheezed and choked just from me grabbing it with my hand.
"...What can you even do?"
Serve Seo as my master, that's all.
"Not helpful at all."
I stabbed it with the blunt truth, face blank. The spirit beast bounced up and down like a spring, fuming.
This lord can do plenty, but there's nothing I can tell you yet.
"...Hah, how convenient."
......
I demanded a more detailed explanation from the displeased-looking spirit beast. With a sigh, it slowly began describing this place.
The novel probably assumes Seo has read up to around the midpoint of chapter 10, where you left off.
"Correct."
Impressive insight.
"Hmm......"
The spirit beast grinned smugly, which irked me a bit, but I nodded and fanned my face while listening intently.
In short, this place was about ten years before the novel I read.
In other words, the year when Hwa-ryeon, the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix—a major character who exited just after chapter 10—became the sect leader's disciple at age ten.
The reason we arrived at this point?
You haven't read what comes after, but... it's truly horrific. That's all I'll say.
Because what followed was utterly horrific.
According to the spirit beast, the righteous sects were completely wiped out.
Mount Hua, one of the Nine Great Sects, was brutally exterminated. Then Zhongnan Sect, located in the same Shaanxi region, took over—but even they couldn't escape annihilation in the end.
Starting with Zhongnan, Shaolin, Wudang, and the Zhuge Family fell one after another.
The Tang Family of Sichuan beneath them.
The demonic claws slowly reached down, annihilating even the Dian Cang Sect in Yunnan before the bloody storm over the righteous sects finally subsided.
The Sword Sovereign and Martial Alliance Leader, head of the Nangong Family, hastily gathered the remaining Nine Great Sects and families.
But just then, the Demonic Cult invaded, and the Blood Cult emerged from hiding, leading to their total downfall.
That was the story.
"...The Central Plains."
The Central Plains falls, and those who valued martial prowess and chivalry fade into history, mere names in the annals.
"......"
As a wuxia fan, this was bitterly disheartening.
Even if this world's setting had waiters serving Qi Circulation Breakfast, Qi Circulation Brunch, and Qi Circulation Dinner alongside Worcestershire sauce instead of some street vendor kid.
"......"
I couldn't hide my bitterness.
Noticing my expression, the spirit beast spoke in a calmer tone than before.
This lord shares much the same thoughts as you right now.
"Really?"
The spirit beast nodded, climbed onto me, and poured out its emotions-laden thoughts.
What meaning is there in a martial world that loses its martial arts and forgets chivalry?
Exactly.
Just as Mount Hua lost its plum blossoms.
The other great sects and families must have lost something irreplaceable too.
Could we even call such a place a martial world?
What sets the chivalrous heroes of the righteous sects—having forgotten martial arts and chivalry—apart from the Demonic Cult scum or the Evil Factions' riffraff?
I wondered if it could be changed, staring at my fan. The spirit beast whispered,
I believe Seo can do it.
"...Author."
You can do it, young lady.
Gripping my fan tightly at the author's strong conviction, I stared.
"......"
To recreate the martial world I loved here.
Well, there didn't seem to be any way back anyway.
My old life was exhausting.
'This isn't so bad...'
Nodding, I looked at the spirit beast expectantly wrapping around my hand.
"Why?"
...When will you give me a name?
"Oh."
You completely forgot... How hurtful.
The spirit beast rubbed its head against my arm, claiming offense.
Its body was incredibly cold to the touch.
"...You're cold."
Am I?
"Yeah."
Made of yin energy, perhaps.
Those usually had negative effects.
Hmm-ing thoughtfully while side-eyeing it, I seriously pondered a name.
'Cold like snow and pure white, so 'Snow'... Just calling it a snake lacks flair, and since I'm carrying it around, it needs gravitas—use 'python' for Snow Python?'
Snow Python.
I dubbed it the "Snow Python," the serpent of snow, and immediately asked what it thought.
Ooooh... A fine name. Thank you, young lady Seo.
Snow Python's eyes sparkled as it bounced joyfully.
"Ahem, ahem. Good, good. From now on, obey my words, got it?"
Flashing a grin, I asked about our location.
"So, where are we? That's the most important part."
Ah, this is Hubei.
"Hubei...?"
Hubei meant...
'Zhuge Family and Wudang.'
Home to the Zhuge Family and Wudang Sect.
No need to worry. The Zhuge Family won't detect us. At least not until you can control your own power.
"...Good to know."
Righteous sects, Demonic Cult, Evil Factions—which side will you join?
Snow Python asked, already knowing the answer.
I chuckled softly and snapped my fan open with a flourish.
"Obviously! The righteous sects!"
Heh heh... Your hair and eyes suit the Blood Cult better.
"Snow Python."
I fixed it with dead eyes, and Snow Python turned away.
'Do snakes sweat coldly too?'
I wondered if snakes could break a cold sweat.
Zhuge Family.
A family specializing in mechanisms, formations, incantations, and illusions rivaling even the Long-Eared Clan.
Among them, Zhuge Ji-yeon, a young woman just coming of age.
She was inspecting the formation that had recently appeared before the family grounds.
A formation that permitted no entry, protected by immense inner energy.
She hadn't believed the tales of merchants and Wudang warriors wandering lost for weeks after passing by.
But approaching it herself...
"...This."
An incredibly intricate and refined defensive formation unfolded.
A barrier radiating unyielding will to protect whatever lay within, barring all intrusion.
"Miss."
"......"
Her guard behind her sensed the gravity, calling out gravely.
Zhuge Ji-yeon nodded.
"Report to the family head. Something's amiss."
"Yes!"
"...I need to examine this formation a bit longer."
Saying so, she slowly approached the formation, drawing her sword.
Her keenly honed blade seemed to hesitate before the formation.
As if resisting the urge to profane something sacred.
Clang!!!
She swung once, and empty air rippled, echoing like steel clashing through the vast bamboo grove.
'...Not a Zhuge formation. No brother of mine, not even Father, could craft something this exquisite.'
Frowning, she sheathed her sword.
"Ensure no innocents nearby get caught in it. Have the family guards form a perimeter around the formation."
With that, Zhuge Ji-yeon encircled it from a distance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of that barrier...
K-Kek...!! Y-Young lady! S-Save me!!!
"Oh......"
Seo Ha-yeon gently gripped Snow Python by the scruff, testing her limits.
Her body had already ascended to the peak, completing the bone refinement transformation.
Which meant...
'...Growth ends here?'
She'd remain in this froggy form until death.
For a moment, her inner energy surged through the ground, shaking the earth.
Zhuge Ji-yeon
