Chapter 6: Day 6

“Child.
Do not be afraid.
I am not scolding you.”

The young man spoke softly to the girl.

But the girl still hadn’t escaped the terrible fear that had consumed her mind.

The more the young man’s questions continued.

The more the young man’s voice rang out.

The more fear grew and devoured the girl.

“Tsk, at this rate, we won’t be able to have a conversation.”

The young man clicked his tongue lowly after checking the girl’s condition.

Because of a trash-like maggot, his ‘precious’ disciple’s mind was on the verge of collapse.

No, no.

She wasn’t his disciple yet, was she?

Well, it didn’t matter.

This child would become a disciple of the sect he belonged to anyway.

He would make it so.
And fate would guide the girl.

So.

“First, we have to go back.”

After speaking, the young man flicked his finger.

One of the techniques he used to kill the wild beast.

The old man.

The one the young man called trash and a maggot.
Who had now become a cold lump of meat.

He used the Six Flicking Fingers Sword Art.

Flick flick flick.

The six sword strikes that poured from the young man’s fingers severed the chains that bound the girl.

Thud!

The severed chains fell with a heavy sound.

“Let’s go.”

The young man slung the girl, freed from the chains, over his shoulder and escaped the cave.

The girl and the young man.

The young man and the girl.

When the two disappeared, the cave also collapsed as if its role had been fulfilled.

***

“Ugh….”

The girl let out a low moan.

She felt something cool all over her body.

Within the coolness, there was warmth, and that warmth gave the illusion of a mother caressing her child.

How long had she spent in that sensation of coolness and warmth?

“Ahhh-!”

The girl screamed and sat up.

“Haa! Haa!”

The girl breathed heavily.

At the same time, the girl’s eyes quickly scanned her surroundings.

The heavy chains that had bound her whole body were gone.

This was not a cave either.

The interior of the room was neat rather than splendid.
And luxurious.

The place where she was lying was a soft bed, and beside it, a woman was looking at her with a surprised look.

“Wh-Who are you?”

The girl, also with a surprised look, asked the woman.

But.

Gulp gulp.

The woman didn’t give a proper answer to the girl’s question.

No, to be precise, she couldn’t.

In the woman’s mouth, which opened and closed, there was nothing that a person must have to speak.

Yes.
To be precise.

The woman had no tongue in her mouth.

No, on closer inspection, the woman had no ears and no eyes.

Where her eyes should have been, there were empty holes.

And where her ears should have been, it was blocked.

She couldn’t speak.

She couldn’t hear.

She couldn’t see.

Just who had made the woman into such a terrible state?

Just as the girl was suddenly wondering about that.

“You’re awake.”

Flinch.

When did he appear?

Where did he appear from?

No, how did he appear?

A mellow.
And young voice suddenly sounded.

The girl looked at the place where the sound came from, and there stood a young man wearing a pure white.
At the same time, a pattern of dozens of snakes intertwined on his chest.

“Who… are you…?”

The girl asked the young man in a frightened voice.

The young man stared at the girl, then gestured to the woman.

Even though the woman couldn’t see, she seemed to accurately recognize and acknowledge what the young man wanted, and quietly left the room.

With a thud, the door closed.

A heavy and sticky silence descended on the room where only the girl and the young man remained.

In that silence, the girl couldn’t ask the young man again.

Somehow, she felt like she shouldn’t open her mouth any further.

“You have quite a bit of sense.”

The young man smiled satisfactorily at the girl who closed her mouth and looked at him with frightened eyes.

“Yes, you must be confused.
But don’t be too scared.
I am not your enemy.”

“You’re not… my enemy?”

“That’s right.”

At the girl’s question, the young man nodded with a soft smile.

Not an enemy… huh.

The girl couldn’t take the young man’s words at face value.

The time the girl had spent since falling into this f*cking world was too terrible for that.

But.

‘He might not be hostile to me.’

The luxurious interior of the room.

The soft smile and voice.

If he wanted to dissect her like that crazy old man, or use her as an ingredient for something, he wouldn’t need to treat her like this.

After organizing her thoughts, the girl asked.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Baek Ah.”

“Where is this place?”

“It’s called the White Snake Gate.”

“Where is the White Snake Gate?”

“It’s the capital sect of a country called the Current Empire.”

After hearing that, the girl closed her mouth.

White Snake Gate.
Current Empire.
Capital sect.

No further questions were needed.

Even though she had already guessed and was sure.

What she had endlessly denied in a corner of her heart came to reality.

This was that f*cking xianxia world.

A world where cultivators who dream of immortality and devote themselves to training to become immortals exist.

For ordinary people who didn’t have spiritual roots or talent, it was a living hell.

She had really fallen into such a hell.

But.

That’s why she had one question.

Why was she.

Why was I.

“Why am I here?”

In this capital sect called the White Snake Gate, why was she receiving this treatment?

The bed she was lying on now.

This room where that bed was located.

It didn’t seem like a place she should be.

At the girl’s question, the young man, who introduced himself as Baek Ah, smiled softly again.

“I brought you here myself to accept you as my disciple.”

“Disciple…?”

“That’s right.”

The young man, Baek Ah.

When the word ‘disciple’ came out of his mouth, the girl’s eyes widened.

He brought her here to accept her as his disciple.

Does that mean.

“D-Do I have talent?”

“You do.
And a very outstanding talent at that.”

She had talent.

The talent to become a cultivator.
And a very outstanding one at that.

In the xianxia world, talent as a cultivator meant spiritual roots.

The most representative spiritual roots were fire, water, wood, metal, and earth.

Besides those, there were also lightning spiritual roots, ice spiritual roots, and so on.

Of course, such spiritual roots were so rare that only one or two out of ten thousand cultivators would have them.
Usually, when cultivators referred to ‘spiritual roots’, they meant the five spiritual roots of fire, water, wood, metal, and earth.

Also, outstanding talent as a cultivator meant the number of spiritual roots.

Five spiritual roots.
That is, those with five spiritual roots had the least talent.

One spiritual root.
That is, those with one spiritual root had the most talent.

Then.

“How many spiritual roots do I have?”

“Oh, do you know about spiritual roots?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Spiritual roots.
Cultivation, and so on.

Even though the girl said she already knew about them, Baek Ah wasn’t particularly surprised.

Baek Ah brought this girl here in the first place because the girl had already learned a cultivation method and possessed spiritual energy.

Of course, it was at a level lower than the first level of the Qi Condensation realm.

That’s why Baek Ah just smiled softly.

“If you know, then it’s easier.
Child, you are a one spiritual root user.
A very, very rare and very, very outstanding talent.”

A one spiritual root user!

At Baek Ah’s words, the girl’s eyes lit up.

One spiritual root.

A blessed talent.

In the past, when the girl was still in the modern world, before falling into this f*cking world.

Of course, xianxia novels were included among the web novels she read.

And in those novels, the treatment a one spiritual root user received was literally luxurious.

When children with poor talent were in charge of various chores in the sect.

The protagonist, who was a one spiritual root user, only devoted himself to training while receiving all kinds of spiritual medicines in his own personal space.

Literally, the sect would pull out their pillars and pour all their support into the protagonist.

Of course, there was a reason for that.

The protagonist, who received such support, had to lead the sect he belonged to when he achieved his realm and ascended in the future.

It didn’t matter.

In this world, if she could become a cultivator.

And a cultivator with overwhelming talent at that.

‘Come to think of it, it’s natural, isn’t it?’

The protagonists of the web novels the girl had read.

Among them, especially those who were possessed or reincarnated, all had special abilities or talents.

Then, it wouldn’t be strange for her to be a one spiritual root user.

In a way, she had also experienced something like possession… or reincarnation… that only the protagonists of web novels experienced.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.
Anyone would be confused if they were in this situation.
You’re quite calm compared to that.”

She was calm.

The girl smiled.

The reason she was calm was simple.

It was probably because she had suffered so much until now.

By the way.

“What is the spiritual root that I possess?”

What kind of spiritual root did she have?

If possible, she hoped it was the flamboyant and exciting fire spiritual root.

No, the wood spiritual root wasn’t bad either.
It would help to grow spiritual herbs or spiritual trees.

No, to be honest.

Any attribute was fine.

Like that, the girl looked at Baek Ah with anticipation.

But.

“Hmm.”

Baek Ah let out a suppressed groan at the girl who was looking at him with sparkling eyes.

“I’m sorry to betray your expectations.”

“Yes?”

“That’s, we haven’t figured out what kind of spiritual root you have yet.”

At Baek Ah’s words, the girl’s expression hardened.

They hadn’t figured out what kind of spiritual root she had?

No, does that make sense?

Baek Ah in front of her didn’t seem to be at the Qi Condensation realm.

It just came to her vaguely, but the young man in front of her, Baek Ah, had killed that monstrous old man who had kidnapped her in the forest with a flick of his finger.

The girl hurriedly examined Baek Ah’s expression.

There was a lot of regret in Baek Ah’s eyes.

It wasn’t a lie.

Baek Ah.
No, the White Snake Gate that Baek Ah belonged to really didn’t know what kind of spiritual root she had.

“That can’t be…”

The girl made a desperate expression.

Baek Ah said as if to comfort the girl.

“Don’t worry.
Our White Snake Gate has a variety of cultivation methods, so if you train in them one by one, you’ll be able to find out what kind of spiritual root you have.”

At Baek Ah’s consolation, the girl’s desperate expression loosened slightly.