Lively Skeleton - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Back then, I was only a brand-new disciple of the Sword Sect. I had just reached Foundation Establishment.

In other words, I was the classic case of someone who couldn’t win a fight and couldn’t run away either.

So I dropped to my knees with impressive speed.

Then, for good measure, I dumped everything I had out in front of me so they could make their selections more easily.

“I heard you calling me just now. This is everything I picked up today.”

“Feel free to see if there’s anything you need. Take whatever you like, okay~”

As long as I looked calm, I wouldn’t seem too pathetic.

Cultivators who went down the mountain for training were all even bigger jerks than the sword-practicing kind.

Whether they had any use for your stuff or not, they packed it all up anyway.

That day…

I wiped my tears and bawled my eyes out, left with nothing on me but a fluffy little rabbit woven from foxtail grass.

The cultivators who had robbed me were instantly at a loss.

One of them gritted his teeth. With his brows tightly furrowed, he said, one word at a time, “Don’t blame us for being heartless.”

“Who told you to be alone and this weak?”

Then…

He took a steamed bun from his robes and shoved it into my mouth.

He also put a water pouch in my hands.

Once they couldn’t hear me crying anymore, they visibly relaxed.

Their leader said coldly, “Move out!”

I couldn’t swallow that humiliation.

In secret, I swore-

[I will quietly work hard and cultivate to the Golden Core stage, then amaze everyone!]

But I forgot this was a world of cultivation.

Words had power here. Say it, and the law of the world would make it so.

Any oath made had to be carried out to the letter. Break it, and at best, you got struck by lightning. At worst, heavenly punishment came for you.

And today, two days later, I was being blasted by lightning so hard I had to crawl and roll for my life.

“Aaaah!!”

“Sweet merciful heavens-”

At the training grounds, in front of all the disciples, an elder of the Sword Sect pointed toward the mountain where I was being chased all over the place by lightning. His tone was extremely gratified.

“Do you see that person over there, running all over the mountain while getting struck by lightning?”

“She is a Sword Sect disciple from the same cohort as all of you. Her aptitude is average, yet she refuses to admit defeat.”

“She swore an oath to cultivate to the Golden Core stage within five years!”

“Look at that-regardless of whether the outcome is good or bad, she dares to press forward without hesitation and risk everything. That is the kind of person qualified to question the will of Heaven!”

The disciples’ gazes gradually filled with awe.

As for me, the person in question, when I learned that the time limit on my oath was five years and that I would genuinely die if I failed…

My little face instantly turned deathly pale.

“If you put this in modern terms, it’s like saying that to earn a million a year, I would have to-

“Deliver milk from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., sell breakfast on the street from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., carry bricks at a construction site from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., then deliver takeout from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

“From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., I keep carrying bricks. From 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., I find a restaurant and wash dishes.

“Then from 9 p.m. to midnight, I sell skewers at a night market, and right after that, from midnight to 3 a.m., I work as a server at a bar.”

After saying all that…

I almost stopped breathing on the spot.

Clutching my chest as I staggered, I muttered under my breath,

“I mean, I say ‘just kill me’ all the time, but if you actually make me die, I’m not okay with that.

“Sweet merciful heavens, why can’t someone else die instead?!”

From then on…

I threw myself headfirst into cultivation, not daring to stop day or night.

…

At last…

I completed my Golden Core oath at the very last second.

The tribulation lightning came crashing down.

That was close.

I almost didn’t survive!

Tears of joy streamed down my face.