Just Two Ounces of Flesh

P.S. No love triangles or melodrama. Read without worry. The early plot moves a tiny bit slowly, so please give it some patience. Thank you so much.

"Father, Mother... can Yueli really avenge you?"

A sigh drifted from the lakeside outside a remote mountain village.

The water reflected a slender figure with skin like ice and bones like jade, her face lovely and unworldly.

A beauty mark sat beneath one clear eye. Even dressed in coarse homespun, she could not hide features as delicate as a painting.

The girl's name was Su Yueli. She had crossed into this world three years ago.

This world was boundless. Immortal cultivators could move mountains and overturn seas, or set rivers of stars in motion with a thought.

Unlike other transmigrators, Su Yueli had no special advantage. Burdened by a blood feud, she lived in exile in a remote little village.

And she had transmigrated into a girl's body.

Yes, her little brother was gone. But if she could cultivate immortality, what did a mere two ounces of flesh matter?

Otherwise, at the bottom of this cultivation world, where human lives were worth less than grass... without strength, beauty was a calamity. She would be meat on someone else's chopping block.

"Ah Li, I knew you'd be here."

As Su Yueli was lost in thought, a young man's voice sounded behind her.

It was Shen Qing'an from the village. His father was said to be a merchant in a large city who had sent him to live with the village chief to escape trouble. He also had a younger brother named Shen Huai'an.

Shen Qing'an's gaze went straight to Su Yueli's arms. Two days ago, he had heard she had gone into the mountains to practice punching until both fists bled. He had barely slept that night.

Seeing that the wounds had almost healed, he felt much more at ease.

"You're a girl," he said with a huff. "Must you fight and get yourself hurt every day?"

Su Yueli glanced at him but said nothing.

Anyone would want to cultivate immortality and learn martial arts. In this world, without power, a person was no different from an ant. If an immortal wanted you dead, you died.

The Shen brothers had arrived in the village the same year she had. Shen Qing'an talked too much, but Su Yueli knew he had helped her plenty over the past three years.

"On to the important part."

When Shen Qing'an saw that she was not answering, his expression turned serious. He lowered his voice. "Come with me. Immortals have arrived in the village. They're about to test Root Bones at the village entrance."

"Test Root Bones? Now?"

At those words, Su Yueli's eyes brightened.

Had the turning point in my fate finally arrived? Given that I have nothing else going for me, there's a good chance they'll discover I have a Heavenly Bone.

"Let's go! I'm sure I have a Root Bone!" Su Yueli cheered herself on and took off toward the village entrance.

Shen Qing'an followed behind her, sighing inwardly.

He did not share Su Yueli's fervor for immortals. All he knew was that immortals treated mortals like blades of grass.

A Root Bone test offered a carp the chance to leap through the dragon gate. But geniuses were as numerous as carp crossing a river, and entering an immortal sect meant endless fighting and killing.

As far as he was concerned, earning money and living a peaceful life with someone he loved would be enough.

Yet when he saw Su Yueli's eyes curve with a smile, the corners of his mouth rose before he knew it.

On the way, Su Yueli was in high spirits. She turned to Shen Qing'an. "Once they find my Root Bone and I become an immortal, the first thing I'll do is give you a few immortal pills! Then I'll take you flying on my sword. I promise you'll live like a king."

Shen Qing'an had helped her so much in the years since he came to the village. If she struck it rich, it was only right to share.

Shen Qing'an stopped in his tracks.

He looked quietly at her bright face in the sunlight. Her features were delicate and serene, like the moon over the mountains fallen into the water.

Something stirred in his heart, but it was buried beneath heavier, more complicated feelings.

He hoped Su Yueli would get her wish and no longer have to suffer in this remote village.

But immortals and mortals walked different paths. The moment Su Yueli stepped onto hers, a gulf of life and death would open between them.

After a moment, he looked away and shook his head. "I'm afraid of heights. I'm not flying."

"If you really become an immortal, you could live for hundreds or thousands of years. Just don't forget what this old bag of bones looks like by then. I hear immortals are the most coldhearted of all."

Su Yueli smiled, her eyes curving. "You're that sure you don't have a Root Bone?"

Shen Qing'an said nothing more. He did not need a Root Bone. He only wanted an ordinary life.

Before long, they reached the village entrance.

The children awaiting the Root Bone test and their families had already packed the entrance so tightly that not even water could get through.

Su Yueli glanced around. The villagers' faces shone with excitement, and voices rose on every side.

"Niuwa, when you see the immortal masters, make sure your kowtow rings out! If they choose you as an immortal attendant, green smoke will rise from our Li family's ancestral grave!"

"You too, Second Girl. If they find you have a Root Bone and choose you, keep your head down! Immortal masters have fierce tempers. Don't make them angry!"

"As long as I can enter an immortal sect, I'd sweep floors! At least I'd get a bowl of long-life rice touched with immortal air!"

All kinds of emotions played across the villagers' faces. At the outer edge of the crowd, Shen Qing'an's younger brother, Shen Huai'an, was waving.

The brothers had strikingly similar features and clean-cut jawlines. But unlike Shen Qing'an, who seemed to want nothing from the world, Shen Huai'an had been born with a stubborn refusal to lose.

One glance was enough to tell them apart.

The instant Shen Huai'an spotted Su Yueli, his eyes lit up.

"Sister Yueli!"

Shen Huai'an hurried over, pulled a paper packet from inside his clothes, and pressed it into Su Yueli's hand.

"Meat buns. I just bought them." Shen Huai'an fixed his burning gaze on Su Yueli's eyes. "I tucked them against my chest the moment they came out of the steamer and ran back. The wind hasn't touched them. Eat them while they're hot."

Half a step away, Shen Qing'an faltered.

Seeing the faint flush on his younger brother's face, he looked down at the small handful of wild berries clutched in his rough palm.

He had secretly picked them on the way back to the village, intending to give them to Su Yueli to quench her thirst.

He pressed his lips together, then drew the hand holding the berries back into his sleeve. He even stepped back half a pace to make room for his brother.

Su Yueli held the buns. She was hardly surprised; both brothers had always taken good care of her.

She smiled. "Thank you. Once they find my Root Bone, I'll repay you twice over."

Shen Huai'an was about to say more when a wave of pressure suddenly descended from above.

"The Azure Moon Sect is accepting disciples. Anyone found to have a Root Bone will have a chance to set foot on the immortal path!"

Su Yueli looked up. Two cultivators in blue-green robes gazed down at them, their expressions indifferent.

The villagers dropped to their knees and kowtowed again and again.

"Immortals! Immortals really have come! Thank you, immortals!"

"Immortals, how do we find out whether we have a Root Bone?"

"Yes, yes! There was thunder and pouring rain the day my Niuwa was born. His Immortal Bone must be extraordinary!"

"..."

The villagers could barely contain their excitement. Comments and questions flew like cannonballs, making both cultivators frown.

"Quiet!"

The cultivator grew annoyed. With a light wave of his hand, pressure swept outward, making everyone's legs tremble. Only then did the crowd fall silent, their faces full of fear.

Su Yueli watched, her gaze burning.

So this was a cultivator. This was power...

Mortals like her were no different from ants in their eyes. One thought from them could decide who lived and who died.

Su Yueli clenched her fists. No matter what, she would set foot on the immortal path!

"Cultivation depends on aptitude—that is, your Root Bone. The grades are Mortal Bone, low-grade, high-grade, Immortal Bone, and the Supreme Heavenly Bone, which appears only once in a thousand years."

The cultivator spoke with his hands behind his back. He tapped a foot, and a Formation began to flow with light.

"Anyone under twenty, step forward for testing."

At the age limit, several villagers at the back who had been eager to try clenched their fists.

If that deadly pressure were not still lingering in the air, they would have rushed forward to take their chances.

The test began. The village youths lined up excitedly and stepped forward.

The first stood on the Formation. The pillar of light remained dead still.

"No Root Bone. Leave."

More than a dozen went up in succession, all without a reaction. The cultivator's gaze grew increasingly impatient.

Only when the twentieth person stepped up did a faint trace of white light finally appear in the pillar.

"Mortal Bone."

The crowd stirred. Over the next half hour, the village youths passed through the test like grain through a sieve. In the end, only three had Mortal Bones, while the blacksmith's second daughter was found to have a Low-grade Spiritual Bone.

Soon it was Shen Qing'an's turn. He stepped onto the Formation, and once again, nothing happened.

Shen Qing'an showed little disappointment or surprise, as though he had known the result all along.

He stepped down from the platform and returned to Su Yueli's side.

"You're next."

Shen Qing'an looked at Su Yueli's tense profile. A faint smile touched his lips, and his voice was soft. "Go on. I hope you have a Heavenly Bone."

Shen Huai'an cheered her on from beside him. "Sister Yueli, you're sure to have a Heavenly Bone!"