17 Feeling Changed (1/2)

Shin Sumi didn't even notice at first. All of it was very new to her. In the past she had been cultivating but it was more accurate to say that she had only been trying.

As of now, Shin Sumi really was feeling something bubble up inside her. It was a sensation of slowly drifting, not unlike when one falls asleep. She was still lost in thoughts but these thoughts were getting more cloudy with every passing second.

A person with really high Shinsoo affinity would have been able to spot a slight distortion in the air above the high grade spirit stone on Shin Sumi's lap. The distortion took the shape of fumes, being inhaled noiselessly by her nostrils.

Inside her dantian, the spark that had been awoken the previous day once again flared to life. Shin Sumi still didn't notice, convinced that she was still thinking seriously and completely ignoring her trance. More and more time passed as Shin Sumi slipped into unconsciousness, still remaining somewhat alert.

That is exactly what meditation is all about. Getting into the rhythm of one's own body and mind, in accord with everything around.

As that was happening, Shin Sumi started feeling a distant thumping. The sound like percussion didn't come from afar, no, it came from inside her. Her dantian was slowly waking up, powered by the invisible Shinsoo entering her system.

At first the thumping was somewhat erratic and felt strange. In her crossed legs position, eyes closed and hands resting on her knees, Shin Sumi unknowingly frowned a little bit.

A thought popped into her mind. ”I have to adjust to find the method corresponding to my organism” she thought. She was recalling what she and Xiao Yue had talked about extensively in the past.

After having observed a lot of cultivation practitioners on the North Cultivation Plaza platform, Shin Sumi knew breathing was key and allowed a disciple to tune their Shinsoo intake.

The part of Shin Sumi's mind that was still rational and awake knew what was happening at this point.

”So that is the real cultivation” she murmured between her closed lips.

Inside her dantian the spark was still flickering with a rhythmic thumping. Shin Sumi adjusted her breathing slightly and the thumping changed immediately. After a bit of experimentation she knew exactly what to do.

It simply felt right to accord the percussion inside her dantian with that of her calm heart.

It took a bit of time to get the feeling right but Shin Sumi was lost in a peaceful state of mind and completely ignored the passage of time.

The spark was now flaring regularly, kind of like bubbles exploding at just the right time. Shin Sumi's physical body and Shinsoo system were resonating at the same frequency, alternatively sending blood coursing through her veins and Shinsoo in her meridians.

The concordance of her breathing with all that made her inhale even more concentrated Shinsoo with each instant. Shin Sumi could feel the bubbly spark send more and more waves with each soft explosion.

Although the feeling was very pleasant and the Shinsoo entering her body made her feel refreshed and powerful, it didn't last long.

Maybe it was because she had forced her talent to awaken with such a large quantity of precious resources that it was now used to it, but the high grade spirit stone was drying up at a vertiginous speed.

With the lack of Shinsoo adding fuel to the spark, blowing up spiritual bubbles in her dantian, the thumping disappeared rapidly. In her meditative state, time seemed to pass differently than in the outside world but now suddenly Shin Sumi could only feel her heart beating.

”The meditation is over. The spirit stone is empty!” she realized.

Opening her eyes and stretching her neck, Shin Sumi lifted her gaze towards the cloudy sky. ”The sun is setting down. I have been meditating for more than two hours.” she calculated quickly.

Two hours wasn't a long time to cultivate for. Besides it felt different for the one cultivating. Shin Sumi was curious to feel that she was under the impression of having cultivated for a lot longer than that, although she thought she had not been gone for more than a few minutes.

”I understand what Yue told me now. Before I thought I knew but I realize now that I was like a frog looking at the sky from the inside of a well. I used to simply meditate, forcing Shinsoo to somewhat get inside me but it was nowhere near cultivating.”

Sparks seemed to glitter in her blue eyes as she understood more. She was completely out of her trance now, fully awake and full of energy.

She had been enlightened enough to understand what had happened when the spark appeared for the first time, although not entirely. Her talent had sprung to life it seemed.

Success. She had forced her body to undergo drastic changes, from a mortal with no talent to a person with some affinity for the Immortal way.

Nobody could know at this instant, not even her, what kind of talent she now had. A test-stone like the one in the entrance to the sect would be enough, but Shin Sumi couldn't go back there with no reason. Plus it didn't really matter.

As she stretched and stood up in the middle of her field next to the waterfall, she tested her body a bit.

Absolutely nothing felt different from before. She had used a whole high grade spirit stone precious enough to make any expert drool in envy but she didn't advance one bit. At least from what she felt.

Something was telling her that whatever level her talent had reached, her dantian now had certain expectations regarding the Shinsoo she needed to cultivate.

With enough time, a red robed disciple could go through Shinsoo Gathering and reach the Liquid Realm stage. All they needed was a good amount of spirit stones but with only the quantity provided monthly by the sect, it was still possible.

An orange robed disciple would need less time to reach the same level, obviously, but would benefit greatly from better cultivation resources. And that was the same all the way up to the mystic purple talented cultivators.

All of that was briefly explained in the newcomer's guide that Shin Sumi had read extensively. But her own version of the Shinsoo Gathering Manual, provided by the little nut-book, was displaying something a bit different.

If a disciple refrained from forming a vortex in his first attempt at a breakthrough from Shinsoo Gathering to Liquid Realm, there was a way to open Shinsoo passageways in a previously unseen manner.

Shinsoo Gathering was like building a foundation for the next stages of cultivation. The stronger the foundation, the more aptitude one would display. Red talented individuals would open some passageways and then condense a vortex and move on. Orange would open more Shinsoo apertures before condensing a vortex. The number of openings, usually between five and twenty didn't change the level of the person, but their capacity to naturally absorb the energy of heaven and earth.

It was a critical thing to take into account when reaching the upper stages of cultivation like Core Development. With only a few passageways opened, red talented disciples would never be able to go above the Liquid Realm.

Sadly there was nothing to do about that as it was impossible to reverse the process of forming a vortex. At least that was what everybody thought. Only Shin Sumi knew the technique used to expulse all Shinsoo from her body and attempt Shinsoo Gathering again and again. Only by doing that could she open the maximal amount of passageways. It was tedious work and the manual stated that the resources needed where simply unfathomable.

All the ressources one needed to reach the level where a vortex could be formed, she would need for every attempt at opening passageways.

Shin Sumi remembered all that, drawing conclusions in her mind. She didn't know what it meant exactly to need better quality resources but she didn't care. After all she had her own way of acquiring an insane amount of resources easily.

Because her body had been taken over by cultivation, the high grade spirit stone she had wanted to use to hasten the growth of her crops, had instead been used entirely by Shin Sumi.

The plants were still nothing more than seeds. The earth was barren in a fifteen meter squared area.

Shin Sumi had successfully cultivated for the first time and it took her by surprise but now that she knew, she wouldn't fall for it again. Holding a low grade spirit stone in her hand, she refrained from settling down above it, ignoring the urges emanating from her sleeping dantian.

Picking up a dozen of bones from the other side of the waterfall, Shin Sumi set up a small tower of bones. The white wood-like sticks formed some kind of triangular pagoda above the low grade spirit stone ”sturdy enough to keep the snakes away” Shin Sumi hoped.

Shin Sumi backed away from her creation, getting the tower out of reach from the continuous effects of the copper bell in her bag of holding.

She clearly remembered the area affected by the small bell from when she broke her leg. Although she was sure of it, she felt at a loss when no writhing mass of black snakes appeared.

”Something isn't right. There should be hissing sounds by now” she asked herself.

She waited for a few more seconds. Nothing. Taking another spirit stone from her bag, she threw it right next to the pile of bones.

Reptiles instantly filled up the area, coming out of every hole in the ground, from below the vegetation roots and seemingly from everywhere at once.

The spirit stone was gone in a second. A few snakes got curious about the pile of whitened bones but quickly rejected the idea of poking at it and went away with the others.