21 First Breakthrough ?! (1/2)
The shapeless flow of Shinsoo swirled uncontrollably inside Shin Sumi's passageways.
When her internal energy broke through the first opening, Shin Sumi didn't feel anything in the moment. Besides she was too busy controlling the dangerously unstable flow to probe herself.
The wave of Shinsoo kept going. It was only at the second opening that she realized that her Shinsoo level had dropped by a few percent.
It was only at this moment that Shin Sumi understood how incredibly hard opening all sixty-four passageways was.
The way the passageways were organized was sort of like a tree. Not all of the Shinsoo openings were accessible directly.
The openings were commonly classified into two categories, Yin and Yang types. Although it was true that men and women tended to have more difficulty with the opposite type, there was one more difficulty.
It was not a definite appellation but the sixty four openings were also commonly separated into three sub-categories.
The Primal Doors, the Outer Doors and the Spirit Doors.
Nobody knew who came up with these names first but they had stuck, at least in the mind of the disciples of the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
Independently of whether the openings were of the Yin or Yang type, they were all placed along the branches of the tree like passageways.
Originating from the dantian, there was only one way the flow of Shinsoo of a disciple during breakthrough could go, up the branches.
What Shin Sumi realized was that her Shinsoo levels went down with the opening of the first door she encountered.
”The first Primal Door” she thought while concentrating. ”There are thirty Primal Doors, twenty-four Outer Doors and the ten Spirit Doors. If my energy decreases like that with every barrier, I'm going to get stuck at the Outer Doors!”
”No, even before the Outer Doors. I won't last until half of the Primal Doors!” she renewed her calculations, having just successfully attacked the second opening.
Shin Sumi extended her hand to her side, almost picking up a high grade spirit stone.
The mantras from the Shinsoo Gathering Manual in the tree-like book popped into her mind.
”No, I should not force the energy to go through. I will let it progress as it is supposed to.”
The Shinsoo Gathering Manual was precise on the subject. The first step described in the precious document was to accumulate Shinsoo within her body.
That, she had done by forcefully consuming spirit stones like a drunkard consumed alcohol.
The second step was to cleanse the energy and purify it using the Flowing Shinsoo breathing technique.
Shin Sumi had tried to apply the technique when cultivating but had been stunned to realize that it was useless in her case. The nut's refinement was even more miraculous that she had thought.
Only the purest Shinsoo was condensed in the high grade spirit stones. Compared to them, nevermind the quantity of Shinsoo, the low grade spirit stones that were the common currency in the sect were like drops of muddy swamp waters in front of heavenly rain.
The Flowing Shinsoo breathing technique had been rendered useless by the little grey nut's powers.
Shin Sumi went through the third step of the manual mentally, opening the doors. That she was doing right now!
The fourth step was the interesting one. It meant that as long as Shin Sumi followed the first three, she could do them again and again until all sixty-four openings would open.
Keeping that in mind, she kept controlling the flow of Shinsoo which was becoming slower and easier to control with each door.
By the time the tenth door opened, Shin Sumi had lost nearly seventy percent of all her accumulated resources. Thinking about it, she felt a slight pinch in her heart.
”All of it for just ten Primal Doors...” but then she thought about what normal disciples had to go through just to get to this point. Feeling guilty and shameful, she went back to her breakthrough.
Outside her body, half of a day's time had already passed. The breakthrough was an intense process that was slower on the outside than it was on the inside.
When she reached the twelfth opening, her energy levels were so low that Shin Sumi felt her lungs contracting, as though she was out of breath, completely drained by the expenditure of Shinsoo.
She still managed to push through and break the door open, gritting her teeth with a hidden rage. The last drop of Shinsoo disappeared soundlessly crashing against the thirteenth obstacle that seemed like an insurmountable mountain at the time.
Shin Sumi opened her eyes the instant the process was terminated.
She felt tired, dirty and her sense of balance was distorted for a moment until she took a deep breath, inhaling through her nostrils.
Immediately her newfound power activated. It was like putting one's hand in cold spring water after a burn. The passageways that were opened for the first time finally shone to life with a low rumbling sound that only Shin Sumi could hear.
The Shinsoo that she had expanded slowly but surely recovered, and at a rate that was more impressive than she had ever thought it could be.
Shin Sumi marvelled at the wonderful sensation brought with the natural flow of energy around her. Deep within her she knew how lucky she was.
Not even thinking about mortals who would never experience something similar in their whole life, she felt lucky even compared to other disciples.
She had opened twelve passageways in one go! Compared to the total of sixty-four it didn't sound too impressive, but one had to keep in mind that even yellow-robed disciples would not often manage to open more than eight or ten Shinsoo apertures.
That was the case for Shin Sumi only because of the perfect Yin Aperture Shinsoo Opening technique she had cultivated. The technique didn't impact the levels of energy needed to breakthrough, it was more like a softening of the Yin type doors.
Thanks to the technique that Xiao Yue had shown her, the success rate of breaking through the Yin type doors had augmented drastically.
”I wish I could get my hands on the Yang Aperture technique” Shin Sumi thought, already thinking about her next try.
During the breakthrough, she had clearly felt the difference between the Yin and the Yang affinity of the doors. The first kind had been like a tidal wave in front of a paper crane whereas the latter had been more akin to ramming a steel door with Shinsoo.
As Shin Sumi replenished her levels of energy, she was taking in the energy surrounding her, analysing it as it flowed through her body.
”This energy feels... different. This is nothing like the high grade spirit stones.”
From the beginning Shin Sumi's body had been tempered and had evolved with gargantuan amounts of Shinsoo of the highest quality. Even when she had cultivated using only the remaining Shinsoo that permeated her courtyard after long sessions of cultivation, it didn't feel turbid like this.
Shin Sumi understood immediately what she needed to do.
”I could practice cultivation the normal way now. My first openings are already cleared, I should be able to condense the Shinsoo into a vortex once they are full to the brim. But if I want to keep opening more Apertures I definitely need only high grade spirit stones.”
Looking at the side, the small pile of spirit stones eyed her. A shining glimmer radiated from her eyes, comparable to a wolf's when looking at a lamb.
”No, I can't do it now. Here is not the best place to cultivate extensively. If the courtyard transforms into a paradise again, I won't be able to explain to Yue. I should pick up more seeds and go to the chasm.”
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Shin Sumi was right. Her secrets were far too important, even for Xiao Yue. It was too easy to screw up and to let clues out in the open, she needed to be more careful.
Just for precaution, Shin Sumi decided to also check the Quests Pavilion, to give herself more reasons to leave the sect unnoticed.