40 Ice Ice Baby (1/2)
The wasteland crossing was rather uneventful after the fights Shin Sumi had under the earth and the chase by the reptilian creature.
As she understood it, this barren piece of land circulated all around the mountain range and probably served as a barrier between the outer ring and the second one.
As to what seemed to keep the two rings separated, the blur she had come to call to herself the Ring Keeper, no further appearance served to clarify what the thing was.
The unimaginably powerful thing was still a complete and utter mystery to her.
As a peek into the Grand Hall of the sect would tell, not many people knew the truth behind that. In fact even the Patriarch didn't seem to know for sure. He would have to consult the reserve powers of the sect for clarification, he said to himself.
Reaching the foot of the mountain range, Shin Sumi discovered that unlike what she expected, the obstacle wasn't whole. She felt a bit of relief upon seeing many entries into valleys that would allow her to cross safely.
Craning her neck to look at the distant mountain tops shrouded by the storm, she didn't want to even start wondering how the weather was up there.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
For someone from a mortal background like her, storms were a terrifying entity that were rumored to happen whenever two Immortals clashed in the sky, the aftermath of their battle resulting into a rain of death fire.
After entering the Dark Sky Starry Sect, Shin Sumi had learned that storms were nothing of the sort, but it was still something to be feared.
Xiao Yue even told her that sometimes lighting bolts were believed to be an expression of the Heavens themselves.
The constant rumble and flashing purple white clouds overlooked every entrance to the second ring.
In the distance, Shin Sumi saw tendrils of smoke rise up through the air to be dissipated long before they could join the clouds.
There, next to the glowing fire, three disciples sat in a circle. They didn't seem to sense Shin Sumi from the distance and they looked completely entranced by the fire, long shadows dancing on their heavy robes.
All three of them were clad in garments that looked unusual from what she knew of the Dark Sky Starry Sect. Mismatched clothes that were not telling of their talent level. What was strange too was that all of them appeared to be trembling, their hands hovering in the flames.
”They are seeking heat? But it's not even that cold out here... Are they okay?” she asked herself.
Curious, she stepped a bit closer, covering herself from their sight behind jagged rocks.
”Crap, they've seen me” she cursed when the three of them turned their heads simultaneously towards where she was hiding.
Shin Sumi still wasn't used to the divine sense of others and the possibility of being sensed. Now the three disciples were on guard.
Two of them jumped to their feet, rather comically with the amount of clothing they were wearing. The third one, the only one with no expression of concern on his face simply took out a small circular shield from inside a fold of his robes.
His lips moved quickly, uttering two words that Shin Sumi couldn't discern. The shield started rotating and glowing with green light.
Rising up above the three young men, the shield extended in a flash, forming a bulb of transparent green protection around them.
Only when the shield had been put in place did the two others put down their weapon and sit back down next to the fire. They didn't even bother looking at Shin Sumi anymore.
If the latter knew one thing about the magic available to Honorary Disciples, it was that everything seemed to be arranged by color. Just like her own talent had granted her a green medallion, even though she knew it was all the little nut's doing, Xiao Yue had been deemed orange talented.
The same way, many were red talented and only a few yellow talented. This impacted the way the disciples dressed in the sect, Shin Sumi herself being one of the few if not the only exception.
But this rule of color grading also applied to many other things magic or cultivation related. For example the cores found inside spirit creatures were a good example.
And just by looking, Shin Sumi knew that the shield put in place by the group of three above the fire was telling its level with its color.
”This explains why they are not concerned with me. Other than the fact that I'm wearing red, if they have a shield comparable in power to a green talented disciple's, they should have nothing to fear from me.”
”I should just leave them be. I have to find the other four Veins of Hell Fire in the different rings.”
Half turned around, she still wondered a bit about the reason behind the three men's apparent coldness. The only thing she could imagine was maybe a curse of some kind, or an aftermath of them getting the green shield.
The shield was obviously one of the good treasures scattered around the dimension. Since she herself had participated in one of the sub-trials for acquiring a treasure, she knew of the pain it could be.
Before departing, Shin Sumi dropped on the ground one of the fruits she had gathered a while back. It was a way of telling them she had no evil intentions as well as helping them a little. When ingested, she remembered feeling a remnant heat from the fruits.
”That's all I'll do for them. Now is time to cross to the next ring.”
The closest valley was a few hundred meters away and in a flash Shin Sumi already was progressing. Above, the thunder raged, obscuring the sky except for the flashes of lighting.
The scary clouds were full of water that formed rivulets against the mountain slopes, joining into a turbulent torrent snaking at the very bottom.
Drops of icy cold rain would sometimes fall between the rocky walls, and Shin Sumi was soon forced to wrap a piece of cloth around her, her figure now a grey cloak with only a band of red robes visible under it.
She was a bit embarrassed to use what had been a curtain in her cozy courtyard in the lower valley in such a way, but at least she got some cover from the cold rain. She was suddenly very reminiscent of the three disciples she had seen briefly just outside the valley.
The Copper Bell rang once, reducing the cold, but not completely.
”For someone without the Copper Bell, every single drop would be bone chilling. That explains the three disciples outside with the fire. But even that would probably manageable even for a red robed disciple. Is the next ring formed of an ice environment?!”
The valley was large and long, and the steep slopes on the sides were too smooth to allow for an ambush or a good hiding spot. Without having to care much for an attack, Shin Sumi advanced quickly.
The end of the valley was in sight when Shin Sumi's eyes opened drastically.
The second ring was indeed an icy environment. But much like the outer ring was occupied by a jungle and all sorts of appropriate reliefs and obstacles, the tundra in front of her was by no means flat.
In front of her laid an area comprised of blue, red and white colors that seemed to have been splashed around by a crazy painter.
Arcs of ice reflecting the blood red sky extended from the ground, like fish frozen mid-leap, or the tusks of an unimaginably large animal.
Crevices big enough to swallow whole cities snaked between the arcs, their mirror like insides a deep blue under the layers of snow.
A bone chilling wind carried thousands upon thousands of snowflakes, each like the petals of a flower in bloom.
The sight truly was magical and Shin Sumi couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and the sense of indomitable nature of the landscape.
From where she stood, it seemed like the second ring formed a plateau lower in altitude than the outer ring. Judging by what she had seen back then from a high tree, she had the feeling that this ring was smaller than the other one.
”It might have been just an impression though. The logical rules don't seen to apply in this place. For all I know the laws of space differ greatly from one ring to the next.”
Shin Sumi descended through the rocks, progressively turning from a dead grey to a pure white as the snow claimed sovereignty over everything.
The snow whistled through the air and formed big circles in the sky, turning the wind currents visible for everyone to see.
Down near the mountain range, although cold, the snow didn't seem too violent, unlike in the distance where blizzards obscured even the thousand meters long tusks of ice.
Under her grey cloak, Shin Sumi realized that the piece of cloth did almost nothing to hinder the snowflakes and she could almost sense every single one of them on her skin where they disappeared soundlessly.